A majority of people say rocker Artiwara Kongmalai, better known as Toon Bodyslam, is the most admirable person and should be named Person of the Year 2017, surpassing Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and former prime ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, according to the result of an opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The poll was carried out on Dec 20-22 on 1,203 people of various levels of education and occupations throughout the country to sound out their opinions on Person of the Year 2017 and what they want from the government as New Year's gifts.
Asked who they think is most admirable and should be Person of the Year 2017, a majority or 56.94% said the title should go to Toon because of his sacrifice for society; 16.17% are for Gen Prayut; 2.29% Thaksin; 1.75% Yingluck; 1.08% badminton star Ratchanok "May" Intamon; and, 1% football star Chanathip "Messi Jay" Songkrasaesin.
To the question on what they want the most from the government as New Year's gifts, 28.51% said they want the problem of farm produce prices to be solved; 13.63% want the government to lift the political ban on political parties and hold an election in 2018; 11.14 want the government to give money to low-income people; and, 7.07% want the government to solve the problem of corruption.
