bikerlou47

Why I live Here

Many of the readers of this web site have asked the question why make the move to Thailand, and that question has forced me to take a look at my reasons. As a result I have attempted to put my reasons down to paper.

I am sure I have not covered everything because let me say there is something in the air here that makes life exciting. Every day there are things that pop up that make me laugh I cannot really explain it but there is a sense of freedom everywhere in this country.

While in the USA I feel oppressed and hurried, but again I apologies for not being able to really express my feelings properly.

I know that some of you who live here may disagree with some of the things I have stated but I am giving you my personal experiences and feelings.

Let me say at the outset that these are my reasons. Your life in your home country may differ from mine so some of these reasons may not be a reason for you to make a move to Thailand. So let me tell you a little about me to help you make a comparison.

My home country is USA.

I have never been convicted of a crime as a result I have never had a problem of entering any of the 30 countries I have visited.

I am single.

I enjoy “married type” life.

I am disgusted with western women

I am retired but under 65.

I have very little respect for American Police and the laws that they enforce especially traffic laws

I have very little respect for the American court system even though I respect the Law in general

I have no minor children.

I am a morning person.

I have no serious health problems.

If the above describes you then Thailand maybe a good move for you. I will explain in detail in the information below.

Women

First of all let me say there are good and bad women in every country what I am really trying to express here is that in my opinion that women here and in much of Asia have different priorities. Their first priority is their husband and they truly appreciate you and what you do for them and their family. Even after 5 years my girl still thanks me for my slightest effort to make her day more pleasant.

One of the biggest problems I found with American women is they put their children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren and pets ahead of their husband on their priority list.

This is especially true if you are remarried and her children are not your children.

There also is also age discrimination. Here if you have a clean appearance and a smile many girls will turn their eye toward you, even if you don’t act on this attention it is certainly nice to experience it.

In the States it is totally different; your age will automatically eliminate you from having a relationship with a younger woman unless you can provide big dollars. Take a walk in a mall in America and see how many heads of young ladies you can turn!

My girl is 26 years younger than I, but that age difference goes by each day without either one of us taking notice.

I don’t need to tell you how good it makes you feel that you can have a relationship with a young beautiful woman and truly know that you make her happy.

I have put women here as my first priority because that is what attracted me to Thailand initially, after moving here I discovered many other advantages.

There are other reasons that I could place in this category but my mother may read this! LOL

Health Care and Health Insurance

America health care system is pretty good but the expense is ridiculous, not only for the health care itself but for the insurance. When I left the USA my premium for non first dollar coverage was over 300 USD a month. Now I pay about a 1000 USD a year for better coverage

Bangkok has one of the best hospitals in the world, not only is the care first class but the cost is far less than anything you will find in the states.

Medications for the most part can be bought over the counter and in many cases for a fraction of the cost in the USA.

When I turn 65 this advantage will virtually disappear as I will have Medicare, I think!

The biggest disadvantage here is there is no 911 service. I live in the mountains if I have a serious injury or health problem I will most likely die!

I know that and still live here which goes a long way to tell you how much I love everyday int his country.

I would rather live a shorter life here in Thailand than suffer a longer life everyday in the USA.

But the good thing is I take better care of myself I know I eat better foods and I get a complete physical every year.

Lack of Enforced Oppressive laws

There is a sense of freedom here. There is no a constant police presence and laws that cause you to restrict you daily behavior. When I visit the USA I get this feeling of constant pressure to make sure that I am following many of these ridiculous laws. Many of these laws exists in Thailand many do not but the difference is that if you happen to get caught for not following a law in Thailand you don’t have to take out a mortgage to pay the fine or spend time in jail. I am not saying you can never go to jail here but for the most part for minor offenses there will just be a small fine.

Don’t fell like cutting your grass you don’t have to worry about the home owners association knocking on your door. If you would like to have a garage door don’t worry about putting in the door retraction system. With some care here you can find recreational drugs here and not have to worry about prison, you may need to have some money to get you out of jail but the beauty of this society is 99 times out of a 100 a small amount of money will get you out of trouble and there will no permanent stigma attached to you.

Traffic Laws

I like to drive and I like to have an open road which means many times I am driving over the speed limit It’s not driving fast I like, it is just the fact I don’t like to be in traffic, I feel unsafe following cars. Of course this means many speeding tickets in the USA and much money and time going to driving class. I have been driving for over 35 years with no accidents I believe that I drive very safe, fast does not mean reckless.

