GinBoy2

Don't have any issue with best of both worlds. So we own our homes outright in the US and Thailand. Now our neighbors in the US have a house in AZ and take off early November and return in May. It's exactly the same plan. Yes if you plan right you can have your cake and eat it

Thats kinda where we are headed. I'm still mulling when I'm going to pull the trigger on SS, after my last awful early retirement try, which I ended up hating. I've been looking at the options of how many hours I can work without giving up SS $ which would give us months in the US, months in Thailand. But also Mrs G is a contractor for DoD and has a few more years until retirement and while as a contractor she has some flexibility, it's all a juggling act right now

You might be on to something there. Mrs G is a bit of a coconut having grown up as a teenager in the US, gone to college in the US before moving to Singapore for work where we met. When I wanted to retire early and move to Thailand, she argued vigorously against it, wanting us to move back to the US rather than move to Thailand But I got my way, and of course as if often the case the woman was right. I was bored out of my skull, son had hated his life in Thai HS, and moved to the US for college wife was totally <deleted> off with her career prospects. So here we are back in the US, and Thailand is our vacation destination, and if my wife had had her way this would have been our life 15 years ago

I think it comes a point where you begin to face your own mortality, and thats when things get sticky. In your 40's and 50's you're still living in the 'I'm immortal' phase. But enter your 60's and things get to be a little more real. We discuss endlessly on this forum about health insurance, and as you plough through your 60's and 70's it gets to the point of even if you can get insured it's astronomically expensive. I've often shuddered at the thought of becoming disabled in Thailand, not very accommodating shall we say. I think I am not alone in that Thailand is a great mid life adventure, but when you get to the final couple of chapters, there really is no place like home. Of course then you get to diehards who blew everything, went all in and just can't repatriate even if they wanted too. They are they ones I feel most sorry for, and they become become the shrillest and most fervent defenders of Thailand regardless of how ridiculous the issue

Ok, so this is where the American Anglophile is gonna chime in. The hidden treasure in your country is Herefordshire. I spent a couple of idyllic summers there. It's off the beaten path, beautiful scenery, Hereford itself is wonderful and the surrounding market towns are sublime. I've cherished my memories of my time there and have retained many friends from my travels

I did find towards the end, stupid stuff began to grate on me. I did realize that early retirement just didn't work for me. Too much idle time without the opportunity to volunteer my time was too much for me. I did spend too much time online and the nonsense of Thailand kinda overwhelmed me. When our son moved to the US to college and said he wasn't coming back, Momma Bear's determination to follow him, sorta gave me a 'Get out of Jail' card

Kids school was a biggie for us. Our son had grown up in Singapore. High school in Thailand was awful. He went to college in Chicago and within a month told us he was never coming back to Thailand. That was the catalyst for Momma Bear and we were on our way to a green card. I was already bored with Thailand and she was <deleted> off with her career prospects. So here we are

I kinda understand that. We haven't been back to our home in KK for 2 years due to covid. Mrs G is headed there in 2 weeks to visit family. The question do I miss it is complicated. Living there for a decade I have a love/hate relationship with the place. It truly is insane from the coups (I lived through 3) the noise, pollution, terrible infrastructure yet it still has a strange attraction. On balance though I think I prefer our suburban life here in the US, and Thailand as our vacation destination. Here, life is maybe I could describe it as boring. Everything works, all the time, we go to work no drama, versus the chaos that can, not always be our life in Thailand

This is a joke question right? Thai's have no problem cohabiting, living together and having sex same as any almost every other country I've come across. Mrs G and me lived together, had a son happily unmarried for years. The only reason we finally got married was to get her a green card to the US. If someone is spinning the OP some fairy tale of Thai women being traditional virtuous pious maidens, take the wool from over the eyes!

Well, put it this way. You are not going to change an entire culture. Thai's put up with noise to a level none of us can understand. You can complain, but you will be met with a look of puzzlement about what the problem is. Your wife lack of understanding is also because she's Thai. She's grown up in a culture of horrendous loud music for whatever event, dogs roaming the streets and barking day and night. If you are on a one man mission to change that, Good Luck

Well nobody is worried, until they are worried. I've know marriages fail at 12 months and 40 years. I've been with Mrs G 20+ years, and while I believe we're solid I don't delude myself that our Thai assets, ie house are 100% hers, our US assets are 50:50% should things go south

Well that is true. Unlike the newbies anyone who has spent any decent time in the Kingdom understands the reality of life in Thailand. Normal debate which you might expect in farang land just ain't gonna happen. Can't see any fundamental changes in my remaining lifetime

