THE WEEK THAT WAS Fleeing Thailand for Copacabana - Rooster tried and it backfired miserably!

[terryofcrete]

23 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Sorry, I didn't read all of it.

Jeez... I know it is so time consuming .... all of 5 minutes  ... lol 

[MUSTYJACK]

On 10/31/2021 at 9:30 AM, Stevemercer said:

 

 

 

 

Once you've done that you should try your hand at some fiction set in Thailand.

He seems to be doing that already.

[GazR]

Re alternatives to Brazil: Argentina is currently in economic crisis mode and experiencing hyperinflation - again. Venezuela is a basket case. 

[csmith]

 

[Mike KIWI]

On 11/1/2021 at 10:19 AM, xylophone said:

So sorry to hear that Mike Kiwi, as I often have thoughts of returning to Godzone, but then sanity prevails and I remember my last visit back a few years ago and it was not the same place I left, but I consoled myself with the fact that everything changes so I could get used to it.

 

Now I get reports from friends in NZ, as well as reading the NZ Herald, and the country is being ruined, more so by the current Labour government than anything else and I just can't believe that it is going so far left, and a cartoon I saw just a short while ago summed it up and it went something like this: – "Advice to children. Work hard and long and pay your taxes......so that the government can pay the beneficiaries more".

 

There has always been class of people in NZ who just do not want to work and previous governments have always been too soft on them, but this one seems to have taken it to the extreme.

 

I also noticed on my last visit how prices had skyrocketed, and especially those of houses, so people trying to get on the housing ladder with their first house, are pretty well stuffed.

 

I've been here now for 15 years, so will probably see out my time here, because despite all of my grumbles, life isn't so bad here, and my plan B of returning to NZ, seems to have fallen by the wayside.

 

Good luck with your move back here, and at least you tried, and that's all one can ask.

I moved back at the start of the madness. A report called He pua pua has come to light calling for unelected co governance by 2040. Its being rolled out as we speak and does not seem to be possible to stop. all the mean while poverty and inequality is skyrocketing and the government who is causing it is saying they need more power to fix it. Last straw was when the govt admitted schools are going to start teaching white kids they are born with privilege. Its madness and i am now back living in Nangrong, esan. Let me know if you come through and we can cry into our beers at the loss of the most livable country in the world.

[xylophone]

13 hours ago, Mike KIWI said:

I moved back at the start of the madness. A report called He pua pua has come to light calling for unelected co governance by 2040. Its being rolled out as we speak and does not seem to be possible to stop. all the mean while poverty and inequality is skyrocketing and the government who is causing it is saying they need more power to fix it. Last straw was when the govt admitted schools are going to start teaching white kids they are born with privilege. Its madness and i am now back living in Nangrong, esan. Let me know if you come through and we can cry into our beers at the loss of the most livable country in the world.

That is so sad MK, and I hear similar reports from friends of mine still in NZ.

 

When I left 15 years ago it was still an okay country, however I needed to go somewhere where it was warmer all year round and where I would be away from the stress of corporate life, which I couldn't seem to get out of in NZ, because it was aggravating my reflux and Barrett's oesophagus.

 

It worked and I'm now pretty well stress free and the condition has cleared, but I did harbour hopes of perhaps going back there at some time if I had to – – but now??

 

Despite the useless government here, and the pitiful state that I see some of the poor Thai folk in, I can't see myself moving elsewhere unless I really have to, and then it could well be Malta, Crete and I did even think of Rarotonga!

 

Anyway thank you for the offer of a beer in Nangrong, and if I'm up that way, which is highly unlikely, I'll keep you in mind.

 

All the very best to you and your family.

[MyFriend You]

On 10/31/2021 at 2:38 AM, Mark mark said:

Well yes !!! If it only was that easy !!! .... Here in Australia ... "The Lucky Country" ??? You would just get ramped !!! ... left in the ambulance on the drive through, for several Hours !!! ... and a Nurse to increase your medication !!!  (Which I am not on) !!! ... Well do not even think about it .... mental health patients ! Like real ones !!! Just get told to go home, or back on to the street, ... and wait !!! ... Like for 3 days !!! ... As the mental health beds are ALL just totally and chockablock full here !!! ...

