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Thailand ranked 4th in Southeast Asia and 97th globally in Quality of Nationality Index

Improved human development and diversity of travel freedom sees Thailand increase its score among 195 countries and regions.

Thailand has been ranked 97th in a new quality of nationality report released by Henley & Partners, the global leader in residence and citizenship planning. According to the report, improved human development and diversity of travel freedom has enabled Thailand to increase its standing by 2.2% between a period of 2012 -2016 to achieve a score of 29.9% out of a possible 100%. Compared with the Asia Pacific average of 32.99% and the global average of 39.32%, this result puts Thai nationality firmly in the Medium-Quality category.

The Henley & Partners – Kochenov Quality of Nationality Index (QNI), put Germany in first place with a score of 82.7%, and ranked Afghanistan in last position with a score of 14.6%. Japan was the highest ranking Asian country on the Index at 31st place, with a score of 56.7%. The QNI is the first of its kind to objectively rank the value of every nationality of the world in terms of legal status in which to develop your talents and business.

Within the Southeast Asia region, the nationality of Thailand is of Medium Quality and is ranked 4th, behind High Quality nationalities of Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively. When it comes to global travel freedom, Thailand ranks 88th and scored 39% out of a possible 100%.

“These specific rankings further emphasize that in order to achieve a high score, nationalities in Southeast Asia need to excel holistically across all areas that contribute to the quality of living. For high-net worth individuals in today’s globalized world, crucial factors such as what makes one nationality a better legal status in which to develop talents and business than another, together with travel freedom are heavily taken into account in the decision-making process for investments into foreign destinations” said Dominic Volek, Head Southeast Asia at Henley & Partners Singapore.

France and Denmark share second place on the index with a score of 82.4%, and Iceland ranks third overall at 81.3%. The UK also ranked in the Extremely High-Quality category, just missing out on the ‘Top 10’ in 12th position with a score of 79.2%. The US, meanwhile, ranked 29th on the QNI with a score of 68.8%.

According to Prof. Dr. Dimitry Kochenov, a leading constitutional law professor with a long-standing interest in European and comparative citizenship law, the key premise of the index is that it’s possible to compare the relative worth of nationalities — as opposed to, simply, countries.

“Everyone has a nationality of one or more states. States differ to a great degree — Russia is huge; Malta is small — Luxembourg is rich; Mongolia is less so. Just as with the states, the nationalities themselves differ too. Importantly, there is no direct correlation between the power of the state and the quality of its nationality. Nationality plays a significant part in determining our opportunities and aspirations, and the QNI allows us to analyze this objectively,” he said.
The QNI is not a perception index. It uses a wide variety of quantifiable data to determine the opportunities and limitations that our nationalities impose on us. To achieve this, the QNI measures both the internal value of nationality — the quality of life and opportunities for personal growth within a nationality’s country of origin — and the external value of nationality — which identifies the diversity and quality of opportunities that nationalities allow us to pursue outside our country of origin.

“Before the launch of the QNI, no single, credible source existed that ranked the nationalities of the world. The second edition of the QNI — which represents the status quo as on 10 October 2016 — reflects the quality of all the world’s nationalities. It also includes a number of new nationality and status entries, such as Israeli laissez-passer, South Sudan, and eight British nationalities/statuses. The methodology has also been updated to include territories such as Dutch and French overseas territories, US territories, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands as settlement destinations,” says Kochenov.

Top risers 2015–2016 in Asia
Among all 140 nationalities that have gained value between 2015 and 2016, Timor-Leste is the biggest riser in Asia with a 7.3% value increase. It was ranked in the 95th place in 2016. This is mainly driven by a significant rise in its Travel Freedom after the Schengen visa liberalization. Other top risers in terms of value increase in the region are:

  • Bangladesh enjoyed a 4% value increase, and was ranked on the 129th place in 2016
  • Kyrgyzstan was ranked 110th on the Index in 2016, with a value increase of 3.7%
  • Bhutan follows right after Kyrgyzstan at the 111th place with an increase of 2.8%
  • Malaysia gained an increased value of 2.2%, now at 45th place on the rank
  • Thailand enjoyed an increase of 1.9% in value, now at 97th place on the Index
  • Indonesia is now at the 105th place with an 1.4% value increase

Top risers and fallers 2012–2016 in Asia
Over the last five years, a total of 158 nationalities have gained value. In Asia, the top three risers are Timor-Leste (+8.3%), China (+6.1%), and Bhutan (+5.2%). Three nationalities encountered decrease in value, and they are Japan (-0.8%), Brunei (-0.4%) and Nepal (-0.1%).

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Tatiana is the news co-ordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes to monitor the hundrends of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skim the most important according to our strategy. She holds a Bachelor degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.

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