historyprof

I agree.

I don't think there's anything anti-Thai about missing the foods you grew up with. A friend kindly offered to bring back a McSween's haggis. I bought a tin of Cullen Skink in the supermarket today. I don't feel that I'm denigrating the local cuisine by doing so.

Personally, I often find that the longer posts offer no more insight than the shorter, and need no more reply. Verbosity is not a merit in its own right.

SC

The OP said specifically not to include food in this thread. So you are off topic. Why would you post information that the OP asked you not to post?

That really pisses you off eh? you keep on posting about it man, relax.

I think most long time expats miss their home country food and despite OP request not to include food here, poster's mention food probably because it's one of the first tings that pops up in their minds.

Many topics in here goes off topic or getting side tracked, even the moderators have given up.

I think he realised he was on a losing wicket with the "anti-Thai" line of prosecution, so he's moved the goal-posts. I expect his next attack will be off-topic digressions, mixed and inappropriate sporting metaphors, or unnecessary speculation

We'll 'ave noon o' that, naow, Caowboy

sorry, Ray..

And yoo 'n' all, Deyvid

A list of anti Thai posts for cowboy.

Sanity

my 11 yrs old realise more and more that how the great thailand treat foreigners, double pricing, etc. and he gets upset over it. that warms my heart, that maybe due time there is a hope.

Oh,how I wish you were right. Frankly, I doubt it and fear he will be sucked into the general acceptance of corruption and whatever the Thais judge right and wrong to be.

White girls.

Clean air to enjoy it in. Good roads to get there. Sane drivers.

Ohh... also miss bars and dance clubs, with NO prostitutes in... Have not found one of those here yet.

If I spend 12 month here a year I would go mad

Cleavage.

Ahh. I wish I could remember real ale, but the fake stuff here slaughtered the brain cells that held those memories.

Good, cheap Aussie wines as opposed to the rubbish available in Thailand at a premium price.

I miss the low cost of just about everything I like to eat or drink or wear.

This thing about seeing 'Anti Thai' everywhere you look - its all in your own head.

But I miss my Pickled Onions MOST OF ALL.

I agree.

I don't think there's anything anti-Thai about missing the foods you grew up with. A friend kindly offered to bring back a McSween's haggis. I bought a tin of Cullen Skink in the supermarket today. I don't feel that I'm denigrating the local cuisine by doing so.

Personally, I often find that the longer posts offer no more insight than the shorter, and need no more reply. Verbosity is not a merit in its own right.

SC

The OP said specifically not to include food in this thread. So you are off topic. Why would you post information that the OP asked you not to post?

That really pisses you off eh? you keep on posting about it man, relax.

I think most long time expats miss their home country food and despite OP request not to include food here, poster's mention food probably because it's one of the first tings that pops up in their minds.

Many topics in here goes off topic or getting side tracked, even the moderators have given up.

You know Australian rules football? I think this thread is British rules posting.

The first time I went to Australia and the UK I found the men's behavior unusual.

That was a long time ago. After reading this thread I discover it has not changed much.

Regardless of the truth of the statement I would never tell a woman that her country was 3rd world.

My gosh, is that inept. Boggles the mind actually.

For real sensitivity to any negative views of Thailand look no further than Farangs here on TV, many of whom seem to think it their duty to trawl through threads seeking out the slightest negative comment about Thailand and (regardless of how true an observation the view is) set about the person expressing the view with the dull response of 'if you don't like it go home'.

I agree with you 100%. I have never told anyone that. Useless. Because even after they go back to their home country they still come on Thai Visa and gloat about how the food and weather and driving and beer and everything is better in their home country than it is in Thailand. So it is a useless excercise. Some people have to whing about Thailand regardless of where they are living.

But I miss my Pickled Onions MOST OF ALL.

I agree.

