Living the life as an expat in Thailand

[AlfHuy]

15 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

   How did you manage to teach them English in two hours ?

Only a few words:

 

Look in my eyes baby.

You like it?

Big isn't it?

 

After a few weeks, they spoke this perfect without any accent????

[Susco]

20 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

5 down 15 to go, if I make it.

I thought you had made up your mind and were leaving indefinitely by the end of this year?

[NoshowJones]

56 minutes ago, ravip said:

I dread to think what Thai's and other non-English speaking human beings say about the English language! After all, the English language is not something the humans need to breath comfortably, isn't it?

 

After five miserable years here... I guess you were miserable in your own country, hence your move to Thailand? May the good God help you and bless you to find eternal bliss in the Philippines.

 

Note to self: Your miserable life in Thailand in no way makes Thailand a bad country.

No, but a bunch of unelected tin pot soldiers do.

[wwest5829]

19 hours ago, KhunFred said:

Jayzus!!   Mexico is a bridge too far when you've lived in Asia for any length of time. I once considered Mexico and some other Latin countries as retirement destinations, but price point aside, I don't think they would have been a good fit.

I also looked at Mexico as I fondly remembered the time spent traveling through 23 of the Mexican states and studying Spanish in Cuernavaca. I was most attracted to Southern Mexico. In the end, as you note prices, some security concern, and having traveled around Thailand with the excellent medical care, universities in Chang Mai and, yes, my attraction toward the traditionally raised Thai female. After a decade here ... still a fat boy in the candy store.

[actonion]

21 hours ago, PatOngo said:

The novelty eventually wears off! The first 20 years is good but it goes downhill from there! ????

Correct

 

[ravip]

7 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

No, but a bunch of unelected tin pot soldiers do.

Very true. But these tin pot or otherwise 'soldiers' exists everywhere! Just read today's headlines...

They come in all hues and colours!

 

[4MyEgo]

27 minutes ago, Susco said:

I thought you had made up your mind and were leaving indefinitely by the end of this year?

Just typed you a big reply, but got an error 404 when I hit the submit button, so it didn't come through, that said, not doing that again, so in short staying for now, waiting for Covid to sort itself and quarantine restrictions being lifted, then will see what happens, not easy with 4 kids entail ????

 

Also a lot has happened since, no more TM30's, can finally do 90 day reporting online (twice) without any issues, domestic travel restrictions lifted and 40% hotel discounts (Thai wife), going away again in 10 days during school holidays, so the sun is touching our faces once again.

[cdemundo]

20 hours ago, KhunFred said:

Terrible advice. I refuse to learn a language which consists of a tonal collection of grunts, squeals and squeaks.

The Thai language sounds like a gaggle of donkeys on amphetamines. Thailand's time as a cheap retirement paradise for expats, has run its course. After five miserable years here, I am setting my sights on the Philippines.they, at least, speak HUMAN English. I am not at all charmed by Thailand anymore.

Bye bye.

[BigStar]

2 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

This topic goes around and around endlessly.

True. Here it is again.

 

2 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

Thailand does have the 'bright shiny thing' about it, and that shine can wear off for many.

 

Then it's ALL bad. The dreaded brain-eating "Whither Thailand?" space monkeys invade; the constant whinging, pontificating, and doom prophecies start. There's no cure. Only thing to do is to leave and be happy elsewhere. Ah-h-h! Sooner the better, boys.

 

Good thing about the Philippines, unlike Cambodia where ex-Thailand expats suffer sour grapes, is that posters stop bashing Thailand from the Phils. Power's out too often I suppose.

[BigStar]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

The IO's I meet don't seem to speak English at all.

Best not to chat with police/immigration/government officials in any country, they ain't your friends.

Easier in Thailand, I can just repeat, "I don't understand" as many times as they want to hear it.

Reminds me of one story about how the Yucatan got its name.

 

. . . Cortés refers to Francisco Hernández de Córdoba’s voyage to Yucatan two years earlier and wrote: “when the first discoverers arrived there they asked the natives of the land what did they call the place, and the Indians, not understanding what was being asked, responded in their own language and said ‘Yucatan, Yucatan’ which means to say ‘I don’t understand, I don’t understand’ and so the Spanish discoverers thought that the Indians responded that it was called Yucatan, and so in this manner the inappropriate name of Yucatan was assigned to this land.”

     --http://everythingcozumel.com/miscellenea/peninsula-history/yucatan-got-name/#:~:text=One story of the origin of the name,Nahuatl word “ Yokatlān%2C” meaning “place of richness.”

