All the issues with Thailand

[StreetCowboy]

3 minutes ago, zzaa09 said:

I guess low and shallow character has it's place.

Plaice.
Bottom-feeders with both eyes on the same side of their head.

A bit Salvador Dali...

[Maybole]

5 years ago my local butcher in Rural Scotland charged £7.50 (Thb330) per kg for beef mince. Here in Chiang mai last week, I paid Thb270 for the same thing from a halal butcher.

[StreetCowboy]

7 minutes ago, Maybole said:

5 years ago my local butcher in Rural Scotland charged £7.50 (Thb330) per kg for beef mince. Here in Chiang mai last week, I paid Thb270 for the same thing from a halal butcher.

That's magic, being able to get halal mince.  

And only GBP 6 per kilo?
No wonder so many people choose to live in Thailand in their dotage, when Tesco's finest Aberdeen Angus is GBP 8 / kg. and for all I know, it might not be halal.


 

[The Cipher]

9 hours ago, Boarn said:

I have no idea what attracts people to Thailand now, if you've moved recently, why? I would genuinely like to know!

I came in December of 2020 and began to build out a second-home in Bangkok. Had lived/worked in various Asian cities in the past. I chose Bangkok because it has grown into a developed enough metropolis to have the amenities and offerings that I want, and the value proposition - my lifestyle per dollar spent - was really good.

 

It's also a central hub to places that I want to visit often and/or explore. Four hours or less flying to Southeast Asia and Taiwan/Hong Kong, and under six hours to Korea/Japan.

 

I also appreciate that I'm more free to just be myself here than in Canada - my other home - where folks are always subtly trying to enforce 'Canadian values.'

 

One of the interesting things I've noticed from spending some time on this board is that some of the things that attracted me to the city are the same things longtime residents dislike. I haven't quite worked through the implications of that observation, but there might be an interesting takeaway there.

 

I'm also frequently surprised to see comments about Bangkok becoming expensive, when I still see it as very good value relative to what else is out there in the world.

 

Quote

7. Fun cars are too expensive.

 

This is bang on tho. The <deleted> import tax is some bs. If you want to protect your domestic industry like, ok, but then could you at least build something domestically that isn't a lame econobox or pickup truck?

[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

the xenophobia is a pain,

I've been seeing that sort of comment a lot on the forum recently, but perhaps such posters live in a different Thailand than I did. In all my years visiting and living in LOS I never ever experienced xenophobia. I experienced a lot of other problems, such as ever increasing bureaucracy at immigration, and the usual incompetence by those "in charge" ( not something unique to Thailand ), but can't say I ever thought I was being disadvantaged by "xenophobia".

If we use the definition as provided by google ;

dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.

I have seen a lot of that in other countries, but Thailand, in my experience, was lacking that particular problem.

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, Maybole said:

5 years ago my local butcher in Rural Scotland charged £7.50 (Thb330) per kg for beef mince. Here in Chiang mai last week, I paid Thb270 for the same thing from a halal butcher.

If you think that's expensive, don't try to get a bit of decent lamb in LOS.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, The Cipher said:

This is bang on tho. The <deleted> import tax is some bs. If you want to protect your domestic industry like, ok, but then could you at least build something domestically that isn't a lame econobox or pickup truck?

Not a problem for most of Thailand's 69+ million inhabitants, and they are what is important, no?

[The Cipher]

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Not a problem for most of Thailand's 69+ million inhabitants, and they are what is important, no?

Yeah, you're absolutely right. My comment was tongue in cheek, but the censorship of '????ffing' made it sound more serious than how I meant it.

 

I just take the tax as motivation to get my net worth high enough that the tax irrelevant. "฿18M for an AMG GT? Whatevs."

 

 

[zzaa09]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I've been seeing that sort of comment a lot on the forum recently, but perhaps such posters live in a different Thailand than I did. In all my years visiting and living in LOS I never ever experienced xenophobia. I experienced a lot of other problems, such as ever increasing bureaucracy at immigration, and the usual incompetence by those "in charge" ( not something unique to Thailand ), but can't say I ever thought I was being disadvantaged by "xenophobia".

