Are You Happy In Thailand

[pattaya_girl]

Well I like it here, been here for 8 Years, I never want to go home, its cold, boring, expensive and everyone is miserable in the UK.

I am staying put !!!

[IanForbes]

Well I like it here, been here for 8 Years, I never want to go home, its cold, boring, expensive and everyone is miserable in the UK.

I am staying put !!!

I like your style, Pattaya_girl. You understand the differences and put up with the few inconveniences that Thailand has. Most of those are the fault of people in power... just as they are in every country. It's relatively inexpensive to live in Thailand and you still afford a few luxuries. It's hard to make any REAL money (legally), but there's always enough for food and accommodation.

[Ijustwannateach]

Happy, happy, happy!!!

[cdnvic]

Thailand is way better than Cambodia. Thailand is way better than anywhere!

Cambodia doesn't even let foreigners drive.

[EffectiveAnger]

Thailand is way better than Cambodia. Thailand is way better than anywhere!

Cambodia doesn't even let foreigners drive.

Huh?! Who told you that? I met loads of foreigners in Cambodia who had cars and motorbikes and they were driving all over Cambodia. And for tourists, it's easy to rent cars and motorbikes there.

[longstebe]

2 weeks in and I'm happy.

Hopefully many more to come.

Just can't bloody wait for my house to be finished.

[cdnvic]

Thailand is way better than Cambodia. Thailand is way better than anywhere!

Cambodia doesn't even let foreigners drive.

Huh?! Who told you that? I met loads of foreigners in Cambodia who had cars and motorbikes and they were driving all over Cambodia. And for tourists, it's easy to rent cars and motorbikes there.

You need to get a Cambodian driver's licence though.

[Jaydillon]

Nope, life in Thailand really sucks Maigo6

view from my front door:

nice answer sdk

[Jaydillon]

Happy in general.

I wake up to a beautiful lady on a morning before I pad off down the stairs and make a coffee, go back to bed and ......

Thailand is like many places, has its ups and downs but as there are far more ups than downs it is a good place to be.

In 3 years I have had a lot of fun. Been to a lot of places and done things I would not be doing back 'home'. Met a lot of great people too.

Met a few bad ones (people) along the way and had a few incidents that would have had me tearing my hair out if I had any left. Frustrated at the way Thai people seem to be able to botch so many simple jobs. Had one car ruined by 2 engineers.

Yet there is a sense of calm and peacefulness here and I enjoy that.

Engineers in LOS your having a laugh buddy

[Naam]

i am very unhappy in Thailand. it's mainly the cold climate i hate. for months no sun but fog and icy roads. the inflated cost of heating oil Farangs have to pay because of racial discrimination...

[sendbaht]

What a great looking house Bill. Love the design, thanks for sharing.

[sendbaht]

i am very unhappy in Thailand. it's mainly the cold climate i hate. for months no sun but fog and icy roads. the inflated cost of heating oil Farangs have to pay because of racial discrimination...

I'm with you Naam, beside this cold climite here, the cost of eatting out and 15% tips and don't forget the high cost of motorcycle ins. I'm out of here back to the skinny girls in the USA.

[Dave the Dude]

Well I like it here, been here for 8 Years, I never want to go home, its cold, boring, expensive and everyone is miserable in the UK.

I am staying put !!!

I feel the same as Pattaya-girl, except I treat Thailand as my HOME (but been here 3 years).

Dave

[loser1]

"I'm not too happy here anymore. I've had enough of the racism and prejudice, bad customer service and overall work here. And I don't want to eat Thai food again for the rest of my LIVE LONG DAYS!!!

What am I going to do about it? I'm leaving real soon. Got a good work offer elsewhere. Still have to get rid of everything...

Tally HO!!!"

Sounds like the thoughts I had after 7 years of Thai 'Downhillism' , thais and thailand had lost its friendly charm that was so appealing to me on my first visit , it even encouraged me to come and live there .Thailand is still an amazing land to visit as long as you stay away from its citizens and most of the Thaiwise expats , they have forgotten what a good life to be lived actually is .I moved to a far happier land where I feel 'Wanted 'for all the right reasons , yes there are things and circumstances I still need to make adjustments for , but bye and large life is far less stressfull on a day to day basis . The food is not poluted by over-fertilisation etc so my health in general has improved considerably , when some-one asks how are you today , they are actualy interested and I have not been 'Confronted ' in any way shape or form .A big plus is the people speak and understand English far better , got away from the thai "I know , I know " crap when they did not understand a word I had spoken , face or lack of interest ? This country has shown great improvement in the 4 or so years I have lived here and the people are still as genuinely smiley and happy as when I first arrived , even the police give me a nod and smile now they know I live here .

