When Did You First Come To Thailand?

[NguuMuu]

Along the lines of the "Why did you come to Thailand the first time?" topic, I thought it would be interesting to get a poll of the when. This is not a 'how long have you lived in Thailand' poll.

I suspect the greatest numbers will be in the 3 - 8 year range. Am I wrong?

PS Is there an easy way to search through the old polls. I tried to find if something similar to this has been posted before, but with no luck. The keyword 'poll' is not specific enough (even with titles only).

[NguuMuu]

I wish I could edit the poll. I should have put a "Vietnam war era" option. Oh well...

[Jai Dee]

I'm sure this has been done before, but mai bpen rai... I used to answer the same questions every couple of years on government polls too...

I don't know of a search function on polls NguuMuu... maybe someone else can help?

[Patex]

Dec '86, for 6 weeks but than there was a break till Jan '99.

Patex

[NguuMuu]

A little bump,

But it is interesting to notice there is a significant number of people that first came here 25 + years ago and none less than a year ago. So far it looks like the TV readership is skewed towards people who have been familiar with Thailand for a long time (unsurprisingly I suppose). I would have thought that this would be a popular place for newer visitors to come get a lot of there questions answered as well.

[GPage]

A little bump,

But it is interesting to notice there is a significant number of people that first came here 25 + years ago and none less than a year ago. So far it looks like the TV readership is skewed towards people who have been familiar with Thailand for a long time (unsurprisingly I suppose). I would have thought that this would be a popular place for newer visitors to come get a lot of there questions answered as well.

I think you'll find a great range of responses to this post. Yet, it is not surprising that many will state that they first came to Thailand over 25 years ago. Remember, aside from sporatic and occasional business ventures in SEA, most westerners became aware of Thailand in conjunction with the Vietnam war. Hundreds of thousands of American, Austrailian, and English young men were the "first on their block" to know anything of this region, much less visit or be stationed there for a period of time.

Then, with school or family and careers, it became a memory...something from their past. What is unique about Thailand is that any visit no matter how long or under which circumstances, tends to stay with you forever. The baby boomer generation is getting ready for retirement and has run the gamut in their home countries. Politics, recession, revolution, race, MTV, and the whole western rat race have caused many 50+ men (mostly) and women to unplug and head out in search of their fondest memories.

When you compare the relative lifestyles and quality of life at retirement age for Thailand and the U.S. or other countries....there is much to recommend in Southeast Asia. Remember, the baby boomers were the ones that were going to change the world. I think they are still inclined to do something as "radical" as packing it all in and moving to Thailand. Perfect fit, really.