Are you content living in the land of smiles ?

[Orton Rd]

Land of smiles seems like ages ago

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, Antonymous said:

 

Ditto three times.

 

Especially "...a quiet carefree existence, devoid of the rules and regs and cameras in your face". Freedom relative to the UK brought me here 30 years ago and although things are changing, Thailand may be one of the last bastions of privacy on the planet, relatively speaking.

 

Immigration and health insurance requirements no bother whatever. I planned ahead.

"devoid of the rules and regs and cameras in your face". I don't bother too much about the rules and regs, If you don't like them, there are usually ways of getting round them, I am still alive and kicking, no criminal record at any time in my Life, and yet if I obeyed every rule and regulation flung at me, I would never have been able to come here to Thailand, and would probably be living a week to week existance in some dingy flat in the UK.

[Drax]

1 hour ago, Yinn said:

Hmmmm. Maybe.

But immigration not the owner of insurance company. Immigration will not win from that. The insurance company be rich, not immigration that rule.

(i believe you say is corrupt, same land office, school, police, army, agriculture department, orbortor etc etc etc)

 

and

is is better you to have insurance in Thailand. IF have a good company/fair.

 

Better for the foreigner if problem and better for the hospital because SOME people not want to pay. This people make the problem.

If everyone pay, will be no problem.

 

 

Maybe Yinn start a fair Insurance Company for foreigner. 

 

Most foreigner will like private hospital. Cleaner with better service. Government hospital must wait, and wait, and wait. So slowly.

The sick foreigner will be angry sure. Will be problem, must wait the queue.

 

But it expansive. Last week my friend can go Wichara government hospital in Phuket. Will be only 130 baht.

At private hospital, same thing will be 6,000 baht. 

 

Private is expansive. But good. 

 

My idea= If foreigner not pay, escape then YOUR government should pay the hospital. YOUR government chase the money.

Good idea?

From experience most government hospitals are fast. They seem to attend forgeiners first and most forgeiners don’t even know where they’re located. Always avoid private hospitals if you don’t have insurance. Even if you have a flu they ask you to stay the night and sell medicine at overpriced values. I would only use private for procedures like surgeries. ???? 

Edited December 16, 2019 by Drax

[emptypockets]

13 hours ago, sirineou said:

Get out of Bangkok if you can, There is a whole other country out there , If I did not have to fly in to BKK to get home, I would never see Bangkok again.  Khon Kaen is great. other than the smoke from burning lately, for the most part I have no problem. I live 15 min from central plaza and if you look out of my widow you would think you are in the deep country . Love it,

 Health insurance?  I don't care,, I have enough in the bank to self insure, anything big and I am heading back to the States where I still own a home, and have family who would love to see me.

  But if they make it that I need to purchase insurance in Thailand. I am gone!!  No way that I would pay for insurance that at my age would be very expensive and with my pre-existing conditions would never pay anything.  

Much the same. We own a rural property in North Queensland. Wife is an Ozzie citizen. Own the house in Issaan. All good for us as we have options. Back in Oz now for Christmas. Back in Thai for new year.

 

Edited December 16, 2019 by emptypockets

[Yinn]

2 minutes ago, Drax said:

From experience most government hospitals are fast. They seem to attend forgeiners first

 

Oh, is that why I wait so long?

 

 

2 minutes ago, Drax said:

 

 

and most forgeiners don’t even know where they’re located.

I think you only only think about emergency road accident. 

Hospital do many other problem.

 

2 minutes ago, Drax said:

 

 

Always avoid private hospitals if you don’t have insurance. Even if you have a flu they ask you to stay the night. ???? 

Better to have insurance IMO. 

[allenberg]

31 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

It's a can of worms that, in one form or another, is opened at least once or twice a week on Thai Visa. The amazing thing is the number of people who never tire of responding. 

Agreed, and it always reads like paid testimonials.

[Peterphuket]

Live here for over 20 years, and of-course there are many things to complain, but my motto is "the paradise on earth does not exist".

However it is much better than my home country located in N-Europe.

[Kurtf]

NO. And if I could sell my house and furnishings, I would be gone in a flash for reasons too numerous to list but driving on roads with idiots is among the top2 or three. The government and their regulations is number one.

[Felt 35]

Nearly two decades so what to say ????

[Jane Dough]

Completely content thanks. But as an American told me recently....

 

If I told you why I might have to kill you.

