Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra beat Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in an opinion survey.

The survey by Assumption University's Abac Poll found that 25 per cent of the respondents said they preferred Thaksin over Abhisit while 21.6 per cent said they preferred Abhsit.

However, more than half of the respondents - 53.4 per cent - refused to express support for either politician.