I dont trust my memory. But here goes.

 

Air quality..................much worsr

Traffic pollution.......much worse

Cost of living............much worse

Exchange rate...........much worse

Materialsim in thais........... worse

Crowdedness............much worse

Girls............................getting fatter

Respect for whitey...............worse

Chance for older guy to get younger wife.........worse

Noise pollution.........worse

Chinese tourists.......much worse

Degradation of natural beauty......much worse

Thai smile..................much less

Cost of medical care.....much worse

Heat............................worse

 

Like I said, i dont trust my memory. Is the above true? It feels it to me. 

An awful lot of that applies to the rest of se asia too.

 

How much worse does it have to get before other places look better?

Or has the entire world followed the same path?

Or have i just become a grumpy old man?

 

Are there any positives since 20 years ago?

My ereader and the internet. Lol

Isn't this something every older person says at some point, " not the same when I was...." etc or "when I was a lad......" 

 

The world moves on, things are always changing and not always in a positive way. It's just the way of the world, and people will ask the same in another X number of years as the next generation progresses through.

I think things really changed for the worse in March 2014! It was much more bearable up until then.

Oh, so much worse.

Much much worse.

The horror, the horror...... (spoken in hushed tones a la Marlon Brando as Col Kurtz in Apocalypse Now).....

Agree with you. Strangely enough Aussie dollar was about the same 20 years ago.

 

Internet is better and accommodation is pretty good value. Eating Thai food is great value. Still a few diamonds around. ???? 

internet, shopping, and food choices,

all went from hell itself to almost as good as home

 

26 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Are there any positives since 20 years ago?

No.

31 minutes ago, sidjameson said:

Is the above true? It feels it to me. 

More or less. But, most humans have the ability to adapt to changes...

I am afraid you are 100% correct in all areas,the only thing cheaper and better

are Tv's and having the Internet,trouble is where we all came from, in most cases

will also have have changed for the worse.so i am staying, its the weather that clinches it.

regards worgeordie

47 minutes ago, sidjameson said:

Like I said, i dont trust my memory.

So you can add one  more to list.

 

@sidjameson Memory - worse.

Housing/Condos... much better

Ammenities... much better

Internet... much better

Banking... much better

Western food... much better

Supermarkets... much better

Flightprices... much better

Hotels.... much better 

Infrastructure.... much better

Taxi/Tuktuk... Grab is much better

Medical quality... much better

My finances... much better

Shopping... much better

 

 

................

Them were the days when no need to do visa runs, mind you most people i knew back then never bothered anyway just pay the 20k on the way out, see you tomorrow

OP, you missed one off the list. 

Your untrusted memory.  Much worse.   

 

CRS syndrome.  It happens.  ????

3 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Housing/Condos... much better

Ammenities... much better

Internet... much better

Banking... much better

Western food... much better

Supermarkets... much better

Flightprices... much better

Hotels.... much better 

Infrastructure.... much better

Taxi/Tuktuk... Grab is much better

Medical quality... much better

My finances... much better

Shopping... much better

 

 

................

Bar fines cheaper

Pretty much all symptoms of development. Poverty is great at making women less picky, financial independence is great at making them insufferable over-entitled monsters. Just look at any western country and every other woman is "strong" and "independent" which are code words for bitchy and unfeminine. Complain about not having a boyfriend when they put zero effort into making themselves attractive to one.

 

I don't know what it was like 20 years ago, but at least for now I don't have a problem finding women (both rentals and educated) in Thailand. I am 40 however, so I imagine our prospects are a bit different. If it doesn't work for you then it might be time to move on - Philippines is quite easy and it's normal for older men to date younger women - though you'd find the quality of life is lower and nothing ever works properly, except girls...

Everything is hunky dory, and life is nice. It´s not as bad as you people try to make it. 

This world is full of sentimentalists, who love to fill their days reminiscing about how glorious the past was. Of course things were different 20 years ago. Same for 30 years, 40 years ago, etc. I remember the first time I visited Thailand in 1976. Talk about a different world. There were barely any buildings in Bangkok over 5 stories tall. The world has added 1,700,000,000 people to it's ranks in the past 20 years. As the population grows, quality of life diminishes, due to additional pressures on the environment, congestion, and other aspects of sharing the planet with so many more people. So, yes Thailand is very different than 20 years ago. But, I do not recognize the US anymore. It is a deeply pale shadow of what it used to be. So what? It is what it is. It is what we have. There is no going back, as much as many would love to think. Entire political campaigns are built on sentimentality and talk about the "glory days". 

 

Personally, I like my life here, and will deal with the way things are. Would I like to change some things? You bet. But, I can live with it being the way it is.

 

What is better about Thailand, and life in 2019? The malls and cinemas. The BTS. All the new rooftop bars. My desktop computer. My 65" LED TV. My home theatre. My smartphone. My iPod. My scooter. Seems like mostly tech stuff. Anything else? Not sure. What do you guys think?

Air quality..................much worsr……………………. no, at least in Bangkok it's better now

Traffic pollution.......much worse……………………. no, at least in Bangkok it's better now

Cost of living............much worse……………………. like all over the world

Materialsim in thais........... worse…………………….?

Crowdedness............much worse…………………….?

Girls............................getting fatter……………………. yes, but so are their customers

Respect for whitey...............worse……………………. do you want respect only because you are white?

Chance for older guy to get younger wife.........worse………… you should still be able to find one which is younger than you, maybe 50

Noise pollution.........worse……………………. Where?

Degradation of natural beauty......much worse……………………. yeah, maybe they should ban all those tourist 

Thai smile..................much less……………………. No, if you are friendly to them they still smile.

Cost of medical care.....much worse……………………. because you are much older and need much more care

Heat............................worse……………………. same, same, but much more places with air-con

 

Attitude from tourist and demands from foreigners who live here …………. much worse

i think we can all write off those lower,

but still too high, barfines, as a consequence of climate change. u see, western food influences and generally more prosperous thai population has led to fatter girls,

and the flatulence increase proportionally,

thusly, yet again, climate change rears its ugly head yet again.

revered member @brunolem got it right: in the end its climate change that will make us move on to greener pastures

https://www.sirispace.com/News/341

 

If you adapt to change as you go instead of 20 year leaps....it's none worse, better in many areas as some above have mentioned, and continually improving IMHO.

1 hour ago, sidjameson said:

Or have i just become a grumpy old man?

Sure sounds like it which is why I choose not to hang out with them.

Brown colored glasses.

1 hour ago, simon43 said:

Are there any positives since 20 years ago?

Internet, taxi apps, availability of western food, less paranoia about AIDS.

1 hour ago, sidjameson said:

How much worse does it have to get before other places look better?

Or has the entire world followed the same path?

Or have i just become a grumpy old man?

From your perspective, I doubt any place in the world has gotten better.    

50 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Bar fines cheaper

You get a lot more "quantity" for your money as well! ???? 

20 years back I couldn't buy a 50" TV for 8,000bht.

getting older... makes things look even worse

aches and pains... worse

sleep quality... worse

 

 

37 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Respect for whitey...............worse……………………. do you want respect only because you are white?

That one made me blink too!