SURVEY: What is the biggest drawback to living in Thailand?

[Scott]

There are a lot of positives and negatives about living in Thailand.   We can't list all the concerns, but feel free to make a comment about what you consider to be the biggest drawback.  

 

For those listing 'other', please leave a comment and we can do a poll at a later date to look at what are the biggest concerns of our members.  

 

[Suradit69]

[cornishcarlos]

I'm glad I'm not in Thailand right now...

[Guest]

Visa and work permit issues is the biggest drawback for me and makes me wish to move to EU, where those can be avoided. 

 

Perhaps Thailand could adapt visa / permission of stay style from Hong Kong, where the extension to stay time increases the longer one has been in the country. That would let foreigners to think Thailand as a new permanent home country, rather than just a place to visit for an while. 

 

For example, visas could be granted:

First 1 year then 3 years, 5 years and finally permanent residency. 

 

 

[dotpoom]

Miss dreaming that some day I can get away from the cold, the wet, the high cost of living and retire in a tropical country. 

[DoctorG]

You needed an "all of the above" box.

[RBOP]

Reporting to immigration every 90 days. 

[connda]

Boy, this one is a real toss up.

Visa issued immediately come to mind.  Where else in the world can you be married to a citizen of the country and have absolutely no path to permanent residency, naturalization, or citizenship?  It's tough.  And if your spouse dies, marriage over, and the extended family you have been supporting become a non-family by legal decree.  Marriage gives you no rights to pursue happiness within the family unit, or a job, or a means of support unlike the West and most other countries around the world - developed and otherwise.

But then we have the things that are not good for your health: choking air pollution, especially in the North, for two to three months out of the year; the number 1 most dangerous roads in the entire world; a highly xenophobic society that barely tolerates foreigners;  and a society where violence is only held in check by the thinnest veneer of social customs, and when that veneer cracks, what emerges is ugly, vile, and dangerous; a place where playing contract bridge or throwing darts, or owning the 'wrong' set of playing cards can get you arrested and tossed into jail.  TIT.  Amazing Thailand. 

Don't get me wrong.  The positives outweigh the negatives.  Otherwise I wouldn't be living here.  But every year the negative keep piling up.  Hopefully in my life-time, the scales don't tip the opposite way. 

[nss70]

For me I would rather buy a property and own it 100%. Without that I refuse to buy even with my Thai wife of 20+ years.

Otherwise just the long haul flights if I need to go back to my birth country but that was my choice.

[johng]

The almost constant sauna.

[jenny2017]

58 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Visa and work permit issues is the biggest drawback for me and makes me wish to move to EU, where those can be avoided. 

 

Perhaps Thailand could adapt visa / permission of stay style from Hong Kong, where the extension to stay time increases the longer one has been in the country. That would let foreigners to think Thailand as a new permanent home country, rather than just a place to visit for an while. 

 

For example, visas could be granted:

First 1 year then 3 years, 5 years and finally permanent residency. 

 

 

Especially for those who are married to a Thai, have kids and pay taxes.

 

   It's a joke that you still have to do all the paperwork after 15 years of living here, no difference to a newbie. 

[Cranky]

The positives outweighed the negatives for years. Not any more.  Having kids tips the balance as it is simply not a place I'd want to raise them being such a lawless out of control feral environment full of scumbags - Pattaya.  Not to mention the ridiculous cost of a decent (maybe) education and very few options once that is completed unless overseas university is achievable and affordable.  Or a Thai university - to what end for them in that case ?  Some crap job paying next to nothing.

 

Planning the escape to Blighty.

[milwaukeeboy]

My biggest problem is being profiled as a white male living in Asia for almost 30 years when I return to the USA for one visit of about five weeks every year.

I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but at customs, they single me out and go through everything in my bags and force me to give passwords to all my electronic devices.

They belittle me and accuse me in so many words of being a money launderer, human trafficker and drug dealer for about 40 minutes and then let me go on my way after asking where I'm staying and who I'll be seeing.

They take copious notes.

[NutsMango]

The reasons people go 3rd world countries are usually - great weather, significantly cheaper living expenses

 

Thailand over the pas 5 years become pretty much more expensive than my European home country. Of course you can live cheap, but that's homeless like lifestyle.

 

So for me it is losing its charm, because I can't afford $8000 a month ocean view villa and do not want to pay xxx% more for some daily use products. On top of the annoying visa situation Vietnam looks better by the day.

