Is it bye-bye Pheu Thai?

The ruling party’s plummeting popularity has many wondering whether it can survive the next election « Many think Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s time as PM is already up, leading to speculation as to who will take over

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The ruling Pheu Thai Party is in freefall with no sign of bottoming out. However, the pressing question is: Can the party reverse its decline in time for the next election, which could come sooner rather than later?

The party, once a seemingly unshakable powerhouse, is facing one of the worst drops in popularity in its history.

‘ANida (National Institute of Development Administration) Poll, one of the most trusted opinion polls, conducted June 19-25, showed the party's support plummeting from 28.05% to just 11.5% in a matter of months.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s personal approval has fallen even more sharply — from 30.9% to 9.2%. In stark contrast, the upstart People’s Party (PP) now commands 46% support, while the Bhumjaithai and United Thai Nation parties have gained ground.

The latest Nida survey conducted Aug 4-5, however, has painted an even grimmer picture for Pheu Thai. The poll was commissioned in the wake of the Thai-Cambodian border clashes.

Carried out among 1,310 respondents nationwide, it asked participants to rate their trust in various institutions.

For the armed forces, 75.7% expressed great trust, 19.3% had fair trust, 3.6% did not quite trust them, and 1% had no trust.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received lower confidence levels, with 41.76% having no trust, 33.2% having little trust, 19.23% being fairly trusting, and only 4.89% having great trust.

The government ranked lowest in public confidence: 54.5% expressed no trust, 29% had little trust, 11.4% had fair trust, and 4.6% had great trust.

The survey also assessed satisfaction with each sector's role in solving the Thai-Cambodian dispute. For the armed forces, 75.4% were extremely satisfied, 19.8% fairly satisfied, 3.3% quite dissatisfied, and 1.2% totally dissatisfied.