I don't think there's anything anti-Thai about missing the foods you grew up with. A friend kindly offered to bring back a McSween's haggis. I bought a tin of Cullen Skink in the supermarket today. I don't feel that I'm denigrating the local cuisine by doing so.

Personally, I often find that the longer posts offer no more insight than the shorter, and need no more reply. Verbosity is not a merit in its own right.

SC

The OP said specifically not to include food in this thread. So you are off topic. Why would you post information that the OP asked you not to post?

The OP asked that food be excluded from the thread. The first 6 posts were about what? You guessed it. Food.

And the next ten posts? You guessed it, the majority about food.

And the next, "paying through the nose for foodstuffs I took for granted back home. Went back to the UK for the first time in years a few months back. Wandering round Tescos sossie section, Cumberlands, Lincolnshires, all at about 30 baht a pack. Nearly brought me to tears..... And don't get me started on the pate...."

Anti Thai posts? The next guy misses,"The cool sea breezes in height of summer and magnificent sun sets over the ocean." Thailand doesn't have these? Oh come on. I live on the ocean in Thailand and they do every night.

Or, "Easy access to good books and an intellectual conversation" You mean Thailand has not the INTERNET?

Anti Thai? Thailand does not have books or pretty sunsets? Oh come on. 10 posts longing for batter fried fish. Humans with access to food from every part of the globe miss batter fried fish? No wonder they drink beer warm and eat deep fried candy bars. One poster says all Thais are crazy and he misses sanity. Anti Thai? No of course not. And another poster says only non Thai food doesn't look like rubbish? Ergo all Thai food looks like rubbish (anti Thai posts?).

Kenny misses white girls. Not anti Thai of course not.

Thailand does not have clean air. Right sure. And LA does. That's what I mean about anti Thai. Every country has places with clean air and places with dirty air. If you want clean air in Thailand you don't go to Bangkok or Chiang Mai. That's not hard to figure.

Another fellow has not found a club with no prostitutes in Thailand. What? What nonsense. 90% of the clubs in Thailand don't have hookers. Or, "I think if I spend 12 month here a year I would go mad." What kind of a person would write that?

Arthur misses cleavage. That means all Thai women are flat chested and all the women from Arthur's country have big bosoms. Arthur must be mentally off. Cleavage is all around. Maybe not as large as Arthur is used to but I would bet the women are not as large as Arthur is used to either.

Steve likes quiet surroundings, clean non-polluted areas. Steve must be a nut case to not know where to find quiet surroundings and clean non polluted areas in Thailand. My house is one and there are thousand upon thousands more.

The thread is riddled with anti Thai posts.

The thread was titled, what do you miss about home to exclude food. The question answered was, list the food not available in Thailand that is available in England and list the differences in temperature and climate between England and Thailand.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't see anything wrong with a thread about the differences in food and climate between England and Thailand. However I don't think that was the topic of this thread although that is what got answered.

Again, I dont want to be rude here, but for some unexplainable reason you seem to have mixed up "What you miss most about home" with "Analyse the answers in this thread from a manufactured viewpoint and share whatever gibberish you come up with".

I offered an explanation a few posts ago. The OP provided some additional to support my case. I think he deserves help rather than criticism...

Back on topic, the games at MBPJ stadium were probably below the standard you would expect in the Scottish borders, and there were a lot of infuriating knock-ons. The refereeing was pretty pish, and the playing of the advantage rule was generally poor. So I suppose a decent game of rugby would be up there on the list, though watching people playing in a quagmire as the rain comes down in stair-rods is more pleasant at 30 degrees than at 3.

SC

I worte a 500 word post. An adult would quote something I wrote and debate it or point out where I was wrong. A child would call me names and make fun of me rather than debate. I expected a bit more from you but I guess you are overwhelmed. I'll make it simple for you. I'll respost it and highlight in red the off topic or anti Thai elements.

The OP asked that food be excluded from the thread. The first 6 posts were about what? You guessed it. Food.

