5 minutes ago, totally thaied up said:

I was super acclimatised to it all. I got to my hometown to days like this and then proceeded to kick myself hard for not seeing it for what it was. 

Is that Australia? Looks great.

1 minute ago, AlexRich said:

Is that Australia? Looks great

Gold Coast region, Australia

4 minutes ago, totally thaied up said:

Gold Coast region, Australia

Now thats a real beach not a plastic bag in sight. lived there for 12 years and will return when Im done here

9 hours ago, dotpoom said:

"unless you have endless patience, lots of funds and are prepared to pay agents to handle all your Immigration paper work."

    I really don't get it. I can't imagine why a person would want to come to retire in a country where the only way they can do it would be "under the counter" (agents/illegally) because they do not have enough funds to do it the right way.....and then complain when those "doors/ loopholes" start to get closed through the tightening up of the laws.

   I have been doing it the same way for the last 19 years.... money seasoned in the bank (my pension is not big enough). I get a letter from the same bank one time every year and bring it to Soi 5...no big deal.

If for some reason I cannot continue/or afford, to do it this way I shall have to return home (where I would be a "homeless" person. I do not ..for the life of me.. see how this scenario ...is a reason for complaint about... Thailand ???

A lot of people came here to retire back when all they had to do was go to the border every 90 days, how were they to know that Thailand and it's immigration would do what they did and keep making it harder for them to stay here, and as I understand, a lot of them have left, leaving Thai wives, girlfriends and kids in poverty, while the top bras are living in big paid for houses and fancy cars and great lifestyles?

10 minutes ago, AlexRich said:

Is that Australia? Looks great.

https://www.google.com/search?q=gold+coast+australia&rlz=1C1CHBF_enTH839TH839&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjfroCD1ZDiAhUm7XMBHWgYDyIQ_AUIDigB&biw=1536&bih=723&dpr=1.25

8 hours ago, ExpatNP said:

May I ask why?

You mean you don't know? When most of us get older, we cannot get health cover because of existing conditions.

29 minutes ago, davidst01 said:

Can this comment be nominated for 'comment of the year'?

No ... it was a bit long-winded, as there was no need to put “dogs” and “hookers” ... either one would suffice.

15 minutes ago, totally thaied up said:

Gold Coast region, Australia

And here the truth about Australian beaches ... feel free to use any search engine to get more examples ????

51 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

The agents thing is a can of worms.

If you're using an agent only to handle clerical stuff, etc. then of course it's not illegal.

If you're using an agent to "qualify" for financial requirements that you're not really qualified for, at the very least that is participation in corruption.

Is there any blowback risk from doing that? I think there is. It may not be high, but it isn't nothing either. 

Your third paragraph JT, how can anything be illegal or corruption when certain top brass IOs are taking part in it, are they doing it behind their bosses backs? I don't think so.

Once an IO top brass is convicted, named, and punished, then I will accept that it is illegal.

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Simply not true, you can stay in Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines as long as you like.

No proof of funds, just the money for the VISA and a photo or two (around $300/year).

I would suggest you're completely out of touch with the VISA conditions for the surrounding countries.

My Vietnam Visa is $185 per year, given by a polite and smiling vietnamese consulate. Last year, same same. I do not need to leave the country for a year. I do not need to refister my address. I do not need to go to immigration the day after I arrive in country. I do not need go to immigration every 90 days. And I dont need to marry a good-for-nothing ex-slapper lazy woman to make it easier for me to stay here. No one every yells at me. No one is violent. No one is nasty to me. And I dont have smelly men clapping at me as I walk by. I can ride a motorcycle without being run down by an immature driver who will not follow the law because me, ME, ME! I can walk down the beach at night with ZERO fear of being murdered by a "Burmese" who will bludgeon me before he rapes my wife and bludgeon her.

8 minutes ago, soistalker said:

My Vietnam Visa is $185 per year, given by a polite and smiling vietnamese consulate. Last year, same same. I do not need to leave the country for a year. I do not need to refister my address. I do not need to go to immigration the day after I arrive in country. I do not need go to immigration every 90 days. And I dont need to marry a good-for-nothing ex-slapper lazy woman to make it easier for me to stay here. No one every yells at me. No one is violent. No one is nasty to me. And I dont have smelly men clapping at me as I walk by. I can ride a motorcycle without being run down by an immature driver who will not follow the law because me, ME, ME! I can walk down the beach at night with ZERO fear of being murdered by a "Burmese" who will bludgeon me before he rapes my wife and bludgeon her.

 "do not need to go to immigration the day after I arrive in country. I do not need go to immigration every 90 days"

 

oh what a drama queen! this can be done by mail.  I agree about the slapper though 

1 minute ago, madmen said:

 "do not need to go to immigration the day after I arrive in country. I do not need go to immigration every 90 days"

 

oh what a drama queen! this can be done by mail.  I agree about the slapper though 

You can do a TM30 by mail? No.

4 minutes ago, soistalker said:

You can do a TM30 by mail? No.

Yes done many and with a receipt returned by mail

Where you going to run to?