 

 

Rooster

[Nakmuay887]

I enjoy it very much. Very excited to settle down in Mae Hong Son in the coming years as that is the most beautiful part of the country in my opinion. 

 

I live quite simply though and don't hit the bars so somewhere peaceful and quiet is my idea of paradise. I don't think I'd be happy in BKK, or Pattaya. Even Chiang Mai becomes a bit much for me after a few days spent there.. 

[Titan1962]

Can’t complain,got a roof over my head. Wake up every morning next to my beautiful Thai wife,the rest I take with a grain of salt.

Are driving conditions going to change(no). Will the government be able to do anything about air quality (no). Will the immigration dept bend over backwards to please me(no).

life is what you make of it,and I have a better life here than I would in my home country.

[NanLaew]

Content for now yes, but ask me again next Monday.

[GarryP]

Very content. If anything, more content than I was when I first arrived many years ago.  No longer have to worry about visas and work permits, etc. Yes, things are definitely better than before. The only thing that gets my goat now, apart from politics, is the air quality.  

[Lacessit]

What more could I ask for? I have a GF who prays to Buddha every night for a long life for me. She waits on me hand and foot, and that's not a metaphor. I have a standard of living here I simply could not afford in Australia. The Thai people I know are all nice to me. I can ward off senility very easily by driving in Thai traffic. Or arguing on Thai Visa.

Certainly, there are things here which can drive me to distraction if I let them. The answer is jai yenn yenn.

[ragpicker]

Thailand has not been the "Land of Smiles" for at least 20 years.

[orchis]

yes and no, but generally more content,

and more content than in my country of origin, if not I wouldn't complain; I'd move.
problems come up and I adapt.

I went through a terrible health challenge 1997-2001; I don't think I would have survived that in different circumstances.
I have lived in Bangkok (17 years) Chiangrai (3 years) Chiangmai (one year)

now I live in one place in the north and one place in the south.

i'm good.
 

[Chazar]

2 hours ago, Matzzon said:

Of course, no problem at all. Everyone to his/hers own. I just couldn´t put myself in such a terrible position in life, and live with all the suffering it must include.

No suffering for me and your presupposition it  must include suffering

[MyTHaiMyKe]

When I moved here Thailand was 30% less to live, smiles everywhere, beautiful sexy girls,now it is 30% more then back home, no more smiles and way overpriced for what you get. The last 6 years made it the Biggest mistake I ever made, to moving here! For a vacation it is ok, but to live here it is terrible. No fishing it is the dead sea, polluted water, now the girls are old, fat and overpriced, thieves, corrupt immigration, corrupt police, Fake elections, cost of groceries and pollution, just to name a few reasons. Can't wait to go back home to Mazatlan, Sinaloa, MEXICO! VIVA Mexico! Selling all my stuff and when it is gone, I am gone and can't wait to get home, cheap beer equivalent to 27 baht not 60 baht and up, tacos, real beef at normal prices, margaritas, excellent fishing and beautiful polite happy girls! I will never return to Thailand, not even for free.

[Chazar]

5 minutes ago, MyTHaiMyKe said:

When I moved here Thailand was 30% less to live, smiles everywhere, beautiful sexy girls,now it is 30% more then back home, no more smiles and way overpriced for what you get. The last 6 years made it the Biggest mistake I ever made, to moving here! For a vacation it is ok, but to live here it is terrible. No fishing it is the dead sea, polluted water, now the girls are old, fat and overpriced, thieves, corrupt immigration, corrupt police, Fake elections, cost of groceries and pollution, just to name a few reasons. Can't wait to go back home to Mazatlan, Sinaloa, MEXICO! VIVA Mexico! Selling all my stuff and when it is gone, I am gone and can't wait to get home, cheap beer equivalent to 27 baht not 60 baht and up, tacos, real beef at normal prices, margaritas, excellent fishing and beautiful polite happy girls! I will never return to Thailand, not even for free.

hows the drugs  scene and murder  rate  now

[jastheace]

2 minutes ago, Chazar said:

hows the drugs  scene and murder  rate  now

on a par with Thailand, corruption yet to catch up

[FarFlungFalang]

I'm very content living here because I like spicy.My wife is spicy and more of a trictator than the trictator ruining the country,Thailand is spicy with spicy politics.Thais have a spicy sense of humour that I enjoy and they drive spicy and I must be the only falang that enjoys driving in Thai traffic very spicy.I can cook just about anything I want and have just found sausages that I can enjoy that are not spicy(sorry Rooster I don't like spicy sausage).I live in the only Thai province that has nothing in the ways of tourist attractions but the country side is very beautiful with humungous trees especially the drive to Yaso from Patiew and we don't seem to suffer the smoky air so much which is just bloody marvellous and better and cheaper internet than I ever had back home and can order anything in the world delivered to my door and they legalised cannabis!Brilliant! 

