Thailand ranks 3rd of 31 destinations for expats on the InterNations Expat Insider 2026 survey, behind Panama and Mexico.
According to the report on InterNations The survey ran from February 1 to March 31 this year, drawing about 7,786 respondents of 162 nationalities across 31 countries.
Panama held the top place for the third year running. Mexico placed 2nd overall and 1st for ease of settling in. After Thailand came the UAE, Brazil, Spain, Singapore, Portugal, Malaysia and Luxembourg.
For Thailand, 86% of expats in the country said they were happy with life abroad, the highest share of the 31 countries. Thailand’s score on the survey’s happiness index is at 85.5, again the highest of those ranked.
Forbes, reporting the survey’s Thailand findings, said 42% of expats in the country planned to stay in the country forever.
Respondents pointed to affordable cost of living, inexpensive housing, welcoming residents and the quality of healthcare.
Nine in ten praised the friendliness of locals, against 63% globally. Thailand placed 1st for expats feeling at home, 7th overall for healthcare and 4th for quality of medical care.
Nevertheless, Forbes reported that the same expats put Thailand last of the 31 countries for environment and climate. Only a third rated air quality positively, compared with 65% globally. Government support for environmental policy ranked 30th.
On safety, Thailand is at 27th for Safety and Security overall, even though expats felt personally safe, at 6th on that measure. Political stability ranked 29th and freedom of expression 30th.
Paperwork was the other weak point. Thailand finished last of the 31 countries for ease of opening a local bank account and 30th for having admin services available online. Some 80% said they found learning Thai difficult.
The five lowest-ranked countries were Norway, Germany, Turkiye, the UK and Canada. The US placed 20th, last for quality of life but 3rd for career prospects.
Source: Relocate Magazine, Forbes, WorldRankd, Travel Tomorrow, Internationalinvestment.biz, Seasiastats.com
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