Why Are There So Many Americans In Chiang Mai?

[CMNightRider]

I've heard the same thing about the Expat Club. A lot of those folks were able to cash in on Roosevelt's plan for socialism, before the bean counters determined it is a massive ponzi scheme, relying on many more people paying in; than collecting. Their (usually government) pension plans also rely on 7% annual gains to remain solvent. Not easy to do in Obama's no growth economy. I've also found that these people really like to rub it in, and the way they do it is to bore you to death, just making sure you know that they get paid a lot for sitting on their asses. One day, a retiree called me for computer help, MS Windows 2000, with his outdated machine. I had helped him too many times before, and had never been paid. Unfortunately, I was having a bad day. I said something like this: "Your retired, make 70K per year for sitting on your ass, and even worse, you are retired from a computer company that bills the Federal Government 137 USD per hour for technical support, and you have an old piece of junk that someone gave you, and yet you call me, a person struggling to stay afloat, and want me to fix it for you again, and again. And you live in an area with more "IT Guys" than anywhere on the planet, most of whom are just a huge part of government expansion, and our huge deficit, so <deleted>? Call somebody else. Needless to say, my father wasn't real happy with me.

That doesn't seem a nice thing to tell your old man. Can you not think from another angle? Your old man is able to retire comfortably for the same reason that you seem to be criticizing him - devoted to his job and living a frugal life (not depriving himself, I hope). He called you for help, because you are his son and have the know-how! Has he not raised you and sacrificed for you?

Some younger people nowadays don't seem to share the same perspectives as older folks. That's for sure. I just came back from abroad today. Let me tell you a story about a youngster whom I knew since when we were young - in the teens. This youngster was left a proprietary business by his father and was rented out for USD20,000 a month about 8 years ago. The father passed away subsequently. He spent more than USD20,000 a week. He got many followers and was very loose "helping" out his acquanintances. The USD20,000 a month was not enough for him. He sold his father's business for 1m USD. That, of course, didn't last too long. If he had not sold, today, only a few years later, he could easily sell it for 7m USD The worst thing is not many people are looking up to him.

The point here is one needs to be content in life and never live beyond one's means! More importantly, don't criticize how older folks want to live their lives! I hope I get my message across to many who have voted for your post!

I can understand the poster calling it a Ponzi scheme. We grew up with the idea that if we contributed to SS it would go into a fund that would pay us money when we retired. That is the way it worked and was working until along comes George Bush and converts it into a way to get money to fight unwinable wars.

As to why so many Americans. Well that is obvious there are so many Brits here we are trying to protect Thailand from British colonization.

President Eisenhower was the first President to tap into Social Security, but he was the last President to pay it back. Most all Presidents since then have tapped into Social Security. Due to the pilfering over the years of the fund, there is no money in Social Security. Social Security has been subsidized and paid for by today's income earners. One reason there are so many Americans here is because you can live well in CM on Social Security. :-)

[OldChinaHam]

OP: "Does Chiang Mai hold a special place in American hearts? Just a popular place for Americans to retire?"

I would guess that Chiang Mai makes Americans feel at home.

[Thighlander]

If it weren't for the Catholic Church, I would be living in Mexico. It's just a lot closer, and the smoke is so much better. Of course, Chiang Mai is a very special place. It's easy to get caught up in how it was....just like most other places. It's quite obvious that most of the Thais feel favorable towards the Americans. For every Thai wearing a Union Jack; there are twenty wearing some form of the RW & B. Happy Memorial Day to all!

[chooka]

There seems to be a lot of British people also. Not many of us aussies, 6.5 yrs here and never bumped into another aussie.

[klikster]

Well, so much for a mostly "mellow" thread being turned into a political rant. *bummer*

It's time people know and many are realizing we are not the America of 50 or 100 years ago. We Americans are poisoning the world with our Fast foods and GMO's.. We are trying to police the world constantly and what other nation do you know that has had so many indefinite wars going on? How about our Drone bombing or removal of Habeus Corpus? Our creation of 50,000+ new laws every year does not make us land of the free anymore but now we are more likely to be termed land of the caged, as we do have more prisoners than ANY other country on Earth. Then we tell other countries if they don't impose our laws we will cut their funding trying to make the whole world tow our line. As in the infamous words of GWB, "If you're not with us, you're against us" Obama is no different than GWB and in many cases even worse.

