Expats Who Just Stagnate In One Place

[OriginalPoster]

Soutpeel - yes I know that, but at some time the people I'm refering to have somehow managed to get themselves to the other side of the world but only just to stagnate in one place. They come all the way to Asia just to see Bangkok or Pattaya?

I know some people who have been here on holiday and have been to more places over here than some that have lived here for 15 years or so, I find that sad.

Are these people not curious as to what other countrys in the region or even parts of Thailand are like? These people may end up returning home after many years having just seen Bangkok and/or Pattaya.

You can wheel out all the usual cliches like 'it's up to them' 'it's their live' etc.....all of this is true of course but I find it very odd, very unambitious and a waste.

Thailand's open to all sorts - hermits and the gregarious alike. I've done both. Did what you're criticizing, moved to a town in Thailand and barely traveled 100km away for a year. Then started working offshore and have been traveling much that I'm so sick of living out of a suitcase that I long to go back to that Thai town and live a simple life on my own schedule again.

[Shotime]

"Anyway, old people shouldn't have sex. The very thought of it disgusts me."

Yo SC, <deleted> is that about? You are usually "spot on (I can't believe I'm using that expression)," but .....whats old, and why does it disgust you? I'll admit I have problems thinking about my parents having sex, but, other than that, if the glove fits, you must submit. Life (including love thy neighbor) is about enjoying it.

Anyway, .

[Darrel]

For every person who wonders why some farangs live out their lives in one place without moving there will be another person who wonders why other farangs feel the need to be constantly moving around instead of just finding one place that they like. Who's to say which group is right? Not me.

It's like sport. Some cant live without it, some wonder what the hell anyone sees in it.

[monty1412]

What's different is that a person has, presumably, not been satisfied with that, travelled to a foreign and very different country, settled there, and then done the same thing.

Because their whiole motivation to travel to thailand has/had nothing to do with seeing new cultures/different countries/new experiences....... it was to aquire a female

As a new member all I can say is MY GOD SOME OF YOU NEED TO GET A LIFE

Ive travelled the world, lived in many countries, seen many people good and bad but you know.. if a guy wants to put his feet up and not go outa Bangkok for whatever and I mean whatever reason then thats his decision and far be it for any of us to cast judgement or condemnation. Some of the posts here i read were spot on, others well it was like you were just trying to justify your own life and whatever shortcomings it has. Just leave it alone and let be. be grateful for what you have . more pity the person who started the post no doubt for want of attention.

[zziffle]

Why do some expats stay in one location for a number of years?

Well, I'm going to go way out a limb here with the theory that it's because they want to.

Why don't they travel around a bunch like hotandhumid likes to do?

Again, I'm just guessing, and I don't have proof, but maybe it's because they don't want to.

A more interesting question for a topic might be, why do some folks feel the need to put down other people who don't share their particular preferences? Unfortunately the answer to that one would be psychological, and psychology is boring.

[DisainaM]

you know this feeling, when you got a clean toilett in your home in bkk,

and you don`t like to use other toiletts ?

You like to go in your home without shoes, and you enjoy it, that you don`t use a belt,

cause at home, only a short is covering you, and you feel very relaxed.

[hotandhumid]

Nobody has answered this yet....

You don't think that living in Thailand for 10-15 years and seeing less places in that time than a person on a fortnights holdiay isn't a bit sad?....Would you not think it's a tad sad to return to ones home country after 15 years of living overseas having only ever been to one place?

[farang000999]

the reason why they come to a far away place like thailand and then stay in one place is because that one place has something they could not get back home.

[geriatrickid]

Some of these guys u mention might have a 50 million baht condo and its so comfortable they dont want to move and stop in hotels for days on end.I have everything i want but i do travel sometimes,but maybe the guy has a dog or 3 cats like me.we have choices in life and me giving a brilliant home and wonderful food for 3 soi cats is far more fulfilling than thinking of myself,like you,all the time

Sometimes a comment makes my day. This one did. Bless you sir for your sense of responsibility and good heart.

[billd766]

Nobody has answered this yet....

You don't think that living in Thailand for 10-15 years and seeing less places in that time than a person on a fortnights holiday isn't a bit sad?....Would you not think it's a tad sad to return to ones home country after 15 years of living overseas having only ever been to one place?

I will try to answer that if I can.

If in 2 weeks holiday you have been to 7 places I figure what with sleeping time, travelling time and eat, drink and relax time you spend maybe 12 hours in each place being led around by a tourist guide.

What did you actually see and achieve in that time frame?

