A Farang Living In Thailand

[StreetCowboy]

Sorry - I've bodged the quote marks

QUOTE

I think I've had too much to drink. I had to read your post 3 or 4 times before I understood it! I also read the previous post and realised that you were right - I missed the joke...Sorry, I have nobody to blame but myself.

@Olaf - sorry to you too - my brain is malfunctioning tonight.

ENDQUOTE

Ah - the pearls of strong drink. Luckily you were all saved from my own pearls by my deficiency in the wallet department, and I had to leave the pub with the wireless internet to go to the ATM machine - but that's another story...

[Beetlejuice]

That's a bit pedantic F1fanatic . . . land prices in Thailand aren't necessarily cheap across the board any more!

Have to disagree. If you're looking for beachfront land on Phuket, then you need to be a millionaire. Even so, even on Phuket, INLAND is entirely affordable for anyone with a reasonable amount of money behind them.

BUT, its irrelevent IMO. The Thais are right - Thai land should belong to the Thais.

I agree with you.

The 20 rai of land in our family belongs to my wife and will in time belong to our son.

I have no interest in it other than to live here for the rest of my life.

When I was born I brought nothing with me but the hopes and wishes of my parents and my brother and when I die I cannot take anything with me any way.

I would hope to live on in my families memories and that of my friends and if that doesn't happen then I won't know about it anyway.

We own and hold land for our children's future and not for ourselves as we only use it during our lifetime.

If it all fell apart for me in my family I will leave everything to them and walk away thinking what a great time I had with them while I could.

I feel the same way as you.

Now that I'm getting on a bit, once I kick the bucket, then my family can have the lot, I've done my duty.

All I want is a peaceful life and to enjoy myself while I still have good health.

Only problem is that the things I enjoy seem to have become the most expensive here in Thailand, such as: wine, women and song, decent grub and now I am having to put limitations on what I do according to budget, which means I am not entirely enjoying the freedoms I was hoping for in my old age.

I know that many of my family and friends abroad believe that each day I am sitting by the pool, with a gin and tonic in one hand and with my arm around some dolly bird.

I recently did some price comparisons on line between food prices and social in the UK, USA and Thailand. I found that over all, these things in Thailand seem more expensive, unless you want to live on a few bowls of noodles everyday and drink the cheap Thai gut rot liquor.

But of course, if some are contented to spend long hours in front of a computer, TV or do DIY around the home, visit a few temples, then that's fine, but Thailand can prove very expensive for those that do enjoy the finer things of life.

Edited June 26, 2011 by Beetlejuice

[GM1955]

I know that many of my family and friends abroad believe that each day I am sitting by the pool, with a gin and tonic in one hand and with my arm around some dolly bird.

I hope you do nothing to spoil the illusion.

[Ulysses G.]

I recently did some price comparisons on line between food prices and social in the UK, USA and Thailand. I found that over all, these things in Thailand seem more expensive

I have been doing some research on restaurant prices and I disagree. Prepared food of most types are cheaper here than in most Western countries.

[OlafStapleton]

I recently did some price comparisons on line between food prices and social in the UK, USA and Thailand. I found that over all, these things in Thailand seem more expensive

I have been doing some research on restaurant prices and I disagree. Prepared food of most types are cheaper here than in most Western countries.

You miss most important price comparisons

Young woman in your bed western world Vs Thailand (10x to 15x more in home country)

Rent home in western world Vs rent home in Thailand (6x to 10x more in home country)

Not everyone think vital to life wine, beef steak and cheese!

Edited June 26, 2011 by OlafStapleton

[craigt3365]

Not everyone think vital to life wine, beef steak and cheese!

For sure...you can leave off the cheese!

Otherwise, I miss good wine and steak terribly! Just too expensive here.

[IanForbes]

You Lose on one thing and gain on another.

A bacon and cheese scone and a unlimited refill of coffee costs me the equivalent of about 200 baht in Canada.

A T-bone steak meal can cost the equivalent of about 600 baht at a medium class restaurant in Canada. At a swanky place it will be double that. And, that doesn't include drinks or desert.

I had a nice T-bone steak meal at the Brasserie in Chiang Mai for about 220 baht. But, it can really vary depending on the establishment. I've seen some great deals in Canada and some lousy deals in Thailand.

Moo kah tah (spelling?) is a great deal in Thailand. The going price is about 120 baht for all you can eat... but you cook it yourself at the table. We don't have anything like that in Canada, and if we did it would be 4 times the price. About as close as you can get is a buffet luncheon with prepepared meals for about 360 baht.

Cheese in Thailand is approximately 3 times as expensive as in Canada... and not as good.

