Who got bored in Thailand and went back?

Scott Tracy · November 1, 2023

4 hours ago, Prubangboy said:

if they got bored and went back, the chances of them posting here are close to nil.

I spent 3 1\2 years in North East Thailand from October 2018 and got bored after a couple of years. I started looking for work back in the UK. The wife was on board all the way. She got bored with life in her home village after 20 odd years in the UK. It's good to have purpose and a routine, it's just, for us, the purpose was to get away from people drinking beer at at 08:00 and drunk by 09:00... I work, she does what she wants, when she wants.

Caldera · November 1, 2023

41 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

Easy to get bored in Thailand when so few people speak English. Go to India.

You can't be serious.

Plenty of people to speak English with in Thailand.

And here's a novel idea for anyone feeling bored in Thailand: study the Thai language! If that's not your thing for whatever reason, just choose your neighborhood wisely, most of my neighbors are educated (!) Thais pr fellow expats.

Edited November 1, 2023 by Caldera

stoner · November 1, 2023

26 minutes ago, charleskerins said:

One is a Fascist the other believes in Democracy doesn't compute.

ok.

vangrop · November 1, 2023

If you get bored here in Pattaya you will get bored everywhere and specially in homeland. Girls for old retirees, entertainment, climate, mates, food, name it everything available at affordable prices. I think that if you get botrd here you have a big mental issue. My advice to you is get a long time renewable subscription with a psychiatrist and take the required medication to climb out of this creepy tunnel.

Denim · November 1, 2023

I've been home sick for as long as I can remember.

Sick of home that is.

GarryP · November 1, 2023

23 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

In the last 3 years that I was in Thailand boredom became a big thing for me. And then you can end up in the bars every day, basically drinking yourself to death!😒

Where I am there are no bars, so at least it has that saving grace. However, there is no real western community either, so if you don't speak Thai here, it could get very lonely. This seems to be quite common among retirees in the North East, who do most of their drinking at home. I don't think they realized what they were getting into. Sad really.

jimn · November 1, 2023

4 hours ago, actonion said:

Due to the weather, the crazy prices of 1 pint of beer, and a beer shandy at 15 pounds ( not in central London)

Where did you go to drink that? The Ritz? I struggle to think of anywhere in the UK where you would have to pay £15 for a beer and a shandy. In a Wetherspoons it would be about £6 or £7, even in an expensive pub, no more than £12. Maybe you went to an exclusive club like Claridges.

chilli42 · November 1, 2023

Well I do know a handful of people who did go back … perhaps unsurprisingly they were all Australian (I am not). As for myself, I have been in Thailand since 1990. I retired 12 years ago and spend half the year in Thailand and half in Canada. I thought Thailand was just fine when I was working full time. Once I retired I came to realize that it is in fact boring here. If it were not for my Thai wife I would have left years ago. I think it’s a personal thing. The things I like to do to engage in life are just not here. What little there is here that I enjoy doing is too limited.Then pile on the traffic and pollution. Just thinking about it is depressing 😏

blazes · November 1, 2023

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Shacking up with a proctologist is a great idea.

Thanks!

Proctologist? Does that cost more?

I prefer podiatrists.....

Irish star · November 1, 2023

I

Edited November 1, 2023 by Irish star

Irish star · November 1, 2023

I

Edited November 1, 2023 by Irish star

Irish star · November 1, 2023

Restaurant and entertainment prices keep me in Pattaya

NextG · November 1, 2023

@georgegeorgia Do you ever go outside? Almost all of your threads make mention of what you ‘saw on YouTube’ 🤭

Irish star · November 1, 2023

8 hours ago, stoner said:

biden trump 2024 who can blame you.

I Love Biden , Kicking Putins Butt

proton · November 1, 2023

23 minutes ago, vangrop said:

If you get bored here in Pattaya you will get bored everywhere and specially in homeland. Girls for old retirees, entertainment, climate, mates, food, name it everything available at affordable prices. I think that if you get botrd here you have a big mental issue. My advice to you is get a long time renewable subscription with a psychiatrist and take the required medication to climb out of this creepy tunnel.

I would say if you live in Pattaya and enjoy the place you have mental issues, the most depressing place. have been to in Thailand

NextG · November 1, 2023

4 hours ago, JimTripper said:

That's what I'm feeling currently. It may not be Thailand though, but rather just settling in too long, too comfortable of lack of challenge in a new environment. Or, just not comfortable being retired at all.

Any mention of being dissatisfied on this forum gets met with all kinds of attacks, usually of the "it's just you" variety, but it's the environment also.

Can you post a link to the video please?

No….. it’s really you. 😊 That doesn’t mean that you are abnormal. There are lots of people just like you. The reality is that there are soooooooooo many things you could do. You just don’t want to do them or cannot even imagine what to do. That’s you, not the environment. If it were the environment, then no one else would have anything to do either.

