Living A Life That Is "good Enough"

[Birdman]

I did not realise that yet, could be or not? don't care, feeling great! Simply don't measure everything with Western standards. And get your roof fixed.

By the way, all the lonely people sitting cowered at the bars in Patty/Patong and Nana. Man, hopefully their holidays will be "good enough."

[geriatrickid]

yeah me to.You know when i go back to OZ to see family i look forward to it,but after a few days i realise how regulated and regimented the society feels compared to thailand,and just long to get back home to samui.The other thing i notice is how obsessed everyone is about interest rates,mortgages,cost of living gasoline prices etc etc.It feels very good to be away from all that.Sounds like you are looking forward to getting back here as well.

I don't know about your friends, but my friends complain about the cost of things, the lousy salary, money issues, mom, the girlfriend being crazy, etc. If they said it in English, I could be anywhere in the west. As my friend says, Different sh"t, but same smell.

I sympathize with the OP. Some of us don't have the time to spend fixing all the irritants or overseeing the property or whatever. Yes, the quality products are available, but look at what it costs to buy a Miele or Maytag appliance. Yes I can get an electrician to do a good job, but he's booked for a year and gets a wage that is nowhere near the pittance paid to the local handyman. Factor in all the additional costs to bring standards up to the same levels of my Thai peer group or back home and it's no wonder my monthly burn rate is in the tens of thousands of baht.

It's all about a trade off. If one is coming form a country where one had nothing, then Thailand is heaven. However, if one has already been living in a quality environment, then Thailand is several steps backwards. That doesn't mean the place is bad or all that negative crap. It's just the way it is. No different than had I moved from the city to a rural spot back in my country. Same issues, same problems. The difference here though is that at least I got some wicked decent friends to laugh at the problems with me.

[zzaa09]

Existence is for the taking. Life is {only} about consumption and accumulation. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Dakhar]

I can really relate to the OP,

that said, I try to live by this moto.... water is always wet, aint no since in trying to change that

[basjke]

Tokay, i thought by your postings on here that you were alright and on track!! Dont let <deleted>%kwits on here grind you down.

Some of us have a lot of bad days and some dont, you are complaining about a leaky roof - when last did it rain??

Your internet works half the time, change provider!!

If your water is no good - drill your own well, not expensive!

Come on Tokay, get a grip young man, what you are describing is pre menstrual tension!!!

Get over it!!

Don't want to be negative Lenny but to answer your questions to Tokay:

It rained only 5 days ago and also 2 days before that.

Change internet provider doesn't mean his internet gonna work since they are all crap.

Drilling a well not expensive?I just had one drilled a few months ago,price 95.000 Baht and couldn't find a cheaper one and I it is illegal in most locations.

95.000 Baht?

Spelling error, right?

Did you mean 9500 baht?

No not at all.If you can find a contractor at a lower price for deep water well please let me know,we will make good business.To bore the well they use about 2 days and and some pre-historical material.

The problem here is that the company who makes the well needs a license these days.Do I have to explain further???

Explanation should be added to the OP I suggest.

Edited January 20, 2010 by basjke

[William Osborne]

don't know where you live but if your water smells like rotten eggs, sounds like you have a H2S problem (Hydrogen Sulphide) ... nasty stuff....even low doses make you ill....

[IanForbes]

It would be much better if all us farangs left. They just don't want us here. Just send money on a regular basis and stay back in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, Germany and the rest of Europe. Leave it up to the Chinese who will slowly take over because they know how to deal with Asians.

[LennyW]

Tokay, i thought by your postings on here that you were alright and on track!! Dont let <deleted>%kwits on here grind you down.

Some of us have a lot of bad days and some dont, you are complaining about a leaky roof - when last did it rain??

Your internet works half the time, change provider!!

If your water is no good - drill your own well, not expensive!

Come on Tokay, get a grip young man, what you are describing is pre menstrual tension!!!

Get over it!!

Don't want to be negative Lenny but to answer your questions to Tokay:

It rained only 5 days ago and also 2 days before that.

Change internet provider doesn't mean his internet gonna work since they are all crap.

Drilling a well not expensive?I just had one drilled a few months ago,price 95.000 Baht and couldn't find a cheaper one and I it is illegal in most locations.

95.000 Baht?

Spelling error, right?

Did you mean 9500 baht?

No not at all.If you can find a contractor at a lower price for deep water well please let me know,we will make good business.To bore the well they use about 2 days and and some pre-historical material.

The problem here is that the company who makes the well needs a license these days.Do I have to explain further???

Explanation should be added to the OP I suggest.

