Tawan77

Anyone know if having a Thai IP address affects pricing? I got the web-promo fare, but it's still 3500b one-way BKK-USM (not 1890 as posted above). May be my selected date of Jan 28. Thanks everyone

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On their website. 3500 baht instead of 4390

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Good chance there will be a sale in the next four weeks based on last two years.

Good chance there will be a sale in the next four weeks based on last two years.

Samui residents,
I'm bringing a group of 28 to Thailand in the coming months and am seeking your restaurant recommendations for a group meal: great authentic Thai food, nice ambiance/view, not pricey/no frills. Looking for a set menu, family/table style dining (not individual plates). ~400b/person including something like:
- yam woon sen,
- tom yum, tom jeud daohu
- phad thai
- gaeng kiaowan, gaeng penang
- plaa duk foo, plaa pao
Anywhere btw MaeNam and Lamai. Thank you!

Yikes, they sure have a monopoly on the USM market!  4100THB one way at the end of January. Irksome when just about any other domestic flight in Thailand can be found for 1/4 that (including Bangkok-URT).  Any experienced fliers have thoughts on whether there'll be an upcoming sale for flights to Samui for late Jan/early Feb, or other suggestions?  Thanks!

Grant

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...

Thanks Claffey. Great posts. I appreciate all of the info and perspective you've offered.

If you have the know-how you can just format the drive instead of smashing it, and donate the whole machine to a suitable organization. They'll get a fresh OS on it if it's beyond your skills.

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When reading the OP I thought that this has to be a troll thread, no way this guy is this naive and/or selfish to believe what he is writing and there will be no more replies from him to this bait. But there was and apparently he is.

Another similar parent of the year nominee who springs to mind is a guy on here who previously said that he is raising his kids in Isaan, with an Isaan education, because he likes to play golf and he can afford to in Thailand but not in his home country. I'll never forget that guy.

OP; you obviously already had your mind made up when you made this thread and you just want members to confirm your poor life decision, and of course you will find other people who are just as deluded or biased as yourself who will tell you that bringing your daughter at the beginning of her educational life to Thailand because you want to live there is a good idea. So just do it but make sure you bear all the responsibility for your choice but it is all totally on you.

FYI, after living in Thailand (Bangkok and Isaan) for 6 years I moved my family back to the UK just before my oldest child was about to start first school. After everything I experienced in those 6 years there was no way I could let my kids grow up there knowing how much better off they would be growing up in the UK. And I expect your comeback will be that I hate Thailand or Thai people but you'd be totally wrong, I moved to Thailand because I loved it, I stayed there for 6 years because I loved it and we will go back every summer holidays because I still love it and my Thai family. However I love it for me, and if we didn't have kids we would still be living there. After we had our first child I quickly realised that they would be much better off growing up in the UK compared to Thailand so that's what we did. I made a huge life decision and sacrifice and did what was best for them, the exact opposite of what you are proposing.

One thing that I always thought about while we were still in Thailand; nobody has ever, ever said these words: "I'm going to move my kids from the UK to Thailand so they can get the best education and the most wholesome and safe upbringing I can afford them". However, how many millions of people have done the reverse and moved from a 3rd world country to Europe to give their kids the best opportunities?

Aside from your preface where you felt the need to take all kinds of shots and make all kinds of assumptions about me and my forthcoming response to your post, this is a post that has a perspective for me to consider. I wouldn't have assumed you hate everything Thai because you gave no indication of that, whereas the others who I pinned that attitude on had said so pretty much verbatim in their opening replies. Could you not have made the same post without all of the snark? Big of you to make your "huge sacrifice" after six years of living the life in Thailand. While you were doing that, I was busting my azz in Canada building my career, buying a home and saving for a future where I could work less and spend more time raising and educating my kid while giving her invaluable life experiences for her future. Good for you for doing what you think is best for your family. Aren't we all.

(I know two Lao-Canadian kids whose family left Canada to raise them in Isaan. They went to high school in Singapore and have gone on to have successful careers with multiple degrees from international colleges and universities. They've returned to Canada, but it doesn't seem as though those childhood years in Thailand stunted their potential. It may have served them well. They are mature, worldly and multilingual in ways that many a Canadian kid in their 20s are woefully short on. They're doing well in life and will continue to do so. Different strokes)

You think I was just partying for 6 years in Thailand? I'm younger than you so how do you think I was able to have 2 kids in Bumrungrad hospital, build a house in Thailand, buy a house in the UK, sort out visas (for me in Thailand and my wife in UK), passports for my kids, flights etc? Thailand is not a cheap country if you want a decent life. How much do you think international schools cost in Thailand? I'll give you a clue; the K1 year my son attended in Bangkok cost more than the salary you are planning to make in Thailand. Even without the school fees our monthly outgoings in Bangkok were at least 100k baht a month. On top of that my wife got seriously ill in Bangkok and the fees were astronomical for the treatment and the repeat visits she had to make. Yes, there are free Thai hospitals but a free Thai hospital diagnosed a stroke as stress and gave her a ton of pills for a headache. It wasn't until she went private that she was properly diagnosed. And this a good example of Thailand: every thing is cheap if you want cheap quality, and everything is fine until the day it isn't. If you want decent expat quality then it will usually cost you more than in your home country.

