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Posted
13 hours ago, caribbean82 said:

I don't believe you that's a postcard!

It would surprise me a lot;
the horizon is not horizontal (sorry to write this but it is unfortunately true)

 

But thanks to a great and especially free software, it is repaired in a few seconds

 

https://www.faststone.org/

 

2076770910_photodepaysagesurthaivisa.jpg.44cefe5001da8100ba8a555661384c23.jpg

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Posted

The best thing in Thailand is the astonishingly quick and cheap motorbike and car repair services. (other repairs are the opposite. It's almost impossible to find someone to repair things in the house)

 

I like the roads. The roads are new and in a good condition. 

 

Another good thing is the ease of doing business if you have a local spouse. For her (or him) to set up a business that you can be part of is just a piece of cake. 

 

And finally, the extremely large number of small shops, such as mom and pops shops, 7-11s, CP marts etc. 

 

I know this thread is about "loving this wonderful country", but I couldn't help but notice other posters above claiming the low cost of living as a positive. I tend to disagree with this. If you are on a "normal" income, this country is way more expensive than our home countries. Of course most of the expats living in Thailand have (or used to have) good income so that's easy to live on. Try to live on an average income, and try to rent a house, pay bills, buy a car, buy farang food....... Nope. Mai dai! 

 

 

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Posted
21 hours ago, Kadilo said:

He is happy with the views and also living in Thailand unlike some who leave the country, go back home  but still can’t let go. Who is the happier ?

Why let go when we own a rice farm and have a large family we support there?

Posted
9 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Wow. Where to even start. This is an entirely subjective topic, of course. But some of us live very good lives here. Some of us have been fortunate enough to find an outstanding woman, who is delightful to be around, on a daily basis, always has our back, and is fun, smart, and lovely. For me, that likelihood of finding that back in the US, would be very low. So, that is a big factor for me. We have no children, and we are very fortunate in that regard, so no child rearing required. She is a gourmet cook, so whenever I want, she is thrilled to whip up an incredible meal. But, mostly it is about outstanding companionship, being with a kind, loving woman who always has my back, as I always have hers. It is the most satisfying relationship I have ever been in. We have fun, we talk, but we don't try to break down the origins of the universe, and the conversations are lovely, but not particularly deep. She speaks very good english, but is not fluent, so that is one aspect of it. But, the primary aspect is just a lack of interest on her part, in the deeper subjects, (such as astronomy, physics, science, botany, theatre, independent film, etc.), which I find to be the case with alot of Thai women, and I am fine with that. 

 

I have met very few Thai women that I would describe as philosophical, or intellectual. Most Thais simply do not have inquiring minds. Most are not taught to be curious souls, as youngsters. This does not mean they are not smart. But, most of the intellectual kind of stuff I like to discuss with my friends, my wife considers bizarre, and uninteresting. And that is not even one iota of an issue for us. I learned long ago that an intellectual woman, who can match me intellectually, also tends to be a combative woman, and the chance of harmony is low. I for one, love a harmonious house, where my woman is joyful and light hearted, with a great sense of humor, and an amazing attitude toward life, and us. Just my point of view. Whatever works for you, stick with it. I have my friends, who I can talk to, and break down the universe with, if the desire to do so is there.

 

The second factor is just the quality of life. Sure, I miss alot of the culture back home. The theatre, independent film (which I can download here with no issues at all, and a super fast 240mbps fiber optic connection, at under 800 baht per month!), stand up comedy, live jazz, etc. But I have a lovely home that I rent, for about 10% of what I would pay in California, I live very well on an income which is not huge, have access to great health care, at a tiny fraction of what it costs in the US, and do not have to put up with alot of the aggravation that I had to when I lived back there. I would not want to move back there, unless I was either being paid a million dollars a year (net), or the situation was dire. 

 

Sure, Thailand has changed. My first trip here was in 1976! It was so much different than now. The air quality if getting worse each year it seems, as nothing is being done about it. The politics here are absolutely regressive. The army is horrendous. Will that ever improve? I think so. I think the youth will eventually oust them, as they are virtually useless to Thai society, with the exception of protecting the elite, those in power (themselves), and the super wealthy. But alot of things here have improved since then. The infrastructure here is quite good. Sure they could use a high speed rail. That would be amazing. Hopefully it will happen. The whole world is different now. The whole planet is being affected by a greatly expanding population, inflation, environmental issues, politics, and congestion. So, we are going to experience some of that no matter where we are. All I know, is that every day I wake up, I am very glad to be here, very glad to be with the woman I am with, and thankful for my life. Would I feel the same way in the US? I seriously doubt it. Most of my friends back in the US, say they would trade positions with me, in a heartbeat, if they could. I believe them. And I feel for them. The quality of life where I came from is a pale shadow of what it used to be. No thanks. There is one more consideration. No matter where we go, we still have to contend with ourselves, our attitude, our issues and our minds. So, some will always be seeking greener pastures. Nothing wrong with that. But, it does not insure fulfillment. I find most Thai people to be quite pleasant, and light hearted. Fun to be around, and a great humor.

