Thailand losing favour among expats: HSBC survey

[rooster59]

Thailand losing favour among expats: HSBC survey

 

 

Thailand is falling out of favour with expats, a new survey has revealed.

 

According to HSBC’s 2018 Expat Explorer Survey, Thailand ranked in 21st place, down 6 places from its rankings in 2017.

 

The research was conducted online by YouGov in March and April 2018 and saw 22,318 expats across the world surveyed about their experiences living abroad.

 

The survey found that some of the positives to living in Thailand is that expats have more disposable income and are likely to live in a nicer property than in their home country.

 

Expats are also more likely to have access to more affordable healthcare than back home.

 

However, some of the negatives to living in Thailand included safety, the standard of education, job security, career progression and wage growth, all of which expats said were worse in Thailand than in their home country.

 

For the fourth consecutive year, Singapore was found to be the country of choice for expats.

 

Some of the top reasons for moving to Singapore were career progression, improved earnings, quality of life and standard of education for children.

 

However, the country was noted for its high cost of living and poor work-life balance.

 

While Thailand dropped in the rankings from 2017, other ASEAN nations saw their positions increase, with Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam all finishing higher in the 2018 survey.

 

Read the report in full here: https://expatexplorer.hsbc.com/global-report/

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-10-13

[PatOngo]

No mention of visa requirements which is making Thailand less expat friendly? 

[Thaiwrath]

37 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

22,318 expats across the world surveyed about their experiences living abroad.

How can anyone take any notice when such a minority take part ?

[Kwasaki]

Singapore for young expats who want to work abroad, Thailand for retiree makes sense to me.

[madmitch]

1 hour ago, Thaiwrath said:

How can anyone take any notice when such a minority take part ?

About 15 times more people than a Thai Government survey!

[HAKAPALITA]

HSBC isnt much use here im told.Only one office.

[dunroaming]

Well quite a few of my ex-pat friends who lived in Thailand have moved on for a variety of reasons.  Thailand has never made it easy to be an ex-pat and the frustrations sometimes outweigh the benefits.  On the other hand, if you can put up with all the things that are moaned about here on TV  then it is still a pretty good option compared to say.... Syria or Afghanistan. ????

 

Seriously though, Thailand gives many things to many people and they all have the option to leave if it isn't working for them.

[marko kok prong]

Agree with Patongo, visa is a hassle,and this stupid 90 day reporting, my immigration office and the one i used before that brought in a 'service' whereby you pay a fee [no receipt} and they put your name in a big book and your 90 day slip turns up in the post,now i guess that will be gone due to Big joke. Every year the rules seem to change just to cause the applicant more hassle,compare this to the Philippines 1 month on arrival,then you can extend "how long would you like sir" no financials asked for,so you get a year go back get another and go back get another after 3 years you leave 24 hours enough and it starts all over again.

Secondly Thailand is no longer cheap for many things,electric maybe slightly less than Aussie,water very cheap,no rates,but i recently built a house and it cost me around 120,000 to transfer chanotes on land of house under construction and another i own opposite. Beer 65b for a large Singa thats nearly 3 dollars Aussie,dont know how much a long neck costs back there now but not to bad,of course i live up country so much cheaper than Bangkok,Phuket ect,but it is not as cheap as it was. The hassle of doing simple things as often you have to have a Thai with you as the English skills are so poor and i can speak a fair bit of Thai but not fluently,too be honest there are days i wonder what the hell i am doing here.

[CLW]

These surveys never seem to distinguish between working and retired expats which is a completely different background.

[Kwasaki]

15 minutes ago, HAKAPALITA said:

HSBC isnt much use here im told.Only one office.

They have been helpful to me having a branch member FD UK account they allow me to have a credit card, debit card even though I have no UK address.

The other two UK banks I had wouldn't allow it.  

[Crash999]

If you compare China to Thailand you can see there is weighting in favor of the work opportunity and related responses as Thailand is better in most of the other categories but China is much further up the rankings. 

 

Having lived and worked in both countries I’d take Thailand any day. 

 

And Singapore number 1? Maybe for expats with a large family and massive expat package. But for anyone else it isn’t such a great place to live versus other options. 

[Tchooptip]

32 minutes ago, HAKAPALITA said:

HSBC isnt much use here im told.Only one office.

no more HSBC in Thailand since 6/7 years they sold everything to Krungsri, that's why my bank in Thailanf is Krungsri, my main account still in HSBC in Europe 

[Ramdas]

Ooh if only Thailand would open its mind and would make things a little easier understandable and less tricky as far as  immigration is concerned plus be more literlate in English language ( As in other SEA countries ) Things in general would be much better, unlike other South East Asian countries Thailand is still way too insular towards the rest of the world, it keeps putting up walls and restrictions on all fronts..

They want your money but they don’t want you to live and work here ☹️

In the past few years they’ve made literally everything more difficult  just to mention the fact that westerners are not allowed to get a proper job/open a business and so on without being ripped off..

I keep asking myself, is the weather enough (mind you it’s been raining more than the previous years ) To justify my stay here ?! I wonder about that ????

[peter14]

3 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Singapore for young expats who want to work abroad, Thailand for retiree makes sense to me.

Rich retired then with 800 k into show in bank. Not everyone can do that..

[Rimbuman]

3 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Singapore for young expats who want to work abroad, Thailand for retiree makes sense to me.

Still I think Thailand has an attitude and image problems, as I see it 'entities with this kind of problems always lose in the end'.

