Can't Beat Quality Of Life In Scandinavia, Says World Ranking

[bingobongo]

now how will the junta spin this?

can you imagine the VERY LAST sentence on a glossy brochure?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070920/lf_af...es_070920151835

Edited September 21, 2007 by bingobongo

[Gnarpjohan]

Suppose I am a lucky guy then living in Stockholm. But in October-February, I would trade life here for Thailand any day of the week. Only the harsh realities of life prevent me from doing so...maybe later

[samran]

now how will the junta spin this?

can you imagine the VERY LAST sentence on a glossy brochure?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070920/lf_af...es_070920151835

I love Bangkok. Great place to live and work all things considered. You take the good with the bad.

Be interesting though to talk to the Swedes who are moving in realtively large numbers to Hua Hin and Phuket. I wonder what the would have to say about it all.

[consumerismsux]

What's the weather like in Scandinavia? I don't like anyhting below 25 degrees Celsius.

Is Scandinavia 'gay friendly'?

[PeaceBlondie]

I used to swim in the winter with a Swiss psychiatrist. It would be 27 degrees in the air and the water in Hua Hin, and 27 below in Zurich. Brownsville, Texas, is too cold for me in the winter, and I'm not sure I'd settle in Veracruz, even.

[Neeranam]

Well I lived in Helsinki one winter and it's the most depressing place, with the most depressing people, that I've ever seen.

Quality of life?

[londonthai]

'readers digest' is rather a source of mis-information by one of the american secret agencies, which set it up back in 1950 s

[jckei]

Im swedish.. I moved to Thailand because:

Hard to get a job over there.

Too cold.

The girls are playing hard to get.

100 000 new imigrants every year in a country of 9 mil.

The last point has made it very dangerous to be a swede... In Sweden.

In "my" city half the population is none-swedish, which most of them are muslim. If I were to walk alone when its dark, I would be beaten up and robbed just because im swedish. Its very hard for other people to beleive, but its true. The polictians wont even discuss the mather, if they would their career would be over and be labeld a racist.

Quality of life, no.

[meom]

Might've changed by now but booze used to be very expensive over there.

[howtoescape]

Finland is the suicide capital of Europe, maybe the poeple cant handle the perfection life had thrown at them.

[howtoescape]

And its closely followed by Iceland

[PeaceBlondie]

Four hours of partial, low, clouded sunlight, several months per year. No thanks. Those long summer days are good for maybe two months. The survey isn't for retirement factors, but 'quality of life,' much of it environmental and social welfare.

[consumerismsux]

'readers digest' is rather a source of mis-information by one of the american secret agencies, which set it up back in 1950 s

I agree totally.

I did check the web for info on Scandinavia. Decided it was too good to be true (Readers Digest info) & the weather? Well, generally it sucks!

[bingobongo]

wow this has turned into a lively discussion, i guess people see what they want to see........enjoy your weekend everybody

[longway]

now how will the junta spin this?

can you imagine the VERY LAST sentence on a glossy brochure?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070920/lf_af...es_070920151835

Best Asian mega city

[unforgiven]

now how will the junta spin this?

can you imagine the VERY LAST sentence on a glossy brochure?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070920/lf_af...es_070920151835

bangkok near the bottom?I've been to those other cities near the bottom and BK is miles ahead!!

[lazeeboy]

now how will the junta spin this?

can you imagine the VERY LAST sentence on a glossy brochure?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070920/lf_af...es_070920151835

i would'nt swap thailand for sweden for all the tea in china .........

[Spee]

What a crock!

"Nordic countries take the greatest care of .... their people"

May be true but it is bankrupting the national economies and is unsustainable. And why would anyone in their right mind want their government to take care of them anyway? Lead, follow or get the heck out of the way, right? Governments can't lead, they won't follow, so they should stay the heck out of the way of peoples' lives rather than interfering with them.

Thank you very much, but I will take the realities, rewards and risks of Thailand over some faux-democratic come-socialist western European republic any day.