But, where can you rent a room anywhere in Canada for $140 a MONTH... even in a crack house. That is easy to find in Thailand.

Where can you find the company of a nice, clean, attractive woman for $50 or less in Canada?

Price of motor scooters is less expensive in Thailand, but not by a lot. Electronics and cameras are more expensive in Thailand.

[DP25]

Moo kah tah (spelling?) is a great deal in Thailand. The going price is about 120 baht for all you can eat... but you cook it yourself at the table. We don't have anything like that in Canada, and if we did it would be 4 times the price. About as close as you can get is a buffet luncheon with prepepared meals for about 360 baht.

They have lots of these places in big cities in the US and Canada and other places with lots of Asians, it's usually called 'hot pot'. About 500 baht for the buffet at dinner time last I went. Not as good as the 99 baht buffet I go to in BKK

[billd766]

If it all fell apart for me in my family I will leave everything to them and walk away thinking what a great time I had with them while I could.

|I don't have money to walk away every 5 years and do again.

Friend just do this after 12 years, he relationship last unusual long time.

This is my second marriage and from the first meeting to the final divorce the first one was about 26 years and I lost far more in the UK than I ever would over here.

Saying that this one has run a total of 18 years so far so perhaps I should think ahead for perhaps another one.

Having thought it over for all of 5 seconds I think I will stick with this one for another 18 years unless I die first (I am 67) and think it over again then.

[F1fanatic]

Lots of people are honest, but who knows how anyone will be when they are truly desperate... like not knowing where their next meal is coming from. It's like a person on drugs. They might be perfectly okay providing they are receiving their medication, but go completely crazy when they don't get it.

I continually hear the old story that bar girls are all crooks and only out for your money. BUT, I know a young Thai woman who works in a bar and she is scrupulously honest. She handles her bosses cash drawer every day and there is never a baht missing. I've loaned her 5000 baht so she could go home to see her mother and she paid me back. I accidently left my jacket at the bar one night and it had my wallet containing a lot of cash in one of the pockets. She found it at closing time and phoned me. Then she dropped it off on her way home. She didn't take a thing but she could just as easily said she never saw it. I've loaned her my motorbike when she needed it and it always came back in one piece. She's a nice kid, but who knows how she might react if she got truly desperate and needed money. I believe it is the same with most people.

Funnily enough, I DO know. I went through a v bad time and was running out of money (and realised that my expenditure was nowhere near my income....) - so started making plans to move back to Europe.

I stopped spending money on anything other than essentials (cheapest food, dogs vaccinations to get them a 'passport' etc.).

Much as I hated the idea, I was resigned to moving in with my mother (in Europe) until my dogs had been there 6 months and able to move to the UK without quarantine. Then I knew I would have to find work (even though I'd retired to Thailand)....

I was not happy, but knew what I had to do to survive without sponging off anyone else. In fact, it never crossed my mind for one moment to try to sponge off someone else.

As things turned out, I was 'lucky' and able to stay.

[Johnniey]

After more than half my life here (26 years), I feel totally part of here. I don't feel at home at all in my native UK. There have been many obstacles but in Thailand every obstacle is easy to get over. It's essential that you learn to speak the language. I still find it amazing to meet a guy who's been here 5 years and can't converse.

[OlafStapleton]

If it all fell apart for me in my family I will leave everything to them and walk away thinking what a great time I had with them while I could.

|I don't have money to walk away every 5 years and do again.

Friend just do this after 12 years, he relationship last unusual long time.

This is my second marriage and from the first meeting to the final divorce the first one was about 26 years and I lost far more in the UK than I ever would over here.

Saying that this one has run a total of 18 years so far so perhaps I should think ahead for perhaps another one.

Having thought it over for all of 5 seconds I think I will stick with this one for another 18 years unless I die first (I am 67) and think it over again then.

Yes but you almost dead, not have to worry money to long.

(assume bible right, life three score and ten)

I still young hansom man, many ladies to go.

Edited June 27, 2011 by OlafStapleton

[billd766]

After more than half my life here (26 years), I feel totally part of here. I don't feel at home at all in my native UK. There have been many obstacles but in Thailand every obstacle is easy to get over. It's essential that you learn to speak the language. I still find it amazing to meet a guy who's been here 5 years and can't converse.

I have been living in and out of Thailand for about 18 years and I have a lot of difficulty speaking Thai.

Try being 67 years old and part deaf in both ears.

Quite often what I think I said sounds completely different to a Thai person including my wife and I have known her for those 18 years too.

For some learning another language is easy but for a lot of us partly deaf old buggers it isn't.

[ObsessiveAddict]

I can't really see being a part of it until you speak thai fluently.

