rickudon

Time to think about political asylum in Australia ....... Is the truth good enough for another Aljazeera documentary?

In Udon Thani, definitely cooler overall this year. I had a bumper crop of beetroot and carrots, which usually start to die end of March. Highest temperature on my Maximum-minimum thermometer has been 39.5 Centigrade - usually would have had a half dozen 40 plus days by now. Last couple of days have been hot, 37-38 Centigrade, but has only done that about 7 or 8 times so far. I have lived here for 12 years, so know what to expect. Climate change, yes, but it affects areas differently - the highs have not gone up, but the lows have. Ten years ago, in the cold season, you would see people dressed like Eskimos in the morning, or sitting around wood fires to warm up, very rare now. In the cold season, now temperatures overnight about 15 Centigrade, or more. Now, last few days overnight temperatures have barely fallen below 30 Centigrade - indoors lowest has been 31.3 Centigrade. Just checked, and 35 Centigrade already and not even midday. The sun hasn't even got round to my room, does that about 2 p.m. and it will rise quickly then! Rain - practically zero from October to March, very different 10 years ago. Well dry for only the second time in 12 years, but fish ponds slightly better due to the cooler winter.

Not offended. I find Englishman slightly offensive, even if true...... I prefer British.

As a man, it is never too late to have kids (unless you have a physical problem). When i came to live in Thailand, i was open to having kids, but had 2 in the UK so it was not a priority. I was 59, wife 40, when daughter was born, 10 and a half years ago. I wouldn't change that. Is every thing perfect? Of course not, paradise is a idea, not reality. Life is good enough. I have 3 children who love me, and a good family here in Thailand. Would i have liked to see more of the world, had more women, yes, but you have to be realistic. I think cities are a bad place for Kids - i agree a house, garden, nature are best for a child. As for education, no need to spend millions - I have seen many of the selfish entitled jerks who come from 'top' schools. Just need a reasonably good school, you can get ones in most places - i pay about 40,000 baht a year all in. Money isn't everything in life, but western culture emphasises 'success' but makes home ownership beyond the reach of most these days. I do actually think us baby boomers had a better life than most of our children will. I do try to instil a belief in caring for the planet in my children, rather than just for themselves.

I had a nasty accident due to Microsleep. I arrived back in UK after a Holiday and car MOT had run out (it was at my parents, near airport) - Turned out not worth repairing so took train home to Birmingham and bought another car a few days later. I had left some of my luggage behind at parents, so drove down in the new car to collect it, them drove back overnight. On the M6, 15 miles from home, got sleepy. felt the tyres go bump bump on the cats eyes at the edge of the lane, so turned the steering wheel to the right - car swerved off at an angle of 30 plus degrees, and rolled over 3 times when i tried to correct it ...... why? The new car had power steering and my usual turn on the wheel was too positive. I was lucky, crawled out of the wreck with only 2 broken hands. When i saw the car the next day, the entire roof had collapsed apart from over the drivers seat. My head had ended up just a couple of inches from the roof - good job i am only 5 foot 6 inches! I never drove solo on the motorways at night again if i could help it.

So nobody knew the safe was there....... they said. And thieves of course do not know where a safe is likely to be. Reminds me of my ex-wife - she inherited a load of gold Jewellery and decided to 'hide' it in the bottom of her wardrobe - thieves found it of course. And i didn't realise how much she had, the assessor thought value about 12,000 GBP. We didn't get that much back from the insurance. My stuff was hidden behind books and some toys, not found. Did she learn? 5 years later robbed again, what was left was - in the wardrobe or under the bed........

Common problem in Thailand - double counting zeroes.......

Buffalo still prized in Isaan - as food and as source of fertilizer. Have eaten wild Water buffalo steaks in Australia - not tough. Still also useful for clearing the rice paddies of stubble/weeds. See them frequently.

I very much doubt that the flooding had much to do with it. They are water buffaloes - they will happily live in flooded land, rice paddies, swamps; will eat many aquatic plants. Lack of access to grazing most likely, or as KhunLA said, poisoning.

In the early days of GPS, i was driving my daughter to her new flat in a new town, and the GPS insisted i turn right (on a motorway). There was of course, no right turn. It only decided a few miles later, that i needed to do a U turn and then turn left ......? Also sometimes the maps are out of date - when major roadworks (making a tunnel) were happening, it tried to make me take a non-existent route - which would have led to a dead end. GPS is only as good as the data it is programmed with. Same with driverless cars.

Yes, but the high temperatures are the most negative factor in living here, for me. Obviously there are positives, or i wouldn't be here. All countries come with positives and negatives. If i find paradise, i will let you know - or on reflection, not, wouldn't want to spoil it!

