I have not read every page of this thread but I have read a great many of them, it is fascinating to see such diverse and informative responses.

 

I have been here permanently for the last 7 years, and prior to that I visited regularly for 5 or 6 years for 2 months a year, the only thing I can really add is that we are all different and our needs & wants and indeed our expectations in life are all different. 

 

I have a lovely lady who takes care of me and the house, I don't own property I rent, I have my own car, and a great circle of friends in and around the Pattaya area, we go out a few times a week to our favourite bar to chat and gossip, eat out etc, life really couldn't be better, I'm not one for the beach as I don't really like to sunbathe so I stay indoors most of the time, I don't have time to get bored though, apart from TVF I like to cook, keep up on world affairs and listen to my favourite radio station from the UK via internet.

 

Yes Thailand gets my goat sometimes, and I do get p*ssed off with it on occasions for all the reasons quoted throughout this entire thread, but I am happy with my life, I am not rich, I am comfortable, that helps, so I let Thailand's woes wash over me unless it impacts me directly (crap drivers, crap workmen, crap customer service, crap police etc etc) I'm sure you get the picture.

 

I sold up in the UK and moved here, the first morning I woke up here, it was still darkish due to jet lag, I stood on the balcony with a cup of tea and a cigarette (I've since quit smoking) and wondered if I had done the right thing. After 7 great years I think I can say yes, I did make the right decision, I have traveled extensively in Thailand, it is a beautiful country (except for the chuffin rubbish/trash) 

 

But, sometimes I find myself reflecting on my life here, there are so many things I want to say but don't want this to turn into a rambling incoherent post. I consider myself very lucky, I rent a large 3 bed, 2 bathroom single story house on the outskirts of Pattaya for ฿15000, the utilities are as cheap as chips, and everything I need is within a 20 minute drive, on the other hand I have a brother in the UK living basically in a 1 Bed shoe box on the outskirts of Romford Essex costing him £600 a month plus council tax, electric,water, etc etc.

 

So, don't bemoan what you have, remember what you had when you made your choice to move here and occasionally reflect on why you left your home country.

 

Cheers all 

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

... but I might hire 20-year-old hookers more often.

The soi next to where I live has some decent apartments (bedroom/living room/kitchen/balcony) for 4k/month and is surrounded by Thai uni girls accommodation, sitting outside that room with a beer in an evening wouldn't be a bad life.

I would move the 'more' to just after 'hire'! 

Not sure that sitting around looking at Thai Uni girls would be an adequate retirement for me, I would need some kind of project that would keep my mind occupied. Perhaps 'trying to work out what the hell kind of business @LivinLOS is doing, that needs 600 employees in Europe!' ? 

 

5 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

And what about income

Provided one has enough to buy what one wants and to go where one wants then everything else is surplus to requirements IMO.

 

Even if I had a few million$ plonked in my lap I wouldn't want a big house/villa or whatever, tried a 4 bed, 3 bath, large pool place here and didn't like it one bit; small car just right for nipping around the place and would want no bigger here (had my share of the "namers")………...one thing I might do is buy a small apt in Auckland, but then I recently sold one, so what's the point, and work of any description doesn't do it for me any more, nor does flying.

 

Perhaps I'm like others who are satisfied with what they've got and don't need anything else to make them happy, esp at the age of 70 and had a good life?

A profane troll post has been removed. 

On 7/20/2018 at 5:45 PM, poanoi said:

cambodia only ever has low quality foam mattresses,

i broke my back after a single night in the first shithole,

i bought the most expensive spring mattress i could find

for the 2nd shithole, but it was still no quality.

its also a possibility that i broke my back so hard in the first night so nothing can change it back,

i cant even tell if a mattress or chair is good or not, for i never sense comfort

Go see a top chiropractor PDQ, pretty darn quickly!!! 

 

It was in Incheon, korea where I encountered a hotel bed which was much harder than anything I ever encountered before...

