Many Bangkok residents have already begun to doubt the credibility of a new round of political reforms promised under the new government, a survey has found.

Only 27 per cent of respondents said they would have confidence in the reforms to be made by the new government, said Assumption University's Abac Poll released yesterday.

Slightly over 50 per cent said they were not confident in the political reform, while the remaining respondents made no comment.

Noppadon Kannika, director of the university's research centre, said the findings indicated a crisis of confidence among the public.

"We can now speak of a crisis of

confidence over political reforms.

Many people have lost confidence in Parliament and independent bodies," Noppodon said.

The public is questioning whether Parliament can function properly after politically-connected senators were elected, he said.

A total of 74 per cent of those surveyed said they wanted constitutional reform to be completed in six months.

About 20 per cent said a period of less than one year should be appropriate, while less than 6 per cent said it should last longer than a year.

Bhokin Bhalakula, the former House speaker assigned to draw a timeframe for the constitutional amendment in order to make way for reforms, said last week he expected the job to be completed in a year.

Most of the respondents also questioned the credibility of the new Senate, the poll said.

Only one third of the 1,846 people surveyed in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces said they were confident about the Senate that was elected last Wednesday.

Some 40 per cent said they had no confidence in the non-partisan Senate.

Half of the 200 seats went to people with links to outgoing Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's ruling Thai Rak Thai party.

The survey, conducted between last Tuesday and Friday, found that 72 per cent of respondents said they were concerned about political uncertainty, up 46 per cent from the last poll in late March.