Why all the discontent?

[sanemax]

9 minutes ago, thaiguzzi said:

Do you complain in English or Thai?

See where i'm going here?

The common denominator.

The bottom line.

 

I find the countryside, and countryside, small provincial cities and town folk still wonderful.

I don't live in an expat ghetto or tourist trap.

Yes i speak the lingo, inter act and integrate with the locals.

Like i have wherever i've been.

Yes, you can hide away in a little village and be uneffected by all the changes going on out there in the big wide world .

   Nothing has changed for you and you have no reason to voice your disapproval of anything .

  Thailand has changed beyond recognition over the last few years , maybe you havent noticed ?

[thaiguzzi]

3 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Yes, you can hide away in a little village and be uneffected by all the changes going on out there in the big wide world .

   Nothing has changed for you and you have no reason to voice your disapproval of anything .

  Thailand has changed beyond recognition over the last few years , maybe you havent noticed ?

Er, i don't hide anywhere dude.

My home or base is in the middle of nowhere, that is how i like it.

But believe me, i still get out and about when i want, where i want.

Of course Thailand has changed, some for the worse, some for the better, but that is the same as pretty much every country in the world in the last 10-20 years.

Time waits for no man.

[sanemax]

10 minutes ago, thaiguzzi said:

Er, i don't hide anywhere dude.

My home or base is in the middle of nowhere, that is how i like it.

But believe me, i still get out and about when i want, where i want.

Of course Thailand has changed, some for the worse, some for the better, but that is the same as pretty much every country in the world in the last 10-20 years.

Time waits for no man.

Yes, and this thread is about why some people feel discontented in Thailand and such people who feel discounted are stating why they feel discontentment .

   The Thai government seems quite hostile to Foreigners at the moment , the Country has become a lot stricter and we stated our reasons for our discontentment , as requested by the OP

[elliss]

59 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

It saves husbands and boyfriends who have abandoned their women and children...from having to act responsibly...????

 

 Good point ,  i expect a large number of Tvf members have inherited baggage ,

    women and children , from a thai man , who has done a runner .

    Thai culture , i should know ...

 

[poohy]

12 minutes ago, thaiguzzi said:

Er, i don't hide anywhere dude.

My home or base is in the middle of nowhere, that is how i like it.

But believe me, i still get out and about when i want, where i want.

Of course Thailand has changed, some for the worse, some for the better, but that is the same as pretty much every country in the world in the last 10-20 years.

Time waits for no man.

My base is also middle of nowhere ....do i have Thai friends there NO!

sadly but not unsurprisingly i have little in common with uneducated farmers, but i love it here for peace and quiet its remote but 2 mins to beach 15 mins to Burmese border and mountains

I have good Thai friends in Bangkok we meet there not in the countryside thats  their and my choice

[jpeezy]

1 hour ago, Fex Bluse said:

If you are half Thai, then surely you know more about Thailand and the frequent gripes than you are letting on, no? ????

 

Indeed, you should be acutely aware of how racism plagues the country, for example. 

 

Thailand is a country where it's nice only if you never look too closely. The whole society's dealings with the outside, non-Thai world is modeled on superficiality and tourism type of exchanges.

 

If you never look past the many plastic smiles, and as long as you are paying (transacting), everything is fine. But, outsiders will never find true Thai friendship or interest in them. 

 

I've lived and worked on and off in Thailand for 30 years. And, I know only a tiny number of foreigners who ever have true Thai friends. These are all types of foreigners - guys working in government, guys earning 1MM THB a month leading multinational companies, guys in religious missions, profesional teachers at top universities here, others. 

 

Mostly very nice guys, unlike me. But, like me, almost not a single Thai friendship among them. 

 

Why? 

 

It's a transactional country with attractive people. That's it. 

 

Spend months observing how many genuine expat/Thai interactions (not sexual ones) you see, and ask why so few. I've not been to a single other country anywhere in the world where this lack of true exchange is so apparent. Although, Saudi comes close. 

 

 

Yes, I am half, but my first visit to Thailand was in 2013 at 36, so culturally not Thai at all. I don't speak Thai yet and have really only viewed the country through a tourist's lens.

 

My gf is Thai and when I do visit Thailand I am usually surrounded by what I consider Thai friends, meaning we still speak and check on each other throughout the year. I am an outgoing person and I do try to mingle with the locals whatever country I go to. 

 

But, I do see what you mean by transactional, as there a few Thais I know that only seem to hang out cause they think I will buy them a drink or treat dinner when going out. After a few visits it is painfully obvious which are which.

 

I did live in Korea 3 times, for a total of 5 years and there was a similar observation about not seeing too many Americans have Korean friends, but I always attributed it to the cultural difference and language barrier.

