Back in the USA

[tonray]

2 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

So to summarize this topic to date: It's great to move back to the US from Thailand if you have a Thai wife who already is a US citizen or a Thai wife who has already spent extended times in the US.

 

Otherwise, who knows?

 

 

...and  if you intensly dislike your current life in Thailand....for the OP....that's a great option. For me personally, I will never go back unless forced at gunpoint (literally or figuratively). Instead would move to Malaysia or somewhere else.

Edited March 7, 2022 by tonray

[GinBoy2]

14 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

So to summarize this topic to date: It's great to move back to the US from Thailand if you have a Thai wife who already is a US citizen or a Thai wife who has already spent extended times in the US.

 

Otherwise, who knows?

 

 

Well that's true of any cross country/cultural moves.

 

We have friends, she's German he's American. She worked for Siemens and they moved back to Germany.

 

It lasted a year.

 

He couldn't stand the place, couldn't adjust to the language or the culture.

 

So they moved back to the US, where he was happy and she was fully assimilated.

 

So it really is unfathomable how things will pan out. Each couple find their own way

Edited March 7, 2022 by GinBoy2

[sirineou]

1 hour ago, Isaanlife said:

It is amazing the amount of fish that can be caught surf fishing.

 

 

When we were there, I used to go off Flagler Beach all the time, When the Whiting were running, it would not be unusual to catch a dozen good size whiting in a couple of hours. They are very good easting!!. 

[jerrymahoney]

6 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

Each couple find their own way

Couple, as you say.. At this stage of the game, the chances of my bringing any Thai female, married or otherwise, back to the US full-time are zero.

[tonray]

Just now, jerrymahoney said:

Couple, as you say.. At this stage of the game, the chances of my bringing any Thai female, married or otherwise, back to the US full-time are zero.

I would go broke just on the 350 baht SomTam...

[sirineou]

52 minutes ago, Isaanlife said:

So far, getting use to us not having all the relatives around.

Part of the problem with us in Thailand is that both my wife's mom and Dad died with in a couple of years from each other , We now only have her sister and some aunts and uncles that we don't see often. When her Dad and Mom were around (lovely people)  we were always doing things and going places together. , They were the catalyst,  Now , not only  we don't do things together, but with covid many of the things we enjoyed doing have been greatly reduced. We went to the Dam the other day, the place used to hopping with people swimming and eating at the huts by the water, now it was a morgue, with all the vendors trying to get us to go into their businesses.  It was actually very sad and I felt bad for them. 

[GinBoy2]

3 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Part of the problem with us in Thailand is that both my wife's mom and Dad died with in a couple of years from each other , We now only have her sister and some aunts and uncles that we don't see often. When her Dad and Mom were around (lovely people)  we were always doing things and going places together. , They were the catalyst,  Now , not only  we don't do things together, but with covid many of the things we enjoyed doing have been greatly reduced. We went to the Dam the other day, the place used to hopping with people swimming and eating at the huts by the water, now it was a morgue, with all the vendors trying to get us to go into their businesses.  It was actually very sad and I felt bad for them. 

That I think is quite often the catalyst for a move

 

My wifes parents also died within 2 years of each other, and her three sisters and brother were farmed out to other family members.

My wife, depending on how you look at things was lucky and was taken in by her Uncle in Chicago, she gave her ultimately a US university education.

 

When we went back to Thailand from Singapore she didn't have that 'bond' to the country which i think many Thai's do through family

[Will B Good]

On 3/6/2022 at 7:43 AM, Nino3 said:

For me it was like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders and all the additional stress gone after just a few days

Can I ask why you felt this way?.....genuinely interested. 

[LarrySR]

FBI & DHS crimes statistics report hate crimes have quadrupled in the USA since 2017. Blacks, Asians & immigrants are the target demographic, most attributed to white supremacist types. (274 reported incidents targeting Asians in 2021 compared with 62 in 2020)

If you plan to relocate with your Thai spouse, you'd be wise to avoid the 'red states.'

 

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Society/Anti-Asian-hate-crimes-quadrupled-in-U.S.-last-year

 

 

[Nino3]

1 hour ago, Will B Good said:

Can I ask why you felt this way?.....genuinely interested. 

This was years ago but I'll try my best. 

