Bye Bye Thailand

[Prakanong]

I have been to Thailand over 20 times over the years,mostly twice a year for average 3 weeks each.I had/have plans to move to Pattaya when i retired.

Recently i spent my longest time in Pattaya,being 3 months and i can say by the end of it,a lot of my dreams had been shattered.

I got bored,i started finding small things irritating,such as different businesses trying to rip you off,for eg,going into a internet shop and having him help me work a CD ,and then charging me extra 30 baht,and numerous other things.

I suppose i became Thailanded out so to speak.

i still have hopes of going there to retire,but i will make sure i have something to do during the day,have a small business or something along with some financial security.

It wasnt as excited as when i first went,in fact i was glad to get back to Australia after it.

The system of haggling continually etc also gave me a headache.

Some of the supermarket prices are a bit lower ,some are higher,and some are the same as Australian supermarket prices.

I found a lot of Thais arrogant and ignorant in their service,something i never really worried about before as i was a quick tourist,but this time staying there 3 months really opened up my eyes.

Maybe it was just Pattaya,maybe if i had gone to BKK or Isaan it would of been different,i dunno.

But i think its better to work,save the money in your own country and visit Thailand as much as you can and eventually you will have the money to live there comfortably.

I am a workaholic,so going there for 3 months did get boring but it taught me a hel_l of a lot,about myself as well as Thailand.

You probably experienced a bit of culture shock in your longer stay - the finding of certain things to be irritating is certaily a symptom of one of the stags of culture shock - boy did I get it myself on my first long stay in Thailand (and have later too upon return). I once counted 29 things I "Hated" aboput Thailand on a alk from Wireless Road to Suk Soi 5 in Bangkok.

It is a phase you can "Pass through" to acceptance though - some never do!

As for the boredom - I think I would be the same as you if I did not have anything to do - 3 months last year had me bored shitless even with travelling about to the islands, Bangkok, Pattaya, Singapore, UK for a week and even up in Nakhon Nowhere on the farm.

[Sheryl]

I guess if you think Thailand is getting too strict then time to move down the ladder.. Cambodia, or some other basket-case failed country

Ouch! And way off base! Far from a "basket case failed country", Cambodia has seen astounding development over the past decade and now has one of the fastest growing economies to be found.

Quality of expat life in Phnom Penh is very nice indeed, great choice of restaurants etc. In many ways reminds me of Bangkok circa 1980.

Personally, as one who divides her time between the 2 countries (LOS and CAMB) , I don't see one as better than another, they each have their strong and weak points. Weakest point in Cambodia is health care, which is very bad at any price, particularly a concern for older folks. On the other hand, wide open visa policies, no work restrictions, and a much more welcoming and normal attitude towards farangs... normal as in regarding them as fellow residents who happen to be from another country originally and not as some other species altogether as one sometimes encounters in LOS...........

[cdnvic]

don't see going back to my home country as a defeat or anything of the sort but rather an enriching life experience that makes me enjoy more the place where I was lucky to be born, which I now consider as THE paradise, without the palm trees and hot weather.

My term is "Air conditioned paradise"

[Nickthegreek]

Hmmmm...........I'm sat here in my office in the Uk & it's around lunchtime - all the lights are on - and I'm looking out of the window. It's not raining now, although it has been and everywhere is still wet. It's not really cold but the dampness in the air makes it seem really chilly. It's grey, the low cloud covers the sky and the greyness seems to suck all the colours out of everything.

T

Well all I have to say is now and again there are irritations with Thailand,but on reading the quote above,I would just like to say a thankyou to you,for reminding of one of the main reasons why I gave up everything to make a new life in Thailand.

Not a many days goe by when there is no sunshine at all.

I will suffer all of Thailands nuances,be they large or small, if the sun continues to shine.

I hope your trip back is a safe one and all the things that you left have now been changed for the better.

Edited October 3, 2007 by Nickthegreek

[mrtoad]

Anyone thats unhappy in Thailand should just piss off back to where they came from .

Enough said .

JB

Enough said

[tijnebijn]

..... I can speak thai but will always be a farang and never fully accepted, ...

I think that is one of the biggest downfalls for people here... trying to be accepted into Thai society. It's probably the equivalent of trying to swim up a waterfall. The people I know who are happiest here, accept they will never really be accepted and just live life as they see fit.

Real happiness is inside you - and better given than received.

