Leaving Thailand after 13 Years..

[My Thai Life]

It's not a binary choice.

 

Comparing your experience here (or in any foreign country) to the arbitrary country of your birth just demonstrates how you haven't transcended your arbitrary origins, or travelled much.

 

When a potato travels around the world it remains a potato.

 

 

[Poottrong]

1 hour ago, bwpage3 said:

What do you think the percentage of expats that moved to Thailand live in a Thai house that cost/worth/quality/size the same as one they moved from?

It's called downsizing and a lot of people enjoy the experience of simplifying their lives. I know I have. Doesn't mean we're all living in "tin shacks" though.

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, bwpage3 said:

My wife's village has no restaurants, no stores (Nearest about 32km away), no movie theaters, no nothing. Roads are full of potholes, utilities suck, you name it. No one to speak English with.

Hmmmm…….can see why you moved!

 

However people just don't fall into categories like those that have been mentioned and some folks retire here because of the weather for example, others because they like the nightlife and the vibrancy of the place, and others for health reasons or because it's just time for a move! Or of course that they simply got tired of their home country!

 

I know other expats like myself who live here and are well enough off to be able to afford just about anything they want,  but don't want to buy a big house (been there done that many times) and are quite happy to live in a one bedroomed apartment because it suits them, esp if they are single.

 

My take on Thailand is that I can live as cheaply or as expensively as I wish, and that's exactly what I do! I eat good food, enjoy my wine to the tune of about 180,000 baht per annum and eat out as often as I want. However as I do enjoy cooking I cook Thai food, Italian and French food as well as experimenting with all sorts of other recipes.

 

If for whatever reason I was short of money, then I could quite easily exist on that which I could buy from the local supermarket/market and knock up a dish or two which would satisfy my tastebuds, all for a lot cheaper than my home country.

 

And if it is about comparing prices, then the house I bought here would cost me three times as much back home and my apartment rent for a month here would not even get me a shared room in someone else's house.

 

On to other things – – gasoline here is almost half the price as my home country and rates other incrementals etc here are cheap as to be almost non-existent.

 

I do know guys here who are living on the UK or Australian pensions and they struggle to do that, however if they were back in their home country they would struggle even more.

 

On the other hand I know guys like me who managed to put funds away or invest in a pension and can do just about whatever they want with regards to their living standards.

 

So in summary, this place can be as good or as bad as you want it to be provided you have the funds, however if you don't, then IMO you can still live a reasonable life here. 

[BradinAsia]

On 7/21/2018 at 11:27 AM, masuk said:

I moved to Thailand 6 years ago, and in the first 48hrs, discovered I'd been scammed.  Names can't be mentioned, but the volunteer teaching job had cost me $600, and the program had been cancelled.  So much for selling all my household goods plus an almost new car.

Working at anything was not permitted, not even on-line teaching, so I changed my visa to include a retirement extension, which I've renewed ever since.  Just the ghastly annual queues and pre-dawn waits.

But to be honest, it was the deteriorating finances which eventually broke my staying power.  The baht had been 30 per Aussie $, but gradually dwindled, and along with bank charges both ends, and the Thai bank giving a very poor exchange rate, the telegraphic transfer of my pension was costing me $70 each time.

Being a farang, of course, I didn't expect free services of any kind, but an unexpected major dental treatment, a few visits to the doctor and a largish pathology bill, and I was cleaned out.

So, tail between my legs, and I'm back in Oz now;  yes rental costs are more than Thailand, but the air is breathable, the beaches and sea are clean, and there are a lot of freebies for us old guys, from bus travel to doctors, rent subsidy, pathology, dentistry, hospital and my medicines bill per month is now $100 less.  

So I'm not complaining.  Apart from almost 3 months of pollution each year in the north, the people are nice, made friends with the locals and farangs, winters are very acceptable.

If I want to complain, I'd like to invite the powers-that-be in Chiang Mai to travel by foot a few days a week, and see how deplorable the footpaths are, the lack of safe crossings and the proliferation of poles and signs, and the accumulation of rubbish in the side streets.

 

International money transfer can be a huge pain...

I moved to Thailand 5 yrs ago and a friend told me how to bring money from the U.S with zero fees. Every

month I went to Bangkok Bank, gave the lady my debit card from my U.S. bank account and ask for 50,000

baht. (Note: I didn't even have an account at Bangkok Bank. She always asked to se my passport.) 

 

Within 2-3 minutes she handed me my money and my debit card. I said thank you and paid nothing.

 

That was one aspect of living in Thailand that is hard to match anywhere. For some odd reason it seems

not many expats in Thailand are totally unaware of this simple and free method. A few years ago when I

mentioned this on TVF, several people told me it couldn't be free. But I did it free for 4 years.

 

 

Edited July 27, 2018 by BradinAsia

[tomas557]

4 minutes ago, BradinAsia said:

For some odd reason it seems

not many expats in Thailand are aware of this simple and free method

 

For some odd reason the majority of expats is not from the US, even the Aussie you were responding to isn't from the US, and this option is available only to US and I think UK citizens.

[tomas557]

1 hour ago, transam said:

Amazing post...Which I wish I hadn't read...?..

 

Why?

 

Is it because you weren't prepared for some hard truths?

 

I'm not from Uk, but I have lived here for more than 2 decades and have seen the decline of the quality of life.

 

Have a UK friend who lived here for about 20 years, and ran a company with close to 1000 Thai employees, and sold up a few years ago for obvious reasons.

 

Went back to visit the UK last year for a month or so with his Thai wife, then went again a few months ago, and will definitely move back to UK by the end of this year when all his properties in Thailand are sorted out.

