The Democrat Party's chance of regaining its former domination of the South in the next general election is uncertain after only 30% of the people polled by the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) said they would vote for the Democrats. The remainder said they were still undecided or would not vote for the party.
The Nida Poll was carried out on Oct 11-13 on 1,315 eligible voters of various levels of education and occupations in the South to gauge their opinions on the popularity of the Democrat Party in the region.
The South had been a traditional stronghold of the Democrat Party, which had for decades swept most House seats in the region.
But in the March 24, 2019 election, the Democrat Party managed to take only 22 of the 50 House seats available. The other 28 seats went to the Palang Pracharath, Prachachart and Bhumjaithai parties.
Of the 1,315 respondents to the poll, 84.94% said they used to vote for the Democrats, 13.08% never voted for the party, 1.45% had never voted in an election and 0.53% had no answer or were not interested.
For those who used to vote for the Democrat Party, when asked whether they voted for the party in the last election, 61.41% said they did while 38.59% did not.
Out of those who did not vote for the Democrat Party in the last election, 39.68% said they voted for the Palang Pracharath Party; 29.93% had no answer; 9.05% did not go to the poll; 6.73% voted for the now-defunct Future Forward Party; 4.18% for the Bhumjaithai Party; 2.79% for the Pheu Thai Party; 2.55% ticked the "no vote" box; and the rest voted for the Prachachart, Ruam Palang Pracha Chart Thai, Seri Ruam Thai, New Economics and Pheu Chart parties.
Asked whether they would vote for the Democrat Party in the next election, 48.14% of all respondents were still undecided; 30.04% said "yes"; 20.38% said "no"; 0.84% said they would tick the "no vote" box; and 0.60% would not go to the poll.