 

Like well ... just go back out and die out in to the street somewhere !!! ??? .... Like it is 8 Months delay to see a government provided Councilor !!! .... So well, God ! I hope that there really is NOT something wrong with you !!!... Like and you wonder why I might be just a little bit Anxious !!! being 66, ... and not actually owning my own house !!!

 

Yes it is easy when you are young, and are never going to die !!! ... Riding on the roof of Trains and busses, India !!! ... Old Kashmire ... Climbed up to 16,000 Ft with a broken pair of sunnies held on to my face with a boot lace !!! and 2 pairs of socks on my hands as gloves !!! .... Fell of the House boat in to the river Jelum and well lost the fellows Bucket !!! but was luckily rescued !!! Liek "Charos Man" !!! ??? 

 

And I did the Khmer rouge plagued Batembang to Phnom pen only 9 hrs. late train, with the flat cat in front of the Loco, to trigger all of the land mines without taking the engine out !!! ... and half of the illegally cut tropical rain forest in the Carriage, and much more on the totally destroyed roof, which let the tropical rain in … and in our back carriage ... a motorized Jinker deposited there, filling the isle up to about the top of all of the seats !!! after it caught us up on a straight !!! …

 

…  With these 2 synchronized old women, telling me that I really should have gone in a Taxi !!! and not on the train ... and why "Well maybe be danger” ... and no one would sit with me, just to prove that they thought this also !!!  ... Like they quite obviously did not want to get shot as well if the good Old KR Boys paid us a visit en Transit !!! ...

 

But an Old man sang a song that basically was saying "Thank You For Coming" !!! ... only ever repeated by a woman, on the Basque train in northern Spain for me !!! ... "Thanks for coming to see our land" !!! 

 

... And then a guy caught my face with his torch when they were unloading the wood, just outside of Phnom Pen, and shouts out "SPY" … and well yes !!! I got my head back inside the carriage Quick smart !!!

 

 ... Check point Charlie ? ... The Old East, ... Chalchescos Communistic Romania, ... sleeping out in a tent, ... hitched a ride with an American guy in a beat up old BM, who had driven down there, to rescue his cousin who was on a fake tourist trip !!! from the Old East, before the wall had come down !!!... ...  As so many other East Germans were doing at that time, to the point that it was debatable whether it was Them ? or the Polish Solidarity ? ... or the Old ladies that stood in front of the tanks out side the Vilnus TV station, as they announced their independence, and then the Russian tankies, realizing that they had just crushed 12 Old ladies with Pitch forks and bits of wood !!! ... All decided that they would not be very popular that day, !!! ... So they just all went home, ... and then left Lithuania permanently !!! ??? ...

 

Like the best Tourist spot in Vilnus except for the Frak Zappa memorial I suppose ..... Yes I wonder if it was that, that actually DID bring that very VERY Inhumane wall down !!! ... Like I nearly cried when I saw that happening !!! AT LAST !!!

 

Yes And from Kass Yougoslavia, ... take him back through Austria and in to Asylum in Germany !!! … And well all over the old east at that time,... the Securetate did not Really know we were there, as well, I was with a Japanese, so they all thought that we were Gypsies !!! ... Right !!! ...

 

Like I did all of that !!! ... and never thought that I was going to die !!!

 

But now, I know that yes, I AM going to die ... Skin Cancer ? Brain Cancer ? Or a heart attack ? ... I will go for cancer I think ! ??? ...

 

Yes, how many Old men leave Thailand when they are old, and start losing their health ! ? … Like it DOES happen to you, you know !!! ... If you live long enough to lose it, just slowly, I suppose ....

