Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates: https://t.me/mothershipsg

Thailand, the country known as the "Land of Smiles", has been ranked rock bottom in a survey of Southeast Asian countries where respondents were supposedly asked if they "experienced" smiles a day before the poll.

The survey results were put together by Singaporean media company Southeast Asia Stats, which cited results from the Gallup Global Emotions 2022 report.

About 1,000 respondents aged 15 and above were polled from each country in 2021 and early 2022.

Indonesia first, Singapore second last

In contrast to 72 per cent of respondents in Thailand who said they "experienced" smiles the previous day, 90 per cent in Indonesia said the same, placing the latter at the top of the list.

Cambodia (89 per cent) and Laos (88 per cent) followed after.

Singapore was placed second last, with 76 per cent of respondents answering in the affirmative.

Myanmar, which saw its military government open fire on unarmed civilians protesting a coup that took place in February, was ranked ahead of Singapore and Thailand at 77 per cent.

Thais say they know why they haven't been smiling much

The survey results, put together by Southeast Asia Stats in a graph, were met with mixed responses from Thai social media users.

According to The Thaiger, which cited a report by Khaosod, while some agreed with the results, others were surprised that the "Land of Smiles" had lost its smiles.

Many others, who commented directly on the Facebook post displaying the poll results, said they could understand why the country lost its position, using the chance to express their dissatisfaction against their government, which they called a "dictatorship".

Poll not acknowledged by Thai government

In a terse response that refused to acknowledge the poll results, Trisuree Trisaranakul, the deputy spokesperson of the Thai government's Prime Minister Office, said they could not find the topic "Southeast Asian country that treats people with a smile" in the report, The Thaiger reported.

The objective of the survey should be to "investigate negative and positive emotions, together with stress and worries, among the global population", she said, adding that Thailand is a top destination for tourists and is known for its "smiles and kindness".

Respondents were asked if they smiled or laughed

The original survey conducted by Gallup, an analytics company based in Washington, DC, included two indexes that compiled respondents' positive and negative experiences.

The Positive Experience Index was a compilation of answers from respondents on five different "positive experiences" they had the day before they did the survey.

The five questions that were asked include one which asked if respondents smiled or laughed "a lot yesterday".

In an interactive presentation, the results from all 122 countries and territories surveyed could be seen.

While 72 per cent of those surveyed in Thailand said they smiled or laughed, 26 per cent said they didn't.

Top image via Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/Getty Images