[Misplaced]

I feel most of the time as an outsider but tolerate that for all the good things that brought me here.Just this week I had an eye opener of what people here really think of me. I take thai language lessons every night and feel my thai is improving. But every time I speak thai to my friends who are thai they look at me like what did you say and act confused. I feel I cannot communicate. Then last week I was in Bangkok and tried my thai on everyone I met and it worked perfectly I had decent conversations. I mentioned this to my Thai teacher.He said they probably look at me as their stupid farang friend and when I talk thai to them they just refuse to talk thai because they feel I am to stupid to carry on a conversation so why try. Nice friends huh. Gives me the feeling they patronise me rather than befriend me.

I find it hard to believe your "Thai" teacher would actually say this to you. Is this an exaggerated truth on your part? I'm sure no teacher would stir up trouble for his/her student by making such ignorant comment. If he/she did say that, he shouldn't be a teacher and those are not your friends.

Welcome to the real world. Same things happens in every country every continents. If you look and behave differently than everybody else, people are not going to accept you as one of their own (happens right here in the USA everyday). All you can do is live by their rules and not worry about it. If not than move back to where you think you would be treated better.

[Ulysses G.]

Yes but you almost dead, not have to worry money to long.

(assume bible right, life three score and ten)

I still young hansom man, many ladies to go.

Let me guess, 66 years young.

[IanForbes]

The longer you live here the more you realize that we will never be accepted as anything more than alien visitors completely different in every respect than a "Thai," from their perspective anyway.

Its frustrating because the more you live here and make an attempt to learn the language, culture etc., you eventually start asking yourself; "why hava I put so much effort into it?"

For me, I love my wife and she will always accept me, so its worth it; at least thats the best I can come up with

But when you see things like the music thing, and hear Thais say things like "I don't care if a 'falang' has lived here 10,000 years, they will never be part of our culture" it is very disheartening and dissapointing.

The OP is speaking words of truth and so are you, Kurt Vonnegut, I mean, Kilgore Trout Many of us who have been here more than a decade sreally miss the past when xenophobia was not felt and it seemed like we were welcomed in Thailand. The welcome mat started going away when a certain nameless person (who has a square head) took control and brought out the worst traits Thais possess. That was a sad turning point in Thai history. After that the immigration rules were radically changed (why those rules were not changed under the new administration is a mystery) and "sanook" started being harder and harder to find. I know I will never fit in. Now I have desire to fit it This is the most xenophobic country I have ever lived in, and I have lived in many countries because of my job. But many farangs do not see the xenophobia, especially those who have no long-term perspective and have only been here a few years. All they see is what is on the surface. Unfortunately, the more the economy goes downhill, the more farangs will be used as scapegoats for everything that has gone wrong in Thailand. Thais really do not accept blame for anything, as far as I can tell. They rationalize the most abhorrent behavior, including stealing from farangs. Arresting foreign musicians for playing on the street borders on insanity--especially if they are not asking for money.

That pretty much nailed it. I don't WANT to assimilate. I just want to enjoy the time I spend here... which I am doing quite nicely with. I don't have high expectations for ANYWHERE in this world. I don't lie, cheat or steal and I don't chase someone else's woman. I treat everyone with respect and I have a lot of patience. I can tell when people are trying to deceive me and it doesn't bother me in the least. If that is not good enough then screw them.

But, and that is a very BIG but, I am only a temporary resident and only spend half my year in Thailand. That allows me the freedom to ignore what I don't like about this or any country I'm in. I'm not going to invest in anything permanent in Thailand because the country is not set up in a way that allows permanent visitors any freedom. There are good and valid reasons for that. There are many things I don't like about Canada as well, but I don't have any power to change them. So, I just get on with life and make the choice of being happy. It's worked for me quite well for the past 15 years and my rose coloured glasses seem to have been permanently installed.

[JSixpack]

Get used to the idea that YOU can feel a part of it--and in fact you are, if you live here--even if THEY don't feel you're part of it.

Happiness means not much caring what Thais think unless they're a cop or immigration official. Even so, for the sake of greater convenience, less delay, and smooth interactions, treat all of them with politeness and respect; never show irritation and anger. Had to learn it the hard way myself.

[IanForbes]

Get used to the idea that YOU can feel a part of it--and in fact you are, if you live here--even if THEY don't feel you're part of it.

Happiness means not much caring what Thais think unless they're a cop or immigration official. Even so, for the sake of greater convenience, less delay, and smooth interactions, treat all of them with politeness and respect; never show irritation and anger. Had to learn it the hard way myself.

Well said!

Had to learn it the hard way myself.

Didn't we all... that's statement, not a question.

One of the advantages of having lived a long life is you get to experience and learn a lot of things that "hopefully" made us smarter.