Govt to shake things up amid popularity crisis: Analysts
After two surveys reveal very low satisfaction with the government’s achievements, Pheu Thai will be seeking ways to improve its standing, political pundits say
Political analysts are predicting that the ruling Pheu Thai Party will try new strategies to boost the government’s popularity after public opinion pointed to underwhelming satisfaction with the government's achievements after nine months at the helm.
Despite the state-conducted poll by the National Statistical Office stating that 44.3% of people are satisfied with the administration, the public-conducted NIDA Poll has revealed that only 25.19% of people are happy with this government. 34.35% of respondents of the NIDA Poll said they have not seen any significant changes brought about by the government, especially in the economic and social dimensions. 35.95% of the respondents also said that the government failed to fix problems at their roots, prompting them to lose confidence in its administration.
Analysts said factors obstructing the positive economic impact Pheu Thai had promised during last year’s election campaign are the delay in the disbursement of the fiscal 2024 budget and the belated implementation of the party’s main campaign, the 10,000-baht digital wallet scheme, which is expected to happen in the 4th quarter of 2024.
Pheu Thai’s popularity worsened when Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was hit with a court case filed by senators stemming from his appointment of Pichit Chuenban as PM’s Office minister despite his so-called questionable background.
Analysts said the government has already tried new strategies amid the declining popularity. Last month, Srettha started chairing a weekly economic minister meeting every Monday to discuss and follow up on economic policies. The move is in response to the underwhelming economic expansion in the first quarter of just 1.5% year on year, in contrast to Pheu Thai’s promise of 5% expansion in 2024.
Srettha also hosted meetings with tourism-related agencies to speed up the government’s plan to promote tourism in 55 second-tier provinces in the second half of the year, in line with the government’s master plan of making Thailand a regional tourism hub.
The first-time premier has also visited several provinces since the start of this year to discuss problems faced by the locals. However, the public and some MPs saw him as spending too much time ‘on tour’ but rarely bringing significant changes to the provinces.
Analysts believe that for the rest of the year the ruling party would step up their game in advertising the government's achievements to increase public awareness amid this popularity crisis.
Targets of the campaign should include policies that have yielded tangible results, including the tackling of informal debts and ‘influential figures’, relisting cannabis as a narcotic, the introduction of visa-entry for nationals of several countries to boost tourism, pushing the Marriage Equality Bill, and improving the prices of agricultural products.
The ruling party however would remain focused on pushing its agenda of improving the Thai economy in order to not let the voters down, analysts concluded.
