MrWorldwide

I asked a similar question on another forum - was keen to visit Cebu - and received a response from a guy who had lived there for many years and bailed for Pattaya. Always hard to separate facts from opinion, but he had posted a slew of photos of AC, Manila and Cebu dating right back to the early 80s, so I'm inclined to believe him. His words were 'they will constantly have their hands out' : it was enough to dissuade me, No shortage of beggars in Thailand, but most of them don't come running up to you : had enough of that in Cambo.

I'm a member of a couple of boards - one for Indo expats and two aimed predominately at Farang in Thailnd. I also skim boards like Ajarn from time to time. In general, the Thai boards are much nastier and any disagreements quickly become personal. I also see far more open criticism of the locals on the Thai-based boards than I do on my Indo forum - just my experience.

my real name is jack reacher, nobody messes with me

I promise never to mess with you, Mr Felcher.

I paid hard cash into my Social Security fund since I was a teenager. Some quick math will prove it was a lousy investment, but still I was always told that I would collect from that fund when I retired. When I was employed, my employer matched my payment, and when I was self employed I had to pay about double.

It isn't a gift from anyone. I paid for it, and I was required to pay for it. Now the time has come and I expect to collect no matter where I choose to live. I don't know how other countries work, but for me, it shouldn't matter where I live. I'm supposed to get paid every month for the rest of my life, as agreed some 50 years ago. I kept up my end.

And I'm not debating your right to do that - as I stated in my post, the Australian system is very different to the US or UK system, although I have read about British people collecting an aged pension from *both* governments : I just dont know how much of said UK 'pension' is based on contributions and how much is based on the taxpayer's 'generosity'. ALL of the 'pension plans' were supposed to be able to deliver a 'defined benefit' at one stage, but my understanding is that the GFC put a lot of those assumptions in jeopardy - here in Oz, most superannuation contributors have the bulk of their money in equities, and that has been a very rocky road over the last few years (admittedly 2012 was a better year for the markets).

In any case, the Aged Pension here is means tested, and it was never designed for anyone who had their own income stream from investments : superannuation is supposed to be that income stream. You may be eligible for the Aged Pension without ever having paid a single dollar in income tax over the preceding 65 years (extremely unlikely, but bear with me), but our Superannuation nestegg is comprised of the mandatory 9% employer contribution (12% in some industries), our own voluntary contributions and any investment returns over our working lives. Superannuation is almost always quoted as part of the salary package for a given position - unfortunately, it only became mandatory somewhere in the mid-80s, from memory, and many older Australians have no retirement nestegg. With the mining boom, several droughts etc, inflation has put most who rely on the pension as their sole source of income well below the poverty line : it's an 'existence', at best.

Its unfortunate that the term 'pension' has a different connotation in Australia - it should be termed 'welfare payment', but that would cause more problems. Whatever it is, I have no intention of claiming it, but that's just me.

What about an living in Thailand on your Oz pension, no need for extremes.

The issue of the Aged Pension being collected overseas is hotly debated here in Oz, and I agree with most taxpayers : you should be living here in Oz to receive the pension. I know our system is very different to the UK and US systems, but I'm sure you all read about the guy who has been collecting a disability pension for decades while travelling around Asia and will now go straight onto the Aged Pension : that is a special case, but in general it makes no sense for Australian taxpayers to fund a pensioners life in another country. Totally different story when you have contributed money towards your pension over the duration of your working life, but that is what I was referring to when I mentioned my 'Super' - superannuation is also a hot topic here, but no-one denies that its YOUR money to do with as you please. Works for me

An existence on the pension back in Oz when I run out of money in Asia ? No thanks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bag

If that seems too extreme, a bottle of Mekhong and a bathtub full of water will also work. I've paid taxes in Oz for many years, and will do so till 2014, but the taxpayer owes me nothing - when my Superannuation disappears, so do I. Happy to fill in the blanks for those who feel I may be 'all talk', but I guess we only get one chance to answer that sort of skepticism

Just my two bahts worth and I accept that some may disagree, particularly those over 60 who want to see a few more birthdays.

