51 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

Sure.. 

 

Was responding to someone who is blind to the world around them, which was my precise point about willful denial.. 

But feel free to sit around and sing kumbaya.. 

Perhaps it isn't 'blind', maybe it's about what one's focuses on.

 

I choose not to get overly upset - or whatever, about the negative things here. Doesn't mean they don't exist, I just try to filter them out.

 

 

Just now, faraday said:

Perhaps it isn't 'blind', maybe it's about what one's focuses on.

 

I choose not to get overly upset - or whatever, about the negative things here. Doesn't mean they don't exist, I just try to filter them out.

 

 

You, sir, have hit the nail on the head! It isn't willful denial, rather a preference to think about something positive!

And as Thaiguzzi mentioned....free parking!

 

Don't have to fork out £2 to do 5 minutes of shopping - take a risk, & bingo a £30 fine. Smashing.

 

Also my wife is so easy going, forgives my glumpiness readily.

12 minutes ago, geronimo said:

I forgot to mention the great infrastructure, the roads are top-notch and are indeed better than in some developed countries, plus there are rail and coach services that go everywhere.

Is this a joke ?
Trains dating from the beginning of the last century,
Poor roads, even in Bangkok,
line and tour coaches having at least 50 years of age;
I know what I am talking about, it was my first job in Europe in the early 70s;
the coaches I drove in those years were far better than the coaches (old nozzles) that circulate in Thailand today.
In 1971 I drove Setra S130, 140 and 150 which had 220 Cv of power and I was holder of a Saviem E7 with a motor of 240 HP, box 6 speeds synchronous and retarder electromagnetique Telma.

1. Local market food if you live in a small town you don't need an apartment with a kitchen. Cheap restaurants, take away. Big variety. Where can you get 2 items, rice with salad for 40 baht in the world?

2. Cheap accommodations are possible. You can rent a room for 4k a month or a large place for 10k.

3. Good quality medical and dental available. Cheap.

4. Higher quality than other 3rd world countries.

5. 7-11 provide cheap and convenient products.

 

7 minutes ago, ianezy0 said:

No it’s all good my friend. Actually, I have added it to my playlist ????

thank you. i mean is nothing sacred?

2 minutes ago, faraday said:

And as Thaiguzzi mentioned....free parking!

 

Don't have to fork out £2 to do 5 minutes of shopping - take a risk, & bingo a £30 fine. Smashing.

 

Also my wife is so easy going, forgives my glumpiness readily.

The last time I went to the UK, was in 2004 and that was a real eye opener for me! Cameras everywhere, ready to fine you for anything and everything. No wonder the locals are so miserable.

1 minute ago, Assurancetourix said:

Is this a joke ?
Trains dating from the beginning of the last century,
Poor roads, even in Bangkok,
line and tour coaches having at least 50 years of age;
I know what I am talking about, it was my first job in Europe in the early 70s;
the coaches I drove in those years were far better than the coaches (old nozzles) that circulate in Thailand today.
In 1971 I drove Setra S130, 140 and 150 which had 220 Cv of power and I was holder of a Saviem E7 with a motor of 240 HP, box 6 speeds synchronous and retarder electromagnetique Telma.

No joke Sir! We must be driving on different roads .... and when you compare Thailand with neighbouring countries, they are streets ahead (pun intended)

24 minutes ago, geronimo said:

I forgot to mention the great infrastructure, the roads are top-notch and are indeed better than in some developed countries, plus there are rail and coach services that go everywhere.

 

25 minutes ago, geronimo said:

the roads are top-notch

Steady on, don't go overboard with blatant over-exaggeration.

Some roads.

Ok, lots of roads.

But not all roads....

1 hour ago, villagefarang said:

I read about it in the news but it doesn't touch me personally.

 

It's touched me several times personally ...... mostly to the good. I'm quids in !

Just now, thaiguzzi said:

 

Steady on, don't go overboard with blatant over-exaggeration.

