Retiredandhappyhere

On 8/5/2018 at 1:42 PM, CGW said:

They can be expensive! one just fried the inverter on a AC unit ~4,500 baht to replace ? 

A few years ago, a gheko shorted the air con unit in my kitchen, which caught fire and, by the time we had managed to extinguish the fire, the air-con was a melted plastic mess and the kitchen ceiling and walls were completely blackened.  It took hours of work to clean up before I could even start repainting the whole kitchen . That incident cost me about 30000 bahts, but I still cannot bring myself to kill them and I have even rescued one or two from the cat.

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

the government of the United States of America and the Federal Reserve Bank gives me over 67,000 baht a month to spread joy and happiness in Thailand.

 

and that is what I do. And I feel really good helping out here and there.

 

 

 

But by the time you have paid for all your girls, which you claim to have, you can't have much left to live on?  

2 hours ago, ebonykap said:

Try doing your report online. I did for the first time last month. Sent on Sunday, approved the following day (much to my surprise and delight).

I understand it can be hit or miss, but worth a try.

I have attempted reporting on line but never with any success as I always end up in a computerised loop.   For about two years now, I have instead been doing my 90 day report very successfully by registered post in order to avoid a a 6 km trip, but although my July 10th report  was apparently duly received by Phetchaburi Immigration and the certificate mailed back to me (unregistered of course), on the 12th of July, according to their office,  it has still not arrived.

I think that not having the certificate in my Passport should not be much of a problem, but as the current certificate has to be sent in with my next application, I have written to Immigration requesting a replacement.

I will await their reaction (if any). 

6 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

At the end of the day, it's the looks that capture the attention and the personality that captures the heart. And that's applies to wherever a girl hails from.  

 

 

That is very true!  Despite my advancing years (actually read "advanced"}, I have dated many  attractive Thai ladies over the past few years, but until recently I never found one I would want to live with.  Initially, looks are very important, but become less so as character and personality take over.

5 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

"it's much nicer to feel the breeze in your hair (if you've got any) from a safety point of view not such a good idea"

 

I agree with this 100%.

 

I noticed that a lot of Thai 'bike riders were wearing helmets in the various 'clips' in the video, and that reflects my experience.  i.e. Far more Thais are wearing helmets nowadays than a few years ago.  Although it probably depends on where you live.

Probably true, but my wife and I, when travelling home from the centre of Hua Hin  at night, on a journey of just 10 kms,  can always count at least 40% of motor cyclists without helmets and  (now a hobby of mine) count 7 or 8 with no rear lights.  A rear light bulb costs considerably less than a helmet but many do not even bother to pay for that, assuming of course that they ever bother to check their lights, let alone brakes.

When a mother with her young child on board (as we saw in a video a few days ago) is prepared to ride her motor cycle, while texting on her phone and even letting go of the handlebars to do so, one wonders if there is any hope of much improvement in road safety  in Thailand, without a massive education program and a complete review of the licencing system and policing methods.

16 hours ago, Berkshire said:

Great advice.  The only thing I would add--and where Thai women may be a tad different--is they are not as direct and explicit when it comes to delivering "bad news."  They'll send indirect messages and hope the guy gets it, rather than having to come out and actually say it.  Basically to avoid the guy losing face.  The OP isn't getting the message. 

Also, she may not want to let the OP go just now until she is sure the former b/f is back permanently.  In other words, she could be using the OP as a back-up.

15 hours ago, dpdp said:

 

Enjoy your boring life with you family I guess.

Family is the worst thing that could happen to me and anybody with a brain.

 

 

Enjoy your sad life! You will probably die alone!

On 12/24/2017 at 9:33 PM, Berkshire said:

I don't know any 50/60/70 year old trying to look like a teenager.  Do you?

Yes, ME!    Unsuccessfully, though, although I am married to a beautiful Thai lady, so something works, as I am by no means wealthy.

On 8/4/2014 at 5:05 AM, kjhbigv said:

"One girl is getting 50,000"....don't believe a word of it!

A neighbour in our village in Mae Wong told my wife that her American, boyfriend,who visited her twice a year, paid her 60000 baht per month, which made my wife dissatisfied with her own generous allowance.