Andrew65 · November 1, 2023

26 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Where I am there are no bars, so at least it has that saving grace. However, there is no real western community either, so if you don't speak Thai here, it could get very lonely. This seems to be quite common among retirees in the North East, who do most of their drinking at home. I don't think they realized what they were getting into. Sad really.

I spent my time living where lots of expats live in Bangkok. I did sometimes notice that when guys showed up from 'up-country' they tended to talk a lot.

Something I saw that even if we speak Thai, conversation with Thai people might be limited, because we have different 'common-knowledge or references?

A old friend has been retired in Bangkok for 15 years now, and he seems happy enough reading books and watching TV. Personally, it became apparent that even if you have good TV channels, it's not going to be nearly enough for 16 hour days.

4MyEgo · November 1, 2023

10 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

I was surprised there was nearly 100 comments from older guys who had taken retirement in Asia from Thailand to the Philippines and all said they were or had gone back to their home country

, all said they got bored ,life was boring there in retirement

a few mentioned "heat" and they were not used to it everyday ,others mentioned traffic and noise etc but the main was boredom

It all depends on the person you are, you sound like you want to make the move to Pattaya but are scared IMO, and like to continue making the money while your working.

If you have a partner and a good social network here, you won't get bored, that said, it also depends if your the type of person who enjoys mixing with others, there is also plenty of time to hang by yourself if your so inclined.

Those that returned are those that will be bored in any environment, whether it's here or back in their homeland.

Routine is key, I love my coffee at 6am before I take an hours walk around a lake where other also walk and exercise between 7am-8am before the sun starts to burn you, if I'm a little late a large brolly does the trick, but not past 9am otherwise you start to turn to toast.

I go out 3 nights a week, have a few drinks, shoot some stick and talk to a good expat community and their lovely wives, everyone knows everyone on a first name basis, never had such a large crowd like this back home, it was once a week with a hand full of mates as we were all too busy working to pay the bills.

Not having to work is the 2nd best thing to me, meeting the the love of my wife, a new lease of life, a new country to live, it's not perfect, but where is, and while I will always call my homeland home, there is no way I could afford to live there and have the lifestyle that I have here, that is unless I work, then there goes the lifestyle and the stress level coming back.

I don't get bored here as I live in a big cosy, very heat resistant house whereby unless I go outside, I wouldn't notice that it's hot, no neighbours either side, behind or across the road of me, just the way I like it, but close enough to travel to get what I want need, and the airport is an hours drive.

It's important to travel annually as well, domestically and return to the homeland to visit friends and family every 2-3 years as opposed to sitting idol counting every penny and drinking like a fish because of being bored, but each to their own.

There are plenty of things to do, but you have to find what you like, for me, it's Thai time, do what I want, when I want and how I want.

Will I ever return to live back in my homeland, I won't say never, but it won't be from being bored.

You make of life what you make of life, where ever you are and if your the boring type, you won't survive anywhere, let alone here.

Baht Simpson · November 1, 2023

In my opinion there is no such thing as boredom. A lively, interesting person is never bored. There's always a place to visit, a sky to be watched, a book to be read. The secret is variety and finding pleasure, even in the mundane.

JimTripper · November 1, 2023

48 minutes ago, chilli42 said:

WThe things I like to do to engage in life are just not here. What little there is here that I enjoy doing is too limited.

the things enjoyed in later life are typically things from the past and experiences we had growing up. the time for learning ends, and remembering begins.

if there's nothing around that's familiar it's hard to enjoy something an older thai would enjoy, like farming, appreciating rice whiskey or moped racing.

Edited November 1, 2023 by JimTripper

Purdey · November 1, 2023

I am not sure what you cannot do in Thailand that you could do in a western country. Gyms, hobbies, cycling at weekends, parties, photography - how can anyone get bored?

I think one reason for boredom may be not having friends who talk about the subjects you like. Thais know little about what goes on in Europe or America. And they don't care. I have found many friends who speak good English as well as a couple of westerners.

I would hazard a guess that anyone who is bored in Thailand misses the mundane life they had in their home country and should never have left.

newnative · November 1, 2023

And, if you actually did get bored in Thailand, which I find unlikely, why are you still spending time on a Thai chat forum?

mikebike · November 1, 2023

4 hours ago, GarryP said:

For someone who has been working their whole life, retirement can be difficult regardless of where you live. My dad retired at 60 many years ago and within 1 year he was suffering terribly from boredom (there is only so much gardening and fishing you can do) so he ended up getting a part-time job just to give him something to do. For someone to hit retirement, up their sticks and move to Thailand, after a few months when the novelty wears off, they may start getting bored here too.

To each his/her own... We retired here in our early 40s and not bored yet!!

GarryP · November 1, 2023

2 minutes ago, mikebike said:

To each his/her own... We retired here in our early 40s and not bored yet!!