A reminder why Thailand is such a great place to live

[StevieAus]

40 minutes ago, Orinoco said:

Your right.

Oz is the best place on the planet,

shame it's full  of Australians.

But no worries the true locals  will have it back from you soon. !!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL.

will be well funny watching that.

Fair Dinkum mate.

 

 

 

Totally disagree, that’s why I decided to leave and live in Thailand.

As far as the original locals are concerned, the government has given  much of the country back to them arising out of the Mabo Lands Rights Case.

Unfortunately due to lack of accountability most of what is generated, plus the millions they receive each year in welfare etc ends up in a bottomless pit or against the wall.

[Orinoco]

6 minutes ago, recom273 said:

My water bill came in .. 35B - water comes from a shared hole in the ground.

Is that the same hole the buffalo , dogs, and cats, pee pee in !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

[recom273]

Just now, Orinoco said:

Is that the same hole the buffalo , dogs, and cats, pee pee in !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Its really clear - never any sediment like we used to get in the government water in Hat Yai city. However, it does taste salty, so I think they do <deleted> in the pond.

[Orinoco]

5 minutes ago, StevieAus said:

Totally disagree, that’s why I decided to leave and live in Thailand.

As far as the original locals are concerned, the government has given  much of the country back to them arising out of the Mabo Lands Rights Case.

Unfortunately due to lack of accountability most of what is generated, plus the millions they receive each year in welfare etc ends up in a bottomless pit or against the wall.

Typical Australian comments about the true owners of Australia.

They are no more than thick, alcoholic idiots to you lot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nice one.

or did i read your post wrong

[newnative]

7 hours ago, PizzaBoi said:

I'm going to bed but I'm sorry to say your post is mostly nonsense. I've rented lovely apartments in Thailand for the equivalent of $600 a month. That's in an expensive area like Phuket and my friends told me I was being ripped off at that rate, other areas of Thailand are even cheaper. And the notion you can't rent anything premium in Bangkok for less than £2,000/month is complete and utter BS.

 

The whole post was not just about prices. It was also about the availability and ease of attainability of things too.

 

Yes hotels are at discounted rates now, but even if they double post-COVID, they will still be far cheaper than their Western alternatives. Not quite sure why that's sad... If anything my post encourages people to visit/live in Thailand, which is exactly what their economy needs right now

     Thanks for your refreshing original post.  I'm an American and I think it would be much the same in the US--although you at least have the option to choose a warm-weather state.  I always chuckle when someone states that he can live as cheaply in his home country as he can here.  I certainly couldn't.

     Putting a roof over your head is usually one of the biggest monthly expenses--it's certainly a lot cheaper here.  10 years ago I was getting $1500 a month rent for a small 1 bedroom condo I owned and rented out--around 50,000 baht.  10 years later it's likely renting for 1800 to 2000 dollars a month.  Lots of nice condos in Pattaya and Bangkok for rent for much less than that--even pre-covid.  

    Food is also another big expense.  Buying groceries and cooking is cheaper here (except for some things like liquor) than the US but it's also much cheaper eating out.   My partner, who does the cooking, says it's often just as cheap to eat out--which we like to do a lot.  In the US we would likely need to limit our eating out to a few times a week.  We can go out as often as we want here--or wait for Grab to deliver it, which we are doing this evening.  Life is good.      

[freedomnow]

If strength of Baht through covid till now is anything to go by..Brits are doomed on solely a govt. pension, and add on top higher yearly hoops to jump through as Thai elite hose out the Cheap Charlies for high net worth retirees in their place (the pivot).

Am glad I'm not fully locked in to the country and have not burned my bridges..it won't be Thailand for me when I'm old..it will always have a special place in my heart for memories but 'anywhere but Thailand' when I'm old.

 

Oh and Jockland is considerably cheaper than England (excluding taxis) - think late 2000s decade prices for stuff....

Edited November 2, 2021 by freedomnow

[Olmate]

1 hour ago, StevieAus said:

Many in Australia used to be the same,  hence the term

“ Whinging Poms”.

The beer’s too cold, the weather too hot, no mail delivery on Saturday, the bread isn’t the same etc etc.

Yet like many here they never      leave to return to their Utopian homeland.

"10 quid"! 

[Thingamabob]

Went back to the UK 5 years ago intending to stay for a month. Left after 2 weeks. So sad to see what the UK has become. I prefer to remember it as it once was.

[BritManToo]

34 minutes ago, freedomnow said:

and add on top higher yearly hoops to jump through as Thai elite hose out the Cheap Charlies for high net worth retirees in their place (the pivot).

