georgegeorgia

No I have been sick the last few weeks so i wanted to be around people.

Secondly money from inheritance doesnt move that fast,it takes awhile waiting for death certificates etc.

Yes i also did stay at a girlfriends flat which was at Flybird where i got sick and left.ok.

As for saving money when your elderly...My Mother saved her money before she died recently and was very frugal.

No she didnt take it with her.

I think most elderly people are frugal.

A block of Land? Omg looks like a big swimming pool? Whoever buys that as the real estate agent said in his email.has to deal with the pond on your land.

Wow...must be hard to actually "save" any money living on 30k especially with a family...i couldnt do it !

Hard to say Paddy.The guy im talking about isnt poor he has cash saved in the bank.

But he kept telling me over and over not waste money because you never know when you might really need it someday.

I will say this,I looked up to him as a kind of father figure because he was one of those people who can look after themselves without the need of a support person,im not like that unfortunately.

I wish i could live by myself too but I cant i need people around me,my Mother was the same as Larry and lived alone and looked after herself when Dad passed away.

No I watched him most times wash his t shirts in the sink or soak them and then hang on the balcony.

On one ocassion i remember him telling me there was a washing machine downstairs I think 20 baht by memory.

Im half his age ,I admire him for his lifestyle,watching TV on his balcony,sipping tea,reading books,going out everyday other day but not spending anything other than occassionaly in a food court.

Could I do that? I dont know,I probaly would get bored,what would i do all day,maybe at his age its different?

He said its no different to his life in Australia except he prefers it in Pattaya.

Look quite frankly I would get bored,i need a job to go to or something to do but then again im not old as him.

What do you do sit in your house all day watch TV ,read books ,go out some days to meet people in a bar or food court,not really exciting but can be done if your a minimalist person .

Just to add to this I found his lifestyle uncomfortable.

I went out with him a few times,he preferred to walk or get the baht bus,only paid 10 baht,i cant do that,most times i cant stand around in the heat so just got a motorbike taxi which he was horrified when i told him it cost me 80 baht or so to get into Pattaya.

I just dont have the patience to wait around for baht buses or walk a long way in the heat.

You are best out of it Thailand a pile of CRAP

I still see a few 26sqm condo sell for 400/450 k.Usual rental return is about 3 to 4k a month.

On a recent trip to Pattaya I stayed in a Thai girlfriends condo building.

It was a old style cheap building with many old farang.

They used to leave their doors open probaly because they had no A/C and as i walked past everyday u could see them lying topless on their beds all day without venturing out of their small rooms.seemed such a sadvlonely life.

I think its here where Stickman says its his last column.Bottom of the page on your link.

I would have to say in many ways Australia is actually cheaper than Thailand.

Im here on a year long work assignment in Sydney Australia.

As for Thailand I was shocked to see many monthly electricity bills basically the same as mine in Australia.

As for fruit I can get a lot cheaper in Australia as they sell by the kilo rather than paying per piece.

Cans of tuna either the same price or cheaper in Australia.

Coffee cheaper in Australia,a 200gm jar from 80baht

Water free by the tap.

2 litre milk in Australia $2...= about 75 baht.

Bacon and cold meats..cheese cheaper in Australia.24 cheese slices from 70baht.

Obviously thai takeaway is more expensive but have found places here in Sydney that sell thai food for under 90 baht a plate.and big portions.

OP, I don't know your age, but don't underestimate the value of your health care as you get older. That one issue can break a lot of guys in LOS.

In Canada you can plan and budget. In Thailand the government is a failure at managing the economy, the value of the baht and inflation. They simply don't have a clue what they are doing to themselves. You can't plan anything to any level, as you are seeing.

In Canada at least you have health care and political stability and a predictable rate of inflation "most of the time."

I moved back to the US after only one year of retirement extension. I've visited many times for several months but I won't move back there. If guys were honest with themselves, Thailand is a dirty, corrupt <deleted> compared to their first world country. For those of us who have money or who come from countries where the cost of living is reasonable (USA) I find it better to visit Thailand about once a year for a few months and then come "home."

Good luck with what you decide.

Can I ask what happened??? After only one year on a retirement visa you decided to go back to the USA ?

I see STICKMAN of Stickman Bangkok fame is packing his bags for good and going back to his home country of New Zealand this month.

Not sure whats happening to his weekly columns?

Cant believe so many expats are packing up and going,what with Mr Drummond and a few others times are certainly changing.

Shouldnt this topic be locked ???

Where is the report button ?

I dont know Gerry,i was taking up to 10 or more kamagra gel sachets a day ,whether it was that or some mental stress i dont know but its not like me in all those years to become violent,but as i ssid the worst was the nightmares ,crying etc.Couldnt get out of bed,the tv was on the music channel and was playing sad songs.

Now i feel absolotely fine back in farangland that i could go back to Pattaya tommorrow.

The tiredness i have a bit but i slept soundly in my own bed last night.

I havent seen a doctor here in farangland yet and if i get better i wont bother.

Im not worried about the physical as much as the mental.

I did go to Pattaya to get away after caring for my mother who had cancer the last 3 months but i doubt that was a contributing factor.

i was still sad but her death was expected and whilst sick i also started thinking about the bar owner whose bar i had frequented for many years who also died of cancer,strange stuff.

I am scared because i would hate to have a mental illness such as szphrenia or whatever and become a nutcase,the thai girl rang me and asked if im ok she told me she had never seen me like that before.

I just want to say im not Gay in any way shape or form but do love to see the female impersonator shows.