 

I recall him telling me 10 years ago that he couldn't imagine to live in UK ever again.

[BradinAsia]

2 minutes ago, tomas557 said:

 

For some odd reason the majority of expats is not from the US, even the Aussie you were responding to isn't from the US, and this option is available only to US and I think UK citizens.

 

That brings up a good point.

 

Lots of expats on TVF have made a big issue with the PITA requirements for proof of income.

Once a year I had to get a form from the U.S. Consulate that showed my income. HOWEVER,

I filled out the form myself and entered the amount of my income. All the consulate guy did

was let me swear it was true -- and he notarized the form. 

 

The whole process took about 1 minute and they never ask for any proof of income ever.

But evidently it isn't so smooth and easy for the Brits. I don't think Thai immigration can 

be blamed for that hassle. It seems to be a policy of the U.K. consul.

 

I'm not British, so I don't really know. Just wondering why it's such a pain for Brits.

 

How about Aussies?

 

[lannarebirth]

3 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Very good appreciation to offset the costs.

Appreciation doesn't offset costs. Appreciation increases costs. Maybe you're thinking of higher income to offset the costs.

Edited July 27, 2018 by lannarebirth

[My Thai Life]

I think the OP mentioned how he yearned for the beauty of the Cotswolds (an area of genuinely outstanding beauty c. 100 miles west north west of London).

 

I can definitely empathise with that myth, but the reality is that this area is prohibitively expensive, the villages are no longer functioning villages but dormitories for celebrities. It reeks of the class structure that England is so famous for, albeit an updated version. There is no local employment worth talking about. But it does look nice from your car window – unbelievably nice actually. Like one of those pre-war Ealing movies. This is very far removed from the reality of modern England.

 

I’ve just come back from a 1500 km tour of Thailand’s North and Northwest, not my first. The greenness is astonishing, not prim and proper and pretty like the Cotswolds, sometimes even scary in its wildness. No pubs unfortunately.

[DavisH]

On 7/20/2018 at 5:42 PM, markusss said:

What was so bad about life in Cambodia for you? I know that no place is paradise, but Thailand used to be fun, relaxed and easy going. These selling points of Thailand have changed a great deal. I've always believed that Thailand was over-policed but sine the entry of the military here it is out of control. Just too much police and military presence in Thai society to be conducive to a happy, easy going lifestyle here. That's my opinion anyway & happens to be the same opinion of many Thais I speak with about this too. But i'm not going to debate anyone about this here. If anyone finds themselves to be very happy here in Thailand as it is today then I'm happy for them too.

2

You think Thailand is overpoliced, and you are going back to Australia? lol...just don't drive 5 km over the limit there or jay walk. There's a few things I miss about OZ (don't miss paying 40% tax though or the high petrol/food/electricity costs, etc), but not enough to send me back full time. I hope you have a plan for getting full-time employment. 

[gk10002000]

On 7/20/2018 at 6:42 AM, markusss said:

Thailand used to be fun, relaxed and easy going. These selling points of Thailand have changed a great deal.

I could not have said it any better.  I was so enamored with the place on my first visit which was in 2004.  A dozen trips later, a few coups, very odd government military and police and less civilian, many small town places knocked down.  Gosh, Pattaya used to have a low season when you could actually cross second road.  I was so ready to punch out, and I could have gotten along with things.  But in retrospect I think I am satisfied that I kept working and bankrolling and building up my passive income.  I do wish I had taken more vacation and time off, but that will all change in one year for sure, so I give up a little now, but should have no financial issues for the rest of my life, so I am OK with having been a bit conservative

[gk10002000]

On 7/21/2018 at 2:23 AM, Stoker58 said:

There used to be a relaxed, easy going, feel about the place, but now there just seems to be ever increasing corruption, bureaucracy and general hostility and selfishness.

 

On 7/21/2018 at 2:23 AM, Stoker58 said:

 I’ve been living here for more than ten years and, although not quite ready to leave yet, I seriously doubt that I will still be here in five years time. My wife, who is Thai and spent many years living in the west, also feels that things have steadily gone downhill. There used to be a relaxed, easy going, feel about the place, but now there just seems to be ever increasing corruption, bureaucracy and general hostility and selfishness.  

  They can’t seem to elect and maintain a democratic government, and this trickles down to attitudes throughout the public sector, the biggest bully gets his way. Amazingly, standards of spoken English seem to have declined, and customer service has gone down the pan.

  I’ll give it a few more years, but if it keeps going in the direction it is now I’ll be off, and my wife won’t be entirely sorry to return to the west either.

yeah.  the relaxed easy going feel has diminished, corruption, bureaucracy on the rise, to the point it is not just a subtle thing that used to occasionally make the news.  As prices rise, everybody wants more money, a  bigger piece of the pie. 

[Poottrong]

For the people who say that Thailand has changed I wonder if it's actually they who have changed while Thailand has more or less stayed the same or changed only as much as to be expected over a long period. Seems to be in my case anyway.

Edited July 27, 2018 by Poottrong

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Poottrong said:

For the people who say that Thailand has changed I wonder if it's actually they who have changed while Thailand has more or less stayed the same or changed only as much as to be expected over a long period. Seems to be in my case anyway.

Price of hookers has gone up 300% in the last 7 years.

My income hasn't changed in those 7 years.

In reality, it's 20% lower as the Thai/Pound exchange rate is worse.

 

I have changed too, I just sit at home drinking beer now.

Edited July 28, 2018 by BritManToo

[BritManToo]

9 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

but should have no financial issues for the rest of my life,

What if the rest of your life is 6 months?

What use will the extra money be then?

