thedistillers

I guess living in Thailand is better than living in the UK if you don't have a good income, but it probably says a lot more about the cost of living and weather of the UK rather than how great Thailand is. I suppose if I would come from Scotland I would find Thailand's weather "good", too. The food is cheap because the main ingredients are sugar and oil. Try to eat healthy on a budget and it ends up being a challenge. How the average Thai person drives is enough to bring your stress level higher than anywhere in the West.

The thing is, the OP can pick any destination in the world. If he has a decent passive income, why picking a developing country like Thailand? The only city that won't turn him into a depressed, lonely alcoholic is Bangkok and the cost of living is comparable to any city in the world if you want a decent lifestyle. Living in some random house in some random city 'with the wife' might work for the 40+ crowd, but it's not going to work for most 30ish guy who wants to a live a satisfying lifestyle for his age.

OP, try to find out if you can get a long term visa in a civilized country, like Germany. If only for your daughter.

I wonder what is it that attract people to Thailand (beside the obvious, of course). It's great to visit for a short vacation, but there really is no reason to move there, especially if you have a family. If you've experienced negativity in this forum in the past, it's because there is a lot of bitterness from people who are stuck in the LOS. I would be bitter too, if I would be stuck there; I currently live somewhere else and my life is much better in every way than my short time in Thailand.

One of the biggest challenge that people probably overlook at your age is the challenge of making friends and networking. There are very few people who are in the same situation as you, and if you live outside Bangkok, it's extremely likely you'll end up with a deeply unsatisfying social life. (Even in Bangok, it's pretty hard to make friends).

Prima facie, Thailand might appear like a bargain destination, but it really isn't, unless you live in the middle of nowhere. But then if you live in the middle of nowhere, it's pretty depressing.

If you would be alone, I would just say go for it. But seeing you're dragging your family, I would strongly advise against it.

How the hell do you hide 1,5KG of coke in dreadlocks? How do you hide any quantity of coke in dreadlocks?

No offense, but I seriously doubt there is anyone here who is so financially kaput that they would let their wife do a menial job for 6-8 hours a day with only a couple of days off a month for 6-8000 baht a month. If so I fail to see the logic in losing what time you have left together just for a few extra baht in the pot when we should all see a sub 10k a month salary as a mere blip on the total family income. I for one certainly wouldn't subject my wife to such hardship for practically zero reward.

I give my wife 50,000 a month, out of which she has some obligations such as weekday food etc for the family, but the rest she can keep. As long as my dinner is on the table and I have a steady supply of toothpaste, deodorant and toilet paper she can do what she wants with the rest. I love her and she's worth it. I personally can't fathom why anyone who can afford to live in Thailand on retirement, or working etc cant afford to keep their spouse out of a backbreaking menial low paid job unless they had either seriously mismanaged their own finances or were just incredibly selfish.

A lot of people would prefer to work full time for 6-8000K rather than being a luxury-escort-pretending-to-be-a-loving-wife for 50K, it's just a matter of preference, why judging?

That's it basically, why do so many posters here slag Thailand and Thai people off, whilst living in Thailand and having a Thai partner by choice ?

Because a lot of people come in Thailand for the low-cost of living and prostitutes (funnily they are often referred to as the wife, ha ha ha), not for Thailand or Thai people in general.

Why would a sane person have any interest to buy a condo in Bangkok at this point? Pollution, traffic and now we can add terrorism and massive flooding to the list; welcome to Jakarta 2.0. Value will significantly drop within the next 50 years as the city is sinking and the capital will be move elsewhere eventually, so rent is the only sane solution for those unfortunate enough to be stuck in Bangkok.

Are you paraphrasing or did the bank really use the term "fraudulent"?

It is extremely surprising to me that the bank would use the term "fraudulent" in their client communication unless a case against Air Asia (or a AA hacker) has gone to court and fraud has been established as a fact.

I'm assuming what the bank did is asking Air Asia for evidence and they couldn't provide it, but I'm not sure why they would conclude it's fraud, let alone letting the client know.

So you were robbed once in Kuala Lumpur, therefore it's not safe and you need 324982394834 bodyguards. K.

FYI, I lived in Jarkata for 2 yrs, and in K.L for nearly 3 years.

How about you clarify? I'm not aware of any issue with KL or Jakarta.

I've been everywhere in Malaysia and never felt unsafe once, and I walk a lot.

