How has your life been ,good bad ,fantastic?

[Tagged]

10 minutes ago, MadMuhammad said:

Long story short. I had a read only tough up bringing with not enough positive role models and hence I was off the rails until I decided at 27 to turn my life around. 
In 6 years I went back to school, Re-skilled anf got myself a career, bought my first million dollar home and travelled the world. 
I had 3 very respectable attempts at not making it past 35 but here I am @ 42 living in Thailand without a care in the world.  
Life is fantastic, wouldn’t be dead for quids 

I guess and hope you have learned how to turn bad to good by now. It is a very good scill, knowing for every dawnfall, you get up stronger!

[mike787]

Living the dream too...best prices and action is NON STOP the way I like and NEED it!!  I LOVE this place, better than the movies.  My mates can't believe it!  

[Tagged]

4 minutes ago, mike787 said:

Living the dream too...best prices and action is NON STOP the way I like and NEED it!!  I LOVE this place, better than the movies.  My mates can't believe it!  

 

Whatever makes your day, and some is stuck with an imaginary god, others is occupied with this cind of imaginary women. 

[MadMuhammad]

24 minutes ago, Tagged said:

I guess and hope you have learned how to turn bad to good by now. It is a very good scill, knowing for every dawnfall, you get up stronger!

Absolutely my friend. I learned the value of self respect, direction and hard work. Along with the realisation that only I can control my destiny, i have no one else to blame but myself. My stumbles have made me who I am so I have no regrets

[Skallywag]

25 minutes ago, Tagged said:

Whatever makes your day, and some is stuck with an imaginary god, others is occupied with this kind of imaginary women. 

No the women are not imaginary.  Its the "no commitment" that some think is morally beneath them and their imaginary god

[olfu]

Ok.

First 42 years my life was a disaster, then for another 30 years a roller-coaster ride, now that I'm retired its trouble again.

Definitely best idea is not to be born as life is a scam.

[NoshowJones]

8 hours ago, giddyup said:

So-so

I think most people could say a bit of each.

[NoshowJones]

8 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

My life has had more ups and downs than a bar girls"s knickers. 

 

So's mine, but that is assuming that most times the bargirl is not wearing knickers. ????

[Gecko123]

My neighbor has an autistic teenage daughter. Recently she has taken to intermittently blowing a tin whistle for long stretches at a time. Even though it's just a single note, like music from a French carousel, it transports me back in time, and I often find myself becoming lost in reflection or reverie whenever I hear her playing. In the long pauses between notes, I imagine her smiling in delight at the sound she's made. Having been reminded of how much I have to be grateful for in my life, I smile as well.

[Kwasaki]

10 hours ago, ivor bigun said:

what has your life been like ,you tell me about yours

I'm not interested in your life mine has been good more than a few regrets on my life journey that's life and now I'm in Thailand I am happy to be an alien.

[FarFlungFalang]

Life's like a box of chocolates,there's never enough and leaves me wanting more!

[wgdanson]

9 hours ago, WalkingOrders said:

I am married to a lovely Thai woman, she has a daughter from previous marriage that I raise as my own. I love them, and they love me. I believe God brought me here. My life is great. Does that mean perfect? No, but its pretty close. We could all live close to same comfort level in the USA, and in a year or so, we are going to do a couple of 30 or 60 day bounces a year to the USA...things like renting full furnished cabin in the snow ???? I miss snow.

I believe (know) that Etihad brought me here!

Edited November 15, 2019 by wgdanson

[wgdanson]

 

[wgdanson]

7 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Maybe a Buddhist country is just where I need to be to get that second chance

Then why Thailand?

[simon43]

My life has been ups and downs:

 

- Considered the 'black sheep' of the family by my parents, because I only managed to go to London University, as opposed to Cambridge. (Cambridge didn't offer the
course that I wanted to study).

- Married another student from college - all seemed good.

- Started a 15 year career in the satellite sector, designing systems and antennas for scientific, weather and TV channel satellites.  Great time of my life and very well
paid.  My wife and I enjoyed worldwide holidays, 3 cars, a holiday home in the UK and one in France.  Life was good and I had 3 beautiful kids.