Ahh, Cambodia! It has some of the best sunsets in the world. Don't you just love it when the countryside people (mostly kids) come out in droves just to say 'hello' because they are genuinly excited and curious about seeing a foreigner. Khmer food is some of the best Asian food I've ever eaten! And they get a better selection of imported foreign goods too! I can't decide if I like Sihanokville or Siem Reap better. There's a lot of potential in Cambodia and I think in the not too distant future we'll start seeing a lot more migrant expats going from being fed up in Thailand to making a move to Cambodia. The expats I met there never regretted it. I can certainly see why.

Hey i love cambodia but theres only so much a civilised man can take, i'd say 2weeks although there are always the super guys who just cannot be p-ssed off by anything and you can't win against them. In Thailand i generally eat off the street or may be at Thai speaking low end restaurants but in Cambodia i found it impossible to eat the street food with out getting ill and as far as 'some of the best dishes in asia' your the first person i've heard say it, i came across a few dishes but nothing on a scale that Thailand offer at street level which is where it counts, i'm not interested in boutique hotel restaurants, if i can't pull up a chair at a street vendor and eat without a bout of diarreah then the country cannot boast having good food, end of. The french apparently left them le baggette and cheese triangles but it was the funniest bread i ever came across but safe to eat.

I've been to the three main towns twice and battambang once and found the majority of the male youth to be troubled. Thank the gods they have angkor wat coz they'd struggle for tourists otherwise it's a must go attraction i've never been to a thai temple but the main angkor wat is breath taking. I'll be going back though and the rice is the best i have ever tasted don't know why it's not sold more widely.

Edited August 31, 2009 by loser1

[mauGR1]

i am very unhappy in Thailand. it's mainly the cold climate i hate. for months no sun but fog and icy roads. the inflated cost of heating oil Farangs have to pay because of racial discrimination...

Agreed,not to mention the wolves howling all night long,and the Polar bear who's attacking me everytime i venture out of my igloo

[thedistillers]

I don't think Cambodia is that great for doing business compared to Thailand, it's just that the majority of people moving there were in Thailand before and left bitter, so obviously they'll claim that Cambodia >>> Thailand. I've read a lot of reports of hard it is to do business in Sihanoukville, if only because it's dead during the rainy season.

If you ask me, besides the easy to get business visa, I just don't see how can Cambodia be better than Thailand.

Cost of living is not really better (just the cost of getting an half-decent Internet connection is ridiculous; renting is often expensive and choice is limited); although not 'dangerous', walking around in PP and Sihanoukville is not entirely safe, Siem Reap is basically nothing but a package tourism town, generally infrastructures are way behind Thailand, the poverty is more obvious, medical facilities are not adequate (must go to bangkok for serious issues), etc.

I mean, if some people enjoy Cambodia, good for them... But objectively I don't see any basis to praise Cambodia while bashing Thailand.

[Doc50]

.I think in the not too distant future we'll start seeing a lot more migrant expats going from being fed up in Thailand to making a move to Cambodia. The expats I met there never regretted it.

Cambodia offers more promise for long-term investment.

This is exactly opposite of what I read often.

Try the Ramada Inn owner in Sihanoukville.

He left the country for a holiday and when he got back, was told he didn't own the hotel anymore.

After a 1.5 million dollar investment.

Cambodia is way shadier for investments than Thailand.

Court system is poor in Thailand sure.

But Cambodia get real, if a powerful person wants your business, you are gone.

Beware of investing there.

You will be sorry.

Doc

[klikster]

Those of us who live here and have been here a while , would not want to leave, as we love it here.

That's a pretty sweeping generalization, to say nothing about who you claim to speak for. Thanks, but I prefer speaking for myself.

[EffectiveAnger]

Thailand is way better than Cambodia. Thailand is way better than anywhere!

Cambodia doesn't even let foreigners drive.

Huh?! Who told you that? I met loads of foreigners in Cambodia who had cars and motorbikes and they were driving all over Cambodia. And for tourists, it's easy to rent cars and motorbikes there.

You need to get a Cambodian driver's licence though.

An international one should and does suffice. However, it's Cambodia and doubtful if anyone cares if you have one or not.

[thaihome]

An international one should and does suffice. However, it's Cambodia and doubtful if anyone cares if you have one or not.