 

... How many of then actually just go back home to their own Home countries !!! ??? Like the Go Fund me ... sorry but, ...“Life was NOT, always that much fun” brigade !!! ... ??? … I reckon about 80% from the ones that I have seen do go home eventually ... if they can !!! ??? …

 

So well I am still here … back at Home ... not in a wheel chair yet !!! … But well I had to buy a walker, that I really did not need !!! in order to get them to let me out of Hospital, when I DID Unfortunately end up in there ... and cheers Fellas, and have another one !!! ... …. But well Yes ALSO watch it !!! ...

 

But I still want to get back in to Thailand !!! and have another go at it !!! … Hitch Hike all the way from Singapore up to Bangkok ??? … Well not anymore !!! ... It is really hot if you have to walk over the causeway right !!! ... And through the now urban sprawl of Malaysian towns !!!

 

… Mark mark MARK !!!

Loved your story, kinda like a Jimmy Buffet song, or the Forrest Gump Movie.  Peace

 

[Mark mark]

7 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Loved your story, kinda like a Jimmy Buffet song, or the Forrest Gump Movie.  Peace

 

Wow !!! Nice Man !!! AND OK !!! Thanks. ... Like as long as I do not sound like a Dead Man Walking !!! Right !!! ... Like YES, Mark mark MARK !!!! "NO Negative Soap Boxes" !!! Right Mate !!! ... Listening to Jimmie Buffit !!! and Thanks !!! (No negative Soap boxes !!! But unfortunately just now ... A ???  ... "Just too many Rats In the Box" situation ???) ???? Right ???

[MyFriend You]

2 minutes ago, Mark mark said:

Wow !!! Nice Man !!! AND OK !!! Thanks. ... Like as long as I do not sound like a Dead Man Walking !!! Right !!! ... Like YES, Mark mark MARK !!!! "NO Negative Soap Boxes" !!! Right Mate !!! ... Listening to Jimmie Buffit !!! and Thanks !!! (No negative Soap boxes !!! But unfortunately just now ... A ???  ... "Just too many Rats In the Box" situation ???) ???? Right ???

Rats in the Box??  an experiment where a rat is put in a box and taught to pull a lever to get food??

No, thats no way to go out, I always figured I'd pass onto the other world with two bullets in my chest, blood in my mouth and my hands around the neck of the guy that shot me.............there is still a beach out there I haven''t walked on yet so I'll keep on and on until???? ............................. ????  Peace

[Mark mark]

18 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Rats in the Box??  an experiment where a rat is put in a box and taught to pull a lever to get food??

No, thats no way to go out, I always figured I'd pass onto the other world with two bullets in my chest, blood in my mouth and my hands around the neck of the guy that shot me.............there is still a beach out there I haven''t walked on yet so I'll keep on and on until???? ............................. ????  Peace

Thanks Brother !!! Yes I am glad that you are still around also !!! ... Leave the Real, war, Real Tragedy for Hollywood to work with now mate !!! ??? .... No Too Many Rats in the Box" ... Over Population. Like the fact that even only 200 Years ago ? well, maybe 3 or 400 ... there actually were empty places in the world !!! .... But now there is NOT !!! ... Every where is owned by some one !!! ??? Even Ant Arctica ??? Right ??? .... And the Epidemic !!! .... Over crowding made it so possible !!! ... Like it always does. .... ... So The Rats pushing the right button for the water !!! ... Well that IS here also !!! ... Every thing with People serving is closing ... and we all are being forced to Push Buttons, on line to live now !!! and well even get in to Thailand. ! ? Right .... Yes the "Too Many Rats in the Box" that I was talking about was Over Population !!! ... Where the Rats get born on top of each other, and just react badly, and start killing each other !!! ... And Or an epidemic like CV 19 Wipes them all out !!! ??? ??? ... Thanks Tunnelrat ... (I am ? well actually was, a more Peaceful Tunnel Ratt you know, when I was a speleologist !!! ... A Cave Explorer, like the guys that helped rescue those Boys from the Stream Passage cave in Chang Rai !!! - Only with out an aqualung !!! ) ... Thanks Mate !!! nd have a nice Week !!!

[Mark mark]

On 11/1/2021 at 11:40 AM, Mike KIWI said:

I actually didnt mind it for me but our government is hell bent on handing over power to the indigenous by 2040. They are teaching white kids they are privileged and non white kids they are born with a disadvantage. Its all hard to believe.