Not a lot springs to mind.

A case of Monday morning it must be BKK, in the afternoon it was Ayuttya. What about tomorrow, well there are 2 more places in Thailand to visit.

You would probably see more of the tour bus than Thailand.

[Trembly]

Nobody has answered this yet....

You don't think that living in Thailand for 10-15 years and seeing less places in that time than a person on a fortnights holdiay isn't a bit sad?....Would you not think it's a tad sad to return to ones home country after 15 years of living overseas having only ever been to one place?

Is there some sort of competition?

[zydeco]

I go months without even driving into Bangkok. I'm busy and love my work--being just five minutes from my place of employment. I love the house, enjoy the view, mostly like the neighbors, enjoy the walk down the street to the market, find it fun to watch some movies, do some reading, write some articles, and have a glass of wine or a cup of coffee. What do I need to be hopping around constantly to Cambodia, Vietnam, or Malaysia for?

Edited July 9, 2011 by zydeco

[robblok]

Nobody has answered this yet....

You don't think that living in Thailand for 10-15 years and seeing less places in that time than a person on a fortnights holdiay isn't a bit sad?....Would you not think it's a tad sad to return to ones home country after 15 years of living overseas having only ever been to one place?

You mean those people go with guided tours rushing from one place to an other just to take some pictures to prove they were there. Not really caring where they go as long as they cram as much of those places in their travel. Never really taking the time to really enjoy the scene.

Those kind.. i think they are just boasters who are on a picture safari.

Then you got the expat who is 15 years on one place that he has selected after careful consideration about what he likes. Then exploring the place there until he knows it all and finds his favorite spots to be.

Sounds like the second one is much more sensible.

[StreetCowboy]

"Anyway, old people shouldn't have sex. The very thought of it disgusts me."

Yo SC, <deleted> is that about? You are usually "spot on (I can't believe I'm using that expression)," but .....whats old, and why does it disgust you? I'll admit I have problems thinking about my parents having sex, but, other than that, if the glove fits, you must submit. Life (including love thy neighbor) is about enjoying it.

Anyway, .

I'm not actually bothered about old people having sex. Sorry, I got carried away there. But the thought of it does disgust me. Or the thought of open heart surgery, or cleaning sewer pipes. Or abatoirs. But rather than insist we all become vegetarians and stop producing stools, it is easier to avoid thinking about these things, and thus avoid being offended by them.

SC

[woktod]

I agree with the general thread in this OP,but it can easily be expanded or rolled into other issues mainly socio economic view points. There are many different catagories why some folks end up in bangkok/thailand. A certain portion find themselves stranded and unable to fit in back in there respective countries,or never did. Another catagory end up re-inventing themselves where nobody can check there qualifications or credentials,and/or its difficult. Im sure every body at some point in bangkok has had to sit next to some character in a bar(usually) and listen to some guys war stories(that basically came out of a book or a movie he read earlier)..they start to believe there own fabrications...sad indeed this aspect.

One case recently was that continued episode where the batman character totally de-frocked that little sukumvit wannabe bully dictator. This person had re-invented himself as one bangkoks lowest subterranean dis respected characters.,but he is a product of his roots,shallow as they maybe. Thrieving on the meek and weak and medically sick. We all the know the rest of this story so no need to repeat it.

Put it another way...if somebody ended up going home after say 15-20 years living in bkk they would naturally be asked by folk back home, who may look up to this individual as someone who is well travelled and adventurous....'so John, where have you been in Asia over the last 18 years, what is it like?' 'Erh, I only wen to Bangkok'

I couldn't imagine going home after all those years and meeting people who have visited more parts of Thailand and Asia than you have whilst on their holidays. IMO that would be very embarrassing and make the individual concerned look extremely ignorant.

I think that type of individual would feel very ignorant and know that he has largely wasted his 18 years in Asia by just stagnating in Bangkok drinking his liver away.

The main reason for this of course is quite simply laziness and being a tight wad.

[bangkokburning]

Agreed.

I am constantly shocked at the lack of interest in travel I see on this board. I do have immense respect for people who have built other sorts of lives such as farms and sustainable living projects.

My biggest regret are all the places I did not visit and are now ruined by modernity.

Not only stay in one place - but when that one place is Pattaya...Pattaya is not even Thailand.