I love your quote , and I totally agree .

[tijnebijn]

Anyone thats unhappy in Thailand should just piss off back to where they came from .

Enough said .

JB

If it would be so easy...

I might have done that with my family, if not my country of birth would not have introduced a new law recently, in which foreign spouses of citizens now have to pass a language test before being granted a cohabitation visa. And that is is just another difficulty added to the bureaucratic nightmare we have in front of us in a few years time when we are going to try to adopt our son (no - we didn't exactly cue up asking for the little one - there was just no other option as nobody wanted to have him and after several months with us we just had to make the decision to raise him as our son. It was not his fault to be born).

As many people here said - having children changes a lot. Many negative things in Thailand that won't affect you as long as you are without children will come full in force when you have them, such as the miserable education system.

At the moment we are trapped in a not very comfortable situation - if i don't leave my family (which is not an option), i can't live in my place of birth thanks to a increasingly anti-foreigner system there, am living in a country that i do not feel as welcome anymore as i once felt. And i already feel bad for my little one who has to attend the horrible school system in Thailand.

Yes, if i just could piss off...

Ah now I understand we come from the same country of birth .

Seems we are getting trapped between increasing Thai xenophobia and the awful blonde hairy (Blondie) looking guy back home . There are not to many options left and to accept the Thai education system , if you can call it any .

To piss off is not an option for loving fathers .

[kopite]

I have been to Thailand over 20 times over the years,mostly twice a year for average 3 weeks each.I had/have plans to move to Pattaya when i retired.

Recently i spent my longest time in Pattaya,being 3 months and i can say by the end of it,a lot of my dreams had been shattered.

I got bored,i started finding small things irritating,such as different businesses trying to rip you off,for eg,going into a internet shop and having him help me work a CD ,and then charging me extra 30 baht,and numerous other things.

I suppose i became Thailanded out so to speak.

i still have hopes of going there to retire,but i will make sure i have something to do during the day,have a small business or something along with some financial security.

It wasnt as excited as when i first went,in fact i was glad to get back to Australia after it.

The system of haggling continually etc also gave me a headache.

Some of the supermarket prices are a bit lower ,some are higher,and some are the same as Australian supermarket prices.

I found a lot of Thais arrogant and ignorant in their service,something i never really worried about before as i was a quick tourist,but this time staying there 3 months really opened up my eyes.

Maybe it was just Pattaya,maybe if i had gone to BKK or Isaan it would of been different,i dunno.

But i think its better to work,save the money in your own country and visit Thailand as much as you can and eventually you will have the money to live there comfortably.

I am a workaholic,so going there for 3 months did get boring but it taught me a hel_l of a lot,about myself as well as Thailand.

pattaya isnt for you. the first year is/should be the best experience of your life. when you return to your home country you should be so depressed your local GP prescribes Prozac.

if this doesnt happen then it just simply isnt for you. also, everyone gets ripped off when they come here at first. its part of life here. thats why long-term expats find new expats such a pain in arse. why they laugh at the new lads around, and its also why the new lads hate the long terms etc...

pattaya is great. for whatever reason your here for. nightlife, golf, diving, finiancial. i love this city, and will defend it violently.

also all the lads on here and generally in los, who moan about thais being xenephobic etc....i bet you were/are just as bad back home. aimed at brits

[ColPyat]

Anyone thats unhappy in Thailand should just piss off back to where they came from .

Enough said .

JB

If it would be so easy...

I might have done that with my family, if not my country of birth would not have introduced a new law recently, in which foreign spouses of citizens now have to pass a language test before being granted a cohabitation visa. And that is is just another difficulty added to the bureaucratic nightmare we have in front of us in a few years time when we are going to try to adopt our son (no - we didn't exactly cue up asking for the little one - there was just no other option as nobody wanted to have him and after several months with us we just had to make the decision to raise him as our son. It was not his fault to be born).

As many people here said - having children changes a lot. Many negative things in Thailand that won't affect you as long as you are without children will come full in force when you have them, such as the miserable education system.

At the moment we are trapped in a not very comfortable situation - if i don't leave my family (which is not an option), i can't live in my place of birth thanks to a increasingly anti-foreigner system there, am living in a country that i do not feel as welcome anymore as i once felt. And i already feel bad for my little one who has to attend the horrible school system in Thailand.

Yes, if i just could piss off...

