2 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

When I left Thailand I was so relieved I didn't miss a thing.

 

I think one thing people have to understand, using Florida USA where I live now, is there is everything Thai available here as there is in Thailand. The weather in Florida is much better as well. So if you are married and have a family, what is there really to miss if you are giving your family a better life?

 

Not that it concerns me in the slightest but for my wife, not much of a change.

 

Thai people, Thai restaurants, Thai Groceries, Thai Temples. No need to miss all that because it is here. I eat Thai food maybe once a month here, maybe less. 

 

I don't think you can ever replace a Thai massage outside of Thailand though!

 

Eye Candy in Thailand? Come on.  I can tell you one day on a Florida beach, you will see the most beautiful and FIT women you have ever seen. No comparison really. Zero chance so forget it!

 

The air pollution, the droughts, then the floods, electric going off with no warning, water going off with no warning, traffic. No do not miss any of that. 

 

The biggest thing though is almost non-existent stress since I returned.

 

Comfort level is 100% higher in a modern house, easy to get around, any kind of food and beverage you want, tons of car choices, boats, motorcycles, you name it. Sports programming, concerts and events, the beach, being able to build things in a full shop in my garage, speaking English, medical care, etc. Just a whole lot easier.

 

I enjoyed my Thai experience, however, I realized after I got married, there is just so much more to offer here than in Thailand.

 

Now that being said, I am back working in corporate America and I can afford all those things. It would be a totally different story if I couldn't.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have made quite a few posts saying you dont miss the place ????

 

 

1 minute ago, rumak said:

we may only be "guests " here.     but in the States i feel like a prisoner

Right now in Australia, you are a prisoner. It's back to the First Fleet for the foreseeable future. The retiring Chief Medical Officer is on record as saying there will be no international flights out of Australia until a vaccine is developed.

Education

1 hour ago, bwpage3 said:

Compare the cost of living in a US $300,000 house in the USA with a $300,000 house in Thailand

Do you really own it outright or are you partners w/the taxman? 

 

We pay no property taxes... how about you? 

2 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Right now in Australia, you are a prisoner. It's back to the First Fleet for the foreseeable future. The retiring Chief Medical Officer is on record as saying there will be no international flights out of Australia until a vaccine is developed.

sort of like saying that 'flu' and 'fly' are mutually exclusive events

 - at the mercy of a single Letter

2 minutes ago, sungod said:

You have made quite a few posts saying you dont miss the place ????

 

 

Shakespeare's quote about protesting too much does come to mind.

I would miss Thai people... and my Thai family... there is nothing that could compensate for that.

I'd miss the roll racing on the 7 motorway.

5 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Education

Question is, who is educating who?

Honestly ? If I took my daughter and wife back to the UK, I'd miss very little.

But : 

Miss dodging into the cool of the 7/11 every 100 yards, the hookers trying to drag me in the bars and being berated by my wife, the fun of plonking a crying baby in front of the official on 90 day reporting, the sad look on my thai relatives male faces when I take them soi 6 for a walk with the wives, cheap utilities and the bargains i get on thai facebook marketplace 

25 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I haven't reached the stage of dribbling - yet. A few weeks ago, there was one in the Tops supermarket that had a tush so shapely ( and she knew how to move it ) I felt like lying down on the floor and howling like a dog at the moon.

Was that you perving at my wife, I didn't feel threatened, knock yourself out ????

 

15 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Question is, who is educating who?

That depends on the subject. We can swap roles from time to time. ???? 

I would miss the non stop noise. NOT.

3 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Was that you perving at my wife, I didn't feel threatened, knock yourself out ????

 

Probably. I'm no threat anyway, old, bald and ugly. However, a rear view photo posted here would help in confirmation.

23 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Right now in Australia, you are a prisoner. It's back to the First Fleet for the foreseeable future. The retiring Chief Medical Officer is on record as saying there will be no international flights out of Australia until a vaccine is developed.

