Expat Survey Shows 84% Happy In Thailand, Thaksin Not Popular

[george]

Thaivisa Member Survey 2011 Results

Expat survey shows 84% happy in Thailand, Thaksin not popular, 95% recommends Thaivisa

The survey took place between 9-14 May 2011 and received 4,434 responses. A big thank you to those who participated.

The results of the recent survey have now been collated and are summarised below. A record number of 4,434 members participated this time round - a big big thank you to you all. Your views and opinions are important to us so we can improve the forum. The survey has provided some interesting information and results.

• 95% of respondents would recommend Thaivisa to a friend
  
• 82% of respondents indicate Thaivisa moderating is fair
  
• 55% of respondents are not married to Thai
  
• 44% of respondents believe the Democrat Party (Abhisit) is best for Thailand's future
  

Age Groupings

28.8% (1,277) respondents indicate they are in the age group 50-59, followed closely by 27.7% (1,227) in the age group 60-69. That is not really surprising, as Thailand has long been a chosen destination for retirement. 46% of respondents completing the survey indicate they are on retirement extension.

Geographical Origin

North America marginally leads the table on country of origin, with 26.7% (1,173) responses. The UK by itself accounts for 25% (1,110) of responses, and is a clear leader on the European front with Scandanavia being its nearest rival (222 responses).

Status and Location

70% of respondents are expats (3,045 responses), with most indicating have been so for 5-10 years. Survey results showing 68.5% (3,038) of respondents are in Thailand is therefore not unexpected. Question 9 results show some confusion between a visa and extension of stay, with 742 of respondents indicating they are on extension against a figure of 2,183 in Question 10. Making adjustment gives the following re-stated figures for Question 9:

No visa, I am a Thai citizen        2.1%    92 
15/30 day entry stamp(s)            3.7%    162 
Tourist visa                        8.2%    354     
Non-Immigrant visa                  13.4%   582 
Residence permit                    3.7%    160 
Extension of stay                   50.3%   2,183 
I am not in Thailand                18.6%   809

Geographically Bangkok is the mainstay for respondents, accounting for over 30% of responses. Pattaya/Chonburi and Chiang Mai follow at 15.3% and 11.8% respectively. "Others" accounts for 26%. Our apologies, as we seem to have missed Khon Kaen/Isaan off the list and will fix next time.

Happiness

70% of respondents are Happy living in the Land of Smiles (84% if include Blissful) against figure of 35% for home country. 36.5% of respondents recorded Neutral as top score for home country.

Internet and Technology

Looking at the internet, 25% of respondents are using TOT, followed by 3BB (17%) and True (15%). ADSL/DSL connection is a clear leader at 58%, with most respondents on 4-6Mbps subscribed speed (35%). Interesting to see a 50/50 split on whether subscribed speeds are delivered. Most respondents are paying 600-900 per month (35%) with 47% of members indicating price is about right. Overall 62% of respondents are happy with their internet service provider (ISP). 47% of respondents indicate that internet service quality is unchanged over last 12 months, with a further 26% indicating better service than before. That all rolls up into 33% of members indicating ISP customer support quality is fair, increasing to 65% if include Good and Excellent.

51% of respondents indicate using AIS/One-2-Call as mobile service provider, followed by DTAC (29%).

Thaivisa

On the Thaivisa front, 50% of respondents have been members for more than 3 years. 37% login to Thaivisa a few times a week, with 27% logging in every day. Interesting to see that 55% of respondents just read Thaivisa rather than posting. 51% of respondents indicate the forum quality is Good (rising to over 93% including Very Good and Excellent). A whopping 82.6% of respondents believe Thaivisa moderating to be Fair, with 95% indicating they would recommend Thaivisa to their friends.

• 76% of respondents subscribe to Thaivisa Breaking Newsletter.
  
• 54% of respondents indicate the speed in which news stories are picked up is Very Good (rising to 71% including Excellent).
  
• 64% of respondents rate the World News forum coverage as Good/Very Good/Excellent (Good being top score at 31%).
  
• 81% of respondents rate the Thailand News forum coverage as Good/Very Good/Excellent (Good being top score at 36%).
  
• 40% of respondents have used TV Classifieds, with 24% indicating Successful/Somewhat Successful outcome
  

Political scene

41% of respondents indicate they would vote for the Democrat Party (Abhisit) at the next election if they could vote, followed by 39% indicate abstaining from voting. 44% of respondents believe the Democrat Party (Abhisit) is best for Thailand's future, followed by 34% indicating No Preference. 53% of respondents do not believe Thaksin should be forgiven and allowed to return, followed by 27% indicating No Opinion.

Personal demographic data (top scores):

• 74% do not have children in Thailand
  
• 55% not married to Thai
  
• 36% own a house in Thailand
  
• 33% do not own a vehicle in Thailand
  
• 18% have yearly income 0.5M - 1M (excluding 'Prefer not to say' - 29%)
  

Lucky draw:

For privacy reasons we did not capture member details as part of the survey to allow participation in the prize draw.

