Due for a poll

Re: “Sympathy, but little support for protest”, (Opinion, Feb 6).

It would be hard to disagree with Veera Prateepchaikul, following exiled former Thammasat University lecturer Somsak Jeamteerasakul, that the young pro-democracy activists Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon and Orawan “Bam” Phuphong, who have suffered so much “should be commended for their steely hearts and resolve for their cause”.

What is less clear, is whether Veera is right that support for their cause has, in fact, dwindled among the Thai people.

The only way to make any statement about what a people might support is to run a few well-designed and properly conducted polls to measure public opinion.

For all their imperfections and weaknesses, opinion polls remain reliable indicators of how a nation or any demographic within it feels.

Veera cited not a single poll or lower percentage for his claims about the extent of public support for the cause.

That people might not turn out for a protest because of rising costs of living, or less media notice does not entail that there does not also exist a large groundswell of solid support.

Whatever the percentages might be, the Thai people deserve to know what they themselves think.

Policymakers should care very much to know what the nation feels to a percentage point. FELIX QUI