What Age Did You Move Here?

[Neeranam]

2 minutes ago, GarryP said:

To answer your question, different to some of those who arrived later in life, but not all. I had to learn the language because English was not as widespread as it is now (although still generally poor). As a result, I do not rely on others to do things for me or explain things. I can do everything myself. I also get my news first hand, not translated and filtered. I believe I understand the people better than some and as a result have assimilated (as far as that is possible) quite well. I do not have the mindset of an outsider. I am not always thinking "me" and "them". 

Thanks GarryP.

I feel pretty much the same and am grateful I lived first in Nontaburi, where learning the language was necessary, especially with girlfriends who couldn't speak a word of English. This has given me so much freedom in daily living. To understand the finer cultural nuances, understanding the language is essential.

I usually think myself as one of "them" but sometimes things happen when I realize I'll never truly be. Like the other day, waiting in a large queue to see a doctor, they called out everyone by name and of course I was "mister Neeranam". And, my friend on security saluted me saying "welcome to Thailand" 

 

 

[brokenbone]

37 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I mean what stopped me from exercising was my lower back pain that I had all of my life from sitting all day in my line of work, then I stumbled onto a video about planks, long of the short,

my back pain stopped me from leaving my room almost altogether,

and for half the day, leave the bed.

did it relieve you and what is the link

[CGW]

21 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

If you haven't heard of Dr Eric Berg, you will love the bloke, he is a world of knowledge and talks about many things, food, vitamins, Covid-19.

We have similar beliefs for "well being", my go to Dr online for the past ~20 years has been Mercola, he has consistently been years ahead of others in furthering "natural health", I have never seen a Doctor for anything other than routine work related medicals, if I feel something wrong I will look at his site or curezone.

[khunano]

Arrived from Hong Kong at the age of 30 with my just married Thai wife at the end of 1994. Mostly enjoyed my stay in Thailand though the last few years with mixed feelings mostly due to personal reasons. Moved back to my home country in the centre of Europe after divorce and better business prospects at the end of 2017. Never regretted it, haven't been back yet, though winters here can be a bit long.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

For me girls were not the reason, but a nice bonus!

 

Originally meditation and medication ???? 

I remember reading Hardship Asia

 

 

[4MyEgo]

59 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

my back pain stopped me from leaving my room almost altogether,

and for half the day, leave the bed.

did it relieve you and what is the link

I took this from post 88, also see post 89, recommend you subscribe and hit the bell button on both, knowledge is powerful stuff, and it's free, post 89 talks more on foods, vitamins, nutrition and discusses inflammation within the body and what produces it and what can reduce it, so please visit post 89 after seeing this video below, and best of luck.

 

  

 

[Old Croc]

1 hour ago, CGW said:

18 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I agree. I think those who came in their 20s started a new life and realize they have to integrate into society to give themselves more opportunities.

Those who retire here generally don't feel the need to change and are set in their Western ways and quite content to rely on that healthy pension and be an outsider. 

I believe those that retire here are - understandably - set in their ways and struggle to come to terms with living in a completely different world to what they are used too, some are more successful at adapting than other's.

I believe there is a happy medium somewhere between turning completely native and ethnocentrism.

 

Also, I accept that humanity is so diverse one should never try to place everyone into a singular box based just on age or life circumstances.

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

30

 

Next survey: Why did you more here:

a) all those girls

b) one specific girl

c) other

 

b) Wife

&

c) other girls

 

Oh sorry, I thought the survey started already....lol

[khunPer]

Wow, I'm actually surprised that based on those voting, folks moves to here in much younger age than I expected to see, only some 16 percent in retirement age 61+ year.

 

I came late at 56, as I needed to make my money first at home for an early retirement; or just an extended permanent holiday.

Had I been here already back in the happy hippie era, I might have stayed since then...

[NightSky]

On 5/12/2020 at 1:31 PM, Neeranam said:

Too expensive??

 

I remember when you were earning 1 million baht a month! 

i bet that was before google updated their algorithm?

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

59 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Wow, I'm actually surprised that based on those voting, folks moves to here in much younger age than I expected to see, only some 16 percent in retirement age 61+ year.

 

I came late at 56, as I needed to make my money first at home for an early retirement; or just an extended permanent holiday.

Had I been here already back in the happy hippie era, I might have stayed since then...

How did you feel when you realized you arrived "too late"?

When I think about all those girls when I just arrived in Bangkok I wouldn't have been able to do that with 56.

And sometimes I tell a friend: Good luck we arrived here 20 years ago. Otherwise we would have missed a lot of fun.

And I am still working in Thailand. 

[GarryP]

10 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How did you feel when you realized you arrived "too late"?

When I think about all those girls when I just arrived in Bangkok I wouldn't have been able to do that with 56.

And sometimes I tell a friend: Good luck we arrived here 20 years ago. Otherwise we would have missed a lot of fun.

And I am still working in Thailand. 

