Before Arriving in Thailand: Did you Always believe you were CRAZY? And, Now, living in Thailand, do you know you are SANER than SANE?

[JohnBarleycorn]

Before I came to Thailand, I knew I was crazy, crazy in so many little ways, nothing major, but still crazy compared to the people I knew in my old neighborhood.  Maybe I was out of step with the culture from which I hailed. Or, maybe the place where I lived before coming to Thailand was not fit for me.

And, after coming to Thailand, I have not exhibited so many aberrant behaviors; In fact, I am sure that I am saner than I was during my past life.

These days, looking via Google at the places from whence I came, I now realize that I was not half as nutz as my old neighbors mistakenly believed.

I am actually far saner than they, just because I have escaped their insane asylum, and they are still amok in it.

Yes, for sure, the people with whom I once spent time, I now realize were mentally infirm.

These days, I enjoy my time drinking tea and communing with birds. Also, I teach on a volunteer basis for free.  I need not worry about the hot weather, nor even do I need to walk around in the noonday sun. I have a very powerful AC which protects me from the vapors.

So, what about you?

Did people judge you crazy before you left your old haunts to travel to paradise?

 

AND…who are the crazies now?

Take a look back at the way countries are spiraling down. Yet, here in Thailand?  Things are not only good…Things are GREAT!

 

I am not crazy no more.

But I am crazier than ever for Thailand!

And, inside my room at the moment….The temperature is 22 degrees C.

Burrr…….

 

And, my thoughts on the Wuhan Virus and social distancing?......

“The whole conviction of my life now rests upon the belief that loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, is the central and inevitable fact of human existence.”
― Thomas Wolfe

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by JohnBarleycorn

[JohnBarleycorn]

Good Air from Panasonic....

Keeps me from going CRAZY in the heat of the night.

 

[DaRoadrunner]

Welcome to Thailand, where the inmates are running the asylum.

[wobblyjohn]

They're coming to take me away ho-ho hee-hee ha-haaa
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see those nice young men
In their clean white coats
And they're coming to take me away ha-haaa

[misterjames]

I thought you were toying with the idea of going back to the states? 

 

[Puchaiyank]

Yet, here in Thailand?  Things are not only good…Things are GREAT!

 

You been smoking that opium laced weed again Joh Barley Corn Cob?

 

 

[JohnBarleycorn]

16 minutes ago, misterjames said:

I thought you were toying with the idea of going back to the states? 

 

Yes, you are correct.

 

However, after originally posting my thoughts, I received messages full of good advice advising me to reconsider any return to a life that no longer exists, even to be a hermit.

 

In fact, the advice that people shared with me is absolutely true.

 

Basically, what I have been told is that I cannot go home, again.

 

And also, even though my family have remained in the United States, and presumably still enjoy their lives there, yet I never enjoyed my life in the US as much as I enjoyed it in Asia.

 

IF I could return to the USA just as it was in 1979, then I would DEFINITELY return in a heartbeat!

 

But the land that I remember, the so-called land of the brave and the home of the free, is now like Atlantis, some sort of mythical land that probably never was.

 

I am sure that you might feel about your homeland as I do about mine, if you remain in Asia for over 40 years and 40 nights.

 

 

[JohnBarleycorn]

38 minutes ago, misterjames said:

I thought you were toying with the idea of going back to the states? 

 

BUT.....Yes......  I am thinking about returning to the USA.  Why?  Because I recall the natural beauty of America.  I want to see it again.  AND, AND, I would dearly love to see Maine, again, for one thing.

 

So....I just might return to the USA even before I expect it.

 

One thing is for certain, America is a very beautiful country...except for Ohio.

[misterjames]

47 minutes ago, JohnBarleycorn said:

BUT.....Yes......  I am thinking about returning to the USA.  Why?  Because I recall the natural beauty of America.  I want to see it again.  AND, AND, I would dearly love to see Maine, again, for one thing.

 

So....I just might return to the USA even before I expect it.

 

One thing is for certain, America is a very beautiful country...except for Ohio.

No harm in going for a visit if you want to mate and your right I do miss aspects of my home country. 