 

I am not aware of the racism, are you speaking of towards any foreigner or a particular groups(s)? I may not have noticed it as they all think I am Thai until they try to speak to me and I give them that deer in the headlights look lol

[RedPill]

11 minutes ago, jpeezy said:

Yes, I am half, but my first visit to Thailand was in 2013 at 36, so culturally not Thai at all. I don't speak Thai yet and have really only viewed the country through a tourist's lens.

Just a quick side note ... I see a lot of luk kruengs when they are young kids running around.

 

But I hardly see any half Thai's living here when they are grown up.

 

Statistically, with so many Thai/Farang couples having kids, you would think there are a lot more of luk kruengs ... but I hardly bump into them?

 

The ones I met, they all live oversea's.

 

 

[sunnyboy2018]

4 hours ago, sanemax said:

What is so great about living in Thailand ?

weather,  food, girls,  bars, fun, festivals, areas of natural beauty but yes the girls and nightlife..

[sanemax]

28 minutes ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

weather,  food, girls,  bars, fun, festivals, areas of natural beauty but yes the girls and nightlife..

Do you like females do you ?

[WhatupThailand]

Why all the discontent?

 

I made a decision to retire here in the Mid 80's, after visiting and falling in Love with a Beautiful, sweet, Farm Girl. Soon fell in Love with all the Family, and all the Village around me.Which is still the same today.

At the time, Thailand was close to America, and Western Nations.

I never considered it would Flip toward China.

 

I never had a Crystal Ball, or any other Future seeing tool,

so I had to rely on my Thinking at the Time.

 

I think my discontent comes from Not Having  a Future seeing tool,

so that I can see what my situation will be over the next year or so.

Because sitting on the Fence, gets harder, and more uncomfortable, the older I get.

 

And despite those that say, it is Easy to do all the Visa/Extension Run around  each year,

it was when I was younger and not in a Wheel Chair,

but now it is becoming a discontented Chore, with an apprehension for what's next.

 

 

 

[Gecko123]

6 hours ago, jpeezy said:

But, I do see what you mean by transactional, as there a few Thais I know that only seem to hang out cause they think I will buy them a drink or treat dinner when going out. After a few visits it is painfully obvious which are which.

I was fascinated to read this observation coming from someone who is half-Thai. It occurs to me that as you are half-Thai that your expectation level about how readily you will be accepted is higher than other expats, which may make it all the more disappointing if it doesn't materialize. Appearing to be Thai (but not being able to speak the language) could actually be a disadvantage in some cases in terms of social integration to the extent that you attract little visual interest as being out of the ordinary.  If you are serious about moving here, I would make acquiring language skills a top priority as a lack of Thai language skills will definitely impede social integration.

 

 

 

 

[lkv]

10 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

coming from someone who is half-Thai.

Sorry, who's half Thai i missed that?

 

Oh wait....you thought.....

 

Have you heard of clickbait/wumai?

[FarFlungFalang]

People like to get stuff off their chest instead of carrying it around with them and getting depressed so this forum ends up working a bit like a city's sewer system which is very important for maintaining a healthy population and like a sewer it can get a bit on the nose and when you go to a sewerage treatment plant all that stuff is treated and comes out smelling like roses.That's why it can seem a bit negative and it may also seem like some of the posters may seem a bit negative if people meet them somewhere else they might not see or notice these things.

[BritManToo]

8 hours ago, elliss said:

Good point ,  i expect a large number of Tvf members have inherited baggage ,

    women and children , from a thai man , who has done a runner .

    Thai culture , i should know ...

 

I've inherited a Thai step-daughter, 20 years old now and she's lovely.

Dad didn't exactly do a runner, he's been in jail since shortly after she was conceived, he'll be out in another 5 years.

[Gecko123]

8 hours ago, poohy said:

My base is also middle of nowhere ....do i have Thai friends there NO!

sadly but not unsurprisingly i have little in common with uneducated farmers, but i love it here for peace and quiet its remote but 2 mins to beach 15 mins to Burmese border and mountains

I have good Thai friends in Bangkok we meet there not in the countryside thats  their and my choice

My base is in the middle of nowhere as well.

 

I agree with you that there are a number of posters on here who act like moving to a small rural village is like falling into a magical Alice-in-Wonderland-like rabbit hole where foreign newcomers are warmly embraced and seamlessly integrate into the community in short order. I strongly suspect that in the vast majority of cases this is being grossly exaggerated and romanticized, and bears little resemblance to the day-to-day reality they experience. Anyway, that's my opinion after 16 years in a small rural village, during which time I have had ample opportunity to experience and observe how most foreigners integrate into village life.