And what the "eff" does greenhouse gas emissions have do with ..... oh ... never mind .... I see that the source of the data is from the UN and the data was processed by two of the great leftist uni's in America. 'Nuf said.

[Sophon]

May be true but it is bankrupting the national economies.

I have no wish to live in Scandinavia (although I do at the moment), but this is pure nonsense. The economies of Sweden/Norway/Denmark/Finland is actually doing extremely well.

Sophon

[stumck219]

i lived in finland for 3 years. I did find the quality of life to be good in as much that the countryside is beautiful, the women are beautiful and very friendly and the crime rate is very low.

However the winters are long and miserable.

I much prefer thailand.

I totally agree with the previous poster about these countries being over governed. The uk has gone the same way. I truly believe that is one of the main attractions for a lot of people in thailand.

[rainman]

now how will the junta spin this?

can you imagine the VERY LAST sentence on a glossy brochure?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070920/lf_af...es_070920151835

Best Asian mega city

...almost best in the world ....from the bottom.

[radioguy1450]

I am not saying I support the report because I have never been to Scandanavia. But one thing we should remember concerning Thailand in the report is that I would bet they were looking at the lives of Thai people--not expats. I think the average Thai makes 200 baht a day--around 4-5,000 per month. Many of us spend that in a weekend. Most of us probably live on 30-60,000 per month.

So how does the quality of life in Thailand compare to other countries if you make 200 baht a day?

Would you choose Thailand over Scandanavia if you had to live on 200 baht a day in Thailand?

[longway]

now how will the junta spin this?

can you imagine the VERY LAST sentence on a glossy brochure?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070920/lf_af...es_070920151835

Best Asian mega city

...almost best in the world ....from the bottom.

u obviously have much to learn about putting a positive spin on things.

though you have great potential and could go far.

[Spee]

I am not saying I support the report because I have never been to Scandanavia. But one thing we should remember concerning Thailand in the report is that I would bet they were looking at the lives of Thai people--not expats. I think the average Thai makes 200 baht a day--around 4-5,000 per month. Many of us spend that in a weekend. Most of us probably live on 30-60,000 per month.

So how does the quality of life in Thailand compare to other countries if you make 200 baht a day?

Would you choose Thailand over Scandanavia if you had to live on 200 baht a day in Thailand?

These kinds of points are unreasonable when taken out of context. By context I mean the net bottom line and the overall cost of living. For example, in Thailand, a 25 litre bottle of clean drinking water is what? 20baht? Twenty baht is roughly equivalent to about 30p in the UK. If you can tell me somewhere in the UK where you can buy 5 gallons of clean bottled water for 30p, then I'd like to know. Similar examples can be made for rice, fruit, rent, medical care, etc. 200 baht won't make anyone rich but it goes a lot further in Thailand than the equivalent three quid would go in the UK. A more drastic example is comparing Thailand to Iceland, where in one case almost everything needed is local, plentiful, available and inexpensive, and in the other almost everything has to be imported and is extremely expensive. 200 baht a day won't make anyone rich but one can survive on it. Can anyone survive on 3 quid a day in the UK? Or even 5x that, 15 quid a day?

[think_too_mut]

now how will the junta spin this?

can you imagine the VERY LAST sentence on a glossy brochure?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070920/lf_af...es_070920151835

bangkok near the bottom?I've been to those other cities near the bottom and BK is miles ahead!!

Other than Australia (and not every place there) countries at the top (omg, even Iceland!) are misplaced.

When I arrived for my 1 year stunt at Bergen, Norway and started writing postcards, a colleague of mine said "I remember when this picture was shot. Companies around the city let their workers take a half day off and enjoy the day".

The picture was - Bergen bathing in a crisp clear sunny day. Something they see once in few years in the city where rain hardly ever stop.

[kmart]

Scandanavian pornography is of a much higher quality than here. Add the ratio of saunas / person, and smoked foodstuffs, and you can see the reasoning behind this ranking.