Is It Time To Go Home

[MJP]

If you feel the need to go home best that you go if not you will only regret it in the future and if it is not as comfortable back home then you can always return back to LOS.

^^^ Is my line of thought too.

Look at it this way, go back to the UK for the summer. Enjoy those evenings. Have a few decent beers, a chin wag in the local. Chill out.

Then, when the urge overcomes you, come back to Thailand.

The only possible difficulty might depend on circumstances. If you own a car here, selling it. Same with furniture and other goods you have acquired.

Sometimes we need a break. Look at it as a holiday. You might be refreshed.

Good point, it's only a aeroplane ride.

[teacup]

TO Teacup

Didn't realize it was competition you are after on a simple posting. How unaspiring.

“Didn't realize it was competition you are after on a simple posting. How unaspiring.”!!!

Ooh lighten up, would you!!

I was just playing around with you that’s all, … don’t be such a sulky sulky child now

No sense of humor?….hmm

And as for the rest of your post,........don’t worry I already got bored enough by all the news channels over here already

Anyway…ok go do whatever, as I’m going zzzzz now also

Have a nice day now

TC

Edited May 15, 2009 by teacup

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Seems like looking into the future a little bit, you are going to see taxes in the US and I assume the UK take a dramatic rise to cope with all the trillions that are being spent by the gov't in the next few years trying to pump up the bubble once again.

Medical care is a mess and cost an arm and leg.

Property tax, sales tax, insurance and IRS want to take a nasty bite out of what you have.

I will grant you there are some things much nicer in the US than LOS but overall I think I get a much better lifestyle for the money in LOS than I would in the US. Besides I could never ever talk my wife into parting with her housekeeper.

To each his own, wherever makes you the happiest is the best place for you to be.

[patklang]

Been back to the UK for 4 weeks in the last 30 months and the place is a mess.Everybody looks so glum and depressed and everything is sky high price.The weather is freezing and damp,so no good for the older guys on here.

[David006]

One has to wonder why any of us left that idyllic overtaxed, cold damp smoggy, expensive place.

I left for SA in'71, came back after three years hated the bloody damp and the whining, drably dressed people (maybe its changed now?).

So.. I left for freezing cold Canada after moving west to get warmer..gave up...after 24 years moved to Australia to get warm..after 7 years sailed up here.."how to do" now as they say here, dunno but your right , the price of everything is going up especially when you relate it to the UK. Australia has a low buck so bit more difficult to judge.

Maybe, as many posts suggest you better go take a look..them planes DO go both ways as stated.

For my money when I get to the same stage and asking the same question, think I'll take my Thai wife and go back to N Queensland, it'll be warm and the quality of food and the country is not unlike here..pity about the cyclones though..

Good luck on your decision making

[alfieconn]

How does one lady cost you 20,000 baht every month ? i could understand having many ladies costing you 20,000 baht per month !!

What else don't you understand? Geometry? Bathing? Why the grass is green? How to open a can of Pepsi? Turning left in an automobile?

So perhaps you can explain to me ?

[MJP]

Been back to the UK for 4 weeks in the last 30 months and the place is a mess.Everybody looks so glum and depressed and everything is sky high price.The weather is freezing and damp,so no good for the older guys on here.

Pat, I'll not post the emails I've had from the old chap, proper doom mongering they are. But this is one from a friend and colleague Phil, a civils and environment consulting engineer.

He's level headed, the most level headed person I know to be honest, anyway . . .

"Everyone in Britain is under manic levels of depression with this recession we're in (many people worry for thier job security but think house price have hit bottom- v strange!), you're right to not miss it!

Phil"

[LivinLOS]

Well, from you posts in this thread, your idea of what's necessary for a comfortable "middle class" lifestyle in Thailand is not the same as my definition. I moved here to simplify my life and shed excess emotional and physical baggage. I live for me what I consider a very comfortable lifestyle for less than than half the cost of your last rental (and I've got air-cons, eat out 90% of meals, 24/7 cable internet, mobile phone, car, girls when nature calls, 42" Sony Bravia HD ready LCD TV, etc.). I guess our views of what's comfortable and necessary for living are different.

By middle class I mean western middle class.. You know those elusive 'quality tourists' Thailand thinks its ready for.