And the next ten posts? You guessed it, the majority about food.

And the next, "paying through the nose for foodstuffs I took for granted back home. Went back to the UK for the first time in years a few months back. Wandering round Tescos sossie section, Cumberlands, Lincolnshires, all at about 30 baht a pack. Nearly brought me to tears..... And don't get me started on the pate...."

Anti Thai posts? The next guy misses,"The cool sea breezes in height of summer and magnificent sun sets over the ocean." Thailand doesn't have these? Oh come on. I live on the ocean in Thailand and they do every night.

Or, "Easy access to good books and an intellectual conversation" You mean Thailand has not the INTERNET?

Anti Thai? Thailand does not have books or pretty sunsets? Oh come on. 10 posts longing for batter fried fish. Humans with access to food from every part of the globe miss batter fried fish? No wonder they drink beer warm and eat deep fried candy bars. One poster says all Thais are crazy and he misses sanity. Anti Thai? No of course not. And another poster says only non Thai food doesn't look like rubbish? Ergo all Thai food looks like rubbish (anti Thai posts?).

Kenny misses white girls. Not anti Thai of course not.

Thailand does not have clean air. Right sure. And LA does. That's what I mean about anti Thai. Every country has places with clean air and places with dirty air. If you want clean air in Thailand you don't go to Bangkok or Chiang Mai. That's not hard to figure.

Another fellow has not found a club with no prostitutes in Thailand. What? What nonsense. 90% of the clubs in Thailand don't have hookers. Or, "I think if I spend 12 month here a year I would go mad." What kind of a person would write that?

Arthur misses cleavage. That means all Thai women are flat chested and all the women from Arthur's country have big bosoms. Arthur must be mentally off. Cleavage is all around. Maybe not as large as Arthur is used to but I would bet the women are not as large as Arthur is used to either.

Steve likes quiet surroundings, clean non-polluted areas. Steve must be a nut case to not know where to find quiet surroundings and clean non polluted areas in Thailand. My house is one and there are thousand upon thousands more.

The thread is riddled with anti Thai posts.

The thread was titled, what do you miss about home to exclude food. The question answered was, list the food not available in Thailand that is available in England and list the differences in temperature and climate between England and Thailand.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't see anything wrong with a thread about the differences in food and climate between England and Thailand. However I don't think that was the topic of this thread although that is what got answered.

Go ahead prove me wrong. Of the posts in this thread how many mention English weather and food?

So I guess what you miss most is treatment for your paranoia

I was not making anything up. I used the statements of the posters in the thread to back up my thoughts. The thread in the majority s about English food and English weather. Am I wrong? No. Can't you do better than to call me names?

The OP asked that food be excluded from the thread. The first 6 posts were about what? You guessed it. Food.

And the next ten posts? You guessed it, the majority about food.

And the next, "paying through the nose for foodstuffs I took for granted back home. Went back to the UK for the first time in years a few months back. Wandering round Tescos sossie section, Cumberlands, Lincolnshires, all at about 30 baht a pack. Nearly brought me to tears..... And don't get me started on the pate...."

Anti Thai posts? The next guy misses,"The cool sea breezes in height of summer and magnificent sun sets over the ocean." Thailand doesn't have these? Oh come on. I live on the ocean in Thailand and they do every night.

Or, "Easy access to good books and an intellectual conversation" You mean Thailand has not the INTERNET?

Anti Thai? Thailand does not have books or pretty sunsets? Oh come on. 10 posts longing for batter fried fish. Humans with access to food from every part of the globe miss batter fried fish? No wonder they drink beer warm and eat deep fried candy bars. One poster says all Thais are crazy and he misses sanity. Anti Thai? No of course not. And another poster says only non Thai food doesn't look like rubbish? Ergo all Thai food looks like rubbish (anti Thai posts?).

Kenny misses white girls. Not anti Thai of course not.