You are invited to register your participation in the survey by clicking on this link. 1,000 baht mobile top ups are available to the 3 lucky winners. Last day to enter in the Lucky Draw is Wednesday May 18 at at 22:00 (10pm) Bangkok time. Winners will be announced on Thursday May 19, 2011 on Thaivisa Forum.

Topic guidelines

Please only discuss the survey results in this thread; off topic comments will be moved or deleted.

Thanks!

Full detailed survey results in PDF format for download:

Thaivisa-Member-Survey-2011.pdf

[PingManDan]

Thaksin is very popular with me, guess I am a rare breed of farang so are the red shirts :jap:

[Ulysses G.]

It is nice to see that the farang moaners only seem to be a majority on Thai Visa.

[kuffki]

About the age,what happened to under 50? Is there a break down from 20-30, 30-40, 40-50?

[george]

About the age,what happened to under 50? Is there a break down from 20-30, 30-40, 40-50?

You can download the full survey results in a PDF, check the link in the opening post.

[geovalin]

Maybe it's time to rejuvenate the members. Imagine the same survey in 2031: average age will be 70 - 79!!!!

Of course, most of the farang living in Thailand are old chap like us but I see, on a daily basis, young guys LIVING in the country, mostly in Bangkok, I mean expats not tourists.

They would probably not be interested by the useless discussions / forums about Thaksin but they obviously like the country and have something to tell about it.

At this moment, where do they meet (on line)?

Well, perhaps they are just happy to stay here and do not mind about politics and criticisms about Thailand.

[kuffki]

Maybe it's time to rejuvenate the members. Imagine the same survey in 2031: average age will be 70 - 79!!!!

Of course, most of the farang living in Thailand are old chap like us but I see, on a daily basis, young guys LIVING in the country, mostly in Bangkok, I mean expats not tourists.

They would probably not be interested by the useless discussions / forums about Thaksin but they obviously like the country and have something to tell about it.

At this moment, where do they meet (on line)?

Well, perhaps they are just happy to stay here and do not mind about politics and criticisms about Thailand.

That depends on what you consider young

[John_Betong]

Your Survey omitted widows and widowers.

[ianf]

Thaksin is very popular with me, guess I am a rare breed of farang so are the red shirts :jap:

When I was at school, a tiny percentage loved the nazis. Surveys like this always pulls out the people who don't go with the crowd! Good survey!

[kuffki]

Thaksin's government will make economy better, there will be less prostitutes walking streets and soi Nana

this is probably one of many reasons expats and those parasitical elites are not a big fan of him.

I am sure thats the only reason WHY expats are not a big fan of him

[geovalin]

Maybe it's time to rejuvenate the members. Imagine the same survey in 2031: average age will be 70 - 79!!!!

Of course, most of the farang living in Thailand are old chap like us but I see, on a daily basis, young guys LIVING in the country, mostly in Bangkok, I mean expats not tourists.

They would probably not be interested by the useless discussions / forums about Thaksin but they obviously like the country and have something to tell about it.

At this moment, where do they meet (on line)?

Well, perhaps they are just happy to stay here and do not mind about politics and criticisms about Thailand.

That depends on what you consider young

I mean VERY young. 20's. I dunno how they make a living in Thailand, maybe Mum's monnies.

[SomTumTiger]

Thaksin is very popular with me, guess I am a rare breed of farang so are the red shirts :jap:

What that breed would be, I will refrain from mentioning lol.

[geovalin]

Thaksin's government will make economy better, there will be less prostitutes walking streets and soi Nana

this is probably one of many reasons expats and those parasitical elites are not a big fan of him.

I am sure thats the only reason WHY expats are not a big fan of him

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase, this is NOT a topic about Thaksin.I know that you are a little bit old and that you ramble but, pleeeeaaaase!!!!!

Edited May 16, 2011 by geovalin

[Credo]

know quite a few younger people who routinely view ThaiVisa. They seldom post; they have little interest in politics, but do check the news and use it for information.

Of course, these people have a fairly active life and sitting at a computer commenting on a forum isn't quite their style. Probably in a few years it will be.

I didn't take part in the survey, otherwise Taksin would have had another vote. Well, maybe not, Abhisit's not a bad person.

[dunkin2012]

About the age,what happened to under 50? Is there a break down from 20-30, 30-40, 40-50?

You can download the full survey results in a PDF, check the link in the opening post.

haha....

I wanna believe some forum members still use 65kbps modems.

they are obsolete?

[thaiphoon]

Keep to topic. No political discussion in this thread please. Further posts will be removed.

[lrena]

How do:

36% own a house in Thailand

if only:

No visa, I am a Thai citizen 2.1%

Residence permit 3.7%

Seems to me 30.2% are also liars? How accurate is this poll really?