I too am still working and have been with the same company for the past 27 years. I do think we had an advantage back then as the number of foreigners in Thailand was quite a bit smaller than now so the competition was not as high then. I doubt very much that I would be hired for my position if I applied now (assuming I was the same age as back then). I am not saying I am not intelligent, far from it, but I do not have the paper qualifications they demand now, even if they are totally unrelated to the job. Just about every employer here demands, BAs, BScs, etc. even if they are in unrelated subjects the position. 

 

Having said that, I do enjoy my job and am making a decent living.     

[khunPer]

32 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How did you feel when you realized you arrived "too late"?

When I think about all those girls when I just arrived in Bangkok I wouldn't have been able to do that with 56.

And sometimes I tell a friend: Good luck we arrived here 20 years ago. Otherwise we would have missed a lot of fun.

And I am still working in Thailand. 

Some 20 years "too late" is better than never; and before the Covid-19 close-down there was a chance every month to catch up with leftovers from the hippie's bonfires, guitars and singing through the Full Moon nights on Sunrise Beach...????

 

 

If you are fit for fight then 56 is "no age", and some of "all those girls" were still around when I settled here – luckily also many more new young ones, so probably I also got my share anyway...???? – and 15 years after I'm still fit for fight and partying, as soon as everything reopens; I'm pretty sure that most of the usual birds are waiting out there, longing for my return...????

 

Actually it was Okay to make an early retirement at that age, instead of coming before with no cash – in a worst case scenario I could have been forced to leave LoS due to not being able to show a regular 65k baht a month income, or 800k baht bank deposit, when rules for stay were tightened, I know some that unfortunately had to leave for another place in Southeast Asia – so I don't regret that I wasn't part of the happy hippies in the mid or late seventies that stayed put. I arrived with plenty of time for lots of fun, but with a later generation of the birds...????

[newnative]

58, arrived in June 2010 after visiting first with my partner in December 2009 for a month.  

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, khunPer said:

Some 20 years "too late" is better than never; and before the Covid-19 close-down there was a chance every month to catch up with leftovers from the hippie's bonfires, guitars and singing through the Full Moon nights on Sunrise Beach...????

 

 

If you are fit for fight then 56 is "no age", and some of "all those girls" were still around when I settled here – luckily also many more new young ones, so probably I also got my share anyway...???? – and 15 years after I'm still fit for fight and partying, as soon as everything reopens; I'm pretty sure that most of the usual birds are waiting out there, longing for my return...????

 

Actually it was Okay to make an early retirement at that age, instead of coming before with no cash – in a worst case scenario I could have been forced to leave LoS due to not being able to show a regular 65k baht a month income, or 800k baht bank deposit, when rules for stay were tightened, I know some that unfortunately had to leave for another place in Southeast Asia – so I don't regret that I wasn't part of the happy hippies in the mid or late seventies that stayed put. I arrived with plenty of time for lots of fun, but with a later generation of the birds...????

Where is Sunrise Beach?

 

I remember living on Haad Rin beach where the early Full Moon parties happened in 1992. 60 baht a night right on the beach! 

 

Great memories, esp of a girl who was half Red Indian and Spanish ????

 

Only two bars then and one new night club. Lived next to an OZ taxi driver who smuggled stuff from Nepal in his dreadlocks, rode a 10 foot unicycle while juggling with fire things. 

 

 

[brokenbone]

4 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

I took this from post 88, also see post 89, recommend you subscribe and hit the bell button on both, knowledge is powerful stuff, and it's free, post 89 talks more on foods, vitamins, nutrition and discusses inflammation within the body and what produces it and what can reduce it, so please visit post 89 after seeing this video below, and best of luck.

 

  

 

thanks, i have truly become  weakling when i couldnt even complete this, i will do this stuff, but on the bed due to various skeleton damages

[rickudon]

Was made redundant at age 55, did half-heartedly look for another job, but never found a proper one, only part-time minimum wage. Started holidaying in Thailand, took early retirement and pension, moved to Thailand and married at 58, ten years ago. And yes, i came too late. Missed out on most of those cheap baht, busy nightlife times. The planned comfortable, free spending retirement became watch the pennies time! (lots of reasons, not just exchange rate). But still better off here.

[pineapple01]

3 minutes ago, rickudon said:

Was made redundant at age 55, did half-heartedly look for another job, but never found a proper one, only part-time minimum wage. Started holidaying in Thailand, took early retirement and pension, moved to Thailand and married at 58, ten years ago. And yes, i came too late. Missed out on most of those cheap baht, busy nightlife times. The planned comfortable, free spending retirement became watch the pennies time! (lots of reasons, not just exchange rate). But still better off here.

Honest Man.

[CGW]

I'm happy that I was here before the "nightlife" became all about money! I was lucky to have lived in Manilla when nightlife was the best in the world around 1981. (Mabini -Del Pilar). I moved to Bangkok in 88, by 91 the Bangkok nightlife IMO was the best in the world, short time was unheard off, no phones, great times. Pattaya was ok around 2000 + but was never any where near as good as Bangkok, great times and somehow I remained single!