Some roads.

Ok, lots of roads.

But not all roads....

Yes I am generalising of course. I know a Canadian guy who has spent the past 9 years riding his 750 Honda all over the country, and he thinks the roads are fantastic when compared to his homeland! He gets through a set of tyres in 2 months!!!!! Remarkable guy!!!

We'd better be careful with all these good points, we might change a few people's minds about leaving ......

1 minute ago, geronimo said:

Yes I am generalising of course. I know a Canadian guy who has spent the past 9 years riding his 750 Honda all over the country, and he thinks the roads are fantastic when compared to his homeland! He gets through a set of tyres in 2 months!!!!! Remarkable guy!!!

As a Canadian I confirm that Canadian road are horrendous but most drivers are not dangerous. 

4 minutes ago, geronimo said:

The last time I went to the UK, was in 2004 and that was a real eye opener for me! Cameras everywhere, ready to fine you for anything and everything. No wonder the locals are so miserable.

You are in for a culture shock going back in 2019 i can tell you!

Changed?

Just a bit!

 

However, i will say, once you are out in the countryside, by a river or lake or beach, or in the Dales in a country pub and the sun is shining, it is still a green & pleasant land.

3 minutes ago, geronimo said:

No joke Sir! We must be driving on different roads .... and when you compare Thailand with neighbouring countries, they are streets ahead (pun intended)

But you wrote :

 

" the roads are top-notch and are indeed better than in some developed countries, "

 

and now you want to compare with Myanmar or Kampuchea...or north of Laos ..

 

The main rd n*2 between Udon Thani and Khon Kaen is in a sorry state and there are still too many concrete roads made with more sand than cement;

But other than that, I'm happy to live here even though my first choice was Vietnam ...

1 minute ago, geronimo said:

We'd better be careful with all these good points, we might change a few people's minds about leaving ......

Nah, better off without them TBH.

All glass half empty types.

If there was nothing to moan about, they'd find something. Look for anything.

2 minutes ago, thaiguzzi said:

You are in for a culture shock going back in 2019 i can tell you!

Changed?

Just a bit!

 

However, i will say, once you are out in the countryside, by a river or lake or beach, or in the Dales in a country pub and the sun is shining, it is still a green & pleasant land.

Yes, there are some thing I do miss about the UK. Roast dinners, the local pub, the green countryside, the fat women, the list is endless!

1 minute ago, thaiguzzi said:

Nah, better off without them TBH.

All glass half empty types.

If there was nothing to moan about, they'd find something. Look for anything.

Very true!

38 minutes ago, thaiguzzi said:

Concur.

I go back to the UK for 3-4 weeks every 15 months (ish) to see my ageing poorly Mum.

The Nanny State protruding into everything in the West is staggering.

I really have to watch myself and pay extra attention when borrowing a car.

Speed bumps, 20 mph zones, prosecuted for doing 35 in a 30.

Market town centres dying.

Instead of bakers, butchers and grocers or an ironmongers (hardware shop - remember them?), it's all charity and betting shops. Oh and vape and S/H shops. A slow death.

No free parking.

Drab grey dreary.

I get back here after that, and the explosion in colour and life is staggering.

 

As a fence sitter , not for or against Thailand I agree with some of your points but not all.

 

I also visit the UK every couple of years for the same reason.

All my family used to live in West London near Heathrow. Whenever we went there we naturally spent most of our time in that area with trips into London and into the country. It

was ok but not for us. Thailand better.

 

Then my family decamped en masse to the Isle of Wight. 

 

We have visited it twice and loved it. Much better weather than London ( global warming ) with our first trip having a high of 32 and the rest of the time 28. Perfect for long walks through woods and beaches. ( September time )  Real wine every night and a better choice of food than up country Thailand ( Indian , Japanese  Thai  etc ) We drove around Wales and loved Montgomery and Snowdonia.  When driving I was relaxed knowing that I need not worry about dogs or chickens running into the road. No idiots on small motorcycles either. Outside the big cities free parking is a lot easier. The colors were really vibrant although I agree in winter it looks drab.

