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Bangkok’s popularity amongst expats continues to fall: survey


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Bangkok’s popularity amongst expats continues to fall: survey

 

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Bangkok’s popularity amongst expats who live in the city has plummeted, according to a new survey.

 

Released this week, the Expat Insider: The Best & Worst Cities for Expats in 2020 by InterNations ranks the best and worst cities in the world for expats to live.

 

This year’s survey is based on the rankings of 66 cities around the world.

 

For the survey,  more than 15,000 expatriates representing 173 nationalities and living in 181 countries or territories provided information on various aspects of expat life, such as: Quality of Urban Living, Getting Settled, Urban Work Life,  Finance & Housing, and Local Cost of Living. 

 

Data was collected in March 2020.

 

The report ranked Thailand in 30th place overall, which while above average in the Expat City Ranking 2020, was down ten places from the 20th place it ranked in 2019, and significantly down from the 5th and 8th place ranking in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

 

Bangkok scored particularly poorly in the Quality of Urban Living Index (53rd) ranking and came in last worldwide for its urban environment (66th), with 64% of expats unhappy with this factor (vs. 21% globally).

 

An expat from Germany said, “there is awful air pollution in Bangkok and a lack of green  spaces”. Expats are also unhappy with the political stability — just 26% rate this factor positively (vs. 61% globally). 

 

Bangkok didn’t score much better in the Urban Work Life Index (50th) does not look a lot better: expats  are dissatisfied with their local career opportunities (49% unhappy vs. 34% globally) and the state of  the local economy (33% unhappy vs. 18% globally). 

 

This is outweighed by slightly above-average  results in the Getting Settled Index (28th), with 75% of expats saying that the local residents are  friendly (vs. 68% globally). Another 72% are happy with their social life in Bangkok (vs. 59% globally). 

 

However, it wasn’t all bad news. The survey said that expats in Bangkok were just as happy as expats in Singapore, despite its much lower overall rankings. 

 

Over two in three expats (67%) feel their disposable household income is more than enough to pay for everything they need (vs. 51% globally). A US American expat appreciates that expat life in  Bangkok is “less stressful than living in the USA, with about one-third fewer costs for a good quality of  life”. 

 

Additionally, 88% of survey respondents said it is easy to find a place to live in the Thai capital (vs. 55%  globally), while three in five expats in Bangkok (60%) agreed that housing is generally affordable in their city (vs. 41% globally).

 

Regionally, Singapore (5th), Kuala Lumpur (8th) and Ho Chi Minh City (19th) all ranked higher than Bangkok.

 

Globally, Valencia (1st), Alicante, Lisbon, Panama City, Singapore, Málaga, Buenos Aires, Kuala Lumpur, Madrid,  and Abu Dhabi (10th) were ranked as the top 10 cities for expats to live in 2020. 

 

Both Valencia and Alicante - which was described as a retirees dream destination - both scored highly amongst financially conscious expats.

 

Read the report in full here: https://assets.thaivisa.com/forum/uploads/monthly_2019_12/bkk.jpg.8ea57ae42805b3bb65d5c18302cdf8d3.jpg

 

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-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-11-28
 

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Clearly the survey is a Bangkok-centric one; thus i think it’s fair to expect that some of these responses might be quite different for those who live well outside the central area. Plus, i think a few issues are geared to the “working” crowd (as opposed to retired, etc) so here too i’ll bet some of the data may not reflect a percentage of the expatriate population.

 

That said, i do tend to agree with some of the highlights — such as the green spaces question.. 

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1 hour ago, aussienam said:

Pattaya's saving Grace is the sea breeze.  It is what drops the average temperatures down a notch from Bangkok's and offsets the lack of green spaces. 

Except in the winter months when the breeze blows from the land, not the sea.  Then, Pattaya's air can rival Bangkok's.

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Economics plays a big part in Bangkok living, it’s still liveable on a small budget and the poontang sways the scale in favour.

Nice (France) gets into most of the top ten lists but is ridiculously expensive.

Ive lived in Spain and certainly rate Barcelona and Alicante, yet unrest and high crime plague these cities. 

Survey is from March placing European cities in the top ten, Europe post March, not such a happy place.

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I have to agree with Scot123. Being an old hand here i can honestly say that Thailand has given me some of the best laughs and times in the last thirty years, unfortunately i can say that the rot set in around 2006, was filled up in 2014 and now the decay has spread so far that the only solution is EXTRACTION ! 

I'm sorry for the Johnny come latelys because they'll never know how good Bkk and Thailand used to be......  There'll never be an "Old Thermae" again....... and even the fairys rule the Malaysia Hotel now........ We're all Doomed !    Thanks Thailand......Re-Set necessary......  

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11 hours ago, Polaky said:

KL is looking good according to that list, most probably because of the ease to obtain a visa.

 

Visa and property much better if you have the finances and add less hassle with the language, good food, friendly locals, good nightlife, decent infrastructure etc. I look at KL as a mini Bkk with a few pluses (such as the language and food), a few minuses (more expensive, taxis are abysmal but Grab is fine) and a few similarities (traffic sucks, if a real night owl need to track down the late night clubs, if looking to hire companionship plenty around but no need, who knows what way the government can swing in the future).

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16 hours ago, IamNoone88 said:

Yet another meaningless global survey. Personally, this has been one of the best countries to live for the past 15 years. 

Survey was not about the country (Thailand) but the city (Bangkok).

 

I left Bangkok in 1984, after 3 years there when traffic became bearable. But I didn't leave Thailand.

 

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2 hours ago, Salerno said:

 

Visa and property much better if you have the finances and add less hassle with the language, good food, friendly locals, good nightlife, decent infrastructure etc. I look at KL as a mini Bkk with a few pluses (such as the language and food), a few minuses (more expensive, taxis are abysmal but Grab is fine) and a few similarities (traffic sucks, if a real night owl need to track down the late night clubs, if looking to hire companionship plenty around but no need, who knows what way the government can swing in the future).

It will be interesting when things get back to pre-covid normal for travel. 

 Will all the same style bars etc ( go-go and similar ) come back to life as they were before or will it be completely different, a sort of plastic Singapore?

 

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5 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Will all the same style bars etc ( go-go and similar ) come back to life as they were before or will it be completely different, a sort of plastic Singapore?

 

Don't even jokingly say that ... I see Bkk moving that way and it sucks IMO.

 

Actually quite like Singapore, in small doses, but ditched it from the itinerary when they banned vaping (happy to play the game in Thailand, not so sure I'd like to try my luck in Singapore). Used to do a slow wind up when heading over, 2 or 3 days in SG, then onto KL for a week or so before hitting Bkk. Was a nice way to get out of work mode but hate the thought of Bkk being as "sterile" as Singapore.

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28 minutes ago, Salerno said:

 

Don't even jokingly say that ... I see Bkk moving that way and it sucks IMO.

 

Actually quite like Singapore, in small doses, but ditched it from the itinerary when they banned vaping (happy to play the game in Thailand, not so sure I'd like to try my luck in Singapore). Used to do a slow wind up when heading over, 2 or 3 days in SG, then onto KL for a week or so before hitting Bkk. Was a nice way to get out of work mode but hate the thought of Bkk being as "sterile" as Singapore.

Similar thoughts. Haven't been for quite a few years.

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