Cambodian Driving Lesson

TH

[EffectiveAnger]

Hey i love cambodia but theres only so much a civilised man can take, i'd say 2weeks although there are always the super guys who just cannot be p-ssed off by anything and you can't win against them. In Thailand i generally eat off the street or may be at Thai speaking low end restaurants but in Cambodia i found it impossible to eat the street food with out getting ill and as far as 'some of the best dishes in asia' your the first person i've heard say it, i came across a few dishes but nothing on a scale that Thailand offer at street level which is where it counts, i'm not interested in boutique hotel restaurants, if i can't pull up a chair at a street vendor and eat without a bout of diarreah then the country cannot boast having good food, end of. The french apparently left them le baggette and cheese triangles but it was the funniest bread i ever came across but safe to eat.

I've been to the three main towns twice and battambang once and found the majority of the male youth to be troubled. Thank the gods they have angkor wat coz they'd struggle for tourists otherwise it's a must go attraction i've never been to a thai temple but the main angkor wat is breath taking. I'll be going back though and the rice is the best i have ever tasted don't know why it's not sold more widely.

No matter where you go, can find things that will certainly piss you off and Cambodia or Thailand or wherever is no exception.

As for eating off the street, I don't touch the stuff in Thailand because of the smell I can't stand and all the grease. I know plenty of Thais who will not eat off the street too and because of the filthy dirty environment with dogs, heaps of trash, dirty dishes and bad air quality all about. I knew quite a few farangs who ate off the street and got seriously sick. Probably the only thing I will eat off the street is the fruit here. Too bad you can't hardly find the fruit vendors in the morning and that's when I really like to eat fruit.

Cambodian street food is altogether a different matter. I always ate off the street in Siem Reap and it was really nice. It costs a dollar for a nice plate, no dogs, no trash, and a cool scenery with little traffic. It beats the hel_l out of Thailand street food IMO and the other expats I was with agreed. As for Sihanoukville, WOW, we're talking about fresh grilled seafood marinated in lime juice and pepper while sitting by the ocean at sunset. Throw in a nice salad (with not so sweet salad dressing like you always get in Thailand) along with a true baked potato with sour cream all for about four bucks and I say, 'heaven on earth.' So you have a few beggars now and then, so what. Oh and the fish n Chips were great there too! Yeah, real western style fish n chips even with tarter sauce or malt vinegar. Nothing in Thailand (street wise) could even remotely compare! And the really nice part about is the fact that you can get to know the Khmer while eating there because most of the owners and vendors speak enough English to have decent conversations. There's no rush and they actually treat you like a person instead of part of the crowd as is the case in Thailand.

As for the temples in Cambodia, I was not that impressed. I'm sorry to say it, but they just didn't do much for me. And some of them were down right scary. I do prefer Thailand when it comes to seeing historical hot spots. I also find them a lot more interesting and beautiful in Thailand.

[patklang]

Nope, life in Thailand really sucks Maigo6

view from my front door:

I bet its not like that 365 days a year

[patklang]

SBK

Forgot to ask,would love to see some pics of your abode as the pic is stunning

[patklang]

Well I like it here, been here for 8 Years, I never want to go home, its cold, boring, expensive and everyone is miserable in the UK.

I am staying put !!!

Think i will stay put to lol,as what can uk offer that i havent got here and much cheaper to have a good lifestyle and not have to wor wor wor wor,think i am trying to say work but it wont come out hehehehehe

[billd766]

What a great looking house Bill. Love the design, thanks for sharing.

Thanks sendbaht

I had nothing to do with it as my wife decided what she wanted and got a good friend to design and draw up the plans.

She looked around at some builders up here and at their work, decided on the one she wanted and came to an agreement on the price.

She then stayed with a friend for a short while while we built a small 5 x 5 metre house, split down the middle as an open area plus a bedroom and a toilet and shower.

She then lived in that while the big house was built working as a sort of site manager with the builder buying all the building materials herself and in some cases collecting them.

If the builder had a problem or she wanted something different they talked it over and came to a compromise.

Not bad for a 38 year old woman who used to run a restaurant.

I kept out of it other than to supply the electrical stuff.

It needs decorating now as we have a 5 year old who wasn't planned but is the apple of my eye except when he was younger as I could never catch him or his friend drawing on the walls, but that is a small price to pay.

Including the land, and my wife had 5 rai before and I bought another 5 rai, the big house 10x12 metres, brick downstairs and teak upstairs, 2 bedrooms and a shower/toilet upstairs with a lounge, another bedroom and store room downstairs plus an open area and a 2 1/2 metre wide balcony on 3 sides. That plus the small house cost around 1.2 million roughly including labour and materials etc.

