How Tough It Can Be To Go Back Home

[transam]

or as guesthouse just explained, its not the uk that sucks but the people running away from it.

You mean ''the people who are running into it'' .

[tutsiwarrior]

well...you know...the end can't be that bad...and there are songs:

Well when I die

Take my saddle from the wall

Put it on my pony

And lead him from his stall

Tie my bones to his back

Turn our faces to the west

And we'll ride the prairie

That we like the best

whoever wrote that knew what he was talkin' about...just substitute the pony for an old ford econoline van and we're cool...

Edited June 4, 2012 by tutsiwarrior

[tutsiwarrior]

and then, and then...there was my niece, smart and doin' well in school...and we discussed and she said that she would stay in school and not <deleted> up like the step daughter her cousin who got pregnant when she was 15 y.o....but noooo...then she had kissable lips like Linda Ronstadt and then 'sproing!, sproing!' lovely T&A and then she was gone...she had run off with some local jive ass...

tutsi was devastated...after all my encouragement: 'listen, with your smarts and T&A you can go far, like down to BKK to uni and then get yerself a quality husband and then help me and yer poor old aunt in our old age...' and then we didn't speak for over 2 years...

then she showed up a short time after I arrived from Vietnam 8 mos ago with her new baby and then we sat around in our underwear playing with the baby together and then she was just my little niece like before...totally trusting her uncle tutsi...

I prefer a death oriented continuum, don't you? otherwise things get complicated...and this was local! and I didn't haveta go back to the states for this one or nothin'...

and then the walls close in, in southern Suphanburi...

(loadsa story tellin' material around here, I haveta admit...)

Edited June 4, 2012 by tutsiwarrior

[stoneyboy]

The UK is very reasonable when like in Thailand you live to your means,after all the OP lives in issan,eats for 100 baht and buys 2nd hand clothes that cost 30 to 50 baht.

Why not come to the UK,holiday in say Hartlepool for 12 quid a night,have a bag of chips for a quid,drink the tap water and shop in Oxfam.

It would be home from home.

Edited June 4, 2012 by stoneyboy

[Ricardo]

"Shop at Oxfam"

I must admit that, several years after moving permanently to LOS, I now find charity-shops in the UK are getting increasingly-expensive, charging GBP 1.50 for a 2nd-hand book is over-the-top IMO, better to stick to Boot-Fairs !

[MrRealDeal]

I go back home every year it's not tough at all.

[Forethat]

One thing that most people don't take into account is the actual cost of moving back.

I recently relocated back to UK. First of all, I should mention there were mixed emotions about the whole thing; I have thoroughly enjoyed my years in LOS. But in my case the turning point was a security issue that involved my children and the decision simply had to be made; I couldn’t put the safety of my children at risk.

So what was the total cost? Most of the answers I’ve seen so far involves one person, and for obvious reasons it’s easier to be flexible. When you have small children it’s not as easy unless you go to the destination in advance and have accommodation, transportation and other practicalities sorted. In my case I had no choice but to stay in a hotel in UK with the family for a month.

I have made a couple of flights alone, stayed in hotels, rented cars and so on over a period of 3 months before eventually making the move with the family. And of course when you live in a hotel you have to eat out two or three times / day. You shell out on all sorts of expensive crap that you normally wouldn’t, like a “pay as you go” mobile phone in UK, which is so expensive its criminal. And once you buy (or rent, if that’s the preference), you’d have to make massive investments just to get the home basics up and running. An example of an annoying and costly fact is the three 50” TV’s loaded in a container that will not reach UK until next month, which means I have to buy two more TV's to prevent the kids from having a behavioral meltdown when they cant watch cartoons in the morning. It’s amazing how much stuff you have in a home that you take for granted – every day I come up with a list of stuff I need to buy; screwdrivers, iron, cutlery, bedding, curtains, carpets, kitchenware etc. etc. (very often I already have these things in my container that arrives next month). For a single person it might be better to wait until the stuff arrives, but for a family there’s no option, you simply have to buy a new toaster.

I did the numbers a couple of nights ago and the total cost for relocating two adults and two children currently stands at £36.000, but that doesn’t include the shipping from Thailand or investing in new stuff required at home. This is only the cost of relocating from one geographical point to another. There’s another cost I haven’t mentioned, selling your assets in LOS probably involves some sort of loss, I had three cars and two houses; all of which involved some sort of cost or loss related to the sale. The amount of work involved when relocating is massive. Time is money…

So what about the cost of living? It’s not cheap. But there are things that are cheaper than in LOS. One of the first things I did was to run of to the local BMW dealer to buy a new car – no need for a trilingual gardener - it’s 40% the price in LOS. Give me another two months and I’ll let you know what the differences are.

[CrazyKid]

I will be moving (retiring) to Thailand during 1st quarter 2013 From Tucson, AZ USA. Just a plane ticket (round trip) is apx 60,000 bht ($1800.00) now. Who knows what it will be in 6 months. Reading the posts on how tough going back "home" can be is interesting to think about before I go. Rent is cheap here, $650.00 USD for a nice 2 bedromm apartment on 1st floor, about 900 Sq ft. Water and garbage included. Electric is high this time of year, Air con going 24/7 at about $95.00 per month. Gas for heat about $12.00 per month (who needs heat in the desert??) Internet (Cable) is $50.00 and of course Netflix $9.00. Cell phone is about $45.00 per month. So converted that is about 28,000 Bhat per month. Gas for car cheap here about $3.60 per gal. Food prices are good. Every Sunday 2 friends come for movie and dinner and we eat great for under $50.00. And with all that I still think Thailand is a better place, see you all soon.

Edited June 5, 2012 by CrazyKid

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I will be moving (retiring) to Thailand during 1st quarter 2013 From Tucson, AZ USA. Just a plane ticket (round trip) is apx 60,000 bht ($1800.00) now. Who knows what it will be in 6 months. Reading the posts on how tough going back "home" can be is interesting to think about before I go. Rent is cheap here, $650.00 USD for a nice 2 bedromm apartment on 1st floor, about 900 Sq ft. Water and garbage included. Electric is high this time of year, Air con going 24/7 at about $95.00 per month. Gas for heat about $12.00 per month (who needs heat in the desert??) Internet (Cable) is $50.00 and of course Netflix $9.00. Cell phone is about $45.00 per month. So converted that is about 28,000 Bhat per month. Gas for car cheap here about $3.60 per gal. Food prices are good. Every Sunday 2 friends come for movie and dinner and we eat great for under $50.00. And with all that I still think Thailand is a better place, see you all soon.

In Bangkok that B20,000 will get you a pretty nice flat (lower floors isn't an advantage), or even a decent row house if you're so inclined - see that recent thread for comparisons.

No need here for a car, but that will be more expensive. Everything else you list pretty comparable, but gas is only for cooking, and you'll eat out with your friends rather than cooking and for less money.

And yes you'll enjoy many aspects of this fine country that you'd never get for any price in Arizona, as long as you don't let the little stuff that's not "home standard" drive you nuts.

PS Why get round trip?

[TommoPhysicist]

So many good things to enjoy and nowhere near as expensive as you might fear.

Until you live there long enough to pay water bills, electricity, council tax, car repairs/tax/mot, or go out to a restaurant.

Not to forget buying or renting a house.

[Briggsy]

This thread has developed very well. Lots of useful info and differing viewpoints.

The key point for me is accommodation. If you have somewhere to stay, hopefully for free, then it is a whole different kettle of fish to staying in rented accommodation and paying for rent, electricity, internet, etc.