1happykamper

I spent 10 years living in Lake Chapala and would take Thailand anytime over Mexico. Cheaper living although the peso is sinking a bit. To many noisy street dogs, dogs on flat roofs sleep all day bark all night so called noisy security. Catholic church has so many "rocket" holidays that if your a WW11 vet you would feel right at home. They are a loud music culture. The church controls the population through politics. On certain days rockets from 5 in the morning till 11 pm at night every few minutes. More poverty, to much machismo. Lake Chapala is slowly disappearing being sucked dry by Guadalajara. American Legion there a great watering hole. You must do a 2 hour drive each way for decent shopping in Guad. Guad is a noisy dirty overpopulated place with lots of poverty. Beautiful girls are more plentiful here and have better attitudes. Immigration is a bit better there you can become a FM3. Less official reporting. My info is about 10 years old so some things have changed. The local visa agent runs a flower shop there and she has an arm lock on most of the foreigner visa stuff and she can also get you government medical insurance but it is really a run down system. Think her name is Margo. Dr. Ricardo a great guy. Mentality about the same. They say they know when they don't. Never ask for directions in Guad. You can PM me for more information.

I feel that I MUST reply to your thoughts on this topic. I lived in Mexico (San Miguel de Allende) for 2 years.. got a little expensive for my $1,500 budget so I moved here to Chaing Mai.

I will be returning to Mexico soon. Not sure which city yet. "loud music culture" -here in Chaing mai the NOISE pollution is waaaay higher the Mexico City!!

Yes, lots of fireworks with colour--and those grenades that just have a bang - but I miss all that crazy churchy stuff!

I found Guadalajara to be rich and vibrant with culture.. generally, lots of PARKS.. slum areas.. sure.. but no better or worse than Chiang mai poor areas.

To quote you "Beautiful girls are more plentiful here and have better attitudes'.. I am almost speechless ha ha ha . If you are referring to their willingness to open their legs for a 1000 baht or more.. yep -great attitude! NO!!! Mexican girls any day.. I can actually have a meaningful CONVERSATION with some of them.. here in CM.. not so much 555. Plus the ATM attitude ther has less expectations. Here in CM - day 3 of me knowing one "good girl" : buy me a house!! 55 ridiculous.

I miss the music.. toe tapping, get up and dance music..in fact dancing is often seen in local bars outside.. but hgere.. no one seems to enjoy dancing.. even the go-go girls can not dance 555

I miss mariachi bands. I miss church bells and clock tower chimes. I miss the rainy season there - high white huge thunderheads.. deluge of rain for an hour and huge lightening storms that may last all night. Here, low cloud and rain on and off for hours and hours.. and little thunder and other cool drama in the skies.

I WILL miss Thai food, I WILL miss cheaper living here in CM. But my $400 a month rent here in the city gets me a modern 46 meter studio single room with no fresh air options outside the walls and a basic cooking area. In Mexico my place for $450 had 2 balconies and views that went on for miles.. plus separate living, sleeping and cooking rooms. I will miss flirting with bar girls

QUALITY of my life in San Miguel was much better than here in Chaing Mai. This was a FUN adventure. But the sexpats, ATM expectations of Thai girls, HOT climate and CRAZY traffic make this a poor choice for a good life on $1,500 a month.

I live in Chiang Mai.. Send me a pm.. Do you have LINE?

I am having no luck finding an app in my Roku to stream a paid for movie channel. Netflix.. Hbo. And more.. All are geographically limited. Anyone know which Roku apps work in Thailand?

I went to Numbeo to check out your claim that Port Charlotte is just as affordable as, for example my town of Chaing Mai. Nope.. Port Charlotte is at least TWICE the cost in every sector.. I went to Craigslist to confirm rentals. No, no, no!!

Happy in Chaing Mai.

I want to fly home to the Old Country in June.. BKK too England/Scotland.. any city. I think i have seen ads in a BKK newspaper touting charter flights for around 17,000 thb?? Supposedly via travel agency.

Do charter flights do indeed leave BKK to England? Right now the best i can find is 26,000 THB RT

Cheers.

John Chiang Mai

I live in Chaing Mai and I am researching a destination to explore, with the possibility of living there, that are north of Bangkok. As much as 150 km north of BK..I fancy a town close to Khao Yai National Park.

I have zero info on expats in these rural areas.. or maybe in smaller towns /cities in my search area. Thoughts and names of these towns please? Cheers.