Agreed, but Cambo gave me a whole new perspective on 'poverty', and I felt ashamed that I was part of a world that did nothing while the Khmer Rouge murdered entire families. I appreciate that we aren't here to talk politics, so I'll leave it there.

I struggle to think of something they will NOT eat. Tripe, maybe, but then who the hell eats offal in 2013 ?

I was a regular at a bar on Soi 7 in Patts a while back, and one night I rocked up with some Indian takeaway. As usual, my eyes were bigger than my belly and I asked a couple of the girls if they'd like to try some. After tentatively dabbing a piece of garlic naan into my chicken marsala (no, that's not a metaphor ..), one of them seemed to have a religious epiphany and the lot disappeared very quickly. Let's face it - any society which embraces McDonalds as quickly as Thailand has simply isn't a nation of discerning palates, no matter how good their own food may be.

MrWorldwide

Its a couple of years since I last visited Vientiane, but the shopkeepers I encountered gleefully took my baht and gave me change in Kip. My Thai GFE had no problems communicating with the locals, but her feeble attempts at bargaining were nothing short of pathetic, leaving the Walking ATM to do most of the talking. It's amazing how many people speak English when there is money to be made

Cant say I had the same experience with the baht anywhere else - the Cambodians wanted my USD and usually gave me a fistful of their Riel in change, but I didn't try to use baht except for a single border run and that little casino seems to be run by Thais anyway. Only other place I've been able to use baht has been on Air Asia flights - their FAs have to deal with THB, MYR and AUD. Fantastic flying out of KLCC and being able to get rid of the last of your Ringgit.

MrWorldwide

Hi All,

At the risk of upsetting someone, I'm going to restrict my numbers to food, drink and entertainment only, with the proviso that the longest I have spent in Thailand is a 3-month stretch : normally its the usual 2-4 week holiday. Feel free to dismiss this as another weekend warrior post - its all good.

Short stay - 6k baht a day (worst was 20k baht, but that was a one-off thankfully) - the vast majority on alcohol

Long stay - 200-300 baht a day with 2 or 3 blowouts each week pushing the average to ~2k baht a day. Amazing what you can do when you dont feel the need to get hammered every night

IME, that is still a bargain compared to KL, Jakarta and Sillypore, but everyone has a different baseline. I consider paying ~300 USD in one of those cities for bottle of vodka to be sheer lunacy, but clearly some of the locals in those clubs have money to burn. C'est La Vie.

Could I exist on 7K a week for food and drink ? Sure, but it would mean leaving the bar the instant Happy Hour finished. Even in Vientiane, those tall bottles of Beer Lao seem to add up, but that's where I'd be headed on that budget.

MrWorldwide

I met a girl in Cambodia who claimed that she could find my hotel if I wrote the name in very large letters on a napkin so that she could compare the symbols with the sign on each of the hotels on that block - she felt no shame in the fact that she could neither read nor write in ANY language. For all that, her spoken English would wipe the floor with 90% of the women I've met in Pattaya - bargirl or otherwise. Where she developed that level of fluency was of less interest to me than the fact that she did it without so much as a Khmer-English dictionary. The point was made earlier - some people simply have a gift. An ex-GF came to Oz from Germany as a child and the Army snapped her up for 12 months of Bahasa Indonesia training followed by several years of monitoring their radio transmissions. Of course, you didn't read that here

(to my knowledge, she hasnt used her Bahasa since leaving the Army in the 90s - a huge waste, IMO)

My Mandarin teacher claimed she taught herself English from cartoons, children's programs and the nightly news when she arrived in Australia. Not sure exactly how much help Foghorn Leghorn would have been (!), but I could definitely see her point with kid's programs - the presenters speak slowly and repeat the name of the object of their game or whatever several times in each segment.

