Jingthing

Obviously every single person has their own specific personal situation! What will be easy for one person might be nearly impossible for another. I refuse to entertain preaching comments. I find them mean spirited, presumptuous, and odious. The issues here will be in the here and now. Nobody can redo the past. To conclude while this again obviously doesn't apply to all (see above) I see an analogy between elderly people being released from prison after long terms and returning long term expats who lack a US network. The ex cons may have it better! There are official half way houses to help ex cons transition. There are no such things for returning expats.

Although not all returning expats or potential returning expats are retired many of course are. For this group the biggest economic advantage if over 65 is usually Medicare. So if they are at an economic place where the housing situation is going to mean great hardship that still can be balanced with that health care advantage. That said I think lower income and or wealth returning retired expats that have been away for many years even decades often face different challenges than those that never left. Namely, The US has changed a lot. Reverse culture shock on top of the economic shock. More likely to have a very limited or even no support network in the US. Less likely to own real estate than even lower income / wealth non expats. More likely to have no US state drivers license or even any license. So for a retired expat that is leaving Thailand, third countries may sometimes mean a better life, even without Medicare. Finding bang for the buck as far as housing and living expenses again. In the US decent places to live where you don't need a car are very rare. In typical third country retiring expat options they are very common. For those that lack a network in the US then they aren't losing much in that regard moving to a third country. Also its common to be able to hire lower cost fixers to assist with initial setup such as banking, utilities, etc.

Ignoring.that insipid Fox news style toxic rant it is obvious that both Russia and China sense expansionist opportunities due to a very deeply divided domestically hurting USA.

Both new fake states just as Crimea are part of the sovereign nation of Ukraine.

Its irrelevant what they speak.

That's not how sovereign nations work, dear. East LA is heavily Mexican. Mexico doesn't get to recognize it as a separate country, send tanks in, yes even though California used to belong to Mexico. Putin has declared war on Ukraine. There is no other honest way to view it.

I'm pleased to read that we agree on at least some important aspects of the current housing cost situation in the US.

Preaching much? Not interested in your baiting attempts to personalize this. This is a general topic about something rather extreme that is happening in the US.

It isn't. You can register to see some articles free.

This is just the beginning. Putin's forces have nothing to do with peace keeping.

Biden isn't invading Canada.

He recognized two areas in sovereign Ukraine as independent and going in. That's a declaration of war.

.My latest info says the crowds are smaller now. But no guarantees.

Now that Putin has started this war, here is an interesting and depressing theory on where this will lead globally. Yes globally including Thailand. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/21/ukraine-invasion-putin-goals-what-expect/ Let’s assume for a moment that Vladimir Putin succeeds in gaining full control of Ukraine, as he shows every intention of doing. What are the strategic and geopolitical consequences?

Some get it same day and some don't. I assume the mall is Monday to Friday but I don't know the current hours.

Go to Royal Garden Plaza. Pfizer and Moderna free. Or Pattaya Memorial Hospital. Moderna 1650.

I am not taking your bait to get into an ideological debate about whether so called free market capitalism should extend to survival needs. The truth here is that other than for quite wealthy and or already US real estate owners moving back to the US is highly problematic largely due to housing costs. The compromises they would have to make if they could secure a roof at all are extreme. But many expats are pushed / forced out of Thailand for various reasons. In such cases such people if not wealthy / already owners will need to choose to live a degraded life in the US or seek a third country option where they might have a greater chance to live in dignity.

Why engage with blatant lies. Go elsewhere with your shilling for Putin.

Maybe this is a jobs program for bureaucrats.

Well its obvious by now that Putin as opposed to Russia has chosen to go to war. Keep in mind though that most Russians especially younger ones do not want this war. So if you happen to meet some random Russians in Thailand please don't jump to any conclusions about their complicity with this horror show. Also of course many people that are speaking Russian are not Russian.

Calling your spade shameless Putin propaganda.

That's debatable but it's obvious you're just sniping. To wit, Higher education is not the topic. Expats are not usually repatriating to attend uni. Higher education is not a basic human survival need as food, clothing, and SHELTER are.

Me either. But you're cherry picking things to snipe at. The bigger story is that rent is totally absurd for that unit and think of the many millions of Americans if not homeless or living in cars that now have to spend the majority of their income just for a CRAPPY roof over their head. That is not a decent society. I'm concerned because history shows that severe suffering from inflation leads to unspeakable things.

This isn't the place for such an ideological debate. I would say if you're living in Minnesota in the winter a decent society at the very least provides at least basic shelter for all as without it people die very quickly. I would also say if a person is working full time OR on social security there should be at least BASIC HOUSING options. Section 8 was mentioned here. I recently read there is new trend for landlords to drop Section 8 because they want to ride this historic rent inflation and Section 8 won't pay that high. The deniers can act like this isn't a serious problem and a media fake news. Obviously it isn't for the wealthy. But it's still a real problem for ever increasing millions of Americans and that would include a portion of those repatriating as well.

Whoa! First of all, silly whataboutism on social security that isn't even true. So don't listen to the media, huh? I don't get it. You actually don't believe there that there have been recent massive rent and housing cost increases in the USA? Believe it. It is true. At the end of the day, there is something very wrong with a country where a person working full time at a lower paying job can't even begin to afford even BASIC SHELTER in most of the country. Compare to Thailand. There are at least basics roofs over heads for lower wage workers here. Of course people on lower social security checks are in a similar situation to lower wage workers, and often worse off if they don't own housing clear.