Introspection: Are You a Chronic Complainer, or Are These Just Minor Inconveniences?

[CecilM]

That's just how people from my country are.  We complain. 

[JamesPhuket10]

On 2/26/2025 at 6:39 AM, FriscoKid said:

Talk to Robert_Smith. He certainly built an entire career on AN by thanklessly whinging about anything and everything in Thailand. 

His career on AN is to be the prime piss-taker.

 

I think he is hilarious. 😃 

[FriscoKid]

2 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

You must be one

And you?

[Celsius]

I am chronically complaining about chronic complaining. I am also sick and tired of being sick and tired 

[Harrisfan]

9 minutes ago, Celsius said:

I am chronically complaining about chronic complaining. I am also sick and tired of being sick and tired 

I'm tired of being tired

[JamesPhuket10]

On 2/26/2025 at 12:16 AM, hankypankee said:

If you spend enough time on this forum, you’ll notice a consistent trend: some people seem to struggle with nearly every bureaucratic or systematic process in Thailand. If the posts here were the only source of information about how things get done, you’d think it was almost impossible to live here legally.

 

From visa extensions, 90-day reports, and TM30 address reporting to opening a bank account, filing tax returns, and transferring money in and out internationally, the complaints never stop. Getting a Thai driver’s license is somehow “very complicated,” yet thousands of foreigners manage to do it without much difficulty and without hiring unnecessary consultants or agents. Meeting the financial requirements for a retirement visa is “unreasonable,” according to some, but isn’t that just the reality of living here long-term?

 

Then there’s the outrage over work permits and visa rules, the difficulties of registering a car or motorbike, and the supposed impossibility of owning property and the challenges of buying a condo (even though the laws are clear and have been for years). Some people complain that overstaying a visa results in fines and bans, as if immigration rules are ever optional anywhere in the world. Others act surprised when they run into problems with marriage and divorce laws, even though a little due diligence could have saved them the trouble.

 

Of course, bureaucracy anywhere can be frustrating. But are these really particularly massive issues in Thailand more so than in other places around the world, or are they just the standard rules of living in a foreign country? Most of these things seem to merely take a little effort, patience, and an understanding that things don’t always work exactly the way they do back home.

 

Personally, I haven’t had an exceeding amount of difficulty with any of these things over the years. It’s just a matter of following the rules, making sure you have the right paperwork, and then things move along mostly as expected.

 

So, are many of the incessant complaints in these forums legitimate, or are people just malignant moaners making life harder for themselves (and making it seem that way to others) than it really needs to be?

 

I have lots of things to complain about.

 

I had to spend an hour last week at the immigration office to get my one-year visa extension and at the same time get a multi-re-entry visa, I had to go back the next morning to pick it up where I was greeted with a big smile from the officer and was handed my passport back, that took another minute.

 

I spend at least five minutes online doing my 90-day police report.

 

I spend the same amount of time doing the TM30

 

When I got my car driving licence last year I had to watch a one-hour safety video while sitting in my aircon car on my iPhone.

 

I then had to go back inside the building and step on a brake, it took two hours to get the licence.

 

I bought a car a while back while on a 30-day tourist visa, it cost a few quid for it to be put in my name with a brown envelope, which took two minutes.

 

I have to press a few buttons on my Swift app to send money over from my bank account in the UK and sometimes it takes a whole day to get here.

 

Then if I wish to buy things from Lazada etc I have to press some buttons again on my Bangkok bank account app to pay for it, the items then get delivered to my doorstep but sometimes it takes a few days.

 

It is all so frustrating but I manage to get through it all at the end of the day.

 

🤣