spidermike007

14 hours ago, Presnock said:

I agree with your comments on Thailand and its people.  I already spent a couple of years in VN, enjoyed some of it but after all it was war!  The beaches are nice, I like the food and I can speak and read (or used to anyway and got paid for it) Vietnamese.  I married a Thai after my American wife passed away from breast cancer, and have a daughter from each of those ladies.  My half Thai daughter doesn't plan on living in Thailand, has taught herself to be fluent in Korean and after college plans to work in Korea and not Thailand.  Her mother of course only wants to live here in Thailand and I still enjoy life with her so I plan to stay until they burn the bones.  As for the political scene, it could never get any worse than that currently in the US with DJT, as it seems to me none of the citizens there are happy anymore based on what I hear from many different areas, and different generations of Americans.  Here, they came out with a long term visa perfect for my situation and I don't have to concern myself with 90-day reports, nor taxes on my civil pension.  I love it here, have travelled throughout, enjoyed that and meeting the different people and did that over time from 1972 until I retired here in 2005.  Good luck to all on whatever is to come.

Total agreement here. I travel back to the States frequently, a minimum of twice per year and I can tell you for a fact that Americans right now are rather joyless, and lacking in humor, they don't seem to be enjoying their lives very much, they're living, working, eating, and sleeping. Not much of a life, and many of them seem bitter, disenfranchised, disappointed, highly divided, and utterly joyless, no thanks. 

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I wanted to take just these two particular points because many of the others are largely subjective. That said, I broadly agree that Thailand stands out as a significantly better destination for foreigners compared to its neighbouring countries.

 

However, healthcare remains a serious concern.

 

First, there's the issue of dual pricing. At the lighter end of the scale, we see it in places like national parks - and while it's objectionable in principle, most people aren't too bothered. In the private sector, we have the freedom to take our business elsewhere. The real problem arises with state-sanctioned dual pricing in government hospitals. If we fall seriously ill, we're can be charged substantially more than a Thai citizen would be for the same treatment (i.e. long term cancer treatment and operations costing 2 Million Baht instead of 1 MB.

In my view, this is indefensible. When it comes to healthcare, there should be an option for long-term residents to pay into the system and receive equitable care. For me, this is where dual pricing becomes genuinely troubling - it's the big stuff that matters.

 

Secondly, while the quality of treatment is generally excellent, there's a troubling lack of accountability when mistakes are made - a factor that certainly helps keep costs down. Personally, I’d prefer to be in a private hospital in Bangkok over most places in the world. But the question is - at 80, will I still be able to afford the premiums? And that brings us full circle, back to the need for a system that ensures long-term, affordable care.

 

I can’t say whether neighbouring countries offer anything better in this regard, but this remains a major red flag when considering a long-term life in Thailand, especially if one hopes to grow old in comfort with the security of health care.

 

 

 

I agree with what you said about private hospitals here, but I also feel that I'd rather be in a public hospital in Bangkok than most other hospitals anywhere else in the world, unless I had a great healthcare plan which I don't. So, as someone who's self insured the top public hospitals here work for me very well. 

16 hours ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Yes it is - but that is not the4 main problem here. If anyone wants cheap living with English speaking and reasonable services etc etc then India is the best bet.  However, India has some disadvantages - and unless you have been there, you will never know - suffice to stay I will never visit there again.   

I lived in working India for a long time and I've been there in several occasions before and after, and I love India, and so does my Thai woman. I'd go back there in a nanosecond, it's a fascinating country with a super rich culture. But it's not a destination I would choose as an expat, on any level. 

It is no doubt a display of absolute moral bankruptcy on the part of the highly toxic CCP. They just care about the optics. They never have. 

They put so much fish sauce, oyster sauce, shrimp paste in addition to dried shrimp, in so many Thai dishes that for anyone suffering from seafood allergies I recommend eating only in vegan restaurants, or avoiding Thailand altogether. 

1 hour ago, RAZZELL said:

The simple fact is that in many ways Thailand is no longer "cheap".

 

Prices are literally double what they were from 20 years ago (in £, $ or €.)

 

Unless you want to eat in cheap restaurants or drink on the steps of a 7-11 it costs a mint 

 

I haven't been to Vietnam in 6 years but I will go again soon.

 

One of my extremely well travelled friends raves about parts of Indonesia. 

 

I need to explore that more to.

That can be said about anywhere in the world, covid seemed like it was a generational opportunity for people to engage in price gouging, and prices continue to go up in price.  In the US I am fairly certain inflation continues to rage at about 20% annually, every time I go back things have gone up 10 to 15% in 6 months or less. So this is not exclusive to Thailand. I do notice that inflation here is less than it is in most other places, and though Thailand has gotten more expensive it's still very reasonable. 

1 hour ago, RedRoadRunner said:

Oh Really...???? 😳😳😳

 this has been going on for more than 20odd years, and now they suddenly realize?

