Three quarters (75 per cent) of survey respondents think that the Pheu Thai Party will have a difficult time campaigning at the next election and will have only a slim chance of leading a governing coalition after its leader Yingluck Shinawatra fled the country.

According to the Suan Dusit Poll released yesterday, some 70.2 per cent said that Pheu Thai could suffer internal divisions now that Yingluck is gone, and 80.9 per cent think the party will need new leaders.

Nearly two-thirds, or 60.4 per cent, of respondents said the absence of the former prime minister could shake the party’s popularity, while 58.8 per cent said that it might also need new policies and strategies.

The survey was conducted by Suan Dusit University from September 4-8, with 1,187 people nationwide asked about their thoughts on Thai politics after Yingluck skipped the verdict-reading in her court case involving her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

The poll also looked at impacts on other political parties, including Pheu Thai’s arch-rival, the Democrat Party. Some 71.1 per cent of respondents thought that the Democrats could become an alternative for voters.

Two-thirds (67.7 per cent) of the respondents thought that Yingluck’s flight from the verdict set an example to others to refrain from corruption. And 48 per cent said that other parties could now have a chance to win elections.

The majority of the people surveyed – 77.3 per cent – agreed that they would have to wait and see how Thai politics would go now that Yingluck had fled.

Meanwhile, the junta is preparing to hold its first official press conference on the investigation into Yingluck’s escape route and any potential accomplices. Rumours continue to abound that the military deliberately let her slip the country.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has reportedly instructed officers to speed up their work and complete their investigation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan has ordered officers to hold a press conference on the investigation after revelations on Friday that Yingluck had been seen in Sa Kaew province in a sedan near a military checkpoint close to Cambodian border. This occurred less than 48 hours before the scheduled delivery of the final verdict on the rice-pledging case on August 25.

Officers were searching for the driver of the sedan, according to reports.

Prawit said yesterday that he believes Yingluck fled the country with help from people inside Thailand, but he had no idea who they might be. However he also claimed that the investigation had progressed.

Meanwhile, security sources gave conflicting information about the checkpoint where Yingluck was last seen.

A security source said that the checkpoint was under the responsibility of the Burapha Force and was mostly busy. Security measures were tougher for arrivals than departures because officers had to focus on illegal immigrants, he said.

The vehicles departing the country would be searched only if they were suspicious or there had been prior notification by other forces, he said, adding that the Yingluck’s sedan had not been on the watch list. “It’s impossible for officers to check every car leaving the country because we have to consider the impact on the people, too,” the source said.

“Every checkpoint has the same standard. Unless we were notified of a person’s flight or of any suspicious vehicles, we would not step up measures against people departing the country,” he said.

Army chief General Chalermchai Sitthisat had not passed down any orders regarding the matter, he said.

Another high-ranking security source asserted that the checkpoint seen in the footage was not that of the Burapha Force.

But he admitted that it would have been difficult for officers to do anything or apprehend her if they had really found Yingluck at that time. It was before the verdict day and she was still regarded as innocent, he explained.

As to speculation that Yingluck fled through Cambodia, the source said this would be impossible unless she was allowed to do so by officials there. He did not think the former PM would have fled via the natural land border, because it was “all forest and mountains with hidden land mines”. It was unlikely that she would take such a route, he said.