 

Go get a water bed

To me it's not black and white

I visit Europe in the hot season. I can return to the UK permanently anytime I want. The winter is dreadful ....Thailand suits me for the time being..When it doesn't I'll leave

On 7/20/2018 at 10:50 PM, oxforddon said:

Some interesting points. I came here 52 years ago so have seen most of the changes that people don't like but somehow the very "essence" of life here has not changed drastically. I don't have much of a choice about staying on since the UK offers no pension or benefits for me having left so long ago that I am not entitled to anything there. And having been a contract player when working, when contracts finished there was no pension there either after retirement. With my two grown up half-Thai daughters having done well in schooling, marriages and careers etc. I am supported and live quietly and divorced these days and just flow with it all - gravitating to the things that I like and avoiding the things that I don't like. Thing is, we are all different in past experiences, personalities and circumstances that there are no strict guidelines for life here - or anywhere else for that matter.

Your observations are most interesting. I too first arrived in the late 1960s and visited frequently until the mid-1980s, when I worked there.

 

I wonder whether the apparent degradation of classical culture has not been much more exacerbated in the big cities. Living in Hua Hin or Khon Kaen might be much more like "the good old days" perhaps...

9 hours ago, Byron Allen Black said:

Your observations are most interesting. I too first arrived in the late 1960s and visited frequently until the mid-1980s, when I worked there.

 

I wonder whether the apparent degradation of classical culture has not been much more exacerbated in the big cities. Living in Hua Hin or Khon Kaen might be much more like "the good old days" perhaps...

It would be very interesting to hear the perspective of the people who've been here for 30-50 years, what life was like through detailed personal stories.  Could probably fill an interesting book with all those stories.  

21 minutes ago, ChidlomDweller said:

It would be very interesting to hear the perspective of the people who've been here for 30-50 years, what life was like through detailed personal stories.  Could probably fill an interesting book with all those stories.  

I actually did write a book with some snippets of my life here, mostly as a fun gift for friends one Christmas some time back. If I had to name one thing that made "Thainess" constant for me it would be the friendship of Thais met during my work and/or my music days. Mostly Bangkokians with decent schooling and a healthy acceptance that not everything in Thailand is great but lots of things are. At the other end of that educational or employment scale outside of Bangkok, so many nice Thais have been met who are living as best as they can, with a smile and commitment to their families' better future. I find it is not that hard to avoid the more cynical  and less pleasant people be they Thai or other nationalities. Maybe that is the secret ?

1 hour ago, oxforddon said:

I actually did write a book with some snippets of my life here, mostly as a fun gift for friends one Christmas some time back. If I had to name one thing that made "Thainess" constant for me it would be the friendship of Thais met during my work and/or my music days. Mostly Bangkokians with decent schooling and a healthy acceptance that not everything in Thailand is great but lots of things are. At the other end of that educational or employment scale outside of Bangkok, so many nice Thais have been met who are living as best as they can, with a smile and commitment to their families' better future. I find it is not that hard to avoid the more cynical  and less pleasant people be they Thai or other nationalities. Maybe that is the secret ?

The wife's family in the village is like a microcosm of Thai (poorer) society. They are generally hardworking and cheerful, with the kids being about 50/50 between good kids and good-for-nothing drug-addicts. Several have started University, but only one has continued. Most of them doomed to continue in subsistence farming for the foreseeable future. I've tried to have conversations about market prices, soil conditions, middle-men and applying some post-processing to their produce to get more value, but the height of their ambition is to buy a truck. 

On the other hand, they don't seem unhappy (the guys anyway), so perhaps I should just stay the hell out of it! (I believe this is what the Thai government is trying to tell us!)

22 hours ago, manjara said:

Perhaps 'trying to work out what the hell kind of business @LivinLOS is doing, that needs 600 employees in Europe!'

Auf verdersien pet construction workers.. 

 

Only got about mid 40 now, and will be happy to maintain 100 with a low personal workload. Dont want to get into the cycle of work commitments I did when I was young.

14 hours ago, Byron Allen Black said:

Your observations are most interesting. I too first arrived in the late 1960s and visited frequently until the mid-1980s, when I worked there.

