Wish I Were In Thailand

[JSixpack]

Well, it seems you've planned this out pretty well; you've got the investments to sustain you, so I say go for it. Your situation is much like mine was, and it has worked out just fine for me. I'm always glad I waited until I was sure of my financial security and didn't come over here w/ nothing but a lot of pipe dreams.

[tklinbkk]

I'm an American living and teaching in BKK for almost 7 years now. I've been back to the USA twice since I've left, and each time I was there I couldn't wait to return to Thailand. Things are so FUBAR there! Everyone I know has lost their job at least once since I've left, and one of my friends has given up looking for IT work because of outsourcing to India et al. I've thought about returning to make money, but what would I return to? I'd not be much better off than a Mexican crossing the border-no money, no healthcare, no car, no credit, and most important NO THAI GIRLFRIEND I'd only return if my family needs me. Corruption, pollution, traffic jams, poverty, crime, racism-are we talking about BKK or Los Angeles, Detroit, or New York? Living in Thailand isn't always easy, but for me the positives far outweigh the negatives.

[Dupont]

Thailand has changed a lot over the past 15 years - mostly for the worse, however it still beats the Uk hands down. I never enter into any debates regarding life. politics, change etc regarding the UK because the whole way of life has become hermetically sealed.

It is the land of milk and honey for the new EU immigrants and refugees - they have an optimistic view. But unfortunatley, for the average brit the party is over!

That is a very interesting point you make there.

I left for entirely positive reasons and am not going to slag the old place off.

I hope they (the uk immigrants) are as happy and achieve as much in their lives in England as we have or will do out here. I remember when immigration started to escalate in the 60's and 70's and they were mostly very hard workers and caused few if any problems where I lived.

Good luck to them if they have the right work ethic!

[Hollywood]

I'm an American living and teaching in BKK for almost 7 years now. I've been back to the USA twice since I've left, and each time I was there I couldn't wait to return to Thailand. Things are so FUBAR there! Everyone I know has lost their job at least once since I've left, and one of my friends has given up looking for IT work because of outsourcing to India et al. I've thought about returning to make money, but what would I return to? I'd not be much better off than a Mexican crossing the border-no money, no healthcare, no car, no credit, and most important NO THAI GIRLFRIEND I'd only return if my family needs me. Corruption, pollution, traffic jams, poverty, crime, racism-are we talking about BKK or Los Angeles, Detroit, or New York? Living in Thailand isn't always easy, but for me the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Bingo ! I agree completely.

[siamamerican]

I'm an American living and teaching in BKK for almost 7 years now. I've been back to the USA twice since I've left, and each time I was there I couldn't wait to return to Thailand. Things are so FUBAR there! Everyone I know has lost their job at least once since I've left, and one of my friends has given up looking for IT work because of outsourcing to India et al. I've thought about returning to make money, but what would I return to? I'd not be much better off than a Mexican crossing the border-no money, no healthcare, no car, no credit, and most important NO THAI GIRLFRIEND I'd only return if my family needs me. Corruption, pollution, traffic jams, poverty, crime, racism-are we talking about BKK or Los Angeles, Detroit, or New York? Living in Thailand isn't always easy, but for me the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Well said! Do you manage to save a little for retirement? OK if you're not, but I wasn't able to stomach the fear of being poor in Thailand with few options.

[qwertz]

I enjoy my annual visits to Thailand but I would never live there full time.

Not wishing to put it down but I've had enough of expat life in other lands and at least where I live now there is a degree of acceptance for expats.

The benefits of a move to Thailand at my age are somewhat marginal; if it's only for a cheap life the horizons are expanding in Europe if you compare costs with urban Thailand nowadays.

And I don't have the visa hassle here. That alone is a big downpoint for retirees looking at a life in Thailand.

That much said, Thailand is great for a good long cheap chill out - so long as you have a return ticket and a home to go to.

Edited December 31, 2007 by qwertz

[nidge]

I'm an American living and teaching in BKK for almost 7 years now. I've been back to the USA twice since I've left, and each time I was there I couldn't wait to return to Thailand. Things are so FUBAR there! Everyone I know has lost their job at least once since I've left, and one of my friends has given up looking for IT work because of outsourcing to India et al. I've thought about returning to make money, but what would I return to? I'd not be much better off than a Mexican crossing the border-no money, no healthcare, no car, no credit, and most important NO THAI GIRLFRIEND I'd only return if my family needs me. Corruption, pollution, traffic jams, poverty, crime, racism-are we talking about BKK or Los Angeles, Detroit, or New York? Living in Thailand isn't always easy, but for me the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Bingo ! I agree completely.

