SURVEY: What are your biggest issues in Thailand?

[NorthernRyland]

2 hours ago, PJ71 said:

Yes i drive, more than 60K - 70K per year, like with anything you get used to the way they drive, i like the corruption as when i get pulled over by the fuzz i can send them on the way with a couple of 'pinks'

 

It doesn't matter if you're used to it or not. Eventually some fool driving like a maniac is going to get you into an accident and there's going to be nothing you can do about it. Speed limits aren't just for your safety, they're for all of our safety.

[BritManToo]

I don't really have any issues.

Yearly extensions are annoying, as it's exactly the same info every year.

90 days are irrelevant, CM has a very fast drive through.

 

Life is good!

[NorthernRyland]

1 hour ago, Toby1947 said:

Biggest issue in Thailand one word. Thais.

The biggest issue you will face in Thailand is dealing with the Thai people. Yeah it sounds offensive but it's 100% undeniable truth.

[NorthernRyland]

1 hour ago, ThailandRyan said:

Oh boy, up came a lady who worked inside, asked my name and why I was seated outside, I explained it to her and she walked away, grabbed two marines and had me ejected from the embassy.

What did you do wrong? Just sitting outside now is beyond the pale?

[Hummin]

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Amen to that, the policy which I have had for 4 years expires end of this month, first started out at about 60,000 baht at age 57, and went up every year thereafter, now it just jumped again due to me going into the 61-65 age bracket and of course having a pre-existing condition covered, they want 142,500 baht to renew it, and of course I said enough is enough.

 

The above said, I did try another insurer, April, no go unfortunately, of well, it is what it is and I have now gone back to self insuring, e.g. I just put 250,000 baht aside and have reminders to do same every year thereafter, it's more than I need to put aside to compensate the 142,500 baht that I would have paid to renew the policy, but best get ahead of the curve, that said I will have put a mil baht aside in 4 years and 2 mil baht in 8 years which covers a fair bit from what I have seen, that said, I do have money aside for any big expenditure if an emergency just happens to happen, but that is why we take out insurance, to protect our wealth from depleting, but no longer, and of course I was going to also cancel the families insurance 75,000 baht a year, but said, let's keep an eye on it and see what happens when policy is due for renewal in January, as the wife also goes into another age bracket, and if that goes up steeply then it will be 350,000 baht aside a year, better in my pocket than theirs if we have no bad luck.

 

Apart from that, I don't really have any issues with Thailand, it could be anywhere in the world, it's just what you make of it and if you allow it to effect you. 

Im still connected to my home country social security, and travel at least under normal conditions 2 times a year back home, so I can keep travel insurance running with 180 days out before I can return and travel back for another 180 days. That cost me at age 50-55 24 000,- baht a year. Additional I have a private health insurance paying 20 000,- baht securing me maximum 7-20 days examination and treatment priority.

 

Of course I pay tax home as well, because I'm still working.

 

[Hummin]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

wow  !    the guy puts an honest answer across and you ridicule him for doing so.  

Whit that kind of attitude living in Thailand what do you expecting a proper answer?

 

Rude and shameless foreigners with lack of social skills, lack of historical and cultural knownledge will have problems where ever they go, and Blaim otters because they can not adopt and create a decent life here.

[ThailandRyan]

1 minute ago, NorthernRyland said:

What did you do wrong? Just sitting outside now is beyond the pale?

I was inside the embassy grounds and seated on the benches outside of the Interview room for foreigners obtaining their visas where a small coffee kiosk is located..  I was not supposed to even be in the embassy, but I fudged and did my passport pages as a ruse.  Since I was finished I was supposed to have left the grounds and not stayed.  Instead I had the then wife bring the daughter outside while she was waiting inside. In the end I was severely admonished and told it could have cost my wife and daughter their ability to get a visa.  I do not understand why a sponsor can not be inside especially if they are married......This was in 2010.  Maybe it has changed.

[NorthernRyland]

1 hour ago, CygnusX1 said:

I suspect that  they’re never going away, so I’ll just have to cut my losses.

