Sadly I feel my time in the LOS is coming to an end

[sanuk711]

Joined last week---768 words to say good bye to us-------Its very touching...........

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, OneeyedJohn said:

One has to commit to one's decisions, best not start whining 15 years later, won't get you anywhere.

No sympathy here.

I disagree. For many of us life is an ever evolving process. Committing to something 15 years ago should not inhibit one from progress, change, and moving on. And complaining about the current state of affairs here is simply a natural thing to do, and a realistic way to look at things. A lack of sympathy for someone wanting to change and improve their lives is in itself a rather narrow minded state of affairs. 

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, Concerned observer said:

Having been here now for more than 15 years I fear that my time of investing my life's savings and pensions, earned in my home country, in Thailand, is coming to an end. Certain issues have made me rethink my future and I shall now start looking for suitable alternatives. I am sick and tired on the Thai peoples xenophobia - Thais first, their constant begging for overseas support/investment/aid, their belief that everything they do, say and demand is right......

Thats as far as I got....   The people who commented on ‘white space / paragraphs’ are correct. 

 

Thats said: Your points are extremely valid....  I wouldn’t say Thai people are xenophobic, but the 'Thai first' attitude of officialdom suggests an element of xenophobia I have a struggle tolerating. 

 

Thai people are great at a face to face level, as are most people world wide - but there are just too many official policies which negatively impact foreigners or simply place them a step or two lower on the ‘ladder’ of official and social equality. 

 

Dual pricing is something I find abhorrent - The Hua Hin hospital example being just one of many, national parks, sports areas around Thailand (Bangkok) that are charing foreigners 5 to 10 x more for no other reason that they are foreign is outrageously distasteful. 

 

I have never read or heard of one single valid argument to justify the existence of double pricing based on nationality alone. 

[Hummin]

2 hours ago, ed strong said:

Hopefully you will get the recognition you deserve in the next country you decide to call home, good luck.

Anyone with that kind of mindset as the  op have, will have problems anywhere in this world with something or somebody! 

 

But it is his first post on this forum, and it is a nice story for newbies to read who still have their pink glasses on. 

[Hummin]

31 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I disagree. For many of us life is an ever evolving process. Committing to something 15 years ago should not inhibit one from progress, change, and moving on. And complaining about the current state of affairs here is simply a natural thing to do, and a realistic way to look at things. A lack of sympathy for someone wanting to change and improve their lives is in itself a rather narrow minded state of affairs. 

15 years ago we all got more for our money, and visas was as easy to hand over the passports to and agent who fixed everything for 500 or 1000 baht. The girls smiled  and nobody had their face in the phones. We where the rock stars here in Thailand. Doesnt feel like that anymore, but still a good country to live if you do know your days could be limited here on short notice for any reasons. 

 

 

[steven100]

bye  ....    don't  forget to write.

[transam]

32 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

You will probably find the poster has been around TV for years.  just using a different persona for this.  Plenty of people on here have re-invented themselves for various reasons.

.......usually because home alone.....????

[BritManToo]

All the complaints listed in the OP don't affect my life in any way.

I like it here.

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Re your buying of many things including, apparently, land, which is illegal for you to own, setting up a company etc, as my Thai sister in law would say, "no one asked you to".

But doing so in many countries would provide far greater individual rights rather than remaining a consider alien.

 

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 

You seem overly concerned at corruption in LOS, but it was so long before you arrived and will be so long after you have departed. The faces may change but the practice stays the same IMO.

 

IMO any farang that thinks that they are special because

a/ they married a Thai

b/ they spent money in LOS

c/ they engaged in business

d/ they employed Thais

e / anything not covered by a to d

 

is fooling themselves.

Any foreigner here who thinks they are more special than any other Thai or person around them is wrong.

Equally so, any Thai, who because they are in Thailand thinks they are any more special than a foreigner is also wrong.

 

But any other ‘person’ here who believes they should have the same ‘human’ rights, is quite correct. 

 

Any other ‘person’ resident in Thailand (i.e living here, married here, owns property here, employed here etc) who believes they should have equal rights to all those around them are correct, many in other countries achieve those rights far more readily. 

 

Any person who believes another person is not as ‘important’ as them or deserving of less respect than them based on nationality, creed or colour, is wrong.

 

 

And... anyone with an opinion on the abhorrent nature of corruption in Thailand is not wrong, they are quite correct and their opinions very closely overlap with many Thai’s.

 

In fact, many of the criticisms levied against Thailand by foreigners who’ve spent time here is very closed matched by many / most Thai’s.

