I guess everyone is entitled to an opinion but I like it here.  Here is some visual evidence as to why.

 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1080645-beautiful-country-living-in-thailand/

4 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

You wouldn't have a clue where I shop.

 

The avocados in Thailand are crap-I've got about  a million square hectares of Avocados just outside my back door.I've got about the same of the best wine producing regions in the world one hours drive south of here..

 

\When fantasy land meets Alice in Wonderland.(Thailand)

actually the Thai Hass. varaity is pretty decent.  and i am a California boy. you have to look for them.  it has literally taken the agricultural project years to perfect them.

4 hours ago, moutamine said:

Khlong Toei's wet market is pretty disgusting. My wife went twice but just can't anymore because of the smell.  From now on, it's Villa Market even though it's 3-5 times more expansive.  Our health is worth it.

No wonder you think its expensive (or as you said expansive) over here. Today I went for the first time to the new Villa Market in Pattaya. Although I was impressed with the range of imported goods on sale, the prices were absolutely ridiculous. There were 10 times more service people then customers. You can get exactly the same products in Big C, Tesco Lotus and Macro. For fresh meat meat the many markets offer great value and the meat is actually much fresher than any of the big supermarkets. 

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Why would you retire to Thailand if you didn't want the beer and pussy?

There isn't much else here worth the trip.

have you heard of culture?

14 minutes ago, ElBudhita said:

Frankly it's very difficult to complain.

I came here 5 years ago.

The more I live here and the more I get use to life here.

5 years, your sill on the Honeymoon period.  

Thailand a ticking time bomb. The army have shut every one up and are not leaving any time soon. BUT someone, some folks, some where are Angry and the generals day will come, as the way of all dictatorships in the end poor thailand

4 minutes ago, malibukid said:

have you heard of culture?

I heard most blokes come for the temples, not the cheap girls and sunshine. 

True. Western goods are expensive 

In the UK any bottle of wine less than £6, is in my opinion, for cooking only. This year in vacation we had some cracking bottles of wine for €3 in Spain (not 1000 baht plus). Small Flats and apartments are comparable or cheaper than in Thailand. (Doubt me down load the app named picture house in Spanish).

Land in North Carolina USA is cheaper than sor por gor land where I live in Thailand.

Some people quoting the night life. "They" can be had for comparable prices or slightly more.

For Europeans I think splitting the time is the best option.

Got out with the family five years ago one of the best things I have done. All that remains to do now is sell our shophouse in Changmai and we can forget the place. 

They come for the cheap B & B  Booze and Bonking  ????

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

I believe the biggest problem for the farang here in Thailand is that the police now see us purely as a means of making/extorting money. It wasn,t like that many years ago, and Thailand was a much more pleasant place to be. The situation is getting worse, unfortunately, and many expats are seriously considering moving to an adjacent country, Cambodia in particular ????

You have some statistics on extorted farangs to back up what you are posting? I've been living here 10 years now. Been fined for traffic offences a couple of times,  200 to 500 baht. Quite justifiably. Going down a closed street on my scooter, and not having my driving licence on me.

I have never repeat never been extorted by ANY official here.

Frankly, I just don't know. From the press, I get the impression, Thailand would prefer only Chinese, not westerners.  Change is coming for sure.  I've got deep roots here and I'm too old, and really I have no choice.

We got out 3 years ago, getting poorer and poorer by rhe month with the pound in kamikaze

mode. Hard to up pegs but now back in UK and much better off, but still good memories of over 20 years in Thailand, but now, sadly a differen place good luck you all there

6 hours ago, villagefarang said:

I like living here and it is better than when I first arrived.

You checked the decline in your money against your dollar lately,big minus to start with or you not need to change your currency 

46 minutes ago, somtumwrong said:

Nobody here is asking what the Thais want for their own country.

The Thais aren't asking Thais what they want for their own country either (see polls delayed until the end of the universe), so why should we.

I've been in Laos for 13 years. Thailand had it beat on most fronts for a long time, but as it seems to be back-stepping while Laos is progressing, Thailand no longer has the lead. In my humble opinion anyway.

 

I just wish we had ocean front and beaches.......

Thailand is a place full of deeply xenophobic people who can barely tolerate Farang. 

