Question For Long Term Expats

[jdinasia]

Go6 --- you gave away cash? really?

[Maigo6]

Maigo6, it is against the law for a foreigner to own a house or land. You should have known better

I was just a starry eyed kid at the time.

I let my guard down against a fellow countryman, and he didn't come from Liverpool, so I thought he was safe....

[Maigo6]

Go6 --- you gave away cash? really?

Yes JD,

but I'm afraid that your loan request still has to be rejected due the the worldwide economic downturn.

[Kaojai]

This question has probably been asked before but reading Garro,s latest topic regarding whether you are happy to spend the rest of your life in Thailand he stated that despite living there for 6 years it still does not feel like home and it got me wondering if others feel the same.So if you have lived in Thailand or anywhere else,i myself,am emigrating too Vietnam for good on Saturday with my family,for say a period of over 2 years do you feel truly at home or do you feel still like you are a foreigner?

I left the US nearly 35 years ago and have lived in several countries in that time. I feel very much at home & comfortable in Thailand. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

[fiddlehead]

I guess i've been lucky.

Started traveling in rock bands when i was young (20s) and enjoyed a life on the road, living out of hotels and such

Then i started long distance hiking and did that for 16 years and the woods and wilderness areas and mountains of the world became my home.

I felt very comfortable there.

But something was missing.

Then i came to Thailand 7 years ago and found a good woman and now have a family.

I still go back to the states every year for visiting and some work and it feels strange there now. (no smiling, lots of fat people driving huge trucks to go a block, everyone scared of what's gonna happen tomorrow)

I got used to the friendly people of Thailand, partying in the neighborhoods where everyone is smiling, sharing their stories and beer, and welcoming all.

I got used to the driving however you like and straddling the line, going through red lights, driving on the shoulder, etc.

Right now i am in the states and it's not cool to go back to abiding by all the rules (and there are many) You can't drink here anymore, the police sit outside bars and wait for people to leave. They arrested my niece for walking home drunk because she didn't want to get a DUI.

Anyway, Thailand is better than most places but, I've learned that home is where the heart is. It's been very few times that i've felt uncomfortable where i was. I think my worst experience in feeling i didn't belong was in southern California. Certainly not Thailand

I feel comfortable most anywhere after a while. I've learned to adjust and learn from my surroundings.

For those who don't like it and don't feel comfortable, I can't understand why you don't leave.

Edited December 6, 2008 by fiddlehead

[Thaifan2]

>>

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I'm originally from Northern Ireland where I grew up and lived for a couple of decades before moving to England for quite a few years. Strangely enough I feel more at home in Thailand now after 9/10 years than I ever did in England and certainly can't imagine ever living back in NI again. Having a Thai wife and kids though may well play a big part in "feeling at home"

Hey Judas

Im from Northern Ireland as well,Belfast,were do you hail from originally?

Actually from Carrickfergus, just down the road. Small world

<<

I went to Belfast on a day trip from Dublin 6 years ago .Small world .

[maccaroni man]

It ain't "just a few" , it's every single business dealing I've had.. But, my fault ... yes I was naive

Yep, a Friend of mine has just been ripped off by a developer who apparantley has ran out of money after taking all kinds of deposits from clients who were expecting to have a house on a lovely project, his is the only house that was finished as it was the show house, and all around him are overgrown empty plots, no reliable water, intermittent electricity supply that is unable to cope with using A/C plus Swimming pool pumps at the same time.....no security, no landscaping, dirt road etc etc........

Now he really regrets ever trusting the Farang developer that ripped off so many people.

I was renting a house in Thailand 18 years ago when I first came here, it was 7,000 Baht per Month in Pattaya, I rented it from a Farang, one day the Thai owner came round and asked for the rent !!

I'd already Paid the Farang 6 Months up front, as he told me it was his house. Of course he had disappeared owing the real owner rent money, and ripping me off at the same time !

You do have to be careful in Thailand, but not only of Thai people who will rip you off, there are many Farangs in Thailand that would rip you off without a second thought.