 

Feel free to drop me a direct message if you ever fancy a chat ???? I think we all have these kind of thoughts at times.

[JohnBarleycorn]

Well....

 

It's a crying shame

That you can't lay the blame

On anybody else...

But yourself!

 

 

 

[asiasurfer]

Strange. For me it's rather the opposite. I always thought, I was sane before coming to Thailand. After being here for a while, I am actually struggling keeping my sanitary...

 

# sorry this meant to be sanity

[StreetCowboy]

I cant believe that my home country has changed in the last 25 years.

[simon43]

Having followed various posts from you over the past week or two, I am now convinced that you do not have all your marbles...... ????

[mr mr]

10 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Having followed various posts from you over the past week or two, I am now convinced that you do not have all your marbles...... ????

what gave it away ??

 

22 hours ago, JohnBarleycorn said:

Yes, for sure, the people with whom I once spent time, I now realize were mentally infirm.

These days, I enjoy my time drinking tea and communing with birds.

 

[StreetCowboy]

20 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Having followed various posts from you over the past week or two, I am now convinced that you do not have all your marbles...... ????

Who keeps their marbles?

When I was younger, I kept mine (most of which I inherited from my brother) in a tye-die draw-string bag (which I inherited from my brother). Now, I have no idea where those marbles have gone, the plain and coloured marbles, the dragons' eyes, the cats' eyes, the steelies...

 

I have no conkers neither.

 

I'm not sure marbles nor conkers would do you any good in Thailand.

 

SC

[frantick]

9 minutes ago, StreetCowboy said:

Who keeps their marbles?

When I was younger, I kept mine (most of which I inherited from my brother) in a tye-die draw-string bag (which I inherited from my brother). Now, I have no idea where those marbles have gone, the plain and coloured marbles, the dragons' eyes, the cats' eyes, the steelies...

 

I have no conkers neither.

 

I'm not sure marbles nor conkers would do you any good in Thailand.

 

SC

Ah, the steelies. Always a kid with a fist-sized steelie whose dad was a mechanic. Don't forget purees.

[Dumbastheycome]

I am trying to decipher the question/s put  forward by said John Barley Corn  over the last  few  days.

Are they teasers?  Are they a slight insight into the devolution or  evolution of rational  thought?

I can  not  boast  40 years a way from  my original main territory.  Visiting it  has certainly  decreased  over the years as  has the time spent there. Why? Because  I have discovered that  it is  extraordinarily  boring !

That said  if I were  to extend  my stay in Thailand  to  an accumulative 40 years in  S.E Asia  then perhaps  my  mindset would  be so corrupted  that then perhaps I too would start to question my  own sanity.

My  elder  brothers  were quite adamant I was stupid and  irresponsible . My only  sadness about that is that they  lived, worked and died knowing only what what I deviated from.   

In contrast to my Mother who despite incremental onset of dementia never forgot my usual remote location or my Thai wife who she met only once.

I do not  reject or deny  my citizenship or ethnicity. An impossibility in Asia as identifying primarily as European. Nor do I profess any allegience in that sense to Asia.

But I  most certainly do profess a preference to my shared life with my wife and the human dynamics of those around us to that of  over regulated dronery "back  home".

 

 

 

 

[saakura]

Hey OP, I thought you were bored with Thailand and waiting for your time to take the high dive from a condominium as your 3900usd per month was being sucked by by the Thai family. What changed?

[talahtnut]

Dear OP

[4MyEgo]

26 minutes ago, asiasurfer said:

Strange. For me it's rather the opposite. I always thought, I was sane before coming to Thailand. After being here for a while, I am actually struggling keeping my sanitary...

 

# sorry this meant to be sanity

I'm approaching the 5 year mark here and have made the decision to return back to my homeland, the decision being a joint one with the wife, for us, and the kids.

 

I still have my sanity as I did back then before I came here, nothing has changed, albeit it has been a journey with no regrets. I needed to escape the old country, but from what, I kind of figured it was the work and the industry I was in which was bringing me down, i.e. once you get in deep (25 years) and you age, you have fewer alternatives in changing your career at 55 years of age, and you have to accept its no longer what it is, with the change in the industry and the juniors coming who lack experience and have no idea, the truth said, no one cares about the job being done right, it's all about turn around times and meeting monthly targets, monthly targets being met, but jobs being done incorrectly, go figure ?