Like I said, you are not here to make your mind up, you already have decided that you want to move your family to Thailand for you, the purpose of this thread is for you to prove to yourself with a confirmation bias that it was the right decision which is why you click Like on every post that tells you to do it and you argue with everyone that says it is a ridiculous suggestion.

The reason for my condescending post before is because you are in the same category as that guy I mentioned before who is raising his kid in Isaan because he wants to play golf which I find disgusting. You are not doing what is best for your family as you put it, you are clearly doing what you want to do for your own selfish wants. So just do whatever you want because I really don't care what happens to your daughter, that's your biggest responsibility.

If you really wanted to live in Asia because of education then I'd suggest Singapore. If you cannot afford that then you cannot afford the best option for your family. Planning to raise your family in a rural part of one of the worst ranked countries in the ASEAN for education is a terrible idea, especially when you have the easy option to raise them in Canada which any Thai would literally jump at the idea of.

I like possibility thinkers. Call it confirmation bias, whatever. If there are people who have made raising a family in Thailand work, I'm interested in hearing about how. I'm interested in hearing about the struggles and how they overcame them. IF we decide, as a couple, to make this move, that's the info that will help us succeed. Those who are discouraging it, if they give advice based on direct experience, that's worth something. "I'm moving my family home because..." is great. Pointing me to ASEAN Education rankings--great info. (Yeah, I was disgusted and disappointed to see that ranking). Where you have me wrong, is thinking that my mind is made up. It's not. That's why I keep coming back here.

No, he told them 900 baht at the airport. She agreed. Then when she got there, she changed her mind and said she will only pay 500 or call the police.

That isn't what the OP said:

He had not indicated he was not using the meter and after a short while demanded 900 baht for the journey.

An unpleasant journey followed after the passenger said she would only pay 500 with Pornpan saying that she felt they were in danger and threatened by the driver's behaviour.

I've never had a problem saying hello in Thai, asking them to turn on the meter, telling them to take the tollway and giving them the change for the tolls.

Not once in 20+ years.

I got fleeced the first and only time back in the day and sent the card off, and got a reply back in my home country months later saying the driver had been fined Bt1000.

If you listen carefully, he says "you agreed to the 900 hundred baht " she stumble a couple of seconds with how to reply. She has him on camera and trying to direct the dialogue in her own favour. She replys "yes, I did because you wouldn't go on the meter " she jumped the cue and used the taxi by mutual negotiation. She had every right to turn his taxi down and find a metered taxi. He's running a business. It's his duty to get as much as he can for his vehicle. She wanted a taxi from the arrival and tried to get the cheapest ride she could without waiting for a metered or cueing.

At the hotel she changed her mind. Even the hotelier asked her if it was true. she said yes. The hotelier asked her to pay and she did. The full 900.

She tried to cheat him

When reading the OP I thought that this has to be a troll thread, no way this guy is this naive and/or selfish to believe what he is writing and there will be no more replies from him to this bait. But there was and apparently he is.

Another similar parent of the year nominee who springs to mind is a guy on here who previously said that he is raising his kids in Isaan, with an Isaan education, because he likes to play golf and he can afford to in Thailand but not in his home country. I'll never forget that guy.

OP; you obviously already had your mind made up when you made this thread and you just want members to confirm your poor life decision, and of course you will find other people who are just as deluded or biased as yourself who will tell you that bringing your daughter at the beginning of her educational life to Thailand because you want to live there is a good idea. So just do it but make sure you bear all the responsibility for your choice but it is all totally on you.

FYI, after living in Thailand (Bangkok and Isaan) for 6 years I moved my family back to the UK just before my oldest child was about to start first school. After everything I experienced in those 6 years there was no way I could let my kids grow up there knowing how much better off they would be growing up in the UK. And I expect your comeback will be that I hate Thailand or Thai people but you'd be totally wrong, I moved to Thailand because I loved it, I stayed there for 6 years because I loved it and we will go back every summer holidays because I still love it and my Thai family. However I love it for me, and if we didn't have kids we would still be living there. After we had our first child I quickly realised that they would be much better off growing up in the UK compared to Thailand so that's what we did. I made a huge life decision and sacrifice and did what was best for them, the exact opposite of what you are proposing.

