Leaving Thailand...

[GinBoy2]

6 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Prices in Thailand are nowhere near prices in the west.

Thats always very subjective, depending on where you live, and importantly how you live.

As my troll will tell you housing is massively more expensive, and it is, but again hugely dependant on location.

Isaan tin shack versus Manhattan, well there is no contest.

And he's right in that respect. However the same is true in Thailand. Central Suk is not the same as Nakhon Back of Beyond in terms of housing

 

The rest of it, utilities, food (assuming you are not eating street food as your primary source), cars, insurance it's a bit of a crap shoot, depending on the country, and indeed where in that country

 

We still live 3 or 4 months in Thailand every year, to escape snow.

Now in Thailand we try to live a very similar lifestyle to that we do in the US, and the costs are pretty marginal.

Now we have no mortgages in either place, so I'm just comparing living costs.

 

I've posted actual numbers before, but for whatever reason the apologists or my troll will slam you every time.

 

I try to be as objective as I can. I pay the bills in both places, and over the years that gap, no matter how you want to spin it has narrowed massively

Edited March 28, 2019 by GinBoy2

[JordanJones]

If it's not for you anymore then move. Seems people need others to tell them how to live their lives.

[GinBoy2]

9 hours ago, JordanJones said:

If it's not for you anymore then move. Seems people need others to tell them how to live their lives.

I don't think people, other than those that get burnt in the bar girl thing, are telling anyone what to do.

 

Sometimes things just run their course and it's time to change.

 

I'm very happy to do our snowbird thing for a few months every year, the place just isn't for us 100% of the time anymore.

 

A lot depends on family too. I have two daughters from a previous marriage, and when my Thai son told us after he graduated college in Chicago he was never coming back to Thailand, that was it for my wife.

It's always a mix of very complicated personal reasons that folks call it quits

 

As for the cost, well I see both, and it ain't the attractive place it was 10 years ago!

Edited March 29, 2019 by GinBoy2

[Leaver]

On 3/28/2019 at 7:34 PM, Jimbo2014 said:

Good advice and thanks.  We are sending him to KIS in Bkk which an IB programme - from what I understand its quite robust.  We have reviewed the curriculum and teachers and it seems a good standard and they have a high transition rate of students to overseas universities.  I know there are many semi-international schools around Bkk and outside with some pretty dodgy teachers.  Also many so called 'international' which are not.  We have been careful to background check schools.  I think for any decent school you are looking at 700K+ PA for secondary - which blind highway robbery compared to other asian countries and back home - but Im assuming officials limit the number and participate in ownership or some such scheme.  Otherwise hard to understand why they are so expensive and so limited.

Will you be moving back to Thailand after he finishes school? 

[JordanJones]

If the baht crashed it would be cheap again. Still cheap enough May to October.

[GinBoy2]

2 hours ago, JordanJones said:

If the baht crashed it would be cheap again. Still cheap enough May to October.

That's an interesting point.

 

Problem is the ฿ is a secondary FX currency.

It in reality doesn't move much itself, regardless of what BOT does, exchange controls put paid to that. 

The exchange rate is driven primarily by the the strength or weakness of the the other floating currency.

 

So what you want is your home currency to to strengthen massively against a basket of currencies 

[Leaver]

22 hours ago, JordanJones said:

If the baht crashed it would be cheap again. Still cheap enough May to October.

"Cheap" compared to where????

[Jimbo2014]

On 3/29/2019 at 6:25 PM, Leaver said:

Will you be moving back to Thailand after he finishes school? 

I cant really say.  I hate moving so i would like to do it only once more.  Im not yet sure if we are going to leave thailand but recent years have left us thinking the quality of life may be better back home.

[Leaver]

3 hours ago, Jimbo2014 said:

I cant really say.  I hate moving so i would like to do it only once more.  Im not yet sure if we are going to leave thailand but recent years have left us thinking the quality of life may be better back home.

Wasn't the quality of life always better back home?  Eg. health, education, law and order, infrastructure etc.

[Ebumbu]

And date people my own age? Perish the thought. 

[emptypockets]

On 3/10/2019 at 4:49 PM, Leaver said:

Great = no.

White = yes.

Broke = no.

 

I couldn't care less if Thailand misses me financially, or not.  I'm in Thailand for my benefit, not the other way around. 

 

As for culturally, you are farang, just as I am, and you have no more rights here than me.  Name some things you can do on a retirement visa, that a tourist on a tourist visa can't do?

 

As far as socially, I socialize with Thai's and foreigners, in Thai and western establishments.  So what?  Does that make me any better than an expat that would rather socialize with his fellow countrymen?  

 

I gather you are not so well traveled.  Probably never been anywhere too far away from Thailand.  I realize this concept may not sit well with you, but other nearby countries are now offering a better lifestyle for expats, with less bureaucracy, more freedom, and more purchasing power.  

Do Cambodia,Myanmar,Indonesia, Hong Kong  and Japan count? Throw in the USA,  France, UK and Australia for good measure. 

Why assume I'm on a retirement visa? I'm not. 

Your statement about being in Thailand for your benefit pretty well sums up your personality type. 

If you can't afford the visa extension feel free to go live in lower class country.  You'll have plenty of friends there very soon. 

[emptypockets]

On 3/17/2019 at 6:09 PM, Leaver said:

The big difference is, in Australia, you can actually own the property, in your name, freehold. 

 

In Thailand, you are basically leasing the land it sits on for 30 years, and please don't give me the 30 x 30 story because it does not exist at Thai law. 

I own the nice sized rural property in Australia.  Wife owns the smaller property in Thailand.  Works for us. Fortunately we are in a position where we can travel between the two at the time of our choosing. Neither of us have a desire to drop our standards and live in Cambodia,  Laos or Vietnam

If it works for you  that is fine,  but please stop trying to justify your poor life decisions by trying to convince other people that Thailand is a worse place to live. 

Edited April 6, 2019 by emptypockets

[emptypockets]

On 3/21/2019 at 3:37 PM, Leaver said:

Have you considered another country nearby?

 

With the visa changes a lot of people are talking about going home, but there's no need to.  Nearby countries are offering a similar lifestyle to Thailand, but with a lot less BS for foreigners.

No need to go home,  or do you really mean no ability to go home due to poor planning and bad life decisions? 

[expat1010]

I have wanted to leave for some time now but I have an albatross hanging around my neck in the form of a house I had built and all my savings are tied up in it. Until it sells, I’m stuck here.

How much and where? Always looking for a deal


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[Jimbo2014]

On 4/5/2019 at 7:45 PM, Leaver said:

Wasn't the quality of life always better back home?  Eg. health, education, law and order, infrastructure etc.

True - but Thailand use to be relatively pollution free and much cheaper which offset the negative points as well as a vibrant young fun population.  Now not so much.  Also Im getting older and my priorities are changing ????