BANGKOK, June 18 Asia Pulse - Purachai Piamsomboon, former deputy prime minister who resigned from Thai politics in January 2005, has emerged as the favorite choice for prime minister in a survey conducted by the respected ABAC Poll.
The Assumption University survey - better known as the ABAC Poll - interviewed 1,750 Thais and 558 foreigners in Bangkok and surrounding areas.
It found that 41.7 per cent of the respondents wanted Mr. Purachai, dubbed "Mr. Clean" for his staunch anti-corruption line while served during the first term of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, to become the new prime minister.
Slightly over one third of the respondents, 37.7 per cent, wanted ex-prime minister Anand Panyarachun to head the new government after a general election, likely to be held this December, while 34.6 per cent favoured Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.
As many as 59.3 per cent of foreign respondents said they agreed that the ousted government of Mr. Thaksin was engaged in rampant corruption while 7.4 per cent disagreed.
Almost half of the foreign respondents - 49 per cent of the foreigners - also believed attempts by an ongoing demonstration to drive out the Council for National Security from power would lead to violence in the country, while 87.9 per cent of them believed that a general election would be the best way to solve the country's political impasse.