Hong Kong - Expatriates in search of friendship and love find it more easily in Asia than anywhere else in the world, especially if they move to Thailand, according to a survey Thursday. Asia claimed the top five friendliest places for expatriates to live - Thailand, followed by Vietnam, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Brunei - in the global survey by banking giant HSBC.
The least friendly place for expatriates to live is Belgium, the survey of more than 3,100 people living overseas found, followed by the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Japan.
When it comes to serious relationships, expatriates in Thailand are more likely than their counterparts anywhere else in the world to find love, with almost half of all expatriates finding partners there.
Globally, one in five expatriates said they found love overseas. Germany and Brazil were the second and third most likely places to find a long-term partner.
The least romantic destinations for expatriates are India and Qatar where just 4 per cent find love while living there, researchers found.
Perhaps surprisingly, people on lower incomes are more likely to find love abroad, with more people earning less than 60,000 US dollars a year hooking up with overseas lovers than any other income group.
Expatriates over the age of 55 were also found to have a greater chance of finding love overseas. One in four worldwide find love or a life partner while living abroad.
When it comes to integrating, expatriates tend to stick with their own and not mix with the local community, the survey found, although locals and expatriates mix better in some countries.
Brazil was the place where they are most likely to mix, with 94 per cent of expatriates saying they make local friends easily, followed by Canada, South Africa, India and Russia.
Expatriates in the Middle East, especially those living in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, were found to be the least likely to make friends with locals.
People living in 26 countries were interviewed for the HSBC Expat Explorer Survey 2009, the results of which have been released in stages over the course of the year.