- Established a 'one-man-band' SMS 'text-chat' and AI software business.  Life got better and I sold out for $2M+ and a board level position with the company who
purchased my business.

- Life started to go bad!  I developed aspergillosis illness from mold spores in the damp, underground office where I worked.  My health went downhill fast, pneumonia struck
many times and the depression of my illness took it's toll on my marriage.

- My doctor advised moving to a hot and humid climate (ie Thailand).  My wife didn't want to go!  We amicably divorced and I gave her the $1.5M country home that I had built in the Chiltern Hills, (complete with 5 acres of horse paddocks and a vineyard). My father cut me out of his will because of this divorce.
- I moved to Thailand and my health improved.  By accident, I met a cute bar-girl who was hot in bed (unlike my British wife).  After a reasonable period of relationship, we legally married.

- Life went downhill in a big way! My Thai wife turned to drugs and this triggered extreme bipolar episodes.  She was as mad as a coot!  She totally destroyed our marriage, our family life (we had a young son), and our hotel business in Phuket.  I was left totally (I mean TOTALLY) penniless...

- Life works in strange ways.  A friend invited me to teach at a private school in 'hardship' Yangon, (Burma was still under sanctions at that time).  I wasn't a teacher, but the salary was very good.  I moved to Yangon and was shocked to meet my class of .... 4 year old kindergarten kids!  A good challenge for someone in their mid-50's.

- During my time in Burma, I was hugely moved by the sight of impoverished kids, living in far worse conditions than I had ever seen.  I promised myself that because my life had turned around, I would try to do the same for these kids.  I established a charitable enterprise and began to donate school books to village and orphanage schools.

- I enjoyed the job at the private school, and was promoted to assistant principal of the school within 6 months.

- My new teaching career improved, and I was appointed headmaster and director of the international school in Luang Prabang, in north Laos.

- Further career moves took me back to Burma, where I taught at an international school in the strange new capital city of Naypyitaw.

- Finally, with an interest to teach online, I returned to live in Luang Prabang.  I now no longer teach in bricks & mortar schools.  I teach many hours online every day, teaching English, Science, Maths and History. My young students live in China, Hong Kong, Burma, Russia, Korea, Japan and the USA.

 

- Most of my friends are all dead, from alcoholism, diabetes, cancer, motorbike accidents, AIDs,murder and suicide.  Now that my lung health is OK again, I try to keep it that way by leading a very healthy lifestyle ==> exercise, good food, and zero stress.

- The experiences that I had with my English and mad Thai wife, (and I forgot to mention a third wife!), made me realise that I was happier living alone, without any female company.  I had been 'burnt' every time by my wives.  For the past 5 years or so, I have lived alone and have found much more happiness in my own company than I ever did when married.  I'm actually a very sociable person, but I view any woman's 'romantic' approaches with utmost suspicion.  I'm happy with my own company and passing on what little knowledge that I have to my students ????

 

PS - I didn't mention my 15 years working as a Tourist Police Volunteer, nor my time in a Thai prison, nor that I was forced out of Thailand by drug dealers who invaded and stole my $100,000 little hotel, with the help of the local police.....  No point raking over past events!

[khunPer]

9 hours ago, ivor bigun said:

what has your life been like

Amazing, I should not complain.

I had a good childhood in 1950ies and 1960ies with great parents that allowed me freedom to explore and test; I'm a single child. Financially the family was Okay, we didn't miss much, and neither had too much, and we had surplus enough for a summer house north of Copenhagen (Denmark), are some modest travelling abroad in Europe.

 

The freedom my parents gave me, allowed me to join a very small travelling circus during my school holidays, and often also in week-ends, from I was about 12-years old, which game me other impressions of life than the bourgeois, or petty-bourgeois, environment both in the better neighborhoods of the capital, and in the northern summer vacation area.