 

In the US I can spend days trying to get someone to smile, or laugh. It is a very serious place, and people have become very dour, and heavy hearted, as a general rule of thumb. Nearly everyone I know in the states tells me that their wives do not try as hard, once they are married. That the motivation to be all they can be just sort of disappears. I can see if for myself. They often do not seem the same as they were before. And this especially applies once the kids were born, though that might happen here, to some extent too. Fortunately, I do not know about that part of the equation. Here, I do not see that happening. For some reason, the cultural differences allow the women here to be a greater version of themselves. They are allowed to express their femininity, and they are not ruined by "me too", expectations of being more successful than their man, and other nonsense like that. Does that make sense? I realize if you are a Western woman, it is not easy reading this stuff. Same applies to being a western man, married to a western woman. These things are not easy to hear. And certainly this does not apply to everyone, either here or there. Some in the west are just exceptional, and capable to rising against the tide. But, it does apply to most, from my point of view.

 

1. Would you still be amazed with Thailand if you DID NOT have an amazing wife and you were on your own?

2. How do feel when you see those videos of Thai's with slingshots telling all foreigners to get out?

 

Every place has it's ups and down, no matter what country you live in. If you have money, living in the west is easy just like living in Thailand is easy.

 

The one thing that concerns me about Thailand now, is the military govt has no incentive to fix issues such as air pollution, that will eventually doom the country. 

 

The current CV stimulus package will make millionaires out of all of the politician's who are busy finding ways to line their pockets without getting caught.

 

No they are not managing Thailand's spiraling out of control problems. The are pocketing the money to afford a house and life in the west.

 

Pollution, over-crowding, an education system that never improves, flooding, you name it. All of these problems are getting zero attention.

 

I was shocked how bad the air quality changed in the last 6 years before I visited.

 

Imagine the next 10 years?

 

 

 

 

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Posted
4 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

You just can not impose your views onto others, so stop trying.  Life must have been pretty thorny for someone to be so negative.  Can you not find anything positive to say, That was what this OP was started as..."What you love about Thailand", not "How many peoples cornflakes can I ....in"

Why lie and make things up?

 

I lived there for 10 years and it went downhill every year

 

I revisited in Dec 2019 after being away for 6 years and it was even worse.

 

The pollution for one.

 

No one can impose anything on anyone, and it is silly to even suggest that.

 

My opinions are from my experience, what is best for my family and I am not one for trying to convince myself how great it is, when it isn't.

 

Been there, done that and moved back. Why?

 

Because I did not burn bridges, had the finances to do so and the education to jump back into corporate America.

 

Think about why someone would write a post about "What do you love about Thailand?

 

Most people have trapped themselves financially. What do you think they will write other than to convince themselves it's great.

 

My experience comes from living there, moving and revisiting.

 

To say what I love about Thailand? At 30 baht to $1 it is not as cheap. If you want to live in a one room flat the rest of your life sure.

 

There are 1000's of places around the world, if you could afford to live there, you would like more than Thailand.

 

The fact is, if I love Thailand and wanted to live there, I would.

 

I don't and I am not forced to live some where to make ends meet on a measly income.

 

Pretty sure if Thailand was all that, we wouldn't have 1000's of Thai's living in Florida.

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Posted
21 hours ago, sirineou said:

I am sorry to hear of your negative experience.

 Easy for many of as to get involved with the wrong crowd , I mean you get on a plane, you come to Thailand , what do you do? you go to a tourist area (you are a tourist) and you go to a bar, you meet a pretty little thing, you get along. have a good time, and there you are. Nothing wrong with that, many of these girls are good people in difficult situations, but you need to understand that they Got in this situations because they might not come from the best family situations. 

But that's not Thailand. It is simply the thailand many of as know. There is another thiland out there.

 I am no different from the people I describe above, but I got lucky. I met my now wife at a work environment. Initially she wanted nothing to do with me but i wore he down.

 . Her Family were not rich, Father was a worker for the water department, mother run a small convenience store in their village in Khon kaen, Both hard working honest people. Aunts and uncles the same. They worked hard, provided for their family, and put both of their girls through University. 

They really were not thrilled when I showed up with their daughter, I am sure they were looking forward to their daughter marrying a nice Thai man that would be a good fit in their family. In time they got to know me and love me just as much as their daughter, some times perhaps more ,because my wife can be difficult at times. 

Not once did anyone ask me for money, 

an uncle asked my wife ones.  He asked the wrong person . Wife is tight with the money, she quickly shot him down. I might have being an easier mark. 

If anything they have helped us. 

Married eleven years now, and even though we own houses both in the US and Thailand. when I say we are going home  I mean Thailand.