We are happy with it and the downstairs bedroom is for when I get too old and knackered to climb the stairs.

[loser1]

Hey i love cambodia but theres only so much a civilised man can take, i'd say 2weeks although there are always the super guys who just cannot be p-ssed off by anything and you can't win against them. In Thailand i generally eat off the street or may be at Thai speaking low end restaurants but in Cambodia i found it impossible to eat the street food with out getting ill and as far as 'some of the best dishes in asia' your the first person i've heard say it, i came across a few dishes but nothing on a scale that Thailand offer at street level which is where it counts, i'm not interested in boutique hotel restaurants, if i can't pull up a chair at a street vendor and eat without a bout of diarreah then the country cannot boast having good food, end of. The french apparently left them le baggette and cheese triangles but it was the funniest bread i ever came across but safe to eat.

I've been to the three main towns twice and battambang once and found the majority of the male youth to be troubled. Thank the gods they have angkor wat coz they'd struggle for tourists otherwise it's a must go attraction i've never been to a thai temple but the main angkor wat is breath taking. I'll be going back though and the rice is the best i have ever tasted don't know why it's not sold more widely.

No matter where you go, can find things that will certainly piss you off and Cambodia or Thailand or wherever is no exception.

As for eating off the street, I don't touch the stuff in Thailand because of the smell I can't stand and all the grease. I know plenty of Thais who will not eat off the street too and because of the filthy dirty environment with dogs, heaps of trash, dirty dishes and bad air quality all about. I knew quite a few farangs who ate off the street and got seriously sick. Probably the only thing I will eat off the street is the fruit here. Too bad you can't hardly find the fruit vendors in the morning and that's when I really like to eat fruit.

Cambodian street food is altogether a different matter. I always ate off the street in Siem Reap and it was really nice. It costs a dollar for a nice plate, no dogs, no trash, and a cool scenery with little traffic. It beats the hel_l out of Thailand street food IMO and the other expats I was with agreed. As for Sihanoukville, WOW, we're talking about fresh grilled seafood marinated in lime juice and pepper while sitting by the ocean at sunset. Throw in a nice salad (with not so sweet salad dressing like you always get in Thailand) along with a true baked potato with sour cream all for about four bucks and I say, 'heaven on earth.' So you have a few beggars now and then, so what. Oh and the fish n Chips were great there too! Yeah, real western style fish n chips even with tarter sauce or malt vinegar. Nothing in Thailand (street wise) could even remotely compare! And the really nice part about is the fact that you can get to know the Khmer while eating there because most of the owners and vendors speak enough English to have decent conversations. There's no rush and they actually treat you like a person instead of part of the crowd as is the case in Thailand.

As for the temples in Cambodia, I was not that impressed. I'm sorry to say it, but they just didn't do much for me. And some of them were down right scary. I do prefer Thailand when it comes to seeing historical hot spots. I also find them a lot more interesting and beautiful in Thailand.

Well what a surprise, you have disagreed with me on every point.

I've eaten on the street where you can get a plate of food for a dollar in siem reap which is a tourist town and probably owned by westerners or koreans who cater to tourists.

So do you sit down with these khmers and eat four buck meals that each party can pay for ? I doubt you will see many khmers in the places you eat paying a 2 or 3 times there days wages for a potato.

Any town you go to in Thailand you will be able to find good food on the street or in small affordable (by locals also) restaurants. Anyone who perseveres in spreading a myth that cambodia is heaven on earth is not only deluded but is also providing a dis service to his fellow countrymen by providing misinformation. I'm sure being a troll is all good fun but blatently painting a picture of paradise for people who have never been there is no good for anyone.

As i have said before i love cambodia but good food is hard to find.

Edited August 31, 2009 by loser1

[DisainaM]

if your financing concept is to small, and you see, that prices in Thailand are increasing,

you have to make up your mind, about your working chances in your home country.

If you are too old, you feel trapped in Thailand, because life in your home country is even worst.

[onnut]

Unhappy and I am leaving in October, Can not stand all the noise and miss the Grand kids

Not like the view back home is easy to give up either

WOW what a view, that is awesome. I love Thiland and wouldnt want to be anywhere else even if Ido get fed up from time to time. but I would love to walk in those mountains just for a day to feel the crisp clean air that must be there.