Ah now I understand we come from the same country of birth .

Seems we are getting trapped between increasing Thai xenophobia and the awful blonde hairy (Blondie) looking guy back home . There are not to many options left and to accept the Thai education system , if you can call it any .

To piss off is not an option for loving fathers .

Maybe a different place of birth, but most of Europe moves that way. Several European countries have passed such laws recently without the slightest attention of the medias. The worst part is that nobody there really seems to care that legislation moves right wing and leaves people like us as victims of laws that clearly undermine the idea of a just Europe.

In the European charter is a paragraph that guarantees the protection of the family - only - i don't feel very protected at all right now. I have never thought that i could be in such a situation now, especially at a time when i would actually not mind living there again.

[naklang]

I guess if you think Thailand is getting too strict then time to move down the ladder.. Cambodia, or some other basket-case failed country

Ouch! And way off base! Far from a "basket case failed country", Cambodia has seen astounding development over the past decade and now has one of the fastest growing economies to be found.

Quality of expat life in Phnom Penh is very nice indeed, great choice of restaurants etc. In many ways reminds me of Bangkok circa 1980.

Personally, as one who divides her time between the 2 countries (LOS and CAMB) , I don't see one as better than another, they each have their strong and weak points. Weakest point in Cambodia is health care, which is very bad at any price, particularly a concern for older folks. On the other hand, wide open visa policies, no work restrictions, and a much more welcoming and normal attitude towards farangs... normal as in regarding them as fellow residents who happen to be from another country originally and not as some other species altogether as one sometimes encounters in LOS...........

I agree with this. Still wild enough to be interesting, cheap enough for the most modest expat budget, but pray if you ever have a life threatening illness or injury. Best case is to marry a Thai nurse, smuggle a suitcase of Rx and stash in a safe place, and get treated in your own house. You'd have a better chance than in a Cambo hospital. At least until you get Med-evac to BKK.

As far as welcoming and normal attitude towards farang, I agree for now. Had great conversations with many Khmer and found their english ability remarkable given the conditions/opportunities. Several of them said I was the first foreigner to ever make an effort to talk with them about life there. But if Thailand is any indication, their welcoming attitude shall be short-lived. Many reasons why, but just look around Thailand at a large slice of the farang community and it is a pretty quick study.

[maipleur]

Yep, decision time! After a few years here I have realised that Thailand and the ever stricter 'rules' and never ending stream of <deleted> from Immigration isnt for me anymore, in fact I am beginning to resent people with the xenophobia so I'm getting out while I still have my sanity, as I dont see things here getting any easier for some of us. Anyone else thinking about making the move 'back home' or somewhere else? If you are thinking about it, post your thoughts here, good or bad, speak your mind and dont worry about the farang rak thai crowd here!

Bye bye Thailand, thanks for the memories good and bad!

Hi.. I have not read the thread at all, just your comments here.

I to was feeling really peed off with Thailand and decided to get away for a while and went to the Uk for a month to see what I thought of living there.

I just arrived back today after 1 month away and I now have a whole new outlook on what Thailand means to me..

Its 5 am here now (Bangkok) and Im jet lagged and still on the uk time zone and have been looking at the ceiling for an hour, thinking about many things and then decided to get on the net and saw your thread.

I love Thailand for the actual way you can be who you want to be, do what you want to do and act how you would like to act. Within reason and acting in a humane way.

What I noticed in the UK, was how many STUPID rules are in effect and people do what they are told and do not even consider (seriously) how their government is keeping them poor and subserviant to that system. I really think minorities are ruling the majorities and people just could not be bothered rallying and fighting for their rights. Yes Im rambling!

In a nut shell, you are told what to do and there is no middle ground reached and people seem to act like robots to the system.

I will now put up with the Thai "problems" we face here as expats and try and be a little more tolerant.. I could never live back in that western thought process, of doing as your told and paying extreme prices for day to day neccesaties.. Im not saying anarchy is what Im after, its just I want some freedom of thought in which direction I want to pursue and not be told, NO! and have to fall into line..

There is always another way around things here (legally), you just have to find it. In the UK, the roads are blocked. An analogy would be.. the way you now enter Heathrow, is how life actually is from day to day. You have no real say and you CANNOT buck the system, which is seriously lacking in producing free thinkers.

just a rant (-:... oh and ofcourse the weather.

