By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

Thais believe Korea has the biggest impact on their culture, a study has found.

Yonhap News of Korea on Sept. 13 reported the results of a soft power survey conducted by a research team led by Professor Boonying Kongarchapatara at Mahidol University's College of Management in Thailand. 

The study found that Korea had the biggest cultural impact on Thailand with a score of 3.92 out of five, followed by China (3.90), Japan (3.71), the U.S. (3.64) and the U.K. (3.26).

Korea also had the most influence on Thailand in fashion and lifestyle, and was one of the top three in impact on arts and culture, Yonhap said.

Mahidol on Sept. 7 held a seminar on how soft power can yield large effects and conducted an online survey in which over 1,000 Thais aged 18 or above participated.

On which country's movies or dramas they like best, most respondents picked Korea (42.1%), who topped the list ahead of runners-up U.S. (32.1%) and China (15.2%). The reasons cited for selecting such Korean content included "heartwarming stories," "good-looking cast" and "familiarity."

Korea also came in second as the country of choice for music and artists with 31.4%, trailing the U.S. (45.2%). The U.K. finished third (8.7%).

aisylu@korea.kr