For better or worse? Expats think Thailand is going down the pan, poll

[bowerboy]

54 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

What are the benefits of civilized life?

 

 

The numbers above do not include those from Thailand (or other third world countries) because there simply is no support or no service for Mental Health in Thailand. There are no numbers because no one is tracking it and no one here cares. In civilized countries they DO care and they do provide the service and they do track it.

 

Thailand has pretty high suicide rates for such a nation of happy carefree people (with no access to mental healthcare support)

 

https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/thailand-suicide

 

 

[Jiggo]

8 hours ago, madmen said:

@halfllight

 

Thailands 3rd world? Errrm no

 

In what way are they going backwards compared to neighbour's?

 

My guess is your speaking out your backside but Im happy to be proven wrong based on your detailed analysis forthcoming

 

 

Errrm Lack of a fair and just democracy, no free schooling for all, no freedom of speech, a lack of a national health service, Electricity supply including black outs and a dated domestic supply (overhead wiring), undrinkable water from the tap, terrible sewer and waste system.....still forces national service of its male subjects, not female, race discrimination. That's just off the top of my head for starters. 

[Spidey]

30 minutes ago, bowerboy said:

I was referring to quality of service, ease of access and price, not quantity.

Quality of service is subjective but you are less likely to get a starfish or runner in the other countries I've mentioned. Or an accidental ladyboy.

 

Ease of access. Nothing easier than walking into a FKK in Germany, with the advantage that, unlike Thailand, it's completely legal in Germany.

 

Price. It's not unknown to pay up to 5k baht for an hour of a top GoGo dancer's time in Pattaya. I can only speak with authority on a brothel in my own home town, in the UK. Staffed by young and very attractive Eastern Europeans. £80 (3200 baht) per session. No lady drinks or padded bar bill.

Edited January 27, 2019 by Spidey

[faraday]

10 minutes ago, bowerboy said:

 

The numbers above do not include those from Thailand (or other third world countries) because there simply is no support or no service for Mental Health in Thailand. There are no numbers because no one is tracking it and no one here cares. In civilized countries they DO care and they do provide the service and they do track it.

 

Thailand has pretty high suicide rates for such a nation of happy carefree people (with no access to mental healthcare support)

 

https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/thailand-suicide

 

 

There are MH services here & inpatient treatment here.

[Spidey]

4 minutes ago, Jiggo said:

Errrm Lack of a fair and just democracy, no free schooling for all, no freedom of speech, a lack of a national health service, Electricity supply including black outs and a dated domestic supply (overhead wiring), undrinkable water from the tap, terrible sewer and waste system.....still forces national service of its male subjects, not female, race discrimination. That's just off the top of my head for starters. 

How does any of this affect you as an expat? I've had 2 or 3 blackouts in the last year, each lasting around an hour. Water filters are readily available but I buy bottled water and, including this, my water supply is way cheaper than it was in the UK. Never had a problem with my sewer and waste system either.

[Sheryl]

90 day report -- not monitoring, more like meaningless paperwork.

 

No one is analyzing the information gathered from them (which wouldn't be worth anything if they did).

 

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

 

[Rod the Sod]

On 1/26/2019 at 4:21 AM, Lacessit said:

Good luck when you are trying to sell said condo. There's a four-letter word called glut.

I'd rather keep my money in Oz, where it earns income and doesn't have political uncertainty dogging it.

Yes something to be said for both strategies. I hope I am lucky being situated in the heart of lower Sukhumvit, 400 metres from a BTS and where SqM costs have gone up 25% in 4 years. Couple that with the appreciation of the value of the Bhat I think (hope) I win on all fronts. Since I intend to curl up my toes in this box and for my wife to enjoy her home here after I have gone, again I think my strategy works for me. If you have one investment only I agree that being safe is the way to go. If you have a balanced portfolio you need to take some risk. Thailand is my risk and I am happy with it so far.

