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The Netherlands in fifth place of the happiest countries, Thailand in 52nd place

By Editorial
Posted in News from the Netherlands and Belgium
Tags: , , , ,
March 20 2019

The Netherlands ranks fifth in the list of happiest countries in the world this year and has even moved up one place. Belgium is in place 18, Thailand is also doing well with place 52, according to the World Happiness Report 2019 of the United Nations.

Finland is the happiest country in the world according to the annual list. It is better not to be born in South Sudan, the people there are the least happy.

The report measures happiness in 156 countries across a number of factors, including distribution of wealth, social connectedness, life expectancy and freedom of choice.

Number of times read: 311

15 responses to “The Netherlands in fifth place of the happiest countries, Thailand in 52nd place”

  1. Richard Hunterman says up
    20 March 2019 at 14: 41

    How is that possible? In Thailand people laugh all day long, while in the Netherlands people grumble every day.

    • to print says up
      20 March 2019 at 15: 38

      The Dutch are complainers. Always been. If the weather is nice, they complain about the heat, if it rains, they complain about it being cold and wet. Whichever cabinet is in power, it is no good, according to the Dutch. It is in our blood.

      But now that I've been living in the Netherlands for another year, I can be at peace with the results of this research. People are generally happy. But as soon as you meet a Dutchman who doesn't complain, then he or she is one of the unhappy Dutchmen. And there are few non-complainers.

    • John Chiang Rai says up
      20 March 2019 at 17: 39

      To me, this is a sign that many Dutch people complain unnecessarily, because things are apparently not going so badly for us on the “ranking list of happyness”.
      The fact that one immediately associates a Thai smile with happiness shows that some people do not understand why Thais really always smile.555

      • l.low size says up
        22 March 2019 at 05: 15

        There seem to be 20 kinds of "laughter" among the Thais.

        Among other things: out of embarrassment or not knowing how to give an attitude.

    • Karel says up
      21 March 2019 at 03: 47

      A lot of suffering (and a lot of frustration) under the 'surface' in Thailand, a lot of suffering as a result of poverty.
      All those single ladies in Pattaya, child in Isan (usually), sending money to mother over and over again, even single because father is no longer there, because they fell off a dangerous, unsecured construction scaffolding as a construction worker (that's how it goes in many non- Western countries). Then grandmother of 66 who has kidney problems, no money for kidney dialysis, let alone a kidney transplant in due course, and dies after a few days while a Dutchman can live with this for decades.

      And then there are some NL people who complain if health insurance becomes a tenner more expensive and they may have to drink a beer less: the plane ticket becomes a tenner more expensive, they are no longer allowed to light their cigarette in a restaurant, the sun loungers on the beach are no longer there. no longer be on Wednesday whether the Netherlands will receive war refugees. Count your blessings and don't complain if you get one less piece of candy…

    • Rob V says up
      21 March 2019 at 06: 04

      I think it's not too bad the difference in smiles on the faces in the Netherlands or Thailand. According to some, the average Dutchman looks sour and sullen all day long. 555 Yes with wind, rain and cold full in the face it is a little less easy to laugh but otherwise? Plus, a smile doesn't equate to being happy or happy. Just think of a smile out of politeness or as a grin because you don't have the answer.

      In addition, complaining is not by definition a sign of being unhappy or insufficiently happy. Happy people also complain. Fortunately, we can even complain. In the Netherlands you can take to the streets with your complaint against the oh so fine government with a protest board ('cabinet fagot'). Do that in Thailand and the laughter will die.

      See: https://nos.nl/artikel/2164133-als-negen-op-de-tien-mensen-gelukkig-zijn-waarom-klaagt-iedereen-dan.html

  2. ruud says up
    20 March 2019 at 15: 27

    Calculated happiness based on social circumstances is very different from people's happiness.
    Wealthy people can be deeply unhappy.

    A rich society, in which people are constantly bullied by a government with constantly changing pointless rules, can also disrupt the feeling of happiness considerably.

    • John Chiang Rai says up
      20 March 2019 at 21: 02

      You are right money alone certainly does not make you happier, only the security of a country or the social environment etc. can certainly contribute to this happiness.
      If the Netherlands is in 5th place on this ranking list, it can't go that bad for most people.
      Someone who doubts this could always look for his happiness in a country from the bottom ranks, being financially impoverished.
      Be sure that it suddenly becomes clear where he/she used to be the happiest.

      • ruud says up
        21 March 2019 at 08: 10

        I am not saying that good social services will not contribute to people's happiness, you just cannot say that because a country is rich and has good social services, people are also happy, or rather, they feel happy .
        If you want to know if people are happy, you have to ask people, not make calculations and assumptions, which are often linked to money.

        And now take the life expectancy of the research.
        I have seen my parents dement and vegetate for years in a nursing home.
        Yes they got old, but as far as I'm concerned, they should have died a little earlier, because they weren't happy.
        For the last few years, they spent all day in bed and could barely speak.
        Is that the happiness from the report?

        • John Chiang Rai says up
          21 March 2019 at 13: 02

          Apparently many people have judged differently, otherwise the Netherlands could never have finished in 5th place.
          Either the whole research is a piece of cake, and only a few expats in Thailand determine in which country life is happy.
          Of course, every expat, who usually lives on a completely different income, may feel happy in Thailand, but to make this immediately decisive for the average Thai seems very exaggerated to me.

  3. DJ58 says up
    20 March 2019 at 18: 21

    Well I can say that I am generally quite happy in the Netherlands, everything is well arranged, isn't it, but to be honest I am a bit happier during the time that I stay in Thailand, yes I believe so.

    • John Chiang Rai says up
      20 March 2019 at 21: 18

      With your temporary stay in Thailand you usually feel happier, if you come from the Netherlands with a full money purse, and have the certainty of being able to go back to the home country where you are insured from the cradle to the grave compared to Thailand.
      A Farang who, under the same circumstances as a Thai, had to live on 4 to 500 Baht p/d and later an old-age pension of 6 to 800 Baht p/m, would feel a lot less happy if he were to keep it up at all.555

  4. chris says up
    21 March 2019 at 06: 43

    https://mens-en-samenleving.infonu.nl/psychologie/130035-de-relatie-tussen-geld-en-geluk.html

  5. rob says up
    21 March 2019 at 17: 42

    It is a pity that we do not read anything about the question here, because it might explain everything. And, how can the Dutchman be so happy, while x % use anti-depressants, the suicide rate among young people, etc. I think that the Dutchman likes to get cancer, but considers it a loss of face to admit that we are not happy with all the 'facilities' after all. If you have to believe some, you owe that to yourself, don't you?

  6. l.low size says up
    22 March 2019 at 05: 22

    The "happy" Dutch is a bit more nuanced according to a TV program:

    30% = not happy

    30% = it stays about the same

    40% feel insecure in a number of areas: employment, open borders, climate issues and not knowing where they stand with pensions.

    Interesting is the latest election results, which could also give an indication of how happy
    the average Dutch person would be.


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