[kangeroo]

thailand

Good luck pal-for sure you will need it! I left the UK earlier this year and would never go back! It is not the same place I was born in now and is just a multi-racial cess pit!

Highest taxation ever- NHS a shambles a police force that has been undermined by political correctness- and politicians that are just liars and thieves and make the ones here seem honest by comparison.

Depends how long you have been away but I guess you will return here asap.

I here you, yet taxes aside, do you really think you will it have it much better in Thailand? a multi racial sess pit?... You think people in Thailand are better than that? You think Thailand is such a great place with no racism or xenophobia? You mention a police force undermined by politics, and politicians being liars - welcome to Thailand. Stay here for a few years and see if you can try to understand the way things are done here. Its <deleted> wherever you go, just cheaper or more expensive as you make it.

yes good luck but dont burn any bridges now you might want to come back .

[Thaifan2]

One thing I don't understand is why can't the OP open a bank account. I have a bank account in Bangkok Bank and a passport and cash was what I needed.

I was refused to open a bank account at SCB 3+ years ago (Soi 11) so I know what the OP is talking about. I did manage to get a savings acct open later across sukhumvit at Bangkok Bank. I would not at all be surprised if they stopped opening accts for farangs w/o working papers. Nice catch 22 for new long term visa applicants

I have opened two Thai Bank A/Cs with just a Tourist visa .

[Tony Clifton]

I added one more reason to my list while lying in bed last night when I realised that I'd have to do a visa run on the day my wife is to give birth. Pffffffffffff.

[johnnyk]

One thing I don't understand is why can't the OP open a bank account. I have a bank account in Bangkok Bank and a passport and cash was what I needed.

I was refused to open a bank account at SCB 3+ years ago (Soi 11) so I know what the OP is talking about. I did manage to get a savings acct open later across sukhumvit at Bangkok Bank. I would not at all be surprised if they stopped opening accts for farangs w/o working papers. Nice catch 22 for new long term visa applicants

I have opened two Thai Bank A/Cs with just a Tourist visa .

Three years ago? Current info, not ancient history, is valued.

I opened my account in 15 minutes with my passport for ID. No questions about visa.

[johnnyk]

I have been to Thailand over 20 times over the years,mostly twice a year for average 3 weeks each.I had/have plans to move to Pattaya when i retired.

Recently i spent my longest time in Pattaya,being 3 months and i can say by the end of it,a lot of my dreams had been shattered.

I got bored,i started finding small things irritating,such as different businesses trying to rip you off,for eg,going into a internet shop and having him help me work a CD ,and then charging me extra 30 baht,and numerous other things.

I suppose i became Thailanded out so to speak.

i still have hopes of going there to retire,but i will make sure i have something to do during the day,have a small business or something along with some financial security.

It wasnt as excited as when i first went,in fact i was glad to get back to Australia after it.

The system of haggling continually etc also gave me a headache.

Some of the supermarket prices are a bit lower ,some are higher,and some are the same as Australian supermarket prices.

I found a lot of Thais arrogant and ignorant in their service,something i never really worried about before as i was a quick tourist,but this time staying there 3 months really opened up my eyes.

Maybe it was just Pattaya,maybe if i had gone to BKK or Isaan it would of been different,i dunno.

But i think its better to work,save the money in your own country and visit Thailand as much as you can and eventually you will have the money to live there comfortably.

I am a workaholic,so going there for 3 months did get boring but it taught me a hel_l of a lot,about myself as well as Thailand.

Pattaya isn't Thailand and the locals have had it up to here with the many drunken imbeciles who go there.

Sounds like you were having withdrawal sysmptoms from your addiction.

Get out of the falang ghettoes, there's a whole country to disover.

Edited October 4, 2007 by johnnyk

[mellow1]

I have been to Thailand over 20 times over the years,mostly twice a year for average 3 weeks each.I had/have plans to move to Pattaya when i retired.

Recently i spent my longest time in Pattaya,being 3 months and i can say by the end of it,a lot of my dreams had been shattered.

I got bored,i started finding small things irritating,such as different businesses trying to rip you off,for eg,going into a internet shop and having him help me work a CD ,and then charging me extra 30 baht,and numerous other things.

I suppose i became Thailanded out so to speak.

i still have hopes of going there to retire,but i will make sure i have something to do during the day,have a small business or something along with some financial security.

