Thailand ousted party is voters’ first choice

Bloomberg

The party linked to ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra remains a “dominant force” in Thailand and leads in polling by an opposition party ahead of a general election expected next year.
About 17 percent of 9,000 people surveyed across Thailand last month said they would vote for the Thaksin-linked Pheu Thai party that was overthrown in a military coup in 2014, according to
the poll by tycoon-turned-
politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit’s Future Forward party.
Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Democrat Party was second with 11 percent, while Thanathorn’s eight-month-old party came third on 10 percent. Some 53 percent were undecided, signaling votes are up for grabs as the junta prepares to hold an election tentatively scheduled for February 24.
“Pheu Thai is still leading,” Thanathorn said in an interview in Bangkok, describing the party as still a “dominant force”. At the same time, its decision to create party offshoots is a wildcard with no guarantee of how support for the related groups will play out, he said.
Some observers say Pheu Thai has created the political affiliates in part as a hedge against the risk it could be disbanded for alleged connections to Thaksin. He or his allies have won every election dating back to 2001, only to be unseated by the courts or military.
Reliable polling data is comparatively scant in Thailand, where the military government continues to ban most political activity.