Well, seen some pretty ignorant and selfish replies here. What the OP posts is pretty true - You need to plan for 30 years - most Thais retire at 60, and can expect on average to live about another 20 years - doesn't mean you only plan for 20, because half of them would still be alive.... you do not want to run out just when you need your money the most. As said, that 3.1 million baht figure equates to about minimum wage, which seems sensible as a basic need. income - saw some pretty ridiculous claims on an internet search about average wages in Thailand - they were similar to western salaries! Obviously a contrived data set. Best result i could find was this- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_income#/media/File:Countries_by_gross_median_per-capita_income_in_Int$_(PPP).png This shows the median (i.e. the figure at which half the people are above and half below) figure to be under 70,000 baht per year. Obviously includes non-working people, possibly children, but gives you a good idea. Pension - remember 40% of Thais work in the informal economy, many do not pay into the social security fund - and if you do, limited to about 1200 baht a year. When you retire, that gives you enough to live on for a couple of years..... As for being supported by their children, demographics show this will be much harder - the grandparents typically had 4 or 5 children, but their children only have less than 2 on average - and we know modern life means many have no money to spare to send home. The 'State' pension is 600 baht per month - can any of you live on that? I regularly see old ladies, and a few men, picking weeds from the roadside to eat. They would be slowly starving to death if they cannot grow their own food or work. There is a looming demographic bomb when the current 40-50 year olds retire. Unless the government steps in with meaningful pensions, many will end up fading away - as they starve - or realising their fate, will take action to get what they need. Heads on pikes?

Time to buy a new thermometer! Over 90% of days over the whole year are above 30 Centigrade. Weather only nice before 10 a.m. or in the evenings (sometimes). The heat is probably my biggest bugbear, and effects my ability to keep fit. Last night was in hospital, as sister-in-law had food poisoning - have to be careful about food quality here. Is Thailand better health wise? Well beats most of Africa.......

The bread i buy from Lotus has gone up 18% this year. Fruit, veg, meat prices change every week, so hard to say how much they have gone up. But i got 5 kg of tomatoes for 30 baht this week! Just need to look for bargains.

I have never paid more than 40 baht a litre in Thailand (i use E20). I doubt that many pay more than that either. Oil is a precious resource and should not be cheap, it should not be wasted on non-essential uses - should be used for transport only, and even then only when other energy sources are not practicable. Price is fine as far as i am concerned.

Ford fiestas (and other Fords) did have a bit of a reputation in the UK for going up in smoke. happened to my ex-wife and to a colleague at work. Only cars i ever saw burnt out and not the result of an accident/vandalism.

19 year age gap. Met wife in a thai village, married in a Thai village, still here 12 years later. Now pushing 70. Only observation i would make - 20 year olds still want dancing, fun, 30+ year old girls want a partner.

No help to the OP, but did see some advice many years ago that changing your name in Thailand can cause many issues, easiest thing is for your wife to retain her original name when you get married, then no problem with all those documents in another name.... that's what i told the wife, keep your name, that isn't an issue on a Thai marriage certificate. My wife was happy to just have the village wedding, but when they introduced financial qualifications on the Non-O multi-entry I needed it to do extensions; also it does mean that she will get some pension from my former employers when i die. The current monthly transfers to your Thai bank account are also an issue as i tend to spend a few months in the UK most years; the marriage 400,000 baht rules on extensions are more flexible - I could put 800,000 in and do retirement but i prefer to get a decent investment return on the 400,000 i don't need!

Yes excess deaths tell the true story. in 2020. excess deaths in Thailand were pretty much normal - the lockdowns may have cut accidental deaths a bit and this covered up the few Covid deaths, but basically in 2020 covid mortality was low in Thailand. 2021 was a different story. excess deaths were positive for 10 out of 12 months, and averaged 12% over the year - that equates to about 66,000 extra deaths in 2021, compared with 25,606 'official' deaths so far since beginning of 2020....... So of the 66,000 excess deaths, about 40,000 extra people died in 2021 but supposedly didn't die of Covid-19. Hmmm.....

I was always suspicious that Thai Covid stats were inaccurate..... very inaccurate. The best thing to do is look at excess death rate. Practically all deaths are reported, and deaths from all causes follow a seasonal pattern and the 5 yearly average is a pretty good indicator for the 'normal' deaths. Surprisingly, in 2020 the excess death rate stayed low or negative, which does suggest that not many died. 2021 was a different case. Excess deaths were positive for 10 months of the year - often a higher percentage than the UK! A rough estimate suggests that Thai excess deaths in 2021 were about 3 times the reported Covid death rate. So, what did they die of? Obviously Covid. It would be interesting to see what the stated cause of death was - I suspect that the percentage ofrespiratory infections (other than Covid) and circulatory diseases were all up - but what did they really die of? Pretty clear.

My vaccinations a bit different had Moderna, Moderna, so opted for AZ as my booster. Not yet dead..... maybe AZ again if no new versions available later this year.

June the 9th? Oops, better tell some of the in-laws to stop - first crop already harvested...........

This edition retails at a price of 1499 baht for Thais, and only 5999 baht for farang!

I did the sums recently - how much money would i save if i went Electric and charged the battery via solar - compared with gasoline expenditure. New car and solar panels, charging infrastructure, about one million baht. Petrol saved - 25,000 baht a year - wait - that will tale 40 years for pay back..... Hmm maybe not.

That will stop the Indians from retiring here!