Thailand ranks 2nd in ASEAN for the best quality of life

[bushwacker]

" closely followed by Thailand."

CLOSELY FOLLOWED ... I think not. Unless your definition of closely means "able to see thru a telescope!!!

[Ricky Koh Samui]

Gee - I havent stopped laughing?????

[oldthaihand99]

Why is it that with millions starving around the world the UN wastes valuable time and resources on producing endless toss like this?

100% Waste of time. I know people living in Cambodia and they love the country, despite the huge social problem, they love the quality. It is a subject very personal. This is a completely personal matter, what is good for you, does not mean it is good to me.

Why would any homo sapien love the quality of Cambodia?

They are humans not pigs who like to roll in the mud.

[american12bthai]

... for foreigners who get paid 3-12 times more than a thai.

[Berkshire]

The UNDP is not your run-of-the-mill organization and they have clear criteria.

Malaysia has always been good at self-promotion but they have their own problems which many are not aware of but

Thai bashers will always be Thai bashers.

So true. The haters are out in force on this thread. Seems like the UN disagrees with the mob and the mob just can't stomach that. I wish there was a way to dump all these knobs in Malaysia. They'll be whining/whinging about Malaysians in no time.

Instead of HATERS... don't you mean disagree with the figures ??? MOB ???? KNOBS ???? WHINERS?????

My MY your some fun lover of humans. If you were short changed or taken "for a ride" by a Thai would you think nothing of it or change into a hater.????

You're asking if I were to get ripped off or otherwise taken advantage of by one or two Thais, will I hate the other 60 million plus? No. That would be asinine.

[wileycoyote]

Yes correct for Singapore ,butThailand gets my Vote for Number 2 Spot

[Keesters]

I might agree with Thailand's position IF they could keep the electricity & water running for more than 24 hours at a time. Recently water runs for about 2 hours at night and electricity is forever cutting off and then coming back with a vengeance. Lost a TV, DVD player, PC power supply and deep freezer over the last couple years. And this is AFTER they built a new sub-station and installed new main lines along the road. Quality of Life maybe but quality of service and construction NO WAY.

[expat888]

yes its possible ... if you dont take in consideration ... traffic jams , corruption , pollution , high prices for wine and spirits , huge import taxes , double pricing for historical monument and parks etc ..

And of course all of the above does not apply in neighboring countries! HCMC has no traffic, Cambodia no corruption, Laos no pollution, booze is dirt-cheap in Singapore, there are no import taxes in Malaysia, no double-pricing in Myanmar, etc.

Sometimes I have the feeling that some posters on this thread have not been to many of the ASEAN countries.......

L-bkk makes a valid point and was making factual statements about what exists here.

My addition is: In other countries visas are easier, double pricing is not prevalent or doesn't exist, taxes are lower on wine/beer/spirits, but maybe you have traffic jams.

[oldthaihand99]

In Brunei the average salary is 50K USD. I think that beats LOS.

In Brunei alcohol, cigs & hookers are banned. I think that rules out 99% of TV posters.

Does that make the quality of health & life in Brunei top notch?

[Tomtomtom69]

yes its possible ... if you dont take in consideration ... traffic jams , corruption , pollution , high prices for wine and spirits , huge import taxes , double pricing for historical monument and parks etc ..

And of course all of the above does not apply in neighboring countries! HCMC has no traffic, Cambodia no corruption, Laos no pollution, booze is dirt-cheap in Singapore, there are no import taxes in Malaysia, no double-pricing in Myanmar, etc.

Sometimes I have the feeling that some posters on this thread have not been to many of the ASEAN countries.......

I have been to and travel regularly to all these countries - in fact I have been on beach holidays to Vietnam far more often than in Thailand, and VN is a much more pleasant place for a beach holiday than Thailand anyway - fewer scams, no jet ski mafia, probably cheaper and overall less hassle.

Thailand is not necessarily the worst on all counts you have mentioned above but let's compare a little shall we?

