Maha Sarakham

Pattaya is going to take years to recover from this, if ever.  Really a sad state of affairs.  

Starting to look like things are 'progressing' backwards instead of forwards in Thailand.  This will not be good for Samui's struggling businesses.

I will be taking SS at 62 if it's still around when I get to that age, regardless if it is the most financially savvy thing to do or not.  I don't expect my quality of life will be very great beyond that age.  Limited mobility and the added potential for health problems are likely.  I don't like the idea of waiting for money owed to me, just to get terminally ill before being able to claim it at all.  I'd rather use the money to enjoy my remaining active years on the planet before becoming too old to travel or move freely from place to place.

On 4/3/2021 at 8:19 PM, Victornoir said:

It wasn't for me over 10 years ago either.

A town without charm, huge with Moukata restaurants on every street corner, a western small area for old people and a few very average-looking girls who play divas, a large unattractive shopping center frequented mainly by young Thais who play it new fashioned by swallow fast food at the local Macdo.

I wanted to see. I had planned a week but returned after 2 days.

Now that's funny.  Average age of the women 30's & 40's, average age of the men 60's & 70's.  Udon feels like the retirement center of Thailand.  Nothing wrong with that, just gotta know what you're getting yourself into.

I'm more concerned with the excess of spam bots showing up on the feed personally.

Not very expensive for this level of computer, under $1000 for sure.

I'd say so.  But it sounds like they have no intention to fix the broken gate... poor dog is bound to get hit again eventually.

Most likely will attract much smaller crowds going forward into the future.  It was already dwindling pre-pandemic.

You have to wonder about these 'leaders' if they think holding a tourism fair event in the middle of burning season is a good idea.  Like really, who will bother?

Every Cambodian I know here (of mid-late working age) in the US has said they will never retire in Cambodia for a myriad of different reasons.   Reasons I have heard were Cambodia is corrupt, polluted, overly hot, lacking infrastructure, poor medical, and now overrun with Chinese.  However, I have heard many Vietnamese say they would go back and retire in their home country when they reach retirement age. 

Personally, I have been all over Vietnam (Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, Saigon, Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Da Lat) and I did enjoy it quite a bit, I can see why they like their country.  The biggest issue I had was general navigation due to a lack of English spoken amongst the older generation, although the youth seemed to have a better handle on it and were excited to practice with foreigners.  The food in Vietnam was equally wonderful and the people/service stood head and shoulders above Thailand. 

That said, all things considered, I still prefer the overall comfort level of Thailand as of present.  As my wife is Thai, if we leave the US at some point, it will most likely be to Thailand but we still have a long road ahead of us in which many things could change in any of these countries.

I feel like this hardly differs from the upcoming changes to inoculated travelers and the decreased ASQ requirements... every province needs their own cheerleading session or what?

I don't see Airbnb's on Samui booked very often outside of the high season, even pre-pandemic.  There was always tons of vacancies and availability.

However, it's all about location if you do want something rented out as frequently as possible.  It needs to be near the beach or have a great view to be desirable.  There is a ton of property up in the hills for sale with inconvenient, poorly lit, or difficult to access dirt roads that don't work for 2-3 day Airbnb visitors.

I would not invest in Real Estate in Thailand expecting to make a profit, if you want to subsidize part of what you paid with rental income, you should absolutely invest in the best possible location you can afford.  Don't think of property in Thailand in the same way you do in your home country, they are absolutely not the same in terms of valuation or investment opportunity.

Side note, Samui is a wonderful place and you'll love it there ????  Best of luck!

5 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

People change, places change. What works today might not work next week.

That's very true and important for people to remember who have long-term goals of eventually retiring to Thailand.  So many things can and will change over the course of our lives that will impact our decision on where to settle down.  Health, exchange rates, visa restrictions, any number of things could be contributing factors.

In our situation, my wife is now seeing the Thai government in a whole new light being outside the system and is absolutely disgusted by the way the country is conducting itself.  We still love Thailand and would like to keep an eye on how things progress going into the future, but as of right now with the current leadership - it is not looking good for anything other than annual trips to visit family and travel a bit.

'Spring' in Thailand is probably the worst time of the year, too hot and dry.  This also reflects itself in the way of dry waterfalls and brown, burnt to a crisp natural landscapes.  Not the greatest...

2 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

Having lived in both Thailand and he US, me and my Thai wife pretty much agree on the rankings.

 

She would have had us move from Singapore to the US directly, rather than my desire to retire in Thailand, but I'm an idiot and now get the 'I told you so' story!

My wife is starting to see all the glaring flaws with Thailand having lived outside the country for some time now.  Hard to say where we will end up in the future.

No one knows for sure.  But you can draw your own conclusions based off of how cautious the Thai government is choosing to be.

37 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

hot deals are very rare, if I see one usually it's company name.......

I've seen quite a few sizable discounts around Hua Hin lately, primarily villas looking to be offloaded.  We shall see, I have a feeling the remainder of this year will be very telling if it remains very difficult to come back to Thailand or if it returns to even halfway 'normal'.

47 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Usually rushing to buy is a mistake, give it a year+

If we were only dealing with a standard global recession I would tend to agree with you, but I think this situation may be a bit different. 

The hardline anti-foreigner sentiment of the Thai government and strengthening baht was already driving a lot of expats away who were seeking value for money and a higher quality of living in Thailand.  Add the expensive and cumbersome quarantine requirements for re-entry and visa renewal challenges for some, and many expats have simply had enough.  My opinion is you would be more likely to see a hot deal from a foreigner living overseas looking to offload his condo in Thailand that he can't or no longer wants to return to due to all the recent challenges.

Many of the tourist areas like Pattaya will take years to see a return to life pre-pandemic.  This is a long time to hold onto assets if it no longer suits your purposes.  I can't blame the expats either, there are a lot of unknowns even now on what it will look like traveling back and forth to Thailand going into the future, especially with the government that now holds the seat of power and calls the shots.

I would say if you see a hot deal and you still really want to live in Thailand for some reason, go for it.  You might just get a great deal from someone running for the fire exit.

3 minutes ago, RhodeIslandRed said:

Just where exactly do you live with such availability of vaccines?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest

15 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

It depends on the locality. Like many places like L.A. are still very hard to get it.

J and J is an interesting choice because it's only one shot. 

Up here in the Northwest at least there are plenty.  Most everyone I know is already vaccinated regardless of age.  All my coworkers are vaccinated.  Everyone has taken either Pfizer, Moderna, or the J&J vaccine.  No one has had any side effects that I know of other than some minor body aches with the Moderna.  

I would expect the US vaccination drive will be close to finishing by June.

Well, sorry I didn't find this topic in time as it appears your exam is today or tomorrow.  Good luck.  In the future if you need any Biochemistry questions answered feel free to reach out.  That was my primary course of study prior to pivoting into a different program.

Seems to be ample vaccines available here in the States.  Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J.  I see signs all over the place with availabilities.