Have you ever had 'Hard Times' in Thailand?

[1FinickyOne]

4 hours ago, WineOh said:

I have 5 houses, 2 cars & 2 bikes since you are asking.

And still no credit card in my wallet !

how do you book flights and hotels? 

[tonray]

This thread is missing some violins..."why I was so poor I had to walk from Central World to Siam Square"

Edited January 27, 2021 by tonray

[tonray]

1 hour ago, 1FinickyOne said:

how do you book flights and hotels? 

Bitcoin ?

[transam]

2 minutes ago, tonray said:

This thread is missing some violins

[1FinickyOne]

6 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

i am down to one girlfriend instead of the usual three.

 

its a big adjustment for me.   

 

 

sounds like you must need a massage.

[smccolley]

I took out a loan for my house and my car, not because I need to but the time value of money says I will pay off those loans with money that is worth less. If I lost my job tomorrow I have resources to pay both off immediately, but I would rather leave the money in the market to appreciate.

 

I have a high limit card as well, but I pay it off every month and rack up huge points for travel.

 

Credit has it's uses, but also it's temptations to overuse it.

[Lacessit]

Only with my Thai GF, behind closed doors.

The last time I owed money to anyone was 1974, enough said. Since then, if I didn't have the cash to buy something, I did without until I had the funds.

I've never felt the need to impress friends or neighbors with my possessions. Secondhand cars, secondhand clothes, secondhand golf clubs - over the years I've saved a bundle by not buying new.

[allanos]

Hard times are character-forming. I've now got enough "character" to last me a couple of lifetimes!

[recom273]

When I returned here I had a nice wedge of savings, I studied Thai and relaxed for a year. The girlfriend also did the same, although she could already speak Thai, so she laid in bed - I wasn't really intending to stay here, I could easily return to London and pickup more contract work but I was casually looking for a job here in IT but that wasn't going to happen.

 

I ran down my nice wedge of savings with a few overseas holidays, we did pretty well for a year. I ran out my funds just as schools were recruiting for the new term.

 

On the Friday before I was about to start work, there was a knock at the door and one of my wifes friends came in, nice girl, explained she wasn't working as she had a bike accident and broke her arm, my wife was doing something, like the laundry. So she sat on the bed and talked while my wife did her chores while I watched TV in the other room. She said she was going to 7-11 and did I want anything, I pulled some money from my pocket and gave her a little list.

 

After 10 mins she hadn't returned, then 30 mins went past - we thought something bad had happened to the kid, so my wife went for her phone to call her .. Where was the phone? no phone, I told her to use mine, all of our phones including my UK contract phone had vanished, along with my wallet containing the last of my cash, about 50K.

 

It was a real curved ball - we didn't expect it from the girl. Eventually we got the phones back and the wallet but the cash had been spent.

 

We borrowed some cash from a friend, that paid for food and one mototaxi across the sois in the morning to ekkamai road where I caught the first of 3 free buses for 90 minutes across town to my first teaching job, they supplied school lunch which was a blessing. In the evening, I would have to wait upto an hour for the free bus, then I would walk back through the sois to our apartment.

 

Looking back from, we have done pretty well, plenty of holidays around Asia, 4 motorbikes in the garage - just bought a rai of land and will build a house in the next year - all from that first job in a hot and sweaty classroom in Dusit, and we really started with less than nothing.

 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by recom273

[GrandPapillon]

9 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

i am down to one girlfriend instead of the usual three.

 

its a big adjustment for me.   

 

 

I hate it when that happen ????

[ChrisKC]

I know the "hard times" the OP means is in money terms, but my hard times amounting to nearly five years in two episodes were with girlfriends, one of whom was physically violent and the other a constant gambler.

They were hard times emotionally and practically, in particular how I could escape each time from them. The first time, I spent six months calculating a plan to leave without giving any impression I was so doing. It was complex but it worked. The second was a little easier but took some careful planning and a couple of (my girlfriends friends) to help me,  yes, they were on my side! In leaving each time more of my possessions had to be left behind.

 

Now I am settled for more than three years with a darling of a Thai wife and those "hard times" are behind me!

