Poll for longer term expats: Do you feel scapegoated as a foreigner here?

[ICELANDMAN]

6 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

I wrote to a moderate degree but it is only because of immigration who seem to treat fangs like criminals.

Women tend to have no problems with us....but the men? I have been here over 10 years and don't have a single Thai male friend (apart from an ex-employee and a relative of the wife's)...I feel men don't care for us here.

In my youth, I can remember going to a public phone box in England and a racist group had put up a postcard with the picture of a black guy and a strap line "Coming over here to steal your women and your job". I do wonder if Thai men resent us because we take their women?

I do not believe because generally we farang not take the young new on the market but the old used with child, in reality the Thai men think we are stupid and maybe we are

 

[ramrod711]

44 minutes ago, Airalee said:

I agree with everybody that the policies being pushed are <deleted>, but what you’re asking for is akin to buying automobile collision insurance after the accident has already occurred.

I'm no expert regarding insurance. The way I see it is that the minimum acceptable policy is 400,000 baht. If I put 400,000 baht in an account that only allows me to withdraw those funds for medical expenses there is no increased risk to Thai medical services. The insurance pays a maximum of 400,00 baht, I pay 400,000 baht. I'm not saying you don't have a point, I'm saying I don't see it. Sorry

[ICELANDMAN]

3 hours ago, Scott Tracy said:

I take issue with Thainess's comment that I've migrated. I'm not an immigrant. My visa said Non-Immigrant. My extensions are required yearly, should I so wish to remain here as a non-immigrant. 

That rant over. I am not, as of this moment, and have never been subject to or felt as if I have been scapegoated, whichever definition is used.

Yes you are tourist long term same everyone farang. Your comment is interesting because it shows how the government thinks of us.

[Airalee]

53 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

I'm no expert regarding insurance. The way I see it is that the minimum acceptable policy is 400,000 baht. If I put 400,000 baht in an account that only allows me to withdraw those funds for medical expenses there is no increased risk to Thai medical services. The insurance pays a maximum of 400,00 baht, I pay 400,000 baht. I'm not saying you don't have a point, I'm saying I don't see it. Sorry

I agree 100% with the money in the bank idea.

 

Allow me to use myself as an example so that you might better understand my point.  I have psoriasis.  The cost for a medication like Stelara (biologic) is over US$11,000 per month.  No way I could afford that.  How much should my insurance premium be if I want that covered?

Edited November 26, 2019 by Airalee

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

How could lying about your income possibly hurt anyone

You are disrespecting the laws of the country you have chosen to live in...

 

That doesn't sound like a good thing to me... 

 

 

[sawadee1947]

On 11/25/2019 at 8:25 AM, Jingthing said:

It's a fact of human nature that when any country has a high level of nationalism and then experiences problems, some out groups are scapegoated as causing the problems. It's quite often foreigners that are the targets of the scapegoating whether people living in the country or out of it.

Well, that's right. All those foreigners (mainly from other EU countries) in UK are scapegoated for the desolate situation with NHS. They are said to exploit the system. However they contributed more into than every average UK national. ????

[BritManToo]

45 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

You are disrespecting the laws of the country you have chosen to live in...

That doesn't sound like a good thing to me... 

I don't necessarily agree with the laws of any country in which I live.

Those laws I agree with, I follow, those laws I disagree with I ignore.

(Taking into account risk and severity of punishment)

 

In Thailand ........

Not wearing a helmet, no worries out of town.

Driving the wrong way on a dual carriageway, no worries anywhere.

Road tax, test and insurance .... I normally get round to it a few months late.

Drinking after hours, never worried me in the past when I could afford to drink in bars.

TM30, never done one, nobody official has ever asked me to do one.

Etc.

Edited November 26, 2019 by BritManToo

[NoshowJones]

23 hours ago, Thainesss said:

 

Too late. Its not racism or scapegoating, its economics. 

