Thailand retains ranking as world’s sixth best country for expats

[reader]

From The Nation

Thailand was ranked the sixth best place for expats to live and work, according to the Expat Insider 2024 report from InterNations, the global community for people who live abroad.

The InterNations report ranked 53 global countries across five indices: quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad, personal finance and an “expat essentials” index, which covers housing, administration, language and digital life.

Panama was named the No. 1 country for expats in this year’s report, which surveyed more than 12,500 people in February about how satisfied they feel with their lives in a foreign country.

Around 82% of people who move to Panama said they were happy with their lives, compared with 68% of expats around the world, said InterNations, adding that most people had moved to the Central American country for financial reasons, to retire or for a better quality of life.

In second place is Mexico, followed by Indonesia, Spain and Colombia.

Thailand is in sixth spot, the same place as last year’s report.

Brazil is in seventh place, followed by Vietnam, the Philippines and the UAE.

InterNations noted that Indonesia surged in the rankings to top three from 13th place last year, thanks to its low costs, friendly people and good work-life balance, residents reported in the survey.

The bottom 10 countries in the ranking are Kuwait (53), Turkiye (52) Finland (51), Germany (50) Canada (49), Norway (48), Italy (47), Malta (46), Ireland (45) and UK (44).

 

[Keithambrose]

Another if these stupid surveys.  Are we supposed to believe that Mexico is one of the best countries for retirement,  or Panama, Indonesia, UAE? Finland, Canada, Norway all low down. Crazy. I suppose Mexico would be OK if you were a drug baron, though bodyguards  would be expensive!

[reader]

Panama is a very popular destination for US expats because of its lower cost of living, climate and proximity to US mainland in the need of advanced health care. 

[vinapu]

4 hours ago, reader said:

Panama is a very popular destination for US expats because of its lower cost of living, climate and proximity to US mainland in the need of advanced health care. 

...and the same currency

[Keithambrose]

5 hours ago, reader said:

Panama is a very popular destination for US expats because of its lower cost of living, climate and proximity to US mainland in the need of advanced health care. 

OK, unders, but it is too hot for me, and a no of governments  stress high crime rate. One even says, 'do not go out alone'.

[reader]

Agree it’s always wise to read the travel advisories. In Panama, US state department lists two remote areas to avoid. But don’t worry about going out and about in Thailand. Biggest thing you have to fear is airfare.

[Keithambrose]

4 hours ago, reader said:

Agree it’s always wise to read the travel advisories. In Panama, US state department lists two remote areas to avoid. But don’t worry about going out and about in Thailand. Biggest thing you have to fear is airfare.

I must say that I think that Thailand is one of the safest countries  to visit. Though simple precautions,  dressing down, no Posh watches (unless you are a Cabinet Minister), etc, are always sensible. Wandering about, late at night, I have never felt  threatened. 

[vinapu]

3 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

I must say that I think that Thailand is one of the safest countries  to visit. Though simple precautions,  dressing down, no Posh watches (unless you are a Cabinet Minister), etc, are always sensible. Wandering about, late at night, I have never felt  threatened. 

+1

[hojacat]

On 7/6/2024 at 4:11 PM, Keithambrose said:

I must say that I think that Thailand is one of the safest countries  to visit. Though simple precautions,  dressing down, no Posh watches (unless you are a Cabinet Minister), etc, are always sensible. Wandering about, late at night, I have never felt  threatened. 

It's not only Thailand and Bangkok. Pretty much most of the cities in East and partly in Southeast Asia ( Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Busan, Taipei, HK, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Singapore, etc) are much safer than cities of similar size in Europe and definitely in North and South America. It's personally one of the main reasons (right behind of of course the hot boys) why it's my favorite region in the world. You can enjoy everything a big city has to offer without worrying about petty crime.

[Keithambrose]

7 hours ago, hojacat said:

It's not only Thailand and Bangkok. Pretty much most of the cities in East and partly in Southeast Asia ( Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Busan, Taipei, HK, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Singapore, etc) are much safer than cities of similar size in Europe and definitely in North and South America. It's personally one of the main reasons (right behind of of course the hot boys) why it's my favorite region in the world. You can enjoy everything a big city has to offer without worrying about petty crime.

Agreed. I would add Siem Reap, mainly for the boys! And Hanoi.

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

Agreed. I would add Siem Reap, mainly for the boys! 

nothing wrong with Siem Reap boys but for me SR is only place in SE Asia where my decision to visit is not even taking them into equation as there are more monumental reasons to go there

[floridarob]

On 7/6/2024 at 5:32 AM, Keithambrose said:

. I suppose Mexico would be OK if you were a drug baron, though bodyguards  would be expensive!

I live in Merida, rated as the 2nd safest city in the America's, behind Quebec.

A fair amount of Expats/immigrants live there and every one of them will tell you they feel safe, eve after midnight walking around. Not a small city, something like 1.2 million residents....more gay bars here than Cancun, Tulum  and Playa de Carmen combined.

Close to the US, Residency is an easy process, people come from other parts of Mexico to Merida for dental/medical work....

When I was deciding where to live outside of the US, Mexico just had so many more plusses than minuses over Thailand. Because of living here, I've learned Spanish which comes in helpful on those trips to central and South America...How useful is Thai outside of Thailand, lol....the short distance back to US for any emergencies, the residency was easy and once you have it, that's it. Only report you need to do is address update if you move.

Mexicans are fun to hang out, party, drink and even the "straight" guys aren't so straight after a 6-pack.....I just couldn't live in a tourist city, like Cancun, PDC, Tulum, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos for example, that would add more minuses 🙄

[Keithambrose]

6 hours ago, vinapu said:

nothing wrong with Siem Reap boys but for me SR is only place in SE Asia where my decision to visit is not even taking them into equation as there are more monumental reasons to go there

I'm happy to be cultural during the  day, and indulge in other pleasures in the evening! Also, have been to Angkhor and surrounds 4 times or so, so my cultural locker is quite full. The sex locker, however is bottomless (pun intended)!