BANGKOK, June 5 — As many as 41.4 per cent of Thai soccer fans believe that Brazil will win the 2014 World Cup which will kick off there next Thursday, according to a Bangkok Poll survey.
The research centre at Bangkok University, or Bangkok Poll, queried 1,129 football fans in the Thai capital and neighbouring provinces and found that 98.5 per cent are preparing to watch the 2014 World Cup which will be telecast live on television stations across the kingdom.
Only 1.5 per cent of the total respondents said they would not have time to watch because they must either attend college classes or be at work.
While only 22 of the total 64 matches will be broadcast live on free TV, 21.7 per cent of respondents said that they would watch the rest of the matches on the Internet.
Five times World Cup champion, Brazil remains for Thais as the favourite team to clinch the victory once again as 41.4 per cent of the total respondents voted for it, followed by title holder Spain 18.9 and Germany 16.3 per cent, the survey said.
Asked what they planned to do while watching the matches, 38.2 per cent said they would be snacking and 27.1 per cent said they would have alcoholic drinks.
Up to 18.2 per cent said they planned to gamble on the results and would put up money for bets.