[JAFO]

For the posters who keep droning on and on about bureaucracy, selfish people, corruption, hostility, that it's not fun and relaxed anymore where do you live?  I ask as I see a lot of "Pattaya this and that" which leads me to believe many live there but quite frankly while Pattaya is in Thailand there is little Thai about it.  It is nothing more than a congested, dirty, run down, tourist place like so many others in other countries.. So if your sentiment about Thailand is based on Pattaya its heavily tainted IMHO. 

 

 

[JLCrab]

49 minutes ago, JAFO said:

For the posters who keep droning on and on about bureaucracy, selfish people, corruption, hostility, that it's not fun and relaxed anymore where do you live?  I ask as I see a lot of "Pattaya this and that" which leads me to believe many live there but quite frankly while Pattaya is in Thailand there is little Thai about it.  It is nothing more than a congested, dirty, run down, tourist place like so many others in other countries.. So if your sentiment about Thailand is based on Pattaya its heavily tainted IMHO. 

 

 

Sometimes when back in USA and mention that I live in Thailand, someone will say that they've been to Pattaya or Phuket. I say:

Those places are like Miami Beach for Thailand. Where I live, it's more like living in IOWA.

Iowa: Corn and soybeans. Isaan: Rice and sugar.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2018 by JLCrab

[LomSak27]

54 minutes ago, JAFO said:

For the posters who keep droning on and on about bureaucracy, selfish people, corruption, hostility, that it's not fun and relaxed anymore where do you live?  I ask as I see a lot of "Pattaya this and that" which leads me to believe many live there but quite frankly while Pattaya is in Thailand there is little Thai about it.  It is nothing more than a congested, dirty, run down, tourist place like so many others in other countries.. So if your sentiment about Thailand is based on Pattaya its heavily tainted IMHO.

 

For those posters who spend far too much time listening to the thoughts, dreams and ideas of expats, why not ask Thais? Ask them how they want to see Thailand developed. For a good 80 per cent of the population developing the country into a giant Pattaya seems both a good thing and praiseworthy goal and that has been a fact for a very long time.

Shock Gasp Horror

This explains a whole heck of a lot and gaining this insight could have been done, yesterday, 5 years ago or 30 years ago. Expats it seems never asked the question. 

Edited July 28, 2018 by LomSak27

[JAFO]

31 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

Sometimes when back in USA and mention that I live in Thailand, someone will say that they've been to Pattaya or Phuket. I say:

Those places are like Miami Beach for Thailand. Where I live, it's more like living in IOWA.

Iowa: Corn and soybeans. Isaan: Rice and sugar.

 

 

It's Sad really.  Most tourists land in those places and go back and say they visited Thailand and usually say it was nice they do go on and on about how dirty "Thailand" is based on those places. That would be like going to Cabo San Lucas or Tijuana and saying they were in Mexico.  

[JAFO]

16 minutes ago, LomSak27 said:

For a good 80 per cent of the population developing the country into a giant Pattaya 

Utter nonsense. The Thais I know are ashamed of that place and never go near it. For the Thais living and working there it is a place to exploit foreigners and make money.  It's a Tourist destination.  I suspect virtually all highly visible tourist destinations are filled with crime,scammers, double pricing, corruption etc.

[ChidlomDweller]

11 hours ago, DavisH said:

just don't drive 5 km over the limit there or jay walk. 

OK, genuinely curious about this.  Is this true or TV hyperbole?  Been only to Sydney twice for about a week and loved it, but that's 12 years ago.  If it wasn't for the distance to Europe (I go three times a year), that's where I'd be now.  I have a hard time believing people get in trouble for jaywalking in Australia, unless you do it brazenly in front of a police officer where you put them in a bind.  

[LomSak27]

Just now, JAFO said:

Utter nonsense. The Thais I know are ashamed of that place and never go near it. For the Thais living and working there it is a place to exploit foreigners and make money.  It's a Tourist destination.  I suspect virtually all highly visible tourist destinations are filled with crime,scammers, double pricing, corruption etc.

Now You are just cherry picking for the sake of argument. Toss out the tourists, leave Pattaya. And there you have a glittering Thailand of the Future.

Thais have been thinking this way for a long time. Last year a very religious nationalist type was telling me just how undeveloped and primitive Laos was. His vision of the future; a mix of Pattaya and Bangkok natch. No surprises with that comment  

[ChidlomDweller]

14 hours ago, xylophone said:

Hmmmm…….can see why you moved!

 

However people just don't fall into categories like those that have been mentioned and some folks retire here because of the weather for example, others because they like the nightlife and the vibrancy of the place, and others for health reasons or because it's just time for a move! Or of course that they simply got tired of their home country!

 

I know other expats like myself who live here and are well enough off to be able to afford just about anything they want,  but don't want to buy a big house (been there done that many times) and are quite happy to live in a one bedroomed apartment because it suits them, esp if they are single.

 

My take on Thailand is that I can live as cheaply or as expensively as I wish, and that's exactly what I do! I eat good food, enjoy my wine to the tune of about 180,000 baht per annum and eat out as often as I want. However as I do enjoy cooking I cook Thai food, Italian and French food as well as experimenting with all sorts of other recipes.

 

If for whatever reason I was short of money, then I could quite easily exist on that which I could buy from the local supermarket/market and knock up a dish or two which would satisfy my tastebuds, all for a lot cheaper than my home country.

 

And if it is about comparing prices, then the house I bought here would cost me three times as much back home and my apartment rent for a month here would not even get me a shared room in someone else's house.

 

On to other things – – gasoline here is almost half the price as my home country and rates other incrementals etc here are cheap as to be almost non-existent.

