So Happy To Be Here

[jeztennis]

Am at present in 'sunny' England for 2 weeks seeing family and friends, apart from the niceties of catching up with them it only took 2 days for me to realise why i moved to Thailand and in particular Samui, these reasons, or more accurately the reasons why i dislike my country of birth so much are as follows:

1 got off the plane at Heathrow and nearly froze my knackers off!

2 driving around the M25 at about 8p.m. had a 2 hour traffic jam due to 'sheer weight of traffic'

3 whilst in the traffic jam did not see one happy face. not one pretty lady smiling, everyone looked so miserable

4 waking up in the morning not wanting to get out of bed as the heating hasn't clicked on yet,'too expensive to have it on all night' and its freezing yet again.

5 sitting at home watching endless 'crap' t.v. as its grey and raining outside, not hard rain just steady monotonous grey wrist cutting rain aaarrggh!!

6 trying to find a petrol station at less than £1 per litre

7 waking up to bright sunshine feeling good about the world and in half an hour its cloudy, grey and pissing down

8 being in a pub which are all now no smoking and walking headlong into an area where somebody has just 'dropped one' (fart) oh my dear lord the smell!!

9 ordering 4 drinks which amounts to £15

10 noticing that everyone complains all the time

11 buying a bottle of 7up for £1.25

12 speed cameras everywhere, cctv cameras everywhere

13 having the most jokeworthy P.M. ever, he even mumbles and bumbles when he speaks in the commons. oh and he's going to buy his wife the new 'hero' cd single for xmas, lucky lady.

14 the most disappointing aspect is realising that my country is very quickly going down the toilet.

wondering if anyone who has been home recently had similar experiences, whichever country you are from.

must say though one lovely aspect was seeing all the autumnal colours, beautiful.

oh and another good thing, managed to watch Top Gear, quality!

The above is an example of why i moved to Koh Samui, the best decision i ever made!!

Thank You

[pothai]

Am at present in 'sunny' England for 2 weeks seeing family and friends, apart from the niceties of catching up with them it only took 2 days for me to realise why i moved to Thailand and in particular Samui, these reasons, or more accurately the reasons why i dislike my country of birth so much are as follows:

1 got off the plane at Heathrow and nearly froze my knackers off!

2 driving around the M25 at about 8p.m. had a 2 hour traffic jam due to 'sheer weight of traffic'

3 whilst in the traffic jam did not see one happy face. not one pretty lady smiling, everyone looked so miserable

4 waking up in the morning not wanting to get out of bed as the heating hasn't clicked on yet,'too expensive to have it on all night' and its freezing yet again.

5 sitting at home watching endless 'crap' t.v. as its grey and raining outside, not hard rain just steady monotonous grey wrist cutting rain aaarrggh!!

6 trying to find a petrol station at less than £1 per litre

7 waking up to bright sunshine feeling good about the world and in half an hour its cloudy, grey and pissing down

8 being in a pub which are all now no smoking and walking headlong into an area where somebody has just 'dropped one' (fart) oh my dear lord the smell!!

9 ordering 4 drinks which amounts to £15

10 noticing that everyone complains all the time

11 buying a bottle of 7up for £1.25

12 speed cameras everywhere, cctv cameras everywhere

13 having the most jokeworthy P.M. ever, he even mumbles and bumbles when he speaks in the commons. oh and he's going to buy his wife the new 'hero' cd single for xmas, lucky lady.

14 the most disappointing aspect is realising that my country is very quickly going down the toilet.

wondering if anyone who has been home recently had similar experiences, whichever country you are from.

must say though one lovely aspect was seeing all the autumnal colours, beautiful.

oh and another good thing, managed to watch Top Gear, quality!

The above is an example of why i moved to Koh Samui, the best decision i ever made!!

Thank You

Agree but

1. Got off the plane here and was sweating so much in 30 seconds.

2. One way system in Chaweng missing where I wanna go and going around again stuck behind baht bus.

3. Yes everyone does smile here

4. Sweating all night because the air con costs too much.

5. Watching shitty Samui cable..unless can pay for UBC/same cost as sky in the UK

6. Trying to find a petrol station

7. Waking up to bright sunshine feeling good about the world and in half an hour its cloudy, grey and pissing down/same same here

8.Most pubs here are non smoking anyway

9.At 53 baht to the pound....not much difference.

12. Police charge 200 Baht for nothing

10. Read Thai visa....complaints alll the time.

11.Hey...one benefit if you like 7up....however..Tesco/Asda would not be that much.

13. Politics....wow...come on, the past few years here do not even compare to the U.K.

14. What was it like here 5 years ago.

Summary.....not much difference really

[MasterOfDisaster]

People have been saying there countries have been going down the toilet for years. You like complain a lot so we will be looking forwarded a few months down the track why you hate kho sumui so much.