 

 

[Gecko123]

The OP's list of grievances did seem to have a somewhat high-altitude perspective. My list of reservations about Thailand is more 'boots-on-the-ground': authoritarian governments in the region, China's growing political influence in Thailand, the rise of the surveillance state, infringements on freedom of the press, lowered insurance on bank deposits, stiff tariffs on clothing and personal items ordered from overseas, rising poverty in my village driven by climate change and a public education system which, as the OP correctly points out, has long failed to deliver genuine educational opportunities to most of rural Thailand. These issues affect my daily life and aren't easily brushed aside, as some have suggested, with a flick of the wrist.

 

The problem comes when you start comparing potential alternatives. As I am sure the OP is aware, the goal posts for repatriation have shifted drastically in the past 20 years. Specifically, monetary policy (artificially depressed interest rates) have resulted in hyper-inflated housing and asset prices in much of the West. At a minimum, repatriation to the West will undoubtedly result in a drastic drop in your standard of living for housing, unless of course, you are one of the very few who managed to hold onto real estate during your tenure in Thailand.

 

It's when you start doing hard comparisons to other possible destinations that you realize that no place is perfect and that no matter where you live, trade-offs will have to be made. As alternatives are explored, options will emerge, which will help put your current dissatisfaction with Thailand in perspective.

 

My one word of caution is that - if you were like me - before moving to Thailand you were probably immersed in a fog of contemplation and dreaming about your new life in Thailand for a considerable length of time before actually moving here. Now that you are in Thailand, don't get lost in another fog of contemplation about your new life in 'future' land. You need to make an effort to live in the present. By all means: plan!, but try not to let planning for the future stop you from living in the present.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by Gecko123

[steven100]

[nobodysfriend]

31 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I have never read or heard of one single valid argument to justify the existence of double pricing based on nationality alone. 

Neither have I , but I know of certain ' Apartheid ' states that act like this because a part of the population is regarded as ' inferior ' because their external appearance is different from the main population , nothing else ... that is called ' Racism '.

7 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

It's when you start doing comparisons to other possible destinations that you realize that no place is perfect and that no matter where you live, trade-offs will have to be made.

Compromises will have to be made everywhere ... it is just about finding the ones that suit you best .

There are many things that go terribly wrong in Thailand now , but , for me , it is still better living here ...

My private Utopia will just be an illusion , realized that many years ago .

In Thailand , life is still easy , if you can avoid making mistakes .

[olfu]

Why complain? No country is perfect and nobody listen.

 

[nobodysfriend]

1 minute ago, olfu said:

Why complain? No country is perfect and nobody listen.

 

I listen ...

[Concerned observer]

Sincere apologies for the lack of paragraphs and length of the diatribe - I did not intend it to be that long. Just once I started it just flowed.

 

Also sorry for the use of the long words which some seem to have had problems either understanding or following. but I have never been a prolific poster on TV, I have been far too busy working. Mostly to raise funds for Thai Charitable Foundations and those less fortunate than I am - I am not financially obsessed.

 

I will not be returning to my birthplace, just looking at other alternatives - Puerto Rica, Colombia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, etc., hoping that my contribution to society will be better received, not for special recognition. Good afternoon 

[KarenBravo]

The trick is to see Thailand as an endless supply of amusement instead of an endless supply of bitterness and woe.

 

I've been traveling through developing countries all my adult life and I can tell you that Thailand really isn't that bad when you compare it to other developing countries.

Of course..........there's always the West.

[HeijoshinCool]

.

 

OP:

 

If you are looking to avoid corruption, whatever you do.....

 

Don't move to the USA.....

 

Or the UK.....

 

Or Europe.....

 

Or Africa....

 

Or Canada.....

 

Or Latin America.....

 

Or Australia...

 

Or...I gotta pee....

[WhiteBuffaloATM]

reminds me of that old school Demille novel “Up Country”…..

[richard_smith237]

26 minutes ago, Concerned observer said:

hoping that my contribution to society will be better received, not for special recognition. Good afternoon 

I think that is the point of frustration for many who don’t even hold hope for their 'contribution to society’ being better received, but just without being treated with total disregard.

 

 

Consider the foreigner married to a Thai who has purchased the house, lived in the house with his wife for 20 years. His wife dies.... then....  he has 12 months to sell it and get out - thats pretty atrocious. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WhiteBuffaloATM]

“ white space / paragraphs” objections. seriously ? nobody with a basic education should require that or struggle with the lack or stop reading…..nor be complaining about it…..not an essay contest here……accept people posting here emotionally and imperfectly…..thats where our Comments come in…..

petsonally I couldnt care less about OP composition skills…..his message is clear & heartfelt, if in this case, misguided in places with his high commitment errors with unrealistic high expectations…….

do sympathise though….. given a maximum effort with insufficient return …..and no gratitude it seems.

[mikebike]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

I disagree. For many of us life is an ever evolving process. Committing to something 15 years ago should not inhibit one from progress, change, and moving on. And complaining about the current state of affairs here is simply a natural thing to do, and a realistic way to look at things. A lack of sympathy for someone wanting to change and improve their lives is in itself a rather narrow minded state of affairs. 