 

I do know guys here who are living on the UK or Australian pensions and they struggle to do that, however if they were back in their home country they would struggle even more.

 

On the other hand I know guys like me who managed to put funds away or invest in a pension and can do just about whatever they want with regards to their living standards.

 

So in summary, this place can be as good or as bad as you want it to be provided you have the funds, however if you don't, then IMO you can still live a reasonable life here. 

Reasonable post.  I'm more on the side of thinking Thailand is no longer worth the tradeoffs, but we all have our own preferences and back story.  One thing that stands out in your post is that it sounds like you're retired.  I'm middle-aged and so is the OP.  By being here we leave a huge lot of money on the table.  I used to save more each year than currently make.  When I came here 5 years ago, it was something I really wanted to do with my life and I consciously made that tradeoff.  Now the shine has worn off and it's no longer worth it.

 

Another thing is what lies in one's past.  I left Belgium when I had barely turned 23 nearly 30 years ago, and the prospect of being back in a few years and making it my homebase to travel around Europe from, live in Gent, Antwerp or Brussels,... it seems quite appealing to me.  When I'm in Europe now, it's with the eyes of a tourist.  Now if I'd spent the past 40 years working in Belgium and were just retired, I would probably want to spread my wings and Thailand would at least initially seem attractive.

 

Another comment reading all these posts is that someone keeps saying we need apples to apples comparisons, but the reality is there's a lot of substitution going on when you move from one country to another.  Here you might more quickly take a taxi because it's cheap, but I get equal (actually better) utility from taking the public transport in most Western countries.  And so it goes for many products and this argument can be made for both sides here.

Edited July 28, 2018 by ChidlomDweller

[TooPoopedToPop]

1 hour ago, JLCrab said:

Sometimes when back in USA and mention that I live in Thailand, someone will say that they've been to Pattaya or Phuket. I say:

Those places are like Miami Beach for Thailand. Where I live, it's more like living in IOWA.

Iowa: Corn and soybeans. Isaan: Rice and sugar.

 

 

As is often said about Southern California... Iowa with palm trees.

[Batty]

On 7/26/2018 at 4:27 PM, Shiver said:

I suspect that comes back to the old question of "Is someone here because they want to be here?  Or, are they instead avoiding a problem elsewhere?".  The latter usually presents as "wherever you go, there you are, and the problem is in oneself.  I think perhaps that is who you're likely referring to as being a cock - not so much the country here, as the subject in question - the man in the mirror.  There are many here who have (on balance) a much better life than their origin country (and many that don't, also).

 

The people I seem to get on with best, are the ones that made themselves what they are, become successful in whatever definition that means to them, and eventually stop going too much on the well worn track, keep a very limited number of friends, and don't involve themselves in others affairs.  That could be further translated in to no debt (financial or otherwise), no lending, no problems with people (created or tolerated) and are generally very valuable people to have the privilege to know.

It seems also that there are some that have enjoyed their time here, but feel it's time to move on to pastures new.  Perfectly respectable decision also.

 

So your calling me a cock.  Thanks.

 

You are analyzing with cliches and sound like an student physiologist and I dont mean to be rude in suggesting that error as many people do the same.  But I must be honest and say Its such a boring, well trodden reasoning to suggest "there is another guy, running from his problems, head buried in sand, scared to go home".  Christ mate its so dull and predictable and its almost always the first port of call when two chaps on a bar stool (or concrete table outside a maa paa shop) are blasting a fellow ex pat.  This guy has issues.  Clearly here to escape something.

 

Some of us just stumbled here through, I admit, absolute ignorance at worst and lack of planning at best.  I am here after 15 years because... it just happened.  Cant that be a reason?  Must I be a social misfit who didn't fair well back home with people?  Or a fat stinking mess with zero charm, unable to chat up the birds back home and bailed to Thailand heading straight to the go go bars?  Make sure to wai the mamasan on your way in you know, respect local culture.  Then see how many fingers you can get up number 32.  Go on lad.

 

I had a pretty good life back home, quite eventful and dam good fun.  I had a mobile phone dealership selling contract phones on-line from 2001 through 2003 and in July of that year the business imploded for reasons out of my control.  I walked away with 30 grand, a rented house (no ties) no kids, and a car.  I thought sod it, I am 30, lets do a bit of traveling, spend 20 of the 30 grand I have and then come back and start another business.  I needed a break.  America sounds fun and I had visited a few times as a kid.  And with very little planning I decided on flying to Los Angeles and starting there.  Only I didn't.  During my final customer credit check with Orange on the phone (cell/mobile phone company in UK) I got chatting to the agent about moving to America.  He had just come back from Thailand, and told me about the way of life there, the cheap villas on the beach you can rent.  Fried rice and chicken with a beer for a pound.  Friendly locals. The beautiful women who love westerners.  Amazing islands and adventurous mountain destinations. And all around it, you have these mad countries to explore like Vietnam, Loas, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong. I randomly searched 'house for rent in Thailand' and this amazing 3 bed house popped up, surrounded by coconut trees, 5 minutes from a beach. 300 pounds a month.  I had spent that much the night before on a bender in London, I remember thinking.  300 pounds!  For a villa!  On an island!

 

I remember sitting on expedia website with two browser windows open, one for a L.A flight and one for flight to Koh Samui, undecided.  Eventually I chose koh Samui, booked a flight, put my furniture, car and electrical stuff in a lock up on a 6 month contract and buggered off to Thailand, telling my pals and family I would see them at the end of the year.  Everyone was surprised I was doing it, but pleased for me.  It was In hindsight looking back, totally random, deciding to travel.  I suspect if I had put more thought into it I would have stayed back home.

