Poll says majority of Thais willing to sell their votes

Sun, 16 Jan 2011

Bangkok - A majority of Thai voters say they are willing to accept money from election candidates who want to buy their votes, according to a poll published on Sunday.

The poll by Bangkok's Assumption University of 2,604 eligible voters in Bangkok and 17 other provinces found that 53.2 per cent would be willing to sell their votes, 40.2 per cent would not and 6.6 per cent were undecided.

Vote-buying is against the law in Thailand but widespread, particularly in the north-east, the country's poorest region.

According to the poll, the north-east showed the highest proportion of people willing to sell their votes, at 69.6 per cent, followed by Bangkok.

The poll found that 79.5 per cent of those surveyed admitted vote-buying took place in their communities, while 20.5 per cent denied it.

Asked about their political affiliation, 61.1 per cent said they were not yet committed while 27.2 per cent supported the government and 11.7 per cent were opposed to it.

National parliamentary elections are expected to be held later this year.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/362544,thais-willing-sell-votes.html.