Ten Little Indians: How Many of Us are Still left Standing in Thailand?

[JohnBarleycorn]

Now that the planes have begun flying again, and I did see a very few at the airport today, taking off and landing, I wonder how many of us little Farangs are still here in Thailand.

The virus has been truly devastating for so many, and this is no joke. The implications and ramifications of this virus which seemingly came out of China will continue to reverberate around the world for the next five years, probably more.

But just thinking about things closer to home. What percentage of the guys who were once here are still here?

As you probably can tell, the Farang Pub has changed. So many of our group have left, alas. The departing of the departed brings me to tears. I weep.

I am still here, fortunately.

However, I am not one of the good ones.

The good ones have returned to their home countries.  You know who they are.  And we shed tears for their loss.

Their sad loss, as you have no doubt guessed, is the reason I have come out of the woodwork to take up the cudgel, just to write a very few meaningless posts, trying to keep the Farang Pub Forum from becoming, at this terrible juncture, a wasteland.

When I was young, I went to watch the great film, “The Orient Express”, and I felt so sad for every little indian, murdered one by one on their ill-fated journey.  And now, it seems, our world has turned full circle, and now it is we who are departing this Thailand train, not murdered, but either killed by the virus or recalled to our home countries.

I, for one, will not be intimidated by a Chinese virus.

I have faced things far worse than Chinese germs during the 40 years I lived happily in China.

What I am concerned about is whether or not our numbers might continue to dwindle.

Will we lose most of the writing talent who have posted so steadfastly during past years; and then who will replace them?

I worry about this because, if our numbers here were to dwindle further due to the virus, the very vibrance and relevance of this Farang Pub Forum might begin to flag.

Never before has this happened.

And, it would be just too much to bear if such a tragedy were to happen now.

[JohnBarleycorn]

Basically, what I think is that true dyed-in-the-wool Asian guys will never leave Thailand.

We might retreat to Wyoming or Rapid City, but our heart will be left in Thailand, forever.

[EVENKEEL]

Gobble...Gobble

[Don Mega]

Whilst my work was affected my department was not so its all peachy in the Mega world and today (Rain pending) I'll be off to the beach for lunch !!

[Puchaiyank]

Keep your panties on...people who have lived in and loved Thailand may leave...but the forum has not closed the door to them...they can and do continue to contribute to this forum from afar...????

[CharlieH]

The virus situation had absolutely no impact on me other than having my temp taken occasionally.

Daily life and routine was/is the same apart from my favorite lunch spot was closed for awhile but soon resumed.

Take a lot more than that to uproot me.

 

[colinneil]

Left standing, well that made me laugh, long time since i was last standing.

Only difference for me since the virus kicked off, not been outside the gate for almost 14 weeks ( except when we had the fire).

Not been eyeballing any young ladies, had to make do looking at the wife.????

Started making my own bread, jam and a few more things.

[bkk6060]

The smart ones never left.

Anyone that I know who has left, is begging to come back.

Covid out of control, protests, riots and looting.

Stuck in an endless negative purgatory of their home countries.

2 hours ago, JohnBarleycorn said:

What percentage of the guys who were once here are still here?

 

 

[Lacessit]

I'm not sure if I qualify, as I left the bar scene and pubs quite some time ago. Still get propositioned in the massage shops.

My main fear is leaving Thailand, and not being able to get back in.

[pgrahmm]

Still here....Our travel plans are in peril, but, if we had gone at our usual time we might have been stuck in limbo....Possibly with the wife being forced to return while I couldn't as a worse case scenario....

All in all, here is a good, safe place to be....Minimal inconveniences, no dining out, movies, massages, etc.

Have put more time in the kitchen and, on the bright side, we're exercising more.....

 

[bert bloggs]

Not a lot has changed for me ,the wife has not been able to do her marathons ,although this morning for the first time ,the girls from the club did their first practice together ,mind you only 14.7 kms lol,  we were just walking locally ,but now i am back on the walking machine . apart from that not a lot of difference , we went shopping from the start ,but did not go out for meals ,so a lot more home cooking . ,managed to catch up with a load of series that i had downloaded ,and the wife has been out in the garden more planting stuff.