[GrandPapillon]

hard times here was when I got sued by a former business partner and things got to Thai civil court and criminal court

 

in the Thai criminal court, former employees were paid to lie about me and my role in the business, so I could end up in jail in Thailand, so the business partner could negotiate certain assets with me

 

that lasted about 2 years in pre-trial hearing and non-sense procedure, mediation, but luckily the judge could see the BS of the case, yet decided to go ahead with a trial because the other party wanted to "appeal" any rejection for a trial. Very stressful, laywers not speaking English, not translating key elements that could prove me right etc... 

 

I thought about doing a runner, I had my passport and my regular VISA, and the judge didn't object me leaving the country for vacation (I have a condo in Bangkok) or visa run, but decided to stay, strangely the judicial process seemed "fair", they didn't ask for bail

 

interestingly, my biggest support was the judge, the lawyers on both sides were lame and incompetent, even the judge was tired of their BS arguments, wanted things to get moving. He put a lot of pressure to "strike" a deal between parties. We couldn't find a deal because it was a "proxy" war between 2 farangs. Eventually the judge told the other party to drop it or he would rule in my favor. I almost got to jail because I had to be present for the ruling, and I couldn't make it on time. The other party got scared I would sue them back, because during the pre-trial and trial, a lot of evidence was shown, some were "manufactured" and I could use those to "sue" back. The other evidence were just "noise".

 

The whole thing lasted 5 years and cost me about 100,000 USD but the other party paid half if I didn't sue back,

 

definitely an interesting experience, and strangely gave me a lot more confidence in the Thai judicial system. That said, I hadn't killed anyone, so I had a "clean" mind when facing those difficult times.

Edited January 27, 2021 by GrandPapillon

[GrandPapillon]

in the other case, the Thai civil case, I lost, they were asking for 100,000 USD on some currency exchange adjustment for the last billing of the Thai business. Poorly advised by my laywer, and afraid they were going to use this against me in the "criminal" case to  make their arguments stronger, which they actually tried, I setup a poor defense, the laywers didn't understand it, and I came across as ignoring and fleeing the accusations instead of addressing directly the accusations. The judge was very fair though, and when I tried to change my line of defense, she refused, saying it was too late in the trial to address the accusations, since I chose to ignore them, and I paid for that by losing the case. A lot was at stake actually, they were going after all my other assets in Thailand with that verdict.

 

So it went to appeal, which confirmed the first court, I couldn't change my argument, but it was buying me time while I was dealing with the other court case. Eventually it went to Supreme court. There a deal was found for the currency payment. Got to meet one of the Supreme Court Judge to work out the deal. Again, very competent, spoke perfect English, understood immediately what was the situation, and even corrected the "deal agreement" in Thai that both laywers managed to <deleted> up ???? I was very impressed by the efficiency of the Supreme court.

 

Again, an interesting experience and didn't even do a runner despite the serious accusations ????

Edited January 27, 2021 by GrandPapillon

[AlfHuy]

18 hours ago, simon43 said:

My own hard times tale fills several pages!  I'll retell it here, but ignore my post if you don't have time to read it, or if you don't believe me.  Everything here is true, (facts can be verified from press reports etc on Google).

 

I worked for many years in the UK and mainland Europe as a space/satellite designer, building satellite payloads for the likes of the European Space Agency.  Life was very good, with cars and houses in the UK, Belgium and France.  I started my own one-man band SMS (text messaging) business, including a satellite TV station, and sold out around the year 2000 for $2 million.  I built a beautiful, $1 million pound house in 5 acres of rolling Chiltern Hills countryside.

 

Then slowly, slowly, things started to go downhill.  My lungs became infected with mold spores (Aspergillosis) from the damp, unheated basement office where I worked in London. (They belonged to the company that bought my business and appointed me as CTO of their new mobile comms division).

 

My health was deteriorating rapidly with this chronic disease  My doctor said that I would probably only recover if I lived in a hot and humid climate, which would help to reduce the fungal spores in my lungs.  I opted to move to Thailand, but my English wife and 3 kids refused to come with me, and I had to leave them in the UK.

 

In Thailand, my health rapidly improved.  I married a Thai lady and spent the remainder of my funds on building a hotel at Phuket Airport.  That was a good business!  But then the mental health of my wife started to deteriorate.  She made crazy financial decisions, giving away the hotel profits, as well as absurd actions (stealing and crashing cars, running away, throwing knives etc).  That sorry time in my life was documented many years ago on Thaivisa.