It wasnt as excited as when i first went,in fact i was glad to get back to Australia after it.

The system of haggling continually etc also gave me a headache.

Some of the supermarket prices are a bit lower ,some are higher,and some are the same as Australian supermarket prices.

I found a lot of Thais arrogant and ignorant in their service,something i never really worried about before as i was a quick tourist,but this time staying there 3 months really opened up my eyes.

Maybe it was just Pattaya,maybe if i had gone to BKK or Isaan it would of been different,i dunno.

But i think its better to work,save the money in your own country and visit Thailand as much as you can and eventually you will have the money to live there comfortably.

I am a workaholic,so going there for 3 months did get boring but it taught me a hel_l of a lot,about myself as well as Thailand.

Pattaya isn't Thailand and the locals have had it up to here with the many drunken imbeciles who go there.

Sounds like you were having withdrawal sysmptoms from your addiction.

Get out of the falang ghettoes, there's a whole country to disover.

Yes, You want to see ignorant, go to Issan.

[longway]

Yes, You want to see ignorant, go to Issan.

he's from the states i believe, he gets that plenty already.

[ttthailand]

Have lived in Thailand over 13 years. Most of that time had WP and visa but really worked an international job that supported me and my gf. One and a half years ago I gave up my WP and visa as I would be 50 in Sept. 2007. I figured I would do the visa runs when necessary and wait to hit 50. Well they started to give me shit even getting TV's, stamps in my passport, third degree at the airport, etc etc..just got a bit too crazy. So I decided to go to America for 4 months or until I turned 50 then to return with no problems. Well....I am now 50 and I am still in the states. I have been fishing for bass, camping, meeting up with old friends, enjoying the great parks that the states offer (free by the way), eating anything I want, driving around with no problems, no one trying to rip me off every day, life is good ! My point is there are many things about your home country that is welcoming and makes you feel great. It is also so easy to live from day to day. Not too many worries.

I miss my Thai gf ,who I call every week and still support, and some other little things but it is OK. I will return soon but I am not sure if I will stay. This trip has been an eye opener. It's funny looking back, I use to tell all my friends in the States that Thailand was the best country in the world. That was until about a year ago. It was my home but it just does not feel that way anymore. Not sure about the future but there is a good chance that Thailand won't be part of it even now that I can retire there with no problem.

There are many reasons why people decide to leave Thailand but mine may be that I just feel out of love with it.

[JonnieB]

I believe it was a 747.

Jokes aside, it was the woman who is now my wife and soon to be a mother. I needed some change in my life back then as well, so I decided to move here still not knowing if it would be permanent or temporary. A child's future changes everything. I don't see going back to my home country as a defeat or anything of the sort but rather an enriching life experience that makes me enjoy more the place where I was lucky to be born, which I now consider as THE paradise, without the palm trees and hot weather.

I can relate to your feelings...Thailand is certainly not perfect and the "issues" you complain about have been longstanding ones in LOS and effect both expatriate farangs and often Thais too (often worse for poor Thais than any farang...who can often tip their way out of small problems or to speed-up a government service). I can understand, however, if you had a child and thought it best to raise/educate it back in your home country. However, just seemed you were dumping on Thailand and that the "problems" you report are present in most developing countries and not anything specific to Thailand.

When the time comes, returning home is often a good option for expatriates. Thailand can make a good short term or long term break. Some decide to stay a lifetime and others, having tasted something different, savour a return home. Nothing wrong with either choice in my book.

[wcr]

I moved to Cambodia a year ago and I've never been happier. Friendlier people, not xenophobic, easier visas (1 year biz visa $260 no questions asked, come right in and enjoy)

Magnificent.

You obviously don't know Cambodia very well.

Whilst there a few years ago, my wife was subjected to obvious, deliberate and needless racist behaviour and comments from Cambodians. (She's Thai.)

The enmity and animosity that exists between Thailand and Cambodia is REAL.

duchovny - no disrespect - but you won't experience this racism and xenophobia if you're a westerner there.

Yes, and that goes both ways. What about the Thai's treatment of Cambodians. And the Thai's look down on anyone from Laos and speak lowly to them. The Laos people don't trust the Thai's. They are all as bad as each other.

[kmart]

Yes, and that goes both ways. What about the Thai's treatment of Cambodians. And the Thai's look down on anyone from Laos and speak lowly to them. The Laos people don't trust the Thai's. They are all as bad as each other.