 

 

If you come here to retire or live long term you should be able to prove you can take care of yourself. This is not scapegoating or racism, its ensuring that the priority is a nations citizens first. 

 

Take healthcare for example. There is a system in place that through the government and taxes, basic healthcare is provided for citizens. A foreigner who wants to come here should not be a burden on that system and should be able to prove it. 

 

 

Tourism, employment, and migration are completely separate issues that a country looks at individually. A few million annoying chinese coming to burn their money for a few weeks is one issue and a few thousand retirees/longstayers is another separate issue. 

What about Thais who marry a UK guy and then come to the UK to stay? Do they pay for any medical

treatment?

[NoshowJones]

22 hours ago, tifino said:

yes but what percentage of exPats are surrounded by the 'educated' ones??

My wife is highly educated, and reading Thaivisa, I would say there are many expats married to educated Thais.

[NoshowJones]

21 hours ago, cyril sneer said:

it's actually worse to be a white male in my home country nowadays 

If you are referring to the UK, then I agree with you.

[1FinickyOne]

16 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I don't necessarily agree with the laws of any country in which I live.

Those laws I agree with, I follow, those laws I disagree with I ignore.

(Taking into account risk and severity of punishment)

 

In Thailand ........

Not wearing a helmet, no worries out of town.

Driving the wrong way on a dual carriageway, no worries anywhere.

Road tax, test and insurance .... I normally get round to it a few months late.

Drinking after hours, never worried me in the past when I could afford to drink in bars.

TM30, never done one, nobody official has ever asked me to do one.

Etc.

If everyone felt that way, that only certain laws apply to them, then there is anarchy... and a guy like you would either be dead in a shootout - or elected president... 

[NoshowJones]

38 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

My wife is highly educated, and reading Thaivisa, I would say there are many expats married to educated Thais.

Another thing, if you take the wives out of it, then I would say that the biggest majority of expats will have had a good education, otherwise how would most of them have such a good pension, and that is even before they get their countrys state pension.

[ramrod711]

2 hours ago, Airalee said:

I agree 100% with the money in the bank idea.

 

Allow me to use myself as an example so that you might better understand my point.  I have psoriasis.  The cost for a medication like Stelara (biologic) is over US$11,000 per month.  No way I could afford that.  How much should my insurance premium be if I want that covered?

Ok, I got it, Thing is I don't expect insurance would cover it, that's why I say the policy is basically worthless. Diabetes is a main factor in heart attacks and strokes, they tell me up front that I won't be covered for those or insulin etc. The net result is that any claim would be open to interpretation which is too big a loophole for any insurance company to ignore. I guess what it comes down to is which option is better for Thailand; I have money in the bank which would cover any medical problem at no risk to them, or I get insurance which may or may not cover me, go to the hospital, the insurance is worthless so they have to attempt to recover their out of pocket expenses from me. I may or may not have the money or I may not be in any condition to bring it. Seems to me that having the money up front would be their best option. By the way, I would never expect Thai people to pay for my medical care.

[Airalee]

7 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

Ok, I got it, Thing is I don't expect insurance would cover it, that's why I say the policy is basically worthless. Diabetes is a main factor in heart attacks and strokes, they tell me up front that I won't be covered for those or insulin etc. The net result is that any claim would be open to interpretation which is too big a loophole for any insurance company to ignore. I guess what it comes down to is which option is better for Thailand; I have money in the bank which would cover any medical problem at no risk to them, or I get insurance which may or may not cover me, go to the hospital, the insurance is worthless so they have to attempt to recover their out of pocket expenses from me. I may or may not have the money or I may not be in any condition to bring it. Seems to me that having the money up front would be their best option. By the way, I would never expect Thai people to pay for my medical care.

I hear ya.  The insurance is a joke.  Nothing but a gift for the insurance companies.  Kind of like the new “money in the bank” for the visa is a gift for the banks.  Wouldn’t be surprised to see them hit expat condo owners with property tax sometime in the future too.

