For those that can remember. How did you feel about your life before you moved to Thailand? Marks out of 10 if you like.

[Grecian]

I'm in the uk planning to move to Thailand on a retirement visa in September 2022. I'm 54.

I have a decent life here. Nice house, enough money for my simple needs and wants. Nice family. No wife or kids. Of course given up on dating!

But because of years working around the world very few friends. No work cuz I don't need the money and have become a bit lazy.

Comfortably numb!

I tend to score it a 7/10 

 

How about the other esteemed members of this forum? How was your previous life for you?

 

 

[ThaIrish Sean]

Waiting to read all the jealous troll's posts ????

Sounds like you got your life sorted Grecian,.Good for you!

I want to move to Thailand and we are comfortable financially, but my Thai wife wants to stay in this cold dreary country ????

[Grecian]

21 minutes ago, ThaIrish Sean said:

Waiting to read all the jealous troll's posts ????

Sounds like you got your life sorted Grecian,.

Oh! Interesting interpretation Sean. I tend to view my life as a half sorted out at best. 

I have one friend left in the uk! Have not touched a woman in two years. and a past it's sell by date skill set that means even if I wanted to work I'd be starting at the bottom somewhere.

 

But I cook great food. My house is always warm. Many great walks in this part of the country and enough entertainment to last a lifetime.????

 

The days are good but the years are a bit disappointing. Lol

[darksidedog]

Well, I was coming here after working in China, so a move to anywhere above the 5th level of hell would have been a step up, especially regarding food.

I didn't actually come here to stay here. I intended to use this as a base to find the right place.

That was 13 years ago, which says most of what needs to be said I guess.

It isn't what it was when I got here, both for better and for worse, depending on why you were here to start with.

It is much less seedy and debaucherous, though regulations on much which was casual has been tightened, so its ups and downs.

At the end of the day though, I do not see myself going home. I have the means to fund myself for the rest of my time.

My family know my funeral service will be here, unless of course I am somewhere else at the time, which will serve equally well.

I have been fortunate to work and visit a stupid amount of countries and for all its faults, Thailand is in my top three across every factor, so it has to be close to a 9 out of 10 I guess. India is a close run second mind were it not for the visa issues.

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Grecian said:

How about the other esteemed members of this forum? How was your previous life for you?

Sexless, same as yours.

It's different in Thailand, too much sex available.

[3NUMBAS]

when the hefty health bills start rolling in youll wish you hadnt, get good insurance if you can

[Guest Isaanlife]

2 hours ago, ThaIrish Sean said:

Waiting to read all the jealous troll's posts ????

Sounds like you got your life sorted Grecian,.Good for you!

I want to move to Thailand and we are comfortable financially, but my Thai wife wants to stay in this cold dreary country ????

I have a friend in the Netherlands that is dying to move back, however, his Thai want does not want to move back to Thailand either.

[falangUK]

Would highly recommend

1. Noise cancelling headphones

2. Not buying but renting

3. Short term relationships with Thais as opposed to long term

 

Before LOS 5/10 cold, bored, frustrated, in the UK

 

[swissie]

1 hour ago, 3NUMBAS said:

when the hefty health bills start rolling in youll wish you hadnt, get good insurance if you can

Right on!

Contrary to commom believe, it's not "failed marriages in Thailand" that prove to be the main killer of "retirement dreams", it's hospital bills for the un-insured/under-capitalised elderly Farangs. For many, that's the "main monkey-wrench" in the concept of hopeful Farang retirees in Thailand.

Completely ignoring the fact, that the older one gets, the more health issues will emerge. AND: Most people die in Hospital, regardless if living in Thailand or elsewhere.

 

[Will B Good]

10/10 before moving here. Lived in an affluent part of Germany, good income, lived tax free and work was easy with extensive holidays.

 

Now living in Thailand 11/10.

[Saddic]

Started to consider Thailand for a base of operations around the burst of the dot-com bubble... Was borderline on affordability...  (although I could have done it)...

 

Thailand at that time was expanding their global presence, well on their way to become a major travel hub in Asia...  Figured I would be traveling around Asia and the rest of the world during my retirement...  Welp, best laid plans and all that...

 

Fell back into a job during the outsourcing IT wave for a good 10+ years... and built up a good war chest... and got a retirement visa...

 

The hits just kept hitting:

- the coup happened and it pretty much been all downhill since... Their xenophobic nature & greed got the better of them and they've pretty much turned off investment from the west, and sold themselves to their new masters...

- and when you thought it couldn't get any worse... Covid happened...  As of today, a lot of airlines have taken Thailand off their schedules... it will take years to recover (if ever) from this...

 

But, got a good taste of local life, during a 2 yr extended (forced visit, due to covid lockdowns, etc)...  and my plans are "evolving"... lol.  Can still retire in Thailand, comfortably...  but ready to explore other (better) venues for longer term stays... 

