Almost two-thirds, 61.7%, of people polled recently believed Thailand is ready for the establishment of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) at the end of 2015, Abac Poll reported on Wednesday.
However, 33.4% of the respondents disagreed, saying the country is not well prepared for the planned regional economic community, said Puntaree Issarangkul Na Ayudhaya, assistant director of Assumption University's Abac Poll.
The pollster surveyed 1,525 people aged 18 years and over in Bangkok, seeking opinions on Thailand’s readiness for the AEC, between April 15 and April 23.
Most people, 80.3%, said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinwatra should give importance to the country’s preparations for the AEC's establishment, according to Abac Poll.
Asked about top priorities for getting the country ready for the new Asean community, 24.8% said the development of an education standard nationwide, followed by improving people’s abilities in foreign languages, particularly English (23.6%).
The upgrading skills of labourers took the third place, with 18.2% support, followed by economic development and investment promotion (14.4%) and improving security measures to ensure the safety of people’s lives and property (7.6%).
Asked the choose the top three countries they believed to have the highest readiness and potential for the AEC, 34.5% pointed to Singapore, 25.7% said Thailand and 9.8% backed Malaysia.
Ms Puntaree said the poll results showed that the respondents gave importance to the preparation of both the people and the country for the debut of the AEC.
She suggested the government and state offices equally and widely develop the country to improve the lives ofThai people, especially those in rural areas, and ensure socio-economic, educational and vocational capability and potential in line with those of other countries in the region.