Political parties that will contest the next election must have a clear direction of how they plan to tackle corruption while the new crop of younger politicians offers hope for cleaner politics, according to the Anti-Graft Poll.
The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC), Khonthai Foundation and 17 NGOs released the results of their joint Nov 16 to Dec 14 nationwide survey this week.
It is intended to serve as a gauge of the public's expectations of how political parties will prepare their election campaign policies to combat corruption.
A total of 3,054 people, 19% of whom will vote for the first time in the Feb 24 election, responded to the opinion poll.
Just over 1,000 were surveyed in the Northeast, followed by the North, Bangkok and the surrounding provinces, the South and the Central Plains region. They were asked to answer a range of questions.
Some 28% said the policies should be easy for the public to monitor, while 26% thought they should be cost-effective and 23% felt they should be practical.
The survey found that 19% thought economic issues were the most critical followed by education (17%) and corruption (16%).
Asked how much political parties' anti-corruption platforms would shape their vote, 30% said this would have a "moderate" impact on who gets their ballot. Just under a quarter said the anti-graft policies would be pivotal.
Two thirds of respondents agreed the parties should clearly state their plans to stamp out graft. Slightly more (70%) felt the new crop of politicians would weed out more graft.
The three most pressing issues were considered to be state-level corruption (21%), problems with the justice system (17%) and cash donations to temples and religious institutions (13%).
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam has called on the four key state agencies to consolidate their efforts to promote good governance in a bid to mitigate corruption.