Why Did You Decide To Leave Thailand?

[kerryk]

KerryK, as always, you quote things out of context to suit you're own needs. What you are basically saying is:

- Thailand is not corrupt (Really? are you really saying this?? Do you live under a rock??)

- There are no anti-western government polices in place (you cannot own land, etc. You must actually live under a rock??)

- Honesty???? (I don't know where you pulled this one from?????)

You are the Sarah Palin of TV. You make things up to suit you're own needs. I can no longer take you seriously.

I didn't make anything up. The above was part of your opening post about Thai people.

“Lack of education among the most educated, anti white mentality (bigots), corruption, lack of honesty (dishonesty).” Those are not things you say about people you like.

I didn't say anything about it not being true for you. It is not true for me. My Thai friends are educated, not anti white, corrupt and don't lie ot treat me dishonestly in any way. Sorry you have had some bad luck. I got here in 1968 and the same was true then. Like I said sorry for you. But you are not everybody. Get over it. I don't live under a rock I live in a condo. Same one I lived in when I got here. It is still standing after 40 years.

KerryK, For the sake of civility, let's agree to disagree.

That is OK with me. I do have one question that has nothing to do with the truth of your OP if you don't mind.

Was the motivation of your OP to warn people about the evils of “Lack of education among the most educated, anti white mentality (bigots), corruption, lack of honesty (dishonesty)” in Thailand or to confirm that you were not the only one who had those feelings about Thailand?

[StreetCowboy]

Ref. the Original Post

... For the sake of cooler equatorial weather

That wasn't the reason, to be honest, but it is a reason that I am grateful I did.

I posted earlier the reason - challenge and opportunity

SC

[metisdead]

A post commenting on moderation as well as containing an inflammatory comment regarding other members has been removed. If you find the postings objectionable, use the REPORT button and a moderator will act on the objectionable content.

[nietzche]

KerryK, as always, you quote things out of context to suit you're own needs. What you are basically saying is:

- Thailand is not corrupt (Really? are you really saying this?? Do you live under a rock??)

- There are no anti-western government polices in place (you cannot own land, etc. You must actually live under a rock??)

- Honesty???? (I don't know where you pulled this one from?????)

You are the Sarah Palin of TV. You make things up to suit you're own needs. I can no longer take you seriously.

I didn't make anything up. The above was part of your opening post about Thai people.

“Lack of education among the most educated, anti white mentality (bigots), corruption, lack of honesty (dishonesty).” Those are not things you say about people you like.

I didn't say anything about it not being true for you. It is not true for me. My Thai friends are educated, not anti white, corrupt and don't lie ot treat me dishonestly in any way. Sorry you have had some bad luck. I got here in 1968 and the same was true then. Like I said sorry for you. But you are not everybody. Get over it. I don't live under a rock I live in a condo. Same one I lived in when I got here. It is still standing after 40 years.

KerryK, For the sake of civility, let's agree to disagree.

That is OK with me. I do have one question that has nothing to do with the truth of your OP if you don't mind.

Was the motivation of your OP to warn people about the evils of “Lack of education among the most educated, anti white mentality (bigots), corruption, lack of honesty (dishonesty)” in Thailand or to confirm that you were not the only one who had those feelings about Thailand?

The purpose of the OP was to hear the stories of other TV members more experienced than myself. As I have stressed before, these thoughts regarding Thai culture are solely my own. Perception is a subjective thing, and others may have other thoughts contrary to mine.

I have listed a few things regarding Thailand that I perceive is being catalysts for myself not making it my permanent home.

I could give you 10 times more reasons why I would want to stay.

We are all at different places in our lives. As I have learned throughout my life, opinions are not set in stone, and as people get older and change, so do their perceptions on specific objectives/relevancies in life.

The posts made by other TV members, including yourself, have given me a better insight into the positives and negatives of living in LOS.

I have not ruled out returning to LOS later in my life. However, I am now pretty sure that it is not right for me at this time in my life.

I am grateful to all the TV members who detailed their experiences on this thread. Although these comments asserted to me that I was making the right decision, maybe their are people out there who were considering leaving, but have now decided to stay.

Don't get too hot under the collar KerryK. Freedom of speech and the right to an opinion is pretty cool!

[TommoPhysicist]

“Lack of education among the most educated, anti white mentality (bigots), corruption, lack of honesty (dishonesty).” Those are not things you say about people you like.

Why not, I have met several serious criminals who were both violent who dishonest. Some of whom I liked.

Do you really think it is impossible to like such people, I can only imagine you haven't met many.

As for educated, snob or what?

Edited April 24, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[kerryk]

I didn't make anything up. The above was part of your opening post about Thai people.

