In his weekly national address on television on Friday, the premier cited the recent World Happiness Report 2017 ranking Thailand as the 32nd happiest country in the world, one place higher than the previous year.

“To move step by step steadily will help build country’s good image on the international stage. Please don’t destroy or distort one other but help to fix problems and develop the country,” he said.

The survey was conducted by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and ranked 155 countries by their perceived happiness levels.

Prayut said several factors were taken into consideration for the ranking. They included GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life’s decisions, generosity, and trust as measured by a perceived absence of corruption in government and business sectors.

Launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2012, the SDSN mobilises scientific and technical expertise from academia, civil society and the private sector in support of sustainable development problem-solving at local, national, and global levels.