3 hours ago, khaosokman said:

Pretty narrow minded to judge a country by one city. Most expats love Siem Reap and Kampot. Their is nothing about PP that appeals to me.

Given Bill has lived there for 7 years I would take his advice and ignore your negative rant.

I’ve travelled extensively in Cambodia over the years, to many places most expats have never been to. A lot of this way before Bill’s 7 years in Siem Riep. Lately most of it’s been in PP. In my opinion the country has got worse rather than better with the way it’s been sold off by the ruling family to the Chinese.

If you think that’s negative then you clearly know nothing of the place, stating fact is not a rant, are you on the delicate side?

Edited Monday at 01:50 PM1 day by sungod

17 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Deputy government spokeswoman Lalida Persvivatana said on 12 September that the government wants to use the results to encourage foreigners with spending power to remain in Thailand for longer.

If there is the tiniest bit of sincerity behind that statement which is questionable considering the current PM, than Thailand simply has to do more for the expat community.

Easier qualifications for long-term visas and easier methods to own a single family home and a rai or two of land. Especially for those of us who honest, and are financially stable and bring a fair amount to the table.

As I see it immigration is still fairly hostile and this administration is more xenophobic than most.

Having said that I do agree that Thailand's a great place to retire, the quality of life here is quite high for those of us who have limited income and wealth, and I really love the people and their disposition and attitudes.

Is mostly agree with you.

The only areas where I'd have an issue is Thais attitude on the roads. I'm back in the UK at the moment and drivers are much more friendly here. I do think that retirement in Thailand could be very difficult in the event you need to use a wheelchair or have some other disability. Many pavements/sidewalk aren't pedestrian friendly let alone suitable for wheelchairs. I've seen places where bikes have been parked across the tactile paving provided for the visually impaired. Disabled parking spaces attract bikes as well, particularly in filling stations.

8 hours ago, sungod said:

I’ve travelled extensively in Cambodia over the years, to many places most expats have never been to. A lot of this way before Bill’s 7 years in Siem Riep. Lately most of it’s been in PP. In my opinion the country has got worse rather than better with the way it’s been sold off by the ruling family to the Chinese.

If you think that’s negative then you clearly know nothing of the place, stating fact is not a rant, are you on the delicate side?

You say it has gotten worse yet you went to these other towns many years ago and mostly just been in PP in recent years which means PP has gotten worse not Siem Reap. So your logic is all flawed.

When was the last time you visited Siem Reap or Kampot? If it was pre covid then it means nothing.

Google reviews go back years and any review from more than 3 years ago I would ignore.

So we have your opinion (from many years ago) up against a guy who lived there from 2019 to 2026. Logically his opinion holds a lot more weight cause he spent the last 2000 days there and you visited years ago.

20 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

Well 30 days is the limit for a visa free tourist.

I think in this article they are talking about people who want to live here on a dtv visa or similar, not tourists.

So what are digital nomads here on... retirement/marriage visa?

23 minutes ago, Hotchilli123 said:

So what are digital nomads here on... retirement/marriage visa?

They should be on a DTV, My guess is they are on tourist visa's doing border bounces.

3 hours ago, kimamey said:

I do think that retirement in Thailand could be very difficult in the event you need to use a wheelchair or have some other disability. Many pavements/sidewalk aren't pedestrian friendly let alone suitable for wheelchairs.

I've seen old farangs with their wheelchairs on the street.

Some of these sidewalks are way too narrow and blocked with those boxes. Barely enough room to walk, let alone a wheelchair.

It's a wonder they don't get themselves run over.

10 hours ago, sungod said:

Lately most of it’s been in PP. In my opinion the country has got worse rather than better with the way it’s been sold off by the ruling family to the Chinese.

Who cares who owns what?

Maybe Sihanoukville has gotten worse, true.

I've seen a few bloggers in Cambodia and they seem to like it there.

Maybe Thailand is better in some ways, maybe Cambodia is better in some ways.

Phnom Penh is probably less congested and polluted than Bangkok, but no BTS ... and probably cheaper than Bangkok. No 90 day reporting, no money in the bank ...

Edited Monday at 11:57 PM1 day by save the frogs

2 hours ago, Hotchilli123 said:

So what are digital nomads here on... retirement/marriage visa?

My assumption is that they would use the DTV visa which is designed specifically for digital nomads. The exact conditions can be googled.

2 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

They should be on a DTV, My guess is they are on tourist visa's doing border bounces.

Which as far as I can guess will be maximum two border bounces,including flights not just land crossing?

