Thailand's Smile Fades: Nation's Global Happiness Rank Falls

[Chongalulu]

34 minutes ago, suspectdevice said:

You do know that tik tok isn't the real world?  😂

You mean like "heaven" or 72 virgins? Surely not!

[nakhonandy]

I was working in England then got ill so am currently forced to stay. Life here is not easy compared to my younger years.

Renting or buying a home is ridiculously expensive, the economy has tanked and in general it's a hard life.

 

 

Now thinking about our life in Thailand, we live in her birth village where it's mostly rural. Us and her extended family are all happy most of the time as are the other inhabitants.

When we travel, if we go to Thai holiday locations the same level of general happiness applies.

When we go to Pattaya this doesn't seem to be the case, and considering we used to live in Jomtien up to 8 years ago, we notice. Same in Bangkok.

[Robert_Smith]

It's been fading for years.

 

They have turned into real sour puss's since covid.

 

regards,

bob.

[Robert_Smith]

21 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

Why do Fins look so miserable?

cos they are in Thailand???

 

bob.

[Aussie999]

2 hours ago, suspectdevice said:

You do know that tik tok isn't the real world?  😂

but my comment, on tik tok was...

[gejohesch]

10 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

I agree with your wife, Burmese are harder workers that Thais (males)... I made the same comment on tik tok, which upset a lot of Thais.. they just can't handle the truth.

But going back to the main topic here - the smiles. I do not spend a lot of time in what seems to be the mainstay places of so many - Hua Hin, Pattaya, the islands, Chiang Mai and so on. When in Thailand, I spend 99% of my time in my wife's region, in Isaan, and I never noticed people around there losing their smiles. They are all, without any exception, very friendly and keep smiling even when I get a bit worked up when a shop assistant or a bank employee (recently) does not understand what I'm after (I cannot help being a farang after all!) - they still smile! They have defaults, of course, but as for smiles : always there!

[blaze master]

10 hours ago, steven100 said:

but they still have their Thai fake smile to carry them on ......  

 

The smiles were always fake. 

[Gknrd]

Well turn that frown upside down Thailand..

[smew]

 Thai smiles is simply a disguise for:  hello fool, good day sucker… how much can I get from you for nothing or  zero work

[dutch boy]

6 hours ago, Purdey said:

I guess happiness is just your perspective on life generally. But could political position have any bearing?

The top four

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden 

All Socialist (or Marxist, Communist depending on your education) and Finland has been number one eight years running. All of them came in the same position last year too. Happiness doesn't depend on free healthcare, but it helps.

No Purdey, Shirley there must be some mistake! Well, if Asean Now was a country it would likely be number 50. And stop calling me Shirley.

Number 5 is the Netherlands and the reason we are happy is that we keep our fingers in the dike. Unfortunately, like much of the EU, the Netherlands is socialist and globalist and possibly communist. Nothing is free in life as they say and those paying the highest price for this socialism are the higher wage earners. So really, there is not much incentive to make a higher wage.

 

2025 rates for box 1 income

Taxable income (EUR)		Tax on column 1 (EUR)	Tax on excess (%)
Over (column 1)	Not over
0	38,441*		8.17
38,441	76,817	3,140	37.48
76,817		17,523	49.50

[NanLaew]

 

11 hours ago, hotchilli said:

I bet you're happy you got the opportunity to get that "dig" off your chest

 

Sorry, but incessantly whining clique of geriatric "resident tourists" still seem to have ALL the shovels.

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

but here we have you whining... are you a "geriatric?"

 

Are you a speed reader too?

 

No, and I'm not even a tourist, sorry to disappoint.

[NanLaew]

14 hours ago, gejohesch said:

Burmese in Thailand seem to be the equivalent of Mexicans in the USA. But, possibly, better treated, as says my wife? She also considers Burmese are harder workers than Thai people are - again a possible parrallel with Mexican workers in the USA?

 

They're not Mexicans. They are Guatemalans, Hondurans and Nicaraguans, etc.. My Colombian interior designer in the US took great umbrage at being frequently call Mexican.

 

Gringo.

[NanLaew]

21 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

because of people who makes comments like this....

 

Whooops!...and then there were three!!

[sidjameson]

11 hours ago, ronster said:

What's to smile about ?? 

The weather because it's sunny ? 

Absolutely nothing if you are one of the the general population or elderly. Working daily for peanuts , poor education standards , constant debt , loan sharks coming daily to your home , elderly trying to live on about 800 bht a month , poor air quality , your children having children then dumping them on you to look after , drugs flooding the country daily , guns everywhere , people drunk by 7am then driving around.