In Thailand I get stopped many times, my girl will give the cop the equivalent of 3 USD and we are on our way. How nice is that?

I also like to have drinks sometime when I am go out, here you don’t have to worry about a DUI if you get stopped pay your money and go.

By the way did you know it is more dangerous to walk drunk than it is to drive drunk?

During my most recent visit my girl and I got stopped by a real asshol_e cop and he gave me a ticket for not moving over a lane? What kind of bullshit is that 220 USD!? He also threw in a seat belt ticket for 116 USD. Seat belt laws how foolish to make people wear seat belts, I can drive my motorcycle without a helmet in Florida but if I am surrounded by 5000 lbs of metal I have to wear a seat belt.

How about all those kids riding school buses, where are those seat belts? It is just another way for communities to raise money it has nothing to do with anyone watching out for you. Watch out for yourself and your family. I don’t need the government interfering in my personal life and preferences!

It is more dangerous to drive in Thailand that is for sure, so it becomes important to take safety measures while on the road. The most important being whenever possible DO NOT DRIVE AT NIGHT Thai’s feel as though driving with lights on is optional!

Non-Litigious Society

I really do enjoy law and the history of how our laws have been developing for many centuries. I appreciate and respect laws that are born from common sense and safety for others. I am totally disgusted with what has happened in the USA. Law suits are common practice the lawyer commercials continue all day long as they look for new reasons to sue a doctor, a hospital, pharmaceutical company or anyone for that matter. Sometimes you need a lawyer here but for the most part you can live everyday without having to interact with an attorney.

Thai Food

Great spicy food which meets my taste perfectly, always have loved food with a kick here I can get it everywhere and cheap!

From my travels I think Thai food is growing in popularity all over the world!

Geographic Location

Thailand is closer to the equator which means about 12 hours of sunlight 12 hours of darkness all year long. Don’t have to deal with long nights or long days.

Also no daylight savings time so it’s dark when you go to sleep and light when you wake up. As I said I am a morning person so I love the fact that the sun comes up around 6am and I love to see it set about 18:00 especially during those hot months.

I never really understood daylight savings time and now USA has extended those hours to include additional weeks, during my last visit my grandkids bedtime was 8 PM sun still high in the sky, they would get up around 7 am and of course it was dark! Don’t understand it never will and I don’t like it!

This may seem like a minor point but this has much to do with your internal clock and your whole attitude during the day.

Weather

I don’t like cold weather or snow so I don’t care how hot it gets I can always find some shade and a cold drink to cool off.

Infra Structure

The infrastructure here is weak and that is a fact, but it is weak because there are no property taxes. Personally since I have no young children here I don’t care about the quality of schools, or the proliferation of parks, tennis courts, baseball fields etc.

By the way the USA has been throwing money at the school systems for decades and with each passing year the education system continues to decline.

So no property taxes suits me just fine I put up with a few inconveniences due to the weak infrastructure but considering the money I save each year by not paying high property taxes it is a small price to pay.

Location to Bangkok

I really enjoy living two hours away from one of the biggest cities in the world. There are many services available including an International airport. If I were to live two hours from NYC the price of housing would be sky high.

Thai Massage

This may seem like a minor thing but not for me I get a massage everyday and it has become part of my daily life. I play tennis almost every day and I am old! That massage feels so good.

Thank you

Lou Rossi

The driving habits of the Thai's are not ever going to change not in our lifetime because no one really cares about making driving safer in this country.

But what small things could Thais do to make driving safer without really changing driving habits.

LIGHTS LIGHTS LIGHTS

make sure all your lights work and you TURN THEM ON!

make sure TRUCKS CLEAN THEIR REAR LENSES

DO NOT CHANGE THE COLORS!

I saw a motor bike a few weeks ago and he had a good idea change your head light to red and your rear light to white!

Thats it forget about everything else...... just work on LIGHTS LIGHTS LIGHTS very simple..... doesnt cost much money and thousands of lives would be saved.

What ever happened in the evolution of driving in this country that the people decided that lights were optional? I really would like to know.

I do know what they are thinking and that is if they can see where they are going in the night then why do they need to turn on their lights....and of course having a red tail light will never help them see where they are going so why bother having one..?

