What do you love about Thailand?

[wwest5829]

On 11/15/2020 at 11:07 PM, UB40 said:

Try to visit Thailand as a tourist again, as I did for many years, always 2-4 weeks and 2 trips every year.

 

Now:

Prepay tickets 40000

COE 3000

ASQ hotel 50000

"Fit-for-fly" medical 3000

Special Covid insurance 4000

Name a guarantee $$$  

2-3 days before flight PCR-Test 3000

If positive all above money is gone

 

After arrival 14 days jail with 3 meals daily. After that time is over, you wear a wristband 2-3 days and fly back home.

End of holidays

Yep, Covid has certainly screwed up the previos way Thailand and many countries have decided to try and guard against the spread. As a retired American, I am certainly safer here, as a result, than I would be in the US (or some other countries) so I am pleased under the current circumstances.

[EVENKEEL]

On 11/15/2020 at 6:59 PM, Peterw42 said:

 

Even wealthy people dont leave money laying around in a bank earning 2% interest. 

I dont know anyone who has 500,000 sitting in a bank doing nothing, most would have it in the stock-market or leveraged into property.

Most people complain about the 800k because it could be put to better use, invested, getting a decent return, compound interest.

Anyone running there own business or retired etc, uses their money to make money

 

500k bht isn't that much. Bet you lots of folks have that in cash at home back in US.

[Peterw42]

9 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

500k bht isn't that much. Bet you lots of folks have that in cash at home back in US.

Makes you wonder why more people dont buy elite visas, with all that cash on hand

 

[bwpage3]

On 11/15/2020 at 8:52 PM, 2009 said:

 

Air pollution right now in Bangkok at rush hour is moderate, same as Chiang Mai, Korat, Udon.

 

You could live in Phuket. No air pollution. I check the app regularly.

 

Lol, the 500k is a new thing and presumably temporary. You should see how hard it is for a Thai to get a visitor visa to the UK under normal circumstances.

 

The exchange rate is better, yes, depends which way you are exchanging. I can buy more of other currencies with my baht. The baht is strong. I get that some don't like that.

 

Honestly, no. I haven't noticed rising prices. My rent is less than 10 years ago, fried rice is the same, I think a beer on Sukhumvit is less these days. Maybe there has been a little inflation. That is normal, you know, but I haven't really noticed it.

 

Yes, I go to soi 4 for farang food. If it was full of Thai food, I would have to go somewhere else. Lol. You know Chinatown in London is full of Chinese food. 

 

Sounds like in your last paragraph you are describing a retiree who came here so his pension could go further, but now is getting squashed by the exchange rate, yet can't afford to go anywhere else. Are you describing yourself or what?

Not not retired and don't live in Thailand any more.

 

Back to corporate America and the high life.

[bwpage3]

On 11/15/2020 at 8:58 PM, 2009 said:

 

What ridiculous costs? Insurance isn't free you know. Nor are blood tests.

 

The 500k. Well, they want tourists to stimulate the economy right now cos times are hard.

 

Many countries aren't allowing international travel right now which is fair enough.

 

Thailand is being selective. They want tourists with a bit of cash.

 

It is risk vs reward.

There isn't enough tourists that can even get to Thailand to stimulate anything.

[bwpage3]

On 11/15/2020 at 9:12 PM, 2009 said:

 

Some people in can spend thousands on a 2 week family vacation. Brits do it all the time in Spain.

 

I don't get it. What's the problem? Who doesn't have 500k in the bank? It is not a lot of money.

 

Christ. Even an farang English teacher in Thailand could save that up in a few years, max.

 

I see many people complaining about the 400k, the 800k, now the 500k. But I am thinking what's the problem? How can you blame Thai immigration that you don't have that amount of money? It ain't a fortune.

Why in the world should a tourist have to show money in the bank to make a trip to Thailand?

 

The money in the bank does NOT have to be spent, do you even understand that?

 

A backpacker could have 500K in the bank, come to Thailand for 60 days on SETV and spend hardly anything. Is this stimulating the economy?

 

Your logic is quite off base and maybe because you have to continually tell yourself what a great decision it was to move to Thailand

 

 

[bwpage3]

On 11/15/2020 at 9:45 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

Did you never get past Nana on Soi 4? Plenty of proper restaurants further along.

Sure, good point.

 

However, tourist can eat American fast-food in their own country

[bwpage3]

On 11/16/2020 at 2:46 AM, Traubert said:

You don't have to put up wth any of your complaints about Thailand from Florida.

 

Regrettably the OP got a lot of absentee answers from ex-residents.

Ex-Residents are people who did not burn their bridges and are not stuck the rest of their lives in Thailand.

 

Let us know how you are doing when Thailand slides down into a pit in the next 1 to 5 years

 

Take a tip from the students. They appear to be the only ones with enough knowledge that Thailand is getting worse.

[bwpage3]

12 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

I loved Thailand without ...