 

With that said, it should be pointed out that not everybody in a farming community is an uneducated farmer. Some farmers are fairly knowledgable. There are school teachers, doctors, nurses, merchants, mechanics, vets, postal workers, government and police officials, and people who have spent stretches of time in urban and tourist areas.

 

Over the years, the Thai people I have found to be the best conversationalists and to be the most genuinely receptive to ongoing friendship are middle-aged and older men who seem to have the time and genuine interest in talking. I have found many adult women to become quickly disinterested or fatigued in conversation. I also am left on occasion with the impression that their interest in talking to me is because they are digging for info which has gossip value, rather than being driven by genuine interest in me. There are also limits to engaging in conversation women who are romantically involved or married : jealous husbands, malicious gossip, etc. I can engage children in brief Q&A sessions, but attention spans tend to peter out quickly. There are of course exceptions to all of this. Conversations tend be about topics which have proven to be of mutual interest: the economy, how crops are doing, gardening, exchanging diet and health tips, and, occasionally, politics.

 

 

[FarFlungFalang]

13 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I've inherited a Thai step-daughter, 20 years old now and she's lovely.

Dad didn't exactly do a runner, he's been in jail since shortly after she was conceived, he'll be out in another 5 years.

I've inherited a son and daughter now 30 and 26 daughter is a beautiful young woman who last week missed carried when six months pregnant and the son is a typical drinking yaba smoking Thai young man with the added problem of dealing with some severe mental health issues and has spent the last ten years in and out of mental hospital which is pretty tough to deal with for my wife especially and puts a fair amount of strain on her which of course can sometimes be directed at me so I just act like a sponge (most times) and soak it up so I come here to get some light relief and read about other peoples traumatic experiences dealing with TM30ies and go away thinking that I don't have it so bad after all.

[GreenCurryorDie]

12 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

Yep, nobody likes that.

If i have a friend sleeping in the house, i am supposed to report that. And the opposite.

Mind boggling if you ask me.

But who actually reports where they are staying? I always assume the hotel/serviced apt does that.

[BritManToo]

15 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

With that said, it should be pointed out that not everybody in a farming community is an uneducated farmer. Some farmers are fairly knowledgable. There are school teachers, doctors, nurses, merchants, mechanics, vets, postal workers, government and police officials, and people who have spent stretches of time in urban and tourist areas.

They're all as dull, ignorant and worthless as the farmers IMHO.

I ignore my Thai neighbours, same as I ignored my English neighbours when I lived in England.

[Lacessit]

10 hours ago, sanemax said:

Eh ?

All Thai females are slim and all Females from every other country in the World are fat ?

And you think that I dont get around much !!!!!!

No, I didnt bother to learn Thai

It's a matter of percentages. Compared to the Western world, the average Thai female is much slimmer and much more appealing to me. Take a walk through shopping malls anywhere in the West. The obesity levels, male and female, are disgusting.

I thought so. You never "bothered" to learn Thai. How on earth do you expect to communicate or enjoy the culture and people of any country you are in if you can't even speak or understand their language?

[AussieBob18]

10 hours ago, sanemax said:

The only thing wrong with Thailand is the bad exchange rate for foreigners ?

Everything is wonderful and its only poor foreigners who complain and anything because they are poor?

   The pollution is wonderful and foreigners only complain about it is because they are poor ?

   Righto

Pollution.  Tell me all about it - we lived in Chaing Mai for years.  Both my health and my need to get the pension, dictated we leave Chiang Mai.  Over a year ago we visited the family and friends and the pollution was very very bad. When back in Aus I was sick for 2 weeks - the clean air here sure suits an ex-smoker's lungs - Thailand's does not.

 

But it could be worse - China is a shocker - and that is an issue over all 3rd world SEAsia.  However the lack of enforcement and management in Thailand is not acceptable to any rational examination.  Sure <deleted> from Indonesia and China comes into Thailand at times, but what do they actually do to stop farmers and others burning off their old crops and other toxic waste year after year after year? Nothing but talk. Farmers are growing Sugar Cane for the higher returns and getting 3 crops a year - which they burn off afterwards. Others do corn and that also burns off a lot of smoke compared to rice.  Nothing is done. Year after year.  I got sick and was sick of it.

[AussieBob18]

9 hours ago, jpeezy said:

I am not aware of the racism, are you speaking of towards any foreigner or a particular groups(s)? I may not have noticed it as they all think I am Thai until they try to speak to me and I give them that deer in the headlights look lol

Thais are not as racist as much as some people say.  But definitely their default setting is to not trust any foreigners - from anywhere in the world.  But once you get to know them, and them you, they are usually fine - as individuals. 

[Kwasaki]

15 hours ago, jpeezy said:

sometimes I get second thoughts from reading the posts here.