[ChakaKhan]

I snuck out of LOS mid march after one cancellation, and am typing from east coast as the news is on

 

Riots and a pandemic mess, I got back on st pattys day and had I known this collapse was coming I would have stayed there, as hindsight is 20-20.....been pretty much on lockdown since I got back and it sucks

 

Came home to work and got the email today the job I was set up for is not there, so here we are...blah

 

So I can still add my snark here and am trying to get back to LOS asap but not if I have to jump thru 100 hoops and quarantine, etc....but may hope to get back before our idiot president kills us all....

 

Save me a mama cup and a happy ending foot massage....solly mista you pay now..you finish!!!

[Grumpy one]

Why would anyone want to leave Thailand, ok some don't like the current government here.

I certainly don't like the nobs running Australia at present, as many from the US don't like trump.

What do we do, return home and bitch about life or stay here and enjoy what ever years we have left.

I don't know about others but I am happy to stay here and try to get along as best I can

[totally thaied up]

I would have not minded too much if my wife and I got stuck in Australia. The Australian Government has done a fine job with everything. Still, I knew once the airports closed down, there would be no way back to my home in Thailand for a long period of time so the wife and I made the choice to stay here. Nothing for me has changed apart form temperature checks and signing in at shops and wearing a mask. Life just goes on and I spend time reading this forum most days to catch up on news and gossip. I still read most days, watch a little TV, paint, listen to audiobooks and online shop. Most of my friends chose to stay here and only a few went home and now they are worried about jumping through hoops to get back. Sure the world has changed and things are a mess it seems but for many of us life just goes on and that is the way it is meant to be. Just move with the times or winds of change.

[Peterw42]

Yet another thread that makes the incorrect assumption that all the long term expats have left, and a more ridiculous claim that Thaivisa pub forum is suffering because of the exodus.

There has been no exodus of long term expats !!!!

But lets not let the facts get in the way of a good, "lamenting the loss" thread.

Some expats and regular visitors may have been caught outside of thailand when the flights stopped, I dont know that any have made the conscious decision to permanently relocate back home during a global pandemic.

 

Any long term expats that may have left, miraculously did so in a 1 month window between when the virus started and the flights home stopped. So they shut down their life in Thailand, packed up their life and went permanently back home within a couple of week window, prior to knowing how bad the virus was going to get ??????

 

Lets morn the loss of all the expats that have not actually left, makes for a good thread.

 

OP, appears to be unaware that people can post on Thaivsa from anywhere in the world, and do. I would even make the assumption that more people are reading and posting on Thaivisa than usual, staying in touch with thailand and awaiting the time they can return

Edited June 3, 2020 by Peterw42

[simon43]

Will we lose most of the writing talent who have posted so steadfastly during past years...

 

Writing talent??!!

 

I'm maybe one of the longest-serving members of this forum (member #174).  In all the years of my membership, I have found very (VERY) few forum members who I would consider to have a writing talent.  (I won't embarrass them by naming them, but currently I recognize only ONE member as having decent writing talent.... and it certainly is not me).

 

For the most part, posts are simply bar-stool talk, tin-hat nutters, political extremists, wimpy snowflakes, extremist religious loonies, ex-SAS liars, health-freaks, marketeers,  those who are unable to recognise sarcasm when it smacks them in the mouth, and of course Americans......

 

... and that's fine, because that's what this forum is for...

 

 

[colinneil]

4 minutes ago, simon43 said:

 

 

 

Writing talent??!!

 

 

 

For the most part, posts are simply bar-stool talk, tin-hat nutters, political extremists, wimpy snowflakes, extremist religious loonies, ex-SAS liars, health-freaks, marketeers,  those who are unable to recognise sarcasm when it smacks them in the mouth, and of course Americans......

 

...

 

 

Pray enlighten us which, if not most of the above categories do you belong?

[simon43]

7 hours ago, colinneil said:

Pray enlighten us which, if not most of the above categories do you belong?

I'm not American ????????????

[NCC1701A]

20 hours ago, JohnBarleycorn said:

The virus has been truly devastating for so many, and this is no joke.

you know it really depends on who you are. 

no problems here in Hua Hin. spent a lot of time around the house cleaning and organizing. 

got Netflix for the first time and got $1200 from Trump.    

no one i know has had or died from the virus and I have yet to hear any friends say they know some one who has died.  

had to postpone a few trips around Thailand for a few months. looks like I will be traveling soon.

it raining here now. my cats don't like it.   