 

Currently, returned home to attend to maintenance... and now sort of waiting till the current wave eases, so I can get back...  (yes, life pretty much sucks in the home country when you have the travel bug)... so currently just spinning my wheels...  6/10...

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

Life wasn't too bad back home long time ago. But it was not great.

Too cold, lots of old people, unfriendly service, no available pretty girls, too many strict (traffic) rules, and no hope any of that will change to the better.

 

In Thailand all those pretty girls are obviously very important. But they are not everything, you cant f@#$ 24/7.

The weather is nice and most people are friendly in Thailand. Great!

 

I have mixed feelings about law enforcement in Thailand. I like it that I don't have to drive slowly all the time or risk losing my license. But on the other hand sometime I wish the police would stop more of those idiots on the streets. I was never in legal trouble in Thailand and obviously I try to stay out of that. But what would happen if a HiSo decides he doesn't like me for whatever reason? Such a person can make life miserable in Thailand. And then going to the police or courts and hoping for justice is just that, hope.

In a way I think this is an important part of Thailand. The lawlessness. Do you accept it? Do you like it? Do you want to live with it? Do you want a well regulated life with predictable outcome? That might decided if Thailand is the right place for you.

[KhunLA]

Excellent there / USA, 45yrs, Excellent here 22yrs 

[scorecard]

 10/10 but my company offered me a big promotion with further prospects to move to Singapore for 1 month for orientation then to Thailand with big salary, excellent accommodation and car included at company cost and other benefits.

 

I was single, always adventurous so I moved, SIngapore for 1 month then Thailand, never looked back. Thailand 10/10.

[rott]

1 hour ago, Saddic said:

As of today, a lot of airlines have taken Thailand off their schedules... it will take years to recover (if ever) from this...

 

But, got a good taste of local life, during a 2 yr extended (forced visit, due to covid lockdowns, etc)...  and my plans are "evolving"... lol.  Can still retire in Thailand, comfortably...  but ready to explore other (better) venues for longer term stays... 

 

Currently, returned home to attend to maintenance... and now sort of waiting till the current wave eases, so I can get back...  (yes, life pretty much sucks in the home country when you have the travel bug)... so currently just spinning my wheels...  6/10...

 

 

Airlines taking Thailand off their schedules.? 

I've been eating and reading all day, missed that. What's going on.? 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

 10/10 but my company offered me a big promotion with further prospects to move to Singapore for 1 month for orientation then to Thailand with big salary, excellent accommodation and car included at company cost and other benefits.

 

I was single, always adventurous so I moved, SIngapore for 1 month then Thailand, never looked back. Thailand 10/10.

That reminds me of this one:

 

[sipi]

I much prefer Thailand. No more 3am marching drills through the snow, parachute packing...

[happydreamer]

46 year old American Male here.  Lived in Chicago, LA, Tokyo, and Bangkok.  Retired from corporate life at 40 and started traveling professionally as a photographer

 

Life in Chicago was comfortably miserable.  Made a lot of money, lived in a huge artists loft, took a lot of substances, but ultimately there was nothing there that really interested me except baseball games in the summer.  I don't care for colder temps or snow and suffer from chronic depression.  My peers at work didn't have the same wanderlust or interests in far off places as I did.  People living in a city like Chicago have most of what they are looking for so thinking of leaving to go somewhere else to live doesn't really register for them.  I found this especially during my brief life in LA.  As for dating...never had a problem meeting women.  I was married once and had a long term GF of 11 years.  Neither one had what I was looking for.

 

Thailand has a lot more of what I want.  Love the food, love living in warm temps year round.  My depression is almost completely gone.  I can live a much higher quality of life.  Expats I meet here share the same ideas and so far the guys I've met are successful in their businesses.  Most of the time at the very least other foreigners you meet here are looking for a better life than what they had in their native country.  As for women...at the beginning it was like being in a candy store.  The choices were endless but as time progressed my focus became more narrow and I started being able to identify the types of girls I wasn't interested in dating in Asia either.

 

Most everything about life in Thailand is better than in Chicago.  I miss baseball games and good pizza.  I miss good customer service and the convenience of good online applications.  ( I own a tech consulting business so I'm a stickler for bad UI / UX.  ) Sometimes I miss my bad habits but I'm a better person without them.  There's a huge sense of accomplishment when you can leave behind the comforts of home, rough it for a few years finding your groove and within those years build a better business, get married to the right girl, and get rid of bad habits.  100% improvement.

 

Godspeed Grecian.  Hope you find what you're looking for

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, rott said:

Airlines taking Thailand off their schedules.? 

I've been eating and reading all day, missed that. What's going on.? 

Sort of doubt that's true.

[flexomike]

11 hours ago, ThaIrish Sean said:

Waiting to read all the jealous troll's posts ????

Sounds like you got your life sorted Grecian,.Good for you!

I want to move to Thailand and we are comfortable financially, but my Thai wife wants to stay in this cold dreary country ????

