The World Happiness Index: How Does Thailand Measure Up? [S5.E54]

In the wake of the 2022 World Happiness Report - which saw Thailand drop by quite a few spots - Greg and Ed jump into the fascinating topic of the happiness of Thailand compared to other countries. How can you possibly measure something like the ‘happiness’ of a country? Well, wannabe social scientist Ed claims it can be done, and Greg walks through the data from the report to discuss. 

The boys go through factors such as GDP per capita, social support, and life expectancy, among others, that the researchers used to figure out how happy people were in various countries. So what of Thailand? Well, its ranking was 61 out of 146 countries which could be worse, but it turns out Thailand has slid 28 spots in the last few years! Ouch.

The guys then discuss various possible reasons for the drop, with of course the military government being a prime candidate, given that Thailand’s long slide started in around 2015. Could Thailand possibly no longer be the Land of Smiles? Well, at the very least, the hosts of the Bangkok Podcast are still smiling, so Thailand has that going for it. :)

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