Edited April 29, 2018 by NutsMango

[masuk]

1)  The constant pollution in Chiang Mai province.  Every flat surface in my condo has a layer of dust/ash on it each morning. This is what we're breathing, 24 / 7.

 

2)  The high costs of prescription medicine.  Something to be taken into account for those planning to retire in Thailand is that there is no NHS for non-Thais.  This includes visits to the GP, Pathology tests, prescribed medicine.  

 

[RichardColeman]

Don't see why visa and immigration issues are leading the way. Pretty straight forward if you know what you are doing and there is always 'agents' to take the hassle out of it - at a cost. 90 day is a pain, but I always treat it as a day out and its only 5 or 10 minutes for me - straight in and out - ticket i get is usually on the board when as i sit down

You get the right visa to stay -or visit - its no problem.

Only a real issue if you do not want to comply with the regulations or do not plan ahead.

That said - the concern for me would be if they CHANGED the rules.

Most people here can probably cope with the immigration and visa issues - but it would be my number one concern IF they changed the rules, agreed.

I think Financial concerns for most IS the same as visa concerns !

 

[sukhumvitneon]

Visas are a pain and the pay for jobs, even skilled positions, is awful.

 

Thailand and Bangkok tries to be like New York/London/Monaco/Vancouver with the Thai Elite Visa Program/that condo purchase campaign they have going on that gets you a 20 year Elite membership without offering anything the western countries have such as political stability, stable currency, the rule of law, business investment potential, or a high-end passport.  NYC is far from being pristine but you could eat off those streets compared to Bangkok.  If I were rich I wouldn't even dream of living there, I'd much rather be in Manhattan, Calabasas, or zone 1 London instead.

[Cranky]

Visa issues are huge, this would be my second reason for leaving.  When you are made to feel as welcome as the proverbial turd in a swimming pool every year it is clear the only part of us farangs that is welcome is the contents of our wallets.  I can tolerate being racially abused on a daily basis but when it's official I start to wonder.

[rheinwiese]

1 hour ago, connda said:

Boy, this one is a real toss up.

Visa issued immediately come to mind.  Where else in the world can you be married to a citizen of the country and have absolutely no path to permanent residency, naturalization, or citizenship?  It's tough.  And if your spouse dies, marriage over, and the extended family you have been supporting become a non-family by legal decree.  Marriage gives you no rights to pursue happiness within the family unit, or a job, or a means of support unlike the West and most other countries around the world - developed and otherwise.

But then we have the things that are not good for your health: choking air pollution, especially in the North, for two to three months out of the year; the number 1 most dangerous roads in the entire world; a highly xenophobic society that barely tolerates foreigners;  and a society where violence is only held in check by the thinnest veneer of social customs, and when that veneer cracks, what emerges is ugly, vile, and dangerous; a place where playing contract bridge or throwing darts, or owning the 'wrong' set of playing cards can get you arrested and tossed into jail.  TIT.  Amazing Thailand. 

Don't get me wrong.  The positives outweigh the negatives.  Otherwise I wouldn't be living here.  But every year the negative keep piling up.  Hopefully in my life-time, the scales don't tip the opposite way. 

Nailed it Connda.

[billd766]

2 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

I'm glad I'm not in Thailand right now...

 

I am very glad that I AM in Thailand now. It was our 18th wedding anniversary so we had a party with a load of Thai friends.

 

We all had a great time with plenty of food and drink plus live entertainment with the kids singing karaoke. A great plus was that I didn't sing alonga.

 

The only downside was that it had been raining a bit for most of the day and the big flying ants were out in huge numbers so we left most of the lights off. They don't taste that nice when they land in your drink but they do swim well and drink a lot.

[Hummin]

I was going to say visa, but Im also driving motorbike, so I guess motorbike, and Im aware of one day I might have an accident as well. So pain in ass is to have visa, insurance and traffic, and last it is sharks in the water 

 

I accept all of it, since I decided to live here, but what is not ok, is the system that drives Thailand. The daily reminder of how unfair life is for those who strive everyday, and do not go anywhere, and everything you worked for is gone next moment. 

[cornishcarlos]

10 minutes ago, rheinwiese said:

Where else in the world can you be married to a citizen of the country and have absolutely no path to permanent residency, naturalization, or citizenship? 

