Bangkok residents praise volunteers over government in flood response polls

Recent opinion polls from NIDA Poll and Suan Dusit regarding the major floods in Bangkok in late September reveal significant public dissatisfaction with the government's crisis management.

According to the NIDA Poll, which surveyed 1,310 voters in Bangkok, 45.95% of respondents expressed the highest praise for foundations, rescue teams, and volunteer organizations. In contrast, political leadership received minimal recognition; the Prime Minister and the central government each received only 1.76% of the praise. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt was cited by 16.41% of respondents.

A Suan Dusit survey corroborated these findings, rating various agencies on a scale of 1 to 10. In that survey, local military personnel scored 6.37, while Governor Chadchart scored 5.44. The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation received 4.74, and Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ranked last with a score of 3.08.

Regarding the impact of the floods, approximately 36.11% of respondents reported water surrounding their residences, while 17.94% experienced flooding inside their homes. There is also notable public skepticism regarding future preparedness, with 38.55% of those surveyed believing that while agencies have learned lessons, they will be unable to prevent or solve similar problems in the future.