World Happiness Rankings

[GuestHouse]

Well no need to argue anymore, here it is - A Study of World Happiness World Happiness Rankings

[egeefay]

Interesting to note that Malaysia ranks #17...much happier than most of the rest of the world.

..much happier than Thailand. Not sure how they arrived at that conclusion

[Heng]

I'd say I'm 2nd or 3rd happiest on my soi. One soi over, no contest, they are a seriously jolly bunch.

[GuestHouse]

Interesting to note that Malaysia ranks #17...much happier than most of the rest of the world.

..much happier than Thailand. Not sure how they arrived at that conclusion

It's in the notes...

4. Health is more important than wealth or education. Further analysis was performed to examine the links between satisfaction with life and measures of life expectancy (health), wealth (GDP per capita) and education (access to secondary level education).It was found that satisfaction with life correlated most closely with health (a correlation of .62), followed by wealth (.52) and then education (.51). (All pearson's r correlations were significant at the p<.001 level)

5. The map is based on an analysis of the results from over 100 studies. It uses data published by by UNESCO, the CIA, the New Economics Foundation, the WHO, the Veenhoven Database, the Latinbarometer, the Afrobarometer, and the UNHDR.

It seems they studdied a range of data from a range of different sources - rather than taking a single subjective view.

[camerata]

Interesting that at No.8 Bhutan is up there with the developed countries. Perhaps there's something to be said for avoiding consumerism.

[swissie]

This statistic can not possibly include all the Thai-Nationals that have managed to "relocate" by way of marriage to Europe. They should indeed be the happiest people in the world: Whatever they do (or not do), they automatically enjoy the status of an individual that was removed from her home country into a hostile environment and having to pay a horrible price:

Having to be married to the "Farang" that makes it possible for the "Family" in Thailand to live in comfort.

End of comment.

Cheers.

[solo siam]

This statistic can not possibly include all the Thai-Nationals that have managed to "relocate" by way of marriage to Europe. They should indeed be the happiest people in the world: Whatever they do (or not do), they automatically enjoy the status of an individual that was removed from her home country into a hostile environment and having to pay a horrible price:

Having to be married to the "Farang" that makes it possible for the "Family" in Thailand to live in comfort.

End of comment.

Cheers.

lol, sounds like someones jealous of one of his friends or suffering from White Knight syndrome. I would hardly call the West hostile, After 2 years most foreigners can claim a passport and just by cleaning, working in McDonalds or manual labour, earn more than a Bank Manager does here in Thailand.

[chonabot]

Seems a bit suspect to me , Finland is in the top 10 for suicide rates ( 24 per 10000)

top ten suicidal countries

Yet is also number 6 on the hapiness list.

Does Finland know something we don't ?

[creation2474]

Seems a bit suspect to me , Finland is in the top 10 for suicide rates ( 24 per 10000)

top ten suicidal countries

Yet is also number 6 on the hapiness list.

Does Finland know something we don't ?

Yes, and Denmark nr. 1.

But Denmark has the highest suicide rate in the world too, as far as I remember.

[stevehaigh]

it seems that freezing your butt off for 10 months a year makes you happy. go figure.

[Minburi]

Wow Canada is 10th if only they could rank that hight in world cup soccer..

[NovaBlue05]

Seems a bit suspect to me , Finland is in the top 10 for suicide rates ( 24 per 10000)

top ten suicidal countries

Yet is also number 6 on the hapiness list.

Does Finland know something we don't ?

Probably the Vodka.......

[Kerryd]

Another bogus study IMHO.

Places like Bhutan and Brunei Darussalam rank higher that Australia (26), USA (23), UK (41) and Thailand (76) ?

Meanwhile, the countries around Bhutan look like this:

India - 125th

Nepal - 119th

Bangladesh - 104th

China - 80th

The notes mention the data was collected from over 100 studies. What the notes don't tell you is which data was actually used and what was thrown out as it wouldn't give the results the researcher wanted.

It's a sad fact these days. People use the data they want, to create specific results, in order to convince you that what they say is true.

[tom yum goong]

Seems a bit suspect to me , Finland is in the top 10 for suicide rates ( 24 per 10000)

top ten suicidal countries

Yet is also number 6 on the hapiness list.

Does Finland know something we don't ?

Yes, and Denmark nr. 1.

But Denmark has the highest suicide rate in the world too, as far as I remember.

i dont think there's any mystery here.

All the unhappy people top themselves leaving only happy people

[mittheimp]

Bhutan has a minister for happiness!!

Maybe the UK should follow suit - although maybe John Prescott's doing the job already!