Thailand....Expectation Versus Reality....

[BigJohnnyBKK]

1. Cheaper cost of living

2. Great weather which is nice to live in all year

3. Slim attractive women 3.1 who are not only after you for your money.

4. Medical care not as good

1 yes for sure, especially as time goes on, you get to know the real prices, start to relax and eventually go native in some aspects

2 I love it, but it does take a long time to get used to the heat if you're from a cold climate. Or have the money to stay in aircon all the time. The hardship comes when you're in AC most of the time, but also want to spend time walking outdoors.

4 absolutely false, and in fact the opposite when you take value for money into account. Very few high-tech procedures aren't available here, and back home they're only available to the well-insured anyway. But if that's a concern, maintain good health insurance and get a supplement disaster-with-evactuation-back-home policy.

3 Will require huge adjustments to your culturally-programmed mindset. People with negative attitudes toward prostitution would consider most of the female population hookers if they could read their minds (thank god we can't). However this is just being practical and the culture allowing such thinking to be more out in the open. Much less belief in that heinous fiction of "being in love" as a basis for long-term partnership.

I would advise coming here on regular holidays, try not to get too sucked into the explicit pay-for-play, don't form any attachments, talk to local farang long-term residents who you get to know and trust in person.

Start making those holidays longer and longer, and at some point decide if you want to cut the cord and actually "move" here. Even then, don't make significant "investments" for at least five years, especially those initiated by Thai friends and family, unless you're happy to see them as gifts, or payment for services rendered - **after the fact** not deposit for future services.

There are many many wonderful women who aren't too greedy, and are happy to simply get a nice guy and have long-term security. Some of them are pretty nice looking and not too old. The younger and more beautiful they are, the more likely they are impatient and want all their financial desires fullfilled ASAP.

Nearly all will leave you if you allow them to squander your assets.

IMO best practice is to assume in your heart of hearts you have a fee-for-services arrangement, not matter how things are structured for "public consumption".

If you really want young and beautiful, and aren't rich, then realistic expectations would be to get a few good years out of each one and then move on to the next. As long as you're getting good value for the overall you're putting in, everything's great. When it starts to go south, cut your losses and move on.

But that's just me. . .