5 ms·

I'm assuming a very selective use of data here, and very subjective definitions of "safe" and "cheap". For instance, the availability of quality healthcare is

I'm assuming a very selective use of data here, and very subjective definitions of "safe" and "cheap". For instance, the availability of quality healthcare is not included in "safe", and how said healthcare is paid for not included in "cheap". When I grow old and my health starts to fail, I'd rather be in some of those unfriendly, expensive and unsafe countries... Another example: some of these top 15 countries are definitely neither safe nor friendly if you're openly gay. This is a list op countries that are nice to visit for a few weeks if you're well-off, healthy and not planning to do anything even mildly risky. If you want to actually live your life somewhere, you're better off in some of the bottom 15 than any of the top 15.

WildUtah 13y ago
Also the report seems to assume you won't learn a word of any language other than English ('friendliest' is friendliest to monolingual English speakers). And safest is interpreted to include only crime and war, but car crashes are far more likely to injure or kill you on vacation in all but the most war torn crime infested countries.
- Strom 13y ago
  I'm not so sure the safety index counts for war. Georgia is ranked as #2 although it was in war with Russia just a few years ago and Russian military forces still occupy a good chunk of Georgia. [1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Georgia_war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Georgia_war
ye 13y ago
Seeing UAE on this list immediately shows how flawed the methodology is. It might be safe and friendly for white rich muslim males who don't drink alcohol, but that's about it.
- hmsimha 13y ago
  Right. It's also entirely legal for men to beat their wives in the UAE (as long as you are not leaving visible marks), so I would argue that it's really not safe for women who are married or open to possibility. It would be like calling a country that doesn't criminalize murder safe even though it has a murder rate in the 100s (for context, El Salvador holds the highest murder rate in the world at 139).
  - notahacker 13y ago
    If you're a women who needs to factor in the risk of your husband beating you as soon as it is legal to do so, you should probably be shopping for divorce lawyers rather than holiday destinations.
    - altero 13y ago
      You have no idea what you are talking about. It is very common to kidnap alone female tourists on broad daylight, since they "do not belong to anyone".
- mansigandhi 13y ago
  Yeah. As a brown person holding an Indian passport UAE is as unfriendly as it gets - starting from inequality in pay to enforcement of law to freedom of speech. (well, the last one is for everyone).
daliusd 13y ago
There is error in calculation or wrong assumption somewhere clearly. We have Estonia in top 15 and Latvia in bottom 15. Two neighboring countries that are quite similar in size, economical situation, cultural background and political situation. Estonia has some little advantages over Latvia (IMHO) but those are not that critical.
- telephonetemp 13y ago
  Could you expand on the advantages of Estonia over Latvia?
  - daliusd 13y ago
    Yes, of course (I'm Lithuanian myself, that is one of 3 Baltic states http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_states http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_states). Those are minor economical advantages: 1) Estonia has euro (currency), Latvia will have euro next year; 2) Estonia prepared for crisis Latvia had to use helping hand of IMF. 3) Average salary is slightly larger in Estonia than in Latvia. Estonia - 865 euros, Latvia 676 euros, Lithuania 630 euros (data 2011 4th quarter). I can think only about one cultural difference: Baltic states do not like Russian people very much because of historical reason. It is not as bad as Northern Ireland or Basques but citizen of Baltic state can refuse to speak Russian in some situations while many older people can speak Russian without problems (younger generation does not speak Russian, e.g. I will not speak Russian because my Russian is terrible). Latvians require some tests to be passed in order person could get Latvian citizenship - so in result Latvia has quite high population of Russians that do not speak Latvian and do not have citizenship. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-citizens_(Latvia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-citizens_(Latvia) Returning to theme those differences are minor as in Baltic states: 1) if you know English you have big opportunities; 2) Education level is quite high in all Baltic states; 3) Freedom of press is quite high in all the countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_Freedom_Index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_Freedom_Index). Internet is cheap and fast. 4) Prices are lower than compared to many other EU countries. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php?title=File:Comparative_price_levels,_2001-2011_(1)_(final_consumption_by_private_households_including_indirect_taxes,_EU-27%3D100).png&filetimestamp=20121022145649 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.... 5) Crime levels are quite similar in all Baltic states (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Crime_statistics http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index....) and are comparable to USA. My point is that Estonia is not cheaper, safer and friendlier place to live than Latvia. While Latvia has this problem with Russian people but this problem exists in all Baltic states. If you are stubborn not to speak language of the country you are living in you will have problem in any country - the only exception USA as they don't have official language. Still I doubt that you will have luck speaking with officer in other language than in English in USA.
stef25 13y ago
> This is a list op countries that are nice to visit for a few weeks if you're well-off, healthy and not planning to do anything even mildly risky. Have you been to Thailand or Ethiopia, in positions 9 and 10?
antback 13y ago
I can't be more agreed
notahacker 13y ago
I'd argue that "friendliest" is actually the most dubious use of data: the data comes from an "executive opinion survey" that asks local businessmen how welcome they feel foreigners are in their country. Actual tourists experiences may beg to differ. For the authors' stated purpose of "finding people to go party with" and "immersing themselves in the local culture", the UAE is not making the top 15 countries on most people's world rankings. If you speak (or are willing to learn) Spanish you'd be better off in Bolivia...
marquis 13y ago
I've spent significant time in #3 (Morocco) and #4 (UAE) and would be hesitant to return. As a solo female these places are hostile once you leave the confines of the westernized areas. If you are just hanging out the business districts and make heavy use of taxis you're fine but what's the point.. #15 Portugal on the other hand? If you can work remotely and can get a visa, I'd put it at the top. Amazing country, affordable, fantastic people and the language isn't complicated to pick up if you have any Romance knowledge.