 

I was trying to hold the hotel business together, whilst also paying out for mental health treatment.  Soon the funds were exhausted and I was stuck with this totally mad woman! ????  

 

At times like that, you find your true friends.  Some people helped me out by buying me food to eat.  Others lent me the keys to their small holiday home on a remote beach in Khao Lak.  When everything got too much for me, I would retreat to that little house and spend the time walking up and down the deserted beach, which was covered in millions of beautifulsea-shell fragments.  I wondered why my life had turned so bad ???? 

 

Sadly, all the friends who helped me through these hard times have now died, from illness and suicide.....

 

One day, out of the blue, I was offered a teaching job in Yangon, Myanmar, which was still under sanctions.  It was very difficult for schools to find foreign teachers, because no-one wanted to go there!  But the job offer of $2,000 each month was $2,000 more than I was getting with my mad ex (ex, because she got pregnant by another Thai man and left me as night-time baby-sitter, whilst she went out and partied).

 

I wasn't a teacher, but I was educated and spoke English with a very clear accent.  I took the job!

 

On my first day at school, I assumed that I'd be teaching teenage Burmese students.  I entered the classroom to be greeted by 20 five-year old kids sitting on the floor ????

 

It was all or nothing, and I chose 'all'.  I sat on the floor and sang English nursery rhymes with the kids.

 

A word to non-teachers.  Teaching young kids is hard work.  But by the end of the week, I was enjoying myself and getting paid a comparatively decent salary.

 

My accommodation was a very basic old apartment in the Yangon slums, with loads of green mold on the walls and a pipe that ran brown cold water for the shower.  (I found out later that this water was pumped from the nearby dirty river, where my toilet pipe also emptied into...) At night, the electricity was switched over to power the tourist hotels, and I got used to sleeping in sweltering heat with no fan.

 

One Saturday, I took the ferry across the river to Dala Township.  Burmese friends warned me not to go, saying that it was a dangerous place.  A young boy with a pedalo offered to show me around.  He took me to a monastery where about 100 kids were sitting on the floor in an empty room.  A Burmese teacher was teaching them to read/write Burmese language.  The parents of these kids were so poor that they couldn't even send their kids to the government school, because they had no money to buy school uniform or textbooks.  This moment was a life-changing event!

 

I promised myself there and then that I would never again feel sorry for myself, because I at least had a reasonable chance to get out of my problems, whereas these kids had next to zero chance.  I offered to teach them English every weekend, because a knowledge of English could help them to get jobs in hotels, restaurants when they were older.

 

Each weekend, I went over to Dala and taught 100 kids English.  There was no electricity, so I taught using my laptop and loudspeakers until the batteries died.  I learnt some basic written and spoken Myanmar language, to help in my lessons.

 

As my own financial position slowly improved from 'terrible' to 'modest', I decided to use whatever excess funds that I earned to help others with their education, rather than 'waste' it on greedy, selfish partners.  Over the next few years, I supported more than 3,000 Burmese students and orphans with the purchase of their schoolbooks, as well as financing computer work-stations for use by the kids.

 

The years have rolled by, and I now live modestly and alone in a quaint old house by the Rover Mekong in Luang Prabang in Laos. I teach science 'online' to many students all over the world, and am usually fully booked for 2 months ahead!  So I must be doing something right!

 

Some might think of me as an antisocial loner or recluse, being that I have zero interest in sharing my life with a partner.  On the contrary, I value every single day that I'm alive.  In about 4 years when (if), I won't need to teach for income anymore, and can dedicate more time again to help students in Laos and Myanmar with their education.

 

So..... from riches to rags to.. er ... modest and happy lifestyle ????

Well done Sir.

Appreciate it very much.

[wavodavo]

21 hours ago, Ron jeremy said:

A cc builds a credit rating 

it is also very important for traveling, booking hotel rooms etc etc etc

so you carry a pack of cash when travelling?

how do u book a hotel or plane tickets?

????????????????????‍♂️????????‍♂️????

You can do anything with a DEBIT card that you can with a credit card but you are using your own money instead.

[wavodavo]

1 minute ago, ThaiFelix said:

You would be surprised.  Many companies advertise credit card only but they will in fact take a debit card.....you just need to ask.  I have hired cars on debit card several times but admit I have never tried in Thailand as the need never came up.