I am guessing you mean ninety five thousand Baht 95000.00 and not ninety five Baht 95.000 as you have posted !!!

[OxfordWill]

If you do all leave will you still start and contribute to useless threads like these?

[ozzieovaseas]

this an interesting topic "is it good enough".....i think it is.Why do we come here,apart from the ladies,the weather and the lower cost of living? they were the reasons i came,but since being here 4 years now,ive learnt to chill out,relax,not worry and to accept in thailand things are done differently to the west,and to enjoy the differences.All the things bothering the OP he can change,it is in his power.Being amongst thais i began to realise and still see how uptight farangs are,and they have n't changed at all.maybe take a look at buddhism for a start and see life from a different perspective would help,a change is as good as a rest.

Right on beachcomber. I always like to see your bright and cheery positive posts...they sure do cheer a fella up, especially when a fella is stuck in good old Oz for a few months.

Its funny, when in LOS its easy to have a little whinge and join the "thais treat us so bad" brigade, im definately an offender occasionally but spending time back home will soon have you seeing many day to day occurances that put a poor taste in your mouth..

constantly seeing sellf obsessed narcissists arguing and obsessing over the most trivial of things is the biggest thing that turns me off when here

yeah me to.You know when i go back to OZ to see family i look forward to it,but after a few days i realise how regulated and regimented the society feels compared to thailand,and just long to get back home to samui.The other thing i notice is how obsessed everyone is about interest rates,mortgages,cost of living gasoline prices etc etc.It feels very good to be away from all that.Sounds like you are looking forward to getting back here as well.

Yeh same same, you nailed it again..Even with all the frustrations of living in Thailand im finding myself quite lost and even just after 2 months here im craving the odd smalltime thai scam,leaky roof or dodgy internet connection ect ect..all seems insignificant.

All the former crap you've left behind and dont think so much about in LOS comes back to haunt you like a bad hangover...and it only has to come from witnessing family and friends getting older and greyer trying to battle the bills and keeping ahead of the credit card.(which usually only comes from acquiring all the latest crap needed to keep on par with the bloke next door)

All the while everyone is trying to find something a little better than a basic existance....BUT...

cant afford to go out to eat,have a massage or go to the movies..thats reserved for the rich only, especially when you have a family one such outing will wipe 25 percent off your weekly earnings for a few hours entertainment

more taxes on beer and cigs, not that it affects me, but its these simple few pleasures of the diggers that fought for this country that are slowly being put out of reach of the guy on the street

familys struggling and social problems 'cause the old man is pouring all their money into the pokies...goverment doesnt give a crap as long as the revenue keeps rolling in

If you're lucky enough to get a job your hardest task will be to get treated fairly by an unscrupulous rich !#$% who has got that way from basically exploiting others...all the businesses ive ever worked for EXPECT you to do unpaid overtime..and this when high rollers are getting paid millions in bonuses for sometimes gambling AND LOOSING our hard earned superannuation dollars (which i might add are taxed 3 or 4 times by the government along the way before retirement)

All you hear about on the tv news is young yobbos getting pissed up and fighting..(racily motivated in most cases). Crime and drug dealing running rife amongst the this generation..not that you can blame their sense of desperation and hoplessness since they will NEVER be able to afford a house, and are paying...well...US (meaning our greedy arse generation) around 50 percent of their wage..probably to the same sort of rich b*stard that screws em down at work.

Everyone so bored and frustrated that drugs are the only way to try to escape the mundane..

Car accidents and people running from the cops and getting killed DAILY..kids getting "glassed" at what used to be the friendly family orientated local pub...on and on it goes..

Work and live by all these conditions in the same town till you retire then probably drop dead 6 months later from a stroke or heart attack and leave all the spoils to someone else to do the same, else you be lucky enough to spend your latter years "holidaying" in some dodgy caravan park in the middle of nowhere roughing it.. then off to an old age home IF you can afford it and have a house to sell.

hmmmm great life in Oz hey!!!???

YEH i having a bad day..

end of rant

sorry

Edited January 21, 2010 by ozzieovaseas

[ballpoint]

No not at all.If you can find a contractor at a lower price for deep water well please let me know,we will make good business.To bore the well they use about 2 days and and some pre-historical material.

The problem here is that the company who makes the well needs a license these days.Do I have to explain further???

Explanation should be added to the OP I suggest.

I'm wondering what you mean when you say they use some pre-historical material? They drill with Dinosaur bones?

[lioness]

I can understand what the OP is saying, but the world isn't perfect. If you have problems you put the time and effort into fixing them or getting someone to do it for you. For every problem there is a solution you just have to find it.

