Poll: Thai troops acted appropriately

via CAAI

Published: 13/02/2011

As many as 87.4 per cent of the respondents said Thai soldiers had acted appropriately to protect the country’s sovereignty during the recent border clashes, Abac Poll reported on Sunday.

An opinion poll on Thai-Cambodian border dispute, conducted from Feb 7 to 12, involved 2,971 people in 17 provinces.

A total of 92.7 per cent of the respondents were worried about safety of soldiers and state authorities on duty in border areas, 78.2 per cent of them were concerned about safety of people living in border areas and their assets, Abac Poll said.

Some 51.6 per cent said the border clashes would damage the country’s image in the international community, according to the pollsters.

Asked about ways to settle the border conflict, 54.7 per cent of the respondents said a bilateral talk between Thailand and Cambodia, 17.3 per cent of them said negotiation via the United Nations Organisation or any impartial country, 5.0 per cent said war.

On the question about the confidence in the government’s ability to settle the dispute, 41.3 per cent said they had high confidence, 30.7 per cent had moderate confidence, and 28 per cent had less confidence and did not have any confidence at all.