Yeah I am in Australia and we use debit cards  all the time instead of credit cards here. When you book into a hotel  they put a hold on a certain deposit but dont process it straightaway and if you settle your account on checkout they cancel it.

[jaideedave]

21 hours ago, WineOh said:

That is exactly how I live too mate!

I have never owned a credit card in my life and I never will! ???? 

I've had bypass surgery several years ago hence my medical insurance is minimal,only covers from chin up, knees and lower..I find my credit card with a high limit ensures I won't be left curbside in an emergency. I also have ample (for me) savings. A couple of years ago I experienced some kidney issues and had to pay it all in cash.

Unbeknown to me renal failure is one of the many "exclusions" in my policy .Aetna , Bupa

[ThaiFelix]

 

[kingdong]

22 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

No.

 

Although I'm not and have never been a rich person I'm very efficient at managing my money. Something my mother instilled in me. 

 

I don't by anything on finance , If I can't pay outright, I don't buy it.

 

And I don't have a joint bank account with my wife....

 

 

 

 

 

All wise words,i,ve never lent money, or had hp only loan i had was a mortgage and was charged a fee for paying it off early,if i want something i,ll save up and buy it,too many people have ruined their lives through " easy credit "

[Know not me]

I had a house paid for in my wifes name no mortgage no rent. I had a nre car  paid for in my name only

 I took a 6 seek trip to the states. When I returned my my had traded my car in to one in her name. She stole my Tag Huerer watch. When I complained she had me committed to a Thai mental hospital.  She would not get  me

Out. When I finally got out she transferred the  house which I paid for into a relatives name. I had nothing.  This is true. It really happened to me.  The worst it could ever  get

 

[CharlieH]

Despite notice, and repeated removal of posts people INSIST on derailing this topic into credit card discussion.etc.

 

Any more and the offender will be suspended.

 

LAST WARNING.

 

[simon43]

[quote]

...When I complained she had me committed to a Thai mental hospital. ...

[/quote]

 

I am sure others would like to hear of this story!  I spent a long time trying to get my Thai wife committed, but never 'cracked' how to actually do this ????

[AlfHuy]

22 hours ago, 1FinickyOne said:

how do you book flights and hotels? 

Laptop

[AlfHuy]

3 hours ago, Know not me said:

I had a house paid for in my wifes name no mortgage no rent. I had a nre car  paid for in my name only

 I took a 6 seek trip to the states. When I returned my my had traded my car in to one in her name. She stole my Tag Huerer watch. When I complained she had me committed to a Thai mental hospital.  She would not get  me

Out. When I finally got out she transferred the  house which I paid for into a relatives name. I had nothing.  This is true. It really happened to me.  The worst it could ever  get

 

She stole my Tag Huerer watch.

 

That must have been a "special" edition.

[patman30]

On 1/27/2021 at 11:20 AM, Ron jeremy said:

A cc builds a credit rating 

it is also very important for traveling, booking hotel rooms etc etc etc

so you carry a pack of cash when travelling?

how do u book a hotel or plane tickets?

????????????????????‍♂️????????‍♂️????

had to edit my reply, as i have just seen
mods dont want us all replying to your asinine comment about needing credit cards to live.

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by patman30

[AlfHuy]

When I arrived, I had and extremely hard time.

Went to see a Doctor.

He said: don't worry son, this will not last forever.

[GrandPapillon]

hard times start when you go from 3 mia nois to only 1 ????

[allanos]

There is good and bad debt. A house bought through a mortgage is a liability. Rent it out, though, as an income-producing property, and it becomes an asset.

 

The same can be said of many other things. They just need to be looked at differently, more pragmatically, maybe, than conventionally.

 

I have long thought that school curricula should include financial basics for kids. It would set them on the right road regarding their futures, so that they don't need to go through trial and error processes over many years, like a number of us have had to, and which, for a large number of people, land them into punishing debt and a life of misery.

[1FinickyOne]

1 hour ago, AlfHuy said:

Laptop

they accept your laptop as a deposit?

[Longchop]

On 1/27/2021 at 12:44 PM, AlfHuy said:

I have 7 and just remortgaging to purchase another 3.

so you take care of property for a bank ? 

you only  own a property when it's fully paid.