And you live well have AC, a car, good medical, cover for less than 37500 baht a month ?? All in ?? I mean you not suggesting middle class westerners lifestyle means riding a honda wave in monsoon season ??

You and your friends have chosen (as is your right) to buy/rent what are quite high-priced housing. For whatever reason, this is the comfort, location, and amenity level you desire. For me, I don't need to live in a "villa," a nice clean and safe bungalow will do fine. I also don't need views or a pool but that's just me...maybe you do. I can swim for free at any number of pools when I visit friends who live in moobans that have pools or I can go to any of the hundreds of hotels in Pattaya that have pools and swim for B 50-100 (and leave the maintenance costs to the hotel or moobans).

OK sure.. I realize you can downsize and live cheaply.. In fact it often seems to me the guys who manage this live the happyist.. But personally i didnt come here to downsize my life, I came here late 20's because it was fun, the discos were open till dawn, etc etc.. However as I have grown up, I kinda miss some of my toys, nice cars, things like that.. Back in my early 20's I had porches and special motors.. The kind of cars that literally cost the price of houses here. I would be lieing if I said I dont get the odd twinge and miss em.. I think other aspects of life here make up for it, otherwise I would be gone.. But I dont pretend it doesnt exist either.

As for the house and Bimmer example, in the San Francisco area where I'm from, it would still (post-crash) still be $ 500,000 for a house of any size in a safe area and lets just say $ 40,000 for a 3-series or $ 540,000. In LOS, a comfortable house in Pattaya (my standards) B 5-6 million or $ 170,000 at the higher end; lets say 3-series Bimmer costs $ 100,000 equivalent. House and car in San Francisco are $ 540,000; same in LOS is $ 270,000 or about half...you still come out ahead. Now, if you need to live in a "villa," the savings would be much less but probably will still be some.

Well on phuket nice homes start at the 10m range.. and real nice goes up from there fast.. 5 - 6 mil gets you not a lot down here..

As to cars you get a nice merc for 5 or so k GBP.. 250 - 300k baht.. Same things would be 2 - 3 mil.

Running costs for the house and car will also be much less in LOS than SF.

Disagree with that totally.. the bad build quality of things here and the Thais view of homes as structures to be rebuilt means every home I have lived in in Thailand has had massive and constant maintenance done on it, from rot, to termites, to sea salt rust, to etc etc.. Just teams of people doing stuff every few months.. Homes in the west barely needed anything except a lick of paint and maybe the odd tile replaced from storms. Own any car thats not an econobox toyota or honda here and be prepared to open your wallet.

[Electra]

To live in the UK, excluding mortgage or rent payments, you should not expect to pay less than say £1000 per month for your utilities, food,the odd beer in your local, petrol and council tax. Entertainment costs including restaurants, theatre, cinema, train/taxi fares are such that enjoying oneself out of the home requires careful consideration. The spouse's allowance for sundry fripperies still applies.

Frankly, I would stay put in Thailand, count your blessings and reduce the ball and chain's salary.

[LivinLOS]

Plus its a superb hub to jet about the region, cheap flights mean I can have a city break in sing or HK, head over to vietnam, just so many things I can do within a few hours travel of where I am..

Just curious, how long have you been "livinLOS"?

That Thailand being a great hub for Asian travel and jetting to and fro were fun for me too for a couple years...now I can't stand the sight of an airplane

8 years and counting.. Fresh of the boat compared to many.. But enough for the bloom to be off the rose in some ways too..

[MJP]

To live in the UK, excluding mortgage or rent payments, you should not expect to pay less than say £1000 per month for your utilities, food,the odd beer in your local, petrol and council tax. Entertainment costs including restaurants, theatre, cinema, train/taxi fares are such that enjoying oneself out of the home requires careful consideration. The spouse's allowance for sundry fripperies still applies.

Frankly, I would stay put in Thailand, count your blessings and reduce the ball and chain's salary.

That's the truth, no one be in any doubt about this.

Just because you can buy a used car at auction for £500, cheese and baked beans being marginally cheaper etc, if you set things up right it is way, way, way cheaper to live here.

I've reports from the UK that food inflation is starting to kick up. They are going to go through Icelandic style biflation sometime soon.

