Ignore the Naysayers ! Live the dream in Thailand

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Unless the father was a real <deleted> it's IMO usually because the mother that gets custody poisons them against him.

 

My father wasn't the greatest by a long shot, but I still didn't disown him.

I'd really like Salerno to say what was funny about that post.

I guess he missed the message from the moderators that trolling with the laugh emoji isn't acceptable anymore.

[Salerno]

19 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I'd really like Salerno to say what was funny about that post.

Oh, it's you again, I found your bitching about "...usually because the mother that gets custody poisons them against him." humorous, the kind of thing a lot of "men" say while totally dismissing any thought that they may have contributed to the situation or that the allegation may just as accurately be reversed.

 

As for my reactions, I've already explained to you how I peruse this site ... strange you don't mention when I support your posts, are you that thin skinned?

[jerrymahoney]

6 hours ago, Hummin said:

Father son and brother brother relationships is not always easy, but there is a time where you have to put all the hard feelings behind you, and forgive if not they forgive you. Just for our own peace of mind. It can be a good idea to say it face to face also, just to get it out of your system before to late. 

However that ball is in the brother & sister's court.

[Hummin]

43 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

However that ball is in the brother & sister's court.

?

[jerrymahoney]

11 minutes ago, Hummin said:

?

I made an effort; they were not interested.

 

Life is too short to get worked up over stuff like that.

 

Edited January 17, 2023 by jerrymahoney

[billd766]

On 1/16/2023 at 8:11 AM, ThailandRyan said:

It is still cheap in reality for anyone who has been here for awhile and owns a home, whether that's a condo or a house on GF/Wifes land with a usufruct, or a 30 year leasehold.  One can still live on 30k Thb or so a month if they choose too as long as they are not in a large city area.  Food prices have increased, but then if you cook your own meals at home and decide to travel only locally on day trips it is very doable. I have a few friends who have been here for 20+ years, own their residences and live off of just US SS.  Having a large freezer allows you to shop at the beginning of the month and fill it with meat, and other items. The only thing you then need to buy is fresh produce and fruits, and pay your electric bill, water bill, and misc expenses.

That works for me too. I live in my wife's house on her land and I will continue to do so until I die. Hopefully that will be before she dies and then she will get a percentage of my pensions until she dies.

 

I am 78 and she is 57 and we will have been married for 23 years in April.

[save the frogs]

31 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

I made an effort; they were not interested.

 

Life is too short to get worked up over stuff like that.

I've had strained relationships with family for decades.

It degrades your life.

So it's better for me to live abroad. 

[itsari]

I do not believe the spin on what you learn from sitting in bars . 

Perhaps you should try and you may learn something .

Complain about  Thailand as you feel your a second class citizen ? Try a third class citizen that is expected to pay up and be quiet about it .

Quality of life is something that we all have expectations of . You speak of having such great fun visiting peoples homes with  wealth and sailing on a boat for days . Many are not interested in that I can assure you .

Ignore would be if they could bees is my answer to this post.

[radiochaser]

On 1/15/2023 at 10:23 PM, ozimoron said:

This diet doesn't cost much more in Thailand than it does anywhere else.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-22/whats-this-longevity-diet-will-make-you-live-longer/101463260

 

Definitely learning Thai will enhance your enjoyment of the country. Pro tip: Learn to read it first ????

I know.  I should have continued my Thai language courses back in 1972 when I was in Thailand. 

[alex8912]

13 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If you don't have any farmer friends to explain it to you you'll have to look it up on google. It'd take too long to explain on here and what would be the point anyway?

There are fewer farmers because mechanisation has reduced the need for workers, and there isn't enough money in farming to make it worthwhile now. I gave it up 2 years after I started because of 84 hour work weeks and pitiful pay. Didn't want to as that was what I wanted to do at school, but unless I married the farmer's daughter that was going to inherit, no future in it.

Old farmers? A farmer friend of mine is 73 and not retiring any time soon. He works 7 days a week.

 

How do you even do it when elderly?

LOL. It's not like the old days. Ever heard of tractors? Hard jobs like fencing are done by machine, not with a spade, hay bales moved by tractor, fed out by machine etc. When I was farming everything was by hand and hard work- all gone now. Probably the hardest job that can't be done by a machine now is shearing.

If one can drive and use a lever, that's enough.

Thanks for some answers but my main one was about the " fun" you mentioned but the answer reflected zero " fun".  Anyways growing up in Connecticut just outside NYC and then adult life in Boston and Bangkok has fostered me zero farming buddies. ???? I do however like farm fresh vegetables. 

[jerrymahoney]

19 hours ago, Hummin said:

Being able to think positive and restart without negative feeling about past is the most essential quality, no matter who or where you are and to many just another cliche I guess.

My first expended stays in Thailand and eventual move to Thailand was working (unofficially) with a large Thai NGO. I was a  Braille transcriber certified by the US Library of Congress. Among other things, I helped several blind students obtain oversees scholarships.