 

After I left high school I had a year off. I first traveled through Europe to the tip of Sicily in an old Swedish city-bus plastered with advertisement stickers for Danish Tuborg Beer. The quality of the Volvo-bus should be proven by driving the bus to North Africa, and the beer company partly sponsored the trip. In return the driver and I had to dress up in Tuborg-uniforms, if we saw a pub selling that beer brand, and walk in a give free beers to all the gusts. It was a bit of problem crossing borders with a busload of beer – at that time before Europen Union, it was 1968 – but a crate to the custom officers always solve the problem. We ended up in Tunisia, after being delayed by an earthquake on Sicily. There we waited for almost half a year before the government decided to buy something else than old Swedish busses, but I however had a great time in a different culture. The bus ended in Tripoli, Libya, and I returned to Denmark. I had the opportunity to travel a bit more, and toured a bit in car through southern Spain and Morocco.

 

I had been playing rock music during the last years of school, and began to play professionally; however in day time I attended aviation school to qualify in navigation and flight planning, which was extra subjects on a full commercial theoretical pilot education, which I had to follow. My eyesight didn't qualify for a pilot certificate. After graduation I had a year as full time "rock star", and could fully attend and enjoy the Danish version of a '69 summer...????

 

I however didn't see a future as mainly cover-band – it seemed too hard to get beyond that level – so I stopped my music career, and got instead employed in a young charter airline that expanded rapidly to become the Worlds largest private owned charter company, and with the most modern charter aircraft fleet. I was working with operational planning and rapidly moved to a very independent position with a large area of responsibility. It also gave me the possibility for a lot of travelling; some was part of my job, some curiosity like a total eclipse in Sahara.

 

In my sparetime I began playing, or rather composing, original music with my old drummer and bass-player, together with a new lead guitar player. We talked about recording a double album in London, as we thought the Danish studios were not well enough equipped for our project, but ended instead up making the first Danish 24-track recording studio. The airline wouldn't let me go, so I should continue being available as senior supervisor, which was not too bad, as I could continue to get cheap tickets.

 

The music business never gave time for my own recording project, but I had a great time working as recording engineer, then expanding the business with also distributing professionel audio equipment as sole-agent, starting a publishing- and record company, producing music, and began manufacture of both cassette tapes and black vinyl discs (gramophone records). That became my professional life for the following almost 30 years.

 

I never got time to get married and have a family – however plenty of girlfriends including one longtime, i.e. 16 years – so I missed all that with wedding, establishing a home, children, and often also divorce. I was simply too busy.

 

My old friend, the drummer from the band, also thought so. He had chosen a more relaxed life style, and often spend several month during the cold Nordic wintertime in Thailand. We talked several times about that I should join him and his Danish girlfriend down to a small southern Thai island, but every time I was too busy. One day he called and said that I owed him a fairly large sum of money. For what? For the Aeroflot 10-day return ticket he had bought for me to Bangkok!

 

My friends took me down to Koh Samui, and as they traveled for modest money as back packers, we ended up in 300 baht a day bungalows with no aircon, no hot water, and no real toilet, but it all didn't matter because that coconut palm Bounty-style beach was it. And it was 11th September 2001.

 

9/11 became the most surreal impression I experienced. A visit to my friends' favorite night club "Green Mango" in Chaweng, with TV projected on two huge screens showing what looked like a trailer for an amazing new movie, pumping techno rhythms, and a loaded dance floor that seemed completely unaffected by what happened right now out there on BBC and CNN. And not to forget the gorgeous little smiling girl that came to me, and said that for 1500 baht we could have a good time together; she told me she was 22, but I later realized that she was 19.

 

The following days I thought: »Is it worth working so hard to pay high taxes, and only save up a little? And when I’m finally old enough to retire, and enjoy my tiny savings, I may be too old to enjoy?« No, this changed my view of life: »I am single, no ties are holding me; enough is enough!«

The girl from Green Mango however didn't last "long time", she became on and off girlfriend for almost two years – I was a the blue eyed "first time alone in LoS" farang, and she was a professional free-lace gold digger – when the calculated risk was used up, I didn't need to count anything, I just moved on. And I moved on to Thailand in 2005, to that exactly same coconut palm Bounty-style beach my friends dragged me down to. Here I have build kind of dream-house, and I'm "long time" together with a new lovely girlfriend, and finally also found time for family having a daughter.

