Poll: Majority of respondents concerned about government’s spending

BANGKOK, Aug 25 (TNA) - A recent survey has found that a majority of Thai people are concerned about the government’s spending. An independent ABAC Poll conducted a survey on 2,127 people in 17 provinces nationwide between August 20-24 on the government’s expenditure for fiscal 2014, starting this October 1, and found that 77.6 per cent of the total respondents believed the money would be spent without transparency. 22.4 per cent of the respondents thought otherwise. The Budget Bill which would allow the government to spend more than 2.5 trillion baht during fiscal 2014 sailed through the House of Representatives comfortably last Friday. The 250 billion baht budget deficit will now be forwarded to Senate for final approval. Meanwhile, the survey also found that 81.5 per cent of the total respondents said they were frustrated with Thai politics because of frequent squabbling among politicians while 42.4 per cent expressed anxieties over violence which could erupt in future. However, 76.1 per cent of the respondents opined that there are still hopes on reconciliation among people if cooperation is given from every concerned party while the rest did not believe so. (TNA)