What you love about thailand

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, jingjai9 said:

For me, living day to day is easier as Thai people in general are a gentler people than in my native US. When I go out each day in Thailand it is easier to get along with people on a superficial level, i.e. going to the store, bank, etc. As long as I show respect for the culture and speak a little Thai, that helps. I try to be polite to those around me employing the Thai definition of polite. I do all this, but I do not "try to be Thai" because that is not what I am. I am a guest here and I am happy to be a farang. I am very happy I grew up in the USA and just as happy to be middle aged in this Kingdom.

 

"I am a guest here".  A guest???? Really???? 

[keysersoze276]

I love the fact that I am a dirty farang who doesn't bathe and am responsible for a worldwide virus pandemic and people threaten to shoot my eyes out with slingshots.  But mostly I love standing in immigration queue at the airport wondering if policies have changed since I boarded the plane, or if the officer is ina bad mood or just bored enough to make trouble for no reason.

 

[Solinvictus]

I like the clear skies and summer being mostly all year round weather.

 

I can speak Thai enough too also enjoy that aspect of it as well.

 

People here are simple just have to look for it.

 

Durian! ❤

[rumak]

47 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

What do I love about LoS ?   Nothing this past month.  No massage , no walking street , no night market , no having a sit down meal after a bike ride through the mountains.   Tesco Lotus gets a visit every day though as every where else shut.

i just go there to check my temperature   ????

[CM Dad]

It does not snow and it is not a Christian country.

[BritManToo]

13 minutes ago, Solinvictus said:

I like the clear skies and summer being mostly all year round weather.

Haven't seen a clear sky in Chiang Mai since December.

[maprao]

35 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Oh, my wife wouldn't dare, when we got married 19 years ago, I made it perfectly clear that she NEVER tell me to shower. I regularly do but..

I was thinking a little higher more at government level lol

[CM Dad]

1 hour ago, Nemises said:

Retired, single, financial secure and healthy. 
 

Traveling continuously around LoS in late model car, staying at affordable, quality hotels and resorts. .

Beautiful, happy, sexually-giving GFs (with NORMAL JOBS) in many cities and provinces. 

As a keen swimmer, year-round warm weather and beautiful beaches is essential. 

A whopping 1-2 hours per year to renew Thai visa extension.

 

Compared to the West, Thais are happier, friendlier and more laid back. 

 

No other country in the world offers all of the above. 
 

The only anger, bitterness and jealousy I see in Thailand is in this forum. 
 

I agree with your final comment 100%.  While I look at the TV emails I get daily, my life is spent almost completely with my Thai family and Thai friends.  They all treat me very well and take care of me. 

[Neeranam]

9 minutes ago, maprao said:

I was thinking a little higher more at government level lol

Ah, lol.

This was one of the things I hated about Thai culture -  Aap Naam!

Kinda like it is the answer to all problems, like in the UK, it's have a cup of tea.

[sam neuts]

I love that I can't own a piece of land to build my own home, reporting to immigration every 90 days, dual pricing, corruption, rubbish on the streets, consistent and logical laws, love of foreigners, lack of crime and so many other things. It truly is paradise.

[Neeranam]

40 minutes ago, keysersoze276 said:

I love the fact that I am a dirty farang who doesn't bathe and am responsible for a worldwide virus pandemic and people threaten to shoot my eyes out with slingshots.  But mostly I love standing in immigration queue at the airport wondering if policies have changed since I boarded the plane, or if the officer is ina bad mood or just bored enough to make trouble for no reason.

 

I responded on that website, in Thai and got some very interesting answers.

The owner had a good point actually. It wasn't aimed at all foreigners, just the idiotic ones.

[Thingamabob]

On 4/7/2020 at 9:23 PM, Ron jeremy said:

At some point you or someone else will need to sell. 

Living in bkk????? A good lifestyle???? Cmon mate, it's a bunghole, don't even try to convince yourself or others that it's a nice place to live! 

It's a great place to live. Been here nearly 40 years, married to a lovely Thai wife for 30 years. Previously I lived and worked in top cities on 4 continents. Main advantage over those other top cities is that the people in Bangkok, and throughout Thailand, are friendly and fun, and that's just for starters.....

[BritManToo]

15 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

like in the UK, it's have a cup of tea.

Good idea, I'll have one now.

[Sambotte]

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Good idea, I'll have one now.

Again ? ????

 

[khunPer]

On 4/7/2020 at 1:39 PM, caribbean82 said:

...Thailand and thai people what's really changed since you first came. Have I really missed the good times.

