Move Forward’s Pita draws support from young and university educated voters: Poll

The majority of Pita’s supporters are 18-25 (34.97%), followed by those from 26-35 (30.20%), 36-45 (16.83%), 46-60 (12.73%), 61-75 (3.74%), and 75 and older (1.54%), according to the results of the poll released on Tuesday.

Pita’s supporters are also more likely to be university graduates: 38.53% have university degrees, 18.26% have finished Grades 10 or 12, 17.67% have diplomas, 10.11% have attended vocational school, 7.63% only finished primary school, 6.37% left school after Grades 7-9, and 1.44% have advanced degrees.

Pheu Thai’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra was the top choice for prime minister, with 33.81% of respondents naming her.

The poll found, however, that more than one-fifth of the nearly 40,000 people surveyed had yet to make up their minds about who to vote for in the May 14 election.

Pita was the only candidate, besides Paetongtarn, to surpass single-digit support, as 16.87% of respondents named him as their choice to be the country’s next prime minister.

However, his supporters lagged those who remain undecided: 22.58% of the 39,687 respondents said they had yet to make up their minds.

The survey was carried out among 39,687 respondents in eight zones and each of Bangkok’s 33 constituencies from April 7 to 12. The eight zones are the upper North, lower North, Central and West, East, upper Northeast, lower Northeast, 11 upper southern provinces and three southern border provinces.

By job, 39.08% of Pita’s supporters are self-employed, freelancers, or business owners, 24.49% are students (24.49%), 17.25% work at private firms, 11.97% are daily workers, 9.09% are state officials, and 1.44% are either housewives, unemployed, or retired.

Move Forward also trailed Pheu Thai in popularity for both the constituency and party-list elections. In both cases, the number of undecided voters surpassed those who support Move Forward.

For the party-list election, Pheu Thai was the choice of 35.75% of respondents, only slightly higher than the 32.27% who said they remained undecided. Move Forward was named by 16.02% of respondents as their choice for the party-list vote.

Its supporters were primarily young and educated: 36.19% were from 18 to 25 years of age, while 36.26% had bachelor’s degrees. The most common form of employment (31.47%) was self-employed, freelance, and business owner.

The number of undecided voters (32.49%) was also almost double the number of Move Forward supporters (15.66%) for the constituency election. Pheu Thai had the support of 35.23% of those surveyed.

Move Forward’s supporters in the constituency election are also predominantly young and educated: 36.31% are 18 to 25 years old, 39.43% have bachelor’s degrees, and the most common form of employment (31.61%) was self-employed, freelance or business owner.