 

So that's what my "life has been like", so far – mind you, I'm only 19 years old, with 51 years extra experience...???? – I'm still visiting Green Mango Club and like places, hopefully for many more years to come; that's at least what I have planned for, so far...????

????

[BritManToo]

23 minutes ago, simon43 said:

By accident, I met a cute bar-girl who was hot in bed (unlike my British wife).  After a reasonable period of relationship, we legally married.

- Life went downhill in a big way! My Thai wife turned to drugs and this triggered extreme bipolar episodes.  She was as mad as a coot!  She totally destroyed our marriage, our family life (we had a young son), and our hotel business in Phuket.  I was left totally (I mean TOTALLY) penniless...

 

23 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Most of my friends are all dead, from alcoholism, diabetes, cancer, motorbike accidents, AIDs,murder and suicide.

Brit wives tend to be a bit frosty in the bedroom.

Thai wives tend to be a bit nutty in the home.

 

I'm seeing a trend here!

Lucky for me after the Brit wife, I didn't have any money to lose with the Thai wife.

 

PS. Same with my pals, I've got one left.

Edited November 15, 2019 by BritManToo

[brokenbone]

10 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I thought that too ....... until I discovered Bar Girls!

Who could have guessed as a 50+ something divorce battered Brit, I still had the best years of my life still to come?

 

Thank-you Thailand!

i lived with 2 thai bar girls for a while, and the only time significantly more

depressing then that in my life was when i was living with a middle class thai girl

[Kadilo]

13 hours ago, WalkingOrders said:

I believe God brought me here.

I bet they didn’t ask him for Insurance. 

[ivor bigun]

Its good to hear so many have good lives(sorry if you havnt) ,but its not only what you make it ,i do believe luck plays a big part in it ,on the whole i have been lucky and as one door has closed another has opened ,ive always looked on life as a fairground ,we all enter the gates ,some of us just wander around and occasionally have a go on the roundabouts ,others do the same but sometimes get on the dodgems as well for a change ,while those brave ones just keep getting bag on the big dipper.

myself i love the big dipper ,but a lot of the time i also enjoyed the more sedate ,world cruise .its that one i am on now as life is in its last fling .

[thaibeachlovers]

23 hours ago, Tagged said:

Overall been good to me, but hell of a rollercoaster. 

 

Been skijumping, boxing, skydiving, base jumping, climbing, mountaineering, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, diving, freediving, and motorbiking on three different continents, worked as a skydiver, superviser in international oilservice companies, started some few companies, been fishing, mountain, and kayak guide, now back in oilbusiness, and life goes on better than before. 

 

Lost quite a few friends in extreme sport (4 good friends, 15 friends, and total with everyone I met more than 60), had some good relationships, some few bad, and one marriage that lasted 6 years, and now a good gf for some few years. Looking back I wasted alot of time to get back on my feet after a few downfall, but overall, I have been doing great and got back on my feet. 

 

Trying to live simple, boring and healthy now and still many good years to come. My body is weared out, but with decent activities, I can still go to gym, swim, kayaking, sup padling, and work, and that means alot to me, and of course take my bikes out for a blast and also longer trips. 

 

You gotta do what you have to do with the abillities you got, and still have. 

 

Thailand have been good to me, and I guess thats why I can still have a decent life doing what I am doing. If I was stuck in Europe, I believe my life quality would have been less than ok. 

Some people live more in a year than some live in 100.

Some of us choose to be adventurers, while others choose to live boring lives where the pub is highlight of their day.

However, who is to say which has the better life?

It's all about how happy we are, IMO, rather than what we did. I did a lot in my life, but I was only happy for a very few years, because I was always looking for the one, not knowing that no such person exists.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, ivor bigun said:

Its good to hear so many have good lives(sorry if you havnt) ,but its not only what you make it ,i do believe luck plays a big part in it ,on the whole i have been lucky and as one door has closed another has opened ,ive always looked on life as a fairground ,we all enter the gates ,some of us just wander around and occasionally have a go on the roundabouts ,others do the same but sometimes get on the dodgems as well for a change ,while those brave ones just keep getting bag on the big dipper.

myself i love the big dipper ,but a lot of the time i also enjoyed the more sedate ,world cruise .its that one i am on now as life is in its last fling .