 

Back story:

 

Lived in the village where the GF was raised and her family resided. Only foreigner in the village. Three people, including myself spoke English. Spent an enormous amount of time trying to understand the villagers. I failed, even after three years. Spent an enormous amount of time worried about security for the house and family. House was broken into a couple times while we were in the US. Electricity was unreliable, rampant irresponsible use of spray chemicals and burning of styrofoam. Two hour drive to the city where I was able to enjoy, to me, normalcy. Two hour drive and  one hour flight to Bangkok to buy boots. 

 

If not have been for living in an Isaan village I would likely still reside in Thailand.

 

To your question, I believe the simple things, those that many take for granted, conveniences, then in plain site, is what stirred the feelings. I didn't struggle to understand conversation, social interaction was normal. Dependable source of electricity, no need to travel 2 hrs to Villa Market in the event I was craving western food. The fact that I was a citizen and my family and I were equally protected under the law.

 

In short, I was home. Perhaps the same type of feeling or comfort SOME get when they go home to spend the holiday's with mom and dad. Everything but the immediate just fades away. No pressure, no stress. Well maybe.

 

I suppose I never considered Thailand as being my home just a long, long vacation and now I was home and sleeping in my own bed.

Edited March 7, 2022 by Nino3
Correction

[Guest Isaanlife]

3 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

One thing I think @Isaanlifemight get.

 

Our house is in Khon Kaen, not some back of beyond Isaan village, but moving back home I couldn't be struck how clean everything was, so orderly.

Everything works, all the time. The electricity doesn't go off with the first clap of thunder, I can drink the water from the tap, and it's guess less stressful.

 

Maybe a decade ago when I moved full time to Thailand full time that anarchy seemed appealing, but nowadays not so much 

All the modern conveniences are wonderful.

 

The law and order and not having to worry about a thing.

 

 

[Guest Isaanlife]

1 hour ago, LarrySR said:

FBI & DHS crimes statistics report hate crimes have quadrupled in the USA since 2017. Blacks, Asians & immigrants are the target demographic, most attributed to white supremacist types. (274 reported incidents targeting Asians in 2021 compared with 62 in 2020)

If you plan to relocate with your Thai spouse, you'd be wise to avoid the 'red states.'

 

What does this have to do with the post?

 

Another fear monger.

[jerrymahoney]

1 hour ago, Isaanlife said:

The law and order and not having to worry about a thing.

That's right. People in the good ol' US of A don't have to worry about nuthin'.

[Gecko123]

1 hour ago, Isaanlife said:

What does this have to do with the post?

 

Another fear monger.

A lot of guys assume that their Thai wife will be endlessly grateful for having been given the opportunity to live in the American "promised land," and will have no problems adjusting, especially if their lifestyle is upgraded as a result. A common attitude seems to be that a handful of Thai restaurants and perhaps a Thai temple will be more than sufficient to get the Thai wife over any adjustment hurdles she may encounter. I know you said your wife has US citizenship and has been in America before, but you would be wise to be very attentive to your wife's adjustment in America.

 

The above average affluence of the lifestyle you apparently enjoy is not going to serve as a magical force field to shield her from the racial and social prejudice she will likely encounter as a non-native English speaker, someone with low educational status, and as a racial minority. Not to mention the proverbial "mail-order bride" stigma if there is a big age difference between you and her. If you think discrimination and prejudice of this sort is just a figment of my febrile imagination, I think you might be in for a rude awakening.

 

Edited March 7, 2022 by Gecko123

[KhunLA]

14 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

That's right. People in the good ol' US of A don't have to worry about nuthin'.

That's correct ????

 

45 yrs there, and never had to worry about a thing.  It IS the land of opportunity.  Of course one has to apply themselves, live a fairly legal and common sense filled life, and it's a beautiful place.

 

One of, if not, the best country to be born in.  As much as MSM tries to paint a different picture of, it still holds true.  And I'm even a Yank that has no desire to return, but doesn't change the fact.

 

Millions trying to get in, and not many leaving ... nuff said.

[jerrymahoney]

10 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

That's correct ????

 

45 yrs there, and never had to worry about a thing. 

Well here's something, remote as the chance may be, but as the OP and a few other returnees seem to want to habituate high-end shopping malls:

 

Flash Mob Robberies Have Some South Florida Retail Stores On High Alert

 

Back in South Florida, some stores CBS4 contacted were on high alert, adding extra security measures. Some even locking doors until a guard authorizes access and Hayes said that’s just the beginning.

“Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County have some of the highest theft, fraud and violence rates in the nation,” he explained. “So you’re going to see Miami-Dade, you’re going to see the other law enforcement agencies, FDLE at the state level, putting out notifications. The state attorney general now has a taskforce to tackle the (flash mob robbery) problem and this is before some of these most recent blatant attacks.”

 

https://miami.cbslocal.com/2021/11/24/flash-mob-robberies/

Edited March 7, 2022 by jerrymahoney

[473geo]

Gotta smile at these type of threads, happy out of Thailand because of the occasional electricity outage, is that really worth mentioning? Staggering!!

But each to their own ????

[John Drake]

51 minutes ago, 473geo said:

Gotta smile at these type of threads, happy out of Thailand because of the occasional electricity outage, is that really worth mentioning? Staggering!!

But each to their own ????

Hope they don't move to Texas during the next blizzard when the grid shuts down or during summer when transformers pop and there is no a/c for five or six hours. (In Thailand, I've never gone more than an hour waiting for electricity to be restored.)

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, jerrymahoney said:

“Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County have some of the highest theft, fraud ....  

A few of the most exclusive and expensive shopping areas in FL, and the USA for that matter, and hight theft & fraud (probably $$$ amount) reported.   Use to have a place in PB county, damn ritzy place.  Spent a lot of time in S. FL & Keys, Caribbean.

 

There's a shocker, exclusive shopping & high theft.  Just a click baiting headliner, as most everything is now of days.  And I do mean every news-blip.

 

You forgot to mention drug & murder capital of the state.  Even GOD doesn't like it ...

... sends deadly hurricanes there every so often.

 

If I could afford to live surfside there, instead of on the Gulf of Thailand, where I don't even swim in the water ... hmm ... let me think ... ???? 

 

OK, only if I had a another house to live, during hurricane season ... oh wait ... the OP does ????

Actually I'm surprised the OP ever lived in Thailand, especially his choice of lifestyle & in Issan, of all places.  Someplace you couldn't give me free housing to return to.  I couldn't wait to leave Issan.

 

Hey, different strokes for different folks.  Just being off the farm is a holiday for him.  Best of Luck to him & wife, though doubt if they need any.   

 

It's all about choices ... theirs seem to work perfectly for them.

Edited March 7, 2022 by KhunLA

[jerrymahoney]

18 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

There's a shocker, exclusive shopping & high theft.  Just a click baiting headliner, as most everything is now of days.  And I do mean every news-blip.

Yes -- just another click-bait headline unless you happened to be shopping at Nordstrom at the time:

 

[GinBoy2]

5 hours ago, LarrySR said:

FBI & DHS crimes statistics report hate crimes have quadrupled in the USA since 2017. Blacks, Asians & immigrants are the target demographic, most attributed to white supremacist types. (274 reported incidents targeting Asians in 2021 compared with 62 in 2020)

If you plan to relocate with your Thai spouse, you'd be wise to avoid the 'red states.'

 

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Society/Anti-Asian-hate-crimes-quadrupled-in-U.S.-last-year

 

 

Well that's just fear mongering nonsense.

 

As terrible as it was for those 274 people, that's 274 out of a Asian American population of 18.6 Million.

 

As for the red state thing.

I'm a bleeding heart liberal, but we live in a redder than red State (South Dakota), and my wife has never once encountered anything approaching animosity, let alone hate crime due to her race from the native gun toting rednecks. 

[KhunLA]

31 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

Yes -- just another click-bait headline unless you happened to be shopping at Nordstrom at the time:

CA when you posted about FL ... stretching aren't you.

You pick a country, and I'll pick it apart.  UK, France ... oh my

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gY_H8Qszzs

 

https://abcnews.go.com/International/video/armed-robbers-smash-grab-estimated-million-worth-jewelry-52282260

[jerrymahoney]

31 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

CA when you posted about FL ... stretching aren't you

No.

 

The large scale flash mob where up to 50 or more persons arrive in a coordinated fashion in cars and enter and rob a store

seems to be a particularly American phenomenon and occurs across the US in a similar fashion.

 

.... and there is always a chance you will be in one of those usually up-scale stores when it happens.

Edited March 7, 2022 by jerrymahoney

[Guest Isaanlife]

8 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

No.