Most countries in this region have fostered patriotic and nationalistic spirit at home by adopting a xenophobic attitude towards their neighbors and the general world at large. Its the hallmark of most fascist / communist countries; turn disaffection and hatred outwards.

Sound familiar?

[duchovny]

I've absolutely no desire to see our child go through the education system here when we can offer him a better future and quality of life in my home country. My Thai wife, a university graduate, feels the same about the education system here and the ever present incompetence tolerated in workplaces.

Road safety. Non-existent. Sending a child to school in that traffic 10 times a week? No way, even if I was to drive him there myself. I used to enjoy driving all over Canada, the U.S., now I find myself staying at home because driving here wears me out, I get very frustrated and it messes me up for days.

Some may me able to live with all the window dressing, the superficiality, ridiculous immigration rules that differ from officer to officer/ office to office, work restrictions, ownership rules, crooked police force, cardboard box and shopping cart blocked alleys at Tesco's, smelly sewer systems that invade your house, bad customer service, the nose picking, crazy truck/bus/car/motorcycle drivers making their own laws, corruption, hearing "farang" many times every day, a plague of soi dogs , bad internet service, phone line out of service because of constant billing errors with surcharges for reconnection, service centers that hand you back a car with "no charge" and then catches on fire and an empty gas tank that was 3/4 full when brought in, people jumping queue like cavemen, political instability, bomb threats, guns everywhere (you just don't see them), people in high positions for who they know not what they know, picking up garbage and plastic bags blown in my yard by the wind, water shortage, power outages, electrical death traps waiting for you everywhere, double pricing, an outdated ambulance/rescue service, non-existent or bribed city planners allowing stinky and noisy manufactures to build AFTER a residential area was set up, beaches littered with garbage, pollution. I can't, had more than enough and, yes, my Thai wife feels the same.

Now I don't mind going back to paying taxes and cold winters.

Great post.

Quite possibly the most accurate description of living in Thailand I've seen.

[simon43]

After all those complaints, it's beyond me why he came to Thailand in the first place

Simon

[meemiathai]

I've absolutely no desire to see our child go through the education system here when we can offer him a better future and quality of life in my home country. My Thai wife, a university graduate, feels the same about the education system here and the ever present incompetence tolerated in workplaces.

Road safety. Non-existent. Sending a child to school in that traffic 10 times a week? No way, even if I was to drive him there myself. I used to enjoy driving all over Canada, the U.S., now I find myself staying at home because driving here wears me out, I get very frustrated and it messes me up for days.

Some may me able to live with all the window dressing, the superficiality, ridiculous immigration rules that differ from officer to officer/ office to office, work restrictions, ownership rules, crooked police force, cardboard box and shopping cart blocked alleys at Tesco's, smelly sewer systems that invade your house, bad customer service, the nose picking, crazy truck/bus/car/motorcycle drivers making their own laws, corruption, hearing "farang" many times every day, a plague of soi dogs , bad internet service, phone line out of service because of constant billing errors with surcharges for reconnection, service centers that hand you back a car with "no charge" and then catches on fire and an empty gas tank that was 3/4 full when brought in, people jumping queue like cavemen, political instability, bomb threats, guns everywhere (you just don't see them), people in high positions for who they know not what they know, picking up garbage and plastic bags blown in my yard by the wind, water shortage, power outages, electrical death traps waiting for you everywhere, double pricing, an outdated ambulance/rescue service, non-existent or bribed city planners allowing stinky and noisy manufactures to build AFTER a residential area was set up, beaches littered with garbage, pollution. I can't, had more than enough and, yes, my Thai wife feels the same.

Now I don't mind going back to paying taxes and cold winters.

Great post.

Quite possibly the most accurate description of living in Thailand I've seen.

I cannot understand why people would want anything to do with Thailand. And even marry a thai woman?

If thailand is such a bad place, how come so many farang come to thailand and marry thai women? Are farangs simply just crazy?

So you do not want your children to grow up in thailand so they won't be as bad as your wives? What is so bad about your wives? Farang logic?

[GuestHouse]

Perhaps those deriding the comments of people who are looking at life out of Thailand in terms of giving THEIR children a better education/future could let us know if they themselves have children of their own living in Thailand?

Thailand viewed as a single guy/guy without the responsibility of raising children is a different place when viewed as a parent.