One thing that I always thought about while we were still in Thailand; nobody has ever, ever said these words: "I'm going to move my kids from the UK to Thailand so they can get the best education and the most wholesome and safe upbringing I can afford them". However, how many millions of people have done the reverse and moved from a 3rd world country to Europe to give their kids the best opportunities?

Aside from your preface where you felt the need to take all kinds of shots and make all kinds of assumptions about me and my forthcoming response to your post, this is a post that has a perspective for me to consider. I wouldn't have assumed you hate everything Thai because you gave no indication of that, whereas the others who I pinned that attitude on had said so pretty much verbatim in their opening replies. Could you not have made the same post without all of the snark? Big of you to make your "huge sacrifice" after six years of living the life in Thailand. While you were doing that, I was busting my azz in Canada building my career, buying a home and saving for a future where I could work less and spend more time raising and educating my kid while giving her invaluable life experiences for her future. Good for you for doing what you think is best for your family. Aren't we all.

(I know two Lao-Canadian kids whose family left Canada to raise them in Isaan. They went to high school in Singapore and have gone on to have successful careers with multiple degrees from international colleges and universities. They've returned to Canada, but it doesn't seem as though those childhood years in Thailand stunted their potential. It may have served them well. They are mature, worldly and multilingual in ways that many a Canadian kid in their 20s are woefully short on. They're doing well in life and will continue to do so. Different strokes)

I don't understand why they didn't just hand the driver 300 baht and walk away. They had their bags at this point, no?

As KhunPer said, Simon43 is looking to offload his guesthouse. You may even come to some sort of management arrangement.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/911572-the-frustration-of-trying-to-sell-a-successful-business/

May be a compromise that will get your wife onside better.

Nothing wrong with being an optimist.

What I didn't like was the pushy touters. Plus I had a feeling like almost everyone wanted to take advantage of me for money.

I am Canadian and find it is still cheaper in thailand. Try and live in Canada on the same budget as Thailand and you will find it impossible. Bottles water is 2 dollars or 52 baht now. The baht is still good. I used to get 18 to the dollar for years. Also the dollar will be up by the end of the year when oil goes back up to $70, Canadian dollar is oil based.

Cell phone costs in Canada run over $300 a month thats pushing 10,00 baht for most every one I know there it is all on contract with the companies and need to sign up for 1 to 3 year terms. A minimum monthly payment plus time used.but phone is free.

Whilst I agree that one can live more cheaply in Thailand than most Western countries, I'm incredulous that mobile 'phone charges in Canada are close to 10,000 bht p.m.! Is that really true??!

Using bottled water is not a good argument either, assuming tap water is safe to drink in Canada.

That's an exaggerated number imo. I live in Toronto. Most people pay around 80CAD/mo. With the budget carriers you can get unlimited talk/text/days for half that, but you get what you pay for in some ways. Still among the world's priciest mobile rates though. Frustrating indeed, especially after paying 9 baht for a SIM (usually 49, but discounted if bought by a current customer) and 199B for a gig of data!

(That said, there are always those people who get a terrible plan pushed on them and will rack up the extra and extortionate roaming/data charges)

What will your wife do all day in Thailand? Thailand is a great place for a bloke, but can be hard on older foreign woman unless they have a fulfilling life and good support network (hard to achieve in rural Thailand).

Having said this, why put yourself and your family through another Canadian winter? You could look at your wife and child staying in Canada while you try it for a year. They can come visit you for holidays and vice versa.

You will need to put your daughter in a good EP school which may limit where you can teach and live. She won't be picked on or teased in a Thai school, but she will never be assimilated or made to feel really welcome. Thai people will never understand why you have put her into a Thai school for the 'experience'. Anyone you have to deal with in authority will be uncomfortable about the situation. I'm sure she will pick up Thai easily enough from her classmates and teachers in an EP school.

Great post, thanks Steve. My wife also making a life there is definitely something we're talking a lot about. Her integration and happiness in a lot of ways is of greater concern. We both think our daughter would be fine. My wife would love to run a guest house, but I see all kinds of barriers there, from work permits to property ownership. I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has a guest house. Neither of us are Thai so I understand we'd need a Thai business partner, which is pretty frightening. Info is appreciated.

Good to hear those thoughts on EP schools. Those fees are easily doable. I'm thinking Phet'buri, Rat'buri, ChaAm, HuanHin area...

Thanks again for the responses

EDIT: I should have added that my wife already makes most of her income teaching online, so she has skills and income there. But finding community and friendships, that's a greater challenge. I don't see her learning Thai to the degree that I have or will, so we'll need to straddle Thai culture and the expat community.

