Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, lined up as one of the Pheu Thai Party's prime ministerial candidates, speaks during an event to unveil the party's candidates list and announce their policies for the upcoming general election, in Bangkok, Thailand, March 17, 2023. Picture taken with a zoom burst. - Reuters
BANGKOK, March 19 (Bloomberg): Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, widened her lead as the voters’ top choice in the latest opinion poll ahead of a general election tentatively scheduled for May.
Paetongtarn, who represents the South-East Asian nation’s largest opposition party Pheu Thai, garnered 38.2% of support in a poll of 2,000. It’s the latest edition of a quarterly survey by the National Institute of Development Administration.
Her approval jumped from 34% in the previous poll conducted in December.
Incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-Ocha garnered the backing of 15.7% of respondents, also up from December’s 14%, ranking him third.
The coup-leader-turned-premier kicked off his campaign to extend his rule by ordering the dissolution of the nation’s parliament, a prerequisite for the May poll.
Pheu Thai seeks to end nearly a decade of military-backed rule with pledges to lift the minimum wage by 70% and boost economic growth to an average of 5% annually if voted into power. - Bloomberg