[Naam]

3 hours ago, bowerboy said:

7 hours ago, Naam said:

please enlighten me why it can take a lot of money to move back. all it takes is a ticket, a few days in a hotel/AirBnB and a couple of months rent. please consider my question a rhetorical one if the cost for a ticket, hotel and rent is "a lot of money".

 

Really? So you can just turn up in the U.K or Australia or wherever with your Children and Thai wife with no visa? And to the visa do you just rock up to immigration and apply or do you need a job money house etc etc first? Moving furniture etc?

 

We are talking of relocating a family here not a single guy...not sure if your intellect can stretch that far to absorb the points of the conversation.

if you were talking about relocating a semi-Thai family i apologise. however i can't detect any mentioning of a family in your content (see below).

 

Quote

bowerboy said:

Again though i do know that it can take a lot of money to get back into your home country if you decide to go back and that it just may not be financially possible for everyone..in that case then the situation is different

yes, i commented based on my/our personal situation, i.e. neither Thai wife nor adopted Thai children, enough coin for a container, buying two tickets and staying in a hotel till we decide whether to buy or rent. 

Edited January 27, 2019 by Naam

[Naam]

2 hours ago, bowerboy said:

In what way is my statement incorrect? What parts of the statement are not true?

 

I said Thailand is good at Prostitution...I did not say all Thai women here are prostitutes. 

you made a generalising comment insulting all good Thai people and "there" [sic] daughters who are working their àrses off in fields and factories for a pittance. shame on you to deny it!

 

Quote

There are plenty of poor countries and plenty of Buddhist countries but no country has ever been so utterly willing to sell out there daughters to pay for their lifestyle.

 

 

[Naam]

3 hours ago, HalfLight said:

Yes, i understand. I'm glad you didn't directly compare the 'civilised' life in Europe with the 'civilised' life in TL though, they don't really compare very well in my experience, but on balance, I don't think I'd be going back to Europe any time soon. Each to his/her own. Though I don't recall seeing any tornadoes in UK. Not recently anyway.

we also have no plans to go back. can't afford our Thai life style paying 45% income tax. by the way, in Germany we had tornadoes, blizzards and floods. and floods you have in UK too.

[HalfLight]

16 minutes ago, Naam said:

we also have no plans to go back. can't afford our Thai life style paying 45% income tax. by the way, in Germany we had tornadoes, blizzards and floods. and floods you have in UK too.

Yes, we had floods. Still don't remember tornadoes and I wasn't there for the hurricane. I agree with the lifestyle thing, though I stopped paying tax a while ago when the government decided retiring in UK meant I couldn't own a business in Thailand. Weird, but I wrote it off to him/her being a Thai deciding to remind a hated Westerner who's the boss. Then again, it might have been the law firm making it up I suppose, run by an American in Thailand and about as disreputable bunch of sods as I've even come across, though I was also ripped off by an 'legal eagle' Englishman, who in retrospect was probably on the run from the consequences of being a all-round git. Big bloke too, though he had a *tiny* Thai wife who got herself kicked out of one of the accounting firms in Thailand - according to the husband anyway. (Can't abbreviate that to TL any more, or Ossy'll get me). Got to be something in there for someone more interested than me.

Edited January 27, 2019 by HalfLight

[Kerrie R]

I came for love. I can't leave that!

[DrTuner]

17 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Why are all the rich and corrupt Hi-So's sending their kids abroad to school if Thai schools provide a valuable education?

Probably because it's cheaper to send them, even including boarding, than Thai international schools of dubious quality and high teacher turnover. I'm just about to send my eldest daughter to UK, a couple of thousand dollars cheaper than Thailand.

[transam]

1 minute ago, Kerrie R said:

I came for love. I can't leave that!

A disappointment then...????

[DrTuner]

9 hours ago, HuskerDo said:

It's interesting that you seem to very much dislike the people of the country you voluntarily chose to move to. Very odd indeed. Why not leave if it's so hard for you to accept the folks that are native to that country? Confusing.  

There are other reason to move to Thailand than it's natives. Tax-free for income not brought to Thailand within the same tax year, for example. For some of us that pile is worth tolerating the Thais.

