Study Shows Thais Lie to Pollsters

A new study by The Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) seems to indicate that Thais lie to pollsters.  

According to the study, only 3% of Thais consume alcohol and 80% claim to exercise regularly.  

Those numbers seem blatantly at odds with both the reality seen everyday in the country as well as other reports.  

For instance, here is a 2014 ThaiPBS story which reports that Thailand is the top alcohol-consuming country in the ASEAN region.  The Center for Alcohol Studies indicated that 31.5% of Thais consumed alcohol regularly.  

To believe that alcohol consumption dropped from 31.5% to 3% in two years beggars belief.  Even a complete prohibition on alcohol wouldn’t drive the number so low so fast.  

Combined with the fact that in 2015 the World Health Organization attributed 26% of all traffic fatalities in Thailand to alcohol leaves one wondering how The Thai Health Promotion Foundation had the testicles necessary to publish such a load of rubbish.