 

So that was my restart.

Edited January 17, 2023 by jerrymahoney

[Hummin]

5 hours ago, alex8912 said:

Thanks for some answers but my main one was about the " fun" you mentioned but the answer reflected zero " fun".  Anyways growing up in Connecticut just outside NYC and then adult life in Boston and Bangkok has fostered me zero farming buddies. ???? I do however like farm fresh vegetables. 

Becoming older, what is fun anymore? Things are joyable, but what I thought was fun before, is okay, I makes the time pass. Joy is another feeling I enjoy more. More sustainable ????

 

What is fun really? A movie, a party? Driving motorbike? Please help me out

[KhunLA]

6 hours ago, alex8912 said:

Thanks for some answers but my main one was about the " fun" you mentioned but the answer reflected zero " fun".  Anyways growing up in Connecticut just outside NYC and then adult life in Boston and Bangkok has fostered me zero farming buddies. ???? I do however like farm fresh vegetables. 

Can't answer for others, farming especially, as I suck at it.  The wife enjoys it, for herself, (no sales), and something about creating, is definitely fun.  That and cooking and sewing, along with crafts.  Want lettuce, herbs, figs, just go in the yard and get them.  Fresh, no chems, and almost free.

 

Myself, drones, and I found I enjoy building them, more than operating them.  Just something about creating, making something that actually works.  First one was a sense of accomplishment, others, I think, I was just addicted.  Let's go bigger, maybe smaller.  Then I'd modify them a few times, with add on, whether cameras, or flotation to land in water ????

 

Farming, if more than subsistence, that's got to be a great feeling, fun, and simply the independence it brings you.  Self employment is a huge moral booster, and realizing, you really don't need anyone for your existence.  That's a great feeling ... and fun.  Always brought a smile to my face when I finished a job.  "Damn, I just made how much, instead of working 40 hrs, or a whole month for someone else" ... hard to explain how much fun that feels like, to someone who hasn't.

 

On topic ... you know you're a Yank, when you enjoy taking advantage of the 'Land of Opportunity'  and stop being a 'working class hero' for others.

 

I think someone posted they, Yanks, some walk around confident, and that may be why.

Edited January 18, 2023 by KhunLA

[thaibeachlovers]

17 hours ago, Salerno said:

Oh, it's you again, I found your bitching about "...usually because the mother that gets custody poisons them against him." humorous, the kind of thing a lot of "men" say while totally dismissing any thought that they may have contributed to the situation or that the allegation may just as accurately be reversed.

 

As for my reactions, I've already explained to you how I peruse this site ... strange you don't mention when I support your posts, are you that thin skinned?

I don't consider that "bitching", rather factual, but I guess we'll differ on that.

While I do appreciate likes from any poster, sometimes you put laugh emojis on as many as 5 of my posts in a single thread ( I counted them up one time- but don't remember which thread now ).

Just pointing out that the moderators have made several posts about not doing so any more, and I have endeavored to stop doing it myself.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, alex8912 said:

Thanks for some answers but my main one was about the " fun" you mentioned but the answer reflected zero " fun".  Anyways growing up in Connecticut just outside NYC and then adult life in Boston and Bangkok has fostered me zero farming buddies. ???? I do however like farm fresh vegetables. 

You'll have to be more specific about the "fun" part as I looked back through my posts on this thread and I didn't find any reference to fun.

As for farming, it's a satisfying life- far more so than most occupations. Being on the land, in open air, watching new life in spring, growing things, feeding the world; what could be better?

Sadly, the world doesn't appreciate farmers, and the financial rewards are not great enough to be a farm hand if one can find a better paying occupation, which is what I did once I realised that farming was too low paid to have a future in it for myself.

[rabang]

On 1/17/2023 at 4:16 AM, Fat is a type of crazy said:

I am the one who stayed home. Continue work. The odd holiday. I say I will go. I read this site for inspiration. But will I live there? Probably 50 50. Too damn hot all year I think.  

I could not do it full time. Or maybe I could but would not want to.

[alex8912]

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Can't answer for others, farming especially, as I suck at it.  The wife enjoys it, for herself, (no sales), and something about creating, is definitely fun.  That and cooking and sewing, along with crafts.  Want lettuce, herbs, figs, just go in the yard and get them.  Fresh, no chems, and almost free.

 

Myself, drones, and I found I enjoy building them, more than operating them.  Just something about creating, making something that actually works.  First one was a sense of accomplishment, others, I think, I was just addicted.  Let's go bigger, maybe smaller.  Then I'd modify them a few times, with add on, whether cameras, or flotation to land in water ????

 

Farming, if more than subsistence, that's got to be a great feeling, fun, and simply the independence it brings you.  Self employment is a huge moral booster, and realizing, you really don't need anyone for your existence.  That's a great feeling ... and fun.  Always brought a smile to my face when I finished a job.  "Damn, I just made how much, instead of working 40 hrs, or a whole month for someone else" ... hard to explain how much fun that feels like, to someone who hasn't.

