8 hours ago, w00n s3n said:

Maybe the first time.

Certainly not a second, sir.

Maybe not but comparing the cost over there to here?

the Exchange rate is almost 50% better over there.

 

53 minutes ago, jts-khorat said:

 

Yup, if I could do it all over again and go to some place in Asia first, Indonesia would be right second to Thailand. And Bali would not make the list of first ten places there.

 

That is the way it happened to me; Indo for work; here because I had a mate living here. 

Sabah or Sarawak would also be good. Never been to Bali; no desire to go there.

 

Mongers? No need to go to Indo. It's Muslim so there are girls of ill repute? Yeah, right! 555

8 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Yeah, Vietnam is great for a tourist visit.

If I were single I'd probably marry (or impregnate) a local for the easy 5 year family VISA.

Some guys are living there doing a border run every three months 😂

11 hours ago, Stressed Eric said:

Where would you go in 2026?

 

Eric.

Timor-Leste.

Pattaya?😝

The point is not if they come to Thailand for the first time in Asia or not. 

 

The point to ponder is that once they have come, got cheated all over, suffered the filthy beaches mainly around Bangkok or Hua Hin. gone through all the scamming and overcharging, and so on...the just won't come back. 

 

Thailand also forgets that it's main ambassadors are the western retirees in Thailand, those who own property, stay for 4 or 5 months in their condo or homes. This segment is always harassed by all the excessive bureaucratic immigration paperwork, the red tape in the Banks etc etc. Not to mention how they are usually cheated or overcharged by the companies in the basic house or condo maintenance. All these people on retirement visa go back and tell people in the west how things are. 

 

Thailand needs to improve the conditions of any property owner and facilitate Visa with less requisites. It seems obvious that a westerner who own property in Thailand and only want to say say 4 or 5 months at most, has good spending power and must not be harassed by all the absurd immigration rules. The best solution is to give the retiree a 5 month Non O e-visa only by showing the condo ownership document or the house lease agreement and that's it, And make the visa handling faster as many Thai consulates-embassies in Europe are slow in handling e-visa. 

10 hours ago, Peter Crow said:

Bali isn't a country. Indonesia has a lot more to offer than Thailand. Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Java, Lombok. Burma can't be overlooked either.

As long as you like civil war, Burma is the go to country.

10 hours ago, Grumpy one said:

Why not add Singapore and Myanmar to your list

 

He's too thick to understand basic geography.

1 hour ago, Sigmund said:

The point is not if they come to Thailand for the first time in Asia or not. 

 

The point to ponder is that once they have come, got cheated all over, suffered the filthy beaches mainly around Bangkok or Hua Hin. gone through all the scamming and overcharging, and so on...the just won't come back. 

 

Thailand also forgets that it's main ambassadors are the western retirees in Thailand, those who own property, stay for 4 or 5 months in their condo or homes. This segment is always harassed by all the excessive bureaucratic immigration paperwork, the red tape in the Banks etc etc. Not to mention how they are usually cheated or overcharged by the companies in the basic house or condo maintenance. All these people on retirement visa go back and tell people in the west how things are. 

 

Thailand needs to improve the conditions of any property owner and facilitate Visa with less requisites. It seems obvious that a westerner who own property in Thailand and only want to say say 4 or 5 months at most, has good spending power and must not be harassed by all the absurd immigration rules. The best solution is to give the retiree a 5 month Non O e-visa only by showing the condo ownership document or the house lease agreement and that's it, And make the visa handling faster as many Thai consulates-embassies in Europe are slow in handling e-visa. 

Nonsense.

Tourists don't even know or care about expats. Not on their radar.

Most get 60 days visa exempt on arrival. And most enjoy their experience.

The reality is expats are irrelevant to the Thai economy despite as much as the said expats want to believe it so. They could all leave tomorrow and it would not make an iota of difference to the Thai economy.

Somehow retirees think they grace Thailand with their presence is important.

It is not.

50 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

As long as you like civil war, Burma is the go to country.

Visited Yangoon, Mandalay and Bagan in 1986, totally magic..

My first trip to Asia was to Singapore.We get a contract in Malaysia so we was at sea 27 days from Norway to Singapore.We stayed about 2 months in Singapore waiting for towing an oirig from there to Malaysia.

After we arrived Malaysia (Labuan in Borneo island)we worked there for about 3 years.

7 hours ago, Peter Crow said:

Visited Yangoon, Mandalay and Bagan in 1986, totally magic..

True,

I spent 5 years there. No hurry to go back just yet.

11 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Timor-Leste.

It's OK but I certainly wouldn't spend money getting there. We dropped anchor there a few times. 

In 1990, I walked across the border bridge from Songai Goluk, Malaysia, and into Thailand, an older backpack traveler, just wandering with no fixed destination.
I had the funniest feeling as I crossed that I was coming home.
That feeling has never left. Neither have I.

16 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Did you spell Beaches correctly?

Hahahahahaha!  Not sure as a 1st timer I'd have been going to see those beaches. Would have been with the wife.  

 

Now I don't see 'that' beach...

On 10/30/2025 at 8:36 PM, Sigmund said:

Thailand also forgets that it's main ambassadors are the western retirees in Thailand

 

🤣🤣🤣😂😂🤣😂🤣😂

Indonesia, but not Bali. I am hoping to visit for the first time in 2026.

 

Bargain air tickets, including hotel, with Cambodia Air Asia from Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to Jakarta avoiding Bangkok DMK. 

 

 

 

I would obviously go to the elephant freedom project.
 

To show my support for a great sponsor that supports this great board.