Kids Dying/hurting In Thailand. Is This Actually A Horrible Country?

[themadpoorfreelover]

last week another young boy 3 years old, drowned in a river in my wife's village, he was playing with his friends near some water and he slipped in, his friends being around the age of 3-5 years, didn't know what to do and they ran up the road to get help. by the time some adults got there he was deceased emergency services arrived about 15 mins later but couldn't do anything old.

that bring the death toll to about 3 kids that have died in my wife's lifetime in a village of less than 200 people. two have been from drownings.

her cousin died (a girl) in similar circumstances.

a young baby about 8 months also died by crawling under a car which was about to drive, when they drove off she got run over.

one of her uncles died net fishing when he was drunk.

a family in a pickup tried to come home late one night and the father some how drove off the bridge killing his family and his wife was pregnant too.

an 18 yr old man raped a baby in her village and tried to run and hide in the farms, he was sentenced to 5 years. now he is out but still comes back to the village to see his family, nobody seems to care.

a pregnant woman two houses down (this was last year) didn't want to have her baby so she tried to kill it by drinking large amounts of whiskey everyday, it has been born a few months ago now. i fear that he will have learning disabilities. though i tried to voice to my TGF that this lady who had the intention to drown her baby in alcohol should be ostracized or at least she could have said something. nobody seems to care or just is too shy to ever say anything.

earlier this year i was staying in a small town near chonburi city with TGF aunty, and a boy drowned because he fell into a small river. when we wer staying there two boys aged 8 and 9, brothers, were selling fried noodle balls after school in chonburi city, they were confronted with two drug addicts who had knives and subsequently robbed and murdered for 140 baht.

yesterday my TGF cousin rang her to say that in the mitsubishi factory in laemchabang a young pregnant women who had been sleeping with a factory manager, tried to kill her 8 month unborn baby by drinking cocktails of whiskey laced with strong medicines, (the alleged father had denied that the baby was his,) the baby didn't die, she returned to work and then had born the baby in the toilet. when it was born she tried to break its neck. it didn't die instantly. people heard a baby screaming in the toilet block, some workers ran in (one was my TGFs cousin) to find her drowning the baby in the toilet bowl. the baby is dead and the young mother in jail.

when i was living in pattaya a gang of cambodian begging mafia was busted. they had brought in about 30 young children, kidnapped and sold by their cambodian parents, to beg on pattaya city streets. the had maimed the kids so that people would feel sorry for them, the main types of maiming were amputation and cutting out their tounges (maybe eyes too).

I have seen children with their parents digging in abandoned lots for scrap metal, when they should be in school.

this country has just got too many problems.

i want out its a nasty place.

yes i am leaving soon.

i wish all the farangs would just pack up and leave one day and stop giving these guys our money.

if a largish regional war starts then i guess that will really happen.

then maybe the locals who aren't grateful for our moneys and time here would want us to come back.

anyhow there are are some really bad people in my city in Australia, Adelaide, there was some big pedophile rings caught and stuff like that.

there is just too many messed up people in the world.

and nothing to do about it.

but back to my original point.

my TGFs village- there is about 50 homes maybe total population 200 people, about another 200 people come and go as they work in other provinces. her family grandma grandpa aunties cousins etc makes about 50 people. everyone else is inter related. it is an issan village but in prachinburi. a group of issan families moved there in the 70's after there was a government land release, it is better farm land and closer to bankok. I call it the lost village. its right at the end of the road about 2 kilometers to sa keao border. the nearest amphur. kabin buri is about 50 kilometers away. the roads are all pot holed and dirt. from what i have seen it is poorer than issan less developed. almost everyone over 30 is an alcoholic which is about 80% of the population. the kids walk to school. 5kms away with no shoes, alot of them are missing some of their adult teeth already, broken from accidents and stuff. people just throw their rubbish behind their houses, many of the older people cant read or write or speak thai. they speak mix of buriram and issan. there is never any festivals or anything to do they're kabin buri, is the local city but is maybe the most boring city in Thailand, if you have ever been there. when my TGF was just 6-7 they got her working, she would work picking chillies for 20 baht a day, sometimes they took her out of school to work rice and stuff like that. many more horrible things happened and were not reported, molestation's, abuses etc. the nearest police station is about 20kms.

is this the worst village in Thailand? probably not.

there was a similar problem in Australia the government had forgotten about the aboriginal people in the desert. some journalist went out there and reported the problem and when it hit the headlines the government set an intervention and sent in military to control it.