Some things you older guys complain about are the things I love

Seems like most of us missed "the good times" if we wasn't here 15-20 years before we came. I've always heard talk about how wonderful it all was in the past, and totally spoiled now – never understod why those people complaining so much about everything decided to stay put...????

 

I still hear that talk, and I realize now that I've already been here so long time, that "the good times" – I totally missed – was during my first years here...???? Was I too old when I moved in, since I missed all the fun...

 

On the other hand, I had a great time with lots of fun, and still have – apart from the last couple of closed weeks, which however gives me the great pleasure of expectations; expectations about reopening and the return of fun...????

 

Exactly what are the/we "older guys" – or is "82" your age? – complaining about?

 

In answer to your headline question "What you love about thailand"?

Not in any order of rating, but I love:

• Beaches
• Candlelight dinners by the beach
• Dancing (without folks saying that I'm weird, or I just don't notice it)
• Girls, and also my lovely girlfriend
• Living on a coconut paradise island
• My "dream house"
• Never too cold (one appreciate that when coming from Scandinavia), neither too hot
• Nightlife (not bars, but beach parties and nightclubs)
• Taxes and taxation
• Thais (that are always kind and smiling, and treat me well)
• Tropical nights (unless the one year with a ???? cold 17.9 centigrade night)
• Weather

Did I miss something...????

 

I avoid negative thoughts about living in LoS by reading news and weather forecast from my home country...????

[Muzzique]

Its OK in short bursts of 1 to 2 weeks at the max, after that it become a little monotonous. The best things?  Beautiful temples, kind people, great food, fresh fruits, attractive girls, semi OK roads, and interesting wildlife. After this the rest is tedious.

 

Plenty more of the World to see in short bursts. Prefer to sample the best then leave the drudgery of daily life of living in one place and move on.

[transam]

1 minute ago, Muzzique said:

Its OK in short bursts of 1 to 2 weeks at the max, after that it become a little monotonous. The best things?  Beautiful temples, kind people, great food, fresh fruits, attractive girls, semi OK roads, and interesting wildlife. After this the rest is tedious.

 

Plenty more of the World to see in short bursts. Prefer to sample the best then leave the drudgery of daily life of living in one place and move on.

I thought like that when I was a teenager....

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, Muzzique said:

Its OK in short bursts of 1 to 2 weeks at the max, after that it become a little monotonous. The best things?  Beautiful temples, kind people, great food, fresh fruits, attractive girls, semi OK roads, and interesting wildlife. After this the rest is tedious.

Hardly seen any wildlife in Thailand (over 10 years) and I'm out and about all over the mountains and jungle.

Where are you going to find 'interesting wildlife?

[Kalasin Jo]

Easy living! Fun! Friendly! Nice food! My wife! Her family! Loved Phuket, Pattaya, islands, even Bangkok. Happy now to be established in the sticks, built a nice home on edge of wife's village. And before Covid ease and low cost of travel by air with many destinations now in Thailand  for excitement and change of scene and to neighbouring countries. Also it was ok and easy to travel back to Europe where I am still resident, still have a home, have access to state healthcare, and spend time there too, with my wife sometimes, sometimes not.

 

Will Covid permanently remove these options I wonder? Am I old enough now not to care about that and live here permanently? Or will I return permanently to Europe, taking my wife? Hopefully she can get residency and join state healthcare there. Would be tax advantageous too. But could she cope there as well as I can here? Should I allow health and social care and it's cost to be a primary determining factor as I get older? 68 now.

[Kurtf]

The cost of living and that's about it. Everything else pretty much sucks.

[ThailandRyan]

2 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Ah, lol.

This was one of the things I hated about Thai culture -  Aap Naam!

Kinda like it is the answer to all problems, like in the UK, it's have a cup of tea.

do it slowly, ChaCha, Di yen yen.  That is one of my favorites, shows they care about you, well I think they do

[Paul DS]

On 4/7/2020 at 1:07 PM, Kwasaki said:

Being an alien.

 

Feeling welcome!!

[garrya]

12 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

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.

 

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.

LOL, I live a rather frugal lifestyle. I come from a poor country and a poor family. You have no idea. I rent a house for 6000 (cheaper is only one bedroom or apartment here), I pay bills another 3-4000 baht, want to buy a car? .... it would be 5-10,000 installments per month, fuel 500-2000 baht per month, food could be anywhere between 3,000 to 10,000 per month, and we have to support the in-laws as there is no real pension here. 