I have driven thousands of miles in this country and I have seen so many unbelievable things on the highway and many of them I do understand!

I know why they have these dangerous u -turns and I understand

I know why they dont stop at intersections and I understand

I know why they drive between cars and I understand

I know why they drive drunk and I understand

I know why they put 5 people on a motorbike and I understand

I know why they drive motorbikes while carrying umbrellas and talk on the cell phone and I understand

I know why they drive in the middle of the road making a 2 lane highway a 3 lane highway (where i grew up we had a highway with a 3rd lane in the middle and we called it the suicide lane) and I understand

but not turning lights on at night I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND!

TURN ON YOUR dam_n LIGHTS AT NIGHT!

For years I've been listening to Farangs badmouthing Thai drivers but I don't think they are really that bad when you consider that there is little or no threat of being stopped for any moving violation or drunk driving. What would it be like back in Farangland if the police suddenly announced they will no longer be stopping people for DUI, speeding, reckless driving, etc. ? ....I submit the streets would be flowing with blood. The Thai's are actually rather laid back and well behaved when you factor in no police cars in the mirror or cameras everywhere like the UK for example. One thing I immediately loved about Thailand is they rarely honk their horns. I remember many years ago driving in circles around the coliseum in Rome honking our horn, waving our fists out the window while laughing our heads off....no one even noticed because they were all doing the same thing!! Meanwhile it seems like almost every Farang I know here in Phuket has had at least one accident and they were always at least a little drunk. So we have no room to criticize.

I have had then for 3 years and no problems.

I had the occasion to use them one time for serious reaction to bee stings they covered my one night in the hospital 100 per cent.

I also have BUPA insurance in Thailand and am not very happy with them. I informed them at the onset on my application that I had a few different minor illnesses that I was treated for over the last few years (nothing serious), and the first time I got sick and needed some tests, they checked my medical records and due to the doctors notes & diagnosis', BUPA came back and slapped several permanent exclusions on my policy. One of them, I had written on the application that I had occasional stomach aches and was treated by a doctor and hospitalized one time overnight, but the doctor wrote the diagnosis was gastritis. I had a endoscopy done this year and there was no ulcer, no H Pylori, no cancer, etc., but because the doctor wrote very minor inflammation on the report, I now have an exclusion forever for an ulcer or gastritis.

Anybody else out there having problems with BUPA Thailand?

There is plenty of land for sale if you have enough money, it is crazy up here the building just continues at a feverish pace.

I bought a place here 5 years ago and I feel very lucky I found it when I did!

Sometimes I wish there was a guy up here that we could have some English conversations.

I am retired also have a great GF of 5 years

I live near the National Park

is that Khao Yai near Pak Chong, half way between Saraburi and Korat? i love that area. if you hear of any nice land for sale with nice views, please PM me.

thx steve

Sorry the address did not work for you

I live about 5 km from the entrance to the National Park on the Pak Chong side.

The address doesn't seem to work, Lou

Here is another interesting statistic:

Per road mile it is more dangerous to walk drunk than it is to drive drunk!

Conclusion:

When you are drunk DO NOT WALK HOME!

Please contact me so I can run an idea by you, I have an idea but not really sure how to develop.

Thanks

<<contact by PM>

Cannot say that I agree.

Been twice and was not

impressed. Poor attempt

at an adventure park.

What is there not to like.,.,.,remember it is for kids!

Can not say enough good things for this place....many activities for kids of ALL ages.

This plae is located in the mountains and has beautiful scenery for the adults to enjoy while the kids have a great time.

GREENERY ( LIFE PARK_ IS AN INEFERIOR PARK

Can NOT recommend this place especially for 6 year old..there are not many activities and the cost is too high.

But there is a place in Pak Chong that really is very good it is Thong Som Boon

tHis place is well estABLISHED HAS MANY MORE ACTIVITIES AND IS MUCH CHEAPER THAN THE gREENERY.

i HAVE BEEN TO BOTH AND WILL NEVER RETURN TO gREENERY. THE WHOLE PLACE WAS BUILT AS AN AFTER THOUGHT.

Sometimes I wish there was a guy up here that we could have some English conversations.

I am retired also have a great GF of 5 years

I live near the National Park

let me know if you want to go and have a beer?

My girl not my wife was told on her 2nd interview that the next time she goes (3rd visit) she would be granted a 10 year.