WildUtah 13y ago

Also the report seems to assume you won't learn a word of any language other than English ('friendliest' is friendliest to monolingual English speakers). And safest is interpreted to include only crime and war, but car crashes are far more likely to injure or kill you on vacation in all but the most war torn crime infested countries.

Strom 13y ago
I'm not so sure the safety index counts for war. Georgia is ranked as #2 although it was in war with Russia just a few years ago and Russian military forces still occupy a good chunk of Georgia. [1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Georgia_war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Georgia_war

ye 13y ago

Seeing UAE on this list immediately shows how flawed the methodology is. It might be safe and friendly for white rich muslim males who don't drink alcohol, but that's about it.

hmsimha 13y ago
Right. It's also entirely legal for men to beat their wives in the UAE (as long as you are not leaving visible marks), so I would argue that it's really not safe for women who are married or open to possibility. It would be like calling a country that doesn't criminalize murder safe even though it has a murder rate in the 100s (for context, El Salvador holds the highest murder rate in the world at 139).
- notahacker 13y ago
  If you're a women who needs to factor in the risk of your husband beating you as soon as it is legal to do so, you should probably be shopping for divorce lawyers rather than holiday destinations.
  - altero 13y ago
    You have no idea what you are talking about. It is very common to kidnap alone female tourists on broad daylight, since they "do not belong to anyone".
mansigandhi 13y ago
Yeah. As a brown person holding an Indian passport UAE is as unfriendly as it gets - starting from inequality in pay to enforcement of law to freedom of speech. (well, the last one is for everyone).

daliusd 13y ago

There is error in calculation or wrong assumption somewhere clearly. We have Estonia in top 15 and Latvia in bottom 15. Two neighboring countries that are quite similar in size, economical situation, cultural background and political situation. Estonia has some little advantages over Latvia (IMHO) but those are not that critical.

telephonetemp 13y ago
Could you expand on the advantages of Estonia over Latvia?
- daliusd 13y ago
  Yes, of course (I'm Lithuanian myself, that is one of 3 Baltic states http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_states http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_states). Those are minor economical advantages: 1) Estonia has euro (currency), Latvia will have euro next year; 2) Estonia prepared for crisis Latvia had to use helping hand of IMF. 3) Average salary is slightly larger in Estonia than in Latvia. Estonia - 865 euros, Latvia 676 euros, Lithuania 630 euros (data 2011 4th quarter). I can think only about one cultural difference: Baltic states do not like Russian people very much because of historical reason. It is not as bad as Northern Ireland or Basques but citizen of Baltic state can refuse to speak Russian in some situations while many older people can speak Russian without problems (younger generation does not speak Russian, e.g. I will not speak Russian because my Russian is terrible). Latvians require some tests to be passed in order person could get Latvian citizenship - so in result Latvia has quite high population of Russians that do not speak Latvian and do not have citizenship. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-citizens_(Latvia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-citizens_(Latvia) Returning to theme those differences are minor as in Baltic states: 1) if you know English you have big opportunities; 2) Education level is quite high in all Baltic states; 3) Freedom of press is quite high in all the countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_Freedom_Index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_Freedom_Index). Internet is cheap and fast. 4) Prices are lower than compared to many other EU countries. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php?title=File:Comparative_price_levels,_2001-2011_(1)_(final_consumption_by_private_households_including_indirect_taxes,_EU-27%3D100).png&filetimestamp=20121022145649 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.... 5) Crime levels are quite similar in all Baltic states (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Crime_statistics http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index....) and are comparable to USA. My point is that Estonia is not cheaper, safer and friendlier place to live than Latvia. While Latvia has this problem with Russian people but this problem exists in all Baltic states. If you are stubborn not to speak language of the country you are living in you will have problem in any country - the only exception USA as they don't have official language. Still I doubt that you will have luck speaking with officer in other language than in English in USA.

stef25 13y ago

> This is a list op countries that are nice to visit for a few weeks if you're well-off, healthy and not planning to do anything even mildly risky. Have you been to Thailand or Ethiopia, in positions 9 and 10?

antback 13y ago

I can't be more agreed

notahacker 13y ago

I'd argue that "friendliest" is actually the most dubious use of data: the data comes from an "executive opinion survey" that asks local businessmen how welcome they feel foreigners are in their country. Actual tourists experiences may beg to differ. For the authors' stated purpose of "finding people to go party with" and "immersing themselves in the local culture", the UAE is not making the top 15 countries on most people's world rankings. If you speak (or are willing to learn) Spanish you'd be better off in Bolivia...

marquis 13y ago

I've spent significant time in #3 (Morocco) and #4 (UAE) and would be hesitant to return. As a solo female these places are hostile once you leave the confines of the westernized areas. If you are just hanging out the business districts and make heavy use of taxis you're fine but what's the point.. #15 Portugal on the other hand? If you can work remotely and can get a visa, I'd put it at the top. Amazing country, affordable, fantastic people and the language isn't complicated to pick up if you have any Romance knowledge.