You can think out things for yourself ya know. ????

[from the home of CC]

19 hours ago, baansgr said:

It truly can be a wonderful place to retire. Secret to happiness, is dont have any interaction with Thais...

lol,  my happiness is partially derived from zero interaction with westerners, one of the reasons I settled here..

[mauGR1]

8 hours ago, GreenCurryorDie said:

But who actually reports where they are staying? I always assume the hotel/serviced apt does that.

Yes, licensed hotels and guest houses are supposed to report you staying there.

If they have not a proper license, i'd guess they don't.

[emptypockets]

22 hours ago, Lacessit said:

The pussy. Great and much less expensive than most other places. Next question.

Not with current exchange rate. Without discussing the finer pricing details its cheaper to ST a Thai girl in Oz than it is in Bangkok at the moment.

[bwpage3]

23 hours ago, jpeezy said:

Of course I wasn't expecting for someone to predict what it would be like in 10 years, that would be silly. Just trying to track the trend, whether up or down. I like to plan things out and set goals, I don't like doing things on a whim as it could be costly.

 

I would assume my experience would be different if I get my Thai passport (being half-Thai) and all that, correct? 

 

My experience has been only as a tourist, maybe been to Thailand about 20 times since 2013. The food and accommodation is cheap from that experience. But I can definitely empathize with the changing of rules for persons on retirement visas.

 

My home country is the USA, although there are some good things about it, I just don't really like living there. Crime rate, politics and costs are just not to my taste. Mind you, I was living out of the US from 2007 until 2019, and when I came back to work there it was like a totally different country to me. Maybe the whole world is going downhill lol

And you like the crime rate, politics, pollution, of Thailand?

[bwpage3]

23 hours ago, madmen said:

Says the man who failed living here and now taken in by his elderly mom in the UK yet still continues to spread the hate. Thats the worst type of Thai basher who just cant cut the chord with Thailand.

 

Most of the haters are only a handful that bash anything Thai..sad

<deleted> 

 

That hate has grown legs mainly because their own embassies stopped issuing BS affidavits and now they screwed!!  

No one fails in Thailand man.

 

You, me and everyone else failed ourselves moving there in the first place.

 

Not one of us ever grew up dreaming of moving to Thailand.

 

Desperation, loneliness, finances, you name it are not a good reason to live your own country and culture, but here we are as many have done before us.

 

Kidding ourselves into thinking we belong, we are wanted, etc.

 

Kidding ourselves into thinking we are handsum men and so wanted by the uneducated Thai tweenies.

 

What a load of BS.

 

No one fails in Thailand.

 

You failed in you ended up in Thailand because you couldn't make it in your own country due to lack of education, job skill, planning or whatever.

 

Now I applaud those with the finances to make their own choices, who married smartly, who live a good, normal life in Thailand with a home, car, etc. 

 

Applaud those that got married, moved back to their home countries for a better life for their families.

 

But one one fails by leaving Thailand.

 

The only folks that say that have trapped themselves forever.

 

 

 

 

[emptypockets]

23 hours ago, AussieBob18 said:

Dont forget the TM30s every time you go see or do anything away from the wife's village for a day. 

Lets get some perspective on this.

If you go away somewhere and they report you, you MAY need to do a new report. Many posters are indicating that their Imm Office do not require this unless leaving the country. If you go and visit friends and stay a few days Immigration will never know and there will be no need to do any report. Worst comes to worst plead ignorance and cop a smallish fine.

Apparently with the TM30 app its a piece of cake, but I wouldn't know.

I've been visiting the wife monthly for 5 years and haven't done any TM30 report at all. And nothing for the 4 years before that when we both visited Thailand from Oz.

It's not the show stopper some people make it out to be.

[bwpage3]

22 hours ago, kenk24 said:

And I think that says it all... 

 

In the West it is difficult to save enough for retirement and an unhappy situation is created where a large % enter elderly years broke... 

 

I think many of the complainers here would not feel as discontent and 'discriminated' against if they had more income. If the posters here put their income levels and savings, I think it would tell you the story... 

 

I am sure very few of us here could have predicted such a currency depreciation as many have experienced... but, calling a 200 baht national park fee 'racism' speaks of a much deeper discontent... 

If it is so difficult, how do you explain 10,000's of Thai's living and surviving Financially in Florida in 2019?

[emptypockets]

23 hours ago, MyTHaiMyKe said:

Thailand Thai-India is not a retirement friendly country! They do absolutely nothing for retirees, but treat us like <deleted>!

Thai- India is not a country.

Why should a foreign retiree expect anything - they went were they went by their own choice. A lot of countries don't do enough for their own retirees which is why some choose to live elsewhere.

Why is this a concern for someone living in Mexico?