According to NIDA Poll, Thai people have more confidence in the Thai army than in the government as a whole in the handling of the border dispute with Cambodia.
The National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) polling centre sampled the opinions of 1,310 respondents on August 4th and 5th, regarding their levels of satisfaction with and confidence in the government, the army and the Foreign Ministry in the handling of the recent border dispute with Cambodia.
The poll shows that 75.73% of the respondents have confidence in the army, while only 4.89% and 4.66% of the respondents have confidence in the Foreign Ministry and the wider government respectively.
75.42% of the respondents are satisfied with the army, compared to 4.81% with the Foreign Ministry and 4.27% with the government in general, according to the poll. Moreover, the poll shows that people are more satisfied with the army now than they were in June, whereas satisfaction with both the Foreign Ministry and the government in general has decreased significantly.
The poll also shows that 16.49% want to see the armed conflict continue until Thailand emerges the clear winner. 20% say it does not matter whether the conflict continues or is resolved, as long as Thailand does not cede territory to Cambodia.
41.98% of the respondents want a peaceful resolution of the border conflict through dialogue. 27.63% want Thailand to apply economic pressure on Cambodia, such as through the closure of all border checkpoints and complete bans on exports to and imports from Cambodia, while 23.97% want more troops to be deployed to the border to defend the country.