Depends where you are Borne I guess ? In a country with a predominantly White Government ? or a Brown or black one ??? ... Like take you Thai girlfriend to Malaysia and she will have a nice time ? ... Probaby. ? ... But well ? Vietnam ????  ... ????

[jwest10]

On 10/31/2021 at 11:20 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

Sorry, I didn't read all of it.

But it seems you were unhappy and you tried to make a change for more happiness and that didn't work out the way you expected.

Fine. You tried.

I think it is a lot better to try something new and learn from that compared to always doing the same and dreaming abut what could have been and sometime later in life asking questions like: what would life have been over there?

Can not see a dire

 

On 10/31/2021 at 11:55 AM, Mark mark said:

Nice Rooster !!! You still can make a story out of Nothing !!! ... ...  Like "Escape to South America" !!! What were you Thinking !!! ... They cut peoples hands off over there !!! Just to get their Watches !!! ... Like The American Dream !!! ... Gone Feral, out of control ! ... and just basically wrong !!!   ... (With out even arriving at their religion !!!! ????) ...  ...  Yes and Good on you, for YES, once again finding something OK to say about and in Good Old Thailand. ... Good on you. ... And I would look forward to browsing you book ??? 

 

Still just loosing my mind, and out of control, ... and Patience !!! ... Stranded in Australia. ... Mark Mark ..MARK !!! ..

 

(Like Hospital Cover to 3,000,000 THB !!! ... Yes the F' word !!! $2 or 3,000 ? AUD a year !!! if they will give it to you in the first Place !!! ... Like it makes 200B to see a Thai cave sound pretty cheap to me !!! !!!) ... I can just hear Bernard Trinks Ghost Laughing !!! as he roles over in his Grave !!! ... TIT !!!

 

(If you have University qualifications, are a Computer Programmer, and top CEO, 35 and with a LOT of energy !!! ... So you can understand the Process and make the journey to be able to get back in there !!! .... The new Must have FUNDS !!! ... "Bogans, Exclusion" ??? ... (And Old People, who are not VERY Rich !) ... .... Erra has arrived ???

Can not see a direct message back to Rooster 59 but just read it quickly today 3November and yes like so many having a varied and exciting life and found it very interesting.
In my lifetime and just quickly had the amazing experience of working on that amazing Island Bermuda way back in the 1970s and noticed you originally come from good ole  Beckenham , the posh part?  and one of your ex gf went over and lived in Eltham and amazingly my original home town
Yes, went to Rio while still in Bermuda just once and on holiday and  via Venezuela  and Argentina and even then did feel the danger and one of me mates went there several times and he told me that someone was chasing him long the famous beach for his gold neckless and managed to escape but even then felt the dangers.
However, in respective I can remember friends warning me of gun crime in New York and other places but it did not put me off travelling there and yes it is different visiting and working in a country, for sure.
The quote " You could get killed or seriously injured"  Well yes one would not do anything then.
Yes, certainly not got a pot of gold and so many think here that one is very rich but  14 years on am still here with a wonderful wife and family and yes a huge struggle what with the prices going up a huge amount and not just the last 2 years but we have a house and food on the table and manage a little travelling within the Province.
 

[jwest10]

On 10/31/2021 at 12:16 PM, Spellforce said:

I did exactly the opposite: I was working in many unsafe countries for many years in Africa (but language was not a barrier as I can speak french, english and portuguese) and I choose to settle in Thailand 18 years ago.

 

Even if was maybe one of the bigger "butterfly" in Thailand, I knew one thing: everybody ends with one woman and then your priorities change in your new "normal" life. What matters then is security, nice people, good infrastructures, hospitals, shopping malls, internet, schools for your children etc... I'm still really happy to have choosen to settle in Thailand.

See my post today 3rd November and very pleased for you, Spellforce.

[jwest10]

On 10/31/2021 at 12:27 PM, Caspersfriend said:

Rooster: It's realistic and honest stories such as yours that resonate with those of us who have ventured forth 'blindly' into the unknown.