First time my wife applied she was granted a 10 year visa. 2007

Juldis resort may be an option for you.

You can google for info.

I'm off to Khao Yai for a few days next week and wonder if anybody has any accommodation gems that they could recommend in the area. I've stayed there a few times before and have always been fairly disappointed with what you get for your money (like The Greenery Resort). I'm not expecting true 5 star but I'd like something a bit nicer and luxurious than those 2000 plus baht a night rip offs with musty bedrooms, knackered aircon and cold fried eggs/cold hot dog sausages in the breakfast buffet. BTW Kirimaya Resort is a bit more than I want to spend for a quick break although it looks very nice.

Even somewhere nearer Korat or Chok Chai would be fine.

Cheers.

I have been there it is quite nice but it is expensive for sure!

My daughter and 2 nieces have been crazing me to go to this place in Khao Yai. Has anybody been there? Is it worth going? Looks OK from the website but I don't want the kids to be disappointed. Thanks.

http://lifepark.greeneryresort.com/old/Rides.html

The point here is how do you get the monies in the Thai Bank....DUH!

But there is no reason ever to pay a fee just take your passport and your foriegn bank card into a Thai bank and withdraw cash up to your daily limit no fees and you receive the best exchange rate possible.

The take your cash and deposit it into your Thai bank account.

NO ATM fees

NO wire transfer fees

NO reduced exchange rate

Easy especially since banks are opened in the malls 7 days a week.

What I don't understand is, all these people complaining abut this ATM fee; why don't they use a Thai bank account instead? You live here presumably?

I have been there it is between the Toyota dealership and the PTT gas station just look for the mud hole in the middle UGH!! Its terrible and the people that work there no very little about there job!

Immigration said 1km on there upside down drawn map - I would guess it is less and perhaps the blue roof building shown in your photo link as the building next would appear to be a normal PTT station (dual entry). The complex with blue roofs must be the Toyota dealership. So it may be a new building or perhaps the blue roof to the front/middle. We need someone who has been there to really pinpoint it.

Immigration office is ni longer located in the TOT building moved to Chok Chai

Posted yesterday In the Issan forum:

----------------------------------------------------------------

Office from Immigration will move from Assumption school (in town)

to the TOT office( about 12 km's outside town). TOT office is located

at the big road No. 2 from Korat to Bangkok. At around km 244 take

the frontage road and on the left side at around km 241 you will find

the TOT building. On the outside frontwall in blue letters" TOT public

company Ltd".

----------------------------------------------------------------

Courtesy of member "Dutch"

A tourist visa will require you to show to the best of your ability that your wife will return to Thailand! This is the only consideration.

My girl has received her tourist visa for the sole reason that I live here in Thailand. so maybe that will be enough for you also.

Make sure she has your passport so she can show your work visa and your residency papers.

Good Luck

I am an American and my Thai wife is going for her interview for a tourist visa in two weeks. We didn't book our flight yet as we want to first be able to get my wife's tourist visa. We have a 2year 7month old daughter (who is also going too but we will go to the US Embassy for her US passport the day before my wife's interview), my wife is a teacher at a government school as I too am a English teacher at a different government school, I have a letter from my mom stating that we will stay with her and she will help us financially, and my wife also has land under her name. I understand that every case is different but what do you think are her chances of getting a tourist visa? Also, is their anything else you think we need to bring to the US Embassy?

I am sorry I cant help you but I have to tell you that I just bought a peanut butter maker and it is so nice! Natural peanut butter!

Good luck

Anyone spotted Skippy Natural Peanut Butter in Chiang Mai lately? It has no hydrogonated oils, but stays solid because it is mixed with natuaral palm oil.

Bangkok and Pattaya sell it everywhere, but I can't find it in CM now. Have you seen it around?

I am also having problems and I have some experience in this area as I am a Cisco instructor.

Here is what I know:

When your traffic is directed toward Singapore you may have a prolem depending on the time of day the reason being is that there is some fiber optic cable that needs to be repaired. This problem began about the middle of September.

I have been told that they are awaiting repairs of this fiber optic. the problem is not controlled by Maxnet but another carrier I believe Singtel

Some traffic depending on your destination heads north and this seems to be a more reliable link that is why some web sites work without a problem and others are very slow.

Ofcourse most Maxnet techs DO NOT KNOW what they speak of so they will do meaningless tasks suck as regroup your DSL which does not help solve the problem.