List goes on and on but hey keep smiling as suns out 😎🙈

If that's how you see Thailand I do hope for your sake you don't live here. Life's too short. Choose a country you can believe in.

[Aussie999]

20 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

Are you a speed reader too?

 

No, and I'm not even a tourist, sorry to disappoint.

Not disappointed at all... I guess your just a young, immature, whiner/whinger

[ronster]

39 minutes ago, sidjameson said:

If that's how you see Thailand I do hope for your sake you don't live here. Life's too short. Choose a country you can believe in.

Believe in what ?? 🤔

[3NUMBAS]

13 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

Shhh, we don't want too many coming to our paradise... Hua Hin.

They could use some younger bar gals to replace the geriatric crones in the bars

[Stargeezr]

Living in the tropics is one reason some people seem happy.

  Living in a country with cold Winters, can make other people seem less happy.

I think the happiness survey is quite flawed. Some people think they need to be rich to be happy.

  If we do not get wiped out by a war, or an astroid or comet, we should just be happy to 

have peace in some parts of the world. IMO of course

[NanLaew]

8 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

Not disappointed at all... I guess your just a young, immature, whiner/whinger

 

Let me guess here... you're an Aussie?

[Aussie999]

10 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

They could use some younger bar gals to replace the geriatric crones in the bars

depends on what YOU call young...

[Aussie999]

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

Let me guess here... you're an Aussie?

Mate, I understand it would be difficult for you, so I understand why you need to ask.... but tell me, what is the relevance... or are you going to make this about race.... please explain yourself.

[NanLaew]

On 3/20/2025 at 10:51 PM, proton said:

Smiles will return when the man most Thais voted for does not get banned from politics for 10 years, but actually gets to be the Prime Minister

 

How utterly and quaintly naive.

 

BTW, the man who has cumulatively acquired the most freedom-loving votes ever, is already back here.

[NanLaew]

On 3/20/2025 at 10:20 PM, hotchilli said:

Thailands lost the paddle... you know the rest,

thousands have nothing to be happy about, life is a daily struggle, except for those sitting on fortunes who believe life is perfect.

 

Meanwhile, back in Sheffield...

[gejohesch]

20 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

They're not Mexicans. They are Guatemalans, Hondurans and Nicaraguans, etc.. My Colombian interior designer in the US took great umbrage at being frequently call Mexican.

 

Gringo.

"As of the third quarter of 2023, individuals of Mexican descent accounted for approximately 11.4% of the total U.S. labor force. Given that Hispanics or Latinos made up about 19.1% of the U.S. labor force during the same period, this means that Mexicans represented roughly 60% of all Latino workers in the United States."

(from ChatGPT)

It does not matter one bit if the exact percentage is 50% or 70%, instead of 60%. The point is that Mexicans are by far the dominant component of the Latino workforce.

Gringo

[3NUMBAS]

Everyone is skint with rising prices for everything so it’s not surprising 

[NanLaew]

On 3/20/2025 at 10:29 PM, Atlantic Cod said:

Most of the smiles in Thailand are Myanmar, Cambodia or Laos, it is a propaganda ploy to attract tourists to label Thailand as the land of smiles....anyway what does a 'smile' mean?

 

To an @Atlantic Cod, probably nothing.

[NanLaew]

On 3/21/2025 at 2:43 AM, lordgrinz said:

 

I reluctantly left the USA 9 years ago, and went back last year, I miss everything back there, and still hate Thailand with a passion.

 

I have read that, for a male, being unable to control one's destiny can be quite emasculating.

[NanLaew]

8 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

Mate, I understand it would be difficult for you, so I understand why you need to ask.... but tell me, what is the relevance... or are you going to make this about race.... please explain yourself.

 

"Mate ..." Lol, dead giveaway.

 

Race?

 

Are you always barking up the wrong tree?

[NanLaew]

11 minutes ago, gejohesch said:

"As of the third quarter of 2023, individuals of Mexican descent accounted for approximately 11.4% of the total U.S. labor force. Given that Hispanics or Latinos made up about 19.1% of the U.S. labor force during the same period, this means that Mexicans represented roughly 60% of all Latino workers in the United States."

(from ChatGPT)

It does not matter one bit if the exact percentage is 50% or 70%, instead of 60%. The point is that Mexicans are by far the dominant component of the Latino workforce.

Gringo

 

And that's why Gringo's tend to label each and every Hispanic or Latino they encounter as Mexican.

 

Thanks for sharing.