Thai Opposition Leader Outpolls Incumbent in Preferred PM Survey
- Respondents say Natthaphong carries on party’s ideology
- Incumbent Paetongtarn’s rating slides from pole position
Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut
Photographer: Andre Malerba/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Thailand’s main opposition party leader has overtaken incumbent Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in a prominent opinion poll as the most preferred leader of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.
Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, leader of the People’s Party, was selected by 29.9% of 2,000 respondents as the person they “would support to become prime minister today,” according to the quarterly survey result issued Sunday by the National Institute of Development Administration. He was seen to be the candidate most likely to continue the party’s ideology and to be most compatible with the new generation, it said.