International rankings of Thailand

The following are international rankings of Thailand.

General

• Human Development Index (2014): Thailand ranked 89 of 187 countries.
• Satisfaction with Life Index: Ranked 76 of 178 countries
• Where-to-be-born Index: Thailand ranked 50 of 80 countries.

Airports

• World's Top Airports: Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) was ranked number 47 of the world's top 100 airports in 2015.

Black market

• Black Market Country Risk Ranking: Thailand ranked number 20 of 93 countries (1=most at risk; 93=least at risk).

Carbon dioxide emissions

• Global Carbon Project: published the Global Carbon Atlas in 2013. Of 216 nation states/territories, Thailand ranks 19 (1=most emissions, 216=fewest emissions) in CO² emissions.

Climate change

• Climate Central: Thailand is ranked seventh (higher number=lower risk) on the "Top 20 Most At-Risk Countries" for exposure to sea level rise and coastal flooding. It estimates the number of "People living on land that will be below sea level or chronic flood levels by the end of the century, assuming current emissions trends continue, and medium sensitivity of sea level to warming." In Thailand, eight million persons, or 12% of the population, are "at-risk" according to the study. Six of ASEAN's ten member-states are on the at-risk list.

• Climate Change Performance Index 2016: Thailand ranked 49 of 61 (1=best, 61=worst) countries, putting it in the "Very Poor" performance category. Other ASEAN nations were ranked 24 (Indonesia), 39 (Malaysia), and 55 (Singapore). The report is published annually by the Climate Action Network Europe and Germanwatch.

• ND-GAIN Index: 59th of 178 countries ranked in the ND-GAIN Index, a project of the University of Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN). The index "summarizes a country's vulnerability to climate change and other global challenges in combination with its readiness to improve resilience".

• Port Cities with High Exposure and Vulnerability to Climate Extremes: According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Bangkok ranks seventh of the 10 most vulnerable cities, "By the 2070s, the top 10 cities in terms of population exposure (including all environmental and socioeconomic factors) are Kolkata, Mumbai, Dhaka, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Shanghai, Bangkok, Rangoon, Miami and Hai Phòng."

Competitiveness

• Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 2014-2015: Thailand ranked 32 of 140 economies in the World Economic Forum's GCI. It was ranked sixth in ASEAN+3 (China, Japan, South Korea). ASEAN partners Singapore ranked second and Malaysia 18th.
• IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2014: Thailand ranked 29 of 60 nations.
• IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2015: Thailand ranked 30 of 61 nations. The ranking looks at 20 areas grouped around four main topics: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure. Thailand's ranking in health and environment is its lowest, 54th. The best ranking is in the employment area (3rd) thanks low unemployment. Among 61 economies, Thailand's business legislation is also ranked poorly, at 51. In education, it is ranked 48. Results for other ASEAN states are mixed: Malaysia dropped from 12 to 14, Indonesia from 37 to 42, with the Philippines moving up from 42 to 41.

Cost-of-living

• Cost of Living Index 2015 mid-year: Thailand ranked 89 of 125 nations (1=most expensive; 125=least expensive).

Corruption

• Corruption Perceptions Index 2014: Thailand ranked 85 of 174 countries.

Coups d'état

• "...Thailand has experienced more coups d'état than any other country in contemporary history." according to the Washington Post. Since 1932, Thailand has had seven coup attempts and 12 successful coups (as of 2015).

Creativity

• On the Global Creativity Index for 2015, Thailand ranks 82 of 139 nations (1=best, 139=worst). Thailand's ASEAN partners were ranked: Singapore, 9; Laos, 42; Philippines, 52; Malaysia, 63; Vietnam, 80; Cambodia, 113; Indonesia, 115.

Crime

• Number of intentional homicides committed with a firearm that were recorded in criminal (police) statistics: Ranked 3rd for the year 2000 among the 92 countries that responded to the survey (behind #1 South Africa and #2 Colombia).