[stupidfarang]

20 hours ago, Greenside said:

Still living the dream after 13 years.....

 

 

 

Love it

 

[rumak]

1 hour ago, possum1931 said:

I just refused to obey a lot of the rules in the UK and still managed to live all my life there without a criminal record, I was just getting too old to attract the younger females, and so came here to stay, and that has certainly paid off.

great to be a "hansum man" again !!      women here know what is really important   ????

[rumak]

38 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

I also looked at Mexico as I fondly remembered the time spent traveling

Yes,  Mexico  was my first taste of a different lifestyle than middle class usa.   Loved my vacation

in Puerto Vallarta  and also drove an old dodge van all the way down to the Yucatan .

Ahhh,   seems like a lifetime ago.      well, actually it was    ????

[Mike k]

2 hours ago, owl sees all said:

There was a TV show in England, where the contestants would have to mime a word or phrase. They were so good. Could get what they were on about in a few seconds. Not 'what's my line' but a later show.

 

Miming is far better than learning the local language. Which most of the time is impossible to understand as they are walking away from you. But in saying that; I've learnt how to count to ten (sib). From then on it's easy. Just put 'sib' in front; as in sib song (12) or sib ha (15), until 21, which is ye-sib ed.

I learned how to count from a game show that used to be on channel 27 they would call out phone numbers and people would call in 

[Virt]

Don't have enough money yet to move permanently to Thailand.

If GF and I sell everything we have about 24 million Baht, but that wouldn't last our entire life with no other income , so we're stuck in cold Europe until we get more money.

 

I hope we eventually get the chance to move there permanently. 

Until then we have to settle for vacations. 

 

Buhuu... 

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, Virt said:

Don't have enough money yet to move permanently to Thailand.

If GF and I sell everything we have about 24 million Baht, but that wouldn't last our entire life with no other income , so we're stuck in cold Europe until we get more money.

 

I hope we eventually get the chance to move there permanently. 

Until then we have to settle for vacations. 

Would depend how 'out of control' your spending is, and your age.

24Mbht would last my family 40 years as we spend around 500kbht/year.

That supports me, a woman, 2 kids (1 at university) and the mortgage on a 3 bedroom house.

[madmen]

9 minutes ago, Virt said:

Don't have enough money yet to move permanently to Thailand.

If GF and I sell everything we have about 24 million Baht, but that wouldn't last our entire life with no other income , so we're stuck in cold Europe until we get more money.

 

I hope we eventually get the chance to move there permanently. 

Until then we have to settle for vacations. 

 

Buhuu... 

What are you smoking? 

[Surelynot]

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Would depend how 'out of control' your spending is, and your age.

24Mbht would last my family 40 years as we spend around 500kbht/year.

That supports me, a woman, 2 kids (1 at university) and the mortgage on a 3 bedroom house.

Agree....24 million properly invested is more than enough....dependent on reasonable expenditure.

[J Town]

3 hours ago, AlfHuy said:

I know why you came quickly back.

 

[Virt]

12 minutes ago, madmen said:

What are you smoking? 

 

Nothing ????

But if no other income and if we want the option to visit Denmark a few times a year it's just not enough plus car is not an option in Thailand so all travelling and sightseeing would be paid tours. We don't want to move there and just sit on Samui or koh Chang constantly, so budget would have to be a bit larger than usual. 

[Mike Teavee]

37 minutes ago, Virt said:

 

Nothing ????

But if no other income and if we want the option to visit Denmark a few times a year it's just not enough plus car is not an option in Thailand so all travelling and sightseeing would be paid tours. We don't want to move there and just sit on Samui or koh Chang constantly, so budget would have to be a bit larger than usual. 

Not having a car does not mean it's expensive to travel around Thailand, I live in Bangkok and can get to Pattaya for around 200 THB (30 THB BTS to Ekkami, 119 THB Big Bus to Pattaya, 50 THB Baht Bus to hotel) & from Pattay to Koh Chang for 650 THB (tour bus, it would be cheaper if I went to the Bus station and got on one of the scheduled buses) OR I could go to KC straight from Bangkok for around 3-350 THB..

 

It all depends on where you want to base yourself, I live with the GF in Bangkok (2 br, next to BTS, 20K PM) &  my monthly spend is averaging out at around 106K pm so far this year, so your 24 Million THB would last us about 19 years.   

