garyk

I am going to put on my dick tracy hat with a press pass on the brim. Walk into immigration with my camera rolling and talking about wonderful Thailand.  

As an expat that drove there for years, you learn pretty fast when to travel(drive) and when not to travel. After being in that mess on holidays, No matter where I was I would just rent a room until it was over...

I like travel also, but if I die when traveling, just burn me and toss the ashes anywhere you want. 

Most of these countries will burn you pretty cheap. 

On 12/7/2021 at 4:29 AM, 4MyEgo said:

I stopped riding a week ago as I can't handle the smoke, so it's indoor training, treadmill, stationary bike and some light weights, but love the bike outdoors, so relaxing on the mind, but guess that is going to have to wait 6 months or so ????

 

When i lived there I cannot count how many times it was actually hazardous to your health to exercise outdoors... uggg

Must be rainy season in Thailand, A real treat to actually be able to see the sky!

I keep trying to understand what is going on here. I admit I am not a digital nomad.  These are some of the priciest rental prices in Cali. So the guys are paying pretty hefty prices just to be here. And, I think that is reflected in the Coffee shops.  High end laptops, dressed much nicer than i do.

This is a much younger crowd here, I would say late twenties, thirties. Mostly men. I am 70, ugggg

Next time i rent a unit I may head into the bohemian neighborhoods here. I may change my mind. But, for a fact and without a doubt. Here in this area they are not poor. And there are a lot of them around.

This is the crowd Thailand needs to go after. 

11 minutes ago, ukrules said:

I'll bet you don't work out of a coffee shop either, given the choice - who would?

 

The ones I know don't have to work in a coffee shop? They enjoy meeting and talking to others. It's just to get out of the apartment!  I think you guys are confusing current with 10-20 years ago.

I can hot spot my phone and get better service than in most of the coffee shops.  And phone service here and in Thailand is cheap..

58 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Does this mean you enjoy the company of digital nomads in droves? Strange. 

It's always lively when they are around, it is usually a very trendy, and happening place to be. I never have liked sitting at home sipping my coffee! Or with my finger in the air sipping my tea, I prefer odd and fun people. Different strokes I guess.

One of the reasons I used to like Thailand. 

I spent the evening in San Antonio, Cali Colombia last night. Anyone here remember Pai, years ago??

San Fransisco 50 years ago?  This is it boys and girls..  

Digital nomads here in droves, what a wonderful trip back in time.

17 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

What does it take to be a "digital nomad hub"?

Does it include lots of people in coffee shops sitting there with their notebooks in front of them and buying a coffee every two hours?

I find it annoying when I go to my favorite coffee shop to drink an espresso or two and most places are filled up with above kind of people. Until now I was lucky enough that I always got a place to sit. But I wonder how I will react when next time I go there and all places are occupied with people with computers and empty coffee cups.

Just for that reason I hope Thailand won't be a hub for those people. 

 

 

I think your wish was granted, enjoy!

10 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

Where a delusional and fanciful lifestyles are commonplace, as is overwhelming personal indebtedness and considered to be civilised. 

No truer words were ever spoken. It is an epidemic.

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

So basically a retirement visa with an added addition of a hospital appointment letter - what a farce.

If the 800K is in my bank in the US and the insurance is reasonable then good for me. What is a policy like the going for ?

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Hmmmm. I left school at 18 having had no education on personal financial management.

I also had no savings at age 35 and the only thing i know about investing is that I'll never do it. IMO investing is gambling for rich people and guys like me are how they get rich.

I'll never forget the colleague that lost everything in the crash in the 1980s crying. Before that she was always telling us how rich she was getting.

I started in the 2008 colapse. I bought a small mutual fund.. It has paid me 450 dollars every month dividends for 13 years..?? I also invest in the s&p 500 and since the pandemic I am up 10K.  Not much but I would hate to think I was living strictly off my small pension. Other individual stocks have been a struggle for me but I have yet to loose?

I can say without a doubt , it is the best financial decision I have ever made. Even if I loose 50% of my investment it will not hurt. I always live below my means.

Just saying whatever it takes to keep aid coming in from the US nothing more. When China gets back on its feet game over guaranteed.

3 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Anybody remember  when the tourist police were friendly to tourists? When you could get opium in Chang Mai, Ganja in Bangkok and magic  mushrooms in Koh Samui?

Long live the old days of Pai.  Long gone and dead... 

In the direction they are going. They need to learn Chinese before English IMO. 

Again came to Colombia since Thailand is still not open months ago. Cases were off the charts. Now after they opened up cases have dropped to nothing. 

Thailand is just using it as an excuse to fleece the tourists plain and simple IMHO.

4 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Unattributed belly aching more like. Sounds like 'Frank' is either a bit of a stress monkey, clueless or the OP totally misread his "ironic and sometimes tongue-in-cheek and humorous" emails. Since there's no such beast as a 'pension visa', I would say it's leaning towards clueless.

 

My experience: ThailandPass went 'live' on 1st Nov, I applied 2nd Nov received acknowledgement email 3rd Nov. This included booking an AQ hotel. No word from first AQ hotel by 4th so booked a backup hotel and a third via agoda (all except one fully refundable). Went ahead and booked a FLEXIBLE flight for 11th Nov. Sent emails to the first two AQ hotels and went and booked my local PCR test using the CLEARLY STATED and EASILY UNDERSTOOD "no more than 72-hour BEFORE start of travel" rule. Submitted a second TP application on 7th with a follow up email regarding it and the earlier application. Received confirmation of second application receipt on 8th and a few hours later got the 'No Quarantine' QR code for the second application. The hotels all broke radio silence the same day on the 9th so after doing my PCR test, I confirmed one and canceled the other two. Went online in the evening and upgraded my ticket to get better separation from fellow pax, bought excess baggage and lounge access. Printed out 4 pieces of paper, one each for QR code, proof of insurance, PCR -ve test and the AQ hotel which were quickly approved by two subsequent check-in staff at two different airports. The total time between parking at the jetway to getting my PCR-tested butt into my comfy AQ room was less than 90-minutes.

 

The rest as they say is (easy peasy) history.

Haha, easy peasy..

1 minute ago, Ralf001 said:

I plan to retire in the US, not here.

If you can afford it, it is nice to keep a home in the US and travel IMO. It really opens you'r eyes on how blessed the US is. Most of the guy's in Thailand cannot afford to go back home. And most of the guy's that I meet there had not traveled much at all. 

My suggestion is if you are thinking of retiring to Thailand don't do it until you have traveled and visited and lived at least 3 months in other countries.

Thailand is not that good of a place IMO.