See also: List of countries by firearm-related death rate

Ease of doing business

In the World Bank's Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency, Thailand ranked 49th overall of 189 nations (1=best, 189=worst) in ease of doing business, a drop of three places in the rankings since the 2014 survey prior to the May coup. Among ASEAN nations, Thailand ranked third behind Singapore and Malaysia. In detailed rankings, Thailand ranked 97th worldwide in getting credit, 96th in ease of starting a business, 70th in paying taxes, 39th in dealing with construction permits, 57th in registering property and enforcing contracts, 56th in trading across borders, 36th for protecting minority investors, and 49th in resolving insolvency.

Economy

• Nominal GDP growth rate: Ranked 123 of 215 (4.4% growth rate)
• Gross domestic product 2013: Ranked 30 of 192 (US$387 billion)
• Economic Misery Index 2015: Bloomberg News ranked Thailand number one of fifty-one nations as the happiest economy, largely due to its low inflation and unemployment.
• Quality of Life Index: Ranked 42 of 111 countries.
• Index of Economic Freedom 2015: Heritage Foundation ranked Thailand 75 of 178 countries.
• A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine: Globalization Index 2005. Ranked 46 of 62 countries
• World Talent Ranking, 2014: The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) assesses "the ability of countries to develop, attract and retain talent to sustain the talent pool available for enterprises operating in those economies." Ranked 34 of 60 countries.
• Global Talent Competitiveness Index, 2014. Thailand ranks 61 of 93 nations in this analysis of growing local talent or attracting talent from abroad.

Education

• OECD Programme for International Student Assessment: Thailand ranked 47 of 76 countries for average performance on student achievement tests in math and science. Other ASEAN nations in the survey included Singapore (ranked 1 of 76), Vietnam (ranked 12 of 76), Malaysia (ranked 52 of 76), and Indonesia (ranked 69 of 76).

Energy drinks

• Zenith International, UK-based food and drink consultants, reported in 2009 that no country consumes more energy drinks than Thailand, where the average adult consumer then drank 11.4 L (3 US gallons) per year, four times more than in the US, the leading consumer of energy drinks.

English proficiency

• EF English Proficiency Index 2015: Thailand ranked 62 of 70 nations (1=best, 70=worst), classed in the "very low [English] proficiency" quintile. Other ASEAN nation ranked were: Singapore, 12; Malaysia, 14; Vietnam, 29; Indonesia, 32; Cambodia, 69. The top ranked country was Sweden, the lowest ranked country was Libya.

Environment

• Dumping plastic waste: Thailand ranked sixth of 192 nations with ocean shorelines (1=worst, 192=best). Based on 2010 data, Thailand is estimated to have contributed 1.03 million tonnes of plastic waste to the ocean. The 10 biggest marine polluters (by millions of tonnes of plastic waste dumped in the ocean each year) are: China 8.8; Indonesia 3.2; The Philippines 1.9; Vietnam 1.8; Sri Lanka 1.6; Thailand 1.0; Egypt 1.0; Nigeria 0.9; Malaysia 0.9; and Bangladesh 0.8
• Environmental Sustainability Index 2005: Ranked 73 of 146 countries.
• Fish species, threatened: Of 215 nations, Thailand ranked 12 (1=worst, 215=best) in fish species at risk (96 species) in 2014. ASEAN member-states ranked from number five (Indonesia) to 175 (Brunei).
• Mammal species, threatened: Of 214 countries studied, Thailand ranks ninth (1=worst, 214=best) in the world in the number of mammal species (55 species) under threat. ASEAN nations fared poorly in this study: Indonesia was number one on the world list with 184 species under threat. The remaining ASEAN nations were ranked: Malaysia, 7; Vietnam, 12; Myanmar, 14; Laos, 15; The Philippines, 19; Cambodia, 20; Brunei, 25; Singapore, 93, of 214 countries.
• Plant species (higher), threatened: The World Bank estimated in 2014 that, world-wide, 13,583 higher plant species are threatened. Of 215 nations, Thailand ranks 26 (1=worst, 215=best) in number of species threatened (133 species). Thailand's ASEAN neighbours range from number two on the list (Malaysia, 706 threatened species) to number 75 (Laos, 32 threatened species).
• Tree cover loss: Thailand ranks 29 of 197 nations (1=worst, 197=best) in tree cover loss (deforestation), 2001-2012.