So whats the problem, you go to Thailand leave the wife at home - 555

 

[OneMoreFarang]

Did anybody of you find the opposite forum? Like:

We were married and happy. He worked so hard to make me happy.

I was gracious and let him have his thing twice a month.

Now he left me and of all places in the world where did he go? Thailand! All those dark sluts over there. I hate him!

[Pravda]

Just don't sell your property back home whatever you do. Don't forget what kind of government is here.

 

Even on this forum during pandemic there were people moaning about going back home if they weren't too tied  to this country. Things are getting better now, but yesterday I went to the cinema and it was shocking to see how many people decided to remain seated. 

 

Good luck. I come from a war torn country and perhaps I can be too negative when I see certain things.

[BritManToo]

22 minutes ago, Pravda said:

Just don't sell your property back home whatever you do. Don't forget what kind of government is here.

 

Even on this forum during pandemic there were people moaning about going back home if they weren't too tied  to this country. Things are getting better now, but yesterday I went to the cinema and it was shocking to see how many people decided to remain seated. 

 

Good luck. I come from a war torn country and perhaps I can be too negative when I see certain things.

Not everyone's home countries are 3rd world, in most western countries you'd need to be extremely wealthy to keep a home you aren't living in.

[Pravda]

39 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Not everyone's home countries are 3rd world, in most western countries you'd need to be extremely wealthy to keep a home you aren't living in.

 

Or you can rent it out like I do and use that money to rent a nice place In Thailand while watching  real estate double back home for the past 10 years.

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, Pravda said:

Just don't sell your property back home whatever you do. Don't forget what kind of government is here.

 

Even on this forum during pandemic there were people moaning about going back home if they weren't too tied  to this country. Things are getting better now, but yesterday I went to the cinema and it was shocking to see how many people decided to remain seated. 

 

Good luck. I come from a war torn country and perhaps I can be too negative when I see certain things.

In principle I understand your point.

But I think we don't have to worry about any Thai government changes. I experienced many governments in Thailand and two coups. What changed? Very little. If I wouldn't read the news and except of the few days with soldiers on the street I don't think I would be able to pinpoint any major changes in Thailand caused by the government. The biggest change was probably the enforcement of 1am or 2am closing times when Purachai was active in Thailand, and he wasn't even PM. All other changes were minor - at least from an ordinary person's point of view.

 

I think extreme changes like i.e. in Myanmar won't happen in Thailand for the foreseeable future. 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Pravda said:

 

Or you can rent it out like I do and use that money to rent a nice place In Thailand while watching  real estate double back home for the past 10 years.

But homes in your country are probably cheaper than homes in Thailand.

Back in the UK I'd get nothing I wanted for 200,000 pounds (10MBht), then the taxes would be another 1500 pounds/year, and the utils would also want money every month.

By not having that home in the UK, I can live in Asia for nearly 20 years.

[Hummin]

Life back home was good, but because of health issues, Thailand have been better, and here I am 100 healthy and happy. Used to travel for work, and will continue as fast this covid restrictions dissapear. 

 

Im more happy in Longterm relationship, but it takes a bit experience and interest to learn and do mistakes as well. But as said each for itself what they wish and are comfortable with. If you can not trust your dessions, yourselves or the girls you meet, I guess renting i easier for some or mabye most? 

[rott]

5 hours ago, scorecard said:

Sort of doubt that's true.

Well according to his profile he has had 122 posts in 15 years so he is allowed an occasional mistake. 

[Gecko123]

OP mentions several aspects of his social life in UK: no wife or kids, given up on dating, very few friends. Presumably he is hoping to improve his prospects by moving to Thailand, which is certainly a possibility. But I would gently point out that Covid has changed the social climate in Thailand, as it has around the world. In my opinion, Covid has greatly diminished the opportunities for social and romantic engagement here in Thailand.

 

I, personally, have been contemplating relocating from Thailand for quite some time now, but until there is greater visibility about Covid, I'm staying put, erring on the side of prudence. I know there are those that argue "you've got to get on with your life" and "you can't let Covid stop you from living." Only time will tell which approach was best.

 

[Pravda]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

But homes in your country are probably cheaper than homes in Thailand.

Back in the UK I'd get nothing I wanted for 200,000 pounds (10MBht), then the taxes would be another 1500 pounds/year, and the utils would also want money every month.

By not having that home in the UK, I can live in Asia for nearly 20 years.

I'm an immigrant. My origin country and my passport country are 2 different things. My condo is in Toronto and I rent it out. Tenants paid my mortgage and now it's pure profit. Yes taxes and maintenance fees are a lot and the government also taxes me 25% non resident tax, but I still have more than enough left to pay the rent here. 

 

My wife's friend bought a condo at lumpini Bangna more than 10 years ago and hasn't renter it once....even during the good times. Real estate here is huge gamble. I like the safety of Canada and welcome immigrants like myself who will take real estate in Canada to the moon.