The true feeling of being free in a foreign country in Asia

[Harrisfan]

Motorbike or car on open road, no plans. That's freedom.

[GammaGlobulin]

4 hours ago, atpeace said:

Another good read! I feel honored to be acknowledged at the end 🙂

 

By the way, Sir...

 

Recently, as of yesterday, I have had a bit of good news, as well, about being FREE.

 

I just received this email sent out to all of us here in the community:

 

 

This is a time of "uncertainty" for me and those like us.

 

And, here is great news about FREEDOM and Financial Independence at Penn, for example.

 

MONEY is FREEDOM, as we all know.

 

Therefore, it is INCUMBENT UPON US to remain FREE and FINANCIALLY ....

LIQUID...but....and...

 

NOT FINANCIALLY....

 

ICED UP, as so often happens to others who are not....

 

Fiscally responsible.

 

By this i mean that it is OK to spend more on an AC which works properly and is very well designed.

And, doing this will actually SAVE us TIME and MONEY.

 

Never be tempted by the likes of lesser machines, such as TCL, in my view.

 

TCL, also, has a real branding problem since it is too confusing with the initials...

TLC (tender loving care).

 

Stay HYDRATED and let us all Stay Free....

 

AND, may we all preserve our PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS....according to what Sterling Hayden cautioned us, in his greatest speach of all time:

 

 

So, Sir, do your best...

Conserve your Precious Bodily Fluids...

By any means, and ...

By ALL means....!!!

 

 

 

[atpeace]

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

By the way, Sir...

 

Recently, as of yesterday, I have had a bit of good news, as well, about being FREE.

 

I just received this email sent out to all of us here in the community:

 

 

This is a time of "uncertainty" for me and those like us.

 

And, here is great news about FREEDOM and Financial Independence at Penn, for example.

 

MONEY is FREEDOM, as we all know.

 

Therefore, it is INCUMBENT UPON US to remain FREE and FINANCIALLY ....

LIQUID...but....and...

 

NOT FINANCIALLY....

 

ICED UP, as so often happens to others who are not....

 

Fiscally responsible.

 

By this i mean that it is OK to spend more on an AC which works properly and is very well designed.

And, doing this will actually SAVE us TIME and MONEY.

 

Never be tempted by the likes of lesser machines, such as TCL, in my view.

 

TCL, also, has a real branding problem since it is too confusing with the initials...

TLC (tender loving care).

 

Stay HYDRATED and let us all Stay Free....

 

AND, may we all preserve our PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS....according to what Sterling Hayden cautioned us, in his greatest speach of all time:

 

 

So, Sir, do your best...

Conserve your Precious Bodily Fluids...

By any means, and ...

By ALL means....!!!

 

 

 

Cheers and advice heard but possibly not followed 🙂

[hotsun]

I dont feel more free there, i feel like a celebrity. But that too gets old after a while

[newbee2022]

On 3/20/2025 at 10:35 PM, camper star said:

the Vietnam War

It's called "American War" in Vietnam with a good reason.

But you're right. In the last year's of life you're more going the simple way

 

 

[ChaiyaTH]

21 hours ago, at15 said:

You are brainwashed to believe you are somehow free. It does not matter what country you are in, if you got a birth certificate after you were born you are a slave to the system. Truly free people are living in the woods or jungle somewhere, and they do what they want at all times with zero government involvement. We are getting further from this everyday that passes.

I left 15 years ago and have lived tax free ever since, I was 19 at that time. So i prove you wrong I guess. Been all this time in SE asia countries, never worked more than parttime too (just not needed as lower cost of living / virtually zero tax). It's basically like being retired.

 

I only deal with governments when having no choice: renew passport, my visa + being stopped on the road.

 

Anyway, to also answer the actual question of this topic: I do feel less and less free in Thailand, as well that anyone at any moment can start some drama or sht against you, even in years from now, always makes it feels it is not permanent. I never feel like this when in Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam or Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong. 

 

I guess this all kind of started around 2015 when they started to flip flop rules all the time with visa's too. I recently was so happy they finally made wise decision to change it to 60 days to then now have that changed back to 30 again too. 

Then even I would not mind the 30 ones, then the question is did they get instructions to be like nazi's again or they just still behave relatively nicely like in recent times with just less days only. Even I can get yearly visa's too or there is always a way, it somehow just still never feels good.

 

I guess I can only achieve that next level of freedom by living on a sailboat.

[Wrwest]

23 hours ago, at15 said:

You are brainwashed to believe you are somehow free. It does not matter what country you are in, if you got a birth certificate after you were born you are a slave to the system. Truly free people are living in the woods or jungle somewhere, and they do what they want at all times with zero government involvement. We are getting further from this everyday that passes.