I'm going to sit tight in my simple little world here for now.

[LivinLOS]

To live in the UK, excluding mortgage or rent payments, you should not expect to pay less than say £1000 per month for your utilities, food,the odd beer in your local, petrol and council tax. Entertainment costs including restaurants, theatre, cinema, train/taxi fares are such that enjoying oneself out of the home requires careful consideration. The spouse's allowance for sundry fripperies still applies.

Frankly, I would stay put in Thailand, count your blessings and reduce the ball and chain's salary.

I have to struggle to keep Thailand to 3 times that per month (plus supporting my mother in UK to at least 1.5 times that).. Living on 50k in either country is a pipe dream for me..

But its not about money.. Thats something I have always been lucky with, tho I find its easier to make proper cash back there of course.. But its about quality of life.. Here has weather and ocean, beaches and coral, I cant replace that..

[steadfast]

I do think a lot depends on your Age Health Ect

No it is not Cheap here for us anymore Not Cheap in the UK.

It is sort of 50/50 Much the same if you take everything into consideration

But I think you will miss Thailand I know I will, But age and future health have to be considered

I do miss Englands green pleasant land TV Internet and long summer nights.

As for me well i go back. Like you I have my own House

Only You can Decide.

I forgot this one, definitively agree !

Especially a jazz concert during a summer evening !

or a small chamber orchestra playing Bach at an old country castle illuminated by hundreds of candles on a warm summer evening

Ah No! You two up for Private Eye's Pseud's Corner?

[billd766]

Having read all the posts and as an expat Brit I think I WILL go home after all.

However as I am working in NZ for only 1 more week I am homeward bound to my wife and our son.

Home to warmth and friendliness of living in a 3 bedroom detatched house (hers) near a stream with my family on 4 acres of (her) land in central Thailand where we (she) has another 4 acres (or about 20 rai in all).

Back to live in the UK?

Yeah right.

Not in this lifetime I say.

It is all paid for so I pay

rent = none

rates or local taxes = none

eating out = any time I want but my wife has a shop and small restaurant

what else am I missing

girls = to old and I love my wife anyway

top of the line stereo = no need

big TV not a bad idea as my eyesight is getting worse

BMW = Ford Ranger pickup truck

gik = see girls above

Some people will say if I divorce I will lose it all.

Been there, done that in the UK. I drove away in a hired station wagon with all MY stuff and space to spare.

I have been living and working in and out of Thailand since 1993, still can't speak it that well and since I left school in 1959 at the age of 15 I have lived and worked in around 38 countries and the best one (for me) I have found is Thailand.

Yes I get frustrated at times with Thais, as I do in many other countries and peoples, but where I live waaaay out in the sticks I have made some good friends with Thais and to my knowledge very few people out in the country have tried to rip me off.

At the local markets I generally pay the same as the Thais next to me.

There is a national park at the end of the land where we live and if I go up into the park with family and friends I pay the same rate as them OR I pay the farang rate and they go in for free.

I know that there are a lot of things that I don't have but a) I don't really need them and if I really do then I will go out and get them.

We grow fruit and there is nothing nicer than a fresh pineapple, mango, custard apple, jackfruit etc that you just picked fresh from the garden.

I can live without a high speed internet link, the latest movies, a big flash car or the rest of the crap that some people consider essential for living.

I now can sit back and smell the flowers or watch butterflies and live without so much stress.

I don't NEED to work just to live and survive as many people do in the west, nor do I want to.

It is Thailand for me until I die and after I am cremated and my ashes dumped around the house then I will be home again but this time there will be no need for a visa.

BRAVO!

Same as that.

Thank you kindly young man.

I may look and be an old fart, but when I am back home with my family I am a very happy old fart.

[samuiseagull]

12 years away from the UK...

Right, if you think it's any better here than I would say just come back for a holiday and see what a miserable place this now is. You could not wait to get back to Thailand. Sure, Thailand is getting expensive but do you think for 1 minute that the cheapness of the UK is going to hold out??? We've got to pay our way out of this mess that the banker's and now MP's have got our Country into. 12 years mate...you certainly would have no indentification with your home Country anymore. It's changed...and it's changed for good (not for the good!!)

