Anyone else tired of the nonsense, and contemplating leaving Thailand?

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Great info. I share your passion for the culture, the music and the arts, which is sorely lacking here, from my point of view. And miss that. And I remember many of the positive and uplifting influences of the past here, which are sorely missed now. 

Not trying to be nasty or anything, but I think you expressed anti government opinions before corona happened, so I'm puzzled as to why you remained in LOS if wine, proper music, Euro culture, and the arts are important to you. Not much of that in evidence in all my years in LOS.

Even the museums are pathetic compared to those in London.

[spidermike007]

37 minutes ago, MayBeNow said:

I think there are very few foreigners that have a Thai male friend, a buddy, a mate. The only time i came close to having male buddies i had in Myanmar. People seem more open minded there in my opinion, can be the legacy of colonialism.

 

In my own country we are inundated with foreigners, i dont care at all about them, the males i mostly loath, i just dont want to interact with 98%. I know i aint political correct but it is what it is. 

It might be Thai guys feel the same about us... i guess so... 

Basically we come here and bang their sisters, not so nice for them now is it?

There might be an element of envy, or resentment. But, I think it is mostly an astonishing lack of curiosity about the outside world, or anything outside their little cliques?

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Great post. And kudos to you for surviving both your illnesses, and the wicked ex-wife. She sounds like the Nightmare from Elm Street. Eating Taco Bell is like sleeping with your ex. I feel horrible afterwards, and I am always drunk when I do it. 

 

Perhaps we can invent some new terminology for someone in your position. Instead of divorced, maybe:

survivor of a terrorist ex

survivor of a heartless fool

survivor of a cruel beast, pretending to be a woman

or horrific spouse survivor?

 

We do hear the stories about Thai woman being indoctrinated by women overseas. Guess it just depends on what they were made of, to begin with. 

 

 

Hag from hell.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

There might be an element of envy, or resentment. But, I think it is mostly an astonishing lack of curiosity about the outside world, or anything outside their little cliques?

Oh c'mon man! That's definitely not exclusive to Thais.

No one I know in home country, or the UK when I was working there ever expressed any interest in anything outside their little bubbles. That includes my family.

 

[spidermike007]

33 minutes ago, Inala said:

What's the age difference? That will be the main factor in how many dirty looks you get

Two plus decades. Perfect for me. One of the most wonderful things about Thailand, is that the judgment level of couples with signifiant differences in age, is not as harsh, as in the west. It works really well for us. When I dated women close to my age back in the US, it rarely ever worked out. Most were very rigid, closed minded, and set in their ways. Plus, many liked to go to bed very early, and behaved as if they were 20 years older than they were. That was not fun. I find younger women to be far more vital, more vigorous, and if you are fortunate to find one, far more open minded and adventurous.

 

Granted, even though she is very smart, I do not get much intellectual stimulation from the relationship. But, I get so much else. And in all of the relationships I was ever in with really smart women, who I got intellectual stimulation from, there was also so much grief to contend with. Such combative women. So much competition. Yikes. Thrilled to death to have left all of that behind.

When I was only in the relationship for a year or so, I had dinner with a very sharp American friend. I asked him about that. He laughed. He said, when you feel the need for intellectual stimulation, call me. We can hook up for the meal, and break down the origins of the cosmos. Do not fret. That same brain that gives you that stimulation, also tends to give you so much grief, it is not worth it, on any level. Get over it. Enjoy all of the other qualities, that make your day so delightful and fulfilling. Great advice, that I have followed to this day.

[spidermike007]

18 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

WE feel the same like you. 

And we too explored Spain and Portugal with a Motorhome, what we bought. And we didn't like temps rising to more than 40 centigrades. Many foreigners try to sell their properties already. 

However, considering climate change we opt for Denmark. House price are very decent.  The next few years you'll have nice weather all year round with spring, summer, and mild winter.

What do you think? ????

Way too expensive, and way too cold for us. But, thanks for thinking of us. Good fortune to you.

[thaibeachlovers]

25 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Even if you went back just 20 years, everything is better now.

Back then there were no smartphones with GPS, no data plans, no fibre optic internet, no large Tvs, I couldn't download any movie, game, book, music, Tv series I wanted in a couple of minutes.

 

How quickly people forget how fast technology moves forward.

The problem is that technology is misused by the masses eg "social media" which is IMO the worst thing that happened to our society. IMO it's destroying our culture, not making things better.