I never had a plan for my life. I just did what seemed right at the time, and like you, as one door closed another opened. Just blind luck that I did manage to have good experiences.

Had I not joined up before I met the girl that I fell in love with at first sight, I'd have married her, worked on her father's farm, owned the farm with her when he died, had kids, probably got divorced, and ended up exactly where I am now.

At least in the real  version of my life I had some pretty good adventures along the way.

[thaibeachlovers]

14 hours ago, brokenbone said:

i lived with 2 thai bar girls for a while, and the only time significantly more

depressing then that in my life was when i was living with a middle class thai girl

I can only think that you lived with the wrong 2 BGs.

IMO a middle class Thai girl would always be a mistake, but that's just me.

[thaibeachlovers]

17 hours ago, khunPer said:

I never got time to get married and have a family –

You were lucky!

[thaibeachlovers]

17 hours ago, simon43 said:

The experiences that I had with my English and mad Thai wife, (and I forgot to mention a third wife!), made me realise that I was happier living alone, without any female company.  I had been 'burnt' every time by my wives.  For the past 5 years or so, I have lived alone and have found much more happiness in my own company than I ever did when married.

The very best year of my life was in Antarctica, as I was lucky enough to get a job on a base there, but it only got good after all the women went home and the old pheromones were not floating around the place. Back in the day, women were a rare breed down there, and only during summer.

Only two on the base, but caused all sorts of problems for some of us.

Of course, I had to return to the real world and women. Pity.

 

Nowadays of course, there are plenty of women all year round, but it must be hell for the guys that miss out.

[ivor bigun]

7 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I can only think that you lived with the wrong 2 BGs.

IMO a middle class Thai girl would always be a mistake, but that's just me.

Actually before i met my wife ,i lived with an ex bar girl for some time ,she was great ,my friend ,my lovely sex partner ,but we both knew it was just for fun ,not for life , now my wife is i suppose lower middle class ,as are her family ,i like them just as much as my family like her , we really all get along , 

one thing as Thaibeachlover said ,it really does not matter how exciting or not your life is ,it doesnt matter if you did nothing but watch tv all your life and sit eating burgers ,as long as at the end you can honestly say "wow i loved life" thats all that really matters ,i dont look foreward to death ,but when it comes i can tell the reaper "f-ck that was a great time "

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, ivor bigun said:

i dont look foreward to death ,but when it comes i can tell the reaper "f-ck that was a great time "

I don't mind that I'm going to die in the not too far distant future. I had a great life, but old age means that I'll never do the things I'd really like to do, so sooner than later would be good. It's a bit pointless just hanging around filling in time waiting.

The only time in my life I'd like to have had kids so I could have someone to tell my life stories to. Other than that, no regrets didn't have kids. 

[ivor bigun]

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I don't mind that I'm going to die in the not too far distant future. I had a great life, but old age means that I'll never do the things I'd really like to do, so sooner than later would be good. It's a bit pointless just hanging around filling in time waiting.

The only time in my life I'd like to have had kids so I could have someone to tell my life stories to. Other than that, no regrets didn't have kids. 

Never wanted kids ,got married in the 70s ,she went on and on ,had a daughter ,best thing ever happened to me ,once i saw her ,i just fell in love ???? as for dying your right ,just hope its quick

Edited November 16, 2019 by ivor bigun

[rumak]

On 11/15/2019 at 12:37 PM, villagefarang said:

Not sure why the good fortune of others would lead anyone to retch, but I guess it takes all types.????

 

I appreciate all the uplifting stories presented by others.????

its not the good fortune.   its the bragging,  endless bragging.   but you would not know the difference ........however you sure knew who fit the description.  

I take pleasure in others good fortune.  And I empathize with those who have had some hard times. 

My post was not personally addressed to you so stop the trolling.  Guys with great lives don't always have to endlessly bore others with photos of what they eat for breakfast.  

[rumak]

19 hours ago, simon43 said:

My life has been ups and downs:

 

- Considered the 'black sheep' of the family by my parents, because I only managed to go to London University, as opposed to Cambridge. (Cambridge didn't offer the
course that I wanted to study).