[wilsongbrown]

Hey i love cambodia but theres only so much a civilised man can take, i'd say 2weeks although there are always the super guys who just cannot be p-ssed off by anything and you can't win against them. In Thailand i generally eat off the street or may be at Thai speaking low end restaurants but in Cambodia i found it impossible to eat the street food with out getting ill and as far as 'some of the best dishes in asia' your the first person i've heard say it, i came across a few dishes but nothing on a scale that Thailand offer at street level which is where it counts, i'm not interested in boutique hotel restaurants, if i can't pull up a chair at a street vendor and eat without a bout of diarreah then the country cannot boast having good food, end of. The french apparently left them le baggette and cheese triangles but it was the funniest bread i ever came across but safe to eat.

I've been to the three main towns twice and battambang once and found the majority of the male youth to be troubled. Thank the gods they have angkor wat coz they'd struggle for tourists otherwise it's a must go attraction i've never been to a thai temple but the main angkor wat is breath taking. I'll be going back though and the rice is the best i have ever tasted don't know why it's not sold more widely.

No matter where you go, can find things that will certainly piss you off and Cambodia or Thailand or wherever is no exception.

As for eating off the street, I don't touch the stuff in Thailand because of the smell I can't stand and all the grease. I know plenty of Thais who will not eat off the street too and because of the filthy dirty environment with dogs, heaps of trash, dirty dishes and bad air quality all about. I knew quite a few farangs who ate off the street and got seriously sick. Probably the only thing I will eat off the street is the fruit here. Too bad you can't hardly find the fruit vendors in the morning and that's when I really like to eat fruit.

Cambodian street food is altogether a different matter. I always ate off the street in Siem Reap and it was really nice. It costs a dollar for a nice plate, no dogs, no trash, and a cool scenery with little traffic. It beats the hel_l out of Thailand street food IMO and the other expats I was with agreed. As for Sihanoukville, WOW, we're talking about fresh grilled seafood marinated in lime juice and pepper while sitting by the ocean at sunset. Throw in a nice salad (with not so sweet salad dressing like you always get in Thailand) along with a true baked potato with sour cream all for about four bucks and I say, 'heaven on earth.' So you have a few beggars now and then, so what. Oh and the fish n Chips were great there too! Yeah, real western style fish n chips even with tarter sauce or malt vinegar. Nothing in Thailand (street wise) could even remotely compare! And the really nice part about is the fact that you can get to know the Khmer while eating there because most of the owners and vendors speak enough English to have decent conversations. There's no rush and they actually treat you like a person instead of part of the crowd as is the case in Thailand.

As for the temples in Cambodia, I was not that impressed. I'm sorry to say it, but they just didn't do much for me. And some of them were down right scary. I do prefer Thailand when it comes to seeing historical hot spots. I also find them a lot more interesting and beautiful in Thailand.

Well what a surprise, you have disagreed with me on every point.

I've eaten on the street where you can get a plate of food for a dollar in siem reap which is a tourist town and probably owned by westerners or koreans who cater to tourists.

So do you sit down with these khmers and eat four buck meals that each party can pay for ? I doubt you will see many khmers in the places you eat paying a 2 or 3 times there days wages for a potato.

Any town you go to in Thailand you will be able to find good food on the street or in small affordable (by locals also) restaurants. Anyone who perseveres in spreading a myth that cambodia is heaven on earth is not only deluded but is also providing a dis service to his fellow countrymen by providing misinformation. I'm sure being a troll is all good fun but blatently painting a picture of paradise for people who have never been there is no good for anyone.

As i have said before i love cambodia but good food is hard to find.

Apart from the Japanese, Thailand has the best food in SE Asia. As far as Khmer food is concerned, when I was last there the food was bloody appalling, but that might have something to do with the fact that the Khmer's are relatively extremely poor. Having said that, I found the most delicious european food in Siem Riep and still make one particular french restaurant's version of the dull tuna melt to this day. (It's the capers, chillie, garlic and balsamic make the difference ...)

[sbk]

SBK

Forgot to ask,would love to see some pics of your abode as the pic is stunning

Its really a very simple thing we built 20 years ago when we first got married. And then beach bungalows got built up around us by my FIL. Not sure if thats been a total plus, but since its his land we can't say much. I think that in a few years we will build a house on our avocado land. But for now, my house is nothing interesting at all. But then, I've never been one for the lavish mansion with the high walls.

Anyway, back to the topic, am I happy in Thailand? Sometimes. Sometimes not, sometimes I am happy when I am visiting the family back home and sometimes not. My mood really isn't determined by the place I am at. Both are home.