I have been in cambodia, it is definantly worse, and when i am going on the train from bankok i see all the slums on the rail yard where the poorest people live, im sure many kids die around there too. at least in the village there is blue skies and open fields for the kids to play.... maybe it aint so bad. im sure bkk has bigger problems

even if you have money and you stay in some nice city and have a big home and drive a car your kids to school and stuff, i think their is a bigger chance that they could be exposed to something bad here than in some place like australia or country england (i know many brits dont like their country anymore, but surely it can be better than here?)

anyway, every day many children are getting harmed and people just make more and then expect them to look after them when they are old. its a poorly thought up system that keeps repeating itself

i feel stuck here among all this.

i don't want my son to live in this country, he is coming to Australia with me soon to live. - just getting all the passport paper work done now, and he is old enough to leave, he stays with me everyday.

people actually tell me i am doing the wrong thing by taking him away from here etc.

"he needs his culture his language etc..."

i mean cmon. who would want their kids to live in all these problems. not to mention places like any city around here that is so bad, and if you cross any of the borders it gets worse by 10x

so what to do.

and farang. stop giving me a hard time because i dont want to raise my boy here.

Edited December 1, 2012 by themadpoorfreelover

[krisb]

Im from Adelaidae also and theres the same stories happening here that you mention in your op.

I agree theres so many sad heartbreaking stories going on, not just in Thailand, but every country.

Try to look at the positives as the negatives will just make you sad and theres always going to be negatives around.

Edited December 1, 2012 by krisb

[bangkockney]

There are a million children living in poverty in the richest country on Earth. Address that first before expecting Thailand to do better.

Why don't you live somewhere else in Thailand?

[themadpoorfreelover]

Im from Adelaidae also and theres the same stories happening here that you mention in your op.

I agree theres so many sad heartbreaking stories going on, not just in Thailand, but every country.

yeh i know some shit goes down, but im trying to say more goes on here, i mean you have a higher % of running into problems

i did see a few big cases of child abuse in adelaide, but i think they need to build a escape proof fence around the northern suburbs and annex it from adelaide....

its all about education i guess. more educated=less risk, or maybe educated risk...

unless we are talking about drunk tourists.

​but back to the main point. i think i gave a good argument there why you would want kids to grow up here.

[krisb]

Im from Adelaidae also and theres the same stories happening here that you mention in your op.

I agree theres so many sad heartbreaking stories going on, not just in Thailand, but every country.

yeh i know some shit goes down, but im trying to say more goes on here, i mean you have a higher % of running into problems

i did see a few big cases of child abuse in adelaide, but i think they need to build a escape proof fence around the northern suburbs and annex it from adelaide....

its all about education i guess. more educated=less risk, or maybe educated risk...

unless we are talking about drunk tourists.

​but back to the main point. i think i gave a good argument there why you would want kids to grow up here.

Fence in the north, what about the south?..just as bad.

Places like Alice Springs theres signs saying dont walk down here at night put there by police.

Theres good and bad, fair and unfair happening all around us all the time. Theres places alot worse than Thailand. In a country of some 65million, there are more good than bad people. Id still raise my child there.

Edited December 1, 2012 by krisb

[chonabot]

Your TGF's village sounds like it has more than it's fair share of bad luck.

I'm sure there are many villages that are safer.

Thailand is a relatively poor country and there will be a higher proportion of safety related deaths until the infrastructure improves twenty-fold.

If you are concerned about your son's safety then moving to Oz is probably a good thing.

[farang000999]

Most farang are here for the reason you listed: cheap cost of living and opportunities afforded to them because of the poverty. If you leave it is not like things will be any different. If you have a child of course you should do what you think is best for the child not yourself.

Edited December 1, 2012 by farang000999

[soomak]

Sorry I didn't read all your post, just the part about the kids dying, but in any case you are just having a glimpse of how the whole world looked like 300 years ago, and much of it still looks like.

It's unpleasant, sometimes cruel, but that's the way it was and still is for many people.

Just feel lucky that you were born in a modern country, where this kind of stuff is rare.

And yes, this is not a great country is any way, most people stay here because of a woman or women.

[PapaNasty]

Ok this is going to sound a bit negative buttt..........

It sounds like your TGF's village is the ar*se end of Thai society. As you yourself say, it's poorer than most of Isaan, which means that it's really not representative of Thailand itself. Instead maybe look at somewhere in Isaan for a better, safer lifestyle (At probably a similar cost of living). Of course Australia is better to raise your kids, although as you say, it's still not all smooth sailing there, no wher is.

However, your TGF's village sounds like somewhere which isn't hugely desireable to live in, and definitely not somewhere to raise children.