My only hope is that they just need the word of an authority figure and when the PM tells them it's time to take it off they will fall into line just like before.

 

Until then it is started to feel like we're living in an insane asylum which is frozen in March 2020. Very strange times.

[NorthernRyland]

4 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

I do not understand why a sponsor can not be inside especially if they are married......This was in 2010.  Maybe it has changed.

Oh yeah Embassies are just like that. Maximum security for no reason I can understand. Why do they need to take your phone away? Are you going to steal state secrets which they keep in a lockbox inside each embassy?    I wouldn't mess around with people that mental so lesson learned I guess. 

[high plane drifter]

Visa,,,Visa,,,visa,,,

[Blumpie]

4 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

5. Screaming and playing <deleted> music over PA systems in every village twice a day even early in the mornings.

Ahmen, ahmen, and ahmen.  

What the **** are these guys thinking?  It's culturally normal to do this and it drive me frigging nuts.  

[sambum]

6 hours ago, PJ71 said:

Pls tell us how corruption effects your daily life here.

 

You don't think corruption happens in every single country on the planet?

But not as openly as it is here! Who can forget the Deputy Prime Minister who "forgot" to declare more than 30 luxury watches as part of his financial assets that he was duty bound to do declare before taking office? Or that they weren't his, and he had just borrowed them from a friend, and he couldn't give them back because his friend had died, so he just "forgot" about them? And wonder of wonders - he is still in office!

[Kinnock]

Biggest issue out of my control .... stray dogs and weak minded people who feed them.

[Dennis Raybould]

My biggest problem with Thailand is there no long-term visas for people wanting to retire there it's too difficult

[1FinickyOne]

7 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I used to have more issues than I do now. I worked on my attitude, which was getting in the way of appreciating Thailand for what it is, and was clouding my experience here. Used to stress over stupid stuff, as you can see from some of my past posts. Used to allow the politics to make me angry. Now it is not something I take seriously, just something I comment on, without anger or an emotional investment. Now, I just tend to laugh it off. Spent some real time back in the US recently, and it allowed some clarity and perspective, that I am very grateful for. Now, I just chuckle at most of the nonsense. Water off a duck's back, so to speak. 

thanks - good for you - a much healthier and happier way to go through life.. 

[1FinickyOne]

39 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

I do not understand why a sponsor can not be inside

a sponsor? Is that even a thing? My understanding is that the person must qualify on their own?? 

[TropicalGuy]

45 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

Oh yeah Embassies are just like that. Maximum security for no reason I can understand. Why do they need to take your phone away? Are you going to steal state secrets which they keep in a lockbox inside each embassy?    I wouldn't mess around with people that mental so lesson learned I guess. 

Only Jason Bourne can escape the high security US Embassies. Crawling with Federal Agents & Marine Guards ????????????

[TropicalGuy]

30 minutes ago, Dennis Raybould said:

My biggest problem with Thailand is there no long-term visas for people wanting to retire there it's too difficult

Agent 22k yearly.

Guaranteed Success.
No Financials.

No Reporting Direct.
No Humiliation. No Anxiety. 

[TropicalGuy]

34 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

Biggest issue out of my control .... stray dogs and weak minded people who feed them.

If you live in low rent Thai streets / blocks there are always serious incidents of Noise Parking Rubbish Hygiene Flooding Crime Dogs Karaoke Car Fixing Femce Violatipn Aggression. Unbearable. 
 

Not For This Guy. 

[brianthainess]

None of the issues in the survey. Irresponsible dog owners, dangerous incompetent drivers both Thai and 'Falang'. People that comment on subjects they know nothing about and giving uninformed information., and of course this military government. 

[The Hammer2021]

If by  issues  you mean negative  things then the hot and humid weather makes me lazy.

My negative  issues are with my home country which is why I prefer  to live here.

[TropicalGuy]

41 minutes ago, sambum said:

But not as openly as it is here! Who can forget the Deputy Prime Minister who "forgot" to declare more than 30 luxury watches as part of his financial assets that he was duty bound to do declare before taking office? Or that they weren't his, and he had just borrowed them from a friend, and he couldn't give them back because his friend had died, so he just "forgot" about them? And wonder of wonders - he is still in office!