 

Anyway, society got by for 50,000 years without computers, internet, tv or any of the gimmicks of modern life. Nothing of that ilk is essential for society to flourish.

[spidermike007]

17 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Not trying to be nasty or anything, but I think you expressed anti government opinions before corona happened, so I'm puzzled as to why you remained in LOS if wine, proper music, Euro culture, and the arts are important to you. Not much of that in evidence in all my years in LOS.

Even the museums are pathetic compared to those in London.

A very easy answer. It is 70% about the money, and 30% about the people. I really like most Thai people. If I was wealthy, I would likely spend two months of the year here. 

 

In terms of the overall quality of life, many of us live very good lives here. Some of us have been fortunate enough to find an outstanding woman, who is delightful to be around, on a daily basis, always has our back, and is fun, smart, and lovely. For me, that likelihood of finding that back in the US, would be very low. So, that is a big factor for me. The second factor is just the quality of life. Sure, I miss alot of the culture back home. The theatre, independent film (which I can download here with no issues at all, and a super fast 1gbps fiber optic connection, at under 800 baht per month!), stand up comedy, live jazz, etc. But I have a lovely home that I rent, for about 10% of what I would pay in California, I live very well on an income which is not huge, have access to great health care, at a tiny fraction of what it costs in the US, and do not have to put up with alot of the aggravation that I had to when I lived back there.
 
Thailand is still reasonable. It used to be cheap. Has not been cheap for a long time. But, it is still reasonable.

 

I know people who pay 10,000 baht a month for newer 3 bedroom houses in nice towns. In major cities in the US? $2000-4000 a month. That is 120,000 baht!

I had my motorbike seat recently redone on my scooter. 400 baht. A friend of mine had similar work done in the US. $275.

I recently had a guy come over and insulate my ceiling. I bought the insulation and paid him 2000 baht for labor. In the US? $500 and up.

I recently had an electrician do some work on the house. Nearly a full day of work. Paid him 1000 baht. In the US? $500 and up.

An oil change for my scooter costs me 200 baht, with Castrol oil. In the US? $75.

When I travel here I stay in nice four star hotels in Bangkok. Usually 1800-2000 baht. Now, during Covid. Great hotels for 1,000 baht. In the US? $130 for a crappy motel room. $200 and up for a nice room.

I eat well here. In a smaller town you can get a three course meal for 150-250 baht. In the US? 2000 baht and up, plus tax and a nearly mandatory 15% tip.

I visit the emergency room here to visit a specialist, and with x-rays I am out the door for 2000 baht, at a private hospital. In the US? $300-2000. An anecdote on this subject. A good friend of mine got in a bad motorcycle accident some time ago. He almost lost his leg. He got his first of 11 operations at Bangkok Hospital Samui. It costs him over a million baht. They wanted to do a second procedure. They quoted him 1,400,000 baht. He decided to transfer to Bangkok. He was quoted 460,000 baht for the same procedure, at a top private hospital there. The surgeon told him that he worked at a public hospital too, and could do the same operation there, for alot less money. He told him he would get him a quote. In the interim, my friend called a good friend of his, in San Diego, who is an orthopedic surgeon. Since my friend is a retired chiropractor, he knew all the terminology, and explained what he needed, and asked for the best price. His friend called him back the next day, and quoted him $960,000, with cash discounts! The local surgeon here got back to him, and told him he could do it for 46,000 baht. He transferred, and they did all the rest of his procedures. So, 1,400,000 at Bangkok Hospital, 460,000 at Vejthani Hospital, and 46,000 at the public hospital, with an excellent surgeon. VS. 31,000,000 baht in the US. Again, no complaints from this peanut gallery.

Friends of mine, who are single, enjoy the company of a young, beautiful woman for a couple of hours, for 2500 baht. In the US? $800 an hour now for a beauty, with alot of attitude.

I could go on and on, all day long. I live at a level here, that I would never be able to live at, in the US, in most of Europe, in Oz, or Canada. Yes, the higher baht is an annoyance. And yes things are more expensive than they used to be. But, it is very relative.

 

So, of course all these things are being considered, when I say I may want to move on. 

Edited August 3, 2021 by spidermike007

[thaibeachlovers]

6 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

And in all of the relationships I was ever in with really smart women, who I got intellectual stimulation from, there was also so much grief to contend with. Such combative women. So much competition.

I learned some years ago not to discuss anything controversial with any woman, as it always ended badly. Say the slightest thing to offend their sensibilities and it's like the end of the world armageddon. Of course they can never be wrong, as I found with my wife.