[DrTuner]

8 hours ago, Naam said:

-the uncivilised weather without hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, icy roads and foggy days near freezing point. a tsunami once in a blue moon does not add civilisation!

The smog is unfortunately ruining the weather now and smack in the middle of the dry season, which is usually very pleasant.

[yogi100]

15 hours ago, mommysboy said:

True, housing is terribly expensive in the UK.  But apart from the baby boomers nobody really had the right to buy a property in the UK simply by having a reasonable job. You inherited it, or got a hand up, or got lucky. What we're seeing now is a return to the way it's always been.  I agree if you have even modest capital in Thailand it's possible to buy.

 

It's not always been like that.

 

My parents, my siblings and myself all saved up for our deposits and bought our own houses. None of us had high salaries nor did my friends and relations who were savers and bought houses in London. It was hard at first but got easier with time.

 

Mass immigration since WW2 has turned England one of the most densely populated countries in Europe and London into one of its most densely populated cities.

 

In 1945 the UK's population was around 48 million.

A few years ago British food retailers announced that they sold enough food to sustain a population of 80 million people while the government told us the true figure is 66.5 million.

 

The census is held every 10 years but there is no law compelling us to fill in the form and return it.

[BritManToo]

8 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

He spoke and read fluent English obviously, but I would read 'corrections' to his homework and I didnt know whether to laugh or cry.

I tell mine to just agree with whatever the Thai teacher says, even though their English is better than the teacher's.

[BritManToo]

38 minutes ago, yogi100 said:

My parents, my siblings and myself all saved up for our deposits and bought our own houses. None of us had high salaries nor did my friends and relations who were savers and bought houses in London. It was hard at first but got easier with time.

Me Too,

But my (former) kids in the UK have little chance of ever doing that.

When I were young (1970s) a 'cheap' house was 2x-3x my annual wage, now (2010s) it's 10x-15x their annual wage.

Edited January 27, 2019 by BritManToo

[DrTuner]

5 hours ago, Spidey said:

Thailand: 22 prostitutes per 10,000 population.

Intertesting, where's the office in BKK I can stroll in and register as o man-ho so I can improve these stats a bit? Or ist it yet another Thai government pull-out-of-my-arse figure?

[mikebell]

On 1/26/2019 at 9:22 AM, Lacessit said:

I've never had any of the problems you mention. Police here are polite

You're so lucky.  I have been falsely accused; my wife subjected to extortion or my visa next year would be 'difficult'.  A car theft never investigated unless I produced 10K.

[Naam]

1 hour ago, DrTuner said:

The smog is unfortunately ruining the weather now and smack in the middle of the dry season, which is usually very pleasant.

no problem in the outskirts east of Jomtien.

[Lacessit]

3 minutes ago, mikebell said:

You're so lucky.  I have been falsely accused; my wife subjected to extortion or my visa next year would be 'difficult'.  A car theft never investigated unless I produced 10K.

Where are you? No problems for me in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai. I can understand problems in Pattaya or Phuket.

My car's not worth stealing. I have a GF, not a wife, so my visa extension is unrelated to her. What were you falsely accused of, if you don't mind my asking?

[mikebell]

On 1/26/2019 at 8:50 AM, bkk6060 said:

I have never had a problem with the police they have absolutely no influence on my life because I have all my documents and stay out of trouble.

A shame if others cannot do the same.

What uncaring <deleted>!  I too have all my papers, including Thai car AND motor bike licence; fourteen 'retirement' visas.  I have been falsely accused by a cop; my wife subjected to extortion or my visa would be 'difficult' next year.  My s-i-l had a car stolen & the fat cop refused to investigate unless I crossed his (greasy) palm with silver (to the tune of 10K.)

How do you avoid being rammed at a U-turn whilst stationery by two tearaways?  How do you stay out of that trouble?  What papers would you advise I carry?

[mikebell]

Just now, Lacessit said:

Where are you? No problems for me in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai. I can understand problems in Pattaya or Phuket.