My hoops have been the same height since I came here in 2009 ....... only the queues have varied, and at the moment are the shortest ever. Amazing really, at the moment I can walk into immigration and be served immediately.

Edited November 2, 2021 by BritManToo

[Orinoco]

6 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

Went back to the UK 5 years ago intending to stay for a month. Left after 2 weeks. So sad to see what the UK has become. I prefer to remember it as it once was.

What went wrong.

Couldn't get a jump for 20 quid at the Red Lion pub.

 

[Orinoco]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

My hoops have been the same height since I came here in 2009 ....... only the queues have varied, and at the moment are the lowest ever. Amazing really, at the moment I can walk into immigration and be served immediately.

Move to a different province and that may not be the case.

TIT

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by Orinoco

[freedomnow]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

My hoops have been the same height since I came here in 2009 ....... only the queues have varied, and at the moment are the shortest ever. Amazing really, at the moment I can walk into immigration and be served immediately.

Yes, i'd imagine so.

I just mean over the long-term unless retiress get grandfathered in to current financial amounts required, they may have issues qualifying for future exntesions by way of medical insurance or deposit amounts climbing.

I'm guessing that drawbridge will be raised in near future for future retirees on such yearly show amounts of money to get an extension for retirement.

[HeijoshinCool]

6 hours ago, barry553 said:

Buying 2nd had cars are much cheaper, schools are free etc.

.

 

Really.....?

 

No property tax? I'm all in, then.

[ronster]

As my mate said to me it’s easier and better to live in Thailand if you are poor than it is in the uk !

[LoeiI]

2 hours ago, twix38 said:

Oh and peace and quiet versus Thailand and Thais relentless noise often at all hours. Far too many niggles versus uk peace and things work. Ahhh 3 years of joy and no regrets at moving back!!

Winter could be a bit warmer but that's coming...........

Was sat doing a bit of fishing next to the house today all i could hear was a bit of tinnitus talk about sabi sabi Oh and if i never have to scrape frost off my car windscreen again it'll be a day too early 

[freedomnow]

40 minutes ago, ronster said:

As my mate said to me it’s easier and better to live in Thailand if you are poor than it is in the uk !

until you need emergency treatment in a hospital and have no cover as you are on a shoestring budget.

 

[zzaa09]

44 minutes ago, ronster said:

As my mate said to me it’s easier and better to live in Thailand if you are poor than it is in the uk !

Where abiding familial and social extensions are rich.

[peterrabbit]

If I had to leave Thailand the last place I would settle would be back in the UK!

[Pmbkk]

 

Try living in Spain, Portugal or Greece,,,,

Some of that post is a joke - I'm sure you don't live in a quality apt in Bkk - maybe a pay as you go cheapie.

 

There are many place you can live in Morocco/Africa/Ghana for nearly nothing - all of which your heart seems to desire...

[Pravda]

1 hour ago, freedomnow said:

until you need emergency treatment in a hospital and have no cover as you are on a shoestring budget.

 

 

GoFundMe....no wait ... NHS

[Oblomov]

Living the last 25+ winters in Bali/Thailand and the summers in UK (when it's way too hot in Thailand) I wouldn't want to go for the full year in either place - S E Asian countries offer fabulous benefits with regards to condo rentals with pools and gyms etc.. Certainly don't get that in my London area unless I paid 100% of my earnings in rent/mortgage.

 

But I do love the many parks in London, as well as the galleries and theatres, cricket and rugby, music, golf trips in Scotland, some great TV and radio, the bookshops all over London, no stray animals struggling to survive on streets... Of course, once the winter sets in then I'm off to the easy going happiness of life on Bali or in Bangkok. Or I was until all this engulfed us all.

 

I love S E Asia but been fortunate to have been able to buy a couple of nice flats in rural UK on a regular wage and also travel extensively. Most of my Asian friends in more professional jobs than mine, still live in one room and have not been able to travel in the way I once took for granted.

 

Sure Thailand or Bali allows me to have some amazing lifestyle experiences but UK has allowed me to do so much too that I doubt I could have done in many other countries outside of the obvious ones.

 

I do agree that the rental market in UK is a shambles and you need to have been here a while to know how to find the good value.

[Oblomov]

2 hours ago, ronster said:

As my mate said to me it’s easier and better to live in Thailand if you are poor than it is in the uk !