That is not to say that Thailand does not offer a great deal to adults (with or without children).

So rather than critisize parents for making what are tough choices for their children (placing their children's welfare and education over their own comfort/ease of life) we should be recognizing their maturity and commitment as parents.

Of course if you have no children that is a lesson you've yet to learn and then there is the ever present number who ditched parental responsibility when they came to Thailand, so I doubt the argument would wash with them either.

[plachon]

Perhaps those deriding the comments of people who are looking at life out of Thailand in terms of giving THEIR children a better education/future could let us know if they themselves have children of their own living in Thailand?

Thailand viewed as a single guy/guy without the responsibility of raising children is a different place when viewed as a parent.

That is not to say that Thailand does not offer a great deal to adults (with or without children).

So rather than critisize parents for making what are tough choices for their children (placing their children's welfare and education over their own comfort/ease of life) we should be recognizing their maturity and commitment as parents.

Of course if you have no children that is a lesson you've yet to learn and then there is the ever present number who ditched parental responsibility when they came to Thailand, so I doubt the argument would wash with them either.

I always think you write a lot of sense GuestHouse and you've done it again here.

I viewed Thailand totally different when I was single and loved it. When I got married, I still loved it, but came back to UK when I needed to further my education. That over and done with, we went back to Thailand and put our daughter through Thai primary education. She benefitted from that, but I wouldn't want to put her through secondary education there. So now we're back in UK, so she can benefit from a British secondary education so she can have better life choices at the end of that process - ones she wouldn't get in Thailand. My wife and daughter fully agree with this decision, although we all still love Thailand and may well go back there again one day. Personally, I'd rather be in Thailand as that's where I have most professional knowledge and experience of, although I'm prepared to make sacrifices for my kid and give up my chances for hers.

The point being that there is no ideal place. They both have pros and cons, and one must make the choice based not only on one's own feelings when one gets married, but the greater good of the family. Quite different prism than the selfish single male.

[JimsKnight]

I'll take single (not so selfish) male any day of the week over married with kids thank you very much

All the faults of Thailand are a drop in the ocean compared with other countries.

I am seriously wondering what the expat community in Thailand is coming to.

I can't believe how upset some of you actually get over some of the meekest of things!

I think some people are just not cut out for living in Thailand in the long run. 2 or 3 weeks does not equal 2 or 3 months at a time living in a foreign country.

Maybe when you get a visa they should test if you are mentally and financially robust enough to hack it out in third-world countries.

Some just can't 'rough' it with the rest???

Racist Thais getting you down? Ignore them, if they annoy enough you just make up your own special racist word in english for them and use it back at them.

Double pricing getting to you? Learn the lingo and negotiate, trust me if you can talk the talk they (9/10 times) will drop the price as double pricing is for TOURISTS not expats.

Corrupt officials? Every country has this, only Thailand and SEA as a rule have it on the surface, not in the shadows.

Dodgy electric and internet connection? Oh gimme a break, If can't hack the short-comings just leave and quit whining!

Scary traffic on the roads getting to you? Get a big, tough car and only drive in the early morning hours.

In the forces we'd occasionally have these whining idiots niggling on about petty bs, like 'Why can't we get this and that!' and a favourite; 'Why can't we get the tax-free allowances the Yanks get etc.' An older, wiser and more seasoned soldier would eventually turn around and say 'If you don't like the army, just go get your 6848 and fcking sign on the dotted line (notice to leave the army) but jack in the whining attitude.'

Edited October 7, 2007 by JimsKnight

[GuestHouse]

Of course neither should we knock people for being childless - the fact that some individuals remain childless is perhaps a blessing for the rest of us.

[solo siam]

I'm quite happy to bring up my children in Private education in Thailand, my view is and always will be that the majority of learning should take place at home. Those that rely upon schools to bring up their children probably do belong back in the West, where this is par for the course.

Having been through one of the better schools in the UK, I wouldn't wish that upon my children apart from the social aspect - UK schools now spend most of their time on helping below average students get better, whilst the other students wait, rather than catering to intelligent, gifted or hard working students. The onus was already on non-competetiveness back when I was in school just over a decade ago, it's now progressed into further PC territory now, with grades getting easier every year and Science and Technical skills falling way to drama, social studies and 'humanities'.

Also children in the UK scare me, seriously.