Maybe the first step is to figure out what a 'resident' is. Many here 'think' they are expats, yet that 90 day thing should remind you that you are nothing more than a tourist on an extended visa. Now contrast that to most farang countries where your wife holds essentially the same rights as you up to the point of voting. I went into my Thai adventure accepting all of that, and I knew when we built a house my claims on it were zero. Here in the US Mrs G is on the title deed of our home regardless of her nationality. Now she's not some oligarch investing in property in New York or London to stash money, we're just regular folks. So the Thai's need to figure out this tug of war in their heads about what a farang in Thailand 'is' then stupid stuff like land ownership will fall into place

I didn't play, but Mrs G did. She poured over the numbers to try to find some solace. I think for her $30 she'll get $20 back, coulda been worse Ah Well back to work in the morning I guess!

Ahh, but as honored farang guest you will have received the premium seating, 5ft away from the 10ft high speakers cranked to max volume, bass and distortion

Oh Dear God, the crazy train has arrived at the station ....and Yes the Lizard people are alive and well in the tunnels under Denver Airport!

I think the repats might be a reason, along with the decline in sexpats. We moved back to the US several years ago to follow our son, and while I'm still interested in Thai stuff, we have a house there I find myself less interested in commenting on things that I really have no interest in. The age thing might also be a factor, these kind of forums had their day, but the younger folks don't really care for them and have moved to other platforms

I work for an airline, and it should be no issue. Should the agent question it just tell them to check timatic where they can verify the entry requirements, and it states clearly a Thai national can enter on an expired passport. The reason the agents get twitchy is they get it in neck if they allow a passenger to travel without correct documentation. A couple of months back one of my agents checked in a party to Taipei. She'd done it many times before, and prior to covid US citizens were visa free. Of course during covid they introduced visa requirements for all passengers entering the island, and she didn't check and they flew but got stopped in Chicago. I had to write her up for it My wife is in a couple of weeks flying out on a passport with 3 weeks validity left. We're a little outstation, not a hub but I've already briefed the agents who I know will be checking her in the 6 month thing doesn't apply to her

I've never 'got' tattoo's and sometimes I think I'm the only male on the planet who is tat free. My wife both my daughters and son have tats. I argued with my kids, pierce whatever you want, my wife was a lost cause, but just don't tattoo it My wife is starting to come round to my thinking, that a tattoo on a 20 year old body, my not be so good on a 50+ year old body!

Which Thailand are you living in? This must be Ban Nokwaybackofbeyond Walk into any Thai mall and it's the same; Christmas Tree, idiot shop girls wearing antlers and tinsel, and the Goddam awful Christmas music. It doesn't mean anything to them other than a shopping 'holiday'. But that might also be true of most Western countries too!

The thing that really struck me was; I work at a sleepy little outstation, not a hub like LAX or LGA, yet it happens here! After my experience I can only speculate how many victims get trafficked through the hubs. But then again I've thought, maybe they prefer sleepy little outstation airports like mine to ply their heinous trade out of the mainstream so to speak

Bit weird this year. Mrs G is flying to Thailand later in November for a month, she actually lands back home on Dec 25th. Not sure if I can actually be bothered to even decorate the house just for myself, and when she lands on the 25th she's gonna be so jetlagged the only thing she gonna want to do is sleep. Not a big Ho Ho Ho kinda guy, so I'll probably go to Denver for a couple of days prior to Christmas to be with my daughter, son and his gf. I guess I just con them into buying the old man dinner at a fancy restaurant to make me feel better lol

This is unfortunately so much more common than most folks think. I work for an airline and last year I checked in 2 young girls and 2 older guys. They claimed the girls were sisters, yet the stated DOB's were 9 months apart. Now a little known fact is that a minor, in the US at least doesn't need any ID to check in for a flight. The tickets had been paid for in cash, and weirdly the two guys, who claimed to be Dad and Uncle, and who looked ethnically very different to the girls requested seats two rows behind the girls. I checked them in, as I'm supposed to, then I contacted United Airlines Security to report my suspicions. They were met in Denver by law enforcement, and sure enough the girls were being trafficked. What amazed me was how little effort the traffickers had made to hide it, almost like they'd done it many times before and they just assumed they would get away with it. We all watch the TV crime shows with girls in shipping containers, but I think more of it just happens in plain sight. Hideous business, yet I fear more common than any of us want to believe

My one and only Christmas tradition will be watching National Lampoons Christmas Vacation Cousin Eddie is a national treasure

I think I'm experiencing PTSD just thinking about the next couple of months