Returning To The Uk

[marquess]

Yesss that is the question! Most British people that I have spoken to never want to go back to Blighty, why is that so? When one speaks to a Canadian or an American, they also seem quite willing go back to their home country. Yet most British people don't. Any answers gang??!!

[rod_kalashnikov]

 

[Bluecat]

Most British people that I have spoken to never want to go back to Blighty, why is that so?

I guess they figure living in a tropical paradise beats living in a pisshole in the snow.

In the rain.

If at least there was snow,...

[simon43]

Putting aside the weather, cost of living, illegal immigrants etc etc etc

My own view is that, unlike MOST other countries, Britain has managed to make it almost a capital offence to be patriotic!

Think about this. In the US, Switzerland, France etc, and of course Thailand, virtually every national of that country is PROUD to be a citizen of that country. You stand for the national anthem. You fly your national flag from your house, car etc. You are proud to say 'I am an American, I am a Thai' etc.

So what about Britain? If you try to fly the national flag, then people either think you are a fascist or a drunken football yob. If you stand for the national anthem (if it ever gets played), then everyone thinks you are mad. And I'm sorry, but how on earth can you have any respect for that useless bunch of plonkers called the British Royal Family??

I would love to have a sense of national pride in my home country, but for as long as I can remember, successive govenrments have introduced more and more rules to make it ###### hard to feel any sense of loyalty or patriotism...

Just my 2 penies worth . . .

[marquess]

I would love to have a sense of national pride in my home country, but for as long as I can remember, successive govenrments have introduced more and more rules to make it ###### hard to feel any sense of loyalty or patriotism...

Just my 2 penies worth

A pity no one explained that to the British Govt, when it sold of Rolls Royce, Jaguar not to mention a few others, to foreigners. One could never imagine the Italians allowing Ferrari to be owned by the Spanish or the Germans allowing Mercedez Benz to be owned by the French. No, nationlist pride in Britain seems now to be reserved for the likes of the BNP.

[maerim]

useless bunch of plonkers called the British Royal Family??

You mean the Saxe -Coburgh- Gotha's?

[Darlek]

Yesss that is the question! Most British people that I have spoken to never want to go back to Blighty, why is that so? When one speaks to a Canadian or an American, they also seem quite willing go back to their home country. Yet most British people don't. Any answers gang??!!

over liberal politicians have turned UK into a slum ?

immigration a joke and everyone around the globe knows it ?

politically correct jokers are running the ship onto the rocks ?

serious over taxation ?

large parts of towns turned over to ethnics and UK identity lost ?

towns and cities awash with mafia godfathers and drugs ?

towns and cities full of drunken yobs ? (24 hour boozing comin soon)

untrustworthy politicians ? Mandleson has just been awarded THE EU post , they dont come any more slimy than "mandy ", one of Tonys cronies !

too expensive to live ?

Red Ken warmly welcoming Islamic Fundamentalist Cleric terrorist agitator ?

just recently a poll says that huge numbers of over 50s want to leave UK-

its into 100,000 figures.

the list goes on and on

[Thaicoon]

Robin Hood, Frier Tuck and there merry men, That is why us brits do not want to return to the UK, a decent working person gets screwed by the corrupt government of high taxes, fuel prices and paying for people that have never worked in there life, who will have everything for nothing, they will be looked after untill they die with all these assylum seekers that no other country wants, they are just draining the resources, the UK is billions in the red because of this, hence, decent hard working people are moving abroad and you get all the s... moving in, when you try to get a Thai lady into the UK, almost impossible all the redtape you have to go through, then if you have a thai wife she can claim nothing, it stinks, you may wonder who is Robin Hood, Frier Tuck and there merry men..........Tony bullshit Blair, John Fatty Prescott and the rest of the idiots, oh i forgot one, Gordon shithouse Brown.

I am still in the UK, but not for much longer, selling my Business and moving to the land of smiles, with my thai wife and the two kids.

[Richard W]

So what about Britain? If you try to fly the national flag, then people either think you are a fascist or a drunken football yob.

