Is there anything at all in Thailand beneficial for foreigners living there right now?

[bwpage3]

Before all the long term expats come on bashing this post because they have no where to move to, is there anything at all beneficial living in Thailand currently?

 

Even before COVID, Thailand seems to be sliding down hill with increased air pollution, over crowding, govt regulations, and now COVID issues?

 

The govt is hellbent on corrupt projects that do nothing but line the pockets of the newly elected.

 

Get elected, make as much money through corruption as you can before you get voted out down the road.

 

Who exactly is watching out for the welfare of the Thai people and the foreigners living there?

 

The answer is no one. There is no corruption money in doing the right thing and fixing issues that continue to get worse year after year.

 

Do you honestly feel the government is really happy to have you there? Draconian rules about owning land, VISA's being more difficult, reporting your every move.

 

The baht remains super strong against all currencies. It could get stronger. Is Thailand still a deal? Is living in a one room flat because that is all you can afford in your elder years a good thing?

 

Suk and SOI 4 looks more like New York than Thailand. How many western fast food joints do you need right next to each other? Push out all the street vendors for burgers. Makes no sense.

 

How about the air pollution? How many people want to live in that the rest of their lives as it continues to get worse and the govt does nothing about it?

 

Let's not even mention how much worse the traffic is getting in ALL cities!

 

The thing about the third world, that I am sure many are learning the hard way, is that over the years it is not getting better, it continues to get worse and worse.

 

Each new problem exposes an inept govt unable or unwilling to do anything about the countries problems.

 

As far as I can tell, places like Isaan appear to be the only safe bets as to never changing.

 

If you can live a quiet life out in the sticks, you probably have it made.

 

The unknowns the next 5, 10, 20 years with currency, environmental and the govt itself makes it a tough sell as a destination.

 

 

 

 

[cyril sneer]

+ tourist areas are all dead, which is why most came in the first place

[RichardColeman]

If I could move my wife and daughter to the UK tomorrow, I'd be booking it today. I am only there for them. But I wont dish all those that are happy there, we are all different.

 

 

 

 

[BritManToo]

34 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

is there anything at all beneficial living in Thailand currently?

Warm and sunny here beats wet and cold in the UK, and cold and snowy in Canada.

I'm having a better time here, than my pals living there.

 

I don't much like the governments in either of those 3 countries.

Didn't vote in the UK, can't vote here = same IMHO.

 

I have a very nice m/c, traffic doesn't bother me, plenty of spaces for me to slip through.

 

Air pollution in CM is not so bad this year, the last 2 months were way better than last year.

Currency fluctuations don't bother me that much, pound is on the way up at the moment.

 

My 4 kids in the UK are unhappy and struggling.

My 2 kids here are happy and content.

I'm also way happier here than I ever was in the UK.

 

Where in the west can I spend my weekends like this?

Edited February 18, 2021 by BritManToo

[foreverlomsak]

21 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

Is living in a one room flat because that is all you can afford in your elder years a good thing?

If I moved back to the UK I couldn't even afford that.

[phetphet]

Hot and sunny, clean air, no traffic jams, far less crowded since COVID. But I am on Samui, not in Bangkok.

 

On the downside, the electricity supply could be better. It's better than it  was,  but  still goes out or drops a phase too much for my liking.

[fishtank]

Decent weather is probably the only thing it has going for it nowadays.

Unless you have a business selling earplugs or noise cancelling headphones.

Edited February 18, 2021 by fishtank

[elliss]

4 minutes ago, cyril sneer said:

+ tourist areas are all dead, which is why most came in the first place

 

 Aka , affordable sex ...

  However  that said , i had other reasons .. Really ..

   

[Susco]

21 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

Even before COVID, Thailand seems to be sliding down hill with increased air pollution, over crowding, govt regulations, and now COVID issues?

 

None of that where you come from?

 

22 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

Get elected, make as much money through corruption as you can before you get voted out down the road.

 

Doesn't affect me. But when I read about how corrupt the governments in the west are, I'm glad I'm not there anymore.

 

23 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

The baht remains super strong against all currencies. It could get stronger. Is Thailand still a deal? Is living in a one room flat because that is all you can afford in your elder years a good thing?

 

Baht isn't getting stronger, western currencies are going down the drain, with their money printing to provide stimulus.

 

How much is a one room flat in your home country? Guess it's a multiple from here.

 

 

 

[foreverlomsak]

26 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

How about the air pollution? How many people want to live in that the rest of their lives as it continues to get worse and the govt does nothing about it?

 

Let's not even mention how much worse the traffic is getting in ALL cities!

I'd say that it's probably the same all over the world with regards to those 2 issues

[elliss]

1 minute ago, fishtank said:

Decent weather is probably the only thing it has going for it nowadays.

  

Lets , not forget pollution .

  Bangkok / Chiang Mai.  No thanks ..

[foreverlomsak]

1 minute ago, elliss said:

  

Lets , not forget pollution .

  Bangkok / Chiang Mai.  No thanks ..

All major cities around the world seem to have periodic problems with pollution according to press reports, some more than others.

[elliss]

7 minutes ago, foreverlomsak said:

If I moved back to the UK I couldn't even afford that.

 

     Why not ? . 

     Great Britain . land of Benefits .

    All are welcome ..

[cyril sneer]

1 minute ago, elliss said:

 

     Why not ? . 

     Great Britain . land of Benefits .

    All are welcome ..

Not if you’re white

[foreverlomsak]

14 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Warm and sunny here beats wet and cold in the UK, and cold and snowy in Canada.

I'm having a better time here, than my pals living there.