 

They call it chaos theory, dont they?  How a single small event can change the course of humanity?  I ponder that from time to time.  The Orange call center had 500 agents.  If I hadn't spoke to that one particular guy, at that very time, i would have never traveled to Thailand.  I wasn't even sure where it was to be honest.

 

I had so much fun in koh Samui, 6 months turned into 2 years but I burnt out.  I had spent a lot of time on the beer and partying I needed to move on.  So I went to Bangkok for a year and did even more partying.  How does that make sense?  Burn out in Koh Samui, so move to Bangkok?  I have no idea what I was thinking in that decision. So, even more burnt out after a year living just off Soi 4 and now at 33, I decided to move to kanchanaburi where it is green, lush, laid back, and cute.  A perfect place to slow down a bit.  I stayed there for 5 years and played golf in the day, and set up an on line business that I worked on at night, which did very well.  During no point in this first 8 years did I ever think 'ok, what am I doing?' Is this my life now?'.  Family and friends always pestered me about coming home.  What are you doing out there?  Why are you still there? But I never had an answer.  Its honestly something I never thought about.  I took everything day by day and just figured one day I will go home, when I feel like it.

 

More years went past and eventually I met a great girl, moved North and got married, brought a house and settled down.  My dad died 3 years ago and during that time I went home 3 or 4 times a year while he was sick and it was at this point that I woke up a little a realized that I had pretty much abandoned my country and suddenly missed it.  I would land at Heathrow and there would always be 2 or 3 friends waiting for me, before we headed off to the pub to meet more friends and have a great night.  I would spend the days visiting my Dad and family and aimlessly driving around the countryside, remembering how nice it is back there, wondering why I abandoned it, and the nights in the pub with mates having a great laugh.  It just suddenly happened over those 2 or 3 years of visiting the UK - I became uber home sick - and every time I returned to Thailand I felt bummed out to be back.

 

I guess I just stumbled here through blind chance, failed to plan, and woke up 15 years later thinking bugger, I am still here?  I own a house and stuff?

 

I built an amazing on-line business through my time here and now it is over, I regret squandering the money I made from it.  I could have saved easily enough to buy a bloody huge house back home but I didn't.  I was an idiot. Business class flights everywhere, hotels always had to be Hiltons, Sheratons, Mariots.  Wardrobe after wardrobe of expensive clothes. Bikes, cars.  All the trappings. I had friends in Miami and over a 4 year period I would fly there, business class, three times a year for 3 weeks each visit, blowing money. I look back on all that now and think I guess I wasn't truly happy here and filled a void with crap that I didn't need.  I got jaded with the bar scene years ago, got fed up with golf and for a good few years didn't do very much here: just a quiet life with lavish holidays back home, Miami, Caribbean, and all over S.E.Asia mixed in.  I should have been honest with myself at the time and admitted I wasn't truly happy in Thailand, time to go home.  But for some reason I just figured everything would work itself out and plodded on, with no plan, spending money.  And when you have money, it is easy to use it to fudge over problems.  And for that reason, I wouldn't blame you for calling me a cock.  It was foolish and short sighted and now the business is over and I am making a modest living, I feel stupid.  For a bright guy, I made a dumb mistake of winging it in life with zero plan.  So fair enough - call me a cock for that, because I am.

 

But I am most definitely not a cock in the way you might imply.  I am not a social misfit, I can easily sit in a bar full of strangers and tell a few stories, get everyone laughing.  I do have some measure of charm, unlike some of the morons you meet sometimes here whose soul level of concern lies with the cost of Chang going up at Dream Girl bar, baked beans in Macro being too saucy, and how Davids wife is cheating on him with a Thai guy.  I just made the mistake of taking everything for granted, failing to plan: and now i miss home, dont realy want to live here anymore, but cant just 'go back' and sofa surf with my wife who I adore, watching her suffer with the same feelings I have now in being home sick for her country and family/friends.  If I had a good few hundred grand in the bank I would buy a house back there and spend the summers there with her.  Or leave her here and get my fix of England for 3 months a year.  Either of those scenarios would be fine for me and I would enjoy the other 9 months in Thailand quite happily.  Maybe one day it will happen, I do have a track record of getting back on top financially when chips are down so maybe I will make something else work and get the money together in a few years.  Or maybe crypto currency will go up ten fold and I can cash in and do it that way.  

 

But for the time being, here I am.  Just a bloke who didn't plan and stumbled here, for a long time.  Its not a bad life, dont get me wrong - I own a house, a couple of nice cars and bikes, owe no money to anyone and have potential to make a living.  I just feel a bit bored and lost here these days. It suddenly feels arbitrary, my living here.  I feel silly for not predicting this years ago, and stupid for not being wiser with my money. 

 

Feel free anyone to analyze all this but let me be clear - you can jazz this up however you like but I am telling you now, there is no underlying reason for 'bailing' on the UK.  It just happened.

 

 

[BritManToo]

27 minutes ago, Batty said:

"there is another guy, running from his problems, head buried in sand, scared to go home".

I've always found the best way to avoid most problems is to move far away.

(Unless you're ill, can't run from illness)

[BradinAsia]

1 hour ago, LomSak27 said:

 

For a good 80 per cent of the population developing the country into a giant Pattaya seems both a good thing and praiseworthy goal and that has been a fact for a very long time.
 

 

Pray tell, where did you dig up this gleaming jewel of wisdom? Maybe from deep in your nether regions.

 

 

[JLCrab]

26 minutes ago, Batty said:

<snip> I just made the mistake of taking everything for granted, failing to plan: <snip2>

Feel free anyone to analyze all this but let me be clear - you can jazz this up however you like but I am telling you now, there is no underlying reason for 'bailing' on the UK.  It just happened.