[spidermike007]

38 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

My Thai wife's brothers never seemed to mind me banging their sister.

They always tried to take me out whoring with them.

I always used to say "I can't go, I'm married to your sister"

They would always reply "You don't tell our wives and we won't tell our sister"

And that would be considered the epitome of discretion. Letting your brother in law take you out whoring. Wonder how long that would remain a "family secret".

[thaibeachlovers]

4 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I could go on and on, all day long. I live at a level here, that I would never be able to live at, in the US, in most of Europe, in Oz, or Canada. Yes, the higher baht is an annoyance. And yes things are more expensive than they used to be. But, it is very relative.

Fair enough. For me it was the cost of living and the temperature. I hate being cold.

I had less money than you, but as I didn't frequent bars anymore, or rent women, I had enough.

The killer for me was the cost of medical insurance.

[jerrymahoney]

58 minutes ago, MayBeNow said:

I think there are very few foreigners that have a Thai male friend, a buddy, a mate.

I did for a while and we had fun. But sooner or later he the conversation would turn to his business and why I should invest in it and that just got too tiresome.

[jerrymahoney]

5 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I could go on and on, all day long.

Why? AseanNow keeps a non-exclusive royalty-free copyright on anything you write.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, jerrymahoney said:

Why? AseanNow keeps a non-exclusive royalty-free copyright on anything you write.

I didn't write that. You have to go to the original post to quote or the wrong user name comes up. Please change your quote before the edit time expires.

[siftasam]

Tanomazu, so sorry to hear what's happening to Spain. It's 15 years since I've been there.

 

I would look to buy in a still traditional country area quite close to the sea, golf (for social reasons as much as anything), and good mountain walking.

 

Every week on 'eyeonspain.com' newsletter I see properties that look lovely and are not too pricey. Brit owners want to sell quickly,. although I can't think why as Spain has a very good record of COVID vaccination.

 

What is one allowed to say about the influx of immigrants situation in Europe and the UK? Lawful and unlawful immigrants.

 

What you say reminds of beautiful Venice as portrayed I'm sure extremely accurately in the very fine series of Inspector Brunetti novels by the gifted American  Donna Leon. She writes so convincingly, about the seemingly 'endemic' corruption too.

 

Whatever happens, I won't go back to England. I love it too much (or at least what it was). It will survive without me.    (It will still have my taxes, of course!)

 

 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, MayBeNow said:

I think there are very few foreigners that have a Thai male friend, a buddy, a mate. The only time i came close to having male buddies i had in Myanmar. People seem more open minded there in my opinion, can be the legacy of colonialism.

I had a few, but they all wore frocks and pretended to be women.

[BritManToo]

19 minutes ago, siftasam said:

Every week on 'eyeonspain.com' newsletter I see properties that look lovely and are not too pricey. Brit owners want to sell quickly,. although I can't think why as Spain has a very good record of COVID vaccination.

Brits no longer have the right to live in Spain since Brexit.

Not much point in owning a house you can only live in for 90 days.

Edited August 3, 2021 by BritManToo

[Sparktrader]

55 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I learned some years ago not to discuss anything controversial with any woman, as it always ended badly. Say the slightest thing to offend their sensibilities and it's like the end of the world armageddon. Of course they can never be wrong, as I found with my wife.

Treat them like puppies. Pats on head and treats.

[BigStar]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

The Vietnamese were hostile towards an Asian woman being with a Western man.

Probably your imagination, but Vietnamese don't have a lot of respect for Thais anyway and probably figured your wife for a Thai ho' and you for a john. Actually farang in Thailand similarly stereotype, just without the hostility, real or imagined.

 

I know Western guys living in 'Nam with Vietnamese wives and gf who report no such hostility. And "nice" Vietnamese girls seem much less reluctant, and therefore unconcerned about "hostility," to date a Western man than "nice" Thai girls, the latter seemingly a lot more mercenary.

 

[spidermike007]

OK, while we are on the topic of nonsense, this is specifically addressed to the "defenders of the realm", who often say they are not doing a bad job here, look around the world at all the Covid problems.

 

My chief complaints about Covid here are the uneven way the lockdowns and shutdowns, and restrictions are imposed, and the mega failure of the vaccination program.

 

So, I have a riddle for you guys. Just went to Tesco. There were typical clusters of three to eight people waiting on line. Outside, all of the small shops were shut down. A small shop in front usually has one person working, who is serving one customer, at most, in the fresh air, with circulation. So, how is this a greater hazard than the groups inside Tesco, with little circulation, and the same applies to Home Pro, Makro, etc.?

