How Long Have You Been In Thailand

[NanLaew]

And yes, what IS the OP's status. Resident happy codger or like myself, head of the moobahn escape committee?

I've done a 20 stretch so far.

... but only 1 year on Thai Visa ?

...where one can happily live their life vicariously through the posts of others.

[poanoi]

Judging by many of the posts on this forum' date=' I would say many posters don't live in Thailand. [/quote']

And what makes you believe anyone would lie about living in Thailand ?

Is it a merit or something ?

And if so, How ?

[NanLaew]

Can here on a 6 week job...that was 10 years ago and never left...

Yeah... but as soon as you get paid.....

[boloa]

And yes, what IS the OP's status. Resident happy codger or like myself, head of the moobahn escape committee?

I've done a 20 stretch so far.

... but only 1 year on Thai Visa ?

Maybe banned and came back with a new nick

BTW.....10 years

[Soutpeel]

Can here on a 6 week job...that was 10 years ago and never left...

Yeah... but as soon as you get paid.....

[Soutpeel]

The main question should be : Are we trying to fit in, to be part in the society we live in?

I fit in only as much as much as my job requires me to do, if you are asking do I want to be one with my Thainess...definitely no, once the job finishes, which it will do one day, time to move on to a new society to live in.

[marstons]

good question really i always had the mind set most people on here live here full time as i do, but apparantly not, which i guess puts a different slant on how i think about the posts. guess thats why a lot of posts ending up in slanginging matches a case of the blind leading the blind, or the know nothings leading the know nothings. always amusing when people have visited a few times know more about the place than me, funny that, especially when it come's to the ladies here.

answer 5 years know everthing but knew nothing really tourist and 10 years full time.

[cardholder]

And yes, what IS the OP's status. Resident happy codger or like myself, head of the moobahn escape committee?

I've done a 20 stretch so far.

... but only 1 year on Thai Visa ?

Maybe banned and came back with a new nick

Can people do that ?

[JurgenG]

The main question should be : Are we trying to fit in, to be part in the society we live in?

I fit in only as much as much as my job requires me to do, if you are asking do I want to be one with my Thainess...definitely no, once the job finishes, which it will do one day, time to move on to a new society to live in.

Fair enough and the same for me.

But I was not raised or trained to be a loser and a whiner. So I try to understand the society I live in and how to get the best of it.

Just a question for the Thai bashers, what do you get from making your life miserable ? for refusing anything that is good in the Thai society ?

I'm not in masochism, that's why probably I don't get it.

[maiphedmaiaroi]

Been here forever.

Have plently of gigs that are all Hi so.

Cant speak thai fluently.

Never been ripped off.

Cant eat spicey food.

Im more thai than you mrs mills.......

Stupid tourists huh?

[nocturn]

And yes, what IS the OP's status. Resident happy codger or like myself, head of the moobahn escape committee?

I've done a 20 stretch so far.

... but only 1 year on Thai Visa ?

what the <deleted> does time spent on thai visa have to do with anything? I have freinds who have lived here 20 years and never heard of it.

besides the op posits this place is populated primarily by tourists and wannabe experts. given your current situation you seem to doing little to discredit his theory.

Edited December 17, 2011 by nocturn

[nocturn]

I think you might find that most who live here permanently for a number of years have very little need to use a website such as this. The only reason they may 'browse' is to read what others are saying or for the news.

The ones who say they have been/came here in 19XX or whatever will more than likely have a flaw or two in their dates and will have 'exaggerate to impress' syndrome.

So in answer to your statement, I think you are probably generally correct in your assumptions.

Btw, I'm a browser!

:jap:

Think you are writing from your own perspective.

and whose perspective are you writing from?

[DtemJai]

I’ve been in Thailand, long long time; all my friends are only Thai’s [sorry farangs].

Never had any problem, [excerpt] which I infected on them. Drunken business.

Only lost a VDO tape 18 years ago, cos she died in fire & factory. That's only theft I did have so far !!!

Married to the same Thai women from Lamluka [ Minburi], allot of butterfly is okay………………….as long is not any connection to her large clan of friends.

Several sexy starving embassy or other white girls, have pick me on several occasion, & Thai HI-SO girls from the streets, mostly US educated, [kind of revenge I guess]…true matters…ughh I do have mia noi’s -)

[mca]

Never had any problem, [excerpt] which I infected on them. Drunken business.

Only lost a VDO tape 18 years ago, cos she died in fire & factory. That's only theft I did have so far !!!

I don't mean to pry but are you on crack?

[lovelaos]

Never had any problem, [excerpt] which I infected on them. Drunken business.

Only lost a VDO tape 18 years ago, cos she died in fire & factory. That's only theft I did have so far !!!

I don't mean to pry but are you on crack?

:cheesy:

[Old Croc]

Earlier I jokingly posted that I was a tourist who had been living here for 18 months.

More seriously, although retired here and planning to stay until I'm carted off to the temple ovens, I do still feel like I am a tourist and don't expect that to change.

I know that at this time of my life I won't ever speak Thai at conversational level. If that's a criteria to be considered Thai, and as long as I have to apply for a temporary visa every year, I will forever remain a tourist.

I have no desire to become a Thai citizen, don't wish to vote, certainly don't wish to live in Issan like a local with no other westerners within 100 kilometres. I have no desire to loudly proclaim that all my friends are only Thai.

I life on a tourist island in a comfortable western style pool villa with my Thai GF and love it. I eat a mixture of Thai and western food and find I am extremely comfortable with the lifestyle. Just like a tourist, I could sit on a tropical beach, ride an elephant or a jetski any day of the week if that is my want.

My western generated income and investments allow me to indulge myself here beyond what I could possibly do back in Australia. I will always remain a tourist farang in the eyes of Thais and I am comfortable with that.