 

Now Thailand has the Chinese to slowly replace all the Farang, and they will be happy with Chinese as they are all cousins anyway. 

 

Almost all the Asian counties are alike in this way. They are all the most xenophobic countries in earth.

6 hours ago, PatOngo said:

I'll make that decision after the next coup d'etat!

I was i Pattaya on the one. We saw nothing. Except maybe smiling policeman trying to explain to drunk russian that the needed to go back home. Was Fun! That's why they fixed it very fast... And we were free to go Walking Street very fast...

27 minutes ago, somtumwrong said:

If you can afford it, try living here the winter and in Aus in the summer, although the Aus way of thinking may differ in this from our northern European way of thinking. 4 months of sanity in a year + 8 months of hmm plastic paradise a year ????

Live in Australia in the summer? You must like record-breaking heatwaves.

40 minutes ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Australia - After approximately 20 years here I look at friends pictures from the gold coast and wow - then I look out our house window in Bangkok and its grey.  

That's what I'm eyeballing now, https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Australia&country2=Thailand&city1=Brisbane&city2=Pattaya&tracking=getDispatchComparison

 

#7 in Numbeo's quality of life https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings_current.jsp , Bangkok is ... #206. I think that's just about right.

The elite and Army, civil servants dO NOT WANT FARANG, just our money. They welcomed the Japs  in the same way in 1941,  they blow with the wind, take what they can, now doing it with the Chinese, when The west pulls out the cash, watch Thailand return to the middle ages

I do not have face book and will never have face book so I will tell you my feeling here. I am from California, USA and if you think Thailand is bad then go try living in the USA. The illegal aliens from south America are taking over and California alone is spending over 30 billion dollar a year on giving them free medical ,free rent, free food stamp where they can and do even but lobsters on from the food stamps and if the get arrested they get out of jail with out putting up bail and then you never see them again until the get arrested again. I Have been living here in Thailand ever since I retired11 years ago. I tried the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The only way I would ever leave Thailand is when I die or they for some reason throw me out. LONG live the King and long live Thailand. 

6 hours ago, onera1961 said:

Even McDoland costs more. It is like 180 for a bigMac. I pay the same price in Chicago and $7.00 in London. 

Really, you went to eat Mc Donalds... Really?

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Live in Australia in the summer? You must like record-breaking heatwaves.

Yes yes Live in your Home country just spend the winter in LOS perffik

3 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

If you live here, especially away from the bright lights, and tourist zones, there is a helluva life to live.

Perhaps you can share with us where this place is?

How do these results compare with any similar poll 5 years ago? In my experience it is not a new phenomenon hearing about the farang who is getting unhappy about living in Thailand and finding life is not as wonderful as he imagined it would be!

I think it all depends on what you are looking for out of life.  Living in Thailand was easy for me and I enjoyed my time there enormously.  I left nine years ago because our son was at an age where we had to consider his education and future.  I was getting frustrated with the "Thai system" then but it was still an enjoyable place to live.

 

I return to Thailand twice a year for business reasons and even on those short visits I see a deterioration.  If I was single and had a twinkle in my eye and a love of the amber nectar then Thailand would certainly still have an attraction, but those days are gone and my priorities have changed.  Most of my ex-pat friends have moved on as well and no longer live in Thailand.

 

But the world has changed, at least the parts I know.  The USA has a bad taste these days and so does the UK with all this Brexit upset.   

This news needs a lot of TAT propaganda with hundreds of "honest cabbies" to distract from the facts.

4 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

However,I am at home in Australia now so I have ample opportunity to compare prices between the two countries.As far as Australia is concerned fresh food is much cheaper-tho' I can't vouch for junk food.

Yep, spent some time in Oz over the years and IMO the fresh fruit and veges as well as the meat, have to be some of the best on offer anywhere in the world as regards quality and price.

23 minutes ago, Hoppyone said:

You checked the decline in your money against your dollar lately,big minus to start with or you not need to change your currency 

Again, a longer term view gives one a different perspective.  Yes, currencies fluctuate but the exchange rate is much better than it was when I arrived.  It is not at its highest point but not at its worst either.  I believe the Baht was around 20 to the dollar when I first got here.