OK since I am free to analyze, let me just say that I have spent a lot of time in the great State of New Hampshire, and there, we take everything for granite.

[Shiver]

33 minutes ago, Batty said:

 

So your calling me a cock.  Thanks.

 

You are analyzing with cliches and sound like an student physiologist and I dont mean to be rude in suggesting that error as many people do the same.  But I must be honest and say Its such a boring, well trodden reasoning to suggest "there is another guy, running from his problems, head buried in sand, scared to go home".  Christ mate its so dull and predictable and its almost always the first port of call when two chaps on a bar stool (or concrete table outside a maa paa shop) are blasting a fellow ex pat.  This guy has issues.  Clearly here to escape something.

 

Some of us just stumbled here through, I admit, absolute ignorance at worst and lack of planning at best.  I am here after 15 years because... it just happened.  Cant that be a reason?  Must I be a social misfit who didn't fair well back home with people?  Or a fat stinking mess with zero charm, unable to chat up the birds back home and bailed to Thailand heading straight to the go go bars?  Make sure to wai the mamasan on your way in you know, respect local culture.  Then see how many fingers you can get up number 32.  Go on lad.

 

I had a pretty good life back home, quite eventful and dam good fun.  I had a mobile phone dealership selling contract phones on-line from 2001 through 2003 and in July of that year the business imploded for reasons out of my control.  I walked away with 30 grand, a rented house (no ties) no kids, and a car.  I thought sod it, I am 30, lets do a bit of traveling, spend 20 of the 30 grand I have and then come back and start another business.  I needed a break.  America sounds fun and I had visited a few times as a kid.  And with very little planning I decided on flying to Los Angeles and starting there.  Only I didn't.  During my final customer credit check with Orange on the phone (cell/mobile phone company in UK) I got chatting to the agent about moving to America.  He had just come back from Thailand, and told me about the way of life there, the cheap villas on the beach you can rent.  Fried rice and chicken with a beer for a pound.  Friendly locals. The beautiful women who love westerners.  Amazing islands and adventurous mountain destinations. And all around it, you have these mad countries to explore like Vietnam, Loas, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong. I randomly searched 'house for rent in Thailand' and this amazing 3 bed house popped up, surrounded by coconut trees, 5 minutes from a beach. 300 pounds a month.  I had spent that much the night before on a bender in London, I remember thinking.  300 pounds!  For a villa!  On an island!

 

I remember sitting on expedia website with two browser windows open, one for a L.A flight and one for flight to Koh Samui, undecided.  Eventually I chose koh Samui, booked a flight, put my furniture, car and electrical stuff in a lock up on a 6 month contract and buggered off to Thailand, telling my pals and family I would see them at the end of the year.  Everyone was surprised I was doing it, but pleased for me.  It was In hindsight looking back, totally random, deciding to travel.  I suspect if I had put more thought into it I would have stayed back home.

 

They call it chaos theory, dont they?  How a single small event can change the course of humanity?  I ponder that from time to time.  The Orange call center had 500 agents.  If I hadn't spoke to that one particular guy, at that very time, i would have never traveled to Thailand.  I wasn't even sure where it was to be honest.

 

I had so much fun in koh Samui, 6 months turned into 2 years but I burnt out.  I had spent a lot of time on the beer and partying I needed to move on.  So I went to Bangkok for a year and did even more partying.  How does that make sense?  Burn out in Koh Samui, so move to Bangkok?  I have no idea what I was thinking in that decision. So, even more burnt out after a year living just off Soi 4 and now at 33, I decided to move to kanchanaburi where it is green, lush, laid back, and cute.  A perfect place to slow down a bit.  I stayed there for 5 years and played golf in the day, and set up an on line business that I worked on at night, which did very well.  During no point in this first 8 years did I ever think 'ok, what am I doing?' Is this my life now?'.  Family and friends always pestered me about coming home.  What are you doing out there?  Why are you still there? But I never had an answer.  Its honestly something I never thought about.  I took everything day by day and just figured one day I will go home, when I feel like it.

 

More years went past and eventually I met a great girl, moved North and got married, brought a house and settled down.  My dad died 3 years ago and during that time I went home 3 or 4 times a year while he was sick and it was at this point that I woke up a little a realized that I had pretty much abandoned my country and suddenly missed it.  I would land at Heathrow and there would always be 2 or 3 friends waiting for me, before we headed off to the pub to meet more friends and have a great night.  I would spend the days visiting my Dad and family and aimlessly driving around the countryside, remembering how nice it is back there, wondering why I abandoned it, and the nights in the pub with mates having a great laugh.  It just suddenly happened over those 2 or 3 years of visiting the UK - I became uber home sick - and every time I returned to Thailand I felt bummed out to be back.

 

I guess I just stumbled here through blind chance, failed to plan, and woke up 15 years later thinking bugger, I am still here?  I own a house and stuff?

 

I built an amazing on-line business through my time here and now it is over, I regret squandering the money I made from it.  I could have saved easily enough to buy a bloody huge house back home but I didn't.  I was an idiot. Business class flights everywhere, hotels always had to be Hiltons, Sheratons, Mariots.  Wardrobe after wardrobe of expensive clothes. Bikes, cars.  All the trappings. I had friends in Miami and over a 4 year period I would fly there, business class, three times a year for 3 weeks each visit, blowing money. I look back on all that now and think I guess I wasn't truly happy here and filled a void with crap that I didn't need.  I got jaded with the bar scene years ago, got fed up with golf and for a good few years didn't do very much here: just a quiet life with lavish holidays back home, Miami, Caribbean, and all over S.E.Asia mixed in.  I should have been honest with myself at the time and admitted I wasn't truly happy in Thailand, time to go home.  But for some reason I just figured everything would work itself out and plodded on, with no plan, spending money.  And when you have money, it is easy to use it to fudge over problems.  And for that reason, I wouldn't blame you for calling me a cock.  It was foolish and short sighted and now the business is over and I am making a modest living, I feel stupid.  For a bright guy, I made a dumb mistake of winging it in life with zero plan.  So fair enough - call me a cock for that, because I am.

