Living In Thailand

[Totster]

Farang believing that if you go live in a foreign country, you should anesthetize your brain, put a empty smile on your face, and pretend that there are no negatives. Paradise.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are always negatives..... it's the way you deal with them... you can either accept that there will be negatives that you cannot do anything about, or you whinge and whine about them to everyone that is unfortunate to listen....

totster

[kelv23]

Farang believing that if you go live in a foreign country, you should anesthetize your brain, put a empty smile on your face, and pretend that there are no negatives. Paradise.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are always negatives..... it's the way you deal with them... you can either accept that there will be negatives that you cannot do anything about, or you whinge and whine about them to everyone that is unfortunate to listen....

totster

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ditto

[autonomous_unit]

<fun description of city noises>

But I still can see the humour and colorful of living in your post, as you made in your diary which time things shall happen. I'm now living in Europe. Outside of the window is the forest, green and bright blue color, but no sound. Nothing. Sometimes I thought there is nobody there only the death. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you a Thai expat in Europe then? This pretty much sums it up for me... even with your negative tone, the above sounds fantastic to me! The worst thing about BKK, to me, is that I cannot have the above experience and still see my wife at the end of each day.

[OlRedEyes]

Farang believing that if you go live in a foreign country, you should anesthetize your brain, put a empty smile on your face, and pretend that there are no negatives. Paradise.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are always negatives..... it's the way you deal with them... you can either accept that there will be negatives that you cannot do anything about, or you whinge and whine about them to everyone that is unfortunate to listen....

totster

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ditto

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is a vast difference in whinging and whining about negatives and talking about them in the same way as you talk about positives. Ostriches ignore negatives.

[The Coder]

I see a lot of posts on it and have to agree noise is #1 on my list of downsides. The first thing I would do if I was running the country is make it illegal to use amplified noise of ANY kind outside. That in order to put an end to air wave spam lazy people use to disturb everyone with a message for a very few.

Surprised to see corruption and poverty listed as negatives. I don't really notice the effects of corruption, save for pick and choose law enforcement which has its pluses and minuses. As for poverty, it has always amazed me how Thai's with so little can be happy with what they have. The average Thai worker would be classified as deeply impoverished in my home country yet they seem happier people than the average person in my home country above the "poverty line".

Now for my top 10 biggest downsides living in Thailand:

-amplified noise

-roaches

-touts and farang gouging

-polluted surroundings, public smoking

-inability to visit relatives

-heat and humidity

-low quality items, shoddy workmanship, overuse of plastic

-uncertain visa future

-problematic internet connection

-unavailability and high price of latest in electronics/computers

Edited August 1, 2005 by The Coder

[TokyoT]

Too close to my in-laws and too far away from my US family.

Edited August 1, 2005 by TokyoT

[penelope]

hmm ....the worst thing.... when my caddy gives me the wrong read on a putt, that really tiks me off 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I also dont like it when the caddy says 170 and hands me a 3 wood...talk about losing face

[loong]

..on march and april it's too hot and i hate songkran festival

Songkran is great for 1 or 2 days, but now seems to last 2 weeks!

Throwing water at moving vehicles, really stupid.

You are not alone, a lot of Thais hate the neverending Songkran as well

[kelv23]

..on march and april it's too hot and i hate songkran festival

Songkran is great for 1 or 2 days, but now seems to last 2 weeks!

Throwing water at moving vehicles, really stupid.

You are not alone, a lot of Thais hate the neverending Songkran as well

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK you want to know what bugs me about Thailand so I'm not an ostrich well here you go

McDonalds.In the UK you can get a milkshake here its Coke and Sprite.BTW I dont eat the "food" they sell

5 taxis in a row refusing to take you somewhere/anywhere

Lack of potato mashers in the utensils section of everywhere I've been

Guts and innards in the supermarkets

There ya go hope youre happy now

[BaanOz]

I really really hate shopping in BKK - walking through those tiny Chinatown alley's, battling with motorbikes (massive stuff hanging off the back) and pedestrians almost walking up your asre pushing you along. Jeez I hate that!

Cheers BO

[WhiteShiva]

I really really hate shopping in BKK - walking through those tiny Chinatown alley's, battling with motorbikes (massive stuff hanging off the back) and pedestrians almost walking up your asre pushing you along. Jeez I hate that!

Cheers BO

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's those pesky Thai people I have been reading so much about - why don't these people just go back to where they came from.......

