8 minutes ago, markusss said:

I consider myself one of those folks- Which has made it very easy to stay here for so long. Outside of close friends, I can't say I've felt a longing to be close to my family again. They only contact me when someone has died. In my experience my family only ever got together on 2 occasions: funerals and Christmas. The latter being on the wane since my grand parents died. This has always been a point of interest and even concern from many Thais who can't comprehend a life without a loving family. But it is what it is.

 

Me too.

Married to a wonderful Thai lady I have been coming to Thailand on and off for over 13 years now .by now I have a pretty good handle about things in Thailand.

I am 61 now and we are getting ready to move there full time next spring. If we sold all out property in the US we would be sitting on a lot of money but as tempting as that might be  I am keeping put Florida home

Perhaps we will rent it .I have seen the old age issues suffered by others and when and if my turn comes I want to be able to return home.

After I am gone wife can do what ever she wants

Please excuse any typos. I am doing this on my phone and I can barely see what I am typing LOL

4 hours ago, 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

 

 

What's wrong with Cambodia ?!

 

 

I wanted to leave but as weed will soon become legal in some ways here, no more reason to leave !

 

 

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.

I live and work for the last 20y in Thailand. Probably I will stay, returning to my home country is not an option. During the past 20y many moslims immigrated to my country in such way they dramatically changed it. It doesn’t feel like my country anymore it became theirs. But there are still many beautiful places in the world, I hope, one day, to find peace and rest in one of them.


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2 hours ago, goegoe said:

 

 

What's wrong with Cambodia ?!

 

 

no quality, no assortment, no electric, no nuffing,

just foam mattresses and candy as far as the eye could see

I have no plans to stay here permanently or die here. When I have lost the will to live, have lost the capacity to have fun, have been defeated, I will return to the UK to rot.

After some years of staying in Thailand, many Farangs suddenly begin to realise that Thailand is not so cheap as they first thought, their lives did not change dramatically by experiencing wonderful new adventures and did not meet exciting new people and all the dreams they had of making great new friendships did not materialise.

 

The Thai women are not so free and easy as they had been led to believe, (no money, no honey) and they find it difficult or impossible to fit in and adapt to the Thai attitudes and way of life.

 

Thailand is a country that for westerners, they either love it or hate it, there is no in-between.

On 7/20/2018 at 8:51 PM, markusss said:

Baker's Delight certainly sounds good mate! I am looking forward to all the creature comforts of life in Australia. But I know the novelty will wear off fast. But I'm in my early 40s now. Not the young man I was when I first left and arrived here without a care in the world other than doing what I wanted. The best time for me here was between 2005 & 2008 I think. I had a great bunch of mates & had loads of great times especially with gfs here. While the political dramas were certainly well into play back then, it was still fun and Thais in general were good value and always up for a good laugh. But I seldom have those moments here these days. Life here seems to be consumed by how much the military grip has tightened & and not to mention the hypocrisy of this place which has reached a point where I can no longer follow the news here anymore. But I'm leaving on my own terms & I intend to get a T-shirt printed that reads "I lived in Thailand for 13 years & survived" ? 

Whats so hard about living in Thailand. Don't get these threads. I've lived here for 20 years if I decide to go back to Oz I book a flight and get on it. Culture shock? Give me a break. You've got no wife, no kids, any property? What exactly is it you think you are leaving behind? Why did it take you years to make the decision? And you want to vlog about Thailand from Australia that's about as smart as stick trying to do his column from Auckland. Or old mate who is excited about a pie from bakers delight.

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11 hours ago, BEVUP said:

Agree

But I still go to & from Auss & now that my industry is drying up I have to start looking at accommodation.

They most probably not look at me since I have no rental history so would have to stay in van parks which are expensive

Would not be making much inhand money per week 

Walk in to the realo with 6 months rent up front in cash and see how quickly your need for references dissolves.

1 minute ago, starky said:

Walk in to the realo with 6 months rent up front in cash and see how quickly your need for references dissolves.

Have thought about that

1 minute ago, BEVUP said:

Have thought about that

Something in that realm is the only way probably get away with 3 months that combined with a quick explanation of what you have been doing should negate the need for references.  Real estates only care about the rent getting paid as I'm sure you know.

15 hours ago, 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

Every case is different so I do not pretend to know yours. For me it was a reocurring lower back issue, maybe twice a year. All I would have to do is reach around sometimes and the pain was unbearable. I could hardly take a breath. I got myself to a Chiropractor who comes up to Chiang Mai from Bangkok. I even took an x-ray with me thinking it might be a pinched nerve. He looked at the x-ray and said he saw no problem, just an old man's back (hey! was he referring to me as old?!). Punch line...he puts me on the table and presses down on one side of my public bone (where the two sepearted bones match up. Explain it as you will...said the bones were not even ... the pain was gone and I have not had an icident since (knock on wood). Well, just one man's severe lower back pain story....