P.S Samui has to me the most expensive ugliest islands in Thailand. and people really do use it as a toilet

[Eli27]

my favourite thing about Samui are all the pessimistic, angry at the world, ThaiVisa forum posting, Thai-hating, Expats that think they have more right to be here than Thais and tourists.

[malcolmswaine]

England's sucks big time, especially if you're a young bloke. I feel sorry for my friends and family stuck living over there stifled by that sh*t english culture and even worse weather. Best move I ever made getting out. On the other hand, I love Thailand. Sure, there are a few things that aren't wonderful, but compared to the UK ... no comparison

Edited November 4, 2008 by malcolmswaine

[MSingh]

What unbelievebale first 2 replies to this thread...

Anyway, to the Fella who started the Post, think of it as a kick up the bum & i say it's something we all need sometimes, to realise how good we've actually got it here..

[samui04]

What unbelievebale first 2 replies to this thread...

Anyway, to the Fella who started the Post, think of it as a kick up the bum & i say it's something we all need sometimes, to realise how good we've actually got it here..

Yes, in Europe is getting colder and rainy.

But in Samui in november sometimes it rain A LOT!

So i decided that the best combination is winter in samui (1 december) and summer at home, perfect for the visa, perfect for the weather....

[samuibeachcomber]

jeztennis and Msing i'm with you.The minute i leave thailand i miss it and i love returning home to Samui,such a brilliant airport and although bangkok airways are expensive i love their service and friendly smile.

[angiud]

5 years far from Italy, but I don't miss so much (some food..., the beautiful landscape of Umbria, some friends).

I start 8 years ago my business in KPG and now I have 3 restaurant, a beautiful family and many stuff I cannot afford in my old country.

So, after all, I'm very happy for my choice, I like KPG (far to be perfect), I use my flip flop 365 a year and I,m little hurry because I must go fishing with my speedboat.

[BigC]

i agrea england is lost. people complain all the time but no one is listening to them. people have just got used to being bored and drunk and montored by cctv cameras.

it is no wonder why people come out here on holiday and dont want to go back. i think of going back to england as a spiritual exderience rubbing my face is crap so i can remeber how rosey things are in the South East i mean asia not london

[shakeydave]

Hi Jez,

As usual on any post on the Samui board you will find the majority of replies to be negative and totally off topic.If you want my view all of what you have said is true regarding our homeland and I believe you have been kind and missed out loads of other reasons why you should come back to Samui.I have sold my house and my travel bussines and will be heading to Samui early next year as that is where I feel most at peace and happy with life.

There seems to be loads of people who live on Samui that don't seem to be happy so my advice is to jog on and go elswhere if life is that bad, Oh most of you can't because you are stuck with you mindless business and now spend your days trashing Samui because you can't get out and all because when you arrived here you followed the sheep and opened another bar be it a sports bar or even a Girlie bar - now that is forward thinking. I could go on about these boring people but lets be honest about this if Samui makes you happy then that is all that matters end of story and yes the UK is crap to live in because there is no longer a sense of belonging only a sense of living to work to pay the bills.

I love Samui for both the good and the bad and I can't wait to return.

Shakeyd

[loiner100]

Hi Jez,

As usual on any post on the Samui board you will find the majority of replies to be negative and totally off topic.If you want my view all of what you have said is true regarding our homeland and I believe you have been kind and missed out loads of other reasons why you should come back to Samui.I have sold my house and my travel bussines and will be heading to Samui early next year as that is where I feel most at peace and happy with life.

There seems to be loads of people who live on Samui that don't seem to be happy so my advice is to jog on and go elswhere if life is that bad, Oh most of you can't because you are stuck with you mindless business and now spend your days trashing Samui because you can't get out and all because when you arrived here you followed the sheep and opened another bar be it a sports bar or even a Girlie bar - now that is forward thinking. I could go on about these boring people but lets be honest about this if Samui makes you happy then that is all that matters end of story and yes the UK is crap to live in because there is no longer a sense of belonging only a sense of living to work to pay the bills.

I love Samui for both the good and the bad and I can't wait to return.

Shakeyd

Agree 100% sd, BUT, Jez, be aware of what can happen to you in LOS.

For example, you go in to a bar, you fall in love with a beautiful girl, you commit - much, - if not everything; she leaves, you lose -much - if not everything!!!

More chance of recompense in the UK than here.

But, hey, maybe you get lucky like me and have a wonderful life here.

Good luck

[BusyBee123]

I love England you must have missed the best parts stuck othe M25 I love my trips to Samui or other places in thailand 4 times a year but wouldn't want to live there as they don't want foreigners to live there so why would I? If I could earn as much as I do in the UK in Thailand I would consider a move but that will never happen, so i'm happy to do the holiday thing and enjoy my job here.