 This is another classic example for the shortsighted people running the show there....

 I came to the country in late 70s and spent a lot of time there and saw this ship going down coz of stupid people.

 Not there anymore, better places around than Thailand !!!

 

Different strokes for different folks I guess, when I travel after a few weeks more than anything I want to be back in Thailand, and when I finally get back here it's it's like a celebration. For me everyday here is a very good day. 

1 hour ago, save the frogs said:

 

Goon is an understatement. The guy's a mobster. 

 

I agree the difference is that Tony Soprano was organized, he was smart, and he had the ability to project power in a way that didn't make him look like a circus freak. 

5 hours ago, save the frogs said:

 

Yeah, I posted a quote from Trump in another thread about this. This is what he told the G7:

 

Trump is such a goon, his lack of understanding about Putin, Russia and geopolitics is rather stunning. I don't know if a more ignorant, corrupt and compromised man has ever occupied that office of US president. 

Illegal and criminal activity activity in Pattaya, that's absolutely astonishing, and almost boggles the mind to think that that's even possible. 

1 hour ago, BangkokReady said:

 

Exactly what I was about to write.  He normally seems fairly smart and open to most Thai cultural norms and traditions.

 

If it works, everyone is happy, and it's the norm in the country you are in, why the need to avoid something just to prove how much of a "man" you are?

 

I guess even someone who generally comes across as intelligent can still be a slave to their upbringing.

It's actually the polar opposite of being a slave to my upbringing, my upbringing dictates that the woman's in control because that's just how things work in America. The man is allowed to assume more control here, to whatever degree he wishes. 

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

Useally agree with you, but if that's what is needed for you to feel like a man, I can't argue against you, but politely disagree.

 

 

That certainly not what's needed for me to feel like a man, but my woman and I enjoy role playing and she enjoys manifesting the dignity within femininity, and I enjoy playing the role of the provider, so it comes naturally for me to pay for stuff, that combined with the fact that I love carrying cash, it's just a very natural role for us. 

Yeah I see this a lot too, and a lot of my friends don't carry cash, their wife carries cash or she puts everything on a card. I don't get it, it's never been my style. I've always liked to carry a lot of cash, my woman has access to some money but she doesn't control our accounts. It's really up to the man if he wants to surrender all of his masculinity and his dignity that's on him, but I'm in your camp. The man's camp. I don't understand it, and I don't know why a man would want to do that. 

One of the things I have noticed over the years is that somebody has to be in control of the ship, in this particular case a relationship. If the man's not willing to assume control, then the woman is forced into that position by his lack of cojones and masculinity. So that might be a factor, but I'm just speculating. I don't get the impression that that's required here, where in a lot of relationships in the West it does seem to be required. I know a lot of guys that are required to check their cojones at the door and they have no control over the finances back there. It is a sad thing to witness. No thanks. 

Thankfully, this is starting to happen. I do have some friends that will come right out and say the man is a butthead, he's an idiot, and he's an absolute clown, but I like some of his policies. Those are the Republicans I admire. 

During the 20 years that Clinton, Obama and Biden were in office I was continually critical of their policies. Just look back at some of my posts when Obama and Biden were in power. I was not a big fan of Obama for many of the years that he was president and my posts reflect that. As a centrist democrat I criticized a lot of his policies. So, why are republicans so unwilling to be critical of this guy? 

1 hour ago, wensiensheng said:

Having now see the video, I think it’s quite wrong to say that Trump was brutally shut down.

 

Trump was rambling on and finished his point. Media persons were shouting out more questions(hard to hear about what because they were all shouting over each other), Carney turned to Trump and seemingly said to him that he would like to step in and Trump nodded his agreement. Carney then spoke and said he was going to exercise his chairman’s role and move on.

 

Nothing brutal about it, politely done with the involvement of Trump. Which is exactly what I would expect from Carney, the man is a consummate experienced professional.

While I do agree about Carney being quite professional and polished, it did appear that Trump was willing to whine on and on and on, so in a sense Carney did shut him down, which was a beautiful thing to witness. 

57 minutes ago, cdemundo said:

 

Is there an objective test for immune system strength?

I have tried a number of approaches to strengthening my immune system but no matter what I try I always seem to be catching upper respiratory infections: colds, flu, persistent coughs.

These are not life-threatening but definitely impact my quality of life.

Big advantage in Thailand over USA I can get antibiotics and even antivirals whereas in the US the medical establishment seems to consider it their sacred mission to restrict access to these.

But it seems any supplements or dietary changes I try don't seem to help.

I create my own green drink from a mixture of organic spinach, barley grass, blue green spirulina, kale powder and broccoli powders. They're all very powerful, huge levels of antioxidants and they really do build up the bodies power and immune system. And they're all available online here in Thailand.