If we use the definition as provided by google ;

dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.

I have seen a lot of that in other countries, but Thailand, in my experience, was lacking that particular problem.

Perhaps when folks speak of xenophobia in relation to Thailand they're referring to govt policies, which do have this slight feel about them. Never would one consider Thais [of any everyday class] of this nature - they're not like this at all. 

 

 

Oddly enough, I find that those who use and direct this term are themselves very hateful towards who knows what - a culture, country, a people, whatever.........with no purposeful reasoning or logic behind their "hate" that's been so conditioned. 

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I've been seeing that sort of comment a lot on the forum recently, but perhaps such posters live in a different Thailand than I did. In all my years visiting and living in LOS I never ever experienced xenophobia. I experienced a lot of other problems, such as ever increasing bureaucracy at immigration, and the usual incompetence by those "in charge" ( not something unique to Thailand ), but can't say I ever thought I was being disadvantaged by "xenophobia".

If we use the definition as provided by google ;

dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.

I have seen a lot of that in other countries, but Thailand, in my experience, was lacking that particular problem.

If you look behind the smile, you will find it, it's there, that or I am just paranoid, or perhaps I am using the wrong word, maybe jealousy could be a replacement, or an addition, either way i find both exist as much as paranoia does.

[Farmerslife]

10 hours ago, Boarn said:

Not true, the thrill was the price and what people would do for basically nothing, they won't anymore.

So to summarise,  your gripe is that because the standard of living has risen for much of the population, your "thrill" at being able to exploit people less fortunate than yourself for your personal gratification has been diminished.

 

Good grief!

[chrissables]

Not only have the prices increased, as everywhere in the world i would think, but the exchange rate has made a large impact. 75 baht to a pound when i bought my place here down to 39 not long ago, that has made living costs expensive more so.

[Kwasaki]

6 minutes ago, chrissables said:

Not only have the prices increased, as everywhere in the world i would think, but the exchange rate has made a large impact. 75 baht to a pound when i bought my place here down to 39 not long ago, that has made living costs expensive more so.

That's a personal point of expense a 25 baht plate of noodles is still 25 baht not more expensive. 

[BKKrichard]

On 6/6/2021 at 1:24 PM, puchooay said:

The last time I looked at their website I noticed many items were branded.

 

I then checked the brand names on Google and went straight to the supplier.

 

I have to disagree with your comment

 

9 hours ago, Maybole said:

5 years ago my local butcher in Rural Scotland charged £7.50 (Thb330) per kg for beef mince. Here in Chiang mai last week, I paid Thb270 for the same thing from a halal butcher.

Kindly let me know the name and location,

[chrissables]

18 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

That's a personal point of expense a 25 baht plate of noodles is still 25 baht not more expensive. 

If working here, yes. If bring money in from abroad, noodles are still 25 baht, but up 40 odd percent in real cost. 

 

 

[Presnock]

Well, I first came to Thailand 50 years ago, assigned to NKP as a tech rep to the AF.  I fell in love with Thailand at that time, especially the food, but, as I worked 16 hours a day during a 1-year period, I did not get to fully experience the rest of Thailand and what it had/has to offer.  I convinced my family (wife and young daughter) to take an assignment to Bangkok.  Again, I fell in love with what was offered.  My family at first totally hated it as the culture was so different to them (they had spent the year that I was in NKP on an island in MD).  But, after 6 months here they both agreed that life was much more exciting here in Thailand.  They liked it so much that we spent the next 25 years in other countries, but several times we also were able to get several more assignments to Bangkok.  Each time we noted the BIG changes noted as progress in local media, but as usual not so much to our

liking.  But based on other assignments when I retired, I decided that Thailand was still #1 on my list.