 Sadly both my MIL and FIL  passed away with in a year from each other a couple of years ago. I miss their smiling faces greeting us at the airport, and how they made me welcome in their house every time we went there.

I miss all of us piling up in the car and going to the dam . We always went everywhere together.

Today is a sad day for us, It is MIL's B-day, she passed away less than a year ago. Wife cut white roses from our garden and put them under her mom's picture. 

Stuck in the US with this virus , can't wait for it to be over so I can come home.   

You wuz lucky.

I thought I did it all the right way- waited 6 months before moving to LOS permanently, just holidays with her, lived with her a year before getting married. Met the family and they seemed OK. Where it all went wrong was letting her talk me into moving to the village to live with them. My advice to anyone getting married is make sure the family really are OK, or live too far away for them to visit. If moving to live with them have an exit plan, which I didn't have.

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Posted
18 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I have met very few Thai women that I would describe as philosophical, or intellectual. Most Thais simply do not have inquiring minds.

That describes almost everyone I ever met. Not one person I know at home has ever asked me what it is like in LOS.

 

18 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

My first trip here was in 1976!

Beat you by 2 years. Bkk back then was almost entirely low rise. The Golden Mount was almost the only high point in the city.

 

18 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

The politics here are absolutely regressive. The army is horrendous.

You seem obsessive about the military government. The Thaksin government was the exception, not the rule for LOS since the coup in the 1930s.

If anything has got worse in the past decades, it is the restrictions on visiting LOS, which have gone from liberal to restrictive, and that can't be blamed entirely on the military.

 

18 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

people have become very dour, and heavy hearted, as a general rule of thumb.

That applies to every country I ever been to, including LOS. The smile disappeared about the same time they started getting fatter- long ago.

 

18 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Nearly everyone I know in the states tells me that their wives do not try as hard, once they are married. That the motivation to be all they can be just sort of disappears. I can see if for myself. They often do not seem the same as they were before. And this especially applies once the kids were born,

That's a universal truth, IMO.

Having children changes women in ways men are unable to understand. Not for nothing did I not want to have any.

 

You seem to have got lucky with your woman. I wish you well, but never forget a relationship has to be cherished and worked at by BOTH in it.

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Posted
8 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Why lie and make things up?

One can always find bad things about any place in the world, and in most places one can find things that make it worth while to live there.

LOS can be horrible for anyone that doesn't want to look outside Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai or Bkk, but outside those places there are so many wonderful and interesting things that a man would never grow bored in a life time.

If anyone doesn't find anything to love about LOS, IMO they just aren't trying hard enough.

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Posted
8 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Would you still be amazed with Thailand if you DID NOT have an amazing wife and you were on your own?

My life was better before I got married and got better after I was single again. Being on my own in LOS was brilliant.

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Posted
16 hours ago, garrya said:

If you are on a "normal" income, this country is way more expensive than our home countries.

LOL. Do you try to live a western style life in LOS? Thais get by on 9,000 a month, so it's NOT expensive so long as one doesn't want an unaffordable life style.

 

16 hours ago, garrya said:

I like the roads. The roads are new and in a good condition. 

Obviously never been on the roads I drove on. The short cut road from Phrae to the Queen Sirikit reservoir is a doozy. 2 hours in first and second gear.

Some of the back roads up north could do with a reseal too.

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Posted
19 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

 

 

In the US I can spend days trying to get someone to smile, or laugh. It is a very serious place, and people have become very dour, and heavy hearted, as a general rule of thumb. Nearly everyone I know in the states tells me that their wives do not try as hard, once they are married. That the motivation to be all they can be just sort of disappears. I can see if for myself. They often do not seem the same as they were before. And this especially applies once the kids were born, though that might happen here, to some extent too. Fortunately, I do not know about that part of the equation. Here, I do not see that happening. For some reason, the cultural differences allow the women here to be a greater version of themselves. They are allowed to express their femininity, and they are not ruined by "me too", expectations of being more successful than their man, and other nonsense like that. Does that make sense? I realize if you are a Western woman, it is not easy reading this stuff. Same applies to being a western man, married to a western woman. These things are not easy to hear. And certainly this does not apply to everyone, either here or there. Some in the west are just exceptional, and capable to rising against the tide. But, it does apply to most, from my point of view.

 

Good for you that you like Thailand. But I wonder where is the US which you are talking about. Is it part of Polynesia or Siberia? It seems you completely lost objectivity. Sounds like psychological self-definition. 

Posted
On 4/7/2020 at 1:21 PM, caribbean82 said:

Good response even if costs were the same I'd be in Bangkok for sure

Costs were the same? I find Bangkok more expensive than london.

Posted
1 minute ago, VocalNeal said:

Sunshine and palm trees.

and lucky that coincidentally both are available during non-curfew hrs!

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