Thinking outside the Box - Swedes Retiring in Thailand
Tom Tuohy Feb 18, 2013
Op Ed
What’s the first thing that comes into your
head when you think of Swedes? I think of Bjorn Borg, the Swedish chef from The Muppets, and that famous Swede
locked up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London – Julian Assange. You might
think of SAAB, meatballs from IKEA and ABBA. You may even think of the Stockholm
Syndrome where kidnapped prisoners, after a period of time in captivity, sometimes
begin to identify with their captors. Whatever comes to mind, one thing is for
sure – Swedes are able to think “out of the box” and come up with novel
solutions to complex social issues.
This was amply demonstrated this week when the
Swedish politician, David Stansvik, made an interesting proposal. He suggested
that it would be a good idea to give retiring Swedes an option of relocating to
Thailand where there is an abundance of sun, the cost of living is much lower, there
are many qualified healthcare workers, and many Swedes like to retire in
Thailand anyway.
“It was a study group we had on health care needs
in the future. We know that the number of elderly is increasing [in Sweden] and
that recruitment needs are great. This is a way to meet the problems we face.
Not this year, but maybe in five or ten years,” he said.
And when you think about it, it’s not such a bad
idea. Sweden has one of the highest incomes per capita in the world. (According
to the IMF, Sweden was in eighth place in 2011.) Sweden also has a very high
tax system where both the employee and employer pay tax to three different
levels of government: the municipality, the county council, and the central
government. This means there’s an awful lot of money to go round for things
like education and social spending e.g. healthcare.
The Swedish Problem
While it may seem more than a tad controversial,
there are a number of problems that Sweden is facing along with other developed
countries like Japan and S. Korea. It is something of an ageing time bomb with
many from the Baby Boom generation ready to retire. With advances in medicine
and technology, many of these people are living much longer than the “three
score and ten” years of the bible. An added problem is what could be called a
double whammy: because these people are now retiring, they will no longer be paying
into the tax system which means less revenue is being collected while more and
more people are drawing from the same funds e.g. for state pensions and for
medical expenses. This is stretching the resources available for the elderly to
the maximum.
“The elderly in Sweden are an increasing group that
requires much, and expensive care. At the same time, recruiting manpower for
the needed services is becoming a challenge. A study group in the Swedish town
Nora that discussed health care needs in the future suggest that instead of
importing labour, it might be easier and cheaper to simply export the elderly.”
(http://scandasia.com/swedish-proposition-send-the-elderly-to-thailand-services-are-cheaper/)
This doesn’t sound bad at all as long as it’s voluntary. (Nobody wants to have
to visit grandma and grandpa in Bangkok or Pattaya once a year!)
The Thai problem
One wonders whether the Thai
government will accept this arrangement should it be offered as it has benefits
for both sides: the Swedes get to solve the financial problem of their ageing
population by exporting grandma and grandpa, and the Thais get lots of Swedish
Krone flowing into the country providing jobs for the local populace. Let’s be
honest though – when it comes to thinking outside the box, there are some Thai
government ministers not known for their clever and original ideas. As Andrew
Walker wrote of one Thai politician, Mallika
Boonmetrakul: an appalling Thai Politician
“This is good example of a bad Thai
politician; the brain is never put into gear before the mouth is set in
motion.” (http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2011/11/29/mallika-boonmetrakul-an-appalling-thai-politician)
Only this week, the Deputy Prime
minister said that policemen can ask for money from local Chinese merchants
while on the street, thereby once again blurring the line between good honest
police practices and rampant bribe taking. This was the same minster who, as
Thailand’s representative, turned up to Malaysia the previous week drunk as a sailor
thereby tarnishing Thailand’s image abroad. (A touchy subject if anyone saw the
Saturday Night Live skit which has a
man trying to learn Thai so he could get laid in Thailand!) It didn’t seem to
occur to this politician that Malaysia is predominantly Muslim and alcohol is haram (forbidden) – or maybe he just
didn’t care.
There was also the Thai minister
who suggested the teachers in schools in the south be armed, so they could
defend themselves against terrorists. And then there was the Thai politician who
accidentally shot and killed his ex-wife with a submachine gun in a restaurant in
northern Thailand. Oh well – as the Swedish chef used to say – “Den smakar skit
på julbord. Bort, bort, bort!” (no translation
available.)
The pot is empty
On a global
level, there are other issues that need to be understood if this Swedish idea
is to be put into the correct context. Nowadays, more and more people have less
and less money to spend on retirement and the costs that go with it –
healthcare, recreation, and travel. This is primarily because of the ageing
time bomb mentioned above. It’s also because of the Credit Crunch of 2008 which
saw billions of pounds that would have gone into state pensions and other
social programs being diverted to cover the gaping holes in governmental
budgets in order to e.g. prop up ailing (“too big to fail”) companies.
In America
this was to bail out companies like Chrysler and Fanny Mae. In the UK, Northern
Rock and the Royal Bank of Scotland were both bailed out by the British
Government which still retains the majority shareholding in both banks. No
doubt the repercussions of this will be felt for some time which will lead
others like the Swedes to consider thinking outside of the box and coming up
with novel solutions to these and other kinds of social problems.
Tom Tuohy is a teacher and writer. He has written for a number of
newspapers, magazines and websites including: The Guardian Weekly, the English Language
Gazette, jobs.ac.uk and the Bangkok Post. You can access Tom's blog here. Tom is also the author of Watching the Thais which is available in
print, on the Kindle, and as an ebook.
(This post was originally published on the Chiang Mai City News website: - http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=1415)