I think Britain has been given up on. Private citizens from the mainland rarely fly the British flag (the union jack) nowadays. In England it's usually the English flag that private citizens fly; in Scotland, they either fly the Scottish flag or usurp the banner of the monarch of Scotland. Thirty years ago, supporters of an English team would wave the union jack.

[edd]

WHY WOULD ANY ONE NOT WANT TO RETURN TO THE UK

Petrol £3.80/gallon thats 62 baht/liter

House Rates £1200/ year +

Water Rates £ 450/ year +

Income Tax £0.22 pence/ £1

INSURANCE Thats a joke its so expensive

The British flag. not flown from public buildings so as not to offend ethnic minorities

YOBS, JUNKIES, PERVS, PEADOPHILES, THIEVES, ILLEGAL IMMEGRATION, GOVERNMENT LIES, ETC,ETC.

Edd

[rainman]

I'm Swiss and proud of it. But i couldn't go back and live in Switzerland, its just not anymore what it used to be.

[chonabot]

I'm Swiss and proud of it. But i couldn't go back and live in Switzerland, its just not anymore what it used to be.

Or are you on the run Rainman?

[rainman]

I'm Swiss and proud of it. But i couldn't go back and live in Switzerland, its just not anymore what it used to be.

Or are you on the run Rainman?

Things cooled down a lot since they took me off the Interpol Most Wanted list

kiddin'

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I'm Swiss and proud of it. But i couldn't go back and live in Switzerland, its just not anymore what it used to be.

Or are you on the run Rainman?

Things cooled down a lot since they took me off the Interpol Most Wanted list

kiddin'

Now Interpol have seen where you are, you'll be back on the list Rainman

[marquess]

You mean the Saxe -Coburgh- Gotha's?

Not since 1917, now the house of Windsor. I don't think that the royal family are to blame for anything that is going on. It really is the government and it's movement away from traditional values. The Royal family represent traddition in the UK. A traddition which predsidential Blair is trying to undemine by stealth.

[medicinebox]

America has most of Great Britains issues. They seem to cope. Hows that?

Maybe the American machine is bigger than the sum of its parts, and green and pleasant England is a featherweight in the worlds heavyweight boxing ring.

[maerim]

The Royal family represent traddition in the UK. A traddition which predsidential Blair is trying to undemine by stealth

You might want to take a quick look at www.throneout.com just to see about the parentage of the queens two youngest sons.

I think they have a valid point as they don't look anything like like the two eldest children.

Some tradition, by the way the late unlamented princess Margaret managed two scald both her feet getting in a bath.

How do most people get into a bath? By jumping in it?

Most of the people I know in the UK regard the royal family as a joke albeit a very expensive one.

[pnustedt]

Most of the people I know in the UK regard the royal family as a joke albeit a very expensive one.

But at least you have the freedom to say that in the UK without recrimination.

My impression is that most people moving to LOS from UK are men in the later stages of their life, having divorced a farang spouse. The UK divorce courts are notoriously harsh on men and leaves them bitter about the consequences. It is healthy to move on and leave the past behind you.

It is also very expensive to visit or return to the UK.

Many people there seem to think that it is the centre of the world and don't understand why or how anyone could want to live anywhere else. I've even had British people say how fortunate my wife is now that she will be able to get a visa to live in the UK - to be met by puzzled expressions when I fall over laughing.

[simon43]

Whatever you might think about Thaksin, he has certainly been succesful in instilling a national pride amongst Thai people.

If you hit a Thai guy then there will be 100 others ready to beat the sh*t out of you!!

If a 'foreigner' hits you in England, then all bystanders will be running as fast as they can in the opposite direction. No-one will want to help in case they are accused of assault or a racial attack on the foreigner. And you can be pretty sure that there will be no police around to help you since they will all be doing their paperwork back at the nick

So I can certainly agree with these surveys that suggest so many middle-aged people want to leave the UK.

[GuestHouse]

The fact is, large numbers of people who have moved to Thailand from the UK, return.

They trumpet their arrival, 'Hey guys I'm here, good bye to all that'.

But when things go to rat shit, as they too often do, they sneak back on the plane and are never heared of again.

