zydeco

No thanks.

I rather have a nice 9-5 office job in the west with pension, medical care and all kinds of social security. And be safe in my protected environment where nothing can go wrong. It's better to be safe then sorry. I recommend all you guys to do the same thing. Thailand is a huge liability. I recommend you guys to leave. I am speaking from experience. I lost everything.

What makes you think you can't lose everything in the West? A lot of people in the U.S., right now, refuse to believe that things can fall apart. They can. Just because it's America (or the UK, France, Germany, or Netherlands) doesn't mean it can't. Things have already, in fact, fallen apart within a lifetime once before in Europe. America, meanwhile, is coming apart at the seams, although few people notice because they are too busy watching the Super Bowl, the NBA, Stanley Cup and MLB to read the handwriting on the wall. What good is your Social Security when DC has no more authority than a sixth century Roman emperor. Yep, you can lose it all in Thailand, but you can lose it all anywhere. At least in Thailand you're on your guard.

Unless you piss them off, most snakes will just try to escape.

I have to give you a caution about this statement. I used to do a lot of hiking in the States when I was younger. I can think of at least 3 times I/we came upon copperheads on the trail that had no intention of moving out of the way. Same once with a rattler.

Yep. You're right. Lots of snakes become aggressive, especially depending on the time of the year in the U.S. If you ever encounter a Water Moccasin and expect it to retreat, you are in for one nasty surprise.

You guys are scaring me.

What do you mean by "have to get out"? Are you thinking of fleeing out of fear or being forced out by government/political decision?

I suggest the OP try mexico instead. Similar climate. Similar favorable exchange rate. Alas, the natives are a tad bit more radical in demanding financial compensation. But you can hire armed guards to protect your villa from the other cartels.

Yes, Thais are also racist towards white people and other nationalities, and have an obsession with skin color in general, but they are also a very status oriented society and have clear, distinct ideas about the status of different races and nationalities beyond just skin color. Burmese and other poor Southeast Asians are on the bottom, along with Africans. This world view enables them to equate these groups to animals, with the justification of their culture.

So, it will be helpful that you will have a Western passport, speak English, and have relatively more money, but the majority Thai culture (and most of Asia for that matter) will always equate people of African descent as "unclean".

Clearly, any Thai preference for white over black, straight hair over afro, their culture over that of other people, and, probably dogs over cats should be made a human rights violation subject to prosecution in The Hague. Above all, the standards of NYC, Paris, London, and Washington DC should be enforced worldwide.