If I were you I would do everything possible to stay where you are. Take a look at your finances and just reel them in. Simple, everybody is having financial difficulties at the moment. Do you think it will be easy back in the UK?? No, you'll find it even harder and you'll end up resenting the fact that you ever came back in the first place.

And to be frank...dont get lost in all that romantic shit about long Summer nights etc. We rarely get any decent weather anymore. 3 months maximum of Summer per year. Big deal!!! Lucky to get half of that with anything that you can plan and do anything outside anyway!!! Do your best to stay where you are. Take time, and make some decision's that will enable you to do that

As Ray Winstone said in "Sexy Beast"..."People say, dont you miss it? I say what, England? Nah. fuc_king place. It's a dump. Dont make me laugh. Grey, grimy. Sooty. What a shit hole. What a toilet. Every cun_t with a long face, shuffling about, moaning, all worried. No thanks, not for me"

Apologies if any offence taken...just trying to make the OP aware of what a big mistake he would make if he came back.

Good Luck.

[MJP]

Having read all the posts and as an expat Brit I think I WILL go home after all.

However as I am working in NZ for only 1 more week I am homeward bound to my wife and our son.

Home to warmth and friendliness of living in a 3 bedroom detatched house (hers) near a stream with my family on 4 acres of (her) land in central Thailand where we (she) has another 4 acres (or about 20 rai in all).

Back to live in the UK?

Yeah right.

Not in this lifetime I say.

It is all paid for so I pay

rent = none

rates or local taxes = none

eating out = any time I want but my wife has a shop and small restaurant

what else am I missing

girls = to old and I love my wife anyway

top of the line stereo = no need

big TV not a bad idea as my eyesight is getting worse

BMW = Ford Ranger pickup truck

gik = see girls above

Some people will say if I divorce I will lose it all.

Been there, done that in the UK. I drove away in a hired station wagon with all MY stuff and space to spare.

I have been living and working in and out of Thailand since 1993, still can't speak it that well and since I left school in 1959 at the age of 15 I have lived and worked in around 38 countries and the best one (for me) I have found is Thailand.

Yes I get frustrated at times with Thais, as I do in many other countries and peoples, but where I live waaaay out in the sticks I have made some good friends with Thais and to my knowledge very few people out in the country have tried to rip me off.

At the local markets I generally pay the same as the Thais next to me.

There is a national park at the end of the land where we live and if I go up into the park with family and friends I pay the same rate as them OR I pay the farang rate and they go in for free.

I know that there are a lot of things that I don't have but a) I don't really need them and if I really do then I will go out and get them.

We grow fruit and there is nothing nicer than a fresh pineapple, mango, custard apple, jackfruit etc that you just picked fresh from the garden.

I can live without a high speed internet link, the latest movies, a big flash car or the rest of the crap that some people consider essential for living.

I now can sit back and smell the flowers or watch butterflies and live without so much stress.

I don't NEED to work just to live and survive as many people do in the west, nor do I want to.

It is Thailand for me until I die and after I am cremated and my ashes dumped around the house then I will be home again but this time there will be no need for a visa.

BRAVO!

Same as that.

Thank you kindly young man.

I may look and be an old fart, but when I am back home with my family I am a very happy old fart.

I live the same way you do. I hate materialism, not because I'm left wing or anything, I just can't be bothered with all that nonsense.

A friend from south London summed it all up, "We are all equal in death".

[steadfast]

It's slowly but surely getting that way that over-all it’s much cheaper for me to live in the UK.

I pay heavily to live here but at what point do I say enough is enough?

In Thailand i rent a house for 15.000 Baht per month.

In the UK I own my own house.

In Thailand my lady costs me somewhere in the region of 20.000 Baht every month.

That’s 35.000 Baht or 700 pounds worth of outgoings I don’t have in the UK.

The annual visa shit is another story.

Contrary to belief, the cost of living in the tropics doesn’t come cheap.

I've had twelve wonderful years here but!!

Is it time to bail out and go home?

Well let's see, how much is a prostitute in the UK now? Per hour. Okay, she won't do the washing up, but if you're just up for a roll in the hay once a week? Would you consider a friend a friend if you had to pay him to got for a pint/have a chat with you? Then why a woman? Paid 'company'? If you really think about it, would Thailand sound more attractive to you if it was 15k rather than 35k? Bin the tart or go home.