Thailand does not have clean air. Right sure. And LA does. That's what I mean about anti Thai. Every country has places with clean air and places with dirty air. If you want clean air in Thailand you don't go to Bangkok or Chiang Mai. That's not hard to figure.

Another fellow has not found a club with no prostitutes in Thailand. What? What nonsense. 90% of the clubs in Thailand don't have hookers. Or, "I think if I spend 12 month here a year I would go mad." What kind of a person would write that?

Arthur misses cleavage. That means all Thai women are flat chested and all the women from Arthur's country have big bosoms. Arthur must be mentally off. Cleavage is all around. Maybe not as large as Arthur is used to but I would bet the women are not as large as Arthur is used to either.

Steve likes quiet surroundings, clean non-polluted areas. Steve must be a nut case to not know where to find quiet surroundings and clean non polluted areas in Thailand. My house is one and there are thousand upon thousands more.

The thread is riddled with anti Thai posts.

The thread was titled, what do you miss about home to exclude food. The question answered was, list the food not available in Thailand that is available in England and list the differences in temperature and climate between England and Thailand.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't see anything wrong with a thread about the differences in food and climate between England and Thailand. However I don't think that was the topic of this thread although that is what got answered.

Fascinating thread. There are those practical souls who have solutions for these sorts of problems, most of which involve going to Homepro or Wasadu and checking out what is on the shelves around the drainage & plumbing Department, thanks guys. Which is what most people would do. Then there is the OP who sounds like a pumped up ex military Colonel Blimp up in his ivory tower expecting the peasants to be at his beck and call 24/7, try getting a plumber in the West at 6pm on a Sunday, good luck and get your credit card out. And he needs to tone down a bit. Shouting or voice raising will get you nowhere here. Then there are the pedants, one of whom presents us his great knowledge of Thai by informing that there is a second Thai word spoken as now meaning stale or rotten, except that is not pronounced the same at all, followed by the second pedant who with great disdain points out that neither word in a mandarin tonal language sounds like now. Get real man, most Thais that don't know English hear the word now as meaning cold, get it, its the one that sounds like that, forget the tones. I also enjoyed a few little gems of advice from some of the normal people on here.

So here's this bloke shouting now at this Thai landlord who standing there not sure what to do, except wondering why the guy is cold, perhaps he could have offered to get some blankets. I think this would make great TV. 555

now in english doesn't sound like cold in thai. Are you sure you can speak either english or thai?

Yes it does. To be more accurate "now" is the closest English word for the Thai word for cold.

Erm..... you didn't answer my question.

Nevertheless, you are correct. I am in England.

I've been here a whole three weeks now.

Prior to that I was living and working in Thailand, next week I'm taking up my next overseas assignment (Not Thailand, Not UK - Overseas).

I am currently enjoying all the things I missed about England when I was in Thailand and all the things I will miss about England when I take up my next posting.

I think I can refer to these things as 'What I miss about home'.

Now we all live different lives but I trust you'll accept that three weeks spent anywhere does not constitute 'living there'. (if you do not, no matter, at least the HM Revenue and Tax Office accept the point).

Back the to question I asked and you dodged.

There is nothing remotely anti Thai in the OP's post, but you accuse him of being Anti Thai and in your efforts to dodge my question dream up some idea of me telling Thailand how bad it is for breakfast.

This thing about seeing 'Anti Thai' everywhere you look - its all in your own head.

Hence my question.

I wrote, " Or is the OP so anti Thai that we should add if you are at home not missing anything what do you think you would miss if you were in Thailand" That is a question and not a statement. I will not respond to further semantic arguments trying to prove you are right when you are wrong. Again, "is the OP so anti Thai" is a question. I did not write, "The OP is anti Thai"

And after some of the replies i have read on this topic i'm convinced that many of the posters are not parent material.

Do they teach children respect for elders in Holland?

For an example. This is not a mountain:

This is a mountain:

Try telling that to a Thai though, and they generally just tell you Chiang Mai has huge mountains. Fun stuff.

