Thailand is the happiest of 7 regional APAC countries, survey says

The people of Thailand are the happiest out of seven regional Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries, according to a survey of 85,000 adult respondents via the polling app Votee.

Stats were collected from respondents in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Philippines between October 2021 and December 2022.

Respondents were routinely asked to score their happiness level out of 10.

From most happy to least happy, the results are as follows…

1. Thailand (7.62)
2. Philippines (7.59)
3. Indonesia (7.43)
4. Malaysia (7.24)
5. Singapore (6.28)
6. Taiwan (6.17)
7. Hong Kong (5.6)

Respondents entered their happiness out of 10 over 15 months. A bumpy graph shows an overall downward trend, with happiness dampening over time…

The most interesting part of the survey investigated the relationship between happiness and GDP among the regional APAC nations.

Despite Hong Kong having a high GDP of US$49,660 per capita, Hong Kongers were the most miserable of the bunch with an overall 5.6/10 for happiness.

Whereas the Philippines, coming in second place with 7.59/10 for happiness, had one of the lowest GDP per capita at US$3,548.

Singapore has the highest GDP per capita in the region at US$72,794 and fell somewhere in the middle with a happiness score of 6.28/10.

Respondents in Hong Kong had a tumultuous 15 months, with happiness mostly staying beneath the 5.38 mark but then rising in May 2022 when social distancing rules were relaxed and then rising further to 6.12 in November 2022.

In March 2022, the Land of Smiles was ranked the 61st happiest in the World Happiness Index’s list of 146 countries. Finland was the happiest and Afghanistan was ranked the least happy.

While Thailand might be the happiest of seven APAC countries according to Votee, Bangkok was deemed one of the worst cities in the world for work-life balance in June.