Freedom

Freedom House in its Freedom in the World 2015 report, reduced Thailand's previous ranking of "partly free" to "not free", making it one of 51 nations and territories in that category.

Gasoline price

Thailand ranked 48 of 61 nations (1=cheapest, 61=most expensive) for a litre of gasoline (2Q2015).

Gender gap

• World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2014: Thailand ranked 61 of 142 nations.

Giving

• World Giving Index 2014: Overall 21 of 135 countries

Happiness

• World Happiness Report 2015: Thailand ranks 34 of 158 nations in the third issuance of the World Happiness Report.

Information technology

• World Economic Forum (WEF): The Global Information Technology Report (GITR) 2015 features the latest iteration of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), which assesses the factors, policies, and institutions that enable a country to fully leverage information and communication technologies (ICTs) for increased competitiveness and well-being. Thailand ranked 67 of 143 nations.

Innovation

The Global Innovation Index 2015 ranked Thailand 55 of 141 (1=best; 141=worst) countries.

Instant noodle consumption

• World Instant Noodle Association: Of 43 nations, Thailand is the eighth biggest consumer of instant noodles, consuming three billion packet/cups in 2014.

Internet

• Freedom House: In 2015 awarded Thailand an overall score of 63 ("not free") (0=best, 100=worst) for Internet freedom in the calendar year 2014, ranking 50 of 65 countries. In 2013 Thailand was rated as "partly free".
• International Telecommunications Union (ITU): In their 2012 report, ranked Thailand 92 of 155 countries for telecommunications infrastructure.
• Ookla Speedtest: The company known for its popular Internet utility, Speedtest, ranked all nations for rolling mean download speed in Mbps (megabit per second) in May 2015. Rankings are based on throughput over the previous 30 days to servers not more than 480 km from the client computer. Thailand ranked 52nd of 200 nations (20 Mbps). Other ASEAN nations ranked were Singapore (1 of 200 nations) 122 Mbps; Vietnam (61 of 200) 20 Mbps; Cambodia (110 of 200) 9 Mbps; Brunei (116 of 200) 8 Mbps; Malaysia (130 of 200) 7 Mbps; Laos (133 of 200) 7 Mbps; Indonesia (139 of 200) 7 Mbps; Myanmar (140 of 200) 7 Mbps; and the Philippines (176 of 200) 4 Mbps.

Military strength

• Global Firepower 2015 ranks Thailand as 20th of 126 nations in military strength (1=most powerful, 126=least powerful). Other

ASEAN nations ranked were Indonesia, 12; Vietnam, 21; Singapore, 26; Malaysia, 35; Philippines, 40; Myanmar, 44; Cambodia, 96; and Laos, 117.

Pickup trucks

Thailand ranks number two in the world in pickup truck sales, after the US, but is number one in pickup trucks per capita.

Press freedom

• World Press Freedom Index 2015: Thailand ranked 134 of 180 countries
• Freedom of the Press 2015: Thailand ranked 166 of 199 nations.

Prosperity

• The Legatum Institute's yearly Legatum Prosperity Index for 2015 ranks Thailand 48 of 142 (1=best, 142=worst) nations. The ranking is based on a variety of factors including wealth, economic growth, education, health, freedom, personal well-being, and quality of life. Other ASEAN nations ranked were Singapore, 17; Malaysia, 44; Vietnam, 55; Indonesia, 69; Philippines, 74; Laos, 95; Cambodia, 112.