[BaanOz]

It's those pesky Thai people I have been reading so much about - why don't these people just go back to where they came from....... 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah!!! spot on...LOL

Cheers, BaanOz

[Duality]

being referred to as a "farang" which comes from the thai word for the french "farang-set" so being an englishman it is a double insult to me.

i can put up with all the other &lt;deleted&gt; but thats just a step too far !

[daveh]

There were lots of things about Thailand that I didn't really care for, although I would not call them negative: corruption, traffic in Bangkok, pollution (air and noise), ... But none of this was a factor in my decision to move back home because there were positives that outweighed those negatives: the weather when it's nice, the beaches in the south, the freedom of a motorbike, ... .

The thing that made me decide to move back home was money. As inexpensive as Thailand is, I was not able to as easily find a job that would allow me to live at a level I could in the west, as I could in the west. Certainly, I could live in Thailand on what I was making, but I could not live as well as I could back home.

[Simbo]

If anything bugs me, living on Thailand, it is the lack 0f rights, foriegners have if you have a problem, accident, or noisy neighbours etc. The attitude of the Thai, is if you were not here, there wouldn't be, or have been a problem.

Accidents on the road, usually involving m/bikes running into you. It's your fault, you are expected to pay, because you have money and insurance. They never have either. Even the police will side with the Thai.

Inconsiderate neighbours. I live on a narrow soi/rd. The man who lives almost adjacent is a marketeer. He started with one pickup, now he has 4. He parks either side of the road, sometimes making it impossible to get by. I have complained a few times. He moves it to let me past, then reparks it the same. He just looks at me when I try to make him see how ridiculars it is. What do I do? I don't want to make trouble with neighbours, so I just get on with it.

Living out in the sticks is no good for a farang, unless you lived the same before in the old country. Best to have a happy medium. Live outside, but far enough to be able to get in of a night. I live on the other side of Sukumvit from Pattaya. Just far enough out to have the best of both worlds. Apart from THE neighbour, I am here to stay and quite happy.

[allexx]

The WORST thing is when the water in my pool is to cold and my teelack bring my Dry martini with an ice cube. But I can live with that, I suppose.

[penelope]

Thought for the day : many of the gripes mentioned on this thread have solutions !!!! How about that, solutions eh !! Solutions can make the gripe go away !

[Darkling]

Hi all

I'v heard all the great things about living in Thailand but I really want to know the WORST thing about living there? and how you cope or deal with it? 

Be honest it can't all be happy days

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I live in bangkok, so noise can be a slight irritant.

For example:

At 11pm each evening, the neighbors housekeeper (who camp out under my bathroom window) begins cooking by chopping on some meat with a cleaver, This chopping shakes her entire kitchen setup, causing all the pots, pans and dishes to crash around. Sounds like a construction project eminating from by bathroom.

This only goes on fro 20 minutes or so. Not too bad.

What's bad is her deaf sister decided to raise 6 cats and they generally hang around my windows from midnite till 4 or 5am and have cats fights every hour.Somehow I can sleep a bit untill my neighbors that live upstairs stumble in at 4:30am (they own a bar).

They usually yell and scream and throw things for an hour or so untill they pass out. Sometimes they bring the whole bar home and have parties by the poolside at 5am.

About 6:00, they go home to sleep.

At 6:15 the nice Vietnamese lady next door brings out her Poodle. She love to smile and watch it bark at the cats.

6:30am., the school mini vans arrive and park under my window and let their diesel engines idle and fill my apt with fumes.

At 7:00, the people 2 doors down let their 5 small dogs out and they bark nonstop for 30 minutes or so.

8:00, the construction crew starts driving piles with a huge gas powered compressor.

Around 9am the fruit vendor arrives with the loudest speaker system. We can hear him coming and going for 45 minutes.

About 10 oclock it gets pretty hot and time to fire up the air con. I usually have to look outside because it sounds like a small aircraft landed on my porch.

Except for the construction, it usually is peacefull unless the maintence man is jackhammering somthing.

3pm, the neighbors kids come back from school and the nannys bring them out to play. I guess Thai nannys are not allowed to discipline or teach them about being polite. They are cute though.

Did I mention the pool pump?

This runs for 19 hours everyday and sounds like it's gonna implode at any minute.