And those guys are quite successful at it cos maybe the punters read all the crap about how untrustworthy Thai people are , lulling them into a false sense of security when dealing with Farangs.

By the way, not all Farang fall into this catagory, likewise, not all Thais do either.

well i always know i can count on your threads to be the voice of the unspoken thai. for some reason i often feel bashed after reading your threads.

[billd766]

I have been coming to Thailand on and off since 1993 and in that time I have worked here full time for about 5 1/2 years and made it my home since 2001.

Now I go offshore to work and I am coming home next week after 6 months in NZ for 3 weeks then back again for another 6 months. I will be doing that until mid 2010 when I finally retire.

Yes in my early days I got ripped off now and again by Thais but I have been ripped off in other countries as well so I didn't feel it was personal, just stupidity on my part.

In 1993 I met a good woman and eventually divorced my UK wife and married my Thai lady in 2000. Now we have a lovely 4 year old son and live waaaay out in the sticks on the edge of a national park where everybody is friendly and genuinely smiles. I talk to people in my fractured Thai and their fractured English and at home I don't get ripped off and I pay what locals pay for food and drinks etc.

My wife told me last week that people are asking when I am coming home again.

That makes me happy because to me, Thailand IS home.

:D

[Maigo6]

well i always know i can count on your threads to be the voice of the unspoken thai. for some reason i often feel bashed after reading your threads.

And if I had lied and said it was Thai people that had ripped my friend off, and Thai people that had tricked me 18 years ago, how would you have felt ?

If you think there are some Farangs based in Thailand that wouldn't rip you off, you've been reading Forums like this too long.

I could tell you stories about bars that have been sold by the so called owner looking for a partner , 50% share to the buyer, problem was it was sold to 10 different trusting Farangs, then the Farang owner did a bunk with the money.

The only possible reason you could feel bashed is cos you're the conning developer that has ripped people off, or you ain't lived in Thailand long enough to know there are Farangs here that would steal the air from your lungs if it was worth money.

Talk about rose tinted glasses.............

[Greer]

I have lived in Thailand for 16 years, I don't hate my country of birth (Australia) nor the country of my parents and extended family (UK), in fact I do enjoy going to both places as regularly as finances will permit. The thing is that Thailand is my home of choice, and my ex-wife and of course my kids, are Thai (they all live in Sydney at present). My fiance is Thai (I met her in the UK) and we have no real plans to leave the country in the foreseeable future.

Whilst I am not Thai of course, I do feel more at home here than I do in Australia or the UK. I have many more friends here than I ever had in Australia, where I spent most of my life until I was in my late 30's, so Bangkok is my home. I could care less about the political situation in Australia and the UK, in fact I only vaguely keep across what happens in those foreign lands, but events in my home country and home city do of course concern me.

Those who don't feel at home here maybe have stronger ties with their country of origin, but to be honest, while I love the beaches and the general environment of Australia most of the time, and I enjoy very much being in the UK and feeling the history of that country in every place I walk and the beauty of the country, I have no wish to be in those places permanantly - I have not "gone native" or anything here, as I have many friends who are all expats.

One important factor for me in fact is the presence of those expats - by definition they don't exist for me in Australia or the UK, but when living in Thailand, their company is a great assistance to me in making me feel at home here - so in fact I guess I have a community (Thai and farang) and surrounds that are comfortable for me...and my kids will return to Thailand soon, so again the home will be even more complete.

[maccaroni man]

well i always know i can count on your threads to be the voice of the unspoken thai. for some reason i often feel bashed after reading your threads.

And if I had lied and said it was Thai people that had ripped my friend off, and Thai people that had tricked me 18 years ago, how would you have felt ?

If you think there are some Farangs based in Thailand that wouldn't rip you off, you've been reading Forums like this too long.

I could tell you stories about bars that have been sold by the so called owner looking for a partner , 50% share to the buyer, problem was it was sold to 10 different trusting Farangs, then the Farang owner did a bunk with the money.

