How Did You Feel Just Before You Moved To Thailand

[cynthialee]

tokyo always comes up on list of expensive places to do anything, is that more liberal media nonsense?

bkk always comes up as a bargain among big cities.

[TheDon]

Enough with the Japan talk, everyone know Thailand is much cheaper.

Anyways there is still 6 and a half months before I make my move. Got to sell my CRV that I just purchased, its a shame and all my belongings.

Im not going to go hit the beer bars all the time when I get there. I just want to get buy on the income that I hope to make from my investments and not work in a office no more.

I wa thinking about opening a small tour guide business, not really care about making money on it, but just taking foreigners out camping and all the other tourist attraction stuff just so I dont get board.

I also hear that you can buy cheap condo's for 300,000 (ofcourse im not expecting too much for that price). Which I hope to get one in Chaing Mai and also somewhere near the beach not too far from bangkok. Not Pattaya.

I think for me to make friend in BKK is to go attend Thai speaking classes and I should have no problem with it as im still in my mid 20's

[RakJungTorlae]

Don. Don't say you're getting Soft on us now. There's nothing much to think about . Sydney aint so far form Bangkok anyway. What is home sickness ? Home is where the heart is. If you can build a block of unit and rent them that's pretty cool should make a good income and give u some freedom for travel. Also your mates should find some time to visit you. I do this as well and building a another 40 room apartments as we speak, im using a mates company for building who is Thai but also has a business in Sydney as well in Thailand. flex those muscles mate!

I was young when came back to Thailand I don't remember much of the feeling but I still enjoy going plaices and it gets existing just before catching the flight .

Meet me up when you are here. There are also a few dudes from Sydney and NZ around the joint who like to get up to mischief . its all good in the hood.

Edited July 9, 2008 by RakJungTorlae

[samuibeachcomber]

Enough with the Japan talk, everyone know Thailand is much cheaper.

Anyways there is still 6 and a half months before I make my move. Got to sell my CRV that I just purchased, its a shame and all my belongings.

Im not going to go hit the beer bars all the time when I get there. I just want to get buy on the income that I hope to make from my investments and not work in a office no more.

I wa thinking about opening a small tour guide business, not really care about making money on it, but just taking foreigners out camping and all the other tourist attraction stuff just so I dont get board.

I also hear that you can buy cheap condo's for 300,000 (ofcourse im not expecting too much for that price). Which I hope to get one in Chaing Mai and also somewhere near the beach not too far from bangkok. Not Pattaya.

I think for me to make friend in BKK is to go attend Thai speaking classes and I should have no problem with it as im still in my mid 20's

well don what a load of BS,your 28,while all the worries mate!

[cynthialee]

sorry don, but some think japan is cheap....lol!

whats this now you want to be a tourist guide just for fun. maybe you not quite as business savvy as i gave u credit for. whats fun about taking starngers camping and not making money off them?

condos for 300k , what currency u using?

me think the ladise gonna be disappointed in you, maybe you starting to believe your own hype. be careful don thailand aint no piece of cake for flighty types.

Edited July 9, 2008 by cynthialee

[TheDon]

Im not into making a mil, just enough to enjoy myself and get by. Yeah the 300 to 500 k condos is realistic when you have connections. Nothing flash, just somewhere to crash when I want to go to the beach for the weekend. Also going on trips with other backpacker you never met before and meeting new people all the time sounds like fun to me.

Look if I wanted to make real money I would just sell my sweat

[cynthialee]

what currency is yr 300K. in baht prices seems to low, in dollars it seems to high.

is 300k baht 10,000$ .

id be scared to death if my connections gave me "good "deals on foreign property. good for who?

Edited July 9, 2008 by cynthialee

[TheDon]

300K in baht, my father inlaw owns a big real estate agent near Chonburi (however you spell it) I know alot of prices. He is alot a big developer which helps too.

[loubrockbank]

we only have 5 and a half weeks left till we move over, it didnt seem real that we were leaving the UK for a new life in LOS so before I felt fine, but now Im starting to feel a bit anxious, i excepted redundancy at my work instead of pushing to be re-deployed, we have handed notice in on our flat, starting to get rid of some of our junk, and our visas have just arrived this morning!

so its all feeling very real! im 23 and dan has his parents and sister out there so its a bit easier for him, vs myself who wont really know anyone BUT deep down i know im making the right choice, friends and family around me are doing are starting to do different things in their life, and I want to see a bit of the world while i can...so although im anxious Im also getting very excited at the same time...its a strange feeling, just wish we could get on the plane now really so I can stop dwelling on it !

good luck you will be fine

[TheDon]

Lucky you, so loubrockbank, where bouts you moving too. I cant wait to start getting rid of my shit. Keep us posted on how your going when you first arrive and how you fill find everything, I will be very interested

[loubrockbank]

hi ...well its a toss up between phuket or chaing mai, never been to phuket before but his sis is there so we are going to fly into bangkok, stay the night there and drive (yes drive) down to phuket... we r big on road trips

will see what we think of phuket and possibly stay there, if not we know we love chaing mai so will just see..oh the adventure!

Will definatly let you all know how we get on

[feffejonsson]

Scared. Doubtful about my own judgement. It soon passed however.

