'Only 70m postcards'
Although Thai football fans have been slow off the mark in a World Cup postal competition, interest is expected to pick up now that the tournament has reached the semi-final stage.
Thailand Post had expected about 170 million postcards would be sent predicting the outcome of matches, but sales have only numbered 70 million so far. "However, we believe sales will double within the next four days when the choice of winner will be clearer," said a spokesman. Celebrations of His Majesty the King's diamond jubilee had an effect on the competition, he said. The unexpected failure of the England and Brazil teams is expected to stimulate the sale of postcards, as people who had been backing them will have to send more postcards predicting another winner. In the 2002 World Cup, about 130 million postcards were sent to forecast results. There were 70 million in the 1998 World Cup and 72 million during Euro 2000.
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