Bhutan & Gross National Happiness

The government of Bhutan pursues Gross National Happiness. Most Buthanese earn $150 per month. Does it work? Do free education and free healthcare make a difference? I was curious about it, so I visited Bhutan (country number 193 for me), and asked over 50 people about it.

Isolated Bhutan. Until 1961, they thought they were the only people in the world. There were few roads. Only a few traveled, by road, to India or China. Bhutan's first commercial flight landed at Paro airport, one of the most dangerous in the world, in 1983. Television began in 1999. Banknotes were introduced in 1974, barter was used prior to that. Bhutan and Tuvalu, the least visited country in the world, are the only 2 countries without a traffic light.

High value, low impact tourism

Bhutan receives 70,000 international tourists per year, who are obliged to spend $250 per day. $65 is used to fund education and health care, which are free. In addition, there are 200,000 regional tourists from India, Nepal & Bangladesh who neither require a visa nor are obliged to spend that amount. What will I remember about the immigration process in Bhutan? Typically, immigration officers don't let me stand on their side of the counter.

Bhutan. Free health care. Everyone in Bhutan gets free health care, including foreigners, regardless of visa status. The facilities are well maintained. The cost of medicine at pharmacies, such as diabetic supplies, is 70% cheaper than the US but higher than India.

Bhutan. Free education. There are 9 public universities and 2 private ones. The salary for teachers was recently doubled to $300 per month. Private universities cost $2,000 per year and private schools $400 per year.

Do free education and free health care make people happy? All Scandinavian countries have free health care and rank on top in terms of happiness. However, other European countries also have it, and they are not the happiest, as shown on the World Happiness Report.

Marry in Bhutan. It cost $6 and the ceremony takes place in this amazing fortress. Simply download the application, bring 2 witnesses, pay the fee, and make an appointment a couple of days earlier. To get a divorce, it’s the exact same process and cost.

Local couples typically marry in their 20s. About half divorce in their 30s. Then they marry again -for economic reasons, housing can absorb 50% of a person’s income. Women can marry 3 times, and men 4 times.

Marijuana is everywhere. In the garden of the fortress where marriages take place, there are numerous plants of marijuana. "It's everywhere" I was told. Alcohol is allowed, but tobacco cigarettes are banned (they are brought as contraband from India, where they cost $1 and are sold for $4). The sale of marijuana is prohibited. Farmers cut marijuana in pieces, boil it, and feed it to the pigs. "It makes the pigs happy," I was told.

Showers in Bhutan. Ever wondered when staying at a hotel whether the room had a bathroom? In January, the temperature in Bhutan is -6C. To bath, they use a bucket of water that is set outside the house. Most houses in Bhutan don't have indoor plumbing. The bathroom is also outside (10 meters/30 feet walk). While I was aware of the NY Times report that "According to Unicef, around 564 million Indians, nearly half the population, still defecate in the open", I didn't quite appreciate the magnitude of it until I visited this house in Bhutan. 

Farmers in Bhutan. When planting rice, the role of men and women is different. Most plantations are family operated, with family members helping each other. For those who are paid, farmers typically earn $7 per day, for 9 hours of work.

Housing in Bhutan. A typical home is made of a kitchen (where meals are eaten), a living room (to receive guests), one or two bedrooms, and a shrine. Outside the house, next to the bathroom, is a room for the storage of food and cereals. See pictures of this house here.

The cost of housing in the city is prohibitively expensive.

Most people earn $150 a month.

The Gini index in Bhutan is 37, meaning that there is "less inequality" than in the US (where the index is 42) and more than in Switzerland, where it is 32. GDP per capita is at around $3,200 a year. The sample group I interviewed revealed this: about 10% make $500 (government officials and store owners), 20% make $300 (government clerks and teachers), and 70% earn $150 (police officers) or less (farmers). I was impressed by the fact that the government of Bhutan is aware that to be happy, physiological needs such as food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex and sleep must be covered first.

Bhutanese care for each other. Global research shows that those who answer yes to this question are happier:

“If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them, or not?” 

In Buddhism, one cares for the well-being of others. This monk explained that one can only pray for others. Thus, it appears that the practice of Buddhism makes Buthanese happier.

How happy are people in Bhutan?

For my interviews, I used the 2 questions utilized by the World Happiness Report. That is:

1-How do they evaluate their lives as a whole (the Cantril ladder question)

2-How do they experience it

For example, the arriving immigration officer told me she was "Very happy". The receptionist at the hotel told me she "Wasn't feeling happy at all" (She had a cold). They were each responding to the first and second questions respectively.

I interviewed over 50 people from a wide variety of professions and locations. This included farmers, teachers, store employees, police officers, shop owners, and folks both at the National Hospital and National Stadium. My conclusion is that compared to other countries with the same income level, residents of Bhutan are happier.