[JimmyConway]

As Ray Winstone said in "Sexy Beast"..."People say, dont you miss it? I say what, England? Nah. fuc_king place. It's a dump. Dont make me laugh. Grey, grimy. Sooty. What a shit hole. What a toilet. Every cun_t with a long face, shuffling about, moaning, all worried. No thanks, not for me"

Excellent quote, excellent film, excellent post, have a beer on me ;-)

[MeetJohnDoe]

Well, from you posts in this thread, your idea of what's necessary for a comfortable "middle class" lifestyle in Thailand is not the same as my definition. I moved here to simplify my life and shed excess emotional and physical baggage. I live for me what I consider a very comfortable lifestyle for less than than half the cost of your last rental (and I've got air-cons, eat out 90% of meals, 24/7 cable internet, mobile phone, car, girls when nature calls, 42" Sony Bravia HD ready LCD TV, etc.). I guess our views of what's comfortable and necessary for living are different.

By middle class I mean western middle class.. You know those elusive 'quality tourists' Thailand thinks its ready for.

And you live well have AC, a car, good medical, cover for less than 37500 baht a month ?? All in ?? I mean you not suggesting middle class westerners lifestyle means riding a honda wave in monsoon season ??

Those are running costs per month...not counting the costs to buy the items to begin with. One does have to have the cash to stake themselves to whatever lifestyle is comfortable for them in Thailand to start with. One think I failed to mention is utilities - gas, water, electric, mobile phone, unlimited cable-internet run me about $ 100-150 per month depending on season. Back in USA, these could run 2-3x depending on season. Health insurance I self-insure.

You and your friends have chosen (as is your right) to buy/rent what are quite high-priced housing. For whatever reason, this is the comfort, location, and amenity level you desire. For me, I don't need to live in a "villa," a nice clean and safe bungalow will do fine. I also don't need views or a pool but that's just me...maybe you do. I can swim for free at any number of pools when I visit friends who live in moobans that have pools or I can go to any of the hundreds of hotels in Pattaya that have pools and swim for B 50-100 (and leave the maintenance costs to the hotel or moobans).

OK sure.. I realize you can downsize and live cheaply.. In fact it often seems to me the guys who manage this live the happyist.. But personally i didnt come here to downsize my life However as I have grown up, I kinda miss some of my toys, nice cars, things like that.. Back in my early 20's I had porches and special motors..

I understand...boys and their toys...if you want that kind of stuff here...you're wallet's gonna be hurt'in BIG-time. One must content oneself with the girls (and forgo the Porcheses) while the guys in USA have the Porcheses but no girls. But really, all that stuff is really for the ego (and necessary to attract chicks back home) but not really necessary here...no decent roads to drive them on anyway.

As for the house and Bimmer example, in the San Francisco area where I'm from, it would still (post-crash) still be $ 500,000 for a house of any size in a safe area and lets just say $ 40,000 for a 3-series or $ 540,000. In LOS, a comfortable house in Pattaya (my standards) B 5-6 million or $ 170,000 at the higher end; lets say 3-series Bimmer costs $ 100,000 equivalent. House and car in San Francisco are $ 540,000; same in LOS is $ 270,000 or about half...you still come out ahead. Now, if you need to live in a "villa," the savings would be much less but probably will still be some.

Well on phuket nice homes start at the 10m range.. and real nice goes up from there fast.. 5 - 6 mil gets you not a lot down here..

On west coast that is certainly true. On the east coast, I have seen places I would buy in the B 6-8 million range.

Running costs for the house and car will also be much less in LOS than SF.

Disagree with that totally.. the bad build quality of things here and the Thais view of homes as structures to be rebuilt means every home I have lived in in Thailand has had massive and constant maintenance done on it, from rot, to termites, to sea salt rust, to etc etc.. Just teams of people doing stuff every few months.. Homes in the west barely needed anything except a lick of paint and maybe the odd tile replaced from storms. Own any car thats not an econobox toyota or honda here and be prepared to open your wallet.