 

As comfortable as I have made my life here for those years, I still cannot excuse certain things, how Thai's go about there way, I could make a list, but it would go on forever, and there is no point, it is their country and if the authorities allow Thai's to do as they please with the environment, the never ever presence of police on the roads, except for when it's time to collect at the beginning and end of the months to make budget, teachers raping and physically abusing children and the way Thai society accepts compensation as a way to families to make the problems go away, it turns my stomach, the cost of living rising to be on par to back home if you want to eat like a farang, oops I said I wasn't going to make a list, solly ????

 

The above said, there is merit in the old saying, "you really don't know someone till you live in with them", not speaking about the wife, we have been together 13 years and are very compatible, suffice to say, even though where I am from, Sydney Australia, which is a multicultural country, albeit it there is some underlying racism, it's nothing like the xenophobes here.

 

Will I ever return to Thailand, doubt it, been coming here since 2005, that's when I fell in love with Thailand and it's relaxed life, but when you live here, 2015-2020, a newbie, you really see that relaxed life comes at a cost, the repetitiveness of the immigration system, the air quality and that list that I won't make, could it be that Thailand was always the way it was, but I was too blind to see through it, probably, but there has been no improvement, I think it's actually gotten worse, and that is the scary part.

 

I think you have to live here to appreciate that Thailand does have an ugly side to here, actually a lot of ugly sides to her, and you either accept it and turn a blind eye, or hop back to where you came from and live in a nanny state.

 

At least with a nanny state, I know the environment doesn't get abused as it does here, the air is cleaner, police are on the roads and there are penalties for breaking the law, teachers who rape children go to jail as opposed to being able to pay compensation to the victims family, and society doesn't blame the victim, the vegetables are chemical free and believe it or not, food items that we buy here are cheaper there because there are no import taxes, to add to that, the government provides you with support for your kids, e.g. for 4 kids they will provide you with what is know as Family A & B payments which add up to around 635,000 baht a year and is not asset tested, so if you have money as I do and don't need to work, you still get it, naturally that would all go on rent, but for what it costs me to live here with 4 kids with private health insurance, I could manage the same in Sydney, as Medicare is free, so it's a no brainer.

 

Am I saner now than when I came here, I think I am, when I read the above and take it all in. Maybe I will regret it, but with 4 seasons, fresh air, escaping the heat here 24/7 will be a blessing, not to mention the mosquitos, the blackouts, and not having fresh tap water here, just got too remember not to be so care free on the roads like here.

 

Wish me luck, Sydney, here we come.   

[sirineou]

Anyone who does not believe that he is Crazy , is crazy.

Not sure if Thailand has increased or decreased my craziness , most likely it simply changed it.  

Edited June 6, 2020 by sirineou
typo

[Dumbastheycome]

7 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I'm approaching the 5 year mark here and have made the decision to return back to my homeland, the decision being a joint one with the wife, for us, and the kids.

 

I still have my sanity as I did back then before I came here, nothing has changed, albeit it has been a journey with no regrets. I needed to escape the old country, but from what, I kind of figured it was the work and the industry I was in which was bringing me down, i.e. once you get in deep (25 years) and you age, you have fewer alternatives in changing your career at 55 years of age, and you have to accept its no longer what it is, with the change in the industry and the juniors coming who lack experience and have no idea, the truth said, no one cares about the job being done right, it's all about turn around times and meeting monthly targets, monthly targets being met, but jobs being done incorrectly, go figure ?

 

As comfortable as I have made my life here for those years, I still cannot excuse certain things, how Thai's go about there way, I could make a list, but it would go on forever, and there is no point, it is their country and if the authorities allow Thai's to do as they please with the environment, the never ever presence of police on the roads, except for when it's time to collect at the beginning and end of the months to make budget, teachers raping and physically abusing children and the way Thai society accepts compensation as a way to families to make the problems go away, it turns my stomach, the cost of living rising to be on par to back home if you want to eat like a farang, oops I said I wasn't going to make a list, solly ????