I heard good reports about Frangipani Serviced Apartments

Located in a quiet lane behind the Thai Airways office, not quite walking distance to the Night Bazaar but short Tuk Tuk ride

Web site is here

Enjoy your stay wherever it is!

I wonder what justifies the high price; just checked the facilities and it's nothing special.

I know 2 months deposit are not that uncommon in Thailand, but it would mean paying up to 106K in deposit. For Chiang Mai, that's just insane.

Huh, why on earth do people tip when they get the service they are SUPPOSED to get? And after people complain farangs are treated like walking ATM.

If you leave small change about in any hotel room, the staff will automatically assume it's a tip

As others have said, this is completely wrong. Staff never assume that money or change is tip unless it's made plain obvious that it is a tip.

I would bet 98% of people can't even name a Thai city besides Bangkok, and can't name ONE city in Malaysia or Cambodia. Why on earth would people care that a person only went to Bangkok? You also seem to care way too much about what other people think, which is often a characteristic of people who are not happy with their own life.

Since having a routine and not travelling is the norm around the world, why should it be considered weird? Even if they made the decision to move half-way around the globe, why would they change their lifestyle after that? It's just a move to enjoy a different weather or a lower cost of living, it says nothing about how they're going to live their life after that.

People who enjoy travelling form a minority of people. The vast majority of people will never travel in their life, either because they can't or because they don't see the point.

I think what's unfortunate is people who don't have any purpose or meaning in their life; it has nothing to do with whether or not they travel.

Recruiting 20 people is considered work by any reasonable person. To say that it's "free" education is highly misleading.

I keep seeing this flashing advertisement on thai visa saying Free Ed Visa. Would it be possible to explain how one would obtain that Ed visa FREE Mr Walen please??

It's free... except you have to pay 1900 baht every 3 months.

Don't bother with a Thailand Tourist visa, just buy the cheapest Air Asia you can find online from Bangkok to X.

Then why were you so affirmative in your other post when in fact, it appears you don't know?

I'm assuming some people are being facetious with their questions. It's clear the school caters to those who use the ED visa to stay long term in Thailand, and who are only half-serious, or not serious at all, about learning Thai; it shouldn't come as a shock they hire young and pretty teachers. I don't have any issue with this, those who are very serious about learning thai won't consider his school and those looking for a ED visa have a very convenient option.

Ryanair is a very successful business and their CEO is a complete douchebag. Acting a bit silly at times on a messageboard is nothing in comparison, and certainly won't hurt his business at all.

I recall reading more than once than you can't stay more than 180 days per year. I guess the info is wrong?

Forget about using the Internet connection of a serviced apartment building; I've had issues with every Internet connection I tried in Thailand. I'm sure there are people who experience no issue, but it's not worth taking a risk if you are working full-time. The worst was in Chiang Mai where the string "avi" was banned (to stop people from downloading .avi movies), so you couldn't even type "David" in google as it has the "avi" substring. Awful.

I would simply consider another country. My Internet connection in Taiwan was fantastic, and I think the Internet in SK is great too.

I know how to read, thanks. You can't be a freelancer, live in Thailand and not work at all in Thailand.

He will never reply to a work-related email while in Thailand? He will never accept contracts while in Thailand? He will never discuss upcoming projects while in Thailand? Really?

who cares or knows what exactly he's doing within his four walls? next beancounting things you might come up that require a work permit?

-washing his dishes

-shaving

-having sex with his girl/boyfriend

-switching channels on his TV

-inserting a CD in his music system

-writing an e-mail to his old mother

-poking his nose

I don't care about what he does between his 4 walls, I'm giving factual informations. Do you have issues with reality?

None of the things you listed can be called "work" by any reasonable person, though that the law in Thailand is written in such an idiotic and ambigious way that none of us can provide a clear definition of work. And limits are being tested, as we saw recently in the Chiang Mai forum.

However, there is no doubt that being in contact with clients IS work. Or maybe he's gonna go to Cambodia each time he checks his work email. The law is entirely clear you cannot work on a tourist or ed visa.

A lot of those restaurants are probably just tourist traps. If it's expensive, the restaurant doesn't always have to be full to break even or make profits.

And if those tailors would be a front for something else, I'm not sure if they would bother annoying people on the street to enter their store, or work with the tuk tuk mafia to attract tourists.

I know how to read, thanks. You can't be a freelancer, live in Thailand and not work at all in Thailand.

He will never reply to a work-related email while in Thailand? He will never accept contracts while in Thailand? He will never discuss upcoming projects while in Thailand? Really?