 

Any reasonable explanation for this? Or is it simple picking on the little guy, and sabotaging more lives and more economic potential? 

[BritManToo]

Just now, spidermike007 said:

Any reasonable explanation for this?

Tesco can afford bigger and better bribes!

[spidermike007]

2 minutes ago, BigStar said:

Probably your imagination, but Vietnamese don't have a lot of respect for Thais anyway and probably figured your wife for a Thai ho' and you for a john. Actually farang in Thailand similarly stereotype, just without the hostility, real or imagined.

 

I know Western guys living in 'Nam with Vietnamese wives and gf who report no such hostility. And "nice" Vietnamese girls seem much less reluctant, and therefore unconcerned about "hostility," to date a Western man than "nice" Thai girls, the latter seemingly a lot more mercenary.

 

Actually, my wife has a "Pan Asian" look, and they were constantly starting conversations with her in Viet, so your presumptions were all wrong. And by the way she dresses, they would likely not mistake her for a working girl. And this was not an occasional thing. It was often, both in the north and the south. 

[spidermike007]

5 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Treat them like puppies. Pats on head and treats.

Here we go with the PC brigade. Always an assumption of misogyny. Compliments to your trainers. They did a good job. One more man down.

[Sparktrader]

Just now, spidermike007 said:

Here we go with the PC brigade. Always an assumption of misogyny. Compliments to your trainers. They did a good job. One more man down.

What? How is that pc? Its the opposite

[Sparktrader]

3 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Actually, my wife has a "Pan Asian" look, and they were constantly starting conversations with her in Viet, so your presumptions were all wrong. And by the way she dresses, they would likely not mistake her for a working girl. And this was not an occasional thing. It was often, both in the north and the south. 

Pan Asian was a airlines

[Sparktrader]

27 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Brits no longer have the right to live in Spain since Brexit.

Not much point in owning a house you can only live in for 90 days.

True. Life is getting worse.

[chalawaan]

I did a runner a few years ago, ranged as far as South America, via EU and the Philippines. I came back in less than 18 months. I enjoy good undiluted wines, but I reconcile the luxury taxes knowing that the way prices are in Australia, mid range wine here is not much more than the cost of the same brands sold in Australia. Old world wines are even cheaper, and when one considers all the other savings here, it balances out.

 

It will get worse here, we are absolutely going to get a hard core coup barring divine intervention, or maybe even because of it. But until they really turn on us foreign devils, I'll keep quietly gaming the system as best I can. My ultimate lurk to date was getting quality seized weed off a senior coppers kid, who is also a big time stoner!

Rather proud of that one.

[BigStar]

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

Actually, my wife has a "Pan Asian" look, and they were constantly starting conversations with her in Viet, so your presumptions were all wrong.

Then that doesn't seem hostile after all.???? Then they found out she wasn't in fact a Viet but most likely a Thai, as accompany so many farang to Vietnam, with the same job class.

 

4 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

And by the way she dresses, they would likely not mistake her for a working girl.

Wrong. Working girls don't always appear like working girls. Smarter ones often don't. All AseanNow members know that.

[473geo]

6 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

OK, while we are on the topic of nonsense, this is specifically addressed to the "defenders of the realm", who often say they are not doing a bad job here, look around the world at all the Covid problems.

 

My chief complaints about Covid here are the uneven way the lockdowns and shutdowns, and restrictions are imposed, and the mega failure of the vaccination program.

 

So, I have a riddle for you guys. Just went to Tesco. There were typical clusters of three to eight people waiting on line. Outside, all of the small shops were shut down. A small shop in front usually has one person working, who is serving one customer, at most, in the fresh air, with circulation. So, how is this a greater hazard than the groups inside Tesco, with little circulation, and the same applies to Home Pro, Makro, etc.?

 

Any reasonable explanation for this? Or is it simple picking on the little guy, and sabotaging more lives and more economic potential? 

Too much covid discussion, too many differing views from different perspectives, round and round we go. Disappointed this has become another covid discussion!! If covid is all you guys can find to stimulate  conversation then indeed life must be bordering on the unbearable!!

[BigStar]

2 hours ago, FunkyDunky58 said:

Take a look at Vietnam. Cheaper on most fronts, and they are making a lot more effort to welcome retirees than here.

I hear the welcome mat is being rolled up.