Just observing ... even there the "law on nature" prevails ...

[jvs]

22 hours ago, Arthur Mullard said:

You can 'free from' stuff that impacts your being harder, the cold, the competition to survive and less for your money, ie. back home... but being free doesn't equate to having yourself to live with hour-to-hour, without purpose. Work gives you purpose, without it creating your own purpose is as challenging as work. So what is "freedom" exactly? We're never free from ourselves. Experiencing freedom can sometimes be better, when it's hard-earned. Nice topic btw 👍

Imo ,having a job(work) can be freedom if you work for yourself.

Working for a paycheck makes you a slave.

 

[1FinickyOne]

On 3/21/2025 at 11:59 AM, at15 said:

people are living in the woods or jungle somewhere,

with no a/c or hot and cold running water? No flush toilets? no antibiotics so they don't die from a minor scrape? You get the idea? No stove for cooking? Just eat what I can kill with my bare hands? 

 

I love the idea - - not the reality

[1FinickyOne]

3 hours ago, ChaiyaTH said:

I left 15 years ago and have lived tax free ever since, I was 19 at that time

 

3 hours ago, ChaiyaTH said:

somehow just still never feels good.

So, would it be the worst thing in the world if you had to pay taxes? Boat loads of taxes? You would only have to pay huge amounts because you had money which might also buy you lots of freedom and make things like visas a total non-issue. 

 

The best thing about having money is that it buys you lots of freedom. You have an agent for visas and it takes no time and no aggravation. etc etc

[20450]

On 3/20/2025 at 10:35 PM, camper star said:

Express yourself now folks with positive thought. Please no negative BS. We ( at least I ) have lived in Asia since the Vietnam War and been in Thailand, Philippines, Okinawa and Japan. I only noticed one thing, people do NOT change. It is nice to see people post their journeys of living in Thailand or other Asian countries, but one thing is missing I feel and that is living here in a spiritual world of simplicity. Really, we don't need much when we are up there in our late chapter in life, just the freedom of feeling free after all them hard years of work. What is your thoughts. 

 

[jingjai9]

If you want to have a fresh look at freedom, I suggest reading Henry David Thoreau's book - Walden. 

It is a myth that Thoreau built a house in the woods and lived as a hermit without seeing other people. Thoreau started his life in the woods in the mid 1840s with the statement:

 

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. 

 

This book is not an easy read, but it does truly offer an alternative way to view our existence. Many of you who have retired would have the time to take a look. It is easy to find this publication online.

It was also Thoreau who said:

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation" 

This suggests "many people live uneventful lives filled with boredom and unfulfilled desires, often conforming to societal expectations rather than pursuing their true passions." (Think of "You can't fight City Hall.")

 

Almost 200 years after it was written there is still a lot of food for thought in Thoreau's words.

You may have heard other quotes from Thoreau like:

 

 "Everyone marches to the beat of a different drum" 

 

In many editions of Thoreau's - Walden, his essay on Civil Disobedience is included. This essay inspired both Mahatma Gandhi and Marling Luther King. 

[camper star]

6 hours ago, jvs said:

Imo ,having a job(work) can be freedom if you work for yourself.

Working for a paycheck makes you a slave.

 

Isn't that the truth in life.

[camper star]

1 hour ago, jingjai9 said:

If you want to have a fresh look at freedom, I suggest reading Henry David Thoreau's book - Walden. 

It is a myth that Thoreau built a house in the woods and lived as a hermit without seeing other people. Thoreau started his life in the woods in the mid 1840s with the statement:

 

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. 

 

This book is not an easy read, but it does truly offer an alternative way to view our existence. Many of you who have retired would have the time to take a look. It is easy to find this publication online.

It was also Thoreau who said:

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation" 

This suggests "many people live uneventful lives filled with boredom and unfulfilled desires, often conforming to societal expectations rather than pursuing their true passions." (Think of "You can't fight City Hall.")

 

Almost 200 years after it was written there is still a lot of food for thought in Thoreau's words.

You may have heard other quotes from Thoreau like:

 

 "Everyone marches to the beat of a different drum" 

 

In many editions of Thoreau's - Walden, his essay on Civil Disobedience is included. This essay inspired both Mahatma Gandhi and Marling Luther King. 

Also, freedom comes with a heart that speaks the truth of ones adventures in life. My apartment in Bangkok has a small table, a hot water cooker, a lamp and a sleeping bag. No air conditioning which I don't like anyway. Next door is a 7-11 that provides the freedom of seeing the daily life a Thai people with their beautiful and happy smiles. Is life grand... follow a healthy path in life an I feel so. Now, if she would quit telling me to go to the ATM machine. LOL