I want to take a longtail from the Burmese border to Malaysia

Camp all the small no-go islands in the Andaman. Stay with Mokken and small Muslim villages, camping

Want to build a raft and float it down the rivers of Lao as far as I can go

Want to get to Raja Empat, Indo

Papua (IJ Indo) NG for hiking

Snorkel and camp Great Barrier Reef

I want to go back to Northern Pakistan - it was beautiful in 96

Travel the far interior borders of Cambodia/Lao and Vietnam

See Mongolia and Bhutan

Camp one month on Koh Tarutao

Travel North Western Burma

Travel the Eastern states of India

Get to Nandi Devi Sanctuary

Camp for weeks in Nepal National Parks

See tigers at Rathambore Reserve India

Travel all through Micronesia and live for a year on the islands

Hike extensively in Borneo (Malaysia and Indo) as well as snorkel

Take boats again with Bugis people of Sulawesi. This time from Sule to Ambon or Flores!

Live on boats with Bajao people in Malaysia.

Travel extensively through the islands of Myanmar

Visit Andaman and Nicobar islands

Go to Kumbla Mela

Travel to most remote parts of Indian Himalaya (been to inner areas many times)

Travel to Chinese Himalaya and outlying areas habitable areas of Tibet

[hotandhumid]

Nah, just stay on Sukhumvit 365 days a year, what else could a man possiby want!?

[kerryk]

I used to like to travel. But I liked to move better. I have lived in 26 different places in 8 different countries. It takes me at least 6 months to get the feel of a place. Now I like to stay in the same place and have different women. It is like traveling but without the dirty toilets and dangerous food. I don't have a particular type. 18 to 60 from different places if they speak different languages even better. Some days young and slender some days old and chubby. They tell me about their home afterwards and it gives me a feeling of being there. Yesterday it was a mountain village and today a rice farm.

[Zammo]

Any one who visits pattaya is glad to get back home after visting that SH@#hole !!

Home as in home where a group of people live in the UK that speak funny and no one really cares about?

[StreetCowboy]

Agreed.

I am constantly shocked at the lack of interest in travel I see on this board. I do have immense respect for people who have built other sorts of lives such as farms and sustainable living projects.

My biggest regret are all the places I did not visit and are now ruined by modernity.

Not only stay in one place - but when that one place is Pattaya...Pattaya is not even Thailand.

I want to take a longtail from the Burmese border to Malaysia

Camp all the small no-go islands in the Andaman. Stay with Mokken and small Muslim villages, camping

Want to build a raft and float it down the rivers of Lao as far as I can go

Want to get to Raja Empat, Indo

Papua (IJ Indo) NG for hiking

Snorkel and camp Great Barrier Reef

I want to go back to Northern Pakistan - it was beautiful in 96

Travel the far interior borders of Cambodia/Lao and Vietnam

See Mongolia and Bhutan

Camp one month on Koh Tarutao

Travel North Western Burma

Travel the Eastern states of India

Get to Nandi Devi Sanctuary

Camp for weeks in Nepal National Parks

See tigers at Rathambore Reserve India

Travel all through Micronesia and live for a year on the islands

Hike extensively in Borneo (Malaysia and Indo) as well as snorkel

Take boats again with Bugis people of Sulawesi. This time from Sule to Ambon or Flores!

Live on boats with Bajao people in Malaysia.

Travel extensively through the islands of Myanmar

Visit Andaman and Nicobar islands

Go to Kumbla Mela

Travel to most remote parts of Indian Himalaya (been to inner areas many times)

Travel to Chinese Himalaya and outlying areas habitable areas of Tibet

"ruined by modernity"

New York has got to be the worst for that. And Londonium. And Dunedin, before it changed its name.

If it was down to me, foreigners would not be allowed progress, and would be forced to live as exhibits in theme parks for my touristic entertainment.

Its the tourists that make everywhere the same; and more so, the locals. Perhaps if the West had more liberal immigration policies, so that every johnny foreigner who wanted a decent standard of living could leave their homeland and live in London or America or Paris (as so many choose to do, despite the hurdles we put up), then perhaps their homelands could remain in primitive jungle squalor.

SC

[bubblegum]

Put it another way...if somebody ended up going home after say 15-20 years living in bkk they would naturally be asked by folk back home, who may look up to this individual as someone who is well travelled and adventurous....'so John, where have you been in Asia over the last 18 years, what is it like?' 'Erh, I only wen to Bangkok'

I couldn't imagine going home after all those years and meeting people who have visited more parts of Thailand and Asia than you have whilst on their holidays. IMO that would be very embarrassing and make the individual concerned look extremely ignorant.

I think that type of individual would feel very ignorant and know that he has largely wasted his 18 years in Asia by just stagnating in Bangkok drinking his liver away.