 

What is stopping you applying for PR or even citizenship ??

[billd766]

15 minutes ago, sukhumvitneon said:

Visas are a pain and the pay for jobs, even skilled positions, is awful.

 

Thailand and Bangkok tries to be like New York/London/Monaco/Vancouver with the Thai Elite Visa Program/that condo purchase campaign they have going on that gets you a 20 year Elite membership without offering anything the western countries have such as political stability, stable currency, the rule of law, business investment potential, or a high-end passport.  NYC is far from being pristine but you could eat off those streets compared to Bangkok.  If I were rich I wouldn't even dream of living there, I'd much rather be in Manhattan, Calabasas, or zone 1 London instead.

 

Visas are easy if you can comply with the rules.

 

Try to understand that Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket are not the whole of Thailand in the same way that London, New York represent the UK or the USA.

 

Visas are a pain for me to get my wife into the UK though as my son has dual nationality he is easy to get there.

 

The weather in the Uk is never very good, the education system is not much better but at least my son can read an analogue clock which it seems is too hard for kids in the UK.

 

Many parts of the UK (which is where I was born) are filthy, beggars, drunks and druggies are everywhere too. There are probably more homeless in the UK than in Thailand.

 

House prices are astronomical, many jobs are poorly paid in the UK as well.

 

If you think that the west is better for the average person then you need to clean your glasses.

 

True Thailand is not perfect but IMHO the west is not much better, just more expensive.

Edited April 29, 2018 by billd766
edit for bad spelling after I had posted

[billd766]

1 minute ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

What is stopping you applying for PR or even citizenship ??

 

You have to be a taxpayer in Thailand to do so and as was mentioned jobs are not that well paid or easy to get for farangs.

[NutsMango]

2 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

What is stopping you applying for PR or even citizenship ??

You must be working 5 years for a Thai company to be able to.

 

No F way I want to find a job in Thailand.

[jenny2017]

23 minutes ago, masuk said:

1)  The constant pollution in Chiang Mai province.  Every flat surface in my condo has a layer of dust/ash on it each morning. This is what we're breathing, 24 / 7.

 

2)  The high costs of prescription medicine.  Something to be taken into account for those planning to retire in Thailand is that there is no NHS for non-Thais.  This includes visits to the GP, Pathology tests, prescribed medicine.  

 

I don't think that medicine is more expensive than anywhere in Europe, for example.

 

 

[masuk]

1 minute ago, jenny2017 said:

I don't think that medicine is more expensive than anywhere in Europe, for example.

 

 

In those countries which have NHS, prescription medicine is subsidised.     e.g. "lipitor" in Thailand costs B1900 for a 30 day supply.   In Australia it is B235.00.

[Cranky]

Try 'Bestatin' from Fascino for cholesterol, cheap as chips.

[Davedub]

Wasted time due to unnecessary and pointless bureaucracy. 

[Old Croc]

The visa hassles and traffic are a given.

It's probably just me heading for my 8th year here, but I'm finding myself getting increasingly frustrated with the difficulties Thais throw up to you to complete even the simplest of tasks.

At a coffee shop the other day I asked for a large cappuccino with one sugar. Not difficult you would think, it's all written in English on a big board. After much hand miming by myself to indicate what and how sugar can be added to a container, and some spirited discussion among two staff, my wife and a taxi driver who was hanging around, I left with a small flat white, no sugar.

This was just after I tried to open a 2nd bank account, in a more convenient branch, with the same bank I'd been using since arrival. My visa card states I am a privileged customer and I have constantly maintained over 2m in that account. They knew this because they had just spent about 45 minutes printing a statement and small letter for Immigration. This involved me signing numerous forms, the taking of several copies of my passport and 300 baht.

However my status as a valued customer meant nothing in this branch. They produced a 2 page form I had to complete to open the new account, and among the questions asked were: religion, political leanings, education, not just occupation, but specifics of what I did day to day, references, address in a country I no longer live, the source of the funds used to open the account and many other irrelevant and intrusive queries. When I jokingly said I hadn't been to school for 50 years, why do you need to know the details, all I received was the Thai half smile quizzical look. 

I refused to play their paper games and left with the promise I would be severing all ties with Kasikorn.

It's probably just me, but occasionally I would like sensible, no nonsense service for simple matters.