Well again, I have just not had that experience. I do have friends who are very peticular about their houses and they have spent allot fixing them up very nice. As to cars, yes, I was referring to maintenance and insurance for locally assembled Japanese or American brands (Honda, Toyota, even Chevy Captiva I wouldn't call "econobox[es]"). Local Mercs and BMWs are also not too expensive to service I have been lead to believe (compared to back home). Any complete imports will be very expensive to service, however.

Edited May 15, 2009 by MeetJohnDoe

[GungaDin]

Book a 30 day holiday back in Blighty & you'll be back in Thailand poste haste.

I wasted the best 30 years of my life in Blighty & in 9 years away I haven't missed it for a nano second, even though the UK was good to me.

I miss the Aussie bush & rural Aussies and the laconic humour but there's nothing to miss in Aussie cities ...... immigration has screwed up Aus cities since the Lebanese war. House rental is a killer in Aus, esp if you're on a shitty Aus pension.

Thailand can be frustrating but there is no boredom here, at least for me.

Go back & satisfy yourself.

20000bt a month for a TGF??? Hmm.Something wrong here....

Find one who has a job!

[MJP]

As Ray Winstone said in "Sexy Beast"..."People say, dont you miss it? I say what, England? Nah. fuc_king place. It's a dump. Dont make me laugh. Grey, grimy. Sooty. What a shit hole. What a toilet. Every cun_t with a long face, shuffling about, moaning, all worried. No thanks, not for me"

Excellent quote, excellent film, excellent post, have a beer on me ;-)

+1

Great movie, great quote and very true.

Lest we forget.

[LivinLOS]

Book a 30 day holiday back in Blighty & you'll be back in Thailand poste haste.

Go back & satisfy yourself.

Well will be interesting to see.. I just booked myself almost 3 months..

Havent been there in 8 years, havent lived there since I was a teenager.. So its been a while.. But already booked a weekend at goodwood festival of speed, hot air balloon rides, got mates saying take a boat down the Thames at the lock pubs, another with a yacht in the SW, a cottage on the coast in Croyde, others talking about forest of dean weekends, theres glastonbury festival for a music and hippy scene, proper clubbing, top DJ's.. I have a shopping list of gear I want to pick up, show the missus London for a spree.. I was even really tempted to buy a cheap Ducati monster but have bottled it as being over ambitious and a bit wasteful with only the time I have.. Also I was going to go to S France as I have mates with cottages down there too, do a Riviera run but the complexity with visa's got too bothersome for me, I just cant handle authority and permissions / form filling BS. Maybe next year, tho I have an itch to take the missus cape town and safari so it will have competition. Depends if its the grey miserable sh1thole everyone says

But with eveyones negativity I am looking forward to it.. Just fingers crossed the weather is kind.. if the sun shines no one can stop me having a ball wherever I am.

[MJP]

Book a 30 day holiday back in Blighty & you'll be back in Thailand poste haste.

Go back & satisfy yourself.

Well will be interesting to see.. I just booked myself almost 3 months..

Havent been there in 8 years, havent lived there since I was a teenager.. So its been a while.. But already booked a weekend at goodwood festival of speed, hot air balloon rides, got mates saying take a boat down the Thames at the lock pubs, another with a yacht in the SW, a cottage on the coast in Croyde, others talking about forest of dean weekends, theres glastonbury festival for a music and hippy scene, proper clubbing, top DJ's.. I have a shopping list of gear I want to pick up, show the missus London for a spree.. I was even really tempted to buy a cheap Ducati monster but have bottled it as being over ambitious and a bit wasteful with only the time I have.. Also I was going to go to S France as I have mates with cottages down there too, do a Riviera run but the complexity with visa's got too bothersome for me, I just cant handle authority and permissions / form filling BS. Maybe next year, tho I have an itch to take the missus cape town and safari so it will have competition. Depends if its the grey miserable sh1thole everyone says

But with eveyones negativity I am looking forward to it.. Just fingers crossed the weather is kind.. if the sun shines no one can stop me having a ball wherever I am.

No offence, but it sounds like you've plenty of money.

Anywhere (with a few war torn exceptions) is good . . . if you have money. UK's no exception.

You'll have a great time, but try living there day in day out doing 16 hour days and taking sh1t from all sides.

[nam-thip]

To the OP a couple of points:-

Regarding the housing costs have you checked out what your council tax bill is going to be?