[cyril sneer]

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

If you are referring to the UK, then I agree with you.

I am.

 

It's no longer ok to be white.

[holy cow cm]

Yes. For the insurance absolutely. It is a scam and they know that many older expats cannot make the grade and will be forced out, and they do not care about investments or the family connections here. On the other hand by scapegoating the OA, then now the O will fall and everyone will be touched by it and I feel a little torqued because I am on an O and not under retirement. Just back from Bangkok and my close Thai friend tells me there is anti sentiment rising against  the foreigners. I would gather all the telephones putting this into the media public eyes is the cause. Being slapped repeatedly or having new hoops to jump through is not a quality way of life. You should ask this question after the first 1/2 of next year because the toll of the insurance will start hitting hard. 

[Ireland32]

On 11/25/2019 at 3:56 PM, Thainesss said:

 

Too late. Its not racism or scapegoating, its economics. 

 

 

If you come here to retire or live long term you should be able to prove you can take care of yourself. This is not scapegoating or racism, its ensuring that the priority is a nations citizens first. 

 

Take healthcare for example. There is a system in place that through the government and taxes, basic healthcare is provided for citizens. A foreigner who wants to come here should not be a burden on that system and should be able to prove it. 

 

 

Tourism, employment, and migration are completely separate issues that a country looks at individually. A few million annoying chinese coming to burn their money for a few weeks is one issue and a few thousand retirees/longstayers is another separate issue. 

For a few weeks , few days typo

[Ireland32]

4 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

Yes. For the insurance absolutely. It is a scam and they know that many older expats cannot make the grade and will be forced out, and they do not care about investments or the family connections here. On the other hand by scapegoating the OA, then now the O will fall and everyone will be touched by it and I feel a little torqued because I am on an O and not under retirement. Just back from Bangkok and my close Thai friend tells me there is anti sentiment rising against  the foreigners. I would gather all the telephones putting this into the media public eyes is the cause. Being slapped repeatedly or having new hoops to jump through is not a quality way of life. You should ask this question after the first 1/2 of next year because the toll of the insurance will start hitting hard. 

All they have to do is add 100 baht to 39 million coming in instead of all this harassment’s 

[Chazar]

15 hours ago, soalbundy said:

Your last paragraph is correct but how can a falang be a burden on the state, he isn't given any help from the state anyway, far from being a burden many support a family and even send children that aren't theirs to higher education. I have no quarrel with the Thai state expecting a minimum amount of income from falang, many Western states have the same expectations, try bringing a Thai wife and a child to the UK if your income is below a certain level. Having said that I do find that the 90 day reports, TM30 and checks to see whether you are living at the said address to be oppressive and unnecessary, reminds me a little of the methods used in East Germany during the communist regime.

Heres  ya  real Poster of the Year 

[Chazar]

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I don't necessarily agree with the laws of any country in which I live.

Those laws I agree with, I follow, those laws I disagree with I ignore.

(Taking into account risk and severity of punishment)

 

In Thailand ........

Not wearing a helmet, no worries out of town.

Driving the wrong way on a dual carriageway, no worries anywhere.

Road tax, test and insurance .... I normally get round to it a few months late.

Drinking after hours, never worried me in the past when I could afford to drink in bars.

TM30, never done one, nobody official has ever asked me to do one.

Etc.

agreed..........herein lies  half the problem with Thailand.....which farkin rules do you  follow and which ones do you  ignore ..........how about you just follow them all Thailand?