Other than the noise, it's paradise.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are a a very tolerant man!! I'd of killed someone by now, planted land mines, cut the electric and put copius amounts of poison in the cats food supply. Whilst looking for a new apartment of course!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Look theres always drawbacks at 800bht a month.

[AmeriThai]

The only thing that really bugs me is trying to go outside during the cool of the evening and being bombarded by the endless stream of blasted mosquitoes that zero in to drain every drop of blood in your body. They always find a way to get in the house as well. As for my wife, they completely ignore her. My wife says Thai mossies enjoy sweet foreign food to snack on.

A close second are people who try to push past you at the talat, then walk like snails once they get in front of you. But I usually don't let that bother me too much.

Edited August 1, 2005 by AmeriThai

[TRIPxCORE]

The worst thing about living in Thailand, as a man anyway, and strictly in my opinion of course, is the multitude of beautiful women when you are married and a loyal-type person.

[OlRedEyes]

The only thing that really bugs me is trying to go outside during the cool of the evening and being bombarded by the endless stream of blasted mosquitoes that zero in to drain every drop of blood in your body. They always find a way to get in the house as well. As for my wife, they completely ignore her. My wife says Thai mossies enjoy sweet foreign food to snack on.

A close second are people who try to push past you at the talat, then walk like snails once they get in front of you. But I usually don't let that bother me too much.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yea, whats with these mozzies that they seem to ignore Thai blood. Too much chilli? I need to find this secret so I too can be protected

[WhiteShiva]

being referred to as a "farang" which comes from the thai word for the french "farang-set" so being an englishman it is a double insult to me.

i can put up with all the other &lt;deleted&gt; but thats just a step too far !

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually it comes from Persian, and was in use here long before the first white man showed up. Ever been to Penang? Batu Ferringi (foreigners rock) is most likely a place where foreign sailors stopped to get fresh water.

Edited August 2, 2005 by WhiteShiva

[Egor]

The worst thing by far is MC Hammer never comes to Thailand

[LoveDaBlues]

Can't touch dis. Uhhhh......I don't wanna touch it

[ray23]

Thought for the day : many of the gripes mentioned on this thread have solutions !!!! How about that, solutions eh !! Solutions can make the gripe go away !

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just fror clarification the question was what we don't like. What I do like is a much longer list and that is why I am still here. The real beauty of this country is if you have a bit of money you can make it the way you want your life to be. The bad things and the good things that have happened to me here have been the result of a personal decesion. Here I have enough freedom to make that choice and sufficient money to implement it. I doubt that it is going to get any better, if you decide to creat a new life in different country and culture, then your original home.

[Totster]

The worst thing by far is MC Hammer never comes to Thailand 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Now where have I seen you're avatar before Egor...?

totster

[Egor]

The worst thing by far is MC Hammer never comes to Thailand 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Now where have I seen you're avatar before Egor...?

totster

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know totster Do you want me to guess?

I think maybe there are a few possibilities.

You saw it on one of my very few posts. Although unlikey because that would be silly for you to mention.

Maybe you are the penguin that got pushed in?

Or you might of found my avatar source. But I doubt this is the case.

Can you give me a few hints where you have seen it Totster, then I can give you a better answer.

[Totster]

I don't know totster    Do you want me to guess?

I think maybe there are a few possibilities.

You saw it on one of my very few posts. Although unlikey because that would be silly for you to mention.

Maybe you are the penguin that got pushed in? 

Or you might of found my avatar source. But I doubt this is the case. 

Can you give me a few hints where you have seen it Totster, then I can give you a better answer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This was the avatar I used for about a year until I changed it back in april..

And this is the original clip..

"Or you might of found my avatar source. But I doubt this is the case. "

totster

[BaanOz]

Inconsiderate neighbours. I live on a narrow soi/rd. The man who lives almost adjacent is a marketeer. He started with one pickup, now he has 4. He parks either side of the road, sometimes making it impossible to get by.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Simbo,

That's why I would't buy a place to live in Thailand. If you rent it is much easier to get rid of annoying neighbours.

Although on the other hand, getting kicked out of a place (by owner) you like is also an annoyance when renting!

Cheers BaanOz

[Gazza]

A close second are people who try to push past you at the talat, then walk like snails once they get in front of you. But I usually don't let that bother me too much.

It doesn't bother me either when they cause me to stop abrupty when they walk right across my path, even though there's nobody behind me.

Although more bothersome is then having to climb a tall water tower with a heavy high powered sniper rifle.