Manarak, my heritage is British, although both sides of my family have been in Australia for over 5 generations. From an Anglo POV, the French are 'unique' - I'll leave it at that. Not trying to start any flame wars, but I think its fairly well accepted that the British and the French are ancient sparring partners. Your explanation of the Legion's General Infantry role does make sense, and I may have been hasty in my assumptions re the cost of their training.

As far as being able to join at 40, I would imagine that is restricted to extremely fit individuals, and Its difficult to imagine anyone getting through basic training without prior military service. I will be 54 in April - I think I'm safely in the 'too old for military service' category

Manarak, I believe that I have read many of the same accounts that you have - be they embellished or otherwise - and I want to make a few things clear(er):

- I do NOT consider the Legion to be mercenaries : they do the bidding of one sovereign state, not the highest bidder on a given day.

- I dont question their discipline or their bravery, and I dont recall using the term 'cannon fodder'. I spent 4 years jumping through hoops every time I was told to do so, and I understand WHY it has to be that way.

- when I use the term 'expendable', I am referring to the fact that the French Army appears to use their highly trained, specialist soldiers in a fashion more akin to the 'General Infantryman' in other forces. That is in stark contrast to a unit like the SASR - pick one - where teams are deployed in very specific surveillance / recconnaisance / counter-terrorist roles. Afghanistan is the first conflict since Vietnam where Australian SASR soldiers have found themselves in pitched battles with the enemy since Vietnam - regardless of how well they have acquitted themselves, that isnt their primary role.

- if I can contradiict myself slightly. the Legion contains 'an elite within an elite'. Again, purely FWIR, there *are* units which may be deployed in a manner similar to other special forces recon teams, but many Legionnaires seem to live a life more akin to the role of Rifleman in an Australian Infantry company.

As I said earlier, all of this is armchair warrior speculation - I am far too old and soft to find out for myself (thankfully), but I did spend part of my youth in the Green Machine. When we went out on exercises with the Yanks, we were told that they 'budgeted' for a certain number of deaths (real deaths, not war games 'casualties') due to misadventure (primarily vehicle accidents). These were peacetime exercises in a friendly country, and it drove home to me just how 'expendable' soldiers really are. I served with tradesmen who had, literally, millions of taxpayer dollars pumped into training and equipment to ensure that we could keep helicopters in the air - do the math on a soldier from recruit training to the day they are deemed sufficiently competent to be sent out with an SASR patrol and its mind-boggling. Still, the French (like the Thais..) appear to employ a unique form of logic - I just hope it means they can achieve some sort of military 'victory' and get the hell out before the West has another Afghanistan to deal with.

The "French Forgein Legion" are sadly misused by France to do it's dirty work.For many years France have sent them on covert operations in Africa,and most Legioners are very demoralised by being sent to cesspit destinations on missions that other countries would not touch.They are the best warriors in France because they are not French by birth.

That's rubbish!

The Legion is the Legion.

An example of misuse for legionaires would be a blue helmet UN mission. Now that's a real misuse.

They do whatever they are told to do, just as we did when I served in the Australian Army. The whole 'all we want is a glorious death in battle' spiel probably makes for great recruiting propaganda when they are trying to enlist young guys, but every single interview I have ever seen with an (English-speaking) Legionnaire confirms that France uses the Legion as a force of 'expendables'. It seems bizarre given the time and money pumped into their training, but Legion pay-scales tell a different story - combine that with the political implications of French casualties and the Legion suddenly becomes an excellent choice for the nastier jobs.

(Disclaimer: all of the above is the usual 'armchair warrior' talk - I only know what I've seen in docos - happy to hear from anyone with firsthand experience)

Send in the Foreign Legionaires

Already there, based on the news footage I saw a couple of days ago. Our media simply referred to them as 'French soldiers', but they were Legionnaires. They all speak French, and their officers are almost all drawn from the French Army - beyond that, I don't know how they are integrated with regular French forces.

Hi All,

Finally signed up on TV after many years on another board. Retiring to Asia in early 2014 and expect to lurk here till then

Later,

MrWorldwide