When I met up with the American boyfriend over a coffee during his next visit, he explained that he might not be back again, as he thought his girlfriend was cheating on him, which meant that she would lose his 5000 baht month allowance (or 60000 baht per YEAR .   These girls often love to boast about how much their farang boyfriends pay them, as it raises their status in the eyes of their friends and neighbours, although their living conditions often demonstrate that their actual status has not in fact gone up too much at all.

Even those girls who end up marrying their boyfriends often still like to boast about how much their monthly allowance is and/or how much gold they have been given.  Sometimes, it does indeed seem as if the quality of the relationship comes as a second best to the material benefits.

In Cha-am's main market street, there has been an unusable totally rusted-out pick-up parked at the side of the road for at least the 5 years I have lived here.  Why does the nearby Amphur Office not have this eyesore (not to mention possible danger) removed?  The answer is that no-one cares about matters like this, along with broken pavements, pavements blocked with shop signs or by people running their businesses on them. 

I do enjoy the "live and let live" attitude in Thailand, but surely there must be limits?

The Nakhon Sawan Immigration Office always used to date the 90 day renewal from the date of the expiry of the last report, but while in Hua Hin/Cha-am for the past 5 years, the Hua Hin Office and recently the Phetchaburi Office have always dated it from the date of application, so it is normal to "lose" a few days. particularly with postal applications.

The on-line reporting has never worked for me, which causes the Immigration Officers to smile in sympathy.  After all, the system has only been available (in theory) for about two and a half years.  Obviously, "Thailand 4.0" will sort this out. 

On 3/26/2017 at 10:13 AM, Dmaxdan said:

Legs. I have always been a bit of a leg man, and here I'm in leg heaven.

Couldn't agree more!  At 76, I am almost in heaven anyway though. although I am aiming for 100.

49 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

You mean not sharing your narrowed tunnel vision. just saying hello to the Romanian male carers who turn up 4 times a day for my Father who don't need work permits. the UK has suffered remarkably little from the vote lol One PM government in minority inflation import prices and not one single thing agreed of how we are going to leave pound in junk territory have I missed any more of the benefits   

You may not have missed any more of the benefits, but you certainly missed out a few commas and full stops.  

6 hours ago, vogie said:

She did ask for my new address, what she did with it, god only knows, Thai Immigration can work in a mysterious way.

Or not work, as the case may be.   Two and a half years on and the on-line 90 day reporting still does not work.

21 hours ago, sirineou said:

I have being coming to Thailand for the past 15 years and I have seen great improvement.

I cant Talk about all Thailand but in my neck of the woods there are cameras for speeding and  traffic lights all over the place. IMO it has made a big difference.

 No disrespect to places like Puckett and other tourist places but IMO these places are not Thailand but a commercial version, not unlike many places in the world with similar venues . 

IMO if you want to enjoy what Puckett has to offer you need to be prepared for all it has to offer and make effort to avoid that which does not suit you.

Puckett is not created only for you and your needs.

But I understand your frustration.

 

 

5

I agree that traffic lights are great but people need to understand that you are supposed to stop when the light is red.       Otherwise they are as dangerous as hell.

1 minute ago, Khon Kaen Dave said:

I read your post, and i have the upmost  sympathy. It must have taken some getting over. For some weaker men, there would have been another alternative. You must have had to be very strong and i feel your pain.

As for living by the sea, the7/8 years i lived in Patts, i think i went to the beach a handful of times. After a while it was like, i never went there, but it was good just knowing it was there.

I appreciate your comment, Dave.  As I had lost my business, which was my only source of income just a few years from retirement,  I decided to retire to Thailand 13 years ago and, as luck would have it, I have never regretted my decision.  Sadly, my ex-wife died of cancer  7 years ago, so her new husband benefitted from a substantial portion of the earnings from my 45 years of working life, as for some unknown reason, she failed to leave her assets to her two sons as promised.

Your experience of living near the sea, which is similar to mine, (living in Hua Hin), reminds me of an aunt of mine who had a beautiful cottage in South Devon in the UK about one km across fields from the sea.  After the first couple of years there, I do not think she saw the beach for the next 25 years, although she did enjoy the revolving light from the nearby lighthouse.