I just want tell my story on here.

A few weeks ago I went back to Pattaya after a 12 month absence.

I holiday there usually twice a year usually for 6 weeks at a time just like I have done the past 12 years.

In that time I met a ex bargirl,she is now 36 and we met over 8 years ago.

We had spent time together over those past 8 years during my trips to Pattaya going on various excursions to Isaan etc so I had trust for her.

Well to get the story going I arrived in Pattaya a few weeks ago,I spent the first week in a hotel before i decided to move in with my "girlfriend" in her small room.

Now i was paying her tent and she let me bring bargirls home etc which was great because i was paying vety minimal rent.

The second week was going ok and i even purchased some kamagra which was in a gel form.

Whether that was the cause im not sure but i got very sick,flu symptoms,extreme tiredness,so much that I slept from 6pm until late the next morning.

I had extreme sweating so much that the bed was soaked and continual nightmares.

The room my GF rented was not a/c but had a fan.She went to work during the afternoon and i would usually get up in the morning and gave a slice of dry toast if i could eat aling with coffee,but i was so tired i had no energy and usually went back to bed.

By the afternoon i was alone in this dark room and nose was running and extreme tiredness sweating etc,and i not kid you the nightmares,deppression and paranoia set in.I have never never had any illness before particularly any mental kind of illness.

This is going to sound strange but the second night my gf came home from work,i was still in bed ,she put on a face mask,by the time i woke up at 2am to pee i saw it and things went through my mind,she was going to kill me with an axe,she was the devil etc etc.

i had to get out of there as i was shaking with fear,she wasnt sleeping with me but on the ground beside the double bed with the white face mask on.

i dont remember all of it but somehow i managed to grab my bag and try to flee with only my undies on,she caught me and i told her i had to get out of here.

Evebtually she coaxed me back to bed and in the morning she wanted me to see a doctor.I was feeling a little bit better,still no appetite howeve and some vomiting,any smells etc would make me vomit.Anyway my personality also changed where i was anxious short tempered ,my headache was still there and she decided we should get a motorbike taxi to the clinic.One of the motorbike taxi drivers had said something smart to her in thai about he wanted 200 baht for a normal 50 baht fare etc and unusually for me i responded to him in a aggressive way which made him backdown but my gf was horrified at my actions.Even i was,but i just wanted to get to the clinic without some muppet trying to be stupid because i was sick.

Anyway we ended up getting a baht bus went to clinic and the thai doctor was quite good and told me i should go to Bangkok to see a specialist he knows.He booked it into the next day givving me a injection etc.

i just wanted to get home and sleep again.

That afternjon/evening my GF webt to work and i lay in the dark room dropping in and out of sleep,i hadnt vomited since they had gave me an injection,but my nose was still running and i had no energy,i had some sort of depression, i tried to lift myself out of bed and silly thing i got my phone onyo youtube where i accifently must of put the "the clash dong bankrobber"on repeat then dropped the phone so it that song continually played which to me was a sad song,i became a crying mess until finally my GF came home that night and changed the bedsheets.

The next morning with the help of medication i was feeling a little better but still nauseous,we booked a taxi to BKK 1500 baht to go to the spexialist that the thai clinic doctor reccomend i had to get him to drive into the front of the condo and i was still sick,i sat in the back and the smell of the car etc was making me sick and i was sweating profusely,we managed to go about 45 minutes onto the trip and the bastard taxi driver pulled off the road into a service station where i thought he was doing a quick fuel stop,i remained in the car,10 minutes later im still sat in the heated car which was now parked in a parking bay,i thought the cab driver had gone into pay for the fuel but no he was sat a small table eating rice.

I got out of the burning furnace of the car where my GF was already and told her about how i was sick and could she tell the cab driver to show some respect to us so we could leave,she kept saying Mai oen rai etc;my nose was running and i was just sick and my eergy level went up as i confronted him sweat dripping off me ,he was sitting at food stall completely ovlivious,i have never ever been a angry person but lets just sayvi confronted him in a way everyone looked,to cut a long story short i got a taxi back to pattaya and went to hospital there.

I told the doctor of my symptoms,flu like,deppression,paranoia,short tempered,sweating,nightmares,vimiting,he wanted to keep me in hospital i didnt want that,they gave me saline drips etc,he asked me about where i bought the kamagra tablets and whilst not saying it was he suggested it could be them.

He asked me about my stress,my mother had died about 2 weeks before i arrived and he said this could of been a contributing factor but actually i dont think so.

I just didnt want to stay anymore in Thailand,i was sick not only physically but mentally,never never before had i had paranoia like that where i thought that my GF was going to kill me and i was prepared to fight back.

She suggested i go home to see a doctor and i really needed to get back so much i paid extra to fly home the next morning

i went out on the highway in pattaya flagged down a passing taxi and asked how much to airport he said 1000b where i remember shouting at the poor guy telling him no stopping and dont lie to me etc.

i was sick on the plane but was ok.

i have been back in farangland a few days and whilst still tired i feel much better.

i cannot comprehend the sickness i had,it was the worst worst symptoms ever,nightmares paranoia,i dont know what it was ,those kamagra? A breakdown? I dont know ,but for some reason i was glad to get out of Thailand.

Remember the great female impersonator in Pattaya going by the name Madam Karen ?

I guess would be in her 80's by now,have been told different stories,so anyone know ? That she had passed away,that she went back to live in Sydney Australia,that she now resides in Turkey? I must say i really enjoyed her shows at places like the Venue in Jomtien etc.AN update would be nice.