Expats rank Thailand among the Best
An annual survey by leading international bank, HSBC, considered the leading benchmark of expat opinion has placed Thailand among the best countries for expat life. The poll of over 5,000 people takes detailed sounding from international expats of all nationalities. In the most recent survey, Thailand ranked second overall and was only just pipped by 1 per cent to the top spot by the international metropolis of Singapore.
In the economics category, Thailand ranked third overall – polling only just behind Singapore and Bermuda. Significantly however, Thailand showed the most improvement moving up six spots from 10th place in 2012 over the previous year. The economics section of the survey compares each country across a range of categories.
One the most significant factors in Thailand’s high ranking was it placed first overall for second home ownership among the expat community. This is a reflection of affordability of property and the ability of many expats to afford to maintain a holiday home.
Thailand is blessed with some of the world’s best beaches and holiday home opportunities like Siam Royal View’s award winning villa development on Koh Chang. From the experience of our home owners, we know how much value busy executives based in Bangkok and elsewhere in Asia place on having a luxury home surrounded by beach and mountains to enjoy in their downtime.
Thailand also scored top of the international survey for expat medical care. This will come as no surprise to people living in Thailand where private hospitals have an enviable reputation for providing outstanding healthcare at a price that is almost unbeatable anywhere.
Thailand also bagged the top ranking in the availability of high quality domestic help.
A few factors pulled Thailand’s ranking down and denied the country the coveted top spot. Most importantly, the country suffered in a comparison of total net income only managing 7th place overall. This is probably a reflection on the far lower cost of living in Thailand compared to other highly placed countries in the survey.
Thailand was also dragged down in by scoring poorly in the lack of choice of cars. Many will see this as a small price to pay for living but Thailand’s was listed as 17th for the availability of cars. This is due to the government placing very high tariffs on imported automobiles and luxury vehicles to protect its can industry.
Economics is just one factor that the survey measured. It also looked at lifestyle and quality of life issues which we will look at in more detail in our next post.
Siam Royal View is a multiple award winning Thailand property developer with landmark projects in Pattaya and Koh Chang. For more details on our real estate and how you can own your own dream home contact us to find out more details.