As your wife appears to be the main bread-winner with a good career and would clearly miss her family if you moved away "to the sea", I think you should stay where you are.  Your family could be worse off if your wife could not find such a well-paid position and she would undoubtedly, as a poster suggested, want to visit her family often, either with you or alone, in addition to which they might want to stay with you occasionally, which could present accommodation problems.  

Living near the sea always sounds great but many people who do so, rarely visit the beach after the initial attraction wears off and most would not want to swim in the heavily polluted waters in some locations.  I would advise that you confine yourself to occasional visits to beach resorts for holidays etc. and keep your wife happily living close to her family and present job.  If she were to end up by moving to a less satisfying job and to missing her family terribly, she would always tend to blame you for what she might consider as your selfish action in "making" her move.

I developed a good career in the UK and my wife, two kids and I enjoyed a pretty good relationship and lifestyle, but that did not prevent her going off with a guy she had only known for a few months after 37 years of marriage, with the excuse that I "worked too hard", even though for the last 22 years I worked from home. It was no consolation to me at all, when after two years, the divorce and the equal division of the proceeds of all our assets, including our home and my business and future pensions, she wanted to return as she had "made a terrible mistake".  This is, of course, nothing like your own position, but it does illustrate how easily you can be blamed for trying to do what you believe is best for your family.

Having paid a Thai builder around 3 million bahts for (good) work carried out on my properties, I was asked to lend him 70000 bahts to enable him to start his next job for another customer.  During the period of about a year that he worked for me, my wife and I became good friends with him and his wife and we spent many dinners etc together naturally at my expense.

In the light of that background, I was happy to lend him the 70000, interest-free, which he signed for, supposedly just for a one month period.  We never saw him again and were unable to trace him.  This was the last example of 5 or 6 such previous (smaller) "loans", to my wife's friends and relatives,  allegedly for worthy causes (medical treatment, car repairs etc) which all turned out to be gifts. 

10 hours ago, jenifer d said:

that is utter nonsense!!! i have NEVER heard of anybody choosing where to live

based upon personnel at the local immig office... 

of course, i'm blessed w/quite a good office in Muang Krabi;

where everybody, including the phuyai, knows me by name and wais me

immediately upon my entering (possibly a perk of speaking Thai and respecting the local culture,

as well as being a well-known musician here)

The difference is that, as a "well known musician", you are in their eyes a "hi-so" and therefore deserve their respect, whereas the rest of us are just normal "plebs", who are just creating more work for them.  Having said that, I was obliged to transfer from Hua Hin Immigration to the new Phetchaburi office due to the position of my home and I found them to be reasonably polite without asking for any additional documents to the normal ones.  

37 minutes ago, steven100 said:

agree 100%  ....   send the whinges home ,   they sit on their keyboards moaning and groaning but hey ... they chose to live here.

so guess what moaners .... get use to it.         or leave.

What you dont seem to understand, Steve, is that where we come from we are allowed to have opinions and criticise (and even have valid elections).  It is something generally known as "free speech", which is not allowed in Thailand......apparently even by you.  You want us to merely praise everything in Thailand or go home.

15 hours ago, steven100 said:

Khun Prayuth Chan O Cha is doing a good job, he is working hard to continue to bring Thailand into economic sustainability.  The China-Thai rail project is to go ahead, roads, energy and infrastructure development is happening.

 

Khun Prayuth Chan O Cha is #1   .......

Wow, you are easliy pleased.....clearly one of his "happy" people.

14 hours ago, colinneil said:

Spending during the 5 day songkran period up 12-14 percent.

Where did he get that figure from? Thin air?

Yes, spending is up on "estimated" figures.  How the devil do they know anyway?

2 hours ago, sahibji said:

catch him, ask him to prove his allegations and if he is unable to do so slam him really, i mean really, hard.bad mouthing the police is disgraceful.

Are you for real?   The good name of the police?   Why don't you have a quiet chat with some other Thais and your eyes could possibly be opened, although I suspect that with comments like those you made, your eyes are probably super-glued shut.

If, on the other hand, you were being sarcastic, which would make your post more understandable, I apologise.