Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, army chief and chairman of Thailand's Council for National Security ( CNS), which toppled the elected government of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Sept. 19, was named 2006 Man of the Year in an opinion poll released by Thai News Agency Sunday.

Conducted by Assumption University of Thailand, the poll sampling 4,609 people in 17 provinces nationwide between Dec. 13- 30 showed that Sonthi was the most popular name in the country during year 2006.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, Privy Council chairman Prem Tinsulanonda and media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul who led protests against Thaksin before he was ousted from his post ranked second, third, fourth and fifth respectively as most popular individuals in the country in 2006.

Moreover, the four leading "good news" events that occurred this year were the announcement by Sonthi that the military would not cling on to power following the bloodless coup on Sept. 19, an announcement by Thaksin soon after a general election that he would take a break from politics, the appointment of Surayud as prime minister and the role of the courts in helping solve political crisis in the beginning of this year.

Topping the list of the five biggest "bad news" stories were clashes between anti- and pro-Thaksin demonstrators, charges by Thaksin that an influential person outside the constitution was behind the protestors to oust him, charges that Surayud had allegedly built a house on land which was intended for landless farmers in the northeast, chaos from the April 2 snap election which was later annulled by the Supreme Administrative Court, and tax evasion by Thaksin's family.

The majority of respondents said that their wish for the new year is that they want the interim government to help solve poverty, resolve violence in the three southern border provinces, punish corrupt people, create unity, solve the narcotics problem and developing the education system.

Source: Xinhua