Remember, the grass is not always greener and it may be better to see the positives in what you got in Thailand.

I do not get it. "Times are a changin", yet almost every bullet point I could tell has been in place for eons. 

 

I don't think much is changing myself. I am still going through the same exact visa routine I was 10 years ago. 

 

I do think people change however. 

40 minutes ago, CH1961 said:

And here the truth about Australian beaches ... feel free to use any search engine to get more examples ????

That happens on new years eve parties and Australia day but you can also see paid workers cleaning it up . Whats wrong with second pic? looks like bondi beach during a holiday eg Australia day or Boxing day

 

This is Bondi Beach taken by a camera with more than 2 pixels ????

17 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

don't think much is changing myself. I am still going through the same exact visa routine I was 10 years ago. 

10 years back I arrived from the UK with a 1 year VISA in my passport, cost 120GBP from Birmingham consulate, not available now.

6 hours ago, onera1961 said:

I Have been saying the same for a long time. If not for cheap sex with twenty years younger girls which is almost impossible or extremely expensive in the West, Thailand does not provide any value for your money. It is a dump, plain and simple.

Agreed, but you are wrong about prices for prostitutes in "the West", whatever that means:

Sweden totally illegal

Germany 30 euro ST, cheaper than Bangkok

 

2 minutes ago, uhuh said:

Agreed, but you are wrong about prices for prostitutes in "the West", whatever that means:

Sweden totally illegal

Germany 30 euro ST, cheaper than Bangkok

 

Sure but will she hold hands taking long romantic walks telling you that your first farang she fall in love with and how first time she have orgasm with farang and.....she stop work and wait you come back if you pay 20k baht per month? These are all free extras in Thailand

Why wait until the next few years?

 

What else has to happen before you decide to move?

21 hours ago, Lacessit said:

True and false in the OP's statements. Certainly it is true air quality in CM currently is as bad as I have seen it in ten years.

On the other hand, landlords are falling over one another to get decent tenants in CM. My rental cost has gone down. There are hundreds of even cheaper options

 

if I wanted to move.

Other costs seem to be quite stable. Fruit and vegetables in season are always cheap. I'm paying the same for basics such as bread and beer as 10 years ago.

There are always options. Foul air can be beaten with aircon and an air purifier. A bit more on the electricity bill.

I guess everyone's tolerance for government BS varies from person to person. I pay people to absorb the stress of dealing with a###holes for me.

The only dealbreaker for me here is if health insurance is made compulsory, because I would not be considered by any insurance company.

Foul air can be beaten with aircon and an air purifier

 

This is total BS!

24 minutes ago, madmen said:

That happens on new years eve parties and Australia day but you can also see paid workers cleaning it up . Whats wrong with second pic? looks like bondi beach during a holiday eg Australia day or Boxing day

 

This is Bondi Beach taken by a camera with more than 2 pixels ????

And proud Thais are like, "Pffft! That nothing. Look at OUR beaches!"

 

10 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

This is great point. I am back in the US at the moment, leaving tomorrow to return home. The prices in the US have gone through the roof. I have sticker shock. Almost nothing is cheaper here than in Thailand despite steep discounts in discount stores...medicines are out of sight, even generics.....stores like CVS and Rite Aid no longer offer generic OTC meds....they have the original brand at a huge price and then their own brand at 5% less....omeprazole (generic for decades and costs 70 baht for 14 capsules, is over $28 for name brand and over $25 for the Rite Aid equivalent. Gas is over $3:00 a gallon ie around 25 baht a litre. Beer has gone to $10 bucks a six pack. I go tp the supermarket Shop Rite (brilliant election of foods) and walk out with a couple of bags of shopping for $70.....and then go back the next day for the same thing. I honestly don't know how folks manage on less than $150,000 a year.

I like these stories about people popping into the US for a trip and making up all kinds of wild stories

 

I use OTC meds and there is always a generic brand somewhere, plus copays for many is only $2 if you have insurance.

 

Gas is much more expensive in Thailand as are vehicles.

 

Beer at Walmart and other large stores it all depends on the brand, however, if you to drink beer that tastes like Thai beer (piss), there are tons of cheap beer

 

Nothing reported here is even close to the truth.

Interesting stuff, and in fact I seriously considered moving to Saigon, but Cebu pipped it to the post.  It is horses for courses, but there can be life after Thailand, and I wouldn't move back there.

3 hours ago, atyclb said:

 

"I only talk to dogs, hookers and taxi drivers."     

"My wife's house will be paid off in 2 years and that will be a big raise for me."

 

is deductive reasoning applicable?

 

His wife is neither dog, hooker, nor taxi driver. Obviously, he just doesn't talk to his wife.

10 hours ago, mstevens said:

I left Thailand 3 years ago after a long time living there an an expat. I don't regret leaving.

 

I've been back a few times since with the Mrs for holidays and after the last trip, I have to say that I don't even feel like visiting any time again soon. It just wasn't that enjoyable due to a number of things including prices no cheaper than home, bad attitudes and a general feeling of not really being that welcome.