Funny boy, what are we talking about? I could easily afford these back home on a normal wage. Here, how far will 10-20,000 baht salary take you? LOL

Of course farangs, who have money and who have wives with large lands and running businesses, will find it easy to live here. I know people who own a few rais of land and they almost never work but make more than enough money on it. 

Thailand is not cheap at all if you want a reasonably good lifestyle.

 

On another note, I live in the south and the roads are amazing. So, apparently, this may not be true in other parts of Thailand. Of course there are odd roads with potholes here and there.

 

[Kwasaki]

3 hours ago, Paul DS said:

Feeling welcome!!

Your will & resistance is futile you will be assimilated.

[kingdong]

6 hours ago, sam neuts said:

I love that I can't own a piece of land to build my own home, reporting to immigration every 90 days, dual pricing, corruption, rubbish on the streets, consistent and logical laws, love of foreigners, lack of crime and so many other things. It truly is paradise.

Many a true word spoken in jest.

[bwpage3]

22 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Life is what you make of it. Your choices are your choices. My choices mine, and others theirs. Maybe if you worded your posts a little differently then you would not seem so bent on those words that make it seem like you are trashing others views.  I never have burned any bridges myself, and never will. Fortunately, I surmise that because of my investments, I was able to retire early at 50 and do what I wanted to enjoy life.  Having lived off and on in Thailand for over 10 years, I have also observed changes.  Instead of looking at them negatively, I have chosen to accept what I have and not whine about it.  I left California because of Government issues.  I have family in the States and therefore I also have residences to return to.  I may think one thing and you another, but remember my views are my views. If you can not say anything nice then do not,

This isn't a forum to pretend and say nice things.

 

Forums are for people to speak their minds.

 

When people say they live on and off in Thailand for 10 years, instead of I have lived in Thailand for 10+ years, makes me wonder how long you have actually lived there, enough to see how it has changed?

 

There are many long time residents on this forum. Ask them. The first time I went to Thailand was 1984. Was in Prachinburi. Thought it was heaven. Finally moved to Thailand full time in 2003. By this time foreign mass marketing had set in and Thai's were brainwashed into thinking they were nobodies without the latest Iphone they couldn't afford. Money had become more important than human life. Greed and corruption were running rampid.

 

Over the next 10+ years things continually went down hill.

 

With the ouster of Thaksin  Shinawatara, the country really started to go down hill, and all these crazy visa rules started popping up.

 

The Great Flood of 2011, really got me thinking if there was something better out there for me and my family. Without that I might still be there, but thank God I made a decision to leave.

 

So yes, people can have it whatever way they want, because in the end, we all have choices.

 

 

[villagefarang]

7 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

There are many long time residents on this forum. Ask them.

I am one of those long time residents and I am in agreement with @ThailandRyan  Sure Thailand has changed over the last 43 years but I am not the nostalgic type always looking back.  Where I am right now is always the best place to be, because of all which came before.????

[bwpage3]

4 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

I am one of those long time residents and I am in agreement with @ThailandRyan  Sure Thailand has changed over the last 43 years but I am not the nostalgic type always looking back.  Where I am right now is always the best place to be, because of all which came before.????

Well, has Thailand changed for the better or the worse?

 

43 years would put you there in 1977.

 

It is the best place to be? After 43 years what other options do you have?

[bwpage3]

6 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Hardly seen any wildlife in Thailand (over 10 years) and I'm out and about all over the mountains and jungle.

Where are you going to find 'interesting wildlife?

Khao Yai. Have a nice video of a wild elephant brushing up against my truck.

[villagefarang]

41 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

Well, has Thailand changed for the better or the worse?

43 years would put you there in 1977.

It is the best place to be? After 43 years what other options do you have?

Yes, I have lived here full-time since 1977 and first came here in 1975, while still a university student.  That was long before the internet and general infrastructure was pretty bad.  So many things are much easier today than they were back then.

 

Twenty some years ago my wife and I spent half of each year traveling and after 7 years of that we weighed our options and chose to move from Bangkok to Chiang Rai.  So we had options at the time and decided this was the best place for us to be.  We have talked about it over the years and this is still where we want to be.

 

Practicing social isolation and staying at home, this is actually an excellent place to be.  I love my wife, she is my best friend and the more time we spend together, the more I like it.  We haven't been shopping for more than three weeks and could go longer but we are thinking of driving to town tomorrow for a change of pace and to see if we might procure some perishable items which we have runout of.

 

In short, life is good for us here in Thailand.????