[sunlife2000]

the only good thing left in england is a small bit of green grass in west london but i can watch it from here at weekends on the tele

[tornado40]

I'm happy with my 3 trips a year to Samui - however when you hear stories such as the one my Auntie told me earlier I wish I was on the Island all the time:

She is 70 and of the 'church going' variety. Caught on camera doing 35mph in a 30. Now has to go to Bognor from Worthing, for a 5 hour session on 'speed awareness'

Not only that, she has to pay £105 for the course!

You couldn't make it up

[suegha]

I'm happy with my 3 trips a year to Samui - however when you hear stories such as the one my Auntie told me earlier I wish I was on the Island all the time:

She is 70 and of the 'church going' variety. Caught on camera doing 35mph in a 30. Now has to go to Bognor from Worthing, for a 5 hour session on 'speed awareness'

Not only that, she has to pay £105 for the course!

You couldn't make it up

Well, she's obviously a manic driver who deserves to be locked up!

ps in case anyone thinks I'm being serious, it's a joke, I know a few people who have had to go on this course, it's a money making scheme! They tell you 'speed is bad, slow is good' and what a nasty person you are for breaking the law.

[smartiemarty]

Hi all,

I've been living between samui and phangan for 10 years this crimbo, and the only way you'd get me back living in england is kicking and screaming!

I head back to blighty once every year or so, and enjoy it but i would rather live here and visit there, rather than live there and visit here.

yeah its not perfect here but even with all the bulls**t ( which can be amusing!) thailand wins hands down.

One thing i do miss tho is the smells and sounds when you open the pub door on a cold wet miserable night...... nice but not enough to go back for...

Oh and yeah, it is going downhill rapid, and even the poor rats are starting to realize the government is screwing everyone.

I propose that with all the CCTV coverage we should should use it by following every politician for 24 hours a day and broadcast it live on TV. They want all my biometric data for their ID cards so they can keep tabs on me, so i want to watch what they do and who bribes them....If they don't like it then resign....after all they are public officials who volunteered for the job.

Roll on surveillance Uk....

If you've done nothing wrong then you've nothing to fear!! hahahahahah what a load of trollop.

[caffeinetrip]

I'm moving to Koh Tao next week permently, so I can at best offer a fresh perspective on why i'm moving there, and hopfully re-jolt some of the original reasons you moved to Thailand in the first place, when you were still bright eyed, bushy tailed, and optimistic.

1. Not paying $1,000 - $1,500 US a month for rent

2. Not having my car determine my status amongst friends - In the past few years, i've owned a Lexus LS400, Porsche Boxster, and most recently I was going to buy a Corvette, part because I love cars and sports cars, but subconciously because I wanted to be seen in it.

3. Not dealing with superficial people - Here in Holllywood, and Los Angeles, everyone I meet is really friendly for the first 30 seconds because they want to know if you can help them with their careers, after that, they are cold.

4. Not playing games with social status - Here it seems like everyone needs to "know someone"

5. Not having time for hobbies - One of the main reasons I'm moving to Koh Tao is for the Scuba Diving which is an amazing hobby I wouldn't have here in the US.

6. Animals! I love dogs and cats, and they are every where in Thailand. I'm planning to volunteer at the Noistar animal rescue when I'm there.

7. Buddism - I'm not religious, but Buddism makes me feel very peaceful, and I'm glad most people in Thailand are Buddist because it makes the culture very accepting and non-stressful as well.

8. The food - First off, the cost of food there is amazingly affordable, and moving to thailand i'll never have to cook again!

9. The ice cream - for whatever reason ice cream in Thailand tastes better than Ben & Jerrys and Hazen Daz combined.

10. Simplicity - Life is too complicated here in the states. I just want to relax and not worry.

11. Flakes - In LA if you set a date with someone to go out, even just as friends, it seems like they always wait to see if a better oppertunity comes along first.

12. Weather - I'd rather be too hot than too cold. I hated waking up in the mornings and not wanting to get out of bed because it was freezing in my house.

13. The people - Thai people are amazing, and I love how I get to meet people from all around the world here, Aussies, Kiwis, the Brits, and Americans alike, it's perfect that we all speak English as well.

14. I'm sure there's more...but let me move there first and i'll update this more =)

[5tash]

I'm happy with my 3 trips a year to Samui - however when you hear stories such as the one my Auntie told me earlier I wish I was on the Island all the time:

She is 70 and of the 'church going' variety. Caught on camera doing 35mph in a 30. Now has to go to Bognor from Worthing, for a 5 hour session on 'speed awareness'

Not only that, she has to pay £105 for the course!

You couldn't make it up

There is another way of looking at this....

If speeding regulations and other road rules were set and enforced (as they are in countries such as the U.K.), there wouldn't be as many casualties/fatalities on Samui's roads.