Funny you should say that as I was on the phone to my best mate today, we go back a long ways and I respect him as he calls a spade a spade as I do, and told him of our plans to return by years end and he said; mate, hold up, it has changed in the 5 years you have gone, it has turned to s-h-i-t, even worse now with Covid, businesses have gone bust, and more are closing down, getting employment is a s-h-i-t- fight for most, shops that he owns in the golden mile in an area which he lives (he is not short of a quid), said he had 3 businesses hand him the keys over the last month, while 8 other shops belonging to other landlords are also vacant, first time in a decade, and others have dropped their rents by 30% to keep the tenants.

 

We spoke for a while, back and forth playing at ideas and comparing here to there, and like you said, no one is going anywhere if your in Australia, and the 132 billion dollars that the government has spent so far on the Covid stimulus etc etc which will blow out to 180 billion come September and has got to be paid back somehow, so look out for tax increases and GST doubling in the near future.

 

I have to say, we are now taking a step back and will have a deeper look into it, also looking at other alternatives in Sydney, maybe best to delay things for now to see how things pan out, because if employment is going to be a problem there for the kids in the future, as it will be here for the kids in the future, then I am going to have to come up with a different plan. 

 

Covid sucks !

10 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Probably. I'm no threat anyway, old, bald and ugly. However, a rear view photo posted here would help in confirmation.

With or without her clothes on ?

12 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

With or without her clothes on ?

Both please. I need to make a full evaluation.

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I pay 11,000bht/month for a 3 bedroom house in a gated middle class Thai community (local fees/tax 500bht/month). No break-ins since the village was built 7 years back.

Beautiful mountain views (for 9 months of the year, pollution).

 

I had similar views in Cornwall for 10x the cost (for 3 months of the year, rain)

A 3 bedroom house in Cornwall for just under £3000 a month. That must have been some house. 

17 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Funny you should say that as I was on the phone to my best mate today, we go back a long ways and I respect him as he calls a spade a spade as I do, and told him of our plans to return by years end and he said; mate, hold up, it has changed in the 5 years you have gone, it has turned to s-h-i-t, even worse now with Covid, businesses have gone bust, and more are closing down, getting employment is a s-h-i-t- fight for most, shops that he owns in the golden mile in an area which he lives (he is not short of a quid), said he had 3 businesses hand him the keys over the last month, while 8 other shops belonging to other landlords are also vacant, first time in a decade, and others have dropped their rents by 30% to keep the tenants.

 

We spoke for a while, back and forth playing at ideas and comparing here to there, and like you said, no one is going anywhere if your in Australia, and the 132 billion dollars that the government has spent so far on the Covid stimulus etc etc which will blow out to 180 billion come September and has got to be paid back somehow, so look out for tax increases and GST doubling in the near future.

 

I have to say, we are now taking a step back and will have a deeper look into it, also looking at other alternatives in Sydney, maybe best to delay things for now to see how things pan out, because if employment is going to be a problem there for the kids in the future, as it will be here for the kids in the future, then I am going to have to come up with a different plan. 

 

Covid sucks !

Covid has certainly changed my planning. I have been going back to Australia every six months for a medical check involving surgery. It was cheaper with my private health insurance to do it there, even after the cost of the airfares.

Now, it's cheaper for me to have the same check done here. The other consideration is not being able to leave Australia, then not being able to get back into Thailand. Or paying a minimum of 50,000 baht for 14 days quarantine assuming I have jumped all the other hurdles.

Effectively, the private health insurance I have in Australia is useless to me at present. I am shelling out premiums for nothing. I'm forecasting it won't be until late 2021 before the current blocks disappear. Unless an effective vaccine or therapy is developed before that.

As of now, I am staying put in Thailand. The risks in leaving are too high.

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Education

Cute, real cute, but could they identify India on a map?

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Education

i just thought of a new catch phrase for all who have been taken for a few thousand,  or million baht:

"you've been schooled !"