[on-on]

In the beginning you will make so many friends, often with surefire ways to make money here in the Kingdom. I believe Job One here is to control your assets so avoid the new friends who want you to invest.

Haha, yes. This is one of the funnier things about living in Thailand. Half of everyone you meet at first seems to have some kind of business idea and often broach the topic of enlisting your help or investment. I hear down in the islands it's really rampant, though when I've been down there among friends I'm sort of insulated via them. For some reason a couple of years on I either don't run into this as much or maybe I project a vibe of "I'm not investing in your combination coffee shop and realty office" these days.

As for the main question, it's a big deal, but after you've made the jump it's like anything else - in retrospect it's not as big a deal as you thought it would be and the things you thought you'd worry about often aren't what you worry about (and vice versa).

[uptou]

The actual moving away from my birthplace was like removing a heavy weight around the shoulders.........now the going back part,thats scary.For me,i figure that you have to be wary of people no matter where you go,but as long as you have the cash you should be ok,& the rest comes down to the exciting lottery of life.How exciting i spose is up to you.

[dclaryjr]

The transition to a new country is as easy as you make it. You must prepare for it physically and mentally. It really is a "big deal".

Great post! The divesting of my "stuff" is a concern. I also hope the timing is right as far as the real estate market is concerned so I can sell my house in a reasonable amount of time. It should be an interesting time.

So did the recipient of your girlfriend divestment end up happy with the deal?

[GaiYaang]

The transition to a new country is as easy as you make it. You must prepare for it physically and mentally. It really is a "big deal".

Great post! The divesting of my "stuff" is a concern. I also hope the timing is right as far as the real estate market is concerned so I can sell my house in a reasonable amount of time. It should be an interesting time.

So did the recipient of your girlfriend divestment end up happy with the deal?

Same here with the real estate market, If I knew back then I would of sold my house back in 04-05.

Too many foreclosure now.

[tsocr]

It did not take me long to adjust to a new place to but my head down. I have moved all my life in the states and out of the country. The biggest part of any move is to find a place to live (house, condo etc...) that gives you that home feeling. Always take care of your finances and as was previously stated do all this before you come over. Before I moved (part time) to Thailand I had been stationed there in the early 70's and visited 4 times a year for about 5 years. The reason I am part time is I still have my parents in the states still living (in their 90’s) who I go and visit and I kept 1 house for my visits. I really do not miss much back in the states. I still do an occasional consulting job, but try to avoid any work as much as possible.

I did live in BKK for awhile but really enjoy the country living now. Slower pace, great people and no pollution. Country living does take some time to get use to but it is well worth it. I still go back to BKK every so often. Mostly when some friends come in town. Enjoy the culture, the food, the people and the beautiful country.

Good luck

Tscor

Edited July 9, 2008 by tsocr

[grantbkk]

The transition to a new country is as easy as you make it. You must prepare for it physically and mentally. It really is a "big deal".

Great post! The divesting of my "stuff" is a concern. I also hope the timing is right as far as the real estate market is concerned so I can sell my house in a reasonable amount of time. It should be an interesting time.

So did the recipient of your girlfriend divestment end up happy with the deal?

Regarding the girlfriend. My wealthy friend always was drooling over her so I simply asked since I was leaving if he had a bedroom she could stay in for a while. Of course one thing led to another and I found myself extricated. They stayed together about two years. I was actually receiving calls every week from each of them about some relationship problem or another.

[pampal]

Living in Los on and off is the best solution for me

[seancbk]

I am about to move to Bangkok from Hong Kong to take on a new job in IT. I have lived here for 35 (of my 41) years and have built up a very active social life, but as much as I love Hong Kong and will definitely miss it, I've not been able to save any money here as its just too expensive to live.

I've spent a bit of time in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand over the past 10 or 15 years, I even had a girlfriend there about a year ago (for about a year). She was (is) English, having gown up in Asia I never developed what we call Yellow Fever in HK.

I'm really looking forward to living in Thailand, I'm on an expat package with a decent salary and I've already secured a 200 sq/m, 2 bedroom apartment.

I have a number of friends in Bangkok so my social life will be ok, but I'm a little worried that the guys I know there are only interested in Thai bargirls and I'm wondering where I will meet attractive, intelligent Western women.

Aside from that small thing, I can't wait to get there.

Sean

[qwertz]

I never moved there, just got lost in transit.

Actually, I thought Thailand was a province of Vietnam until someone enlightened me.

[astral]

Exhilarated..........

but that was 23 years ago

[AFKAFSinLOS]

It seemed like a reasonable second choice to Singapore for a couple of years. Combined with a very good job, I felt like I'd made the right choice, albeit a little aprehensive. The plan was then to return to Singapore at a later date...

But then again I had very little clue about what Thailand was like to be honest... not to mention the proverbial sitting duck for many things...

When I came to Thailand I would have preferred to stay in Singapore. When asked to move on again from Thailand a couple of years later... I preferred to stay in Thailand... Leaving again a few years later after that was one of the best things I ever did, although done with similar aprehensions as on coming in the first place... The jury is still out this time round...

But with hindsight it's not always best to get what you want... and if there is a god, she's got a sense of humour..

Edited July 15, 2008 by AFKAFSinLOS