Prayut and Issara were the top choices among males with 38.2 per cent and 6.1 per cent respectively, with actor Nadech Kugimiya coming in third at 4.9 per cent. On the female list, actress Patcharapa “Aum” Chaichue, former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and actress Urassaya “Yaya” Sperbund were the top three at 7.5 per cent, 5.5 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively.

More than 70 per cent of the 1,178 people polled from March 31 to April 4 said they expected this year’s Songkran water battles to be subdued in comparison with previous years. Most of those surveyed wanted authorities to prevent violent water battles and brawls in Songkran celebration zones (77.4 per cent), curb sales of alcoholic beverages (63.4 per cent) and prevent revellers from wearing too-revealing clothes (59.2 per cent).

The most popular places for Songkran celebrations are expected to be Chiang Mai’s Khu Muang canal, (36.9 per cent) followed by Pattaya and Bang Saen in Chon Buri (22.9 per cent), and Khao San Road (17.5 per cent) and Silom Road (12.5 per cent) in Bangkok.

Officials were also prepared to recalibrate computers and temporarily make all lanes inbound if the influx of travellers grew.

Also yesterday, a revered statue of the Buddha, the Phra Buddha Sihing, was carried in a procession from the National Museum in Bangkok to a temporary shrine at City Hall’s Khon Muang Plaza for the Songkran festival.

With Bangkok Governor Pol General Aswin Kwanmuang presiding, the Buddha image was carried through the streets of the old city to the plaza, where celebrants can pay homage, many hoping to earn good fortune.