September 4, 2008
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thais are completely divided in their support for a state of emergency declared across Bangkok in the wake of deadly street clashes, a poll published Wednesday found.
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej invoked emergency rule early Tuesday after a night of fighting between pro- and anti-government groups left one dead and dozens injured.
But mirroring the trend on the street, only half the Thais polled across the country agreed with Samak's decision.
Among the 3,083 respondents surveyed by a Bangkok-based private university, 50.8 percent supported and 49.2 percent rejected the emergency decree.
Those who agreed with the measure did so because they believed it would be only short-term. They were split evenly between men and women.
"The poll indicates that at this point there is no solution for the current political situation," said Noppadon Kannikar, director of the poll at Assumption University.
The survey, conducted across Thailand's 16 biggest provinces, showed those against the emergency decree tended to be better-educated, to university degree level or higher.
That tallies with the anti-government so-called People's Alliance for Democracy's (PAD) support base which comes from Bangkok's traditional elite and a portion of the middle class.
Samak's supporters are mainly in the rural and populous north and northeast, where his ally, former premier Thaksin, wooed poor voters with low-interest loans and free health care.
The poll found also that 67.2 percent viewed a military coup as a negative development.
Thousands of PAD supporters continued to camp at the main government offices on Wednesday, a week after setting up their protest site, calling for Samak to resign.
