UncleTouchyFingers

9 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

I still need to know how an older single guy, who goes to sleep most nights at 9pm, who just likes to look at new and different sh*t and have a nice meal and be mellow can spend more than 40-50K a month.

I could easily do the same if I lived in a condo the size of a hotel room with no car. 

But I don't want to live in a condo the size of a hotel room with no car. 

4 minutes ago, Naam said:

yes, true for an American IRS slave. but not all expats in Thailand are IRS slaves.

Not really sure how that has anything to do with the price of stuff in Thailand. 

2 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

If your wife can't get a loan for a house look for another wife. 

I think you might be confused. What makes you think my wife cant get a loan? 

6 hours ago, Naam said:

nice/quality things like our cook, our maid, our gardener and our driver? where are you from? Bangla Desh? Ethiopia? Mali? Central African Republic?

 

next!

Cars, consumer items, electronics, brand name clothes, wine, western food types like meats & cheeses - basically anything imported, and thats pretty much everything. 

You know its true. 

36 minutes ago, totally thaied up said:

My ex-wife, I loved so much and she was my weakness. Only a month after getting Australian Citizenship, she sunk me with her divorcing me and bringing her old Flipino boyfriend to Australia. I lost 100's of thousands and then had my business partner sink me at the same time as I got very sick from the stress.

Horrible story no doubt but unfortunately common. 

What I dont understand is people that have been through all this crap, and then come to Thailand and buy their entire retirement future in a local woman's name. Like, you got burned in a western country where youre entitled to "half" then move to a country where you are entitled to nothing and put it all in a woman's name. Makes no sense. 

Several in this thread have done just that. 

23 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

I wouldn't worry about their or others' motivation. People make choices and live with the consequences. For an (assumed) educated someone of 35 who has spent maybe the last 10 or so years living in Thailand I would think they have lost out on substantial asset appreciation (house or apartment) compared to their peers in say London or New York (or maybe that has been unusually anticipated and planned for?). So already you might be behind the curve unless that is one expects to come into receipt of a substantial inheritance somewhere down the line, in which case none of this discussion really matters.

Nah im ahead of the curve. All my cash goes into US banks and my retirement finds are contributed for the max allowable by law per year, plus my investment accounts. My money & investments will never come to Thailand. Someone once said never bring to Thailand what you aren't prepared to completely walk away from, and I took that to heart a long time ago. I had a really nice house in the US before, but since I was still spending most of my time in Thailand it was a waste of money - so I sold it. 

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Now you got it.

How much for a night with a university student where you're from?

Wouldn't know, im not yet a geriatric retiree. 

But at least we are getting into the real reasons people choose to live here. And I see nothing wrong with this btw. I originally came here for the wimmin too, but I never deluded myself into thinking that this was a magical, cheap place from the heavens. If I could go back and do it over, I would have kept Thailand as a holiday destination for blow-outs instead of moving here. Living here and contributing financially to a society that generally only tolerates you because of money isnt really all that great. 

10 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

Not sure why you feel the need to paint things so over-the-top black and white. The standard of living for foreigners living in Thailand is one long sliding scale and dependent on personal finance, choice and whim. Of course you can set up a one-example to then knock it down, but why is this so important to you? Is it just to justify your own decisions? Why even bother?

Because its true, and it bothers the hell out of me when people lie/embellish about it.

Objectively speaking, and looking at it from a financial prospective, Thailands return on any substantial investment is sub-standard. Nice/quality things here are more expensive than at least where im from. Sure you can buy a cheaply made home and live there until you die, but there is no safety net, "911" emergency services are almost non existent etc... The return for the investment makes no sense, unless you just want to live here because of the weather and women. 

7 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

35 IMHO is too young to settle in Thailand unless one has an expat career probably in finance in BKK. Otherwise career-wise probably out of touch compared to living major metropolitan cities. I know several IT guys have gone for the digital nomad existence in Thailand as a lifestyle choice, but up to them. 

Yep if someone is here on an expat employment package, with all perks that provides then its an easy choice. Same standard of living as home. I also agree that 35 is too young to settle here, although ive been "settled" here since my early 20's more or less. 

I have a suspicion that the "digital nomad" existence will get extremely old for those guys once the glamor of moving to Thailand wears off, and you have to deal with the day to day life. 

2 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Maybe some of us like the culture, the food, the people and are tired of living the same old life in the USA.

 

Plus I hate winter.

Perfectly understandable and legitimate reason to live here, not that I'm the arbiter of reasons to live here or anything. My issue lies with people that lie/delude themselves\others as to their reasons for living here and the objective costs in doing so compared to where they came from and the standard of living they are used to. 

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I have no right to live in the US.

10 years ago I had a modem for internet in Cornwall ($25/month) a SD movie would take 24hrs to download, today I have 100/30 3bb fibre ($20/month) a HD movie takes 3 minutes to download.

 

Everything you claim seems to be wrong by a factor of 20.

I have true 200mbps package (previously had 3bb) along with an Asus 5ghz router and my international speeds are so chit it's laughable. You are being blissfully ignorant about your internet speeds. 

22 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

25 years of repayments.

22 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

$200k, I could pay all my expenses for the next 15 years, longer than I expect to live.

By the way im pretty sure this is called fraud.

Not really the standard of living im aspiring to. 

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

nobody needs a car here.

Thats just not true. Just because you choose to ride a scooter everywhere doesnt mean thats the living standard that others choose to live by. 

PS you can buy scooters in the US too. Under 50cc and you dont even need a license. 

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I spent $10k on a home and m/c in Thailand.

No, you financed a home & bike in Thailand (and not even in your own name). If mortgaging a home is the standard we are going by then you really would be depressed at what you got for your money compared to say homes/townhomes/condos in Florida. 

8 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Nobody forced you to live in Nakon Nowhere, or buy a house for cash.

You still live in Nakon Nowhere. You have internet access thats comparable to a decade ago. You dont have hot running water. Your home isnt in your name. You have to deal with visa issues. 

You can live the same way in the US and own it all. 

8 hours ago, UncleTouchyFingers said:

Once you start looking at a decent, modern place to live in this country with a nice car

6 hours ago, Naam said:

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Where did you get 'several hundred thousand dollars" from?

The house I live in now, I paid 1.9 million baht for - 3 bed 2 bath modest house. Thats about $60,000 USD, and thats pretty cheap. 

The problem is that its in nakon-nowhere, bumfuk Thailand. I just bought a second-hand Fortuner as well (2017). Its the third vehicle ive had in Thailand. For several years I drove a second hand Honda City. 

That right there is $100,000, before furnishing, and thats cheap. No hot running water. No oven. No central air-conditioning.

Try doing that in Bangkok, or even Pattaya, and being close the chit. Cant be done. 

15 minutes ago, zzaa09 said:

Try that in the West and see how far ya get.....

See thats the thing, most people (including myself) live in some nameless thai town that might or might not have a Tesco Lotus & 7-11 within range. 

You can easily have the same standard of living in the USA. There are tons of places you can stay within the US for that price range. If you compare the same standard of living its easily done. 

If a person had $200k to spend on a home & car it makes no financial sense to spend it in Thailand.