Thailand vs. HCMC on traffic issues: Thailand's traffic problems are far, far worse, and not just in Bangkok. Pattaya, Chiang Mai, even Udon Thani etc. are worse than HCMC, which mostly has scooters and small motorcycles, rather than cars in their traffic mix. Car prices in Vietnam are the third highest in the world and the government there is looking at ever more ways of preventing the numbers of cars going up like in neighboring countries. It seems to have worked, because the number of cars per capita in Vietnam is just half of Cambodia or Laos, both poorer countries than Vietnam! Additionally, Vietnam doesn't want foreign registered vehicles on it's roads, even for temporary purposes so apart from Lao vehicles which can continue to come without restrictions due to a bilateral agreement, vehicles from other countries can only come on a tour that requires a Vietnamese lead vehicle to guide them throughout their time driving in VN. Thai vehicles are banned from VN altogether.

Yesterday I spent almost exactly 3 hours getting from one side of Bangkok to downtown by car - in HCMC you would never spend more than about an hour doing the same, even in the worst rush hour traffic.

Corruption in Cambodia? Yes it's bad - a lot worse than Thailand and the quality of infrastructure reflects that. No need to say anything more.

Laos may have some pollution in Vientiane, and there is some smog from slash and burn agriculture during the dry season, but what are you getting at? There is still a significant amount of forest cover and the amount of pollution in Laos is a far cry from many of it's neighbors, including Thailand and Vietnam. So it's valid to suggest that Laos doesn't suffer the same pollution problems as Thailand does.

Booze isn't that cheap in Singapore, but it's good value in Cambodia.

Malaysia also taxes imported vehicles heavily in order to protect it's local automobile industry.

Double pricing in Myanmar is the most prolific in the region - it's widespread not just when visiting tourist sites, but even for some train tickets, domestic airline tickets (though the gap between local and foreigner pricing is narrowing) and hotels. It is therefore far more widespread than in Thailand - the difference is that in Myanmar almost all instances of dual pricing are government mandated and dual pricing seems to be relatively absent amongst local entrepreneurs and businesses. In Thailand, though you won't see double pricing on flights, hotels (although sometimes there are deals at bigger hotels for local residents around holiday times), government transport etc. apart from national parks, some museums etc. you'll see opportunistic dual pricing amongst entrepreneurs who have no basis to charge foreigners more, i.e. those running businesses in the private sector. I also continue to hear reports of some small street stalls and hole-in-the-wall "restaurants", mostly in tourist areas charging different prices for the same meal, but I have never encountered this myself (where does this happen, maybe near Wat Pho and Khao San Road?) Maybe it's because I choose not to eat at such grubby places where hygiene may be questionable and the food probably less than inspiring nor do I spend any time in such touristy areas - I only eat at proper restaurants and inside shopping malls where dual pricing of course does not exist.

In other countries in the region, dual pricing is far less common. In order of how commonly it's applied in the region, I have observed the following:

1. Myanmar

2. Thailand

3. Cambodia (but at some distance behind Thailand)

4. Maybe Laos? (but there it's quite rare and only applies to a few tourist sites, mainly in Vientiane and Luang Prabang but the difference between local and foreigner prices are quite low like 5000 Kip vs 2000 Kip)

5. I'm lost after that because in Vietnam, government sanctioned dual pricing has virtually been eliminated and nowadays you generally only see some opportunistic attempts to rip people off - but that includes richer Vietnamese too. Any Vietnamese that is seen driving a car is fair game - as those driving cars are seen as rich, pampered bastards.

Edited March 29, 2014 by Tomtomtom69

[Krataiboy]

Why is it that with millions starving around the world the UN wastes valuable time and resources on producing endless toss like this?

Because it can, rather than doing something constructive to help the "unfortunate" masses whose interests it glibly and falsely purports to represent.

[Nobb]

A statement like this is like putting lipstick on a pig!

[bkkden]

Hi guys

Sorry about my post earlier if I didn't give my point of view clear. The point I was trying make is in my view we are lucky here. I compared us to the best top hotels, food, medical and apartments, actually those are my favorite places. All of them world class and I was showing that here we also have the same world class quality and have at reasonable cost of living. Our housing, f&b and medical are up there with the best in the world! That's one thing that to me makes the quality of life here very good.

Thats my opinion and just want to clarify.

Thanks!

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[pmugghc]

Duplicate.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited March 29, 2014 by pmugghc

[pmugghc]

So Sgp was on top here but wasn't there another survey recently which ranked Sgp people as the most unhappy?

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[90dayz]

Any chance of seeing the full list?