 

As for the idea of ever living there again, I certainly would not consider it at this point in time.

 

If you're in a position to leave Thailand after a long time living there and you have the money to make it work elsewhere, there is life after Thailand.

 

Honestly, if my Mrs wasn't Thai I am not sure I'd go back even for a visit.

We left in 2013, wife has no desire to even return to visit which is great with me.

 

I too would never consider living there again nor does my wife want to.

 

It all comes down to money and the ability to live comfortably in the first world.

 

Many posters simply cannot do that and have to defend Thailand as their home because they are trapped and have no other choice.

 

People have to make due with what they can afford and for many in Thailand it seems it is not that much.

 

I think if money were no object a lot more people would move on.

 

 

8 hours ago, Kasane said:

Where good people live. Choose wisely.

 

https://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings_by_country.jsp

Rank	Country	Crime Index	Safety Index
1	Venezuela	83.23	16.77
2	Papua New Guinea	79.88	20.12
3	Honduras	76.84	23.16
4	South Africa	76.80	23.20
5	Afghanistan	76.63	23.37
6	Trinidad And Tobago	74.04	25.96
7	Brazil	70.24	29.76
8	Namibia	68.66	31.34
9	El Salvador	68.08	31.92
10	Kazakhstan	66.51	33.49
11	Bangladesh	65.82	34.18
12	Puerto Rico	65.53	34.47
13	Peru	65.28	34.72
14	Jamaica	65.28	34.72
15	Nigeria	64.41	35.59
16	Syria	63.59	36.41
17	Argentina	62.55	37.45
18	Dominican Republic	61.35	38.65
19	Malaysia	60.79	39.21
20	Somalia	60.10	39.90
21	Mongolia	59.76	40.24
22	Libya	59.18	40.82
23	Tanzania	59.01	40.99
24	Costa Rica	56.05	43.95
25	Guatemala	55.92	44.08
26	Kenya	54.82	45.18
27	Maldives	53.29	46.71
28	Bolivia	53.29	46.71
29	Uganda	53.27	46.73
30	Mexico	52.30	47.70
31	Uruguay	52.01	47.99
32	Ghana	51.95	48.05
33	Zimbabwe	51.80	48.20
34	Cambodia	51.28	48.72
35	Colombia	51.26	48.74
36	Egypt	50.71	49.29
37	Morocco	50.24	49.76
38	Sweden	49.35	50.65
39	Iran	49.33	50.67
40	Ecuador	48.98	51.02
41	Ukraine	48.88	51.12
42	Vietnam	48.78	51.22
43	Algeria	48.33	51.67
44	Ethiopia	47.18	52.82
45	United States	47.13	52.87
46	Chile	46.81	53.19
47	Mauritius	46.81	53.19
48	Pakistan	46.73	53.27
49	Thailand	46.66	53.34

Are you naive enough to believe all crime in Thailand is reported?

 

Thai media is the worst in the world and scared to death to report anything 

 

Also getting access to the real figures?

 

Thailand lies out their arse to protect tourism.

8 hours ago, nickmondo said:

makes me laugh when i read posts like this.

90 day you can do by post or online

TM30, the landlord does it online or in person

Extension to Retirement Visa, straightforward if you have the savings or income, and takes 30 minutes a year.

Rent, absolutely cheaper here than in UK or Spain (my 2 other countries of residence)

Food, costs a fraction of Eu prices here.

Pollution, move to the coast like I have and visit the north during the non smoking season

Yes this place sucks at times, but way better than UK or Spain.

 

90 days consumes a whole day in Bangkok. Can be done by post, but immigration sometimes confuses addresses (I just had that today)...

 

TM 30: I have never had a landlord who did that (if they do it,  they must pay tax)

 

Visa extension takes a full day in Bangkok, even if you have 800000 sitting in your account all year round, in which case it is a very simple procedure but still takes a day

 

Rent in Bangkok is about the same price as a city in Western Germany, and even in Pattaya it is more than in Turkey

 

Non-toxic food (if you can get it) is much more expensive than in Europe

 

Pollution...no comment necessary

 

Most foreigners I used to know here have left Thailand, but mostly for personal reasons.

I know only 2 people who left because they don't like Thailand anymore.

Their reasons are quality of food, prices, immigration (both are rich,  but they were just too pissed off).

Both took a Thai female with them. 

 

 

1 minute ago, uhuh said:

Both took a Thai female with them. 

Getting take-out is cheating IMHO.

We left in 2013, wife has no desire to even return to visit which is great with me.
 
I too would never consider living there again nor does my wife want to.
 
It all comes down to money and the ability to live comfortably in the first world.
 
Many posters simply cannot do that and have to defend Thailand as their home because they are trapped and have no other choice.
 
People have to make due with what they can afford and for many in Thailand it seems it is not that much.
 
I think if money were no object a lot more people would move on.
 
 

I'm all about respecting everyone's personal choices about where to live but I do find it unpleasant to hear so many people that regard people leaving Thailand or even considering leaving Thailand as some sort of personal threat to their world view. As if Thailand is the entire world.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app