 

The above said, there is merit in the old saying, "you really don't know someone till you live in with them", not speaking about the wife, we have been together 13 years and are very compatible, suffice to say, even though where I am from, Sydney Australia, which is a multicultural country, albeit it there is some underlying racism, it's nothing like the xenophobes here.

 

Will I ever return to Thailand, doubt it, been coming here since 2005, that's when I fell in love with Thailand and it's relaxed life, but when you live here, 2015-2020, a newbie, you really see that relaxed life comes at a cost, the repetitiveness of the immigration system, the air quality and that list that I won't make, could it be that Thailand was always the way it was, but I was too blind to see through it, probably, but there has been no improvement, I think it's actually gotten worse, and that is the scary part.

 

I think you have to live here to appreciate that Thailand does have an ugly side to here, actually a lot of ugly sides to her, and you either accept it and turn a blind eye, or hop back to where you came from and live in a nanny state.

 

At least with a nanny state, I know the environment doesn't get abused as it does here, the air is cleaner, police are on the roads and there are penalties for breaking the law, teachers who rape children go to jail as opposed to being able to pay compensation to the victims family, and society doesn't blame the victim, the vegetables are chemical free and believe it or not, food items that we buy here are cheaper there because there are no import taxes, to add to that, the government provides you with support for your kids, e.g. for 4 kids they will provide you with what is know as Family A & B payments which add up to around 635,000 baht a year and is not asset tested, so if you have money as I do and don't need to work, you still get it, naturally that would all go on rent, but for what it costs me to live here with 4 kids with private health insurance, I could manage the same in Sydney, as Medicare is free, so it's a no brainer.

 

Am I saner now than when I came here, I think I am, when I read the above and take it all in. Maybe I will regret it, but with 4 seasons, fresh air, escaping the heat here 24/7 will be a blessing, not to mention the mosquitos, the blackouts, and not having fresh tap water here, just got too remember not to be so care free on the roads like here.

 

Wish me luck, Sydney, here we come.   

Good  luck  with  that. When it comes  to  providing for  children as best can the perspective does require different shades.

 As for escaping  mosquitoes, dubious  water  supplies, heat (versus  cold)  for sure never forget that there  are  so many   bloody  idiot   ozzies  on the road   over there ! 555

 

[talahtnut]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

Wish me luck, Sydney, here we come.

Indeed, all the best mate.

I booked an airplane this morning back

to the UK, been doing 6 months every

year for 22 years, now I've had enough

and will never come back, for much the

same reasons as you. No place like home.

Good luck mate.

[ericthai]

2 hours ago, StreetCowboy said:

I cant believe that my home country has changed in the last 25 years.

Look how much Thailand has changed in the last 25 years

[4MyEgo]

8 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

Good  luck  with  that.

Thx

 

8 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

As for escaping  mosquitoes, dubious  water  supplies, heat (versus  cold)  for sure never forget that there  are  so many   bloody  idiot   ozzies  on the road   over there ! 555

Yes am aware of the road rage back there, suffice to say, the area I used to live in, Bexley wasn't to far from wherever I wanted to get too, and as I used to drive taxis when I was studying decades ago, did open up my eyes to back streets I never knew existed to avoid traffic.

 

That said I don't have to go on freeways, and I have seen the M5 heading south in the afternoon peak "rush" or push if you like, left lane or get mowed over under 150kmh...lol, apart from dropping the kids to local schools, no need for me to go anywhere out of the are pre 10am or after 3pm, and I never have road rage, I just let it go while trying to hold the Mrs back ????

 

[4MyEgo]

7 hours ago, talahtnut said:

Indeed, all the best mate.

I booked an airplane this morning back

to the UK, been doing 6 months every

year for 22 years, now I've had enough

and will never come back, for much the

same reasons as you. No place like home.

Good luck mate.

Thx and same to you.

 

 

6 months a year would have been the preferred, but with kids, impossible, and those 6 months in Hua Hin or Phuket, not the sticks.