There is no universally accepted definition of a mountain. Elevation, volume, relief, steepness, spacing and continuity have been used as criteria for defining a mountain.[1] In the Oxford English Dictionary a mountain is defined as "a natural elevation of the earth surface rising more or less abruptly from the surrounding level and attaining an altitude which, relatively to the adjacent elevation, is impressive or notable.

ethnocentrism

n

(Sociology) belief in the intrinsic superiority of the nation, culture, or group to which one belongs, often accompanied by feelings of dislike for other groups

What kind of psychological problems do people have who when asked what they miss about home tell you about what they have at home instead of what they miss. The question was what do you miss about home when you are in Thailand. It is supposed to highlight the good things about other countries, any other country except Thailand. But if you are home you can't miss anything about it because you are there. Gosh you must dislike Thailand a lot. Cause you are home not missing anything. Right? To answer the question from England one should go get a Thai person and ask them what they miss about Thailand! If you are at home this question is not for you!!! Or is the OP so anti Thai that we should add if you are at home not missing anything what do you think you would miss if you were in Thailand. Kind of like if wishes were horses beggers would ride.

What sort of psychological problems do you have that you see anything at all 'anti-Thai' in the OP's post?

You live in a first world country and post on 3rd world websites how good England is.

What, tell Thailand how bad it is for breakfast and call up Bangladesh at lunch and India for dinner and tell them how much better it is in England? I can see the folks living in Thailand missing things but you are not in Thailand. You are in bloody England!

What kind of psychological problems do people have who when asked what they miss about home tell you about what they have at home instead of what they miss. The question was what do you miss about home when you are in Thailand. It is supposed to highlight the good things about other countries, any other country except Thailand. But if you are home you can't miss anything about it because you are there. Gosh you must dislike Thailand a lot. Cause you are home not missing anything. Right? To answer the question from England one should go get a Thai person and ask them what they miss about Thailand! If you are at home this question is not for you!!! Or is the OP so anti Thai that we should add if you are at home not missing anything what do you think you would miss if you were in Thailand. Kind of like if wishes were horses beggers would ride.

Naive to think that high-end clubs don't play host to girls who want someone else to finance their designer lifestyle, be it handbags or drugs. Happens all over the world - why would Bangkok somehow be different ? I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush, but it's not hard to find girls who see a white face as a walking ATM, regardless of the decor or their 'day job'.

I don't think anyone actually suggested high end clubs didn't have girls like that.

Of course they do but, unlike the lower end clubs, a far smaller percentage would be "receptive" to a P4P arrangement and even then, probably not on the same evening as meeting you; leaving the joint with an old, overweight white man in front of her friends would be a fate worse than death.

95% of the women at those low end clubs are only available to the white walking ATMs because the Thai guys aren't interested and, even if they were, they most certainly wouldn't pay the ฿3,000 your average farang's used to coughing up.

You did know that the Thai BGs pay Thai men and not the reverse. I thought everybody knew that. It's included in Thai 101 I think.

I can't say I did know that but then again, I don't knock about with bargirls.

I leave it to those more well-versed than I in these matters to confirm or refute your statement.

Since you didn't I'll explain. They all have at least one husband and sometimes a gik and BF too. Thai women can multitask at many things including men. Some have one Thai husband at home in Nakon Nowhere and another in Patts and would you believe they go out after work to male clubs and pay Thai men to dance with them?

Anyone who says Thai women aren't talented dosn't know Thailand.

Ya Dong

Sure but being an opportunist is not the same as being a hooker.

I had a friend who was bisexual. He was a good looking young man who owned a dive shop in Pattaya. He had a BG girlfriend who dated a singer and dancer at an Issan club in Patts who was the gik of the dive shop owner. So the dive shop guy gave 1000 baht to the BG who gave it to her BF the singer and dancer who bought presents for his gik the dive shop owner with the money. I never figured out what to call anyone in the arrangement.