That's true 

[Pmbkk]

3 minutes ago, Pravda said:

1 hour ago, freedomnow said:

until you need emergency treatment in a hospital and have no cover as you are on a shoestring budget.

 

 

GoFundMe....no wait ... NHS

 

Planning - be born in the UK to an Irish parent (EU passport) and marry a Thai doctor - I really don't see why people don't plan...????

[Kinnock]

2 hours ago, LoeiI said:

Was sat doing a bit of fishing next to the house today all i could hear was a bit of tinnitus talk about sabi sabi Oh and if i never have to scrape frost off my car windscreen again it'll be a day too early 

The Missus still thinks cold weather would be nice, and taking her on a skiing holiday to Japan has unfortunately reinforced her fantasy.

 

I tried to explain about the pain in your fingers as you scrape ice off your windscreen, the way snow turns to brown slush, fog, freezing cold toilet seats, dead car batteries in the morning, the cold back when you lose the duvet duel, only ever having sex under three blankets, wearing a woollen jumper ..... etc, etc

[LoeiI]

1 hour ago, Kinnock said:

The Missus still thinks cold weather would be nice, and taking her on a skiing holiday to Japan has unfortunately reinforced her fantasy.

 

I tried to explain about the pain in your fingers as you scrape ice off your windscreen, the way snow turns to brown slush, fog, freezing cold toilet seats, dead car batteries in the morning, the cold back when you lose the duvet duel, only ever having sex under three blankets, wearing a woollen jumper ..... etc, etc

Freezing cold bog seats up there with frosty windscreens IMO ???????? 

[Kaptain Asia]

17 hours ago, PizzaBoi said:

It's cold, grey, wet and miserable here. The people are miserable. The cities are miserable. Everything is outrageously expensive for even the entry level <deleted>.

Thanks for reminding me to avoid going back to the UK.

 

[The Cipher]

Ah <deleted> it. I'm gonna do it.
 

On 11/2/2021 at 4:12 PM, Orinoco said:

[removed]

It's ok to disagree with what someone else has written, but try and do so articulately or at least wittily.

Edited November 6, 2021 by onthedarkside
quoted flame and personal comments removed

[spermwhale]

I moved back to the U.S. after 17 years in Thailand and yes everything is much much much more expensive in California. Property and eating out mainly. But I am so so so so so very happy I'm not in Thailand anymore with the <deleted> traffic, stifling humidity and being treated like a criminal every time I went to renew my visa. I was done and no thanks to living in Thailand. I'm so much happier here where beautiful nature is all over. 

I would never go back to the headaches and inconveniences and having to sleep with an AC on every night. 

I love Thai people and was always treated well there, but the country is not hospitable to foreigners at all anymore. 

 

[mstevens]

18 hours ago, HeijoshinCool said:

Why would I want to own land? To pay insane taxes, maybe? And when the economy hits the skids and one can no longer pay the tax man, have it taken away from me?

 

While one might balk at the idea of owning land or property in their home country, the reality is that in recent years the value of property in most Western countries has soared. My house's value is up well over half a million dollars in the last 5 years alone, a story which is familiar to many in the West, especially in the likes of Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc. If I were to sell my house I could move back to Thailand (I lived there once but returned home), retire and never need to lift a finger again. Huge capital gains is one of the big positives of owning property in the West (irrespective of whether you live there or in Thailand) which many foreigners living in Thailand may miss out on.

[ChaiyaTH]

24 minutes ago, mstevens said:

 

While one might balk at the idea of owning land or property in their home country, the reality is that in recent years the value of property in most Western countries has soared. My house's value is up well over half a million dollars in the last 5 years alone, a story which is familiar to many in the West, especially in the likes of Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc. If I were to sell my house I could move back to Thailand (I lived there once but returned home), retire and never need to lift a finger again. Huge capital gains is one of the big positives of owning property in the West (irrespective of whether you live there or in Thailand) which many foreigners living in Thailand may miss out on.

What nonsense are you even talking about, the gains that were made on property in Thailand were just as much, the boom just took place before it even started in the west. Just as you could now decide not to sell, to then get in the biggest financial crisis yet, having no chance and seeing 400K value go up in smoke. 

 

I never been into property at all but if I did have bought the condo's back in 2012-2013 alone, I could have sold for double the price 3-4 years later, while being a noob in it, in Thailand.

 

Doesn't really matter where you are. Gold has also done like 10% yearly average for over a decade already, stock markets even more. Anyway, I would sell it if I were you and convert it all into gold and rent in Thailand while sipping coconuts.

Edited November 2, 2021 by ChaiyaTH