Spot on!

[jetjock]

I very much wish I were in Thailand at this very moment as my wife is currently in Thailand visiting her family and friends and she just called me to wish me a happy new year. I miss her very much but could not go with her on this trip as I am currently hobbled by an athletic injury that looks like it will require surgery.

I love spending time in Thailand and can understand why so many expats enjoy living there full time. As for me however, spending 3 or 4 months a year seems to work out perfectly. I enjoy my native culture, opportunities , varieties of things to do and most of all the comraderie of my many good friends here in the US. I think spending part of the year in Thailand, part in the US and part traveling to other countries enables me to enjoy the best of all worlds.

As I am writing this it is one hour into the New Year in Thailand however I still have 17 hours to go before we welcome in the New Year here in Hawaii. Being on TV forum brings me a little closer to Thailand every day. Happy New Year to all my fellow TV members สวัสดีปีใหม่ sàwàtdee peemài

[thailien8]

I'm an American living and teaching in BKK for almost 7 years now. I've been back to the USA twice since I've left, and each time I was there I couldn't wait to return to Thailand. Things are so FUBAR there! Everyone I know has lost their job at least once since I've left, and one of my friends has given up looking for IT work because of outsourcing to India et al. I've thought about returning to make money, but what would I return to? I'd not be much better off than a Mexican crossing the border-no money, no healthcare, no car, no credit, and most important NO THAI GIRLFRIEND I'd only return if my family needs me. Corruption, pollution, traffic jams, poverty, crime, racism-are we talking about BKK or Los Angeles, Detroit, or New York? Living in Thailand isn't always easy, but for me the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Well said! Do you manage to save a little for retirement? OK if you're not, but I wasn't able to stomach the fear of being poor in Thailand with few options.

Well said indeed. I was "an American living and teaching in BKK for almost 7 years", back in '99. I was enjoying the process quite a lot at the time, and continued to teach here for 12 years total, until retirement became a possibility (thanks Mom and Dad!). Teaching English here is, IMHO, a good option for tortured souls like I was, caught up in the rat race in Farangland. I didn't have much money saved when I visited for the first time in 1991, and the Thai charm won me over. I got a TEFL certificate on my weekends that summer, took a deep breath, quit my boring job, sold my old car and changed my life radically. 16 years later, no regrets at all.

Once settled in BKK, with a job teaching English to several lovely Thai ladies in a pleasant setting, I knew I'd made the right decision. Sure, it was not easy at the beginning. I'd never taught before, and it takes time to get comfortable. Had some problems with the heat, the food, the buses, and the bargirls. My first school paid me 150 baht an hour--$6 in 1992, when I was 45. My Mom was not happy with me. Why had I chosen to take a pay cut of more than 50%? I could only suggest to her that it's not all about the money for me. Living and working in Thailand, full-time, was the best experience of my life, even tho it reduced the final total of my big earnings sheet in the sky.

I was very lucky to have understanding parents, who finally supported my midlife crisis decision, and eventually let me know that I could count on an inheritance. This has since happened, and I must say that living in BKK in a nice apartment, with enough money, not allowed to work on a retirement visa, single and free and still healthy enough to enjoy it all for quite some time yet (I fervently hope) is my idea of HAWG HEAVEN, and I'm the HAWG.

So I guess I can offer encouragement to some of you unhappy wage slaves in Farangland. Thailand still needs teachers. If you daydream about your times in Thailand while on the clock where it's now cold and snowy out there, there is a way out. I did it, and have many friends who did it too. Not difficult....

You may not need to sign the contract for just one more year; then scrimp and save and be miserable for just another year, until you accumulate enough money to move to Thailand, hoping the dosh doesn't run out. Instead, give yourself a way to earn your living among the lovely Thai people, learning and enjoying life while possibly struggling a bit to adapt. If you feel more at home here than in Farangland, you will, I suspect, make a life of it here.

If not, your TEFL certificate and teaching experience can be of help to you, even back in the dreaded States. A friend didn't like living abroad (it's not for everybody), so he went back to California and soon got a job as English writing tutor in a college there. To his delight, almost all of his students were Asian ladies from the aristocracy. Last I heard, he had shacked up with one of them for some kind of intensive course.