The rain tends to be sudden and hard here, occasionally you get rain that last all day, in the UK it's often days at a time, I much prefer the sudden 1 hours sheer hell rain than the 3/4 days of miserable drizzle.

[JAS21]

MrsJ and myself left the UK in 2007 and have never been back. After living there for a few years she said I don't want to get old here and I don't blame her.

 

 

[Ron jeremy]

18 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Warm and sunny here beats wet and cold in the UK, and cold and snowy in Canada.

I'm having a better time here, than my pals living there.

 

I don't much like the governments in either of those 3 countries.

Didn't vote in the UK, can't vote here = same IMHO.

 

I have a very nice m/c, traffic doesn't bother me, plenty of spaces for me to slip through.

 

Air pollution in CM is not so bad this year, the last 2 months were way better than last year.

Currency fluctuations don't bother me that much, pound is on the way up at the moment.

 

My 4 kids in the UK are unhappy and struggling.

My 2 kids here are happy and content.

I'm also way happier here than I ever was in the UK.

The only people consistently bitching about there home country is those from the UK. As a Canadian I have the option to get away in the winter. To leave Canada for Thailand full time???

you’ve got to be joking! Yesterday my air quality was 2, Chang nobyl was 157

its not that bad this year?????????????

who are you trying to kid?and it’s getting worse every year.

another that sold up back home with no place to go.enjoy!

[foreverlomsak]

9 minutes ago, elliss said:

 

     Why not ? . 

     Great Britain . land of Benefits .

    All are welcome ..

Not if your a UK national, as far as I can work out you get no support of any kind for at least 6 months, unless you can prove that you've returned to stay permanently, and the only way I know do do that is to die in the airport.

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, Ron jeremy said:

another that sold up back home with no place to go.enjoy!

I didn't sell anything back in the UK, the judge gave it all to my former Brit wife.

Never did like the weather in the UK.

Obviously if I were rich, I'd like a home in both countries ...... and another in the Maldives or Mauritius ....

But I'm not and I live better here with little, than I ever did in the UK before my divorce.

Edited February 18, 2021 by BritManToo

[cjinchiangrai]

Loving it up country. Clean, comfortable and happy.

 

Seems like people in Bangkok are struggling more. Who would have thought it in a megalopolis like that. The only place in LOS that is more expensive than home.

[WineOh]

for all it's faults, living in Thailand is still a sh*te sight better than living in the UK.

 

Period. 

[GeorgeCross]

a few things for me:

 

favorable tax situation

 

couldn't afford an equivalent house in the UK in a similar desireable area

 

the weather

 

higher standard of living

 

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, bwpage3 said:

is there anything at all beneficial living in Thailand currently?

1\ The hot weather, i could not deal anymore with a sad, cold, long and rainy winter

 

2\ The hot girls, the thai girls have really something special 

 

3\ The security, i mean the relative absence of petty crime in Thailand

a problem that ruined my life during years in my country of origin

 

4\ the cost of life, even if it's less interesting than before (Bad Xchange rate

and fast increase in a lot of prices during the last 10 years) it's still cheaper

than in europe for a similar lifestyle

[Orton Rd]

I feel uneasy living in a country where a pensioner gets 87 years in prison, reduced to 43 for posting material on face book. That's a death sentence in reality and more than you would get for child murder or terrorism, for words on a web site! You can ignore it like most Thais do along with all the other bad things here, but it slowly makes being here less and less beneficial. If not for the Mrs I would gladly be on the first plane home I could get.

[Ron jeremy]

30 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I didn't sell anything back in the UK, the judge gave it all to my former Brit wife.

Never did like the weather in the UK.

Obviously if I were rich, I'd like a home in both countries ...... and another in the Maldives or Mauritius ....

But I'm not and I live better here with little, than I ever did in the UK before my divorce.

Better hope you’re 20 year old wife doesn’t kick you out of the house that you don’t own.????????????

[upu2]

To answer the OP's question it is necessary to know what you are expecting to find in a new location. For me I love it, the food the culture the country. The Baht rate has been a lot worse over the years so I would guess the complainers are those who want a luxury life style for pennies.

I doubt if the cheap charlies will be missed very much 

[BritManToo]

8 minutes ago, Ron jeremy said:

Better hope you’re 20 year old wife doesn’t kick you out of the house that you don’t own.????????????

I'm not daft enough to buy a house for cash again.

The (90%) mortgage repayments on my current 3 bed home is 11kbht/month.

If she wants me to leave, no problem, I'd save money and rent somewhere smaller.

..... and a new woman would probably have moved in within a month ... (timeline estimated from past experience) 

 

My life at 65 is way beyond anything I ever imagined when I was younger and living in the UK.

Edited February 18, 2021 by BritManToo

[CharlieH]

"If you can live a quiet life out in the sticks, you probably have it made."

 

Yep thats me ! And I have a better life here and better standard of living than I could possibly ever have in the Home country.

i look out over acres of green farmland and ringed by Mountains. That'll do for me.

[WineOh]

26 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

I feel uneasy living in a country where a pensioner gets 87 years in prison, reduced to 43 for posting material on face book. That's a death sentence in reality and more than you would get for child murder or terrorism, for words on a web site! You can ignore it like most Thais do along with all the other bad things here, but it slowly makes being here less and less beneficial. If not for the Mrs I would gladly be on the first plane home I could get.

You are totally right mate.

 

However, you can rest easy that these kinds of extreme draconian punishments are reserved strictly for Thai's.

 

Try sending a brit down for 43 years for commenting on Facebook and see where that gets em.

They would be shamed/laughed into an acquittal. 

Edited February 18, 2021 by WineOh

[CharlieH]

Baiting trolling remark removed.