Crowded Britain?

Here's an interesting article on the BBC's Mark Easton's blog discussing the idea that Britain has become too crowded due to immigration:

Is Britain too crowded? The MPs and peers who put their names to today's report calling for a cap on immigration must believe so.

This week's Map of the Week is intended to provide a bit of evidence to go with the debate. In fact, I am posting four maps which look at population density and a measure of what might be described as "crowdedness".

The Cross-Party Group on Balanced Migration sounds moderate and consensual, but what it is arguing for is extremely radical. They want government to introduce policies which would limit Britain's population to around 65 million. Current government estimates suggest immigration will push numbers to around 79 million by 2050.

Read the rest of this article here

Over 1,000,000 pages served last month!

Unaccustomed as we are to blowing our own horn we just couldn't resist mentioning that Expat Focus served over a million pages last month to our visitors, the first time we've ever hit the seven figure mark!

OK, that's enough self congratulation - time to get back to work...

Should expats living in Thailand begin to worry?

Thailand has had a long history of political instability, much of which is hidden from the western world by a veil of censorship. It was only two years ago that a military coup, thankfully bloodless, took place to dispose criticised Prime Minister and business man Taksin Shiniwatra, following allegations of mass corruption. Two years on, following the first democratic election since the 2006 coup, and amidst allegations of vote buying and further corruption, Thailand once again witnesses a violent response to its current political situation.

Demonstrators for the People’s Alliance for Democracy have been blockading airports and government buildings since early this week, several trade unions have gone on strike to support them, seeing the entire rail network grind to a halt. PAD is calling for Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who many see as a puppet for the aforementioned Taksin, to step down from office.

The army so far has refused to step in and quell the troubles, after avowing they would never become involved in politics again, however it can only be a matter of time before they are forced to act regardless of their wishes, as the streets begin to erupt into violence and the economy suffers.

For expats living in Thailand this is a troubling time, it seems the country is becoming increasingly unstable, and potentially dangerous. This is a major problem due to the high number of expats who have a family in Thailand - no simple relocation for them...

So you want to be an expat?

Almost everyone at some stage in their life considers moving to a different country, although very few people actually commit themselves to this brave move. If you are considering becoming one of the growing expat community, then ask yourself these three questions below, before taking things further.

• Are you self sufficient? Not only financially, but emotionally as well, it can be very difficult to move away from the support of friends and family. It is important that you have the ability to support yourself in every way.

• Are you confident? It can be very difficult to learn to live in a different culture, especially if you do not speak the local language and your native tongue is not spoken widely by the locals, many people underestimate the stress involved with living a day to day life where nothing is ever easy or straightforward.

• Can you persevere? Many expats will tell you that the first few months are the hardest, learning enough of the language to get by, getting to grips with the local culture, and dealing with the short term problems of accommodation and amenities, you will need to stick with it for quite some time before things get easier.

Life as an expat can be exciting and full, but it does not suit everyone, think long and hard before you make any commitments, many expats fail to assimilate into their new home and return to their nation of birth within a few months of leaving.

Don't bank on it

by guest blogger Mac

Currently I am living in Thailand, and have been using the ATM to take funds out of my UK bank account for over two years. A couple of months ago, a friend of mine was coming out to visit me and offered to bring a pile of mail that was sitting in the UK waiting for me to read it. When he arrived, I noticed a few banks statements mixed in with the credit card offers and other junk mail. I don't usually check my statements very closely, I just don't keep very close track of my spending, but on this occasion I decided to look over them. I was shocked to find just how much I was being charged every time I used the ATM, I was also surprised at the terrible exchange rate I was getting. The next morning, I took my passport and rental agreement to a local bank and opened a Thai bank account, it worked out far cheaper for me to transfer a lump sum into a local account and use a local ATM card than it was to keep using my foreign card. If you are a frequent ATM user in a country that is different to the one your bank account is in, check the charges, you may also find you are paying over the top.

Take care of your health care

by guest blogger Mac

I learned a valuable lesson twenty years ago, bumming around in Spain, busking with my guitar for my daily beer tokens, and generally thinking I was immortal. Disaster struck, I broke my ankle and ended up in a Spanish hospital. Of course, my hand to mouth lifestyle left no room for hospital treatment, and I was forced to hop out of the hospital with a vast on my left leg, and no crutch to hold me up as I could not afford to pay the deposit for one. I hopped down the road for several miles to my apartment, extremely exhausting.

Since this event, I always make sure I have adequate health insurance when living in a foreign country, us ex-pats are really lucky these days, many companies offer ex-pat friendly health and travel insurance, usually at a fairly low cost. I feel every person who is living outside of their own nation should do something to make sure they are protected in the event of a major medical emergency taking place, at the very least you should have a strategy planned for repatriation should the medical situation require it.

One-Quarter of World’s Population May Wish to Migrate

Interesting item from Gallup:

"Ideally, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move permanently to another country? Gallup Polls conducted worldwide between 2006 and 2008 reveal that more than one in every four people polled report a desire to move abroad. Specifically, across the 82 countries where Gallup asked this question, the median percentage saying they would like to move abroad was 26%. Although there are many reasons why people migrate, this percentage suggests that a substantial proportion of the earth's population may not be happy living where they now live..."

The full article can be found here and offers some useful insights into why people want to move to another country.