I had a totally different reading of the post you responded to... He did not mean commit to your decisions and never change. He meant commit to your (possibly bad) decisions and don't whinge about it and move on. My reading of it anyway...

[Paul Christian]

Having spent winters in Thailand or Bali (as well as periods within these winters at numerous other S E Asian beaches/islands)  I can't say I've had nay regrets at all, and certainly none that have cost me any money or loss of dignity. Sure the immigration can be a bit surly and visa processes can get tedious but once out and about with my Thai friends, some of whom I've known for close to thirty years, it's been a lot of sunny fun.

 

I've never tried to fully live here, or invest here and rents are good value so why buy. I've read over 2000 books but nothing academic about Thailand, though do read a lot of history and politics. I've learned some Thai and had Thai partners and for the most part, that's been mutually rewarding. I like regular Thais and they are as frustrated about their leaders as we probably are about ours in all of our countries, but Thailand is for Thais to shape into a place more conducive to their aims, just as I vote in my country for what I perceive to be the better choice of an often tawdry  assembly of potential ministers.  

 

I won't even mention Bali and how badly managed their increasingly ruined natural resources are plundered and  exploited. But when I am there, again with my local friends, we have truly relaxing and happy times.

 

I discovered Thailand in my 20s and still like the place in my 50s and maybe that's because I don't expect too much from the place beyond the relaxation it gives me. I'd say most of us here would feel the same way and would smile when thinking about Thailand on a chilly and wet autumnal day in northern Europe

[mikebike]

48 minutes ago, Concerned observer said:

Also sorry for the use of the long words which some seem to have had problems either understanding or following. Those with brains realised that this is a new identity but I have never been a prolific poster on TV, I have been far too busy working. Mostly to raise funds for Thai Charitable Foundations and those less fortunate than I am - I am not financially obsessed.

Hmmmm... I see you popped back in to assert your superiority in the "long words" department AND to virtue-signal about "fund-raising" keeping you off TV (hint - you should have blamed your business, no one cares about your fund raising).

 

Anywho, seems like you are obsessed with something, and a great deal of your diatribe does focus around dosh...

[JWRC]

4 hours ago, Concerned observer said:

Having been here now for more than 15 years I fear that my time of investing my life's savings and pensions, earned in my home country, in Thailand, is coming to an end. Certain issues have made me rethink my future and I shall now start looking for suitable alternatives. I am sick and tired on the Thai peoples xenophobia - Thais first, their constant begging for overseas support/investment/aid, their belief that everything they do, say and demand is right, and that every other country and or national from that country is wrong. "Thailand does and always will, belong to the Thais" - as they religiously sing at 8am and 6pm every day although, perhaps not as much as they did five years ago. They are a very proud nation and always boast of never having been colonised - their history books conveniently omit to state that when the Japanese invaded on 8 December 1941 the 'war' that lasted all of 5 hours enabled the Japanese forces to march across Thailand to Burma. The previous 'war' that was over almost before it started was the Franco-Thai war in December 1940 and January 1941 was brief and inconclusive. The the Thai regime of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram celebrated the outcome of the war as a great victory, and the monument was commissioned, designed, and erected within a few months (Google it) which soon after became known as "the victory of embarrassment" by the Italian sculptor Corrado Feroci, who worked under the Thai name Silpa Bhirasi. I worked out this morning that I have purchased 5 new cars and one secondhand since I have been here. 5 new motorcycles and one secondhand. Purchased 3 condominiums, purchased land through my Thai wife and built two houses. Launched a company from scratch and employed countless Thai staff and sub contractors and paid 10 years of tax and SS - probably more than 75% of Thais will pay in their lifetime. Yet still I am treated like an idiot, ATM and with disrespect. There has been more than 30 military coup d'état attempts throughout the history of Thailand. The current "elected" government - I use the term lightly seem not to have the slightest clue how to run a country but are very good at buying useless military equipment and lining their own pockets. The "Joe Ferrari" case is and was a farce and he was even given a TV opportunity to explain his actions as "for the good of the Thai people". Watch him get away with having his wrists slapped after waiing profusely becoming a monk fore 30 days and absolving himself of any wrongdoing. What amazed me was Patchara Anuntasilpa, the Customs department’s director-general, who said the department examined its records and found that Police Colonel Thitisan had been the official in charge of confiscating 368 illegally imported vehicles, including luxury cars and supercars, during the period. Of the total, 363 cars were auctioned, raking in about 1 billion baht, and the remaining five have not been sold. According to customs regulations at the time, 30% of the proceeds from all smuggled products were incentives for police teams or those bringing cases to the attention of authorities and 25% were rewards to other officials, including police. The same could be said for DPM Prawit who has become incredibly rich despite just being an Army General being caught wearing 25 undeclared luxury watches. The majority of Thai people that I have met are gentle, good hearted, honest people but with role models in Thailand's elite purely interested in self-interest it is hardly surprising that most Thais now are always looking for an opportunity. The standards of Thai education are appalling - that is why any Thai that can afford it now either pays for the children to study abroad, in an international school or in a paid for Thai school. Prayut Chan-o-cha Thailand's prime minister and junta leader, said in 2017 that school reform was urgently needed. Following the military takeover of May 2014, Prayut, in a televised broadcast in July, ordered schools to display a list of 12 "Thai" values he composed.They are as follows:

