What made you to take the jump and move to Thailand

[camper star]

I 'll answer my own question here. I was 20 I think when I first came to Thailand and in my mind Thailand was a land of mystical magic in the air. 

I'm actually living in another Asia country and maintain an apartment in Bangkok. I'm retired kind of but do work PT to keep mentally and physically moving, yet in Thailand I need to get some kind of adventure going. I'm an outdoor person that actually does do camping and cycling almost full time. Any suggestions on how I could bring that adventure for me to Thailand and show people what it is to enjoy life to its fullest. I do have a blog on a cycling forum that is beginning its 7th years.

Any suggestion much appreciated.

Yes, I want to make Thailand my home if I can get the health insurance at my age. 

[jas007]

2 hours ago, camper star said:

I 'll answer my own question here. I was 20 I think when I first came to Thailand and in my mind Thailand was a land of mystical magic in the air. 

I'm actually living in another Asia country and maintain an apartment in Bangkok. I'm retired kind of but do work PT to keep mentally and physically moving, yet in Thailand I need to get some kind of adventure going. I'm an outdoor person that actually does do camping and cycling almost full time. Any suggestions on how I could bring that adventure for me to Thailand and show people what it is to enjoy life to its fullest. I do have a blog on a cycling forum that is beginning its 7th years.

Any suggestion much appreciated.

Yes, I want to make Thailand my home if I can get the health insurance at my age. 

What are you doing for health insurance now? It's possible to spend time and even retire in Thailand without heath insurance, provided you have the right kind of visa.  Not that I'm suggesting that you don't carry insurance, but it's an option.

 

I'm not sure, exactly, why I ended up in Thailand.  For all I know, I'm not here permanently.  I think I found out about it online, and ended up following different blogs and websites and mailing lists.  So by the time I actually arrived in Thailand for the first time, I had done a lot of research.  Of course, I first heard about it during the Vietnam war, when I met some people who had been stationed here.  They seemed in awe of the place.  

[persimmon]

Many of the national parks allow camping , bring your own or hire one . Can be fun , depending on the weather . Cycling ? Lots of people do , not for me though ( apart from short distances to the shop ) - too hot , then there`s the safety aspect .

[blaze master]

The vast majority came for the women. Cue temple and market guys telling me theirs is different. 

 

Personally I came for the honestly. 

[still kicking]

1 minute ago, blaze master said:

The vast majority came for the women. Cue temple and market guys telling me theirs is different. 

 

Personally I came for the honestly. 

Honesty in Thailand?

[quake]

Cheap sex. cheap booze, cheap accommodation.

Nah, just kidding , Golden Temples and clean beaches. 

 

[jerrymahoney]

This is a quote from the movie "The Shawshank Redemption":

-- You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific? They say it has no memory. That's where I want to live the rest of my life.

Similar to that, I wanted to move to a place where nobody really knew me or had no memory of me unless I want them to.

[Ralf001]

My employer asked me to come here, the temples and beaches are a bonus.

[Gecko123]

In my opinion, Thailand is neither a cycling nor a camping paradise. Thailand is too hot for most of the year to make camping an enjoyable experience, although you can perhaps find cooler weather in the north and up in the mountains. Without a power source, you will have neither a fan or air conditioning which makes it challenging to sleep at night.

 

Plenty of people cycle in Thailand, but you really have to scope out the roads extremely carefully from a safety standpoint (adequate shoulders, speed of road traffic, etc.)  A bicycle touring holiday to Thailand, along routes which you are unfamiliar with is a very unwise idea. After moving here, you can get a better handle on the driving culture, traffic patterns, and road conditions in your area but thinking, for example, pedaling down hwy 4 from Hua Hin to Koh Samui is going to be a safe fun filled adventure is sheer madness, again, in my opinion.

[Cameroni]

I had come into a large amount of money and wanted to live in a new place. Due to holidays in SE Asia I knew that was my part of the world. So I did a tour of Asia, Malaysia, Shanghai, Taiwan, Hua Hin, Phuket, Bali, Sumatra, Bangkok but when I arrived in Chiang Mai I knew immediately this place is as good as it gets and decided to move there.

'

Best decision ever, but sadly too late, I should have moved here  20 years ago. That would have been perfect. But better late than never.

[fredwiggy]

10 hours ago, blaze master said:

The vast majority came for the women. Cue temple and market guys telling me theirs is different. 

 

Personally I came for the honestly. 

In a country where lying is a national pastime?

[KhunLA]

Wasn't much of a jump.   Even from living in one of the largest countries (USA), as after 45 yrs, unless you never leave mommy's basement, gets a bit boring.  I was always changing locations anyway, and not just across town.

 

For myself, I wanted less govt regulation, taxation, PC BS, so a modern 3rd world country fits the bill.  

 

For a Yank, that moved around from state to state, not much of an adjustment, as you need need DL/address, electric & water service vendors, which each move to a different state.  You search for, rent or buy living accommodations.   Just TH is a bit further than I expected, or had originally planned for.

 

Relationships (non P4P) have never been a problem, well, finding & having, though long term, seemed to be an issue, or a benefit.

 

Only difference, was visa & extensions, and that's just a one day a year thing, so nothing difficult or special.