However, 33.4 per cent 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 per cent, 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 per cent).
The upgrading skills of labourers took the third place, with 18.2 per cent support, followed by economic development and investment promotion (14.4 per cent) and improving security measures to ensure the safety of people’s lives and property (7.6 per cent).
Asked the choose the top three countries they believed to have the highest readiness and potential for the AEC, 34.5 per cent pointed to Singapore, 25.7 per cent said Thailand and 9.8 per cent 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 of Thai 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.