Honesty, sacrifice, endurance, and noble ideology for the greater good

Gratitude for parents, guardians, and teachers

Diligence in acquiring knowledge, via school studies and other methods

Preserving Thai customs and tradition

Morality and goodwill toward others

Discipline, respect for law, and obedience to the older citizens

Physical and mental strength. Refusal to surrender to religious sins.

Uphold the interest of the nation over oneself.

 

Such a pity that he does not practice what he preaches

Quite a rant against Thailand, it would have been easier to read had you spaced it. Anyhow all of this dribble would not have a great impact on your life here, Life is what you make it and you can easily sidestep anything you don't like here or anywhere else. You should leave quickly, good luck.

 

4 hours ago, Concerned observer said:

 

 

[BE88]

Foreigner and this is the word that at a certain point begins to weigh over the years.

 

In the first years you do not care then over time you begin to make comparisons with your country where you have more rights and privileges than Thailand and then I start thinking about returning your country sooner or later for many.

[rumak]

3 hours ago, Dart12 said:

The world has changed so drastically in the past 1.5 years, you might not like any place.

Nothing you mentioned should not mean too much if you don't read the newspaper/news and just live life.

You make a very good point.   The trouble is......  when i go out I keep running into PEOPLE !  

(please,  no eyesight jokes)

[dunroaming]

1 hour ago, HeijoshinCool said:

.

 

OP:

 

If you are looking to avoid corruption, whatever you do.....

 

Don't move to the USA.....

 

Or the UK.....

 

Or Europe.....

 

Or Africa....

 

Or Canada.....

 

Or Latin America.....

 

Or Australia...

 

Or...I gotta pee....

There is corruption everywhere.  It tends to be at different degrees and with different levels of transparency. It is also dressed up in different forms. And when it is seen, it is perfectly acceptable to call it out. 

[Rimmer]

A completely off topic post about America has been removed

[Khabib]

59 minutes ago, WhiteBuffaloATM said:

HC: remind me of the “corruption” in UK ,at least at functional and mid level affecting ordinary / folk.

spent my first 23 years there plus 1984-2000…… never saw anything but fair people and fair transparent govt and market systems……. reckon same applies to Canada and EU……political high level corruption is everywhere but its ,what, 1% in the West …..compared to Africa / Asia/ Latin America/ East Europe, which are near 100% Corrupt…..so what you are talking about……?

I felt the same, until uk government decided to have a interest in my happy and successful family. Particularly taking a very close interest in my then, young, polite, good looking children. I'm afraid it turns out the uk government is an outrageous and disgusting corrupt organisation. I suggest looking up what family courts can do to people's lives (children), or perhaps the court of protection (selling old people homes) and putting them in care homes run by their social service buddies. You will find, these courts act in secret, cannot be public knowledge. I must suggest, take a peek behind the curtain in uk, you will not like what you see. Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford, Telford to name but a few. Jimmy Savile. Its rotten to the core in my opinion. Fortunately, we just came back to Thailand to escape that nightmare 10 years ago, very good decision, in hindsight for me.

[dunroaming]

5 minutes ago, Khabib said:

I felt the same, until uk government decided to have a interest in my happy and successful family. Particularly taking a very close interest in my then, young, polite, good looking children. I'm afraid it turns out the uk government is an outrageous and disgusting corrupt organisation. I suggest looking up what family courts can do to people's lives (children), or perhaps the court of protection (selling old people homes) and putting them in care homes run by their social service buddies. You will find, these courts act in secret, cannot be public knowledge. I must suggest, take a peek behind the curtain in uk, you will not like what you see. Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford, Telford to name but a few. Jimmy Savile. Its rotten to the core in my opinion. Fortunately, we just came back to Thailand to escape that nightmare 10 years ago, very good decision, in hindsight for me.

Living in the UK so of course I have a view based on my personal experiences.  Certainly the country is run by clueless donkeys with the opposition consisting of clueless donkeys singing a different tune.  Are they corrupt? Yes, in a self preservation sort of way.  The truth has no value as Boris demonstrates on a daily basis.  However, the people are starting to kick back so lets' see how that pans out in the future.

 

When we moved here from Thailand my wife took a while getting used to having to do things by the book.  No longer could a fistful of 1,000 baht notes get us anything we desired.