As for the girlfriend, yes going back home you will be without that expense but you will also be without that company. So which is more important the money or the company? Both options are available in Thailand.

Do you work? Getting a job back in the UK right now is no fun. Transport in the UK is expensive and if you drive chances are you'll be appearing on the new police reality show "Speeding Fine".

Anyhow we all, in our hearts, know when it's time for a reality check better to go now on your own terms and still loving Thailand than to leave it until you are stony broke or bitter and twisted or both.

Every airliner leaving Thailand has a return sometime.

I closed my house up a few years ago after taking it off the rental market and even though it was in the hands of a letting agent it was difficult to manage from Thailand.

Even though the house is unoccupied i still have to my pay water and council tax.

Water: 45 pounds per month

Council tax: 150 pounds per month

If I get rid of all the furniture the council tax becomes zero.

I’m well retired and fortunately don’t need to seek work so money is not really an issue, its just that I’ve started questioning myself about the costs of living here and at what point do you decide to call it a day?

[MarkyM3]

To OP: if you have the means, why not spend the summer in the UK and rest of the year in Thailand? Best of both worlds. The UK has plenty of issues but not everyone is miserable, broke etc. contrary to what some posters on here would have you believe.

[LivinLOS]

Book a 30 day holiday back in Blighty & you'll be back in Thailand poste haste.

Go back & satisfy yourself.

Well will be interesting to see.. I just booked myself almost 3 months..

Havent been there in 8 years, havent lived there since I was a teenager.. So its been a while.. But already booked a weekend at goodwood festival of speed, hot air balloon rides, got mates saying take a boat down the Thames at the lock pubs, another with a yacht in the SW, a cottage on the coast in Croyde, others talking about forest of dean weekends, theres glastonbury festival for a music and hippy scene, proper clubbing, top DJ's.. I have a shopping list of gear I want to pick up, show the missus London for a spree.. I was even really tempted to buy a cheap Ducati monster but have bottled it as being over ambitious and a bit wasteful with only the time I have.. Also I was going to go to S France as I have mates with cottages down there too, do a Riviera run but the complexity with visa's got too bothersome for me, I just cant handle authority and permissions / form filling BS. Maybe next year, tho I have an itch to take the missus cape town and safari so it will have competition. Depends if its the grey miserable sh1thole everyone says

But with eveyones negativity I am looking forward to it.. Just fingers crossed the weather is kind.. if the sun shines no one can stop me having a ball wherever I am.

No offence, but it sounds like you've plenty of money.

Anywhere (with a few war torn exceptions) is good . . . if you have money. UK's no exception.

You'll have a great time, but try living there day in day out doing 16 hour days and taking sh1t from all sides.

I wouldnt do that anywhere.. Because as you say I have a small buffer and a firm belief I can make another if I need to.. But the very reason I have that, is thanks to the west that everyone seems to love to knock.

People seem to forget to praise the opportunity factor.. I have 2 different people who are already softening me up with biz ideas and partnerships, one that sounds like a real goer of a biz, but would require I lived, or at least spent a lot more time there.. If I was born here and not there I would never had the ability to travel, or the level playing field of fair business, or ability to retire to Asia in my 20's.

Just seems to me like far too many people crying sour grapes.. Lets not forget that most retirees made thier savings there, or contract workers who regularly get on planes on rotation to get away from here to earn. Those freedoms we get come from that no ?

[MJP]

Book a 30 day holiday back in Blighty & you'll be back in Thailand poste haste.

Go back & satisfy yourself.

Well will be interesting to see.. I just booked myself almost 3 months..

Havent been there in 8 years, havent lived there since I was a teenager.. So its been a while.. But already booked a weekend at goodwood festival of speed, hot air balloon rides, got mates saying take a boat down the Thames at the lock pubs, another with a yacht in the SW, a cottage on the coast in Croyde, others talking about forest of dean weekends, theres glastonbury festival for a music and hippy scene, proper clubbing, top DJ's.. I have a shopping list of gear I want to pick up, show the missus London for a spree.. I was even really tempted to buy a cheap Ducati monster but have bottled it as being over ambitious and a bit wasteful with only the time I have.. Also I was going to go to S France as I have mates with cottages down there too, do a Riviera run but the complexity with visa's got too bothersome for me, I just cant handle authority and permissions / form filling BS. Maybe next year, tho I have an itch to take the missus cape town and safari so it will have competition. Depends if its the grey miserable sh1thole everyone says

But with eveyones negativity I am looking forward to it.. Just fingers crossed the weather is kind.. if the sun shines no one can stop me having a ball wherever I am.