I wonder if any Maxnet people understand BGP or IS- IS as this would be a possible fix to redirect traffic away from Singtel.

But really I have not a clue as to what can and can not be done depending on the agreemsnts amoung the providers. but I as you just standby and wait for the situation to be resolved. UGH!

My apologies for starting yet another TT&T MaxNet thread, but as you'll see if you read on, I have precious seconds to post this message, let alone time to look through the message index to find the other thread I want, and that is the thread where someone had the ear (phone number) of an upper level (vice president?) person in charge of the MaxNet call center.

Since I returned from eleven days away from Thailand early Sunday morning (around 100am), I have had virtually no internet connectivity with my 5Mbps/512k MaxNet Indy account.

I can reset my ADSL line five times in as many seconds and get different connect speeds reported by my modem. Often the DSL signal spontaneously resets within 30 seconds. Usually even when my modem does report connectivity, I do not have any internet/e-mail access.

Download speeds have varied from 32k to 5120k, though usually less than 1000k. Upload speeds have varied from 160k to 512k, though usually around 224-256k. Rarely do I have access to the internet and when I do, it's rarely for more than a minute at a time.

Recap of some “ping -t yahoo.com” tests I tried:

Packets: Sent = 3687, Received = 2160, Lost = 1527 (41% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 3996ms, Average = 450ms.

and

Packets: Sent = 111, Received = 48, Lost = 63 (56% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 125ms, Maximum = 3627ms, Average = 1507ms

I have tried:

• different phone cords between the wall outlet directly to my modem (not using splitter)
  
• different CAT-5e cables between modem and computer
  
• different computers (desktop & laptop).
  

I initially called 1103 (MaxNet call center) at 124pm on Sunday, and received a call-back at 334pm. On the call-back the lady said she would e-mail my situation to a technician. She had no idea when s/he would call me back.

I called again at 1227pm on Tuesday, and received no call-back.

I called today (Wednesday) at 135pm and have little confidence anything will happen.

(Mods: feel free to merge this into the other thread.)

What a joke to require thousands of farangs to waste their time and God knows how many trees to report the same adddress over and over again. BUT when it comes to changing locations of immigration offices they can not send out a letter to those very addresses that everone needs to report every 90 days.

It is so written in the Immigration Act. In other words it is the law.

Khao Yai was my choice I have lived there 5 years now and for me it is paradise. Very quiet with two swimming pools close by. Decent shopping at the bottom of the mountain (Outlet Village). Its not cheap but in two hours I am at the airport or the Nana. Under 4 hours to Pattaya.

I personally dont want to be around Farangs!

The new office has moved from the TOT building to Chok Chai district which is about 20k from Khorat Center maybe further.

The new office is located between a Toyota dealership and a PTT station.

As of Oct 2 the phones did not work and the people working there new very little about their job.

After having a retirement visa for 5 years they wanted the name of my mother!??

They also said I could not send in my 90 days reason: Because they are new they want me to report in person!??

This off is located in a slum,,,very little parking one copy machine outside the office..I would get there early.

Does any one know the address of the Nakhon Ratchasima office or where I could find this information

Regards

Nakhon Ratchasima Immigration Office

TOT Public Co. Ltd. Office

118 Moo 10, Mitraphap Road

Tambon Khok Kruat

Amphoe Muang

Nakhon Ratchasima 30280

Phone: 0-4446-5342

The office has moved to Chok Chai , the office itself is located between a PTT station and a Toyota dealership.

There is very little room for parking, the people working there no very little about their job their phones dont work as of this morning.

My advise is to get their early it will take awhile to get anything done at this location.

After being here for 5 years on a retirement visa they wanted to know my mothers name??

They also told me that they wanted me to report personally in 90 days because this is a new office??

Like I said they dont have a clue as to what they are doing!

I guess you have the one in the US on the default slingbox port 5001, and we have had issues with that port here in Thailand, so we changed to port 8080 (port 80 worked well too) and all seems to be OK so far (fingers crossed).

Also make sure you have the latest firmware in the Sling player (your PC) and the Slingbox as the new version speeds it up no end and if you have a slingPro you can watch hdtv too far better than before.

Thank you so much!

Without my slingbox I have no NFL without NFL I will have a gloomy weekend :-)

Thanks again!