Brits should non be so keen to knock the UK, it is where they run to when they are ill, robbed of what they have or just depressed that they have f@cked up their life in Thailand.

I've known perhaps a dozen cases of guys who have gone home, given I don't mix with indenpendent expats much, that is a surprisingly high figure.

[RamdomChances]

I'm inherently lazy and if I went back I'd have to go to work every day.

Whenever I'm feeling a bit homesick or p!ssed off I just think about getting up on a cold black winters morning to scrape the ice off my car togo to work!!

This usually does the trick

[cutethaigirl]

Everywhere has its problems and Governments can not please all.

Personal choice in a place to live is great but generally looking at the WHOLE picture.

NO WAY could a family of husband wife and two children live to a similar standard in Thailand as UK.

Maybe if all goes well it is reachable but if there are problems it ios not possible on the same funds.

Single Guys that have some cash in the bank that come to live out their lifes with a usually younger Thai GF, ok perfectly possible.

Before knocking any country you have to look at the whole picture??

It seems Westerners by nature complain more than they praise?

Is it half full of half empty?

One thing that seems very strange to me about UK is that you can be jailed for flying the National Flag!!!!!!

ct

[Horizontalbiker]

Whatever you might think about Thaksin, he has certainly been succesful in instilling a national pride amongst Thai people.

If you hit a Thai guy then there will be 100 others ready to beat the sh*t out of you!!

I believe that's down to pack mentality rather than national pride.

As for why I don't want to go back to the old "white cliffs", to violent, fed up having money taken off me to support people who have no intention of ever doing a days work in their lives, to expensive, being put last because I'm British. Where I come from there are large amounts of Yugoslavic immegrants who have put the crime rates through the roof, mainly rapes and muggings, and no one seems willing to do anything about them. Blair. The list goes on.

Summary, a cold, wet rock in the Atlantic, or warm, sunny beaches and smiling people.

Which would you choose

[marquess]

Most of the people I know in the UK regard the royal family as a joke albeit a very expensive one.

Most people in the UK are ignorant of the fact that the revenues from the Crown Estates, far exceeds that of the Civil List. As you know the crown estates are traditionally handed over to the gov at the begining of each reign. Thus if the crown were allowed to keep it's own property it would then be able to pay for itself. Thus it is the gov who are making a profit. Remember also that the Queen refunds the civil list for minor members of the royal family. I do wish people would get their facts right before they start bleating

[maerim]

The fact is, large numbers of people who have moved to Thailand from the UK, return.

Including me, next week in fact not that I want but have to return to the dole tappers paradise where people can't afford to go to work.

I have a tenant married to the state when she was fifteen and claiming ever since she has diverted the rent cheque that should come to me to her,this is quite legal by the way so no rent for 3 months.

So I have to start legal proceedings against her I know exactly how much her legal bill will be,nothing,as I and other taxpayers will foot the bill through legal aid.

This woman is just one of hundreds of thousands who are leaching off the state and will do so till they reach 60 years then claim the pension.

As for people not wanting to return to the UK is anyone surprised?

I know for a fact many of my friends envy me living here they are stuck in the UK and after working hard all their lives are now being told that sorry and all that but the state does not have enough money to give you a half decent pension.

On the other hand though the state has enough money to give economic migrants a house and brand new furniture and white goods.

Not far from wher I lived in the UK a Turkish Kurd "refugee" single man, was provided with a house full of new gear. Thank you very much, he then sold the lot.

Guess what happened to him? Right first time nothing.

I will feel quite at home there back in the UK as I will be a second class citizen same as I am here even though I am a UK citizen.

[Boon Mee]

Whatever you might think about Thaksin, he has certainly been succesful in instilling a national pride amongst Thai people.

Actually, Thais have had national pride long before Taksin came along. Thai women used to go into battle with their men against the Bumese during those various wars. Whatever changes occur in LOS throughout time, Thais have always had a much stronger sense of identity than their neighbors.

Their patriotism is very similiar to an American's...perhaps not Jane Fonda's...

[Bluecat]

Whatever you might think about Thaksin, he has certainly been succesful in instilling a national pride amongst Thai people.