If I had to, I could comfortably manage on 80K here which would be 25 years

If I were living in Pattaya, Udon Thani, Chiang Mai etc... or dumped the GF, I could comfortably live on 60K PM (33 years).

 

   

So you have to ask yourself where do you want to base yourself & how long do you need the money to last you for? 

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2020 by Mike Teavee

[Whale]

18 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

If I had to, I could comfortably manage on 80K here which would be 25 years

Inflation and cost of living index rise would be the killer though Mike. Think about what you could buy for 1000 baht 25 years ago.

[Virt]

9 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

 

So you have to ask yourself where you want to base yourself & how long do you need the money to last you for? 

 

 

 

 

Well Samui could be an option since we been there 11 times and gotten to know quite a few of the locals. 

Money had to last for about 30-35 years. 

The thing is that I want to continue to live as a tourist and that just requires more money. Would love to have a base on Samui and then stay a month in various locations in Thailand a few times a years plys the trips back to visit friends in Denmark. That just cost more. 

 

I know we could live there now if we just hunkered down in 1 cheap spot, but I think I would grow tired of that fast. 

 

So maybe in 10 years time. Cross my fingers ????

 

Until then I envy you who took the leap. ????

[Mike Teavee]

3 minutes ago, Whale said:

Inflation and cost of living index rise would be the killer though Mike. Think about what you could buy for 1000 baht 25 years ago.

I agree & for my own budget I assume a compound inflation increase of 2.4% pa which wasn't quite pulled out of thin air (I put my expected spends into a spreadsheet and looked at how much each category was likely to increase each year). 

 

This has proven to be far too high as my rent (approx 20% of my budget) is unchanged for the past 3 years,  if anything I could have negotiated a 20-25% discount on it with CV19 but I negotiated a 15% discount on the original lease & my landlord has been very good at fixing anything that needs to be sorted... being a landlord myself I appreciate that & treat them as I would like my tenant to treat me.   

[holy cow cm]

35 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

If I had to, I could comfortably manage on 80K here which would be 25 years

If I were living in Pattaya, Udon Thani, Chiang Mai etc... or dumped the GF, I could comfortably live on 60K PM (33 years).

40k baht is more than enough realistically. I really think we since have everything paid off are at about 30k baht a month and live really good. Alcohol is my biggest personal expense.

[overherebc]

45 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Not having a car does not mean it's expensive to travel around Thailand, I live in Bangkok and can get to Pattaya for around 200 THB (30 THB BTS to Ekkami, 119 THB Big Bus to Pattaya, 50 THB Baht Bus to hotel) & from Pattay to Koh Chang for 650 THB (tour bus, it would be cheaper if I went to the Bus station and got on one of the scheduled buses) OR I could go to KC straight from Bangkok for around 3-350 THB..

 

It all depends on where you want to base yourself, I live with the GF in Bangkok (2 br, next to BTS, 20K PM) &  my monthly spend is averaging out at around 106K pm so far this year, so your 24 Million THB would last us about 19 years.   

If I had to, I could comfortably manage on 80K here which would be 25 years

If I were living in Pattaya, Udon Thani, Chiang Mai etc... or dumped the GF, I could comfortably live on 60K PM (33 years).

 

   

So you have to ask yourself where do you want to base yourself & how long do you need the money to last you for? 

 

 

 

Must be handy to know when you're going to kick the bucket.

To the nearest year or month, is there an app' for it?

[Surelynot]

7 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Must be handy to know when you're going to kick the bucket.

To the nearest year or month, is there an app' for it?

I would love to know......you could blitz the money right up to the last day....partay.

[BigStar]

35 minutes ago, Whale said:

Inflation and cost of living index rise would be the killer though Mike. Think about what you could buy for 1000 baht 25 years ago.

Investment and currency hedge will take care of that. Plus, some sort of Soc Security payments kick in eventually. Come over before 60 and work, even as a teacher, for a year, get into Thai Social Security and get healthcare for life, just keep up modest monthly payments.

[Surelynot]

2 minutes ago, BigStar said:

Inflation and cost of living index rise would be the killer though Mike. Think about what you could buy for 1000 baht 25 years ago.

True, but this can be very misleading if much of your expenditure is not related to items included in the "basket"....No mortgage? No car? No foreign holidays etc....

[1FinickyOne]

4 hours ago, AlfHuy said:

Look in my eyes baby.

You like it?

Big isn't it?

Big eyes? Or are you talking about your nose??