That doesn't make me a sex tourist. I have been with my lady for nearly six years and she is not a 20-30 something, ex bargirl. Even when visiting Thailand as a single man I rarely indulged.

I complain about things that irk me such as the horrific traffic, rip offs, criminal scams and mosquitos, but that doesn't mean I want, or should, leave.

I am happy here as a permanent tourist. What a great way to retire.

Edited December 17, 2011 by Old Croc

[JurgenG]

It doesn't matter if you're tourist, an expat or whatever you want to call yourself as long as you're happy.

When you log in, there should be two buttons, "I'm a happy person" and "I want to share my misery", two different forums.

I don't know which one will be the most popular but I know which one I won't visit.

[junki3korean]

Does it really matter if the information is given by a tourist or a resident?

If a member can help or give you info about your topic does it matter that he/she came here in the 70's or that his a sex tourist or a miserable expat??

Geez you lived year for 15 years...what do you want a cookie???

[JurgenG]

It's not the first time I read people saying people are here for advises. I think for a number of old timers, they are here only for a chat. When I first join in, I was looking for advises too but I was really disappointed by the answer i got. There are very few members with real knowledge. Of course, Crossy jumps to mind but in the farming forum there was people like Maizefarmer, Konwa, Chonwa, Ramdomchance ... they all seem to have disappear. I think it's just expatriation, people come and go.

[themuse1969]

1.5 years. Married locally, no children, wife's children only. Now asked to sign birth certificate of a baby due soon to a relative whose co-creator fled his responsibility. I am invited to sign the birth certificate to give the baby a name. But, I am conncern there may be other responsibilities that could arise later. What is my risk, does anyone know? Can I do this one favour without worry about other onerous possibilities? Or, should I decline? Anyone know? I will appreciate reply to com.yahoo.themuse1969.

[Boxster]

I was enjoying my stay for nearly 2 years. But I had to leave the Kingdom 2 years ago for work here in Singapore. I miss Bkk, my friends there, both expats or locals. The only thing I do not miss are the mosquitoes. I am not enjoying myself here and wish to return to Bkk, for good!

[chops]

I'm surrounded by tourists everyday here in Pattaya.

But I enjoy living amongst real Thai people.

I think this town is fake in a way.

Really, it's so different in the other towns. If you live in a tourist town, you don't know the real Thailand.

Expats who live outside the tourist towns for many years are the real expats here.

[richard_smith237]

I've been here since '98 when employed as my first job out of Uni...

I'm not Thai, I won't go native, also I'm not bloody minded and stuck in my ways. I'm an Englishman, I live as an Englishman and to me that means living with polite flexibility: i.e. I expect a mutual level of respect from each and every interaction I encounter within and outside of the Kingdom. With this healthy attitude I have many friends and life is very enjoyable.

This is a great forum for information. Be-it real information or that provided by tossers, we have to filter the Wheat from the Chaff. My (Thai) Wife also reads this website and often agrees with some posters, but also suspects some are devoid of grey matter and incapable of functioning in a healthy international society....

Many of my Thai friends also know I read and contribute to this forum. Sometimes I'm embarrassed by what I read, they are smart enough not to blame me for the opinions of idiots I do not know.

[richard_smith237]

Earlier I jokingly posted that I was a tourist who had been living here for 18 months.

More seriously, although retired here and planning to stay until I'm carted off to the temple ovens, I do still feel like I am a tourist and don't expect that to change.

I know that at this time of my life I won't ever speak Thai at conversational level. If that's a criteria to be considered Thai, and as long as I have to apply for a temporary visa every year, I will forever remain a tourist.

I have no desire to become a Thai citizen, don't wish to vote, certainly don't wish to live in Issan like a local with no other westerners within 100 kilometres. I have no desire to loudly proclaim that all my friends are only Thai.

I life on a tourist island in a comfortable western style pool villa with my Thai GF and love it. I eat a mixture of Thai and western food and find I am extremely comfortable with the lifestyle. Just like a tourist, I could sit on a tropical beach, ride an elephant or a jetski any day of the week if that is my want.

My western generated income and investments allow me to indulge myself here beyond what I could possibly do back in Australia. I will always remain a tourist farang in the eyes of Thais and I am comfortable with that.

That doesn't make me a sex tourist. I have been with my lady for nearly six years and she is not a 20-30 something, ex bargirl. Even when visiting Thailand as a single man I rarely indulged.

I complain about things that irk me such as the horrific traffic, rip offs, criminal scams and mosquitos, but that doesn't mean I want, or should, leave.

I am happy here as a permanent tourist. What a great way to retire.

+1: what a great attitude for anyone to have even if not retired....

[South]

I think you might find that most who live here permanently for a number of years have very little need to use a website such as this. The only reason they may 'browse' is to read what others are saying or for the news.

The ones who say they have been/came here in 19XX or whatever will more than likely have a flaw or two in their dates and will have 'exaggerate to impress' syndrome.

So in answer to your statement, I think you are probably generally correct in your assumptions.

Btw, I'm a browser!

:jap:

Think you are writing from your own perspective.

Indeed!

[Nibor1945]

17 years living here, my present Departure/Arrival card dates back to 1996. Thats the last time I left the country.

Cyber visit TV everyday.

Hahaha i think a few posters missed this little gem! so that's a wonderful 15 year O/S ,,,top banana to you.

I presume by O/S you mean overstay?

Why would having a departure card from 1996 mean you are on 15 years overstay?

"present departure/arrival card" also the another clue "that the last time i left the country" but it was a humorous observation sorry if you are being picky

No mystery here, 1996 was the last time I entered Thailand. Since then I have had anual extensions of visa, departure/arrival card is kept stapled in my passport. After 16 years it is now getting a bit ragged around the edges, but then so am I.