16 hours ago, 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.

My general feeling (being an Isaan farang) is since the military took over, the country has lost that easy going relaxed style of 'bumbling through'.  Sure that was frustrating at times as a westerner also, but I don't like hot spots of control.  Farang friends in the south (particularly BKK) think it's the best thing since sliced bread, so it's not just a North/South Thai thing in regard to heritage, it challenges outsiders thinking also.

 

For selfish reasons, I just want easy legal compliance (Visa), no BS straight talking 'face' be damned, and smiles on peoples faces because they want to, not because they've been told to.

 

 

 

 

What an utterly depressing thread............

1 hour ago, car720 said:

I moved to China.

As has been said, Thailand was great in the 70's but it was our own fault for telling others about it and soon it was inundated with the usual types and went downhill from there.  

Oh, I see,  it`s not you, it`s all the others.

 

What do you mean, the usual types?

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.

I've read a great many comments, some interesting and some downright depressing.

After 18 years here I would say that the last few under this military dictatorship have been the worst. So many bad policies and so many of them anti-farang.

In fact I'm always quite surprised that so many people choose to live here. 

I've run out of options but this is not the country it was when Ii first decided to settle here and I'm certain I'm not alone in this respect.

17 hours ago, mstevens said:

More and more, I feel Thailand is best enjoyed as a tourist, and not as a resident.

I agree with this sentiment whole-heartedly. I lived in Thailand for 8 years and I really enjoyed the first 5 years. But the place started to wear me down. I hung on for three more years, but really wish I had left once the thought of leaving first crossed my mind. I'm in Japan now, and while it is much more expensive, I enjoy living in a fully developed, safe, culturally interesting society. Thailand is a great place for a holiday, but not so sure about living there. I do return for short holidays when winter comes to Japan.

Same for us, after 13 years we are going back to the UK, sold the house etc. Some sadness as in a social sense I enjoy Thai's but everything here for me is just getting harder and harder from the visa madness, appalling traffic to total lack of care in anything.

Sad but looking forward to fresh air, cleanliness and getting simple things done without it taking all day.

Horses for courses I guess.

18 hours ago, 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

 

I have lived in Asia 26 years this time -- 5 1/2 yrs previously -- including Japan, Philippines, Thailand.

One thing I have much enjoyed in Asia is not having to sleep on big, thick, expensive, uncomfortable

inner-spring mattresses. In the early '90s, I spent a week in a Taipei sleeping on a very firm, dense-

foam mattress. It was the most comfortable sleep I could ever remember. After that, I have refused to

sleep on any other kind of mattress. 

 

To each his own.

A mattress thread?

16 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

I have really enjoyed reading your posts.

 

Yes after seven years full time I returned to Australia (14 years travelling back and forth) for medical reasons and the fact that the climate took an horrendous toll...

 

The reverse culture  shock was a bit daunting but the Aussie health care system has been wonderful...

 

I dunno..different strokes for different folks but one of my more humorous tendencies has been not to trust  any zebra crossing.-with or without lights.I am still amazed that traffic actually stops.Magic.

 

On the other hand ,a decent meat pie from Baker's Delight has been an intergalactic sensation.

 

Just take it easy when you are settling back in..

 

Ody.

Oh! For the pies, I drool for the curried steak and the steak and mushrooms!!!! You're a bastard for bringing up "pies"!!!!!!

24 minutes ago, TPI said:

Oh! For the pies, I drool for the curried steak and the steak and mushrooms!!!! You're a bastard for bringing up "pies"!!!!!!

If that is your dream and aspiration you never should have bothered coming here. Have you ever explored Thailand and Thai Culture

 in its explosive myriad of manifestation. Travel broadens the mind of intelligent people but shrinks the mind of the dimwits. BTW Pattaya has brilliant pies as does most of Thailand..

14 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

Yep...

Glorious blue skies..

"and he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended.

and at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars.."

 

 

 

 

Is that the Huon River in Tassie? It certainly isn't the Darling.

Returning home is not a failure. You had a great adventure. Memories no one can take away. After a few years you may look elsewhere in the world. It's in the blood.

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Is that the Huon River in Tassie? It certainly isn't the Darling.

Hi Lacessit,

 

It is the Manning River,Mid North Coast,NSW.

 

 

Just now, Odysseus123 said:

Hi Lacessit,

 

It is the Manning River,Mid North Coast,NSW.

Thanks. Have been through that region once by car, and it does have its share of big rivers.

One of the other weird aspects of moving out of Thailand.

Now my wife, pretty restrained in voicing opinions while we were in Thailand, has pretty much unleashed the floodgates of what she really thinks about all those issues that are totally off limits in Thailand.

She's actually connected with other Thai's she went to college with in Chicago who dispersed across the globe, and it appears regardless of what the propaganda suggests, there really is seething anger at what goes on in Thailand.

Doesn't bode well