The number of foreigners from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland living in Thailand declined last year compared to 2001.
The number of Scandinavians classified by the Thai immigration authorities as living in Thailand went down from 3654 persons in 2001 to 2905 persons in 2002, a drop of 20 percent.
By year end 2002, the immigration police’s record showed 529 Norwegians, 311 Finns, 1282 Swedes and 783 Danes. The year before, the numbers were 626 Norwegians, 500 Finns, 1437 Swedes and 1091 Danes.
Scandinavians applying for permanent resident status in Thailand were last year lead by the Danes. By the deadline in December, nine Danes had applied for permanent resident status. Eight Danes already were given the attractive status which puts an end to all visa trouble and excludes them from the list of foreigners employed by the company they work for.
Three Swedes applied last year for this status which six Swedes already have obtained. One Norwegian applied and three Norwegians already have permanent resident status. One Finn aplied and one Finn already has this status.
