Puchaiyank

56 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

Those symptoms are more "cover" than "cause."  It's all about the money.

 

Often, they use the "blame your fellow farangs" angle - repeated here by their apologists (Stockholm Syndrome, paid, or who knows).  It is usually a variation on: "We tightened-up the requirements to stop-fraud."
... for which the real-world translation is: "Generate more payoff agent-applications, which are completely fraudulent."
 

It's not unique to immigration - can be any "foreigner" related activity.  The same angle is used at many amphoes, to block marriage applications, as I found out first hand a couple years ago.  Use an agent and, suddenly, your relationship is genuine, after all. 

It is this type of officialdom corruption IMHO that will keep Thailand from being seen as arguably the best retirement destination on planet earth.

The 800k baht has been a requirement for retirement visas for years...the embassy income letters have been exposed as a farce...put the money in a Thai bank and move on...or just move.

1 hour ago, GinBoy2 said:

I lived in Thailand a long time, and I can go around and around on this.

 

On the cost side, well when I first went to Thailand in the early 2000's there was not contest between living in Thailand and the US, living a similar lifestyle.

 

Over time, that became a trickier comparison. Now the US is a big country, and cost vary widely, but for me at least it was at best similar, give or take glaring differences, but not much.

 

I'll caveat this by saying we lived a very Western lifestyle in Thailand, if you're living in an Isaan tin shack and eating somtam off the street, well all bets are off.

 

Me and my Thai wife, now do the two country thing. We live in the US, while doing the snowbird thing back to our house in Thailand every year.

 

We're happier doing this since, and again this was my experience, not everybodies but, after many years Thailand can overwhelm you. Being a tourist for a few months is fine, you can suspend disbelief for that long

Not looking for things to criticize here...genuinely curious...what kinds of things did you find overwhelming? 

My pet-peeve is the culture of money transaction corruption...purchase large or small leaves one vulnerable to being scammed. 

I have lived in Thailand off and on since the 1960s...no tourist...live a comfortable lifestyle with large western style house, car and do not pinch pennies...at a fraction of the costs of similar living in US.  

The biggest difficulity I find between the US and Thailand is the language... 

Went back to the states a few years ago... Settled into a routine of processed foods... Expensive housing and utilities... And oh yes,  the obese women everywhere...

Funny thing to me is they do not seem to notice or care... Even young people have lost their sense of dignity when it comes to carrying too much weight... 

Back to Thailand last Feb... Left the tourist area for more rural life in Issan...rent large modern house $270 month...utilities are a fraction of the cost in US...fresh meats and veggies...feel free and safe to walk or use public transportation...people are friendly enough... 

Have a lady friend who keeps herself fit, excellent cook,  housekeeper and companion.

What's not to like?  Constant reporting to immigration...culture of taking advantage of farangs when there is a money transaction...too many episodes to discuss here.