My farang wife passed away and although I had no plans to remarry, I did so and to a Thail. With her we have a daughter who is now 17 and just about ready to go to the US for college.  At first my wife and I planned to take her back and return to our house here but embassy advised that since my wife doesn't work, their interview would indicate that she probably wouldn't return so they said we had to do an immigrant visa.  We are working on that now.  I still love Thailand, now much older and remembering the cold, snowy winters, summer storms of many types, etc, costs other than utilities and most foods I eat are much cheaper here (I think but since I haven't gone shopping in the US for so long, not sure but do know that Thai food in the US is much more expensive as are utilities, especially electricity both summer and winter.  Gasoline and vehicles though are much more expensive here than in the US.  I could easily live in the US on my retirement but like I keep saying, even with the negative changes here, I still love it though I do miss some of the US too..

[Kwasaki]

20 minutes ago, chrissables said:

If working here, yes. If bring money in from abroad, noodles are still 25 baht, but up 40 odd percent in real cost. 

 

Fair call it is an issue but not for Thais. 

16 years ago I could get 3 large bottles of Chang for a 100 baht.

My pub restaurant it's now 60 baht for 1 large bottle. 

Mum & pops shop 50 for a cold large bottle.

580 a box now that's an issue. ????

[1FinickyOne]

14 hours ago, Orac said:

I have real issues with the way they put rubber bands on plastic bags here

Me too!! Immigration is a breeze compared to this.. always spilling the sauce on the counter, then I have to wash the scissors...

 

 

[1FinickyOne]

44 minutes ago, chrissables said:

If working here, yes. If bring money in from abroad, noodles are still 25 baht, but up 40 odd percent in real cost. 

 

 

As compared to the price where? It's not expensive if the same plate of noodles costs you $10 back home... 

[Peterphuket]

19 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Places in Phuket I Iiked back in 2000 as of now I'd never go back there again.

I have lived there from 1998 until 2010, and have the same experience. I'll never go back for living there.

[Peterphuket]

19 hours ago, Boarn said:

Further to my original post.

 

The issue is not change, it's how it's changed.

 

Let's say they closed your favorite location, that may be the pool places on Soi 7, this is not replaced with something similar, it's going to be a condo block. That is not suitable change.

 

If you heard someone say, wow they just opened a new place on Soi 11, it's even cheaper than xyz, yes I would like this change. But it's not happened this may.

That's with many things in LOS, today it is there, tomorrow it is disappeared, and nobody know to where.

[chrissables]

4 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

As compared to the price where? It's not expensive if the same plate of noodles costs you $10 back home... 

I was comparing the price here. Before the baht was 75 to the pound, it went down by 40 odd percent, so that make it more expensive by 40 percent.

[Kwasaki]

1 minute ago, Peterphuket said:

I have lived there from 1998 until 2010, and have the same experience. I'll never go back for living there.

Such shame I think letting Phuket be messed up like that. 

 

I guess Pattaya been like the way it is for a long time and going there for a night is a bit more fun seeing all the carry on. 

Again I would never want to live there. 

They both have there quiet places but again not for me. 

 

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

If you look behind the smile, you will find it, it's there, that or I am just paranoid, or perhaps I am using the wrong word, maybe jealousy could be a replacement, or an addition, either way i find both exist as much as paranoia does.

What I see on that subject is this: farang can tend to get angry and "go off" in very impolite ways and make large public displays of their often unjustified anger in ways that a Thai never would. This is witnessed as a great embarrassment and for some Thai, having to deal w/a farang, they are afraid that the farang is going to get angry... for whatever reason, reasonable or not.. 

 

i.e. - An old farang in the mall screaming wildly at a bank manager [who should be respected] about an ATM card - which has not been replaced for a year - - and I think it might have been at a bank from his home country... and had nothing to do w/the bank manager he was berating loudly in public.. 

 

people screaming at customer service people whose job it is to report the problem and cannot fix their home internet from the mall. 

 

I did see a farang very patiently explain to a customer service rep how they would do the job properly in his home country, [in case she should ever want to go there and get a job???] At least he wasn't making a scene, just giving a stupid, disconnected lecture to a young lady who was just doing her job.. 

[Peterphuket]

2 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Such shame I think letting Phuket be messed up like that. 