 

The large scale flash mob where up to 50 or more persons arrive in a coordinated fashion in cars and enter and rob a store

seems to be a particularly American phenomenon and occurs across the US in a similar fashion.

 

.... and there is always a chance you will be in one of those usually up-scale stores when it happens.

Divide the amount of times a smash and grab mob happened by 330,000,000 people

 

No the sky isn't falling, that is simply the media trying to profit from over sensationalism

 

 

Edited March 7, 2022 by Isaanlife

[Guest Isaanlife]

9 hours ago, John Drake said:

Hope they don't move to Texas during the next blizzard when the grid shuts down or during summer when transformers pop and there is no a/c for five or six hours. (In Thailand, I've never gone more than an hour waiting for electricity to be restored.)

I am sure you have heard of gas generators?

 

In the US you can get an whole house generator installed so when the electricity goes off, you don't miss a beat.

 

Stop picking out 1 event and thinking it is doomsday

[Guest Isaanlife]

10 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

Well here's something, remote as the chance may be, but as the OP and a few other returnees seem to want to habituate high-end shopping malls:

 

Flash Mob Robberies Have Some South Florida Retail Stores On High Alert

 

Back in South Florida, some stores CBS4 contacted were on high alert, adding extra security measures. Some even locking doors until a guard authorizes access and Hayes said that’s just the beginning.

“Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County have some of the highest theft, fraud and violence rates in the nation,” he explained. “So you’re going to see Miami-Dade, you’re going to see the other law enforcement agencies, FDLE at the state level, putting out notifications. The state attorney general now has a taskforce to tackle the (flash mob robbery) problem and this is before some of these most recent blatant attacks.”

 

https://miami.cbslocal.com/2021/11/24/flash-mob-robberies/

Sorry friend. I don't habituate high end malls.

 

JC Penney is about the most upscale I get.

 

 

[Guest Isaanlife]

11 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

A lot of guys assume that their Thai wife will be endlessly grateful for having been given the opportunity to live in the American "promised land," and will have no problems adjusting, especially if their lifestyle is upgraded as a result. A common attitude seems to be that a handful of Thai restaurants and perhaps a Thai temple will be more than sufficient to get the Thai wife over any adjustment hurdles she may encounter. I know you said your wife has US citizenship and has been in America before, but you would be wise to be very attentive to your wife's adjustment in America.

 

The above average affluence of the lifestyle you apparently enjoy is not going to serve as a magical force field to shield her from the racial and social prejudice she will likely encounter as a non-native English speaker, someone with low educational status, and as a racial minority. Not to mention the proverbial "mail-order bride" stigma if there is a big age difference between you and her. If you think discrimination and prejudice of this sort is just a figment of my febrile imagination, I think you might be in for a rude awakening.

 

Why do people that don't even know you, post about things they have no idea what they are talking about?

 

My wife lived in the US for over 10+ years previously.

 

US Citizen, US Drivers License, does her own banking, etc, etc, etc

 

There is racial and social prejudice anywhere in the world, specially Thailand.

 

Some Thai women have a western education. Many Asian women born here and educated here.

 

It is funny people that people who have lived in the USA for a ton of years are in for a rude awakening because of your febrile imagination??????

 

Come on man, wise up.

 

Every one has survived just fine in the country they were born, the countries they lived/worked in and the countries they retired in.

 

My wife is here because this is where she wanted to be. If she wanted to have stayed in Isaan, we would still be there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest Isaanlife]

15 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

Couple, as you say.. At this stage of the game, the chances of my bringing any Thai female, married or otherwise, back to the US full-time are zero.

Why is that Jerry? What is the reason?

[Guest Isaanlife]

15 hours ago, tonray said:

I would go broke just on the 350 baht SomTam...

Well you have a very good point there.

 

My wife and I just had lunch at a Thai restaurant here. Lunch portions.

 

1 Masaman Pork

1 Pad Thai

1 Papaya Salad

1 Coke

 

US $48 dollars = 1,488 baht plus tip!

 

We both had a darn good laugh compared to the price in Thailand!

[Jingthing]

12 minutes ago, Isaanlife said:

Well you have a very good point there.

 

My wife and I just had lunch at a Thai restaurant here. Lunch portions.

 

1 Masaman Pork

1 Pad Thai

1 Papaya Salad

1 Coke

 

US $48 dollars = 1,488 baht plus tip!

 

We both had a darn good laugh compared to the price in Thailand!

I would be crying.