Mass tourism , pollution , ugly xenophobic people , ridiculous rules and laws as of today , crazy drivers , crazy noise pollution , people who are not really believing in Buddhism anymore and do no effort to keep their own country clean , just money rules ...

If I could go back to the '70th , I would .

When I first visited Thailand in 1984, I thought it was heaven.

 

Fast forward to 2020, it is hard to believe how far downhill Thailand has gone.

 

It is money or nothing. All about the money.

 

When you see a monk at a famous temple swirling his hand in the water to hand out lottery numbers, that says it all right there.

 

Not to mention the 100 lottery ticket vendors set up inside the temple grounds. That is the new definition of Buddhism.

[bwpage3]

6 hours ago, khunPer said:

Just for comparison...

Source: Forbes "78% Of Workers Live Paycheck To Paycheck".

 

–And...

Source: The Business Journals "Four in 10 workers living paycheck to paycheck".

It is even worse in Africa, so what is the point?

[bwpage3]

3 hours ago, wwest5829 said:

Yep, Covid has certainly screwed up the previos way Thailand and many countries have decided to try and guard against the spread. As a retired American, I am certainly safer here, as a result, than I would be in the US (or some other countries) so I am pleased under the current circumstances.

You can be safe anywhere.

 

Last week it was announced there were 157,000 new cases of Covid, and drumroll please, 1 death.

 

Was the cause of death Covid or Comorbidities?

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

23 hours ago, madmen said:

Belgium Hong kong Singapore and many more are actually using it and now your country is even threatening it. 

 

https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/health/covid19/covidtracing-bracelets-for-australia

 

Thailand are not implementing it and IMO they should. It's not <deleted> at all 

 

 

 

 

I'm not and never have been an Australian, and making people wear tracking devices is IMO a very bad idea that is <deleted>.

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Ex-Residents are people who did not burn their bridges and are not stuck the rest of their lives in Thailand.

 

Let us know how you are doing when Thailand slides down into a pit in the next 1 to 5 years

 

Take a tip from the students. They appear to be the only ones with enough knowledge that Thailand is getting worse.

Being stuck in Thailand the rest of my life was my dream. The pit was what awaited me when I had to leave LOS.

Those students, IMO don't know when they are well off, and like all youths ( IMO ) think they know something when they don't. Far as I know no one in LOS is living on a rubbish tip like in India, or being killed because they went out with a boy like in certain countries.

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

When I first visited Thailand in 1984, I thought it was heaven.

 

Fast forward to 2020, it is hard to believe how far downhill Thailand has gone.

 

It is money or nothing. All about the money.

 

When you see a monk at a famous temple swirling his hand in the water to hand out lottery numbers, that says it all right there.

 

Not to mention the 100 lottery ticket vendors set up inside the temple grounds. That is the new definition of Buddhism.

It's still better than some western countries I know, IMO.

[thaibeachlovers]

20 hours ago, The Theory said:

It means that you have not studied Thailand history (especially after Vietnam war). 

How quickly people forget, or never knew reality anyway.

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, khunPer said:

Living in Thailand is great...????

 

Some major reasons for me why I was changing from Scandinavia home country to Land-of-Smiles:

• Weather: All year summer and barefoot Christmas, instead of utterly cold winter...????
• Location: A World class view that would cost a fortune in my home country, but is within reach here...????️
• Finance: In general little cheaper living costs, which enables me to to have a little higher living standard for the same money...????????????
• Taxes: Pay little less tax when living in Thailand, compared to World-class "Number one" taxation at home...????
• Girls/ladies: Self-explained...????
• Parties: Makes me continuously forget my age...????
• Community: Feeling extremely welcome, even for ever being an ????, and I have been widely accepted by the locals...
• Family: A great place to raise a family...????‍????‍????
• Future: I see more future possibilities in Asia, than in Europe...????

But we are all different, and we all find different values that matters...????

I agree with everything except about families.

 

However, to be perfect LOS would have to stop encroaching the beaches and putting huge boxes on the pavements.

????

[khunPer]

13 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I agree with everything except about families.

Might need a little explanation, then...

 

1) In Thailand you can afford domestic help, i.e. a nanny, or a maid, during the first say 10 or so years – at least I could, so probably many can – which release some of the burden with family, and a better relationship between partners. It was also common with domestic help, even among lower middle class families, in older time in my Scandinavian home country, whilst today only upper middle class, can afford an au-pair from Philippines or Thailand. Unfortunately I'm not that rich.

 

2) In my home country, in spite of lots of government support, it's commonly calculated that one child costs equivalent of 5 million baht (i.e. 1 million Danish kroner/DKK). For 5 million baht you can after all buy something here to make up for the little less government support.

 

3) In my home country the quality of public schools have decreased, and in many schools there are a number of muslim migrant children, with a different culture, and different goals of life, than the typical Scandinavian; in some few schools they are even majority, or a rather high percentage. Therefore, you might consider a school further from home, i.e. transportation to be considered as there are no school bus service, or eventually choosing a private school instead, which means that some level of fees need to be paid. In Thailand I can find Okay schools, either bi-lingual primary, or international all way up to a Cambridge IGCSE-certificate.

