Is This the Death Knell for the Cheap Charlies in Thailand?

[ExpatOK]

I notice more and more Cheap Charlies leaving Thailand.  No longer do our tales of woe convince the Thais to give us discounts on meals consisting of only pork and rice. No more phony Embassy letters for retirement visas.  And now there is talk of requiring the expensive Thai health insurance for retirement visas, OA class now, but no doubt all classes in the future.  

 

Thailand is moving up, worlds ahead of neighboring Cambodia and Vietnam in terms of infrastructure and western amenities.  Yes, visas there are easy, but living is not.

 

So, is this the death knell for Cheap Charlies in Thailand?  Are we about to become extinct?

[ivor bigun]

Dont know ime not a cheap charlie and dont know any .

[cyril sneer]

nice profile pic

[CNXexpat]

Also a rich man can be a Cheap Charlie if he has the money but is not willing to spend it. Perhaps you mean the expats and tourists with not so much money. 

 

Especially in Pattaya you can find many men they are not willing to spend a lot for food and accommodation but spend 1,500 - 3,000 Baht per day for beer and girls. 

[wgdanson]

I take it from you post that you consider yourself a Cheap Charlie. So why not leave now before you find it too expensive and difficult to enjoy Thailand and leave us others alone. Thanks.

[ExpatOK]

12 minutes ago, cyril sneer said:

nice profile pic

Thank you. I have a big crush on her and I hear she's single now.  But, alas, I don't have money, nor am I her brother.????

Edited November 10, 2019 by ExpatOK

[sillyfool]

5 minutes ago, ExpatOK said:

Thank you. She's the love of my life and I hear she's single now.  But, alas, I don't have money, nor am I her brother.????

you would. 

[PatOngo]

30 minutes ago, ExpatOK said:

So, is this the death knell for Cheap Charlies in Thailand?  Are we about to become extinct?

Yes!

[sirineou]

Posters in this forum have being complaining how Thailand was not, "more like the west" . 

I always said "watch what you wish for you just might get it" 

And here we are.....There no such thing as a free lunch, there is a price for everything, and cheap charlies can't afford it.

[Nebula]

Agree, and like the west it has started to become. Foreigners, and to be specific westerners ie Western Europe and North Americans, Australians. Could I say they brought it on themselves? The same as those embracing diversity and after the new comers numbers increased... u ll know the story. They brought it on themselves too.

[William Osborne]

I don't think there has been an influx of them in the last few years and the existing ones are slowing killing themselves off by drinking large bottles of Chang and smoking fags all day ....about 10 years max for that life choice ..????

[buick]

there is 'flat broke' and 'cheap charlie'.  flat broke are history, they can't get a visa (some, married to a thai, can't put 400,000thb in a bank).  cheap charlie is another thing, as noted by another, many cheap charlie's actually have money and can afford the deposit required for the visa.  they'll still try to get their costs for housing, food, and entertainment to be as low as possible.  and that is pretty easy here in thailand.

 

my father and my best friend are both cheap charlies (they live in USA).  i'm well versed in how they operate.

 

Edited November 10, 2019 by buick

[Lacessit]

I suppose I could be called a Cheap Charlie. My GF cuts my hair for me, and buys secondhand clothes for me. I don't squander money on expensive meals. Just once in a while, as a treat. If I'm buying a big ticket item, I look for the best value, or buy used if it is only a couple of months old.

I don't feel any need to impress friends or neighbors with my possessions. As the last time I was in debt was 1974, my philosophy is working for me.

I regard educating my Thai GF it is better to be a saver than a debtor as a triumph. She gets it now. My father taught me, and I'm passing it on.

[BigStar]

On the contrary. We're even now in the midst of the Golden Age of the Cheap Charlies. And it looks to continue far into the future, too, as more and more are being officially encouraged to come on over.

 

Incredibly our members seem to have missed entirely the import of the constant cries over imaginary zero-baht tours, the nightly parades in WS, and the use of five straws to share one bottle of water. Oh, the (cultural) blindness. HOW can that happen? ????

Edited November 10, 2019 by BigStar

[giddyup]

You notice more and more leaving Thailand. How exactly. Are you doing a survey at the airport?

[flexomike]

54 minutes ago, cyril sneer said:

nice profile pic

555 - I think it is a discrase

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

16 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

I take it from you post that you consider yourself a Cheap Charlie. So why not leave now before you find it too expensive and difficult to enjoy Thailand and leave us others alone. Thanks.

Phitsanulok eh..? I lived up that way for a few years. Great hospital albeit a 2 hour drive away ...But for the life of me I can't think  what I would need 40,000 O/P coverage for ...... and yes I have no doubt that your current visa doesn't require it, but it will ...it will....it is a massive increase on the premium to include it.

