Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul speaks during a press conference at Government House in Bangkok on December 12, 2025, after his call with US President Donald Trump. Thailand's prime minister dissolved parliament on December 12, paving the way for general elections early next year as deadly border clashes continue with neighbour Cambodia. (Photo by Chanakarn Laosarakham / AFP)
BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s (pic) popularity has dropped further behind the leader of an opposition party, an opinion poll shows, with general elections less than two months away.
Support for both Anutin and People’s Party head Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut has declined, according to a Dec 4-12 National Institute of Development Administration survey.
Some 12.32% of respondents supported the prime minister in the latest poll, while 17.2% backed the opposition leader. That compares with 20.44% for Anutin and 22.8% for Natthaphong in the institute’s quarterly poll in September.
The number of Thais who said they didn’t believe there were any suitable candidates for prime minister jumped to 40.6% from 27.28%.
The latest survey was mainly conducted after the country was hit by floods last month, and before Anutin dissolved parliament last week.
The prime minister has also hardened his stance against Cambodia, with border clashes between the two countries re-erupting despite a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump.
The prime minister’s tough line with Cambodia taps into nationalist sentiment and will win the backing of conservatives. Still, he has come under heavy criticism for his government’s response to some of the most devastating floods to hit southern Thailand in decades.
Anutin, who has only been in power for about three months, dissolved parliament last week to prevent his minority government from being toppled in a potential no-confidence vote threatened by Natthaphong’s party. The country’s election commission is expected to announce a date for elections this week.
Even with the incumbency advantage heading into the polls, Anutin’s ruling Bhumjaithai Party still lacks the popularity of the People’s Party, which leads the latest survey with the backing of 25.28% of respondents. Bhumjaithai ranks fourth, with 9.92% of support.
Both parties’ approval ratings have declined from the previous quarter and the percentage of respondents undecided about which group to support has risen to 32.36%
The two parties will seek to win with large enough margins in the upcoming election to end a sequence of short-lived administrations since 2023 in a country where growth lags that of neighboUrs across South-East Asia.
The country’s economy expanded by a tepid 1.2% last quarter as rounds of political instability and border violence sap confidence. Severe flooding in the south and US tariffs are expected to weigh further on growth.
The progressive People’s Party is the successor to a previous political grouping that won the 2023 general election only to be blocked from power and later dissolved over its campaign to amend Thailand’s controversial royal defamation law. - Bloomberg