 

When we took the wife's sons there in October with our two off springs together for a 10 days holiday, they loved it, the two girls didn't really remember Sydney as one of them was 1 years of age and the other 5 when we left.

 

It was that trip that I realised that I really enjoyed being there, having been back twice before, but mainly for seeing doctors, visiting mum and my adult daughter from a previous marriage, and visiting friends, so it was always rushed, but this trip because we took the boys I said to myself no doctors, limited the amount of friends I saw and jam packed our itinerary to see all the places best we could, and it wasn't until we caught the ferry across to Milson's Point and walked up to the Harbour Bridge and crossed it down to the rocks that I realised that in all my year living there, I had never walked across the Harbour Bridge, was a teenager since I caught a ferry or drove through the National Park to take it all in.

 

I was caught up in the gears of working to survive and go forward with little if any time for myself, that said we will be enjoying our weekends as I won't need to work, so might as well enjoy the years I have left there as opposed to trying to convince myself life here is good, goo to live in a big house, yes, but that's about it really.

 

Have a warm one for me, and I will will have a cold one for you. 

 

[MyTHaiMyKe]

9 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Will I ever return to Thailand, doubt it, been coming here since 2005, that's when I fell in love with Thailand and it's relaxed life, but when you live here, 2015-2020, a newbie, you really see that relaxed life comes at a cost, the repetitiveness of the immigration system, the air quality and that list that I won't make, could it be that Thailand was always the way it was, but I was too blind to see through it, probably, but there has been no improvement, I think it's actually gotten worse, and that is the scary part.

Well said! I agree 110%!! The actual downfall started on May 22, 2014! I to am leaving, never to return! Thought the phoney election would change it back, to the way it used to be! Boy was I wrong! Should of left after the phoney election.

[4MyEgo]

1 minute ago, MyTHaiMyKe said:

Well said! I agree 110%!! The actual downfall started on May 22, 2014! I to am leaving, never to return! Thought the phoney election would change it back, to the way it used to be! Boy was I wrong! Should of left after the phoney election.

Thx.

 

I somewhat feel that when we arrived in 2015 things started to change for the worse, however thought an election would be coming sooner than later, I mean you hear things, you see things, and you get the gist of it, politics here have never been my forte, but I also haven't forgotten the blood bath I was watching from back home when the red shirts were taken down, appualling to say the least, red, yellow, it doesn't matter, but shooting their own people, innocent bystanders and the like, that is just insane.

 

The thing that gets me is that I spend in excess of a million baht here to survive the family every year, private health insurance included and that would represent 10% of the budget, call me spoilt but I think without it, your left at the mercy of the public hospital system, and where I am located, no thanks, been there done that, for the basics, a drip, an x-ray, ok, but anything outside of that, no !

 

The above said I ask myself what value have do I receive for my outlay, well ok let's put the 2 million baht castle that we built aside as that came from savings that I put aside before we got here, so we went through the TM30 saga and now do it online, even though I strongly feel it is ridiculous to have to report to (our respective probation office) when I go on a holiday internally, then there is the reentry permit when I go abroad, did I mention we are supporting their economy.

 

90 day reporting W-T-F-, I mean they know I am married, where I live, etc, etc, etc, then we have the annual extension which has the most paperwork involved, and you have to go to the bank to get a letter, pay them their fee, get photos taken, then to the amphur to get an update Kor Ror 2 document saying you are still married, then you have to drive to their office an hour 20 minutes, nothing is made easy, after all you are contributing to their economy, and don't feel welcome in a kind of way, well I don't, no complaints about the boys at the immigration officer, their ok and helpful, just doing their boring job, but the hassle of it all, for what, I mean they are also over it, what ever happened to simplicity.

 

I could go on, but I think we both understand that the system to make farangs feel they are getting value for money here, isn't going to happen, could you imagine if someone thought outside the square, the yearly marriage and retirement extensions becoming be a 5-10 year event, the 90 reporting ditched, same with the TM 30 reporting, and all immigration offices applying the same rules.

 

Yeh nah, cheers, can't see that happening, and if we don't know the reason is right under our noses, then we are blind to say the least.

 

Like I said before, no regrets, was an experience, and a 5 year holiday for me ????