A majority of people believe news reports about "ghost recruits" - government officials recorded as working at a state agency in three Deep South provinces without actually doing the job - are true, according to an opinion survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The poll was conducted on Aug 30-Sept 1 by telephone interviews with 1,102 people aged 18 and over of various levels of education, occupations and incomes in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces.
Public attention has focused on the case of Pol Cpl Kornsasi Buayaem, 43, who was recruited into the police force - allegedly through a high-level connection - despite being unqualified for the job, and then sent to the far South to fill a non-existent work assignment at the Royal Thai Army's Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) Region 4 Forward Command.