 

Caspersfriend EXACTLY SEE MY POST 3RD NOVEMBER

[Mike KIWI]

3 hours ago, Mark mark said:

Depends where you are Borne I guess ? In a country with a predominantly White Government ? or a Brown or black one ??? ... Like take you Thai girlfriend to Malaysia and she will have a nice time ? ... Probaby. ? ... But well ? Vietnam ????  ... ????

New Zealand born. NZ has signed up to some UN indigenous peoples compact. They made a secrete plan to hand control over to the non white minority. I dont understand, it will ruin the country for everyone.

[JetsetBkk]

On 10/31/2021 at 10:50 AM, rooster59 said:

There have been many threads on the ASEAN NOW forum in recent years, especially during the pandemic, about leaving Thailand. A malaise has set in among many foreigners, a dissatisfaction with many citing petty bureaucracy, an uneasy feeling of being unwelcome, notions that Thailand is not what it was, not what they remembered years ago....

Best read I've had in years - ever since Scampy, R.I.P.

 

[Stargeezr]

Another great update of the news, and the Thailand situation, Rooster, thanks..  My Thai wife says for us to

wait until at least November of 2022 to go to Thailand. Her family keeps her informed of the

situation, and they do not trust that we would have a great visit if we went this Winter.

   I guess they do not want us living with them in their homes, and they have traveled around and

seen all the closed businesses in Pattaya and Hua Hin areas.  I have not been to South America, but did see Belize, Guatemala

 and Honduras, as as much as the visit was enjoyable there, I am much happier to spend time in Thailand

where the banking is much better, the food is great, and I feel much safer in most places in Thailand.

Geezer

   

[Mark mark]

19 hours ago, Mike KIWI said:

New Zealand born. NZ has signed up to some UN indigenous peoples compact. They made a secrete plan to hand control over to the non white minority. I dont understand, it will ruin the country for everyone.

Sorry Mike KIWI I did not realize you were dealing with Specifics and also N. Z. ... Yes You and us Australians do have this problem of Traditional Owners ? Still I think that you guys over there have sorted it out better ... So Far. ... but yes, as the Indigenous community gets back up !!! In Every Country !!! ... Yes it will be a hard situation to manage ... like my Old Mother says "It is not the Aboriginals Country, we took it, ...and we are not giving it back" .... Like she is 90 so no one takes much notice of her thought on that. ... (She is of Scottish Ancestry) ....

 

But yes ... they the Indigenous ? Original Owners ? ... are NOT going any where ..so well, WE will just have to start getting used to dealing with them !!! .... But as you say !!! This could be very VERY Difficult and with out a good ending ...

 

Like it IS basically TOO many Rats in the Box" !!! Over crowding, ..and not enough land, really to share, .... given the Human beings ? ... usual pentive of Greed. ... (Is Pentive the right word for that ?)

[Marpa47]

Dear Rooster, you said, “Damning press headlines about the latest clusters and full ICU’s continue. The bars remain shut.”

 

I said it before and I’ll say it again,  Vitamin D.  Zinc.  

 

In Scandinavian countries, (and in the past in the USA), vitamin D in ‘fortified’ milk etc… has been a great benefit.  Most city dwellers do not get vitamin D from the sun because they avoid it and stay indoors.  I would gladly see an increase in ‘new COVID’ numbers with zero deaths, a statistic which is of course unobtainable without exquisite marshaling of care for the aged an immune compromised that exists seemingly nowhere.  But if nutrition were not ignored especially in this specific case in preference to expensive, (and profitable) drugs, then maybe the ICU’s wouldn’t be overwhelmed and the healthcare staff would catch a break as well as the rest of us.  