 

[spiekerjozef]

Indians?

[scubascuba3]

Most retired expats still here, would have been daft to leave as Thailand appeared a safer place to sit out the virus. It's more likely any that left is because of the increasing costs here, poor exchange rate, their dwindling savings and businesses going down the toilet

Edited June 3, 2020 by scubascuba3

[izod10]

50 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Most retired expats still here, would have been daft to leave as Thailand appeared a safer place to sit out the virus. It's more likely any that left is because of the increasing costs here, poor exchange rate, their dwindling savings and businesses going down the toilet

Too true.  Any business owner even before covid would echo the above,a steady outpouring of ex-pats,guys here for years packed up and gone,and as things stand in home countries never to be replaced

 Thought often of wasted years coming up, not too bad years before,same-same thing day in,day out.

  Spain looks like a likely destination to finally put my boots up

[Skallywag]

16 hours ago, simon43 said:

 

 

 

Writing talent??!!

 

I'm maybe one of the longest-serving members of this forum (member #174).  In all the years of my membership, I have found very (VERY) few forum members who I would consider to have a writing talent.  (I won't embarrass them by naming them, but currently I recognize only ONE member as having decent writing talent.... and it certainly is not me).

 

For the most part, posts are simply bar-stool talk, tin-hat nutters, political extremists, wimpy snowflakes, extremist religious loonies, ex-SAS liars, health-freaks, marketeers,  those who are unable to recognise sarcasm when it smacks them in the mouth, and of course Americans......

 

Haha, am American, had no choice in the matter though.  Am appalled by many Americans attitudes and some from other countries, yet no human behavior or attitude surprises me anymore.  (yet am not sure what a tin-hat nutter is?)

I find there are many humorous posts, philosophical posts, and personal stories on here that are entertaining and well written for the most part, but again, I am an American????  

[CharlieH]

Off topic posts removed along with quotes/responses.

[EVENKEEL]

43 minutes ago, Skallywag said:

Haha, am American, had no choice in the matter though.  Am appalled by many Americans attitudes and some from other countries, yet no human behavior or attitude surprises me anymore.  (yet am not sure what a tin-hat nutter is?)

I find there are many humorous posts, philosophical posts, and personal stories on here that are entertaining and well written for the most part, but again, I am an American????  

 

 

[frantick]

I'm here! I'm a new expat, but I'm from Rapid City. Does that count?

[bert bloggs]

On 6/3/2020 at 1:52 PM, simon43 said:

 

 

 

Writing talent??!!

 

I'm maybe one of the longest-serving members of this forum (member #174).  In all the years of my membership, I have found very (VERY) few forum members who I would consider to have a writing talent.  (I won't embarrass them by naming them, but currently I recognize only ONE member as having decent writing talent.... and it certainly is not me).

 

For the most part, posts are simply bar-stool talk, tin-hat nutters, political extremists, wimpy snowflakes, extremist religious loonies, ex-SAS liars, health-freaks, marketeers,  those who are unable to recognise sarcasm when it smacks them in the mouth, and of course Americans......

 

... and that's fine, because that's what this forum is for...

 

 

Oh ,dont worry ,i dont mind you naming me, i know that most think i have a wonderful writing talent, not that i would ever boast ,that is except for the few that are always either"confused" or "sad" at my posts ,you know who you are boys.????

[GinBoy2]

4 hours ago, frantick said:

I'm here! I'm a new expat, but I'm from Rapid City. Does that count?

Seriously, are you really from Rapid?

 

[GinBoy2]

On a general thought on the topic.

 

Many of us don't leave Thailand in as much as we become semi detached from the place.

 

I think, anecdotally, that a lot of us that lived in Thailand for many years, probably still have homes in Thailand, but for a myriad of reasons decided it was time to go home.

 

I had decided as I grew older, it's not a place for old men, my Thai son was in the US and wasn't coming back, my wife wanted to restart her career which had stalled in Thailand, so it was time.

 

It's hard to generalize what any individual or couple decides to do, it's very person specific

Edited June 4, 2020 by GinBoy2

[frantick]

10 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

Seriously, are you really from Rapid?

 

Yes, grew up there, and it's my current mailing residence. I read you're up in chapel valley. I miss fly fishing on Rapid Creek.