 

I guess Pattaya been like the way it is for a long time and going there for a night is a bit more fun seeing all the carry on. 

Again I would never want to live there. 

They both have there quiet places but again not for me. 

 

It will always changing, I never forget when I come for the first time to Phuket also that time somebody told me it was changed and not as before...

Everything is relative.

[1FinickyOne]

9 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

That's with many things in LOS, today it is there, tomorrow it is disappeared, and nobody know to where.

Thankfully in other countries places never close, go out of business, or owners retire... 

[Kwasaki]

6 minutes ago, chrissables said:

I was comparing the price here. Before the baht was 75 to the pound, it went down by 40 odd percent, so that make it more expensive by 40 percent.

I don't think that's a fair assessment it wasn't 75 for long. 

 

Exchange rates is not the way to look at price rises in Thailand in my book. 

[Bangkok Barry]

19 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Since 2003 when our house was built things have improved no end for us where we live.

Similar experience. I came to Thailand around 25 or 26 years ago, based for the first 15 years in Bangkok before moving close to my wife's village in Kalasin Province. Bought an empty house belonging to a friend of her family who had moved to Chonburi. Cost 600,000 when the baht was in the toilet and later I spent double that bringing it up to standard when we decided to move up here. Might be worth 3.5m now.

 

When I first came to the village it had dirt roads. Even some of the main road from Kalasin was a single-lane each way dirt road. That is now a dual carriageway. I could make a phone call within Thailand from a shop in the village, and to make an overseas call I had to go 10kms to a larger village and book the call. There were around three or four Thai tv channels. One, once a week, used to show a western film with the English soundtrack available on the radio, but when it was time for the evening news on the radio you lost the soundtrack until the news was finished. A TIT thing.

The big supermarket was a 7-11, and when we planned to move to the area I expected that we'd need to buy a chest freezer and make 260km round-trips every month or so to Khon Kaen to stock up.

 

Now, we have a large Lotus supermarket 10kms away, and a Big C and Makro 50km away. I have excellent internet from 3BB which allows me to watch UK and other tv via IPTV. Electricity supply is prone to breakdowns every month or so, and although it is annoying the lads are out at all hours and in all weathers to fix it within a few hours and usually within the hour. As an aside, when 3BB installed the internet they had a problem setting up the connection and worked until nearly midnight on a Sunday to get it working, helped by a supply of Leo beer and potato chips. Try getting that service in the 'real world'.

 

I'm now trying to get my wife to urge the local politicians, one of whom a family member works for, to get the electricity office to do something about the power cuts, that have been going on ever since I came here and which the locals just accept as normal and do nothing about.

Some things are not as good as before. The attitude towards foreigners by the government - not the people - has deteriorated. But that attitude might not be limited to foreigners. You would be hard pressed to find many Thais who approve of the government either.

Sure prices have increased, as they have everywhere in the world. They do, sometimes, seem to increase not by the usual 1-2% at a time as experienced most of the time elsewhere though, but by 10-20%, and that is making Thailand less appealing to many. And if you want western food and western quality then you are going to pay western prices, largely in Tops and so-called gourmet markets in hi-so malls. And, sometimes, first world prices come with third world service standards.

I come from the UK. Would I return? Probably not, largely because of the cost of accommodation there. But I do miss going into a pub, any pub, and invariably finding three or four beers I've never seen before that are worth a try. Definitely not the case in Thailand. And I miss decent fish and chips. I miss the seasons too, but know I'd have had enough of winter before Christmas came around. If I was able to move anywhere, which isn't going to happen, it would be to Spain, where food and drink prices are low and of excellent quality. Did you know you can pick up 3-4 small beers in a supermarket there for 30 baht.

[1FinickyOne]

30 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

16 years ago I could get 3 large bottles of Chang for a 100 baht.

And with the change from 1000 baht, you could fly to London and have dinner for 2 at a fine restaurant... 

[1FinickyOne]

8 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

I guess Pattaya been like the way it is for a long time

I passed through there in 1974... a dusty main road w/a few bungalows and a nice beach w/palm trees... etc... thankfully nothing has changed.