[Marpa47]

Dear Rooster, you said, “For such annoying pettiness, for the complete debacle that has been Thailand’s pandemic response and the utterly shambolic “reopening'' -  all of Prayut and his cronies need to go. ”

 

It seems that politics here oscillates between extremes.  Are there any brilliant, honest, committed citizens willing to enter the political arena and make the sacrifices to make the necessary changes in spite of all the opposition from all sides that would ensue?  And is the average citizen even willing to follow through with the sacrifices that would have to be made to change generations old habits of thought and action that would make said changes possible?  Maybe being from the USA and having left in disgust at the escalation of seemingly every aspect of what leads to a breakdown of normal decent society, I have too negative a view of life now.  I hope that I am wrong.  But my opinion is that, like the best and brightest in other nearby countries who cannot stand the limitations of overly restrictive societies and have the past fled to more open societies, maybe the same process has happened here as well, leaving a vacuum of leadership.
 

[Marpa47]

Hi Rooster, I love your stories.  This one really had a poignant message.  Thank you for ‘baring your soul’.  I might not have the courage to do the same but then again I haven’t been and done all that you have.  Who was it who said that the best way to convey a message is with a story?  Was it Sir Terry PRATCHETT?  All the twists and turns of your life have surely given you some idea of life from some angles not regularly seen in the usual pathways traveled.  I really appreciate the view from the paths less traveled.

[BostonRob2]

On 11/4/2021 at 10:57 PM, Marpa47 said:

Hi Rooster, I love your stories.  This one really had a poignant message.  Thank you for ‘baring your soul’.  I might not have the courage to do the same but then again I haven’t been and done all that you have.  Who was it who said that the best way to convey a message is with a story?  Was it Sir Terry PRATCHETT?  All the twists and turns of your life have surely given you some idea of life from some angles not regularly seen in the usual pathways traveled.  I really appreciate the view from the paths less traveled.

Thank you for those kind observations. 

[Mike KIWI]

On 11/4/2021 at 10:49 AM, Mark mark said:

Sorry Mike KIWI I did not realize you were dealing with Specifics and also N. Z. ... Yes You and us Australians do have this problem of Traditional Owners ? Still I think that you guys over there have sorted it out better ... So Far. ... but yes, as the Indigenous community gets back up !!! In Every Country !!! ... Yes it will be a hard situation to manage ... like my Old Mother says "It is not the Aboriginals Country, we took it, ...and we are not giving it back" .... Like she is 90 so no one takes much notice of her thought on that. ... (She is of Scottish Ancestry) ....

 

But yes ... they the Indigenous ? Original Owners ? ... are NOT going any where ..so well, WE will just have to start getting used to dealing with them !!! .... But as you say !!! This could be very VERY Difficult and with out a good ending ...

 

Like it IS basically TOO many Rats in the Box" !!! Over crowding, ..and not enough land, really to share, .... given the Human beings ? ... usual pentive of Greed. ... (Is Pentive the right word for that ?)

What we have in New Zealand is the 'native' population completely interbreed. Our dear leader Jacinda Ardern continues to say 'we are one' but she has commissioned a plan called he pua pua which divides very clearly into two. we are becoming an apartheid state. 50% Maori control and they have non elected veto rights. Its not going to go well with a few non elected Maori being in control.

[Mark mark]

18 minutes ago, Mike KIWI said:

What we have in New Zealand is the 'native' population completely interbreed. Our dear leader Jacinda Ardern continues to say 'we are one' but she has commissioned a plan called he pua pua which divides very clearly into two. we are becoming an apartheid state. 50% Maori control and they have non elected veto rights. Its not going to go well with a few non elected Maori being in control.

Yes, all pretty sad Really. .... Just a link to another guy, who was about the best and most famous Painter in New York (And probably the world ?) in the 80's ... but he never could come to grips with ... Just being ? ? ... or being Treated ? ... like a "Black"  ... So thay said on the wall, next to his most great paintings,  ... at the end of his Exhibition at the Guenhimer in Bilbao, Basque Spain, in about 2016 I think ?  ... Like I have probably waisted my Whole Life !!!! ... But I did not waist that day, when I went there.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDh9PIYXa40

 

and ... If the first Link survives ? ... Not really being a TV. or other sort of legal posting expert ? my self ???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6LDKLAHzR8