No offence, but it sounds like you've plenty of money.

Anywhere (with a few war torn exceptions) is good . . . if you have money. UK's no exception.

You'll have a great time, but try living there day in day out doing 16 hour days and taking sh1t from all sides.

I wouldnt do that anywhere.. Because as you say I have a small buffer and a firm belief I can make another if I need to.. But the very reason I have that, is thanks to the west that everyone seems to love to knock.

People seem to forget to praise the opportunity factor.. I have 2 different people who are already softening me up with biz ideas and partnerships, one that sounds like a real goer of a biz, but would require I lived, or at least spent a lot more time there.. If I was born here and not there I would never had the ability to travel, or the level playing field of fair business, or ability to retire to Asia in my 20's.

Just seems to me like far too many people crying sour grapes.. Lets not forget that most retirees made thier savings there, or contract workers who regularly get on planes on rotation to get away from here to earn. Those freedoms we get come from that no ?

All true.

[nam-thip]

Book a 30 day holiday back in Blighty & you'll be back in Thailand poste haste.

I wasted the best 30 years of my life in Blighty & in 9 years away I haven't missed it for a nano second, even though the UK was good to me.

I miss the Aussie bush & rural Aussies and the laconic humour but there's nothing to miss in Aussie cities ...... immigration has screwed up Aus cities since the Lebanese war. House rental is a killer in Aus, esp if you're on a shitty Aus pension.

Thailand can be frustrating but there is no boredom here, at least for me.

Go back & satisfy yourself.

20000bt a month for a TGF??? Hmm.Something wrong here....

Find one who has a job!

My lady work's six days a week.

Why? Because she chooses to.

The 20.000 baht.

Nothing wrong if you can afford it.

I can afford to give her that amount each month and whilst she takes care of her money which she does, it will continue.

In my case money is not an issue.

The issue is about questioning myself about the value of living here and at what cost I’m prepared to pay for that privilege.

[MJP]

Book a 30 day holiday back in Blighty & you'll be back in Thailand poste haste.

I wasted the best 30 years of my life in Blighty & in 9 years away I haven't missed it for a nano second, even though the UK was good to me.

I miss the Aussie bush & rural Aussies and the laconic humour but there's nothing to miss in Aussie cities ...... immigration has screwed up Aus cities since the Lebanese war. House rental is a killer in Aus, esp if you're on a shitty Aus pension.

Thailand can be frustrating but there is no boredom here, at least for me.

Go back & satisfy yourself.

20000bt a month for a TGF??? Hmm.Something wrong here....

Find one who has a job!

My lady work's six days a week.

Why? Because she chooses to.

The 20.000 baht.

Nothing wrong if you can afford it.

I can afford to give her that amount each month and whilst she takes care of her money which she does, it will continue.

In my case money is not an issue.

The issue is about questioning myself about the value of living here and at what cost I'm prepared to pay for that privilege.

I'd just go back there for a while and see how you like it. It's only a matter of getting on a plane, no big deal.

It all depends on how your life was in the UK, mine was purgatory, others may have had it different.

[mommysboy]

It's slowly but surely getting that way that over-all it’s much cheaper for me to live in the UK.

I pay heavily to live here but at what point do I say enough is enough?

In Thailand i rent a house for 15.000 Baht per month.

In the UK I own my own house.

In Thailand my lady costs me somewhere in the region of 20.000 Baht every month.

That’s 35.000 Baht or 700 pounds worth of outgoings I don’t have in the UK.

The annual visa shit is another story.

Contrary to belief, the cost of living in the tropics doesn’t come cheap.

I've had twelve wonderful years here but!!

Is it time to bail out and go home?

It never was a scheap as advertised.

I went home for a month recently.

Compared to living out here it was like being in a 5 star hotel.

But, oh dear how boring, just wish a place like Cambodia will get its act together sufficiently, because to be honest Thailand is getting to me finacially too.