Naive to think that high-end clubs don't play host to girls who want someone else to finance their designer lifestyle, be it handbags or drugs. Happens all over the world - why would Bangkok somehow be different ? I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush, but it's not hard to find girls who see a white face as a walking ATM, regardless of the decor or their 'day job'.

I don't think anyone actually suggested high end clubs didn't have girls like that.

Of course they do but, unlike the lower end clubs, a far smaller percentage would be "receptive" to a P4P arrangement and even then, probably not on the same evening as meeting you; leaving the joint with an old, overweight white man in front of her friends would be a fate worse than death.

95% of the women at those low end clubs are only available to the white walking ATMs because the Thai guys aren't interested and, even if they were, they most certainly wouldn't pay the ฿3,000 your average farang's used to coughing up.

You did know that the Thai BGs pay Thai men and not the reverse. I thought everybody knew that. It's included in Thai 101 I think.

What popular games could be used to describe the Thai Economy. Dominoes? Musical Chairs? Or just good ole lighting one's farts with a butane lighter? A serious correction is due in the housing market, and it has been for several years, which is likely to make it worse. I would wait for those ratios to come down. 65,000 PSM in Chiang Rai is absolutely nuts.

As an alternative for those TV posters who did not drop out of school they might want to take a look at Land & Houses Pcl (LH), the Thailand’s biggest residential property developer by market value. This years graph as well as the 5 year one gives a pretty good idea of the condition of the housing market.

here we go again,,

young and old,,lol

some can get this topic into any post,,lol

When your young in Thailand it is actually cheaper than when you are older.

Less commitments vs More commitments vs much more commitments

young free and single vs girlfriend,bike,apartment vs wife, car house,kids etc

CCC

I actually don't fully understand what you wrote, beyond the first line.

However, replying only to your first line, I disagree. I see younger people doing a lot more partying. A retired person who doesn't and never did care for bars, bar girls or alcohol doesn't have to get married or support a girlfriend. A young person can get married, have kids and have a lot of expenses that the retired single guy won't have.

The retired guy may be less likely to have any debt. I'm forever reading on here about guys making car payments in their wives' names.

I have no commitments, no debt, and an occasional date isn't all that expensive. I don't think I "have" to spend more money for the same lifestyle as a younger man. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about money.

Nice but for an old single man in Thailand without a health insurance life can also become more expensive than that of a younger expat with a family in Thailand certainly for the experts on this website calculating there expenses based on beer money and punani.

A lot of old single men come here because the health care is so good and reasonably priced. I have had three operations here for less than what the supplementary insurance would have cost in the West.

I have raised a family of four and no way is one old man is more of a risk or expense. The cost of raising a child in the US now is 7,714,560 baht. I would bet the cost of putting the average old man in the ground is way less than 8 million baht.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/08/15/2471981/cost-of-raising-a-child/

I'm waiting for the counterpoint stories where the Thai girl was the level-headed salt-of-the-earth and the farang non-Thai guy turned out to be the total wacko in creating the dysfunctional relationship. Maybe a long wait.

I'm sure there are lots of those stories in Thailand, but this is an English speaking forum.

not so sure. it takes a certain high level of ability and skill to get here and maintain ones self for any length of time, which i think would very quickly sort out the chaff from the wheat.

Then why, with all due respect, does so much of this "wheat" wind up totally taken in by an uneducated Isaan girl, or drink and maybe do drugs and hang around bars until they are ruined?

Stereotypic balderdash. Are farm women less trustworthy than city women? ThaiVisa/Stickman. urban legend #12. What evidence do I have of this? Where is the PM from? Is she trustworthy? Nuff said eh? In my experience the more education and experience and travel a person has the less likely they are to stereotype. If the shoe fits......

We have many posters say they live in Thailand because it's cheaper than back home. Some have said they couldn't make it back home.

