Is Living Here Difficult for You?

[PeteC]

Thailand third-favourite Asian destination for expats

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... for-expats

[lomuamart]

If that photo is supposed to represent an opportunity for sport, then Thailand can keep their opportunities.

[Spitfire]

The working environment score is a bit of a strange one too considereing foreigners are not allowed to do anything. Guess it must be talking about people working for a multinational.

[dozer]

I think Spitfire is right, if they were to survey all expats then I am sure the ranking would be quite a bit lower.

I for one would not have stayed here 27 years if I was not working for a multi-national.

In the HSBC 2014 survey Thailand is ranked 7th.

https://expatexplorer.hsbc.com/#/countries

Sample size: 9,288

Occupation: 17% Banking, Insurance, Financial Services
11% Education
9% Telecommunications, IT & Internet

Age: 28% 18 - 34
46% 35 - 54
25% 55 +

Gender: 54% Male
46% Female

[Pleng]

The working environment score is a bit of a strange one too considereing foreigners are not allowed to do anything.

Well I can only think that "Working Environment" refers to the environment you are in once you are already working - I wouldn't think it takes into account how difficult it is to get a job in the first place, or the restrictions on the type of work available.

[dozer]

I am not sure how relevant these types’ of surveys are, as they do not survey all types of expats. I been asked by HSBC and other international banks to completed these types of surveys every year for the past ten years or more, and it seems to me that it is mainly a marketing tool targeting customers and potential customers.
It would be interesting to see how many forum members have completed this type of survey.

[hhfarang]

The lowest-ranked of the 34 countries was Egypt, followed by the United Kingdom and Brazil.

Well, at least that explains why so many of you guys are here.

[Gregjam]

The survey mentioned appears to be referring to expats in the sense of those employed by a foreign company on an expatriate package which will include housing and education etc for the employees family which very few here in Hua Hin would fall into that classification. The foreigners here are generally retired, running their own business or work abroad and live here such as merchant seafarers or oil rig workers.

We are all here for our own reasons and there will always be challenges to face but while there are some who want to leave and are not in a good position to do so, most seem pretty happy with life here.

[dozer]

A few years back there was a real need for expat staff, however nowadays it is just not worth it for the companies to bring expats on a full expatriate package, which will include housing, transportation, per diem, education, etc, when suitable candidates are available locally.

[Bristolian]

^^ I totally agree. I work here (BKK) on an ExPat package and most probably for my company I will be the last generation. It's very hard to justify the cost.

[curlybaggie]

I came home from Thailand on the 7th of November and was immediately hit by the doom and gloom which clouds the UK. I know that nobody likes coming home from holiday, but after coming home from a country where most of the people I met were so friendly, the look on the faces of the staff at Heathrow left me very depressed to be home. when I finally got to the front of the queue at border control, I handed my passport to the officer and said " good evening " He looked at me as if I was mad and mumbled some inaudible reply. I then had a 30 minute wait for my suitcase and made my way to the pickup point for the bus to take me back to my car. when a bus came from the car parking company I showed him my ticket and he growled at me " I'm only picking up business class customers, you'll have to wait for the next bus", I may not have been on his list for a pickup, but I was still a customer of his company and should have been treated with some respect. And so it went on, I stopped at a service station on the M40 to be greeted by staff who looked like death couldn't come quickly enough. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that no matter how bad life in Thailand is, it can't possibly be worse than your life would be if you came back to good old Blighty.

[Gérard]

I came home from Thailand on the 7th of November and was immediately hit by the doom and gloom which clouds the UK. I know that nobody likes coming home from holiday, but after coming home from a country where most of the people I met were so friendly, the look on the faces of the staff at Heathrow left me very depressed to be home. when I finally got to the front of the queue at border control, I handed my passport to the officer and said " good evening " He looked at me as if I was mad and mumbled some inaudible reply. I then had a 30 minute wait for my suitcase and made my way to the pickup point for the bus to take me back to my car. when a bus came from the car parking company I showed him my ticket and he growled at me " I'm only picking up business class customers, you'll have to wait for the next bus", I may not have been on his list for a pickup, but I was still a customer of his company and should have been treated with some respect. And so it went on, I stopped at a service station on the M40 to be greeted by staff who looked like death couldn't come quickly enough. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that no matter how bad life in Thailand is, it can't possibly be worse than your life would be if you came back to good old Blighty.

I am French and I could have written exactly the same about my own country.
I am always surprised when I hear so many foreigners complaining about Thailand, Thai people and Thai way of life.
After 15 years living in cities like Sattahip, Mukdahan, Prachuap-city, far from tourist hubs, I feel quite happy.
Maybe because I live alone, did not buy any property, can move inside or outside Thailand whenever I want...
But what makes it much easier for me to live here is that I started learning Thai from the first months, can read and write and have real conversations with the locals.
Sometimes, people ask me if it is possible to have Thai friends.
Yes it is, and they can be very good friends indeed if you can understand their ways and language.
Have you ever tried to have a deaf and dumb friend ?

[dtaai-maai]

A couple of very interesting posts - thanks curlybaggie and Gerard.

[theprice01]

Maybe because I live alone, did not buy any property, can move inside or outside Thailand whenever I want...

I think this is a very important point, especially when talking about overall 'happiness'.

[richard]

I came home from Thailand on the 7th of November and was immediately hit by the doom and gloom which clouds the UK. I know that nobody likes coming home from holiday, but after coming home from a country where most of the people I met were so friendly, the look on the faces of the staff at Heathrow left me very depressed to be home. when I finally got to the front of the queue at border control, I handed my passport to the officer and said " good evening " He looked at me as if I was mad and mumbled some inaudible reply. I then had a 30 minute wait for my suitcase and made my way to the pickup point for the bus to take me back to my car. when a bus came from the car parking company I showed him my ticket and he growled at me " I'm only picking up business class customers, you'll have to wait for the next bus", I may not have been on his list for a pickup, but I was still a customer of his company and should have been treated with some respect. And so it went on, I stopped at a service station on the M40 to be greeted by staff who looked like death couldn't come quickly enough. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that no matter how bad life in Thailand is, it can't possibly be worse than your life would be if you came back to good old Blighty.

All airports, service stations and establishments that provide a mundane service to thousands of customers day in day out are surely the same. Maybe I was lucky on my last trip back to the UK. Heathrow was a pain and the staff were impersonal and rude but once out and about everyone I met were pleasant and cheerful. In fact they all had a positive outlook on life. Sure they were critical of the overly political correctness nanny state but seemed resigned to it and accepted the fact it was unlikely to change.