 

But I am most definitely not a cock in the way you might imply.  I am not a social misfit, I can easily sit in a bar full of strangers and tell a few stories, get everyone laughing.  I do have some measure of charm, unlike some of the morons you meet sometimes here whose soul level of concern lies with the cost of Chang going up at Dream Girl bar, baked beans in Macro being too saucy, and how Davids wife is cheating on him with a Thai guy.  I just made the mistake of taking everything for granted, failing to plan: and now i miss home, dont realy want to live here anymore, but cant just 'go back' and sofa surf with my wife who I adore, watching her suffer with the same feelings I have now in being home sick for her country and family/friends.  If I had a good few hundred grand in the bank I would buy a house back there and spend the summers there with her.  Or leave her here and get my fix of England for 3 months a year.  Either of those scenarios would be fine for me and I would enjoy the other 9 months in Thailand quite happily.  Maybe one day it will happen, I do have a track record of getting back on top financially when chips are down so maybe I will make something else work and get the money together in a few years.  Or maybe crypto currency will go up ten fold and I can cash in and do it that way.  

 

But for the time being, here I am.  Just a bloke who didn't plan and stumbled here, for a long time.  Its not a bad life, dont get me wrong - I own a house, a couple of nice cars and bikes, owe no money to anyone and have potential to make a living.  I just feel a bit bored and lost here these days. It suddenly feels arbitrary, my living here.  I feel silly for not predicting this years ago, and stupid for not being wiser with my money. 

 

Feel free anyone to analyze all this but let me be clear - you can jazz this up however you like but I am telling you now, there is no underlying reason for 'bailing' on the UK.  It just happened.

 

 

I didn't call you or anyone a cock.  I was quoting a previous post.  It's not my way to address anyone like that.

Few hundred K in the bank....  I would never do that again.  It's not maintaining it's purchasing power, it's not in your hands (it's not yours), and they're not insured for when the S hit's the Fan.  Crypto?  It's one of the things I did (and do), but I also see a lot of people getting 'rekt' in doing so.  Being your own bank comes with responsibilities.  If you can "keep your head when all about you are losing theirs" then you've got a gift not available to almost any generation before us. 

Edited July 28, 2018 by Shiver

[Odysseus123]

57 minutes ago, Batty said:

 

So your calling me a cock.  Thanks.

 

You are analyzing with cliches and sound like an student physiologist and I dont mean to be rude in suggesting that error as many people do the same.  But I must be honest and say Its such a boring, well trodden reasoning to suggest "there is another guy, running from his problems, head buried in sand, scared to go home".  Christ mate its so dull and predictable and its almost always the first port of call when two chaps on a bar stool (or concrete table outside a maa paa shop) are blasting a fellow ex pat.  This guy has issues.  Clearly here to escape something.

 

Some of us just stumbled here through, I admit, absolute ignorance at worst and lack of planning at best.  I am here after 15 years because... it just happened.  Cant that be a reason?  Must I be a social misfit who didn't fair well back home with people?  Or a fat stinking mess with zero charm, unable to chat up the birds back home and bailed to Thailand heading straight to the go go bars?  Make sure to wai the mamasan on your way in you know, respect local culture.  Then see how many fingers you can get up number 32.  Go on lad.

 

I had a pretty good life back home, quite eventful and dam good fun.  I had a mobile phone dealership selling contract phones on-line from 2001 through 2003 and in July of that year the business imploded for reasons out of my control.  I walked away with 30 grand, a rented house (no ties) no kids, and a car.  I thought sod it, I am 30, lets do a bit of traveling, spend 20 of the 30 grand I have and then come back and start another business.  I needed a break.  America sounds fun and I had visited a few times as a kid.  And with very little planning I decided on flying to Los Angeles and starting there.  Only I didn't.  During my final customer credit check with Orange on the phone (cell/mobile phone company in UK) I got chatting to the agent about moving to America.  He had just come back from Thailand, and told me about the way of life there, the cheap villas on the beach you can rent.  Fried rice and chicken with a beer for a pound.  Friendly locals. The beautiful women who love westerners.  Amazing islands and adventurous mountain destinations. And all around it, you have these mad countries to explore like Vietnam, Loas, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong. I randomly searched 'house for rent in Thailand' and this amazing 3 bed house popped up, surrounded by coconut trees, 5 minutes from a beach. 300 pounds a month.  I had spent that much the night before on a bender in London, I remember thinking.  300 pounds!  For a villa!  On an island!

 

I remember sitting on expedia website with two browser windows open, one for a L.A flight and one for flight to Koh Samui, undecided.  Eventually I chose koh Samui, booked a flight, put my furniture, car and electrical stuff in a lock up on a 6 month contract and buggered off to Thailand, telling my pals and family I would see them at the end of the year.  Everyone was surprised I was doing it, but pleased for me.  It was In hindsight looking back, totally random, deciding to travel.  I suspect if I had put more thought into it I would have stayed back home.