So they are going to be on a lower budget, but happy because they are doing better than they would otherwise. They are perhaps even relieved. There's no point in disparaging them. For them, they are happy.

Some famous rich people have committed suicide. Money doesn't guarantee happiness. Extreme poverty would be an unhappy event for me but fortunately I've never had that.

But for guys who don't care for bar girls at all, or drinking a lot, and who are content with a decent flat in a condo, and who may or may not have a scooter, They may be just fine on 30k. (In their eyes.) That's about what a lot of school teachers make.

If you were really struggling, there's always the option to get out into the sticks and live like a native. It beats being homeless in the home country.

yes but what about the fact that visa laws can change in Thailand ,there was an article last week about homeless foreigners in Thailand and more and more influential Thais are talking about overhauling the visa laws and a mandatory health insurance for expats so maybe those days of living on 30k per month will soon be over.

Of course they will change. Since Thailand has a labor shortage of unskilled labor the per month amount will go down to accommodate the minimum wage workers needed. You forget that the majority of expats in Thailand come from Asia.

Yes but i'm talking about something else not cheap labour from Myanmar and Cambodja because Thailand loves cheap labour from said country's I'm talking about old age pensioners from first world country's and i dont think most oldage pensioners or wannabe backpackers from said first world country want to do slave labour on a schrimp farm somewhere in nakhon nowhere living the dream and most of the jobs people do from other asian country's in Thailand are ferboten for westerners.

In that case the monthly amount for a retirement visa has not been 30K for quite some time. It has been 66,666 baht per month for quite some time.

Well, it's easy to see there are those who think they are living well on B30k/mo and those who do not think so. Perhaps if those who think you can live on that little had more money, they might see things differently. To paraphrase the old saying, I've been poor and I've been rich--rich is better.

We have many posters say they live in Thailand because it's cheaper than back home. Some have said they couldn't make it back home.

So they are going to be on a lower budget, but happy because they are doing better than they would otherwise. They are perhaps even relieved. There's no point in disparaging them. For them, they are happy.

Some famous rich people have committed suicide. Money doesn't guarantee happiness. Extreme poverty would be an unhappy event for me but fortunately I've never had that.

But for guys who don't care for bar girls at all, or drinking a lot, and who are content with a decent flat in a condo, and who may or may not have a scooter, They may be just fine on 30k. (In their eyes.) That's about what a lot of school teachers make.

If you were really struggling, there's always the option to get out into the sticks and live like a native. It beats being homeless in the home country.

yes but what about the fact that visa laws can change in Thailand ,there was an article last week about homeless foreigners in Thailand and more and more influential Thais are talking about overhauling the visa laws and a mandatory health insurance for expats so maybe those days of living on 30k per month will soon be over.

Of course they will change. Since Thailand has a labor shortage of unskilled labor the per month amount will go down to accommodate the minimum wage workers needed. You forget that the majority of expats in Thailand come from Asia.

I have 20 friends coming to visit. Rich and poor but all from the same village. They have hired a large size song tau so the kids won't be cooped up on a bus or in a van for the 8 hour ride. The kids don't throw up because the song tau is open on the sides and back and a lot of air flow. Upon arrival here the rich folks have booked rooms at an ocean front hotel and the poor ones will stay at the Wat. Cooking will be done at the beach and at my house. Transportation, food and lodging all in all will amount to 10% of what it would have cost me in the West for the same thing. 90% savings and everyone will have fun.

When was the last time you showed up in Alabama at the Baptist church and asked them to put up 10 adults and kids for three days? Or when in the West do three generations get along for three days at the beach. Transportation and lodging and food for a Thai family are about 10% of what would need to be paid in the West. In Thailand families are still families and I like that. I've hired a small band and karaoke and young and old will sing and dance. Together. Young and old. I know that freaks out a lot of young guys here on Thai Visa but in Thailand young and old still do things together.