Abac backs down on poll on royals
Jigme, topped the popularity poll.
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Assumption University's Abac pollster yesterday retracted the results of its latest survey on the relative popularity of visiting royals just hours after they were released because of pressure from the Foreign Ministry.
Anxious that a popularity poll of the world's monarchs might damage Thailand's reputation, Foreign Ministry permanent secretary Krit Ganjana-gunchorn called on Abac Poll to keep the survey results to itself, an informed source said. Abac Poll director Nophadol Kanika, in a statement issued yesterday, said the agency had retracted the survey's results because he did not want Thailand's international relations affected. Nophadol did not explain the decision further, but it came just hours after the results were released. The poll, which had Bhutan's Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchukon top in the popularity stakes, surveyed what Thais thought of the monarchs who visited recently to celebrate His Majesty the King's 60 years on the throne.
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