Actually, Thais have had national pride long before Taksin came along.

That's right.

National pride is very high in Thailand.

And has been for a very long time.

And Khun Thaksin did not develop it.

He just used it.

Hence the Thai Rak Thai party name,...

[Englishman]

I hope it's OK to quote myself from another thread...

Here's my take on the England situation.

If you haven't left already, I estimate you have about 5 years to get out before it all goes tits up. when I say this, I am only speaking from my own life, experience and situation.

I have been coming to SE Asia for quite some years now. I have decided I will make Thailand my home for reasons I will not go into now as it would be off topic. In preparing to move to Thailand, I am having to work very hard indeed to save the money, rebuild my business (a few years ago I found myself on the bottom rung of the ladder and starting from scratch again). In my current profession, I can earn quite a good wage in England. It is saving me the money I require to move overseas again and keeping me going while I start my business again. In order to earn this money, I work 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. To minimize my expenditure and save as much as possible, I force myself to live in an extreemly small room in a shared house. I can afford to live in much better accomodation but I just tell myself the money I save while in this small room brings me closer to a permanent migration.

In a few years, my ability to earn this income will be gone, not because of old age or ill health... but the massive influx of Eastern Europeans who have the same skills as me and will do my job at a fraction of the price. I can see it happening already. The management in my particular industry are realising the money they can save with migrant workers. So, I have decided that I have to make my money soon and get out, or I'll probably never make it (Just take I.T. as an example).

The cost of living in the UK rises ever higher. Wages rise accordingly. Tax rises accordingly, (income tax and stealth tax). More and more people divorce through the stresses of the rat race and end up living alone. The value of their house is astronomical so they sell and leave the country for a better life. Migrant workers flood into Britain to fill numerous vacant skilled jobs. Already, wages are starting to reduce as employers can get away with paying migrant workers less. I believe this is where the bubble will burst. The UK will end up with millions of 30 or 40 year old skilled native Englishmen/Women who are unemployable because they have been priced out of the market.

I haven't worked out what it is yet but I reallt believe there is a catastrophic change coming for England and I don't like how it feels. Trouble is brewing I'm sure of it. Britain is surfin' high right now but mark my words it's going to crash down.

There is a tangible feel on the streets, a feel of discontentment and misery because of long hours, expensive goods and services, high taxation, busy busy lives, no time for anything other that work. Just as a smile is infectious, so too is a frown and that frown is spreading here.

Only tonight, I said to a collegue at work "Mate, I reckon we've got about 5 years to get out of here, this place is going down". Coincidentally, I came home and saw this thread.

You only have to look at the latest census results. So many people are living alone in the UK because there is no room in their life for a relationship. The results also show that MILLIONS of native English folk have simply dissapeared from Britain, no doubt to make their way on foreign shores... and good luck to them, I won't be far behind.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my country. I'm proud to be an Englishman. On the other hand, I'm ashamed when my countrymen embarass me with their drunken yobbery (have you ever seen a Thai man in England in a drunken brawl?).

Where did all the respect go. School kids are assaulting their teachers! Children are sueing their parents. Delinquent teenagers are mugging octagenarians. In thailand, in the village where my girlfriend lives, even the poorest of families has the most lovely and polite children.

Criminals are sueing their victims!!! Where has England gone wrong?

Things are better for me now but a few years ago, I wound up back in the UK peniless as it all went wrong for me. I had nowhere to live and because I had been away for so long, all my friends had moved on. I approached the local social security services to ask if they could help me and if they could accomodate me in local authority housing while I rebuild my life. They were very apologetic when they said they could do nothing to help me. As I left the social securtiy office, there was a queue of asylum seekers, migrant sponges and people who had turned up underneath a lorry that were being handed money to help them start their new life in England. Some of them were also accomodated... me, a Britain born and bred, one who has always worked hard and paid his taxes, was given nothing in my time of need.

Am I bitter? Yes, of course I am as you can tell from my writing. I'm philosophical about that incident now but I don't feel I owe this country anything... and here is the problem that will bring England down. Discontentment, disloyalty. I hear people comlaining all the time and they are legitimate complaints about life and the system here.