The only possible reason you could feel bashed is cos you're the conning developer that has ripped people off, or you ain't lived in Thailand long enough to know there are Farangs here that would steal the air from your lungs if it was worth money.

Talk about rose tinted glasses.............

some times it is better to be thought of as an idiot than to post and eliminate all doubt. what i am saying is that you dont seem to acknowledge the fact that thais are ripping off thais and thais are ripping off family members and thais do lie, cheat, and steal. So what that is part of the thai culture and to deny it is to defend it. or think otherwise is to see life through rose tinted glasses.

[Maigo6]

well i always know i can count on your threads to be the voice of the unspoken thai. for some reason i often feel bashed after reading your threads.

And if I had lied and said it was Thai people that had ripped my friend off, and Thai people that had tricked me 18 years ago, how would you have felt ?

If you think there are some Farangs based in Thailand that wouldn't rip you off, you've been reading Forums like this too long.

I could tell you stories about bars that have been sold by the so called owner looking for a partner , 50% share to the buyer, problem was it was sold to 10 different trusting Farangs, then the Farang owner did a bunk with the money.

The only possible reason you could feel bashed is cos you're the conning developer that has ripped people off, or you ain't lived in Thailand long enough to know there are Farangs here that would steal the air from your lungs if it was worth money.

Talk about rose tinted glasses.............

some times it is better to be thought of as an idiot than to post and eliminate all doubt. what i am saying is that you dont seem to acknowledge the fact that thais are ripping off thais and thais are ripping off family members and thais do lie, cheat, and steal. So what that is part of the thai culture and to deny it is to defend it. or think otherwise is to see life through rose tinted glasses.

OMG....... Thais rip off Thais, Brits rip off Brits, Americans rip off Americans....how enlightening. One day people will forget Confucious and quote you instead.

What I wrote was fact, not speculation, fact. If I had said it was a Thai that had ripped people off, there wouild have been 50 posts by the usual suspects saying " You can't trust them " " They're all conmen " etc etc etc All I'm doing is levelling up the playing field by stating the FACT that there are certain Farangs in Thailand who will rip you off without hesitation, just as there are certain Thai people who will rip you off as well.

On this forum it all seems very one sided, Farang good, Thai bad....it's total bullshit.

[maccaroni man]

well i always know i can count on your threads to be the voice of the unspoken thai. for some reason i often feel bashed after reading your threads.

And if I had lied and said it was Thai people that had ripped my friend off, and Thai people that had tricked me 18 years ago, how would you have felt ?

If you think there are some Farangs based in Thailand that wouldn't rip you off, you've been reading Forums like this too long.

I could tell you stories about bars that have been sold by the so called owner looking for a partner , 50% share to the buyer, problem was it was sold to 10 different trusting Farangs, then the Farang owner did a bunk with the money.

The only possible reason you could feel bashed is cos you're the conning developer that has ripped people off, or you ain't lived in Thailand long enough to know there are Farangs here that would steal the air from your lungs if it was worth money.

Talk about rose tinted glasses.............

some times it is better to be thought of as an idiot than to post and eliminate all doubt. what i am saying is that you dont seem to acknowledge the fact that thais are ripping off thais and thais are ripping off family members and thais do lie, cheat, and steal. So what that is part of the thai culture and to deny it is to defend it. or think otherwise is to see life through rose tinted glasses.

OMG....... Thais rip off Thais, Brits rip off Brits, Americans rip off Americans....how enlightening. One day people will forget Confucious and quote you instead.

What I wrote was fact, not speculation, fact. If I had said it was a Thai that had ripped people off, there wouild have been 50 posts by the usual suspects saying " You can't trust them " " They're all conmen " etc etc etc All I'm doing is levelling up the playing field by stating the FACT that there are certain Farangs in Thailand who will rip you off without hesitation, just as there are certain Thai people who will rip you off as well.

On this forum it all seems very one sided, Farang good, Thai bad....it's total bullshit.

fair enough

[Maigo6]

fair enough

Cheers Macca....