 

Empathy is not strong on TVF but I hope that you live a very long, healthy  life and sometime encounter a situation that requires you to pay an extortionate amount of money to live here for something that you will never need. If I was like you I might even enjoy seeing you crying at the airport saying goodbye to things and people that you love. Y'see when the devil comes calling and pisses in your cornflakes no matter how much preparation and planning you have done The Beast will find a way through your defences. I somehow think that you are not mentally prepared to live in poverty though wherever it may be.

 

Personally I enjoy living a cheap charlie lifestyle. I have found that I mix with people that are more ready to smile and have a laugh, and less ready to criticise others different to themselves.  

[Lungstib]

1 hour ago, ExpatOK said:

Thailand is moving up, worlds ahead of neighboring Cambodia and Vietnam in terms of infrastructure and western amenities.

if you got out of the Bangkok - Pattaya conurbation you would find that western amenities are totally and completely lacking in much of the rest of the country. My nearest 7/11 is 10kms, Tesco 33kms, and even an ATM is 10kms away. Many of us live here just like the Thais do, eat sleep and care for our loved ones. My monthly income wouldn't last a week in the big city but my neighbours dont give a duck as long as I'm good to their kids. Its not the quantity of your income its the quality of your behaviour.

[mosan]

24 minutes ago, buick said:

there is 'flat broke' and 'cheap charlie'.  flat broke are history, they can't get a visa (some, married to a thai, can't put 400,000thb in a bank).  cheap charlie is another thing, as noted by another, many cheap charlie's actually have money and can afford the deposit required for the visa.  they'll still try to get their costs for housing, food, and entertainment to be as low as possible.  and that is pretty easy here in thailand.

 

my father and my best friend are both cheap charlies (they live in USA).  i'm well versed in how they operate.

 

You don't have to put 400K in the bank if married to a Thai, one can transfer in 40K per month also...

[baansgr]

There are actually more now than ever, with XE as it is, most have seen their incomes almost half and daily costs rising....those that had new pick ups and the latest phones are now scuttling around on a rented moped ecking out bargains.

[Pilotman]

Don't know, don't care.  

[Gecko123]

Feigning poverty is not a bad strategy for acceptance in rural Thailand. You're perceived as more humble, more approachable, and you're less likely to trigger class resentment, or get hit up for a loan. Please don't look down on Cheap Charlies; some of us are just faking it.

 

Edited November 10, 2019 by Gecko123

[Mitkof Island]

18 minutes ago, giddyup said:

You notice more and more leaving Thailand. How exactly. Are you doing a survey at the airport?

He gets his secret information on the whereabouts and criminal reports from a certain YouTube channel i am not allowed to mention.

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

7 minutes ago, baansgr said:

There are actually more now than ever, with XE as it is, most have seen their incomes almost half and daily costs rising....those that had new pick ups and the latest phones are now scuttling around on a rented moped ecking out bargains.

Totally agree. I am determined to live off my military pension here although I have savings to fall back on. Y'see, I enjoy a challenge.Always have done. I have greater fun spotting a bargain in Big C than seeing a naked girl in an agogo but that is just me.

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

3 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

Feigning poverty is not a bad strategy for acceptance in rural Thailand. You're perceived as more humble, more approachable, and you're less likely to trigger class resentment, or get hit up for a loan. Don't look down on Cheap Charlies; some of us are just faking it.

 

Well Said!

[mauGR1]

9 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

Feigning poverty is not a bad strategy for acceptance in rural Thailand. You're perceived as more humble, more approachable, and you're less likely to trigger class resentment, or get hit up for a loan. Don't look down on Cheap Charlies; some of us are just faking it.

 

I'm not faking it !

Yet i totally agree with you.

[Dexlowe]

5 minutes ago, Jeremia Juxtaposed said:

I have greater fun spotting a bargain in Big C than seeing a naked girl in an agogo

Message me. I think I can still save you.

[SteveK]

12 minutes ago, Jeremia Juxtaposed said:

I have greater fun spotting a bargain in Big C than seeing a naked girl in an agogo but that is just me.

It's a lot easier to spot a naked girl in a gogo bar than a genuine bargain in Big C.

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

1 minute ago, SteveK said:

It's a lot easier to spot a naked girl in a gogo bar than a genuine bargain in Big C.

True. Anything on special offer in most supermarkets means that somebody somewhere has been paying too much or the goods are reaching their sell by date ......

[Jeremia Juxtaposed]

10 minutes ago, Dexlowe said:

Message me. I think I can still save you.

I can't afford to send a text message