Prostitution

• Number of prostitutes: Of 29 nations, Thailand is ranked eighth in number of prostitutes (1=most; 29=fewest). Thailand is estimated to have 250,000 prostitutes. Other ASEAN nations making the list were the Philippines (fourth, 800,000 prostitutes); Cambodia (13th, 70,000); Vietnam (17th, 33,000). The world total is estimated at 13,828,700 prostitutes. China is number one, with an estimated five million.

• Prostitution revenues: In a list of 24 nations, Thailand ranked eighth (1=most prostitution revenue; 24=least prostitution revenue), with revenues estimated at US$6.4 billion (no date). China topped the list at US$73 billion. Other ASEAN nations listed were the Philippines (ninth, US$6bn); Indonesia (12th, US$2.25bn); and Cambodia (19th, US$511 million).

Quality of living

• Bangkok was ranked 117th of 230 (1=best quality of living, 230=worst quality of living) cities worldwide in Mercer's 2015 Quality of Living survey rankings. Vienna was ranked number 1, Baghdad last. Singapore (26) is the highest-ranked Asian city. Behind Singapore, the second highest-ranked city in Southeast Asia is Kuala Lumpur (84). Manila is ranked 136 and Jakarta 140.

Road traffic death rate

• Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015: Thailand has an "Estimated Road Traffic Death Rate" of 36.2 persons per 100,000 population, ranked 2 of 180 countries (1: worst, 180: best). Seventy-three percent of fatalities involved two- or three-wheeled motorized vehicles. In other ASEAN countries, corresponding death rates were: Vietnam, 24.5; Malaysia, 24; Myanmar, 20.3; Cambodia, 17.4; Indonesia, 15.3; Laos, 14.3; Philippines, 10.5; Singapore, 3.6.

Rule of law

• World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index 2015 ranked Thailand 56 of 102 nations, and 11 of 15 in the region.

Scientific journal ranking

• SCImago Journal Rank: Thailand ranked 43 of 239 nations in the number of articles published in scientific journals between 1996 and 2014.

Services offshoring

• Global Services Location Index 2014: Thailand ranked number six of 50 countries among the best locations to offshore service functions.

Sex

• Average number of lifetime sexual partners: In 2005 Thailand ranked 16 of 34 countries with an average of 10.6 sexual partners. This statistic shows the average number of sexual partners of people in selected countries all over the world. The global average number of sexual partners is nine. Thais have sex with 10.6 different people on average during their lifetime.
• Most adulterous countries: Percentage of Thai married adults who have admitted to having an affair: 57%. Thailand ranks number one of ten. In an unrelated study by condom manufacturer Durex, Thai men were ranked number one in the world for infidelity and Thai women are ranked second as the world's most unfaithful lovers, with well over half of them admitting to frequent infidelity. Durex's findings have been hotly disputed.

Social

• State of the World's Mothers 2014: Ranked 72 of 178 countries.
• Social Progress Index 2014: 59 of 132 countries

Stability

• Fragile States Index 2015: Thailand ranked 71 of 178 nations (1=worst, 178=best). Lowest ranking ASEAN neighbour state is Myanmar, ranked 27, and Singapore, highest ranking, ranked 159.

Tourism

• Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015: Thailand ranked 35 of 141 nations.
• International Tourist Arrivals: Thailand ranked number ten in 2013, up five places from 2012 with 26.5 million arrivals.
• International Tourist Receipts: Ranked number seven in the world in 2013, up two places from 2012, with receipts estimated at US$42.1 billion.

Universities

• Times Higher Education: King Mongkut's University of Technology, Thonburi was ranked number 50 among the top 100 Asian (including Middle Eastern) universities in 2014. It was the only Thai university in the ranking. The top-ranked ASEAN school was the National University of Singapore (NUS) at number 2.

Vehicle manufacture

• Thailand output 1.95 million vehicles in 2015, ranking 12th in the world.

Volkswagens

• Largest gathering of Volkswagens: Thailand broke the Guinness World Record for the largest congregation of Volkswagens. That honour was held previously by Brazil. A total of 490 Volkswagens gathered at the First Army Area to break Brazil's previous record of 460 Volkwagens.