“Lack of education among the most educated, anti white mentality (bigots), corruption, lack of honesty (dishonesty).” Those are not things you say about people you like.

I didn't say anything about it not being true for you. It is not true for me. My Thai friends are educated, not anti white, corrupt and don't lie ot treat me dishonestly in any way. Sorry you have had some bad luck. I got here in 1968 and the same was true then. Like I said sorry for you. But you are not everybody. Get over it. I don't live under a rock I live in a condo. Same one I lived in when I got here. It is still standing after 40 years.

KerryK, For the sake of civility, let's agree to disagree.

That is OK with me. I do have one question that has nothing to do with the truth of your OP if you don't mind.

Was the motivation of your OP to warn people about the evils of “Lack of education among the most educated, anti white mentality (bigots), corruption, lack of honesty (dishonesty)” in Thailand or to confirm that you were not the only one who had those feelings about Thailand?

The purpose of the OP was to hear the stories of other TV members more experienced than myself. As I have stressed before, these thoughts regarding Thai culture are solely my own. Perception is a subjective thing, and others may have other thoughts contrary to mine.

I have listed a few things regarding Thailand that I perceive is being catalysts for myself not making it my permanent home.

I could give you 10 times more reasons why I would want to stay.

We are all at different places in our lives. As I have learned throughout my life, opinions are not set in stone, and as people get older and change, so do their perceptions on specific objectives/relevancies in life.

The posts made by other TV members, including yourself, have given me a better insight into the positives and negatives of living in LOS.

I have not ruled out returning to LOS later in my life. However, I am now pretty sure that it is not right for me at this time in my life.

I am grateful to all the TV members who detailed their experiences on this thread. Although these comments asserted to me that I was making the right decision, maybe their are people out there who were considering leaving, but have now decided to stay.

Don't get too hot under the collar KerryK. Freedom of speech and the right to an opinion is pretty cool!

I hope you don't mind me exercising my freedom of speech. There are times when I think my ability to communicate is flawed. So I will try and clarify my question by repeating it to myself. I asked if you wanted to warn posters about Thailand or convince yourself you were right about Thailand.

You didn't respond in the positive to either of those things instead you said, “The purpose of the OP was to hear the stories of other TV members more experienced than myself.” To help you we would have to know how long you have been in Thailand. I am guessing about 6 months. Is that correct? I am also guessing you have only lived in Bangkok. Is that correct? You see I am only asking these to answer your question about getting feedback from posters with more experience than yourself.

[popshirt]

I have found over my years here that no one comes here for the same reasons. Sure there are commonalities but all have different reasons. I have also that found that UK folks vehemently defend their move to Thailand far more then US folks. As I continue to read it appears(Based on posts I have absolutely no hands on experience living in the UK) living in the UK is pretty bad. I am a US citizen(California) and am moving back to the US in a few weeks. I have been here 5+ years and have seen enough to know that while there are many things I like here what you give up is far to great.

During my stay here I have come to find that it is hard to find quality people to build friendships with. IMHO there are far more "runaways" here due to a bad life back in their home countries and this behavior is carried with them. Its also interesting in the fact something had been gnawing at me and I was really unable to put my finger on it until I went to get my Visa to leave. The entire 90 day check in thing is actually somewhat humiliating as it feels like you are checking with your Thai parole officer and if you miss you are in violation and stand to be fined or deported. 5+ years back when I arrived this was not a big deal but as time has gone on its really an annoyance and one you cannot insulate yourself from. Again comparing my life in US to here, there are some hard negatives living in Thailand that as a friend stated "Just cannot be balanced out". I am not going to list them as most certainly someone will cut and paste and take out of context.

I will say In the beginning I enjoyed what I perceived as "More freedom" here and less bureaucracy but as time goes on that plays against you. I believe most people have basic expectations on how things should be and you quickly find that those perceived freedoms also allow bad behaviors where a great number of folks can act like morons(Thais included) and there is virtually no enforcement or path for one to take to stop it. There is a lot of interference from the government to order things you need or want to buy or working the type of jobs you may want to. There is a ton of discrimination here Thais to Thais in the work place. Just read an ad on the internet and in the paper. As an expat(who does not want to marry and have everything in his Thai wifes name)you cannot establish a loan for a home. Sure developers will float you a 5 year note but you will be done. But in general you are forced to pay everything in cash which all seems great until you find that you cannot leverage your equity or assets to get cash should something arise where that is required. Good luck trying to sell your place should something require you to exit Thailand. Some houses never sell. Loans for used homes are very hard to secure. You are also not free of cheaply made houses and the neighbor who decided to open up a noodle or karaoke restaurant next door to your house. You also cannot own the land you have your house built on. While the US has its faults for sure at least it has an infrastructure and some discipline and your neighborhoods are zoned to control inconsiderate people and you have a system to take action should that happen. Here its who ever gives the police more money prevails.