Great topic.. For me.. So what about rent? For example a 45+ one bedroom condo.. How much would that cost.. Or a two bedroom house just outside the city? Chiang Mai is too crazy for me.. I am looking at towns in Isaan that are more relaxed yet still have culture, coffee shops and some farang.

Always smart assess on this site. Don't waste my time.. Play somewhere else

i will be travelling from Mexico city, via Tucso, via LAX and then on to Bangkok.. all flight segmanys/airlines allow me to take 2 suitcases with a max weight of 50# each. My luggae will meet this rule.

However.. the very last segment, not yet booked,,,,seems to be a proble..travel within Thailand. If I am reading the airlines rules correctly I am allowed only 44# for all my suitcasses!! At $7 a kg charge extra.. the number comes to over $200!!!

Am I missing something? The train seems so much of a hassle... from the airport to the station etc etc. Thoughts please... Cheers.

I have lived in 42 cities in 4 different countries.. Never visiting most of them beforehand. Nothing is permanent.

Very fool hardy to try here in the middle of a military coup set to last into 2016. I think you motives may be less than honorable and I question if you are leaving messes behind you???? Are you hiding an aspect of your movements from all.

Wow.. your manners are ..hmmm... distgusting... try not to ever reply to any of my posts again.

I have lived in 42 cities in 4 different countries.. Never visiting most of them beforehand. Nothing is permanent.

Impermanence is permanence.

1Happykamper may just be a little to happy to the point of being loopy foolhardy and a flake

I have been away from my techno life for awhile and continued where I left off on this thread from my OP. Most of the messages here were helpful if not a bit pessimistic... however this post.. is unacceptable. Please refrain from bashing with name calling. Thank you. Enjoy a beautiful day in your perfect world.

I asked the Thailand consul in Los Angeles if a one way plane ticket was good enough when I arrive with my approved retired o-a visa.

Thier answer... "That depends on that Thai Immigration at the airport."

Not a solid answer.

What does the law say in this regard.. Anyone.. Please.. Cheers.

Okaaaaaaay. And the OP has just left the stage.

Helpful

Good morning all. I am interested in the likelhood of an encounter with either... a Tsunami, large wild animals, snakes spiders and
Life is all about probability.

Cheers

Slightly off topic but may I ask why you are leaving Mejico HC?

I want to move to Thailand. Just a different place to explore. Mexico is a great place but the prices are getting close to USA prices and affordability and desire to spend $700 on rent is not my cuppa tea

considering the north makes some of the worlds best coffeess (doi chaang in chiang rai is top 1%).

coffee shouldn't be a problem

This is GOOD to hear!!! mexico grows greta coffee too and untill less than 10 year ago most of it was exported and Nescafe was the only coffee srved here. Finding an expresso machine outside of large cities here is very rare. To Mexicans coffee is a luxury hence the $2.50 I pay for one !

Maybe i could swap with the op,i loved Mexico,when i was there,and they don't play music at 5am ,have a house,wife ect,pickup ,motorsai,hell i will even leave some of my good shirts,how about it Happy kamper?

Marko.. when were you in Mexico.. my life in San Miguel de Allende has been greta for 2 years... and YES music is played 24 hours a day in many big cities and even in the countryside. Nothing terrible wrong with mexico..just time for me to travel and live in SE Asia.

Thanks so much for the replies today. I am getting used to the 13 hour delay to my questions.. )

OK. Bring my size 13 shoes. Good quality t shirts. Socks. Fruit of the Loom. Check. Thanks so much for your warm welcome and input.

A side note: COFFEE!!!!! Outside of major cities, how tough is it to get a good latte or americano?

what kind of visa do you have?

Still working on how to do that. I qualify for a Retired Visa.. more an 65,000 a month and aged 63

Just joined this very active and informative group. happy new year to all. Hmmm.. first question... is the Thai new yer like China or USA ?) soooo many questions.. all in good time...

I have never visited Asia before..I currently live in Central Mexico ..2 years now. So my "move" is 2 suitcases. I sold the kitchen sink years ago.

My question this is in regards to cost of items in Thailand..specifically: mens shirts -casual, Levis jeans, walking shorts, a 54" smart TV, a 27" high end computer monitor, a good inkjet printer and sunscreen. ) ALL these items in MX are very expensive... I want to know the cost of replcaing all these items please.. and just how many clothes if any, I should buy in USA before departng for Thailand. Cheers.