Grecian

34 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

No man ever, lying on his deathbed said....."Oh Lord, I was I had never slept with so many women"

You think BM2's friend who died of AIDS caught from a woman didn't wish he had slept with fewer?

1 hour ago, Adumbration said:

Not entirely true.  I am late fifties.  My girl is beautiful and two decades younger than me. She has her own land.  Two farms in fact, that she bought herself, over a million baht in gold, and a life insurance policy that matures this year.  She has been with me for going on 8 years now.  She has never asked me for a satang.  

 

I would be devastated if I lost my spot in the queue.

Does she have kids?

Bangkok was the best when I was single.

Met many non bar girls easily.

I was mid40s and reasonable looking.

What will your strategy to meet these girls be?

What age are you looking for?

how quicklyy you want to get into bed?

4 hours ago, clivebaxter said:

Plenty of culture here, been to over 1.000 concerts, 6 in the past two weeks. But then I did not come here to see western culture in Thailand.

Living in bangkok?

Could you please tell how to find out what's on?

what were the six?

Many thanks. Wholeheartedly agree with your post.

The graph explains more than any words why most older men don't get on a plane to Asia.

11 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

True. But, you have to admit that inflation in the US is simply staggering at this time. Prices on alot of stuff are insane. Especially labor. People say it is about supply chain issues, and labor shortages. Though those are factors, I believe it is more about corporate gouging. 

Corporate gauging!!!!

If you hire a self employed plumber in the states he is more reasonable than how a corporation like Wal-Mart sets their prices?

In the UK I find the corporations ok. It's the one man self employed tradesman that will happily bend me over and take revenge for my white middle class male privilege. Lol

29 minutes ago, swissie said:

Jepp. Emerging health problems are likely to be the main killer of "The tropical retirement dream". Choosing the "wrong partner" possibly coming in as a distant second.

Case in point: Used to live in rural Thailand on US$ 1600/month. Lacking nothing, I was a "happy camper". But a good health insurance (deserving that name) would have cost me between $ 400 to 500/month. Limited to the age of 70. I came to the conclusion: No will do!

So, I pulled up stakes and went back to my home country. Just in time. In the meantime, I ran up Hospital-Bills 2 times worth my assets. Had I stayed in Thailand, I would have been  wiped out financially.
The point is: When it comes to relocate to other exotic retirement heavens, the "health-issue" should be on top of the list of criteria that must be checked out beforehand. Unless willing and able to pay expensive health insurance premiums, the question must be: Can an Expat become part of the "National Health Scheme"? Yes/No. Usually, much lower premiums than other private providors.

Other criteria like "pristine beaches" and "the friendly natives" may become irrelevant, should a major "health problem" emerge.

Not incorporating this issue in future re-location plans is the equivalent of sitting down at a Las Vegas Roulette table. Old wisdom has it, that elderly folks should not sit at any Roulette tables anymore as their life span is not long enough to recover any losses.

If you had been in Thailand how possible would it have been in your case to have gone back on hearing the medical diagnosis and how much would you have paid out following that route?

asking because I'm considering the risk analysis of staying in Thailand until I actually need healthcare rather than the moving back at 70 approach.

If you care to answer could you also briefly explain your situation? 

Retired in Chiang rai is obviously very different than young working in Bangkok.

54 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Nobody has mentioned the test and go requirements or the Phuket sandbox entry requirements to the OP.

Either could possibly cost a few thousand dollars, even if vaccinated and boosted and he gets a pos' result while in the process. Has to make sure his 50,000 dollar insurance covers asymptomatic lock up for 10? days.

Oh! That's would sting!

Can I get just 30 days cover?

If I get asymptomatic coverage am I 100% protected against any financial hit?

Oh! shows how dumb I am!!! I thought I had to apply in country! Hahaha

Have tenants in my house. Fed up living with them. Lol

Three vaccines running thru my veins.

I've got the money needed sitting ready in my UK bank.

always look for the most efficient way.

Want to be in Thailand soon. what should I do?

I presume to make 50k bht a year from the 800k so is an agent useful?

58 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You're an example of a farang that actually had a need to speak Thai. My beef is with those that learned to converse in Thai and then browbeat those of us that have no need to speak conversational Thai.

How do you feel about residents of NZ who can't speak english?

If you separate countries into three groups. I

A. None starters.

B. Acceptable

C. Attractive

Not difficult.

It's then far more about your attitude than living in the "best" place

44 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Obviously, the OP wishes an honest and considered reply to his post, and so, ....  here goes:

 

aa. There are no good studies showing whether or not one's L2 language learning ability markedly decreases after any given age, once one has reached the age of 50.

 

bb. Still, verbal ability seems to remain fairly resilient even to our eighth decade, as seen from this graph.

 

 

cc.  Therefore, you might ask what is the most important factor which predicts success in learning an L2 language.

 

Indeed, the most important factor is MOTIVATION.

 

You need not worry overly much about age as predictor for success in your language learning endeavor, such as your wish to learn passa Thai.

 

IF you have enough motivation, and IF you can sustain this motivation, consistently, day after day, with few breaks between your Thai-language studies and your golfing, then you WILL learn Thai to a fairly good level, without doubt.

 

You will be able to listen-and-comprehend, speak, and also write passa Thai at a very decent level, after several years of dedicated study.

 

When one is young, some say that it might require about 7 years of constant study in order to become fairly fluent in an L2 or L3 language. However, when one reaches the age of 60, for example, becoming fluent in a new language is probably not in the cards, unless you expect to live to the ripe old age of 95, which is probably also not in the cards for most of us.

 

The best you can hope for is to speak and comprehend quite well, which should be good enough for you.  And, your being 53 puts you in a very good position to become fairly fluent by age 60.

 

Just remember that you must sustain your motivation over an extended period of time in order to reach your intended language- learning goal.

 

dd.  But why, one should ask, do I really want to expend so much effort in order to learn a language which is spoken by so relatively few, compared to other languages???

 

The answer is:

 

1.  Thai is a very beautiful language.

2.  Thai script is rounded, and there are no sharp angles in it.

3.  Learning passa Thai is unique among languages in that learning passa Thai can help to ward off dementia. (I know this is somewhat true from my own experience.)

4. Learning Thai is fun.  And, it is cool.

 

Also, after you are able to read passa Thai, then....all the writing on billboards you see, while walking along the streets, will seem less threatening.

 

ee.  So.  You are only 53?

 

You are still young.

You are the perfect age for learning the Thai language, both written and spoken.

 

=======

 

You asked a question, and.....

If you are not entirely satisfied with this reply, 

Please let me know.

 

Best of Luck to you in finding your best strategy to learn a new language!

Fantastic post! Thanks

Positive responses so far. 

Hoping I will get a " I came here at 50 something and with some effort can now speak a boy's to inspire me. Lol

Moving to Thailand in 2022 all being well (covid)

Worked in Asia in my 20s and 30s. In that Asia and at that age I found I was never single. All I used was a nice smile, friendly attitude and a bit of the local lingo. (Not Thai)

2022 and I'm middle aged. Mohammed Ali on his third come back. Lol. Probably bit less friendly, the smile now shows the wrinkles and Thai is a helluva language to try to learn when you're older and tone deaf.

still,gotta look forward to it. I'm excited things will go well as long as the touch of prostitus I've been getting doesn't get in the way. ????

So, what romantically does the wisdom of the forum awaits me? 

I'm talking gf not p4p.