Maybe this will cheer you up

If you weren’t too glum to notice, Monday was International Day of Happiness, an occasion when the United Nations tries to improve the global mood with its World Happiness Index. Unfortunately it wasn’t going to cheer up anyone in Thailand, which ranked 32nd among the 155 countries covered.
The UN’s happiness assessors noted that Thailand fares well in terms of social support and per-capita sharing in gross domestic product, but not so well when it comes to “healthy life expectancy”, “freedom to make life choices” or “generosity”. We did worst of all under the heading “perception of corruption”.
What that last finding means, according to the guidelines set out in the UN report, is that corruption is holding the country back and undercutting public happiness. Merely improving our standing on a global “happiness index” might not be much of a spur to efforts to tackle graft, but there are ample other incentives to ending corruption. 
The corruption that dogs Thai life at every level, from slum to university to Parliament, brings short-term gain for those who indulge in it and long-term suffering to millions of others and the Kingdom as a whole. Paying bribes to officials in exchange for convenience or better service has become so routine that few people give it a second thought. We need to jettison that complacency, demand that public services, education and justice are administered equitably, and drag this country into the 21st century. Then we might see the Thai happiness quotient rising.
All 10 countries at the top of the UN list are developed Western nations – in descending order Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden. Are the parameters used to construct the Happiness Index “too Western”, as has been suggested? It doesn’t appear so. The rankings take into account sound yardsticks such as social support in difficult times, freedom to make lifestyle choices – and citizens’ perception of how corrupt their society is. 
On the other hand, are these really the factors that affect how happy people are? Surely there are plenty of people content with limited freedoms and choices, even if they’re not cheerful about it. 
Take a look at some of the less-developed countries lower down on the UN list. Bhutan is ranked 97th – the tiny Himalayan kingdom famed for its “gross national happiness” government policy, which by most accounts does actually reflect public spirit. How can the Bhutanese be so much unhappier than Danes and Australians? Clearly different measuring sticks are in play, rendering the gauging of national happiness little more than a rhetorical game. 
Bloomberg, the financial-news agency, released its “Miserable Index” early this month, listing Thailand as the “least miserable nation” (among 65 countries evaluated) for the third year in a row, thanks to low unemployment and inflation. We have “the happiest economy”, in other words, with Singapore, Switzerland, Japan, Iceland, Taiwan, Denmark, Israel, South Korea and Hong Kong trailing behind us.
The unhappy conclusion to draw from this is that happiness can be measured in many ways without ever guaranteeing that the result reflects reality. Happiness being subjective, it’s unlikely it can be measured accurately at all. Never mind. We do know at least that happiness does exist, however fleeting or tenuous it might be, and that the pursuit of happiness brings tangible rewards. Over the centuries the sages have suggested a multitude of ways to achieve happiness, so we’re not lost for choices. Most people realise it doesn’t require wealth or worldliness. It resides in the heart and mind, waiting to be stirred. 
So, as the song goes, don’t worry, be happy.