Compare what you have here to wherever back home is for you.

I look forward to going home to Australia to see family once a year, within about 3 days I wonder why I have bothered.

First thing I do is a basic shop for myself, just bits and pieces and food to see me for a few days, this costs me as much as my monthly food bill here in Thailand, I had to get the solanoid fixed on the air conditioner last visit, the part was $45 and the call out fee and labour was $140 for 20 minutes work, $140 equates to approx 4,200, here in Thailand my local electrician would have charged me 100 baht.

So one makes allowances, at the end of the day I would far sooner be here.

[a2396]

It would be much better if all us farangs left. They just don't want us here. Just send money on a regular basis and stay back in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, Germany and the rest of Europe. Leave it up to the Chinese who will slowly take over because they know how to deal with Asians.

So the Chinese are not going to "take over" the highly advanced countries of the west? They need to stop basking in the complacency of their past superior status, particularly USA.

[IanForbes]

It would be much better if all us farangs left. They just don't want us here. Just send money on a regular basis and stay back in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, Germany and the rest of Europe. Leave it up to the Chinese who will slowly take over because they know how to deal with Asians.

So the Chinese are not going to "take over" the highly advanced countries of the west? They need to stop basking in the complacency of their past superior status, particularly USA.

You don't need war to take over another country. All you need to do is be more efficient, more ruthless with your own people and nibble away at the opposition's economy. China has those attributes in spades.

[a2396]

It would be much better if all us farangs left. They just don't want us here. Just send money on a regular basis and stay back in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, Germany and the rest of Europe. Leave it up to the Chinese who will slowly take over because they know how to deal with Asians.

So the Chinese are not going to "take over" the highly advanced countries of the west? They need to stop basking in the complacency of their past superior status, particularly USA.

You don't need war to take over another country. All you need to do is be more efficient, more ruthless with your own people and nibble away at the opposition's economy. China has those attributes in spades.

They (the Chinese) also have the advantage of some western countries. who have been politically and economically "asleep at the wheel" for 30 years, oblivious to the erosion of economic status, stability and power that has been going on in their "home turf".

[samuibeachcomber]

I can understand what the OP is saying, but the world isn't perfect. If you have problems you put the time and effort into fixing them or getting someone to do it for you. For every problem there is a solution you just have to find it.

Compare what you have here to wherever back home is for you.

I look forward to going home to Australia to see family once a year, within about 3 days I wonder why I have bothered.

First thing I do is a basic shop for myself, just bits and pieces and food to see me for a few days, this costs me as much as my monthly food bill here in Thailand, I had to get the solanoid fixed on the air conditioner last visit, the part was $45 and the call out fee and labour was $140 for 20 minutes work, $140 equates to approx 4,200, here in Thailand my local electrician would have charged me 100 baht.

So one makes allowances, at the end of the day I would far sooner be here.

me too lioness.Australia is a good country,but asia can get into your blood,especially thailand.It really is a simple way of living here which i like so much,and if you cant speak much thai or read much there's the added benefit of not understanding the 6 o'clock news.Ignorance is bliss.

[ManilaLover]

It would be much better if all us farangs left. They just don't want us here. Just send money on a regular basis and stay back in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, Germany and the rest of Europe. Leave it up to the Chinese who will slowly take over because they know how to deal with Asians.

yeah colonization had a reason...

'send money on a regular basis' why ???

[lioness]

me too lioness.Australia is a good country,but asia can get into your blood,especially thailand.It really is a simple way of living here which i like so much,and if you cant speak much thai or read much there's the added benefit of not understanding the 6 o'clock news.Ignorance is bliss.

Yes, I think Thailand does get into your blood, as you say it is a simple way of living. I personally hope that Thailand doesn't progress too far and too fast, it will loose it's appeal.

Some people want it to be just like "home" and when it's not, well it gets the better of them, it's a case of getting your mind right, well that or going home.

And Samui beachcomber Australia was always the land of milk & Honey, it's a good country in many ways, but it is changing, not necessarily for the better but I won't go there, off topic.

[IanForbes]

It would be much better if all us farangs left. They just don't want us here. Just send money on a regular basis and stay back in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, Germany and the rest of Europe. Leave it up to the Chinese who will slowly take over because they know how to deal with Asians.

yeah colonization had a reason...

'send money on a regular basis' why ???

Because that is all the locals want us for. If you are foolish enough to do so then just consider it charity. Lots of farangs build big homes for their Thai lady friends and are stuck later when the relationship fails.