 

Somebody mentioned Thailands great roads ??  I find them very average. Roads in the UK like snooker tables, great for safe scratching ( when I had my V twin ) also generally better scenery outside the cities in the countryside.  Wifey noticed there were no plastic bags adding their colorful beauty to the roadside unlike in Thailand where rubbish is invisible to the locals.

 

I got to thinking that all the years I disliked the UK I was being unfair since I was spending all my time in the worst part of it.

Now I see there are nice places I would be content to live there. 

 

If you had to leave the home where you now are and had to move to Sukhumvit or South  Pattaya would you still like Thailand as much ? Pattaya looks like hell to me but lots of westerners like it because of all the other westerners living there. Safety in numbers ?? A bit like Wembley or Bradford where Asians also like to live cheek by jowel  and who are equally integrated with the local culture.

 

In short....lots of people have pointed out the good things here and I concur with a lot of them and I am still happy enough

living here since I never bother with dumb things like TM30's etc. and any other bureaucracy I can safely avoid.

 

Where Thailand really scores massively over the UK is the cost of accommodation and utilities. Massively expensive in the UK but cheap as chips here. And since this is an expense everyone must face it is a big plus for Thailand. I can actually afford to live here because of this but to have a home in the UK would break the bank. For me the deciding factor .

the climate, the functional electric,

just about anything i want i can also buy, and its even competitive priced. also that i know where i can get what ever it is i want, and i dont have to walk far to get it,

but most of all i am too crippled to move to some other country

beside cambodia, and cambodia is all downside beside climate

Visiting Family & beautiful countryside for cycling 2-3 months a year

 

That is our reason for staying in Thailand 2-3 months a year ????

Brits are just unhappy about the exchange rate , as others have said the half empty brigade.

 

Smiling Adoring Ladies. And With No unfair Family Law Act that cripples those who have more than their partner. 

Personally- a major reason - I feel totally safe- I don’t bother locking doors , don’t worry about having the cars/ motorcycle nicked. Always felt safe walking at night etc etc 

 

Back home in London you live in a world of burglar alarms, have had cars stolen, broken into about six times - middle of the day confronted someone in my kitchen nicking phones and a watch- scary- all my family has been burgled .

 

 

Weather - can be a bit toasty at times

Food is good - but can get monotonous.

 

Thailand is a very good hub for exploring the region- I have no interest in Europe any more. 

 

You can get involved in helping some of the poorest people here and in neighbouring countries- which is a good. 

 

Im not interested in the women- seems such a big deal for many.

 

I have no intention of leaving. 

Hot weather - I like sweating

Violent people - I like fighting

Unsafe roads - I like to risk my life 

 

6 hours ago, villagefarang said:

I am a little confused when I read things like this because they don't seem to affect my life here.  The stuff I buy doesn't seem to break, I am happy with service and quality levels, the idiocy of others is their problem not mine, I have not experienced any corruption and life is not a hassle for me.

Yes.

Because you are a mature adult who can adjust to change, make decisions and does not need a mommy.

15 minutes ago, Mansinthe said:

Dunno about the rest of Thailand,  but in bkk on the bts or mrt there are less smiling people than people with no phones in their hand.

 

 

Yes, I noticed that too.

7 hours ago, geronimo said:

The unpredictability of the Thai authorities  (makes it a little more interesting)

I don't know about interesting, every new rule they bring out goes against us, there never seems to be any new rule that works in our favour.

7 hours ago, geronimo said:

Everything I could ever wish to buy comes past my front door, so no need to go out .....

Even the ladies? You lucky sod.

7 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

Freedom.

What???? Does TM30s,etc,etc, not spring to mind?