[Sparkles]

There seems to be a lot of British people also. Not many of us aussies, 6.5 yrs here and never bumped into another aussie.

Mate, it might be your avatar ,half of Oz is here,ten in my village alone, we/they, can't afford to live in Australia !!!

[enjoybeing]

Well, so much for a mostly "mellow" thread being turned into a political rant. *bummer*

It's time people know and many are realizing we are not the America of 50 or 100 years ago. We Americans are poisoning the world with our Fast foods and GMO's.. We are trying to police the world constantly and what other nation do you know that has had so many indefinite wars going on? How about our Drone bombing or removal of Habeus Corpus? Our creation of 50,000+ new laws every year does not make us land of the free anymore but now we are more likely to be termed land of the caged, as we do have more prisoners than ANY other country on Earth. Then we tell other countries if they don't impose our laws we will cut their funding trying to make the whole world tow our line. As in the infamous words of GWB, "If you're not with us, you're against us" Obama is no different than GWB and in many cases even worse.

Since you truncated my quote, may others know, it was in defense of a Brit who said America is ruining the world.. He's not the only one who feels this way. Just maybe, if the rant is read, some might understand why he feels that way.

[CMNightRider]

Well, so much for a mostly "mellow" thread being turned into a political rant. *bummer*

It's time people know and many are realizing we are not the America of 50 or 100 years ago. We Americans are poisoning the world with our Fast foods and GMO's.. We are trying to police the world constantly and what other nation do you know that has had so many indefinite wars going on? How about our Drone bombing or removal of Habeus Corpus? Our creation of 50,000+ new laws every year does not make us land of the free anymore but now we are more likely to be termed land of the caged, as we do have more prisoners than ANY other country on Earth. Then we tell other countries if they don't impose our laws we will cut their funding trying to make the whole world tow our line. As in the infamous words of GWB, "If you're not with us, you're against us" Obama is no different than GWB and in many cases even worse.

Since you truncated my quote, may others know, it was in defense of a Brit who said America is ruining the world.. He's not the only one who feels this way. Just maybe, if the rant is read, some might understand why he feels that way.

America is ruining the world? You must have bumped your head. If there were no America, weapons of mass destruction would be everywhere. If you haven't noticed, besides being the worlds police, America is the world's ATM, that doles out billions in development assistance to needy countries. No country has given so much-to so many-so often-while asking for so little in return. If you're an American, you should be ashamed of yourself. If you aren't, you should be thankful there is an America.

[klikster]

Well, so much for a mostly "mellow" thread being turned into a political rant. *bummer*

It's time people know and many are realizing we are not the America of 50 or 100 years ago. We Americans are poisoning the world with our Fast foods and GMO's.. We are trying to police the world constantly and what other nation do you know that has had so many indefinite wars going on? How about our Drone bombing or removal of Habeus Corpus? Our creation of 50,000+ new laws every year does not make us land of the free anymore but now we are more likely to be termed land of the caged, as we do have more prisoners than ANY other country on Earth. Then we tell other countries if they don't impose our laws we will cut their funding trying to make the whole world tow our line. As in the infamous words of GWB, "If you're not with us, you're against us" Obama is no different than GWB and in many cases even worse.

Since you truncated my quote, may others know, it was in defense of a Brit who said America is ruining the world.. He's not the only one who feels this way. Just maybe, if the rant is read, some might understand why he feels that way.

Yes, I truncated your quote. But I think you only used the "defense of a Brit .." as an excuse for posting your silly political rant .. which has no place in a thread of this nature.

[heybruce]

Why is this topic still running? It started out pointless and went downhill from there.

[Ulysses G.]

Since you truncated my quote, may others know, it was in defense of a Brit who said America is ruining the world.. He's not the only one who feels this way. Just maybe, if the rant is read, some might understand why he feels that way.