Not Farang Business.

Their Country. Their Culture. No Rules. 

[PJ71]

1 hour ago, LikeItHot said:

Believe that any time you have a negative contact with a Thai you will be a victim of corruption. That is an ever present daily fact.  Treating foreigners as second class and good sources of shakedowns happens every day.  And no it is not this way in every country on the planet.  You are a victim of it I am sure although you fail to recognize it as such. 

PMSL

[The Hammer2021]

1 minute ago, brianthainess said:

None of the issues in the survey. Irresponsible dog owners, dangerous incompetent drivers both Thai and 'Falang'. People that comment on subjects they know nothing about and giving uninformed information., and of course this military government. 

That sounds fair - my main negative  experiences are reading stupid, Ill informed bigoted comments on a certain forum

[PJ71]

1 hour ago, NorthernRyland said:

It doesn't matter if you're used to it or not. Eventually some fool driving like a maniac is going to get you into an accident and there's going to be nothing you can do about it. Speed limits aren't just for your safety, they're for all of our safety.

You do understand there's a very high % of people that never get into a RTA in this country, right?

 

 

[PJ71]

45 minutes ago, sambum said:

But not as openly as it is here! Who can forget the Deputy Prime Minister who "forgot" to declare more than 30 luxury watches as part of his financial assets that he was duty bound to do declare before taking office? Or that they weren't his, and he had just borrowed them from a friend, and he couldn't give them back because his friend had died, so he just "forgot" about them? And wonder of wonders - he is still in office!

Zero impact on my life.

 

In what way did it effect yours?

[LatPhrao]

The retirement visa financial arrangements now that embassies are not supporting retirement income claims are beyond the pale and ridiculous and a hazardous course unless you dodge with an agent.

There's a shabby, unrelieved dystopian feel to Bangkok, buried in high rises and zero open spaces.  

And as one who lives along Lat Phrao where the BTS has parked their construction  equipment junk yard while they dither for years with completing the BTS line there, it has shrunk the lanes to two each way on a highly used road and adds to the perpetual, miserable log jam of traffic of Lat Phrao and Ratchada intersection, and beyond.

And generally, too many cars on the road everywhere.

 

That's enough.

[NorthernRyland]

3 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

You do understand there's a very high % of people that never get into a RTA in this country, right?

I never thought I'd have to debate a person on Thailand road safety. It's only 20,000 a year out of 70 million so I guess those are pretty good odds, I wouldn't worry about it too much. ????‍♂️

[TropicalGuy]

1 hour ago, NorthernRyland said:

The biggest issue you will face in Thailand is dealing with the Thai people. Yeah it sounds offensive but it's 100% undeniable truth.

Minimized. My Thai Lady does most of that. I use agents for Insurance & Immigration. Just leaves shopping cafes & haircuts ….oh and DLT every 5 years ! 

[Jen65]

The Residency Issue !!!    The O-A visa / retirement visa and extensions of stay are , in reality , nothing more than a 1 year tourist visa !!   Although I love Thailand and the people , had I investigated a bit more I would have plumbed for Panama ( and still thinking about it ) I live here in Thailand , have no other residences in other countries , stay here 12 months a year , pay tax !!! ,  have a Thai partner, support local community and business so why can't Thailand give those whom "reside" here some sort of residency status ?? 

It could all be made very simple !!!  Anyone staying in Thailand more than 180 days a year be regarded as resident ( as in Europe) and be required to have a tax number and pay tax where due .  This would then enable one to acquire  temporary " foreign resident status " say for an initial period of 5 years .  I think then one should be entitled to join the Thai social security system for medical care ( not for pensions) with the proviso that all bills are immediately settled by the individual  (likely to be a lot cheaper than private )  One should then be able to obtain a " foreign resident " document .

Do away with the disparity and unfair system between O-A and O visas .    Anybody staying less than 6 months be regarded as a tourist irrespective of whether they own a Condo .  If they don't live here full time they are a tourist .