(SEAPA/IFEX) – Survey groups, researchers, media practitioners, politicians, and private citizens in Thailand are voicing concern over a government proposal that would impose standards on public opinion surveys. Bangkok’s English-language daily, “The Nation”, in its18 October 2005 edition, quoted the government’s House lobbyist, Pongthep Thepkanchana, as saying the proposed amendment to Thailand’s 1965 Statistics Act […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – Survey groups, researchers, media practitioners, politicians, and private citizens in Thailand are voicing concern over a government proposal that would impose standards on public opinion surveys.
Bangkok’s English-language daily, “The Nation”, in its18 October 2005 edition, quoted the government’s House lobbyist, Pongthep Thepkanchana, as saying the proposed amendment to Thailand’s 1965 Statistics Act is merely intended to ensure the quality of surveys, especially those touching on the political climate and socio-economic issues in the country.
But opponents of the amendment and members of the press, along with private groups that conduct such surveys, raised fears that the bill is in fact designed to control public opinion and public access to information. They also questioned the government’s motives for putting the proposal on the legislative agenda just now, at a time when its popularity – as indicated by public opinion polls – is in decline, noting the proposed amendments were actually drafted two years ago.
The move to amend the Statistics Act has been scheduled for debate in Thailand’s House of Representatives on 19 October.
Dr. Noppadol Kanika, director of ABAC Poll, one of the country’s leading and most influential survey groups, acknowledged in a statement the need to raise the industry standards for Thailand’s overall competitiveness, but warned that several of the proposed amendments and potential new articles would allow the government to control public statistics.
Under Article 9, for example, all government agencies, including state universities and local administrative offices, would have to submit proposed surveys to the National Statistical Office (NSO) five days prior to actually conducting any public polling.
The bill would also introduce fines of 5,000 baht (approx. US$125) for anyone refusing to provide information or “obstructing” officials conducting officially sanctioned surveys.
Article 20, meanwhile, would penalise pollsters who gave “false information”, by slapping them with six months’ imprisonment and/or fines of up to 10,000 baht (approx. US$250). The current law provides for penalties of three months’ imprisonment and fines of up to 500 baht (approx. US$12).
Opponents, private pollsters and media groups are additionally concerned that the NSO’s mandate would be broadened to policing private survey firms. They noted that the bill also allows for the relegation to the NSO of other tasks and responsibilities as “assigned by the Cabinet.”
Popular Thai pollsters like ABAC, Dusit Poll and Bangkok Poll, which all belong to academic institutions, have gained acceptance, prominence, and influence in Thailand for “snap polls” that gauge the prevailing political and social climate. Their surveys on current issues are regularly featured by the Thai press.
The government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has criticized and dismissed these polling operations as “biased” and unscientific. He questions their motives and methodologies every time poll results tend to put his government, policies, and popularity in a negative light.
