Lisa (Lalisa Manoban), a member of the girl group Black Pink, was selected as the most influential person in Thailand.
According to the local Thai media The Nation on the 3rd (local time), 28.1 percent of respondents picked Lisa as the most influential person in Thailand in a survey conducted by Suan Dusit University in December last year. Second place was Pita Limjarnrat, former head of the Front Party (MFP), with 27.5 percent.
It was followed by Thai actor and broadcaster Kanchai Khamnardfoy (22.6%), Pattonan Shinawatra (12.4%), daughter of ruling party leader and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and Antonia Fosild (9.4%), who ranked second in the 2023 Miss Universe.
Lisa was born in Buriram Province, Thailand. Thailand is a class society where kings and aristocrats exist, and Lisa, who came from a low-income class, has grown into a global star. Thanks to such background, Lisa is gaining huge popularity in Thailand.
When Lisa said she missed the street food meatballs in her hometown of Buriram, sales of street vendors surged, and when she stopped by Ayutthaya, a tourist destination, the number of visitors in the area increased significantly. A Thai media outlet also described Lisa as “deserving respect and praise, it is Thailand’s honor, dignity, and should be forever engraved in history.”
Pita, a politician in her 40s, graduated from Thammasat National University, a symbol of Thailand’s democratization, and earned a master’s degree in policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School. In 2020, she became the leader of the newly launched Forward Party, and she became a sensation in the general election with overwhelming support from young people in their 20s and 30s with her unprecedented pledge in the general election in May last year.
When asked about the biggest incident of last year, 40.1 percent of the respondents answered that the party won the general election. 12.0 percent answered that it would win the general election on May 14. The party swept 32 out of 33 constituencies in Bangkok in May last year, becoming the main opposition party. Pitta, a reform party that sought to reform the monarchy and abolish the conscription system, was mentioned as a candidate for the next prime minister, but failed to pass the parliamentary vote to elect a prime minister.
In addition, major cases included “Antonia Four Shield Miss Universe 2nd place” (17.6%), “Leaving the draft bill to allow same-sex marriage” (15.3%), and “Syamparagon Shooting” (14.7%).
The survey was conducted from December 20 to 27 last year, and 7,398 people participated.
SOPHIA KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