One thing very clear to me is it is cheap to live poor and expensive as hell to live a normal middle class like most grownups want to do. Moving here on a fixed income is something I would never recommend unless you left your money in your bank and a path back to your home country. Things are far to unstable here to call it "Home". There are far to many variables that can take you from comfortable to broke in no time and if you are past your employment years you have no means to supplement your income.

As for why I am moving back, the major reason is I can buy a nicer house on some land(in my name), own a better car(for less money), Work in any field I want, buy better quality clothes for the same price and have a better living lifestyle then I do here for about the same overall cost and with less friction and I do not feel limited. It is simple as that. I am not saying Thailand is bad and a horrible place, it may work for some. I am moving for me and where I am at California is simply better. I mean its why we moved around right? I saw opportunities but after I landed and lived it and I dove into Thailand and as I peeled the onion back it gets a bit hard to manage basic daily life. I did not come here to live on a 100 baht a day like a peasant. While some find it fun, it wears thin very very fast. I moved here as I saw what appeared to be a better place and I wanted to come see. For me its not. No harm no foul. Thailand is a great vacation destination

One of the best posts I've seen on ThaiVisa.

We have grown ups amongst us.

Aboslutely agree, it's very very good all entirely true.

This is also my story in every particular with one addition. After 7 years living in three different provinces of Thailand, I, too have returned to California where for me the cost of living is about the same (I kept my house here) and the weather is infinitely better for me. But the additional factor causing me to return was my age and health. Approaching 70 years old, I found that arthritis and a lower energy level made life in LOS just too difficult especially living in a place where there are no taxis and where driving is far too stressful for me. Upon realizing these drawbacks, the other ones mentioned by the OP surfaced, for example the attitude at Immigration for 90-day reporting , being stopped while driving for the police shakedowns, etc,. and these simply tipped the scale. I've been back in California for almost a year now and I've never been happier in my daily living. My long-time Thai partner will be joining me this summer to begin his MBA program at a university here in California. I do believe that each one of us is responsible for our own happiness and in my long life have never allowed myself to become a victim. I truly enjoyed my life in LOS for about 5 years, but it was time for me to move on.

[Maestro]

I have deleted an off-topic post, which was anyway already posted in another topic.

[TommoPhysicist]

It was interesting to read the post by JAFO and it does seem like very good reasons to return.

The house and land price crash in America compared to the house and land price boom in Thailand has helped you.

In the UK this has not happened and prices of everything continue to rise.

America has always been one of the cheapest countries in the world to live (if you exclude doctors and dentists) and is now in the process of becoming even cheaper.

[lovetotravel]

This is also my story in every particular with one addition. After 7 years living in three different provinces of Thailand, I, too have returned to California where for me the cost of living is about the same (I kept my house here) and the weather is infinitely better for me. But the additional factor causing me to return was my age and health. Approaching 70 years old, I found that arthritis and a lower energy level made life in LOS just too difficult especially living in a place where there are no taxis and where driving is far too stressful for me. Upon realizing these drawbacks, the other ones mentioned by the OP surfaced, for example the attitude at Immigration for 90-day reporting , being stopped while driving for the police shakedowns, etc,. and these simply tipped the scale. I've been back in California for almost a year now and I've never been happier in my daily living. My long-time Thai partner will be joining me this summer to begin his MBA program at a university here in California. I do believe that each one of us is responsible for our own happiness and in my long life have never allowed myself to become a victim. I truly enjoyed my life in LOS for about 5 years, but it was time for me to move on.

Hmm....interesting comment. Hope I'm not going off topic too much!

I lived in SoCal for about 20 years. Not sure I'd want to return. Where are you living? I was back in San Diego a few months ago and traffic is insane. I-5 through Mission Valley is now about 8 lanes on each side! All completely stopped in the mornings and afternoons. As well as peak times on the weekends. And the drivers are extremely aggressive. Trying doing the speed limit in the fast lane. Can't be done.

Rent is quite expensive. And of course there's the lovely state taxes. And very high energy prices, if you live where heat/AC is required. If you kept your home, you've got Prop 13 to help out with the real estate taxes, if not, they are a very expensive yearly bill.

We had dinner in the Gaslamp District and it was very expensive. Sure, nice restaurants, but not cheap. Even a lunch at Albertos, Robertos, whatever, is close to $10 for a drink and a combo take away meal.

I drive here quite a bit and have only been shaken down 1 time by police without cause. Even then, it was a close call as I was in the fast lane and was right at (maybe a bit above) the speed limit.

Right now, my big complaint is the heat!!!!!