- Married another student from college - all seemed good.

- Started a 15 year career in the satellite sector, designing systems and antennas for scientific, weather and TV channel satellites.  Great time of my life and very well
paid.  My wife and I enjoyed worldwide holidays, 3 cars, a holiday home in the UK and one in France.  Life was good and I had 3 beautiful kids.

- Established a 'one-man-band' SMS 'text-chat' and AI software business.  Life got better and I sold out for $2M+ and a board level position with the company who
purchased my business.

- Life started to go bad!  I developed aspergillosis illness from mold spores in the damp, underground office where I worked.  My health went downhill fast, pneumonia struck
many times and the depression of my illness took it's toll on my marriage.

- My doctor advised moving to a hot and humid climate (ie Thailand).  My wife didn't want to go!  We amicably divorced and I gave her the $1.5M country home that I had built in the Chiltern Hills, (complete with 5 acres of horse paddocks and a vineyard). My father cut me out of his will because of this divorce.
- I moved to Thailand and my health improved.  By accident, I met a cute bar-girl who was hot in bed (unlike my British wife).  After a reasonable period of relationship, we legally married.

- Life went downhill in a big way! My Thai wife turned to drugs and this triggered extreme bipolar episodes.  She was as mad as a coot!  She totally destroyed our marriage, our family life (we had a young son), and our hotel business in Phuket.  I was left totally (I mean TOTALLY) penniless...

- Life works in strange ways.  A friend invited me to teach at a private school in 'hardship' Yangon, (Burma was still under sanctions at that time).  I wasn't a teacher, but the salary was very good.  I moved to Yangon and was shocked to meet my class of .... 4 year old kindergarten kids!  A good challenge for someone in their mid-50's.

- During my time in Burma, I was hugely moved by the sight of impoverished kids, living in far worse conditions than I had ever seen.  I promised myself that because my life had turned around, I would try to do the same for these kids.  I established a charitable enterprise and began to donate school books to village and orphanage schools.

- I enjoyed the job at the private school, and was promoted to assistant principal of the school within 6 months.

- My new teaching career improved, and I was appointed headmaster and director of the international school in Luang Prabang, in north Laos.

- Further career moves took me back to Burma, where I taught at an international school in the strange new capital city of Naypyitaw.

- Finally, with an interest to teach online, I returned to live in Luang Prabang.  I now no longer teach in bricks & mortar schools.  I teach many hours online every day, teaching English, Science, Maths and History. My young students live in China, Hong Kong, Burma, Russia, Korea, Japan and the USA.

 

- Most of my friends are all dead, from alcoholism, diabetes, cancer, motorbike accidents, AIDs,murder and suicide.  Now that my lung health is OK again, I try to keep it that way by leading a very healthy lifestyle ==> exercise, good food, and zero stress.

- The experiences that I had with my English and mad Thai wife, (and I forgot to mention a third wife!), made me realise that I was happier living alone, without any female company.  I had been 'burnt' every time by my wives.  For the past 5 years or so, I have lived alone and have found much more happiness in my own company than I ever did when married.  I'm actually a very sociable person, but I view any woman's 'romantic' approaches with utmost suspicion.  I'm happy with my own company and passing on what little knowledge that I have to my students ????

 

PS - I didn't mention my 15 years working as a Tourist Police Volunteer, nor my time in a Thai prison, nor that I was forced out of Thailand by drug dealers who invaded and stole my $100,000 little hotel, with the help of the local police.....  No point raking over past events!

well, i wasn't going to replay the whole post but........ i did...    This (and many other posts from the usual suspects) is what is interesting to me.  My belief is that many, if not most of the

guys that post here often and have been around thailand for a long time , have had more than the average fellows share of experiences.  Often that is why we somehow find ourselves strangers living in a strange land.   I am among those that had my ups and downs but still am grateful that I chose to spend most of my life here.  I definitely understand when posters have bad or frustrating experiences in Thailand, because I have lived almost all the phases and frustrations that one can encounter.   ( I do sometimes make the point that life has its challenges everywhere and every country) .  I think all in all I have come out of the adventures in life and amazing thailand in fairly good shape.  I guess that answers the question asked in the OP.