 

I wonder whether the apparent degradation of classical culture has not been much more exacerbated in the big cities. Living in Hua Hin or Khon Kaen might be much more like "the good old days" perhaps...

I am only twenty minutes from town and it is a world away from worlds. Yes, ambition is not at the heights of what I meet in town but most seem a lot happier. 50/50 in rates of good and bad but steering clear of the bars and the such for the past three years has opened my eyes up to the fact, over the years, hanging around shat people (50/50 mix of Thais and farangs) and not dealing with them now has improved my life tenfold. Only 10 years here this coming November so I am still a baby by most standards but many people whom I have met here and whom have gone home have set themselves up to fail (mostly due to being under 50, not enough funds or setting themselves up with shat people/gold diggers). Soon as I got away from the bar image an loser girls, things improved no end. Yet trying like I did once to live in a remote village with a family that used me made me understand not to put myself in such a position again. Learn by your mistakes. Our choice can make the difference in happiness just between a 5 day stop over or a 50 year layover like some of the old-timers have done here.

On July 27, 2018 at 7:30 PM, LomSak27 said:

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.

im thinking thailand is going to evolve into a brothel of sorts for the chinese

 

thousands of men over there with small weiners who cant get off and when they do its rushed

 

they are also really stressed out in a communist country and need to get off. eventually they may have much more then a lane at the airport perhaps with a special train connection or some type of easy mass transport system

A couple of off-topic posts about Brexit have been removed from this thread.

 

Over 20 years and fine... more good than bad..... love new openings

i hope the thread poster made his own decision about where to live and was not led astray or influenced by other peoples decisions.

Went back to the states a few years ago... Settled into a routine of processed foods... Expensive housing and utilities... And oh yes,  the obese women everywhere...

 

Funny thing to me is they do not seem to notice or care... Even young people have lost their sense of dignity when it comes to carrying too much weight... 

 

Back to Thailand last Feb... Left the tourist area for more rural life in Issan...rent large modern house $270 month...utilities are a fraction of the cost in US...fresh meats and veggies...feel free and safe to walk or use public transportation...people are friendly enough... 

Have a lady friend who keeps herself fit, excellent cook,  housekeeper and companion.

 

What's not to like?  Constant reporting to immigration...culture of taking advantage of farangs when there is a money transaction...too many episodes to discuss here. 

On 8/7/2018 at 8:38 AM, Dick Crank said:

im thinking thailand is going to evolve into a brothel of sorts for the chinese

 

thousands of men over there with small weiners who cant get off and when they do its rushed

 

they are also really stressed out in a communist country and need to get off. eventually they may have much more then a lane at the airport perhaps with a special train connection or some type of easy mass transport system

interesting! how many Chinese wieners have you experienced?

7 hours ago, Naam said:

interesting! how many Chinese wieners have you experienced?

His name is Dick Crank after all :)

 

9 hours ago, Naam said:

interesting! how many Chinese wieners have you experienced?

If they have small wieners they must be extremely coefficient users since there are so many of them.

On 7/21/2018 at 4:32 PM, dotpoom said:

I like my own company and do not have a need to be amoung people.  I will give help if I can be of assistance and that's about it.

   This type of personality allows me the ability to live almost anywhere (that's warm and not expensive).

Same here, exactly. PS, don't PM me 555

On 12/13/2018 at 3:02 PM, Puchaiyank said:

Went back to the states a few years ago... Settled into a routine of processed foods... Expensive housing and utilities... And oh yes,  the obese women everywhere...

 

Funny thing to me is they do not seem to notice or care... Even young people have lost their sense of dignity when it comes to carrying too much weight... 

 

Back to Thailand last Feb... Left the tourist area for more rural life in Issan...rent large modern house $270 month...utilities are a fraction of the cost in US...fresh meats and veggies...feel free and safe to walk or use public transportation...people are friendly enough... 

Have a lady friend who keeps herself fit, excellent cook,  housekeeper and companion.