[SteveK]

Great weather, cheap local food and my wife's extended family all mean that I am infinitely happier in Thailand than back in the UK, where it is cold, grey, miserable and expensive. 500mls bottle of coke in my local co-op is £1.69 which is about 68 baht, here it's 12 baht and tastes exactly the same. A one way ticket from High Wycombe into London which isn't very far is over 700 baht. One way. About 30 miles. You could do Bangkok to Chiang Mai for the same money, 428 miles. The UK is a complete rip-off.

 

And don't even mention British politics, it's just infuriating. Or the price of a cornish pasty at Heathrow!

 

Petrol in Thailand is cheap, monthly bills are negligible, electric can creep up if you like your air-con too much, but always lower than back home. Back in the UK I would be grinding away in a miserable, depressing 40 hour per week job just to make enough money to rent a moderately sized house and cover the bills and groceries. Weekends would be spent recovering and sleeping, although would certainly be getting calls from my manager at the weekend and sometimes having to go in.

 

Hassles in Thailand seem to be getting worse, but I am now on yearly extensions so hardly have to worry about immigration anymore. The police in my village wave at me and never pull me over. My wife is slim and attractive. I wouldn't get that in the UK. I don't like having to have 400k in the bank at all times and I hate the ridiculous paperwork requirements here, and the fact that it can sometimes be ridiculously complicated to get the simplest things done. Imported foods are very expensive, as is beef which is a shame, but I don't really need either. But on balance, I the hassles are worth it, and I just learn to avoid them as much as possible now.

 

If I was living in Pattaya I would be less happy, I would be spending a lot more and probably getting grief from the plod. Living in a rural village is not for everyone, but for me it is great and far superior to living in the UK.

[oznomad]

1 hour ago, Chazar said:

hows the drugs  scene and murder  rate  now

I had a couple of weeks in Mazatlan in 2016.

Very enjoyable. No sign of drugs, violence or anything untoward.

[GreasyFingers]

2 hours ago, allenberg said:

Agreed, and it always reads like paid testimonials.

Sorry you cannot join us.

[khunPer]

18 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

As the topic asks, are you content living here, if so, tell us what it is that floats your boat here...

Thanks for sharing your story.

 

I've been living here since September 2005, so about 14-years now, and I'm as happy as ever for living in Land of Smiles. My status is "retired", I however began little early at age 56 after asking myself when "enough is enough", and decided to sign out from work and high taxes in my home country with what I believed would be enough savings for a modest life in Thailand.

 

I chose to live in a tourist area on a southern island, as I like the comfort from the facilities available, including shopping and international airport, and not to forget some party nightlife, which I might have missed during the years of hard work to pay high taxes. So I live a different life-style from rural Isaan, which I have visited numerous times. Yes, I could also live up there, but that would be a different life-style from where i decided to settle, more like I was living before moving away from my winter-cold Scandinavian country.

 

I also chose to opt for self-insurance for health, as the insurances began to grow high in price after i turned 60, and especially 65, and if an affordable insurance the cover is very limited. I'm in good health, and my family history is all good health, so it was like "waste of money", wherefore I decided to take the risk, but I have of course set some accessable funds aside, combined for self-insurance and emergency.

 

The currency exchange rate for Thai baht is of course something that I can feel – having some retirement pension coming from abroad together with dividends from savings – so a cut of little more than 25 percent in income, compared to the periods with in my favor excellent exchange rate. Furthermore the interest level in Europe also reduced the outcome of the savings – i.e. secure bonds could originally give me 6 percent in tax-free interest – now the rate is about 1.5 percent, so dividend paying stocks is a better option. However, cutting a bit here-and-there and surviving, it's still a better life-style than similar income could buy me in my home country.

 

I use the deposit method for my "extensions of stay based on retirement", and I find it easy to renew my permission to stay in the Kingdom. It's worth planning for a deposit, instead of worrying sleepless nights about income and exchange rate. Every year there has been small changes in rules for paperwork, which is I got use to, it's still within an acceptable level of documentation.

