And so the exodus of quality expats begins. This time it's personal

[G_Money]

For some, I guess living the dream wasn’t a dream after all.  Imagine that!

[mikebike]

1 hour ago, mfd101 said:

I have never been to Phuket and probably will never visit there. In any case, it is not Thailand ...

Yeah, Phuket is not Thailand like Majorca is not Spain. Fun to experience... too bad you never tried and never will 😅

[mikebike]

40 minutes ago, Galong said:

Or it is TOO MUCH Thailand? 🤔

If so, then your OP is just crud. Your point was traffic etc. Now it's all of Thailand - how many of your "friends" who left for home even tried a more chillaxed part of the country? 

[BritManToo]

59 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It would take a hell of a lot to convince me to visit Chiang Rai, even for a day. 😉 

It's ok for us old folk that don't do much of anything anymore.

.... As is Chiang Mai .......

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, G_Money said:

For some, I guess living the dream wasn’t a dream after all.  Imagine that!

If your dream (and finances) is based around one single Thai lady, it's more likely to become a nightmare.

[Yellowtail]

Why don't the people that worry about not being able to buy booze during particular hours just not buy a couple extras? 

[KannikaP]

13 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Again, I would not know. I'm usually tucked up in bed by 10.30 pm, and I haven't touched alcohol for a year. Even when I was imbibing, I didn't need to be out at 1 am for it.

Oooh you dirty stop out. I am usually in bed before 9pm, so that I can wake up to watch Man City's games.

I haven't imbibed 'shop bought' alcohol for well over  year, but there are places on Lazada where one can buy concentrated grape juice. Nuff said.

[billd766]

Only 2 of my friends have left Thailand permanently and they were both in their 80s. I went to both of their cremations here in Kamphaeng Phet province.

 

That is the only way I plan to go as do most of the rest of my friends.

 

Then again, we don't live in tourist areas.

[JimTripper]

Thailand in general is feeling a bit funky. I could just be tired of it after 10 years off and on, but it has a funk that it did not have before. Could be that I'm in Pattaya but I'm not 100 % sure if that's it or not. I can't think of specific reasons, it's just a feeling.

[uttradit]

2 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

Thailand in general is feeling a bit funky. I could just be tired of it after 10 years off and on, but it has a funk that it did not have before. Could be that I'm in Pattaya but I'm not 100 % sure if that's it or not. I can't think of specific reasons, it's just a feeling.

What does funky really mean?

[billd766]

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

If your dream (and finances) is based around one single Thai lady, it's more likely to become a nightmare.

My dream is based around one single Thai lady and we have been married 24 years this year.

 

I don't regret a single minute of it.

[JimTripper]

3 minutes ago, uttradit said:

What does funky really mean?

Bad vibes

[Galong]

17 minutes ago, mikebike said:

😅😅 Dude we left Phuket in 2009 for the same reason. For a better part of Thailand. Most peeps can only live in a tourist ghetto for so long before getting over it. For us it was 3 yrs. 

My friends are leaving, I'm not. I still have plenty of very good friends here.

There are a lot of things that I like about Phuket. I also live in a nice part of town, so it's not touristy. I'm semi-retired and in the tourism business. Business is doing great. I'll fully retire in a couple of years. If Phuket keeps heading in the direction it's heading, I'll consider moving off the island. Phang Nga Town seems like a good option and it is still within easy striking distance of Phuket.

[Celsius]

Phuket is not Thailand, Pattaya is not Thailand, Bangkok is not Thailand. I have never seen such massive delusions on any other forum. You all paint Thailand as the place that is some kind of last oasis left on this planet and nothing can be further from the truth.

 

BTW, me and Mrs Celsius also left Thailand in style yesterday....

 

 

 

 

30 minutes after landing she was on her way out with permanent residence and all the information on how to apply for assistance and a health card.

[BangkokHank]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I am amazed how many people still go to Phuket, for holiday or to live there.

I was there the first time 30 years ago and at that time it was an obvious rip-off. Did it improve over the years? Obviously not.

I wonder if anybody who decided to live there do any research? 

Almost exactly the same for me. The only difference is that it was 29 year for me instead of 30. Ha.

 

I went there once - in 1995 - and I HATED it. I vowed never to go back there again, and I haven't. It started with the taxi from the airport, who stopped at an expensive hotel on the way to my destination after trying to convince me that MY hotel was full. I found the people there to be unfriendly (I almost got in a fight with a drunk local), and it was just generally unpleasant. Even if they paid me, I wouldn't go back there again.

[BangkokHank]

15 minutes ago, billd766 said:

My dream is based around one single Thai lady and we have been married 24 years this year.

 

I don't regret a single minute of it.

Well, which is it? Is she single? Or is she married to you? Ha.

