Smile Begins To Fade As Happiness Index Plummets

[hansnl]

Blame the farang. Nothing changes.

My family's happiness rating has gone through the roof. Now they eat properly, the kids won't be snatched out of school so as to earn a crust, they are adequately clothed, they live in comfortable accomodation, etc etc. This is because of my farang influence - and at times, compulsion. Some have even begun to think for themselves. Yeah. The Western influence has ruined Thailand.

Sure their situation has improved......but what is the true definition of happiness in this situation.....many people grow to quickly accept their improved situation......didn't have transport for 20 years....buy a motorsi...great improvement.....buy a car....great improvement.....now cannot do without a car.....more expense.......worry about paying the repair bills/petrol etc......

Happiness for improved situations is transient.....educational benefits will only be appreciated later in life....

Do you enjoy your life?....diffferent matter.....and it appears the 'westernised' people in BKK are the ones who are not so happy...according to the report......

What utter s**t. People in Thailand are unhappy because their country is in a complete mess. It has nothing to do with the west. How can it? The westerners have no political influence in Thailand.

All the decisions made here are by THAIS for the benefit of THAIS. And lets be brutally honest what is your working definition for 'westernized people in bangkok?' How does this western influence work??

People are unhappy cause of a myriad of negative factors - Swine flu, falling incomes, political problems and social division throughout society.

Bugger all to do with the western influence.

Maybe you should rethink the part:

All the decisions made here are by THAIS for the benefit of THAIS

Guess you should write or read another group of people.

[hansnl]

Some farangs will never accept that their existence here doesn't amount to jack squat.

They believe their precious money spent here buoys the fragile Thai economy, their deep-thinking brains are a valuable resource to be treasured by the dum Thai folk, their creativity and ingenuity are miles beyond anything a Thai is capable of...

This is Thailand -- 66+ million Thais and a handful of self-important farangs. Get over yourselves.

I agree.

However, a lot of farang do indeed support, in one way or another, a lot of Thai people.

If all retired farang living in Thailand spend their pension in Thailand, that might be a considerable sum.

Of course, Thailand as a whole will not feel much difference, but it is the local population who indeed will feel the difference.

The small people are always bad off.

By the way, have you got any idea how much money from outside Thailand is spend in Thailand by "residing" farang?

Or maybe, how many farang are living in Thailand on money from outside Thailand.

I have heard so many numbers, all differing, so I am just guessing.

But even if there only 100,000 pensioners spending 50,000 to 100,000 "imported" baht a month, that still is a sizeable sum of money spent locally.

60,000,000,000 baht per year on a 50,000 baht basis; 120,000,000,000 on a 100,000 baht base.

Or, per Thai, 882 baht or 1765 baht per year.

But, I have heard sometime that the number of pensioners is more as 250,000, the spending per month is around 140,000 baht per month, including long term investments in houses, cars, condos, motorbikes, etc.

If that is the case, we are talking about 6176 baht per Thai per year.

I just wonder how much money really is imported into Thailand by long-stay farang.

I do think the influence on the Thai economy is slightly greater as we all think.

I informed with my local bank manager in Khon Kaen, how much money arrives in her books from abroad on accounts of farang.

I am not allowed to give you the amount, but I assure you the amount is staggering!

Even the bank manager was surprised, had no idea it was that much.

And this is only a smallish branch.

[fred2007]

Smile begins to fade as happiness index plummets

By John Le Fevre

While Thailand might be known by some as the Land of Smiles (LOS), a survey conducted by Assumption University shows that the smiles are beginning to fade.

The university conducted a survey of 6,856 households throughout 27 provinces between July 8 and 15 and the results show that the average Thai is growing less happy by the day.

According to the results of the survey, termed the happiness index, the level of overall happiness with things has dropped from 7.15 out of 10 last month, to just 5.92 out of 10 when measured a week or so ago.

The survey found that Thais scored their level of happiness with the current political situation 2.87 out of 10, while the government’s administration received a measly 3.61 out of 10 and the current economic climate a paltry 4.06.

When it came to happiness the populace was most happy about the royal family, giving the monarchy a whopping 9.24 out of 10, their family environment 7.67, and their physical health 7.35.

The lowest overall level of happiness was in Bangkok where residents ranked their level of contentment at only 5.30 out of 10, while the happiest people in Thailand are said to be found in the Northeast where the score was 6.30 out of 10.

-- thaivisa.com 2009-07-21

Yes and 85% of Thai people are still happy with corruption

[JR Texas]

That is exactly the wrong plan - y'all will wreck this place, as ya have everywhere else!!

The real reason we come here is to get away from the crud at home and to be with real people.

Y'all know where the door is

Bubba

The solution to the problem is easy: open up the economy to foreign competition, stop the xenophobia, modernize the education system, and put an end to the social engineering program that is targeting tourists and expats.

Thanks for those positive responses to my ramblings (normally I am attacked from all sides).

All I know is that what Thailand is doing now is not working for the vast majority.

Yes, things are a little better.......but they could have been much better under different leadership.

It is tragic that Thailand is not more like Singapore or South Korea or Japan. It is 2009 and Thailand remains way behind those countries in terms of development.

Thailand could have been more like those countries if it had not made so many mistakes.......mainly closing its economy to serious foreign competition and making a joke out of higher education.

Also, as noted by another poster, corruption is so ingrained in Thailand.......some of the most incompetent people reach positions of power for no other reason than nepotism.

It is possible to develop economically and retain your cultural roots (not easy, but possible).

It is the state of the economy that is at the heart of most of the "smile problems."

And we know who controls over 95% of Thailand's economy and periodically tosses peanuts to the masses to keep them smiling.

JR from Texas eh? What was that about people living in glass houses? Have a look at this clip about corruption in your beloved USA that makes Thailand pale in comparison:

You Tube

Where did I write that I love America? Where did I write that corruption is not to be found there?

Corruption is universal (or at least it seems that way to me). But there are degrees of magnitude of it.

I don't know if any person has done a study, but I suspect that corruption and poverty track each other. So, one would expect that the more impoverished a country is, the more corruption.

The problem with that is that so much corruption in Thailand comes from the top......the 1% of Thai families that control 99% of all the wealth in the country.

So, you have it at both ends.........the impoverished masses (engaged in and accepting corruption as normal) and the ruling elite minority (engaged in corruption and assuming they have a right to do so because of their status).

The rule of law is important.......that is something that Thailand seems to be lacking. It can act as a corrective measure against blatant corruption.

In my own country, we have seen how it works (e.g., corrupt Enron executives got what they deserved).

And it is getting more and more difficult to get elected or appointed to a political position........any corruption in a candidates past is revealed.

In Thailand, there is a political icon who robbed the treasury blind and broke virtually every law to be broken, and he is still respected by much of the populace.

Guess who?