 

What's not to like?  Constant reporting to immigration...culture of taking advantage of farangs when there is a money transaction...too many episodes to discuss here. 

I lived in Thailand a long time, and I can go around and around on this.

 

On the cost side, well when I first went to Thailand in the early 2000's there was not contest between living in Thailand and the US, living a similar lifestyle.

 

Over time, that became a trickier comparison. Now the US is a big country, and cost vary widely, but for me at least it was at best similar, give or take glaring differences, but not much.

 

I'll caveat this by saying we lived a very Western lifestyle in Thailand, if you're living in an Isaan tin shack and eating somtam off the street, well all bets are off.

 

Me and my Thai wife, now do the two country thing. We live in the US, while doing the snowbird thing back to our house in Thailand every year.

 

We're happier doing this since, and again this was my experience, not everybodies but, after many years Thailand can overwhelm you. Being a tourist for a few months is fine, you can suspend disbelief for that long

1 hour ago, GinBoy2 said:

I lived in Thailand a long time, and I can go around and around on this.

 

On the cost side, well when I first went to Thailand in the early 2000's there was not contest between living in Thailand and the US, living a similar lifestyle.

 

Over time, that became a trickier comparison. Now the US is a big country, and cost vary widely, but for me at least it was at best similar, give or take glaring differences, but not much.

 

I'll caveat this by saying we lived a very Western lifestyle in Thailand, if you're living in an Isaan tin shack and eating somtam off the street, well all bets are off.

 

Me and my Thai wife, now do the two country thing. We live in the US, while doing the snowbird thing back to our house in Thailand every year.

 

We're happier doing this since, and again this was my experience, not everybodies but, after many years Thailand can overwhelm you. Being a tourist for a few months is fine, you can suspend disbelief for that long

Not looking for things to criticize here...genuinely curious...what kinds of things did you find overwhelming? 

 

My pet-peeve is the culture of money transaction corruption...purchase large or small leaves one vulnerable to being scammed. 

 

I have lived in Thailand off and on since the 1960s...no tourist...live a comfortable lifestyle with large western style house, car and do not pinch pennies...at a fraction of the costs of similar living in US.  

 

The biggest difficulity I find between the US and Thailand is the language... 

How are you getting scammed making transactions?

That has not been my experience.

18 minutes ago, mogandave said:

How are you getting scammed making transactions?

That has not been my experience.

I think it should be how are you not getting scammed.

I think it should be how are you not getting scammed.

By paying attention?

I know what the price is.

I know what I give them.

I know what I get back.

Not that complicated really.

As far as contractors fulfilling their end of an agreement, they seem to be easy to work with and do the best they can to satisfy their end of the agreement.

How do you get cheated?

On 7/20/2018 at 5:32 PM, poanoi said:

i left after 13 years and moved to cambodia,

thinking it was going to be less painful

than any more visa runs to laos,

but i got that part wrong, i have not had so much

unbearable pain in the rest of the world combined

as i had in cambodia, so when my 3 years in exile

was finally up and i was 50, i moved back to thailand.

But: it became cemented injuries, i can no longer live a life,

i have too much pain every second, i wish for death

Very sorry to read comments like this. I don't know your situation, but my problems with Thailand have been mostly bureaucratic foolishness, such as the current situation with "proof of income". Thai bureaucracy seems to LIVE to make things more difficult than they have to be. I didn't expect to have everything as simple as it was when I lived in the USA, but the inflexibility of Thai Immigration is nearly intolerable unless you have money to burn. Even the "corruption" can sometimes be made to work in your favor, but bureaucracy here in Thailand is almost a textbook case of Max Weber's definitive analysis of the subject. It infects everything it touches.

Apparently Bali is now beating Thailand. In accepting Expats 

 

more & more Aussues tetiring to Bali

 

Cheap nice Bali

Yep and a nice active volcano to worry about..

3 hours ago, mogandave said:

How are you getting scammed making transactions?

That has not been my experience.

Me neither.