[uttradit]

Without a photo bragging about marriage doesn't mean much. Some people marry Camilla Parker and are happy.

[save the frogs]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

 

Another friend is considering going back to Canada because he is fed up/bored with Patong and has been financially shafted by one Thai girlfriend, thereby losing his business, and his latest Thai girlfriend has decided to dump him! Not a happy chappy, so I expect him to leave very shortly.

 

Dont hand over your business keys to a thai woman. And maybe dont do business in thailand at all. 

 

He's been dumped. Who cares? There's 50 million girls out there. 

 

It's only women who need to cry when they get dumped because they lose all the financial security that goes along with being hitched up. 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

If you have never been there, you won't know what attractions it has. If you have, given your attitude, you would probably miss most of them.

Having been in Pattaya a few times, I would sooner chew razor blades than be a resident there. Phuket sounds like Pattaya squared.

That's why I live in Bangkok. 😉 

[Nick Carter icp]

9 minutes ago, uttradit said:

Without a photo bragging about marriage doesn't mean much. Some people marry Camilla Parker and are happy.

 

   You would have to be very shallow to judge a person going by their looks .

A persons personality isn't defined by their looks 

[save the frogs]

2 hours ago, Galong said:

Six of my very good friends have had enough of Phuket and all six are leaving because of traffic.

 

But Thailand is a small country.

So you can live where it's more quiet, less traffic, and get to Phuket or anywhere else very cheaply.

 

[KhunLA]

2 hours ago, Galong said:

Six of my very good friends have had enough of Phuket and all six are leaving because of traffic. Another friend and his family of four just bought a house a relocated here from the UK. After just a few months, they are already looking for ways to leave. 

How many of you have lost friends due to the 'progress' going on in Phuket?

I don't know anyone that would consider living there.   Renting in the past during one high season would be enough to turn anyone off.  Now, low season is simply too congested.   We were there Aug 2023, and can't see us ever returning, unless another pandemic, which case, during last one, we were there 5 times, and pure bliss every time. 

 

One friend, and this 15 yrs ago had a house at Kamala, and he didn't live there, and rarely used it as a vacation house.  Didn't take long for him to realize it was a mistake.   Strangely he preferred rural Udon Thani & Vientiane to living on Phuket.  Use the rent received to live elsewhere.

[it is what it is]

 

phuket isn't thailand. i went there once for an online date/holiday with a lady from malaysia, long story, excellent start, grim ending 😁. anyway, don't see why anyone would choose to base themselves in phuket, there are much pleasanter places to live in thailand.

[uttradit]

1 minute ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   You would have to be very shallow to judge a person going by their looks .

A persons personality isn't defined by their looks 

My friend has a good personality. I don't what to marry him. Why you would marry an ugly woman I don't know.

[Yellowtail]

I've been to Phuket a few times and thought it was nice enough. 

 

I'm always amused when people things like "Phuket, or Bangkok, or Pattaya or Chiang Rai is not Thailand." Of course they're not Thailand. But they are all part of Thailand. I think I would be happy living most anywhere in Thailand. I've been a lot of places, and I like Bangkok. 

[Galong]

3 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

I've been to Phuket a few times and thought it was nice enough. 

 

I'm always amused when people things like "Phuket, or Bangkok, or Pattaya or Chiang Rai is not Thailand." Of course they're not Thailand. But they are all part of Thailand. I think I would be happy living most anywhere in Thailand. I've been a lot of places, and I like Bangkok. 

I'm sure there are positives and negatives to every place. If I really didn't like here, I'd move. I fully understand why my friends are leaving. They have NOTHING tying them here. Four of them have only lived here for a couple of years.   

[uttradit]

6 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

I've been to Phuket a few times and thought it was nice enough. 

 

I'm always amused when people things like "Phuket, or Bangkok, or Pattaya or Chiang Rai is not Thailand." Of course they're not Thailand. But they are all part of Thailand. I think I would be happy living most anywhere in Thailand. I've been a lot of places, and I like Bangkok. 

Bangkok and Chiang Rai aren't Thailand? Who says such nonsense. Bangkok is the most culturally rich city in Thailand.

[KhunBENQ]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I am amazed how many people still go to Phuket, for holiday or to live there

Was there during deepest Covid times and enjoyed it (just after total lock was lifted).

Driving along "ghosttown" Chaweng beach road was special.

But I think it will have been my last visit from all I read.

 

 

[stoner]

6 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

Could be that I'm in Pattaya but I'm not 100 % sure if that's it or not. I can't think of specific reasons, it's just a feeling.

 

i would see a doctor about this. 

[Lacessit]

28 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

That's why I live in Bangkok. 😉 

I look forward to visiting Bangkok like I look forward to a dental appointment for root canal therapy.