On 9/14/2026 at 9:04 AM, atpeace said:

They make most of us look older but don't see them as a whole ruining places. Over the top tourism ruins places and can only hope Thailand can reduce the hordes but as of yet this hasn't happened. This year looks to be down a few percent which will be unnoticeable and some of my favorite destination of 25 years ago are a no go for me. I remember when Phuket was an enjoyable holiday for me.

I was first in Phuket in 1976. Few resorts. A few bungalows on the beaches. Beachfront land was 2,000 baht a rai. They could not give it away.

Went back in 1986. Had developed alot. Still very nice. Same applied to Samui. Again in 1993. Far more development. Still amazing. Azure seas. Spectacular women everywhere. Great food.

Did not return until around 2008. It was degraded, for the most part. But, still decent. Good nightlife.

Again around 2014. Nowhere near the place it used to be, with a diminished nightlife, but not awful.

Back again in 2023 and there was absolutely no charm left, very few attractive gals and Bangla Road was absolutely horrific, with barely a good looking girl to be found with the exception of just a couple of Go-Go's charging truly stupid money.

The primary population of tourists were Arabs, Malaysians, Indians and Russians and most of them felt like low end tourists and expats. The proliferation of Russians was too much to bear. They are SO obnoxious. No need to ever return. The charm is lost. The over development is stunning. The prices were crazy. Yikes.

There were countless issues, long before Covid, and NONE of them were being addressed. One administration after another here have been highly regressive, and reactionary, and not the visionary and progressive leadership Thailand desperately needs now.

In terms of the vampiric management of tourists, one of the reasons I left Samui, was the attitude of alot of the locals. Even back before the Apocalypse many of them were very jaded, and they seemed to be indifferent, and service suffered as a result of that. Less so with the Burmese workers, as they tend to be quite kind and helpful. Also, there is little to no local pride, as most who are from Samui and Phuket left long ago, after selling their land. That hurts. It was hard living in a place where most of the locals just did not seem to care about the island.

Sometimes, the place felt like a 2 year old dishrag in a diner kitchen. Most of the people there for the past 20 years are transplants, who do not care about keeping up the island. The ex-pats always seemed more concerned about maintaining the cleanliness, than the locals.

Phuket and Samui are finished for those of us who have seen them back in their glory days.

6 hours ago, khaosokman said:

You say it has gotten worse yet you went to these other towns many years ago and mostly just been in PP in recent years which means PP has gotten worse not Siem Reap. So your logic is all flawed.

When was the last time you visited Siem Reap or Kampot? If it was pre covid then it means nothing.

Google reviews go back years and any review from more than 3 years ago I would ignore.

So we have your opinion (from many years ago) up against a guy who lived there from 2019 to 2026. Logically his opinion holds a lot more weight cause he spent the last 2000 days there and you visited years ago.

OK, do you believe corruption, 1 party politics, freedom of speech, selling off to the Chinese has got any better or worse with a blinkered expat view from one town in the last 7 years?

3 minutes ago, sungod said:

OK, do you believe corruption, 1 party politics, freedom of speech, selling off to the Chinese has got any better or worse with a blinkered expat view from one town in the last 7 years?

I can't see how any of that affects an expat who minds his own business. If he has a nice room, things to do and costs are affordable then he can live a good life. Free speech is a myth and it's best to enjoy your life rather than worry about those things outside your control.

On 9/13/2026 at 6:30 AM, ikke1959 said:

I think that Thailand as a land to retire has lost it. The news about the people who have bought a house here with the advice of company to buy the ground was in the news all over the world. It was not positive and another issue will be that Thailand is very expensive country for tax. Taxes are high and there are no benefits. And than of course there all the restrictions, as 90 days reporting, address notifications, no vaping, no volunteer work ( I know people will say if you retired you don't work, but some one can and like to do something more than drinking coffee and shopping), air pollution, dangerous roads and very expensive imported goods. And of course at this moment the drugs issues.It is not affecting at the moment for retirees, but we all know that drugs will bring crimes too. Just a few things that are at the negative side. Positive is the possibility of a 1 year visa, and the good food .

If the government wants that people stay longer they have do something that makes it worth, as for now i only see people leaving as there are better options to retire.

One great thing about Thailand is if you don't like it, you can leave.

Or you can stay and bitch about petty complaints you have or things that don't affect you personally that you are aware of from the news media.

Here on AN we have many who choose the second option.

Up to you.

1 minute ago, khaosokman said:

I can't see how any of that affects an expat who minds his own business. If he has a nice room, things to do and costs are affordable then he can live a good life. Free speech is a myth and it's best to enjoy your life rather than worry about those things outside your control.