The main reason for this of course is quite simply laziness and being a tight wad.

Some people have +something while others have _. It is about their eyesight.

So some look at a place through a microscope and other take the big vieuw.

What is better?

[SteeleJoe]

"ruined by modernity"

New York has got to be the worst for that...

I think you mean New Amsterdam...

The other day I made the same point you are making in your post (the selfishness of people who want things to stay the same for the enhancement of their exotic travel experiences) -- wish I could have done it as cleverly as you (typically) have.

[StreetCowboy]

"ruined by modernity"

New York has got to be the worst for that...

I think you mean New Amsterdam...

The other day I made the same point you are making in your post (the selfishness of people who want things to stay the same for the enhancement of their exotic travel experiences) -- wish I could have done it as cleverly as you (typically) have.

It waws New York by the time I got there; they were still speaking Dutch as far as I could tell; more even - double dutch.

I got mugged on 42nd street at 7 am; it was very well done, and I was raging that I had just cashed a traveller's cheque.

SC

[SteeleJoe]

I got mugged on 42nd street at 7 am; it was very well done, and I was raging that I had just cashed a traveller's cheque.

SC

New York -- it's a hell of a town.

(We've got one day here, and not another minute,

To see the famous sights,

We'll find the romance and danger waiting in it..)

Love that place -- warts and all.

Edited July 9, 2011 by SteeleJoe

[Thongkorn]

Because life is so easy , you stay in bed longer, stay out later , the whole thing just creeps up on you .Its called being lazzy or doing what you want to do. Up to you your Life

[geriatrickid]

As someone that traveled alot in previous years and stayed in many different hotel rooms, I was overjoyed to go home to my own bed. It was fun when I was young. London, Amsterdam, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo, bu after awhile it started to gnaw at me. I was so happy to get home, sleep in my own bed, use my own toilet, eat my own cooked food, visit with a furrry or human friend, see famlliar things and not worry about committing a social faux pas in another culture or not having to deal with traffic on the motorway or the pain that is air travel. I understand those that want to stay in their neighborhood because they are happy and content. Good for them.

[StreetCowboy]

SC: My bold

As someone that traveled alot in previous years and stayed in many different hotel rooms, I was overjoyed to go home to my own bed. It was fun when I was young. London, Amsterdam, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo, bu after awhile it started to gnaw at me. I was so happy to get home, sleep in my own bed, use my own toilet, eat my own cooked food, visit with a furrry or human friend, see famlliar things and not worry about committing a social faux pas in another culture or not having to deal with traffic on the motorway or the pain that is air travel. I understand those that want to stay in their neighborhood because they are happy and content. Good for them.

Its always nice to take your ferret out for a run in familiar surroundings

SC

[smokie36]

SC: My bold

As someone that traveled alot in previous years and stayed in many different hotel rooms, I was overjoyed to go home to my own bed. It was fun when I was young. London, Amsterdam, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo, bu after awhile it started to gnaw at me. I was so happy to get home, sleep in my own bed, use my own toilet, eat my own cooked food, visit with a furrry or human friend, see famlliar things and not worry about committing a social faux pas in another culture or not having to deal with traffic on the motorway or the pain that is air travel. I understand those that want to stay in their neighborhood because they are happy and content. Good for them.

Its always nice to take your ferret out for a run in familiar surroundings

SC

Yes those little blighters will just keep biting no matter how often you feed 'em.

[StreetCowboy]

SC: My bold

As someone that traveled alot in previous years and stayed in many different hotel rooms, I was overjoyed to go home to my own bed. It was fun when I was young. London, Amsterdam, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo, bu after awhile it started to gnaw at me. I was so happy to get home, sleep in my own bed, use my own toilet, eat my own cooked food, visit with a furrry or human friend, see famlliar things and not worry about committing a social faux pas in another culture or not having to deal with traffic on the motorway or the pain that is air travel. I understand those that want to stay in their neighborhood because they are happy and content. Good for them.

Its always nice to take your ferret out for a run in familiar surroundings

SC

Yes those little blighters will just keep biting no matter how often you feed 'em.

Its always embarrassing when you lose your grip on your own analogy and it disappears down some sewer pipe your frightened to put your arm up...

Maybe I'll stick to badger-baiting

SC

Is it worse to stagnate in one place, or many?

I have a bit of a problem with stagnating in the oxters, which I blame on the humidity

SC

Edit: A stagnant ferret

... yuk!

Edited July 9, 2011 by StreetCowboy

[tailspin]

If you found a place you love, why keep searching....I think it is called enlightenment....