 

I have a Thai girlfriend, and together we have a now teen daughter, so school issue is also part of decision for a place to live, and part of my family-budget, as we use a private school; began with bi-lingual, or EP (English Programme), from K1-K3 and P1-P6. If you in any way can afford it, I believe it's a good choice, and a good gift for the child's future.

 

I'm a single child, my parents have passed away, I've never been married, and I had no children in my home country, so my family tie is also here. And many of my good friends from home I see more often after I moved to Thailand – calculated as time we are able to spend together, which might be two weeks every second year instead of a few hours a year, even we were living a few kilometers apart – because they love to come on holiday here and visit me.

 

Air quality is not a burning problem where I've settled – however "burning" woods in Indonesia and certain wind direction can occasionally give us some haze for a few days, but it's very rare, and not an annual event. So in general fresh sea-sir, not too much rain, except the few weeks with monsoon kind-of-storm at some point between late October and early January. The temperature is fairly constant in the range from about 27 centigrade to 32 centigrade all year, so we don't use much power for aircon. Mind you, coming from Scandinavia warm weather is like heaven, so that's why I decided to settle on a paradise island, especially after testing winter-weather up Isaan. However, it can be also be cold here some nights during December-January – we did beat a 100-year cold-record a few years ago with utterly freezing 17.9 centigrade one night...???? – and in in the other end of the scale during April-July, if it's extremely hot, the mercury almost melt by hitting 34-35...????

 

So in general I'm very happy, and have so far not regretted my choice of moving to Thailand...????

 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

1 hour ago, ragpicker said:

Thailand has not been the "Land of Smiles" for at least 20 years.

Land of Smiles is/was a marketing slogan.  It has never been the reality.

[Peterphuket]

3 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

Live here for over 20 years, and of-course there are many things to complain, but my motto is "the paradise on earth does not exist".

However it is much better than my home country located in N-Europe.

I forgot to mention "located in N-Europe": member of the terrible EU, when you complain about the Thai authorities....in the EU it is much worser.

[Bundooman]

I've been happy here for 15 years now. I live in the suburbs of CM in rented accommodation with my girlfriend/common law wife and daughter and we are happy and contented. We will buy a house here in the next few years and we have already built one in Surin which we use for holidays, cared for by my partner's mother and father who are delightful people.

I have a job here in CM and have had since I've been here. I enjoy that a lot.

I love Thai food, enjoy western, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican food and I also drink happily in moderation. I take care of myself, keep fit, don't smoke and use a treadmill at weekends, followed by pleasurable pottering around the garden which my wife also enjoys. 

I prefer the heat and the hot summer weather doesn't bother me. Far better than the cold of UK. I do feel cold right now, but only at nights/early morning. 

I like Thai people and I can speak the language enough to get by and still study a little on a daily basis, while I can read a little and write Thai a little.

Life is easy enough and I don't worry too much about air pollution - just put up with it and drive my car when it is bad. I don't have insurance - I'm too old but I do have sufficient cash to keep myself healthy under normal circumstances. 

We holiday to Phuket or Hua Hin annually as I like the sea and beach.

My life is virtually trouble free except for the normal concerns and worries that we all have. I also find the police are polite and pleasant to me, Thai people in general are easy to smile and speak with and I can honestly say I have never felt unsafe or threatened here in Asia, even though I have been visiting Asia, Singapore and of course, Thailand for the past fifty years.

Do I miss UK and family? Sometimes the beautiful scenery araound UK, a BBQ in the evenings and sitting out late without mosquito bites, Cheaper wine and better beers and the other odd little things that I miss occasionally. 

I have a secondary, loose plan if all went wrong and I would be OK with that.

I could never be this contented anywhere else and I really believe that.

[siamike]

19 hours ago, Number 6 said:

The air pollution and the smells and filth in the streets really getting to me. Both on my quiet Soi and main road. Inexcusable this is central BKK. Grease from vendors, spewage leaking from garbage bags and the trucks. Foul smells from fetid food waste dumped by vendors around MRT. Unhygienic.

 

The air pollution will never be taken care of and that alarms me. I mean it's REALLY here to stay. Like Delhi or China. Wealthy and VIP people live indoors, travel in fancy cars.

 

Stupid, selfish people on BTS MRT driving me insane.

 

The economy is obviously stagnating. Politics dicey.

 

Prices are higher and volume of goods lower. Imported products should be less expensive but not.

 

But I'm good, thanks for asking.

Cant help but wonder if you feel like "The Prisoner" here in the LOS ?  ????