[Chazar]

9 hours ago, ICELANDMAN said:

I do not believe because generally we farang not take the young new on the market but the old used with child, in reality the Thai men think we are stupid and maybe we are

 

or  maybe we are more civilised and have more compassion

[Nicebus]

On 11/25/2019 at 4:42 PM, ramrod711 said:

I appreciate that I've been allowed to stay here, I feel very unappreciated for the contributions I have made. My wife has a home which I can never own, she has money in the bank, property, health insurance. I send money to her parents, more than their Thai old age pensions amount to. Every year we help her nieces and nephews with schooling expenses, her parents with medical expenses and we make supply run once a year. I'm not asking for thanks, a pat on the back or a welldone! It would be nice to not get kicked out of the country because I can't get health insurance though. Just sayin'.

The contributions made to thai society and its people should be recognised more. A lot of people in the same position as this.

[Jingthing]

Interesting and somewhat surprising to me shift in the results here. At this point approximately 51 percent FEEL they are being scapegoating (a lot or moderately) and only 46 percent don't.

 

Do you think immigration will take notice? (I joke.)

 

It's my doody to mention that the margin of error on this unscientific online poll is 1000 percent. 

[ICELANDMAN]

12 hours ago, Chazar said:

or  maybe we are more civilised and have more compassion

Yes you are right, civilized and more compassion is not a priority for many Thai men if you look at how many mothers raise their children alone

[thaibeachlovers]

On 11/25/2019 at 9:10 PM, BritManToo said:

I strongly feel I'm being scapegoated as a WHITE foreigner here.

As there doesn't seem to be many restrictions of any kind on Asian foreigners coming to Thailand from neighbouring countries.

 

As for white folk 'abusing the system', name those white folk?

........ and what each of them did, which 1,000 Cambodians/Khmers/Malays didn't do for each white offense.

Male farangs are discriminated against as they make it harder for a man to marry a Thai woman, but it's really easy for a farang woman to marry a Thai man, or so I believe.

I never felt scapegoated. Apart from immigration, people treated me much the same as UK people did when I lived there. IMO immigration probably treated all their customers badly, wherever they were from.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 11/25/2019 at 9:42 PM, ramrod711 said:

I appreciate that I've been allowed to stay here, I feel very unappreciated for the contributions I have made. My wife has a home which I can never own, she has money in the bank, property, health insurance. I send money to her parents, more than their Thai old age pensions amount to. Every year we help her nieces and nephews with schooling expenses, her parents with medical expenses and we make supply run once a year. I'm not asking for thanks, a pat on the back or a welldone! It would be nice to not get kicked out of the country because I can't get health insurance though. Just sayin'.

Just ask for your money back from your wife, stop supporting her parents and don't pay for the kids schooling. When they ask why explain you need it to pay the insurance. Perhaps they might complain to the government that their insurance scheme is making them out of pocket. If every married farang did the same, it might have an effect.

As long as farangs keep paying, they ain't going to care.

[ballpoint]

I'd say the reverse is far more prevalent.  Economic refugees, unable to afford to return to their own countries, and unable to keep up with the immigration requirements to live here - thanks to their own countries' monetary and/or foreign affairs policies, blaming Thais for their own financial shortfall.

[BobBKK]

again a poll that splits, intentionally no doubt, the affirmative votes into two sections and negative into one and the result?  biased but nvm no one really cares.  

[BobBKK]

On 11/26/2019 at 1:55 PM, ICELANDMAN said:

I do not believe because generally we farang not take the young new on the market but the old used with child, in reality the Thai men think we are stupid and maybe we are

 

Speak for yourself. I date new all the time and leave the 40+ with kids to the 'kind old farang with money to burn'

[Jingthing]

31 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

I'd say the reverse is far more prevalent.  Economic refugees, unable to afford to return to their own countries, and unable to keep up with the immigration requirements to live here - thanks to their own countries' monetary and/or foreign affairs policies, blaming Thais for their own financial shortfall.

Just to point out that I consider your post and similar OFF TOPIC. Why? Because this poll is clearly (READ THE OP) about the question of how expats FEEL. It has NOTHING to do with any objective reality of whether we are being scapegoated or not.

 

That OTHER subject has been discussed on countless other threads.

 

Cheers.