»My wife would love to run a guest house, but I see all kinds of barriers there, from work permits to property ownership. I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has a guest house. Neither of us are Thai so I understand we'd need a Thai business partner, which is pretty frightening. Info is appreciated.«

There usually some guesthouses or bungalow resorts up for lease, so you don't need to invest in property; which can be both difficult and risky as foreigner. To run a business you will need a Thai company limited, which a lawyer can set up for you. Foreigners can only hold up to 49 percent of the shares, but an experienced business lawyer will be able to advise you about a usable company set-up for the purpose in question.

I know one extremely succesful Swedish guesthouse owner in Hua Hin, and I've seen farang owned or controlled guesthouses all over Thailand. My major knowledge is of course from the area I live in and familiar with, Samui, and here are many farang-owned or leased guesthouses or bungalow resorts; the majority seem to de well – I have friends doing well – and in between some few not succeeding. One of my friends is a Swedish lady, who runs a smaller guest house on her own – with some Thai staff of course; "on her own" meaning no Thai spouse – and she has been successful enough to "survive" for as long as I've been coming here, so some 15 years (at least).

One of the Thai Visa users often posts about his guest houses at Phuket – he talks about he on his third now – and he has recently mentioned he wish to retire, if someone is interested in taking-over. I don't know the status, but perhaps worth contacting him with a PM (personal message), if your are serious about it, his name is: simon43.

Staying in an area like Hua Hin, Phuket or Samui – or the like, not to forget Chiang Mai – also gives you good EP-school possibilities, and community/friendship options with both locals and expats.

but kannot said...

Thanks again khunper. This is very helpful and in line with our ideas. I'll connect with Simon43. HuaHin/ChaAm/Phetchaburi would be our first choice, Samui second, for the reasons you cited. If any of your friends are looking for an exit or a year off please let me know.

I'm sure there's beautiful places in Canada you could relocate to, for your daughter's sake.

Vancouver island and better weather too with the sea helping the climate no end

I went to UVic on Vancouver island. Love the west coast--that's totally my vibe--but the bleak winters kill me. Yeah, winter is shorter, but it's dark and pouring rain for 100 days in a row. That's exactly what I need to get away from.

Ok so you are renting your home for $4000 and $3000 is your income after tax.

I am Canadian and you will not rent a home for $3000.

The Canadian government will take 25% of that income and you will have to hire a real estate agent to take care of your payments at additional 10% cost to you.

I have only one place in Canada that I'm renting and consider it a headache. I wouldn't even know where to start if I had kids that would need an education in a third world country.

We know what our house rents for. We've rented it. We're in the heart of Toronto. $4k CAD gross/mo. Yes, we'd have Canadian taxes and associated property management fees, but there's some hefty income there. People would think it ludicrous that it is worth what it is and can rent for that much--it's a pretty humble 2-storey brick home (with a basement unit) on a small lot, but that's the Toronto real estate market for you.

I am probably underestimating the headache that goes with renting property from abroad though...

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With beef it either needs to be cooked not-very-long or way-too-long. Cook your massaman or whatever in a wok in 3 minutes, or simmering over the lowest heat for several hours (braise). In between will be tough, especially if it isn't a premium cut. Should fall off the bone and be stringy but not dry with a long, slow braise.

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Koh Phangan... not Haad Rin, but a far corner; haad khuat, thong nai pan, or salad

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You don't find true love, you find a partner. Then you build a lasting love together. Lots of women in Pattaya, no problem there. The likelihood of lasting a lifetime grow slimmer though if you are different in socio-economic status, culture, education, and age. Lots of the relationships in Pattaya have wide chasms for each of these to overcome. Not impossible, but tremendously challenging I would imagine.

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I think the adventure of foreign lands is an education in itself. I plan to go to as many cultures with my family as possible for as long as I can.

Finally, someone said it!

Congrats on your successes. Good luck!

This might seem a strange thing to say, but you are not really worth the time people have taken to reply, because you are obviously unstoppably optimistic and positive ! (half-joke).

Now you get me.

the final reason i'm checking out of this, is your use of the word 'BITTER' to describe any of us who have negative things to say about your planned utopia. That is reductive and offensive.... i am not 'bitter' - i am disappointed, alarmed, stunned, baffled, and very very sad about how much less the country is than it could and should be.

Thanks for addressing this. My eternal optimism comes into hard collision with (complainers in general, and) expats who can't say Thai/Thailand (or any other country where expats reside) without saying "f'ing" first. I've met too many. You're right though, those feelings of frustration and disappointment are easily justified. There's much to lament about Thailand. I just feel that there are some people who'd rather complain than either making a change or sucking it up. A privileged comment for sure, but many expats have no shortage of privilege.

Best of luck with it !

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