[HAKAPALITA]

31 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

They have been helpful to me having a branch member FD UK account they allow me to have a credit card, debit card even though I have no UK address.

The other two UK banks I had wouldn't allow it.  

That just proves how clever the other 2 Banks were.

[HAKAPALITA]

Why does this allways jump to Mind. Just go Home get some hellish hours in ,  save deacent money and come back when yer worth something. You entitled Millennials make me puke to be honest.!!!..

[marko kok prong]

16 minutes ago, Ramdas said:

Ooh if only Thailand would open its mind and would make things a little easier understandable and less tricky as far as  immigration is concerned plus be more literlate in English language ( As in other SEA countries ) Things in general would be much better, unlike other South East Asian countries Thailand is still way too insular towards the rest of the world, it keeps putting up walls and restrictions on all fronts..

They want your money but they don’t want you to live and work here ☹️

In the past few years they’ve made literally everything more difficult  just to mention the fact that westerners are not allowed to get a proper job/open a business and so on without being ripped off..

I keep asking myself, is the weather enough (mind you it’s been raining more than the previous years ) To justify my stay here ?! I wonder about that ????

Exactly if anything they seem to becoming more insular maybe due to the military government as for the English skills don't expect any change on that front,as many have said before the are actually taught very little apart from the basics,and that Thailand is the greatest country in the world i gave my stepson a world map,he threw it in a draw a day later no interest. This is a ploy of course of the elite/hiso's to keep the general population stupid and not think about more than sanook and food,of course i could move elsewhere,but after going from Uk to Australia for 16 years then from OZ to here,6 years ago to uproot my entire life again ,not to mention i have a wife,well the thought of it is too exhausting,however as Swissie pointed out in another topic it maybe one day they simply tell us all to leave.

[natway09]

Patongo,,,,, ever tried to live & work in Indonesia ?

[RichardColeman]

Maybe if Thailand made it easier for old people to come live here then they would boost their economy more and fill up all the empty condos and malls

[yellowboat]

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

However, some of the negatives to living in Thailand included safety, the standard of education, job security, career progression and wage growth, all of which expats said were worse in Thailand than in their home country.

Thailand is a resource one uses when needed.  It offers little for an ambitious person, be that person Thai or otherwise.  Other places offer more and it is better to focus your efforts there including learning the language.  Learning Thai should come after learning Japanese, Bahasa or Chinese.  Vietnam is up and coming which may make it more interesting than Thailand.  Thailand needs a few years of non military intervention to start catching up.

[yellowboat]

1 hour ago, Crash999 said:

If you compare China to Thailand you can see there is weighting in favor of the work opportunity and related responses as Thailand is better in most of the other categories but China is much further up the rankings. 

 

Having lived and worked in both countries I’d take Thailand any day. 

 

And Singapore number 1? Maybe for expats with a large family and massive expat package. But for anyone else it isn’t such a great place to live versus other options. 

Your opportunities in China are enormous though some parts are far nicer than others.  And Chinese millionaire small business owners will hear you and pay you well to sort something out.  My experiences fall in line with the article, except with regards to Singapore.  Work permits they GAVE away, but the opportunities outside of finance or fin-tech were few.  Spent four years there, but could not find much that interested me after that.  Immigration was ALWAYS gracious and taxes were easy as well.    

[kc4asia]

Interesting article.  I have been in Thailand as a retiree for 14 years.  I have always loved it here and will never return to live permanently in the USA unless I am forced to.  I am sympathetic with the Thai government's efforts to cope with the increasing flow of immigrants, both tourists and expats.  I have noticed a marked decline in the quality of immigrants to this country and see that many bring crime and filth.  All in all, I hope Thailand can encourage a better quality of visitor.   It will help us all, expats and Thais.

[Lacessit]

The survey does not appear to define whether it has responses from working expats, or expats who are retired. Or both.

No one ever asked me, so I'll take it with a grain of salt.

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, peter14 said:

Rich retired then with 800 k into show in bank. Not everyone can do that..

Not true if someone wants to stay do the research. 

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, Rimbuman said:

Still I think Thailand has an attitude and image problems, as I see it 'entities with this kind of problems always lose in the end'.

Well if you think that up to you I am very happily retired here thanks. 

[marko kok prong]

28 minutes ago, kc4asia said:

Interesting article.  I have been in Thailand as a retiree for 14 years.  I have always loved it here and will never return to live permanently in the USA unless I am forced to.  I am sympathetic with the Thai government's efforts to cope with the increasing flow of immigrants, both tourists and expats.  I have noticed a marked decline in the quality of immigrants to this country and see that many bring crime and filth.  All in all, I hope Thailand can encourage a better quality of visitor.   It will help us all, expats and Thais.

Like all those Black chaps they rounded up the other day eh,all turned out to be legally here,no this is big joke his ambition is boundless,one day last week there where 6 news articles on him in a single day,a good pal of the Pm who we all know hates foriegners.

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, HAKAPALITA said:

That just proves how clever the other 2 Banks were.

But two private pensions I have would only pay into a UK bank they would not pay into a Thai bank.

So they get my money not the other two scab bag UK banks. 

[zzaa09]

In a round about manner, less and less Farang residents can only be beneficial for society.

[stropper]

6 hours ago, PatOngo said:

No mention of visa requirements which is making Thailand less expat friendly? 

what are you talking about, it is easy to get a visa in thailand, if you abide by the rules, try getting a thai a visa to aus or gb, if you are secure it is easy, if not go home and get back on welfare!