3 hours ago, AlexRich said:

I’m not in Thailand currently but will definitely return once this Covid crisis is over. 
 

It’s the place that I feel most relaxed in and I enjoy the fact that it’s lively and vibrant in the evening ... people are out and about, not sitting at home wondering what to watch on TV. Although it’s very “foreign” compared to home I always feel very comfortable there. 

 

 

 Your not alone , not many TV posters are in Thailand .

   Nuff said ...

17 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

Cute, real cute, but could they identify India on a map?

You want them with brains as well? I would have thought that's counter-productive.

17 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

Cute, real cute, but could they identify India on a map?

Could many Americans identify India on a map?

17 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

Cute, real cute, but could they identify India on a map?

 

 Doubtful . Indians are not big spenders , same UK CCs .

    US , Sweden ,  they know sure .

 

5 minutes ago, elliss said:

 

 Your not alone , not many TV posters are in Thailand .

   Nuff said ...

i haven't stepped out of Thailand for 17 years.   and that was only a 2 week trip to Vietnam.

My foreign currency that I brought over to "sit" in a Thai bank has appreciated by about 25 percent.

The more retirees i meet here.... the more i love my dog.  (well, if i had one)

As for thai gf's............ well, as Frank says  " i've had a few"

I already miss "the good ole days".    Riding honda wings on dirt roads through N. Thailand. Going

into towns and villages and being the white man cometh. 

I made some mistakes.   Now i warn others on silly forum sites.  They tell me i am a silly old man.

Sometimes i get vacations  .    haha    i will miss those. 

4 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

When I left Thailand I was so relieved I didn't miss a thing.

 

I think one thing people have to understand, using Florida USA where I live now, is there is everything Thai available here as there is in Thailand. The weather in Florida is much better as well. So if you are married and have a family, what is there really to miss if you are giving your family a better life?

 

Not that it concerns me in the slightest but for my wife, not much of a change.

 

Thai people, Thai restaurants, Thai Groceries, Thai Temples. No need to miss all that because it is here. I eat Thai food maybe once a month here, maybe less. 

 

I don't think you can ever replace a Thai massage outside of Thailand though!

 

Eye Candy in Thailand? Come on.  I can tell you one day on a Florida beach, you will see the most beautiful and FIT women you have ever seen. No comparison really. Zero chance so forget it!

 

The air pollution, the droughts, then the floods, electric going off with no warning, water going off with no warning, traffic. No do not miss any of that. 

 

The biggest thing though is almost non-existent stress since I returned.

 

Comfort level is 100% higher in a modern house, easy to get around, any kind of food and beverage you want, tons of car choices, boats, motorcycles, you name it. Sports programming, concerts and events, the beach, being able to build things in a full shop in my garage, speaking English, medical care, etc. Just a whole lot easier.

 

I enjoyed my Thai experience, however, I realized after I got married, there is just so much more to offer here than in Thailand.

 

Now that being said, I am back working in corporate America and I can afford all those things. It would be a totally different story if I couldn't.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, you enjoy being told what to do for the main part of the week at work in America rather than deciding what to do in Thailand then.

Choosing wage slave never appealed to me.

 

Generals ????

Women. Corruption. Beaches. Mountains. In that order.

I first moved to Thailand in 2002, spent quite a few years working in Myanmar, finally left Thailand last year to live in Luang Prabang.  There's very little that I miss in Thailand.  That's not a negative comment - the things that I like I have here in Laos, but even more so than Thailand.  I enjoy the quiet, rural life, and of course Thailand can't be described as quiet!  Here, I can be up in the hills on my enduro motorbike in a few minutes.  I'm 100 metres from the Mekong river and a short walk across a little bamboo bridge into town where there are many Lao and western food restaurants.  I'm not keen on processed foods, so I don't miss the supermarkets and convenience store foods in Thailand.

 

I've tried to think of something that I miss in Thailand, but there's nothing major....