I said as much to Bill in my reply to him saying I was pleased he had found his own little corner of paradise, , please do try and keep up with the topic.

Just out of interest i searched crime in Kampot and the first thing i cam across was 54 officials had been arrested 3 months ago……sounds great.

Have you been to Sihanoukville lately, kept up with the news from there? The Chinese have destroyed the place, crime is rife. (It was great in the day) They have a couple of casinos in Bokor, hopefully they dont destroy Kampot and Kep too.

Troll posts removed @khaosokman you have been previously warned about you posting behaviour and to stop this constant trolling and baiting. Take this as your only warning, if your don’t post in an acceptable manner, this account will be closed without further notice.

7 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I was first in Phuket in 1976. Few resorts. A few bungalows on the beaches. Beachfront land was 2,000 baht a rai. They could not give it away.

Went back in 1986. Had developed alot. Still very nice. Same applied to Samui. Again in 1993. Far more development. Still amazing. Azure seas. Spectacular women everywhere. Great food.

Did not return until around 2008. It was degraded, for the most part. But, still decent. Good nightlife.

Again around 2014. Nowhere near the place it used to be, with a diminished nightlife, but not awful.

Back again in 2023 and there was absolutely no charm left, very few attractive gals and Bangla Road was absolutely horrific, with barely a good looking girl to be found with the exception of just a couple of Go-Go's charging truly stupid money.

The primary population of tourists were Arabs, Malaysians, Indians and Russians and most of them felt like low end tourists and expats. The proliferation of Russians was too much to bear. They are SO obnoxious. No need to ever return. The charm is lost. The over development is stunning. The prices were crazy. Yikes.

There were countless issues, long before Covid, and NONE of them were being addressed. One administration after another here have been highly regressive, and reactionary, and not the visionary and progressive leadership Thailand desperately needs now.

In terms of the vampiric management of tourists, one of the reasons I left Samui, was the attitude of alot of the locals. Even back before the Apocalypse many of them were very jaded, and they seemed to be indifferent, and service suffered as a result of that. Less so with the Burmese workers, as they tend to be quite kind and helpful. Also, there is little to no local pride, as most who are from Samui and Phuket left long ago, after selling their land. That hurts. It was hard living in a place where most of the locals just did not seem to care about the island.

Sometimes, the place felt like a 2 year old dishrag in a diner kitchen. Most of the people there for the past 20 years are transplants, who do not care about keeping up the island. The ex-pats always seemed more concerned about maintaining the cleanliness, than the locals.

Phuket and Samui are finished for those of us who have seen them back in their glory days.

I had a 20k a night villa in 2019 for 5 nights. I left after the third night. Luckily my friend paid because he felt bad that he was a no show. I don't mind Russians and have a few Russian friends that are good people but when you put 100k of them on the island it is insane. They love to party! I can't imagine ever going back.

8 hours ago, cdemundo said:

One great thing about Thailand is if you don't like it, you can leave.

Or you can stay and bitch about petty complaints you have or things that don't affect you personally that you are aware of from the news media.

Here on AN we have many who choose the second option.

Up to you.

We are discusding things, but you don't understand that. On my work we often discussed several matters and the Thai head always asked why we were complaining. Discussing things is done to improve or change things for the good or better. But Thai people are not allowed to discuss, they do as they are told, that is why the country goes so slowly forward. If things were bad a lot of people would left already, no need to mention that, unless it is xenophobic in a free country people can discuss things, and people will have an opinion

On 9/13/2026 at 6:30 AM, ikke1959 said:

I think that Thailand as a land to retire has lost it. The news about the people who have bought a house here with the advice of company to buy the ground was in the news all over the world. It was not positive and another issue will be that Thailand is very expensive country for tax. Taxes are high and there are no benefits. And than of course there all the restrictions, as 90 days reporting, address notifications, no vaping, no volunteer work ( I know people will say if you retired you don't work, but some one can and like to do something more than drinking coffee and shopping), air pollution, dangerous roads and very expensive imported goods. And of course at this moment the drugs issues.It is not affecting at the moment for retirees, but we all know that drugs will bring crimes too. Just a few things that are at the negative side. Positive is the possibility of a 1 year visa, and the good food .

If the government wants that people stay longer they have do something that makes it worth, as for now i only see people leaving as there are better options to retire.

The no volunteering thing is interesting, and a real loss. A lot of what seniors in particular want to do is not likely to take a job from a Thai citizen. Curious if you know whether any neighboring countries let foreign retirees volunteer?