Data from Tapscan puts the station ahead of 38 others, with an average of 86,600 listeners at any one time. "Easy listening music is extremely popular in Thailand, far more so than in London and Paris where it's very much a niche format," notes the station's chief operating officer Mark Fisher.
"For a year before we launched we had been heavily researching the market to find out what listeners wanted," he said. "Soft is a broad appeal Thai-language station for 22 to 40 year-olds, and possibly a significant number on either side."
Two other stations under the Virgin umbrella in Bangkok also made the top 10 in May - with Easy FM105.5 - a Thai language, Western adult contemporary music station - at number seven with an average 32,000 listeners at any given time; and 95.5 Virgin Hitz - a Thai-language, hit music station - at number nine with 23,000 listeners.
With a fourth station, Virgin Smooth, at number 22, the company now claims a weekly listener base of almost 1.2 million, an increase of 42,000 over April.
Fisher is optimistic about the Thai radio scene, and expects the overall growth in radio listening to continue in the medium term, particularly with increases in the number of mobile phones able to receive radio.
"People are more likely to download radio applications than video that require significantly more brandwidth," he said.
Having captured a listener base, the next step for Virgin will be to "go out there and speak to advertisers," Fisher said. "There is a lag of 12 to 24 months between building an audience and monetising that. It takes time for advertisers to fully appreciate that audience you have captured."
Meanwhile, the company, launched at the end of 2001 to build an Asian radio network, has started broadcasting in China in partnership with state broadcaster China Radio International. There are plans to expand further into the region, but not in the immediate future, Fisher said.
"We are talking to potential partners in Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, but we don't expect to have radio stations operating in any of these countries this year."