My car's not worth stealing. I have a GF, not a wife, so my visa extension is unrelated to her. What were you falsely accused of, if you don't mind my asking?

In Bang Saray near Sattahip.  Two tearaways rammed me at 90kph whilst I was stationery at a U-turn.  The bent cop arriving ten minutes later said it was my fault as I had emerged from a minor road.  The s-i-l's car was stolen - it was over five years old - she continued paying off a bank loan because the Jomtien cop wanted a sweetener which she didn't have & I refused to pay.

[fruitman]

On 1/25/2019 at 11:59 AM, puchooay said:

So.....is pork, chicken, fruit, vegetables, dairy products and fish, for example, more expensive if you are going to make western food than it is if you are cooking Thai food?

It depends where you shop.....if you like minced meat with bonesplinters you go to the market or foodland.

 

If you don't like markets you go to supermarkets which cost 2-3 times more.

[tideout]

On 1/25/2019 at 11:46 AM, somtumwrong said:

For me it's not a question of leaving, but rather never arriving. Haven't made up my mind yet if to live in my safe home country or here with family. I'm not in a hurry to decide, but not moving means I won't buy a house here ('for my wife'), I won't invest in a new car here, keeping financials outside the Thai economyu. I keep my house and condos in my home country, and looking at the stability of Thailand, and how the law 'protects' us, better leave it at that. If you move to Thailand, in my opinion, you should always have a backup plan to be able to leave without losing much..

 

I think life may be better for me in Thailand once they throw out the low life sexpats. Our reputation will no longer be dragged down by their actions. But in general, I don' believe in long term change in this country, rather Vietnam, Myanmar, all other countries are going to overtake Thailand which will just remain the same same. More soap operas on tv, more corruption to rule the lemmings.

It's possible that Vietnam will narrow the gap with Thailand (economically) but I have my doubts about that making it better. In many places around HCM this will mean years of completely indifferent and poorly done construction, more dust and pollution in the air than already exists. Your main concerns there are already here or increasing with the "cleanup" of expats there. Plenty of sex pats here and the arrival of African hookers and the scene there is well under way here. As it gets developed, it's certainly likely to get more expensive. Fewer housing options and worse air in HCM (generally). No retirement visa. Rampant corruption. Hard to see the trade up IMHO.

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, mikebell said:

In Bang Saray near Sattahip.  Two tearaways rammed me at 90kph whilst I was stationery at a U-turn.  The bent cop arriving ten minutes later said it was my fault as I had emerged from a minor road.  The s-i-l's car was stolen - it was over five years old - she continued paying off a bank loan because the Jomtien cop wanted a sweetener which she didn't have & I refused to pay.

I have been in that area. Close to Pattaya. One option might have been to get the cop's details, take photos and ask to speak to his supervisor with someone who speaks Thai.

Was the s-i-l's car insured against theft? Should have been, if it was the subject of a loan.

[DrTuner]

1 hour ago, mikebell said:

How do you avoid being rammed at a U-turn whilst stationery by two tearaways?  How do you stay out of that trouble?  What papers would you advise I carry?

Dash cam with cam in the back too. Pretty much obligatory in Thailand. You'll still be rammed but at least you get to hear they didn't have any insurance instead of them trying to make you pay for their idiocy. 

 

U-turns are best avoided unless absolutely necessary. Plan each excursion carefully, drive at least 50km/h faster than somchais to keep adequate space and if available, equip your hummer with ground to ground missiles. 

[GeoMill]

On 1/25/2019 at 5:52 AM, moutamine said:

Don't tell me you are afraid of terrorism because there is more bombs exploding in Thailand than in Morroco and Tunisia combined friend!  Then maybe you are here for the cheap pussies! 

I would love to see your sources for this. 
 

Not to mention that the majority of attacks in Thailand are in the southern 3 provinces where tourists/expats have no reason of being. 

The attacks in North African countries are also often aimed at westerners, unlike the vast majority of the attacks in Thailand.

 

But hey, feel free to go to Morocco or Tunesia if it's so great there. You won't be missed here! ????