 

On topic ... you know you're a Yank, when you enjoy taking advantage of the 'Land of Opportunity'  and stop being a 'working class hero' for others.

 

I think someone posted they, Yanks, some walk around confident, and that may be why.

I'm self employed in the States and it's the only reason I can take six months off every year and have fun ???? I still don't mind my six months of working because I still take days off and enjoy myself and New England summers. 

[Walker88]

First, I enjoy Thailand and don't have any plans to leave it anytime soon. I'll get that statement out of the way.

 

I do see many expats in country who are bitter and far from 'living the dream', but there are reasons for that.

 

One reason is that they are the type of people who would be unhappy anywhere. They have to fix themselves, as nobody else can do it for them.

 

The second is that people did not plan properly. The best thing anyone could learn at a young age is to accept that life is finite and all are mortal. If one truly understands that, one begins planning early.

 

---Get health insurance when one is young and healthy. Yes, it might impact the budget when in one's 20s, but the payoff in peace of mind is huge later in life.

 

---Begin saving when young. Live life, to be sure, but don't go overboard. Build up a nest egg.

 

---Look at all the alternatives...what does each locale offer, how likely are the good things to continue, etc.

 

---Take as long of a vacation as one can to visit places one might choose to live, so surprises are minimized

 

---Know yourself. How adaptable are you? What lifestyle to you really want? Are you being realistic (e.g., do you think 20 year old women will lust after your body when you're 60+)? Does the locale offer sufficient challenges to keep you from getting bored? If you decide to open or buy a business, can you as a foreigner do it?

 

Plan well and know your strengths and limitations, and Thailand can be an ideal place to live. It's safe, food is delightful (and in a city like Bangkok every cuisine is available), it has varied topography and lifestyle options, infrastructure is adequate all over and excellent in BKK, its airport is a hub to anywhere, people are at least outwardly friendly, foreigners can buy or open businesses, and if a US person, you can own 100% (Treaty of Amity).

 

I rarely tire of Thailand. I have homes in a few countries, so can go and chill out if need be, until the quietness of a rural area makes me miss the cacophony of BKK (vibrancy might be a better term). I need both the quietness of nature and the bustle of my fellow human beings. The business I bought can be run from abroad owing to the ease of communication and the incredible technology that exists in the world today. I've had health insurance since I was 22. I chose to not have kids, so that burden (I know, others will argue it's joy) will never be with me. I'm lucky enough to have all the funds I'll ever need in this lifetime.

 

I write that because I suspect some members here are still young....30s or maybe even 20s. To those folks, look at the responses in this thread. Note who is bitter and why. Note who is happy and why. Learn from it, so that you need not live it. Begin your planning now, because the years move like a coin you've spun on a table top....as the coin falls its percussion rate increases and increases and increases....until it stops. That is how the years pass.

 

Plan well, and the 'dream' falls into place.

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

12 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Begin saving when young. Live life, to be sure, but don't go overboard. Build up a nest egg.

You do realise that we earned a lot less when young don't you? I earned about $20 for an 84 hour week when I started out. I could have saved every cent I earned and it wouldn't amount to diddley squat now.

 

IMO the best we can do when young is not get into debt for silly things- best not to get into debt at all.

 

I cut up my credit card in my 30s- best thing financially I ever did.

[thaibeachlovers]

12 hours ago, Walker88 said:

I chose to not have kids, so that burden (I know, others will argue it's joy) will never be with me.

Agree 100% with not having kids- a bottomless pit financially.

I only know 2 families my entire life that had nice kids, and that doesn't include my family. So, I see nothing that makes me think having kids was a good idea.

[jerrymahoney]

20 hours ago, Walker88 said:

---Get health insurance when one is young and healthy. Yes, it might impact the budget when in one's 20s, but the payoff in peace of mind is huge later in life.

But, at least in the USofA, most people get their health insurance via their employer. When moving to other countries, most do it when they are older and that means a private policy which isn't always so easy.

[Danderman123]

On 1/13/2023 at 7:03 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

In Pattaya I once attended an expat meeting, not one welcomed me as a potential member.

Never went back.

Most expats I met while out walking ( in places farangs were a rarity ) studiously looked the other way to avoid meeting my eyes.

Why would I even want to get to know people like that?

I live in Pattaya, but don't hang out with any Farangs. When I go to a bar, I avoid getting trapped into conversations with Farangs.

 

I am amazed to see Farangs congregating in lady bars, ignoring the ladies. Okay, that's more ladies for me.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 1/20/2023 at 12:58 PM, Danderman123 said:

I live in Pattaya, but don't hang out with any Farangs. When I go to a bar, I avoid getting trapped into conversations with Farangs.

 

I am amazed to see Farangs congregating in lady bars, ignoring the ladies. Okay, that's more ladies for me.

They probably have a girlfriend. Not many bars to hang out in without the "girls".