 

4) Weather and especially life-style are also benefits, and the in general little less living costs, compared to a 5 million baht total budget – equivalent to the normally calculated costs in my home country – makes it possible, and a Cambridge certificate might even be worth more than a certificate from a Danish government school...????

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, khunPer said:

Might need a little explanation, then...

 

1) In Thailand you can afford domestic help, i.e. a nanny, or a maid, during the first say 10 or so years – at least I could, so probably many can – which release some of the burden with family, and a better relationship between partners. It was also common with domestic help, even among lower middle class families, in older time in my Scandinavian home country, whilst today only upper middle class, can afford an au-pair from Philippines or Thailand. Unfortunately I'm not that rich.

 

2) In my home country, in spite of lots of government support, it's commonly calculated that one child costs equivalent of 5 million baht (i.e. 1 million Danish kroner/DKK). For 5 million baht you can after all buy something here to make up for the little less government support.

 

3) In my home country the quality of public schools have decreased, and in many schools there are a number of muslim migrant children, with a different culture, and different goals of life, than the typical Scandinavian; in some few schools they are even majority, or a rather high percentage. Therefore, you might consider a school further from home, i.e. transportation to be considered as there are no school bus service, or eventually choosing a private school instead, which means that some level of fees need to be paid. In Thailand I can find Okay schools, either bi-lingual primary, or international all way up to a Cambridge IGCSE-certificate.

 

4) Weather and especially life-style are also benefits, and the in general little less living costs, compared to a 5 million baht total budget – equivalent to the normally calculated costs in my home country – makes it possible, and a Cambridge certificate might even be worth more than a certificate from a Danish government school...????

Wouldn't it just be easier to not have children and 1 to 3 would not apply anyway?

 

Personally never wanted kids so stuff like that never came into the calculation. Looking around me at those that had children I see nothing to make me regret my decision not to have any, and much to be grateful for.

[pattayadude]

that it was great back in 2000s...

[thaibeachlovers]

2 minutes ago, pattayadude said:

that it was great back in 2000s...

and it was even greater in the 1990s.

[pattayadude]

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

and it was even greater in the 1990s.

couldn't agree more!

[pattayadude]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

and it was even greater in the 1990s.

when bar girls shouted "hansom man" and they almost meant it ????

[ChakaKhan]

On 11/15/2020 at 1:30 PM, sammieuk1 said:

The love has gone ????

try adding in another 500 bt ????

[ChakaKhan]

On 11/15/2020 at 9:27 PM, rumak said:

;Noi and Nit and Wan and Lek and .............

 

 

Nong just "unfriended" you on FB   ????

[ChakaKhan]

On 11/15/2020 at 10:42 PM, 2009 said:

Pull the other one, will you?

Thats what I said..... last time I was in the massage shop....you pay now!

[ChakaKhan]

Mama Cups and Sangsom ..and chubby grannies cat calling me on Loy kroh rd to boost my fragile ego ????

[bwpage3]

On 11/17/2020 at 8:13 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

Being stuck in Thailand the rest of my life was my dream. The pit was what awaited me when I had to leave LOS.

Those students, IMO don't know when they are well off, and like all youths ( IMO ) think they know something when they don't. Far as I know no one in LOS is living on a rubbish tip like in India, or being killed because they went out with a boy like in certain countries.

 

 

They certainly do know when the AREN'T well off.

 

College grads earning 15,000 a month?

 

Try living on that.

[bwpage3]

On 11/17/2020 at 2:11 AM, khunPer said:

Living in Thailand is great...????

 

Some major reasons for me why I was changing from Scandinavia home country to Land-of-Smiles:

• Weather: All year summer and barefoot Christmas, instead of utterly cold winter...????
• Location: A World class view that would cost a fortune in my home country, but is within reach here...????️
• Finance: In general little cheaper living costs, which enables me to to have a little higher living standard for the same money...????????????
• Taxes: Pay little less tax when living in Thailand, compared to World-class "Number one" taxation at home...????
• Girls/ladies: Self-explained...????
• Parties: Makes me continuously forget my age...????
• Community: Feeling extremely welcome, even for ever being an ????, and I have been widely accepted by the locals...
• Family: A great place to raise a family...????‍????‍????
• Future: I see more future possibilities in Asia, than in Europe...????

But we are all different, and we all find different values that matters...????

All year summer?

 

You forgot to point out the 6 months of monsoon rains and floods.

[thaibeachlovers]

9 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

They certainly do know when the AREN'T well off.

 

College grads earning 15,000 a month?

 

Try living on that.

Allowing for inflation in the decades since, I did live on the equivalent when I started working. If it's hard, no one said life was easy, and no one has a right to start at the top.

[thaibeachlovers]

9 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

All year summer?

 

You forgot to point out the 6 months of monsoon rains and floods.

The topic is what we love about Thailand. If you want to talk about what you don't like about Thailand, you should start your own thread.