Spread that nonsense on some loony political forum. This thread is about why there are so many Americans in Chiang Mai.

[bobl]

America is ruining the world? You must have bumped your head. If there were no America, weapons of mass destruction would be everywhere. If you haven't noticed, besides being the worlds police, America is the world's ATM, that doles out billions in development assistance to needy countries. No country has given so much-to so many-so often-while asking for so little in return. If you're an American, you should be ashamed of yourself. If you aren't, you should be thankful there is an America.

Weapons of mass destruction would NOT be everywhere.

"besides being the worlds" self appointed "police" - fixed that for you

"America is the world's ATM" Oh, please.

I have nothing against patriotism - seriously - but telling me I should be thankful there is an America? Statements like that are exactly the type of boorish, condescending crap that makes more and more people loathe America on a daily basis.

Perhaps there are so many Americans in Chiang Mai because they can't bear to live in America any more.

Somebody needs to watch the opening speech from "The Newsroom" again, or is it too much truth to handle?

[beb]

America is ruining the world? You must have bumped your head. If there were no America, weapons of mass destruction would be everywhere. If you haven't noticed, besides being the worlds police, America is the world's ATM, that doles out billions in development assistance to needy countries. No country has given so much-to so many-so often-while asking for so little in return. If you're an American, you should be ashamed of yourself. If you aren't, you should be thankful there is an America.

Weapons of mass destruction would NOT be everywhere.

"besides being the worlds" self appointed "police" - fixed that for you

"America is the world's ATM" Oh, please.

I have nothing against patriotism - seriously - but telling me I should be thankful there is an America? Statements like that are exactly the type of boorish, condescending crap that makes more and more people loathe America on a daily basis.

Perhaps there are so many Americans in Chiang Mai because they can't bear to live in America any more.

Somebody needs to watch the opening speech from "The Newsroom" again, or is it too much truth to handle?

Here is why TV is such a pain for a lot of us. People just can't seem to control themselves and behave in a civil manner in the most mundane circumstances. Somebody asks an innocent question and next thing you know people are slamming entire populations and countries. We all know that everybody is 10 feet tall when sitting behind a keyboard but I'm pretty sure that everybody on this forum is past the age where acting like a mature adult becomes expected.

I know I'm not the first to say any of this and I usually laugh at the vitriol here but sometimes it would be nice if people could behave like their parents taught them. And if they had crappy parents, then behave like normal, civilized human beings. You don't need a book to know what that means.

[OldChinaHam]

The reason there are so many Americans in Chiang Mai is:

No matter how terrible the internet service is in Chiang Mai

It is still better than what most Americans are used to back home.

So it does not require much to make them happy.

[Thighlander]

I almost had to apologize to the guy that runs the produce stand at Wororat Market. For years I've been telling him his prices were higher than what I pay in the States. But, the other day I walked by and saw these beautiful red grapes. The sign said 25 THB. I was thinking, damn, never seen them less than 43 THB per KG in the States. I commented nice grapes, they were from Australia. Then I saw the small print: 25 THB for 100 grams.....a mere 650% more than what I paid in the US a couple of months ago. We also had 7 THB per KG oranges, they were 109 THB at Tops the other day. Can't beat the hot girls here, though. Give me a few hours and I'll show you all what a sidewalk looks like.

[Ulysses G.]

I mostly stick to mango, watermelon and bananas. Imported fruit is not cheap. Durian is delicious right now and not too expensive compared to other times of year. I'm pretty sure that tropical fruits are cheaper here than in America.

[beb]

I mostly stick to mango, watermelon and bananas. Imported fruit is not cheap. Durian is delicious right now and not too expensive compared to other times of year. I'm pretty sure that tropical fruits are cheaper here than in America.

I get all my fruit at the market north of the US consulate. Bananas in the big place just behind it. I find they have the best quality and prices.

[onthedarkside]

All the off topic posts trying to derail this topic have been removed.

[Tywais]

Thought this topic died already as it was dormant for a month. But with all the off topic and argumentative posts since its rebirth I'm closing it now. Had a good run but only so many ways you can say the same thing.

From an American. Peace.

//Closed//