[membob]

I'm 27 so I guess I count in this "young people living in Thailand".

I love it here. The weather, the food, the shops, the people, prices and the nightlife. I feel I can have a much better life here than in Europe.

I normally read the headlines from Thaivisa but dread scrolling down to the comments.

The comments are on league with Youtube comments just from older people.

Some people are so negative here and go way off-topic just to make noise, depressive, so I avoid it. But this applies to so many other forums on the Internet

Personally I work in Bangkok and I fund my own way.

I do wonder about how some other people my age make their money from having low paid jobs in Bangkok, but no one ever questions it.

A lot of young people working here are either teachers or something to do with the web, be it designer, developer or some type of social networking "guru".

Many of them seem to be on the web and in front of their computers. It's not possible to be going out every night and partying

Edited May 16, 2011 by membob

[sailor1x52]

Thankyou Thaivisa for such an interesting survey which was actually quite pleasing too.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

How do:

36% own a house in Thailand

if only:

No visa, I am a Thai citizen 2.1%

Residence permit 3.7%

Seems to me 30.2% are also liars? How accurate is this poll really?

LOL, right.

(Guess we can discuss any topic that is a poll result, except the political one. Can live with that.)

[animatic]

Nice to see 30% is Thais here to talk with us farangs.

[george]

How do:

36% own a house in Thailand

if only:

No visa, I am a Thai citizen 2.1%

Residence permit 3.7%

Seems to me 30.2% are also liars? How accurate is this poll really?

You can not own land in Thailand, but you can own a house. Or lease. Or have your partner or wife buy it.

[freedom4life]

Thaksin is very popular with me, guess I am a rare breed of farang so are the red shirts :jap:

Strange. I don't where the other expats heads are, but I can guess. Thaksin is more popular amongst the citizens of Thailand and so are the red shirts. In addition, the red and yellow shirts do not want the present-day gov't to be running. That British lap-dog and his cronies should be the ones in exile.

[Dellboy218]

Thaksin's government will make economy better, there will be less prostitutes walking streets and soi Nana

this is probably one of many reasons expats and those parasitical elites are not a big fan of him.

So, you would not consider one of the richest men in the world, a man whose company was call ''the ample rich'', the same man who started the Thai ''Elite' card which has just gone bust, an elite then?

[britainmal]

Yes, They are happy because Thailand is a cheap place to live, the weather is beautiful and the women.

[khaowong1]

Maybe it's time to rejuvenate the members. Imagine the same survey in 2031: average age will be 70 - 79!!!!

Of course, most of the farang living in Thailand are old chap like us but I see, on a daily basis, young guys LIVING in the country, mostly in Bangkok, I mean expats not tourists.

They would probably not be interested by the useless discussions / forums about Thaksin but they obviously like the country and have something to tell about it.

At this moment, where do they meet (on line)?

Well, perhaps they are just happy to stay here and do not mind about politics and criticisms about Thailand.

The majority of younger men I see in Thailand seem to come from the Scandinavian countries.. Most seem to be seaman with a Thai wife and most seem to live outside of Bangkok near their wifes families. Thats what I see.

[herb59]

I'm 27 so I guess I count in this "young people living in Thailand".

I love it here. The weather, the food, the shops, the people, prices and the nightlife. I feel I can have a much better life here than in Europe.

I normally read the headlines from Thaivisa but dread scrolling down to the comments.

The comments are on league with Youtube comments just from older people.

Some people are so negative here and go way off-topic just to make noise, depressive, so I avoid it. But this applies to so many other forums on the Internet

Personally I work in Bangkok and I fund my own way.

I do wonder about how some other people my age make their money from having low paid jobs in Bangkok, but no one ever questions it.

A lot of young people working here are either teachers or something to do with the web, be it designer, developer or some type of social networking "guru".

Many of them seem to be on the web and in front of their computers. It's not possible to be going out every night and partying

then wait a few years, to get more experiences here. and its depending from which country in europe ,you are coming from! bulgaria, romania= yes it might be better here.....

[rubik101]

How do:

36% own a house in Thailand

if only:

No visa, I am a Thai citizen 2.1%

Residence permit 3.7%

Seems to me 30.2% are also liars? How accurate is this poll really?

The two are not mutually exclusive. Youu can own a property without having a residence permit.

[dfp]

How do:

36% own a house in Thailand

if only:

No visa, I am a Thai citizen 2.1%

Residence permit 3.7%

Seems to me 30.2% are also liars? How accurate is this poll really?

Quite a number of farangs in the survey are married to Thais, some 40%, so technically it is possible that they own a house in Thailand, so 36% is not impossible.

So no liars.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

How do:

36% own a house in Thailand

if only:

No visa, I am a Thai citizen 2.1%

Residence permit 3.7%

Seems to me 30.2% are also liars? How accurate is this poll really?

The two are not mutually exclusive. Youu can own a property without having a residence permit.

You can control it, but not own it.