[bwpage3]

On 5/12/2020 at 2:35 AM, Neeranam said:

I moved here when I was 27. I had been working as a petroleum engineer in the North Sea and hated it. Halfway through my Master's degree, I said " *** it" and got a job as an English teacher and never looked back. The money was slightly less!! I remember being refused a job as a sports editor with the Thailand Times as I put my previous salary and the owner thought there was no way I was going to stay. 

So you have worked a long time as a Thai teacher?

 

What does your retirement finances look like?

[bwpage3]

7 hours ago, RocketDog said:

You might not want to be in the USA these days. Nanny state, police, virus, violent weather, inflation, all too much for me now. 

I have to laugh every time I hear these comments about the US.

 

Usually come from people who cannot afford to live in their own country.

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, GarryP said:

I am not saying I am not intelligent, far from it, but I do not have the paper qualifications they demand now, even if they are totally unrelated to the job. Just about every employer here demands, BAs, BScs, etc. even if they are in unrelated subjects the position.

Same same, not much different.

I work with computers since forever. And when I started there were basically two groups of IT guys:

a) Guys with official documents

b) Guys who knew computers and got the work done

c) A mix of a and b is theoretically possible, but at least at that time it was an exception from the rule

???? 

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, brokenbone said:

thanks, i have truly become  weakling when i couldnt even complete this, i will do this stuff, but on the bed due to various skeleton damages

I managed..... just.... but not looking forward to doing it again tonight ????

[Neeranam]

48 minutes ago, CGW said:

I'm happy that I was here before the "nightlife" became all about money! I was lucky to have lived in Manilla when nightlife was the best in the world around 1981. (Mabini -Del Pilar). I moved to Bangkok in 88, by 91 the Bangkok nightlife IMO was the best in the world, short time was unheard off, no phones, great times. Pattaya was ok around 2000 + but was never any where near as good as Bangkok, great times and somehow I remained single!

I went to Manila in 1993 and didn't like it as it was pretty dangerous. The Mayor closed down Ermita clubs after I was there 3 days. There seemed to be an anti foreigner feeling as the US air base had recently closed. I remember waiting for a ferry and being threatened by guys with guns and told, "Rambo, stay away from our women". On the island, one German was shot in the head in a night club just for not giving a guy a cigarette -  scary.

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, khunPer said:

every month to catch up with leftovers from the hippie's bonfires, guitars and singing through the Full Moon nights on Sunrise Beach...????

I have to admit I was never there and never had the desire to go there. Too many white women.

 

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

Where is Sunrise Beach?

 

I remember living on Haad Rin beach where the early Full Moon parties happened in 1992. 60 baht a night right on the beach! 

 

Great memories, esp of a girl who was half Red Indian and Spanish ????

 

Only two bars then and one new night club. Lived next to an OZ taxi driver who smuggled stuff from Nepal in his dreadlocks, rode a 10 foot unicycle while juggling with fire things. 

Sunrise Beach is same as what might have be called Had Rin Nok in older travel books – also excellent for moon rise – I recently looked in a "Thailand Islands & Beaches" book a friend left a few years ago, realizing it was a 1998 Lonely Planet book that says some places had upgraded from the 60-100 baht range to 100-300 baht a night at Had Rin Nok; might have been disappointed to to use that guide in 2016...

Must have been a great experience back at that time...????

[EricTh]

@Neeranam

 

You should have changed the age category to start from 30, 40, 50 etc. instead of 31, 41, 51

 

You do know that retirement age is 50 and above. So if we put retirees into 41-50 age bracket it gives a false impression.

[Neeranam]

39 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

So you have worked a long time as a Thai teacher?

 

What does your retirement finances look like?

I worked for 25 years as a teacher. Just cashed out my Social Security actually, 190,000 baht. Had the option of about 3500 baht a month for life.

A teacher's life is easy but pay is terrible. I had to supplement it with other things -  I was even a pro poker player for a year in between jobs and am going to do more of that in the future. 

3  years ago I paid 66,000 baht for 10 years backdated non voluntary Nation Insurance contributions class 2. So, I'll get a pension when I'm 67, if I keep paying it. I still do some work online, translation and editing.

My pension plan is some Bitcoin and other cryptos I own, and my kids ????

[Neeranam]

8 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I have to admit I was never there and never had the desire to go there. Too many white women.

I love white women now, the dark-skinned ones have lost their exoticness. 

[simon43]

4 hours ago, NightSky said:

i bet that was before google updated their algorithm?

 

 

Nope - that was before Google even existed!!   I advertised only in print media such as the UK's newspaper for the thinking man, aka The Daily Sport...... Full page adverts of scantily clad women draped over sports cars grasping ancient, huge mobile phones and asking 'how big is your one?'  ????