Sorry about my rant but it's all going wrong here. Trust me.

My girlfriend awaits me in Thailand for that better life together. I can't wait.

In this thread, I had a bit of a heated discussion with Stroll about my attitude to migrant workers. I think it true to say that Britain is seen as a soft touch with immigration. I saw a documentary on the BBC not so long ago where secret cameras were used to film the comments of migrant workers. The overwhelming attitude of them was to say '<deleted>.ck England, we'll take what we can get and then leave'.

Lost identity is a big issue in England now. People don't know what it is to be English. Perhaps that is why English football supporters will only fly the English flag nowadays, as opposed to the British flag... an attempt to claw back some form of identity. During the recent European football matches in Portugal, it heartened me to see English Fathers and their sons in the crowd cheering for their team with England flags painted on their faces. Alas, I fear this will be the last generation that can identify themselves with a true feeling of England. England has/is becoming nothing more than a processing hall for illegal immigrants, sponges, the detritis of the world where British passports are being issued like they were confetti.

I recently stopped to ask directions in London as I was hopelessly lost... I couldn't find anyone who spoke English... I swear that is true... if I could find someone willing to help me, they Either couldn't speak English, or were lost themselves (probably on their way to the dole office)

I have come to hate England. I love what England used to be... I love the classic 'Miss Marple' image of country villages and village pubs, but now even village life is lost because people who were born and raised in those villages can no longer afford to live there, house prices being so high due to city communters.

Ask yourself why the Scottish have such a strong sense of identity. Scotland is still beautiful, still has wide open space, still has small towns with lifelong local populations. They know who they are and where they come from and they like it that way.

I recently went home to my birthplace after many years of absence. I hardly recognised it. When I was a child (only 20 odd years ago) it was a very small and quiet market town where everyone knew eachother. Now, it's just an eyesore next to the M1 with a diverse ethnic mix and clogged with traffic. I wept as I went down to the old river where I played as a child. Now it's lined with concrete and HGV's thunder alongside.

I challenge you to find a patch of land in England that doesn't have a large road running through it or an electricity pylon spoiling the view... and they call this progress! Even one of our greatest national monuments, Stonehenge, is in the apex of two major roadways, just a few hundred yards away. What on Earth were they thinking of when they build these busy roads next to such a tranquil site!!! Fools.

My name on this forum is 'Englishman'. What am I trying to say by choosing that name? I don't want to go back there after I've left. I suppose it will always be where I was born.

[Englishman]

........ and another thing...

[Insight]

Lost identity is a big issue in England now. People don't know what it is to be English.

Too true, but I think if you try swing the blame at immigration laws, you're looking at a bit of a scapegoat.

I was only a young boy in the 80's in England, but the picture that I gather is that between late 70's to early 80’s was that you either have it or you don’t. You’re either minted and can own anything you want, or poor and belong on some poverty-ridden estate – we managed to step back a good century or two. Of course, the majority are going to fall into the latter, and that in itself will kill any patriotism.

The picture might not be that bad nowadays, but the general attitude of people is “It’s sh*te ‘ere…”

Any service anywhere is terrible because people generally don’t care – you’re problems are you’re problems, doesn’t matter how much I’m being paid to sort them out.

Then pile on top a “my rights” attitude that everybody has – “my right” to do this, “my right” to do that etc, it’s a very grim place to live. Walk into any bar in any city and notice the eyes staring at you, looking to make contact in hope for the slightest bad gesture, then watch the only entertainment available begin.

Then people from the UK come to Thailand and are completely overwhelmed by the whole experience – people *make an effort* to get on along with each other, assist where necessary. True, there’s a class divide, but this isn’t entirely obvious to any newcomer. The general facial expression is a pleasant smile, not a grim frown. Even the language barrier doesn’t stand in the way of it!

In my own opinion, to sort the problems of the UK out, a sense of national pride needs to be restored for everybody, regardless of race/religion etc – I have a fair few “non-white” UK friends who are just as British as I am – you can tell that by how grim they are If people living in the UK are not proud, how can they expect any visitor/immigrant to be?