 

They call it chaos theory, dont they?  How a single small event can change the course of humanity?  I ponder that from time to time.  The Orange call center had 500 agents.  If I hadn't spoke to that one particular guy, at that very time, i would have never traveled to Thailand.  I wasn't even sure where it was to be honest.

 

I had so much fun in koh Samui, 6 months turned into 2 years but I burnt out.  I had spent a lot of time on the beer and partying I needed to move on.  So I went to Bangkok for a year and did even more partying.  How does that make sense?  Burn out in Koh Samui, so move to Bangkok?  I have no idea what I was thinking in that decision. So, even more burnt out after a year living just off Soi 4 and now at 33, I decided to move to kanchanaburi where it is green, lush, laid back, and cute.  A perfect place to slow down a bit.  I stayed there for 5 years and played golf in the day, and set up an on line business that I worked on at night, which did very well.  During no point in this first 8 years did I ever think 'ok, what am I doing?' Is this my life now?'.  Family and friends always pestered me about coming home.  What are you doing out there?  Why are you still there? But I never had an answer.  Its honestly something I never thought about.  I took everything day by day and just figured one day I will go home, when I feel like it.

 

More years went past and eventually I met a great girl, moved North and got married, brought a house and settled down.  My dad died 3 years ago and during that time I went home 3 or 4 times a year while he was sick and it was at this point that I woke up a little a realized that I had pretty much abandoned my country and suddenly missed it.  I would land at Heathrow and there would always be 2 or 3 friends waiting for me, before we headed off to the pub to meet more friends and have a great night.  I would spend the days visiting my Dad and family and aimlessly driving around the countryside, remembering how nice it is back there, wondering why I abandoned it, and the nights in the pub with mates having a great laugh.  It just suddenly happened over those 2 or 3 years of visiting the UK - I became uber home sick - and every time I returned to Thailand I felt bummed out to be back.

 

I guess I just stumbled here through blind chance, failed to plan, and woke up 15 years later thinking bugger, I am still here?  I own a house and stuff?

 

I built an amazing on-line business through my time here and now it is over, I regret squandering the money I made from it.  I could have saved easily enough to buy a bloody huge house back home but I didn't.  I was an idiot. Business class flights everywhere, hotels always had to be Hiltons, Sheratons, Mariots.  Wardrobe after wardrobe of expensive clothes. Bikes, cars.  All the trappings. I had friends in Miami and over a 4 year period I would fly there, business class, three times a year for 3 weeks each visit, blowing money. I look back on all that now and think I guess I wasn't truly happy here and filled a void with crap that I didn't need.  I got jaded with the bar scene years ago, got fed up with golf and for a good few years didn't do very much here: just a quiet life with lavish holidays back home, Miami, Caribbean, and all over S.E.Asia mixed in.  I should have been honest with myself at the time and admitted I wasn't truly happy in Thailand, time to go home.  But for some reason I just figured everything would work itself out and plodded on, with no plan, spending money.  And when you have money, it is easy to use it to fudge over problems.  And for that reason, I wouldn't blame you for calling me a cock.  It was foolish and short sighted and now the business is over and I am making a modest living, I feel stupid.  For a bright guy, I made a dumb mistake of winging it in life with zero plan.  So fair enough - call me a cock for that, because I am.

 

But I am most definitely not a cock in the way you might imply.  I am not a social misfit, I can easily sit in a bar full of strangers and tell a few stories, get everyone laughing.  I do have some measure of charm, unlike some of the morons you meet sometimes here whose soul level of concern lies with the cost of Chang going up at Dream Girl bar, baked beans in Macro being too saucy, and how Davids wife is cheating on him with a Thai guy.  I just made the mistake of taking everything for granted, failing to plan: and now i miss home, dont realy want to live here anymore, but cant just 'go back' and sofa surf with my wife who I adore, watching her suffer with the same feelings I have now in being home sick for her country and family/friends.  If I had a good few hundred grand in the bank I would buy a house back there and spend the summers there with her.  Or leave her here and get my fix of England for 3 months a year.  Either of those scenarios would be fine for me and I would enjoy the other 9 months in Thailand quite happily.  Maybe one day it will happen, I do have a track record of getting back on top financially when chips are down so maybe I will make something else work and get the money together in a few years.  Or maybe crypto currency will go up ten fold and I can cash in and do it that way.  

 

But for the time being, here I am.  Just a bloke who didn't plan and stumbled here, for a long time.  Its not a bad life, dont get me wrong - I own a house, a couple of nice cars and bikes, owe no money to anyone and have potential to make a living.  I just feel a bit bored and lost here these days. It suddenly feels arbitrary, my living here.  I feel silly for not predicting this years ago, and stupid for not being wiser with my money. 

 

Feel free anyone to analyze all this but let me be clear - you can jazz this up however you like but I am telling you now, there is no underlying reason for 'bailing' on the UK.  It just happened.

 

 

I enjoyed reading your post because you placed the emphasis on the fact that you are an individual and hence giving a personable response.

 

Another poster has commented that our vision does not have to be "binary" that is:home country good-Thailand bad (or vice versa) which I also agree with.

 

I do not,in actual fact,see anyone whingeing on this thread-they are just telling it how it is (or was) for them

 

I returned to Australia because my Thai doctors thought that it was a good idea and the Aussie doctors also agreed when I ended up on their doorstep.

 

I live in a nice place,joined the library and an Arts group...potter about on a mobility scooter,have heaps of support,enjoy the social badinage with other Aussies and stay in close contact with my Thai family who are (as we speak) sending me photos of the candle festival in Ubon Ratchathani.

 

Vive' la difference...I would say.

 

Ody.

 

Both look great (in different ways) to me..

 

 

Edited July 28, 2018 by Odysseus123
clarity