Public Attitudes towards the 2014 Thai Coup d’Etat: a Case Study of Phang Nga Municipality, Phang Nga Province

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) investigate public attitudes towards the 2014 Thai Coup d’etat and 2) compare demographic factors affecting the public attitudes. The research was conducted using quantitative methods. Data were collected using a questionnaire distributed to 400 respondents who lived in the area under the supervision of Phang Nga Municipality, Phang Nga Province.

The result revealed that the public attitudes towards the 2014 Thai Coup d’etat displayed a low mean score (=1.95). Considering each of the aspects, bureaucratic development displayed a low mean score (=2.30), followed by democracy building (=2.02), security (=1.87), and economy (=1.63), respectively.

According to the hypothesis testing using inferential statistics, the public attitudes varied according to two demographic factors: age and occupation. Gender, monthly income, and education level did not affect the public attitudes with a significance level of 0.05.