THAILAND. An alleged survey by Gallup Global Emotions 2022 that ranked Thailand at the bottom of the Southeast Asian countries that treat people with a smile is a fake.
Since July 17, a post by Southeast Asia Stats has been circulating on social media containing the claim that Thailand ranked 9th among the “Southeast Asian Countries that Treat People with a Smile.”
The post said that Indonesia topped the survey with a score of 90%, followed by Cambodia (89%), Laos (88%), Vietnam (82%), Philippines (81%), Malaysia (81%), Myanmar (77%), Singapore (76%) and Thailand (72%).
The post has been picked up by several news sites in Thailand and has created an uproar among netizens in Thailand, known to be “The Land of Smiles.”
Gallup Global Emotions 2022
However, an examination of the original Gallup Global Emotions 2022 report reveals that a survey titled “A Southeast Asian Country That Treats People With a Smile” does not exist.
Gallup Global Emotions 2022 is a research organization that measures people’s positive and negative experiences worldwide. The organization collected data through interviews with nearly 127,000 people aged 15 and above in 122 countries worldwide.
Panama topped the positive index with a score of 85. Indonesia and Paraguay followed with 84, then El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua with a score of 82. The Philippines scored 81, while Denmark and South Africa were among the world’s positive amid the pandemic, both with a score of 80.
According to the same survey, the countries with the highest negative experiences worldwide include: Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Sierra Leonne, Jordan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Guinea, and Benin.
Furthermore, the survey found that the global negative experience index of people over the last two years has increased with concerns about wars, inflation, and pandemics, while the overall positive experience has deteriorated.
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