As it sounds like, it's the poorest of the poor who live there. Anyone who has any motivation to succede in life will get out of that town, anyone who wants a better future for their children, will get out of that town. This is probably why half the population of the town are working elsewhere, so that they can one day save enough to get out of town..... as a farang in that town, you already have the funds, you just need to pickup and leave.

It's a cycle, a vicious cycle, but a cycle none the less. Kids that grow up in an environment like that, see that drinking, gambling and in general, being a lazy layabout is normal. They see it as the norm, mum and dad do it, so why can't I? grandma and grandpa do it, so why can't I?, my friends parents and grand parents do it, so why can't I? My friends do it, so why can't I?. So they skip school, go out to mor lum concerts, drink whiskey, maybe experiment with yaa baa, then end up as mothers or fathers while still young, with no education and no job prospects. They then realise the reality of life, so have to move away from the village so that they can work to support their children, leaving their children with their grandparents.

While they are away working, they are low skilled workers, so can't get a good salary and have barely enough to live for themselves and likely can't send a lot back to their families, especially as old habits die hard, if they could just win the small lottery....then all their problems would go away, but after winning they wake up with a hangover the next day and after paying off their loans to friends still don't have much to send home.

Meanwhile back in their village, their grandmothers and grandfathers are the role models for their children. They get sent money every month from their children who are working in bangkok, which is great, as the income from their rice farm was barely able to sustain them by itself, but with a little extra it gives them enough money for a bit of Lao Kao and tickets in the small lottery, if they could just win the small lottery all of their problems would go away, maybe borrow some money for some extra tickets this week because it's the lucky September the 9th lottery draw. They sit about all day doing bugger all, and so the children see that this is what their role models do, therefore this is what they can do too. Then when they become teenagers, they too go out drinking and partying with all of their friends, who all enjoy doing these same things and end up with children while they're still in school, thus having to drop out with little/no education and instead taking a low education job in Bangkok. Then the cycle begins again.....

Anywho, that's my 2c. My town is quite nice, but I see the same thing as what I've described above, happening to my TGF's cousins who live near us. I can see what's likely to happen in the future, I hope that it can be prevented, especially if they come to visit us sometimes, as they're a minority within our area, so hopefully there will be some good influences for them. But I won't hold my breath on that.

Edit: Oh and rather than just complaining about a problem, if you'd like a solution.......

1/ Take the children away from the parents, send them to boarding shcool or similar. It's the environment and their "role models" which is causing the problem

2/ Education for the children and young people. Only problem is, that they probably won't go to class, not unless they're forced to, and discipline isn't something which goes well with Thailand (Hence boarding school). There is this big belief, that it's Thai culture to respect their elders etc, but when they live within a corrupted culture, they need their parents to be strong.... but when their parents are in Bangkok, and grandma and grandpa just sit on the porch drinking all day.... there's little to inspire them.

3/ The parents need to move their families away from the bad culture, but to do this, the parents also need to banish this culture from their own lives too, which isn't easy. However, moving away from the corrupted community culture is definitely a good start.

Edited December 1, 2012 by PapaNasty

[WilliaminBKK]

OP your priority is your son, get home & be the best Dad you can. You don't want to hear it but you really are a lucky guy, I respect you taking on being a single parent.

Brain dump everything else and don't let the crap get you down.

[rene123]

I feel for what the OP is saying, but I have to agree with PapaNasty. Those are things that happen in poor cultures. I could repeat almost the same things happening in Canada where I grew up. But, it is on the native Indian reserves, now called "First Nations". Young children are left alone without supervision and many of them die. There seemed to be funeral every week at the local native reserve, and it was almost always some very young child playing where it shouldn't have been. And, with no adult around to supervise. It is sad and it is frustrating, but there isn't much the common citizen can do about it. If we try to interfere we are told we are not wanted. Just look at the horrible practise of female circumcision that is still being done in many parts of Africa and some Islamic cultures.

[phuturatica]

So many bad things are happening where you go. Maybe you're the one with the bad luck?

Good luck in Australia.

[themadpoorfreelover]

look i know that bad shit happened everywhere. what i am trying to say that in my TGF village its just rampantly disproportionate to other place i have been.

I mean seriously i think that area could have been one of the worst i have visited in thailand?.

and yes my views are something like i think Australia should correct its problems with its first people before it give aid out to other countries. i have lived around some of the aboriginal people "camps" and they live worse than refugees in a war zone. the UN needs to go down there and give them tents. The australian government builds them houses which many are taken care of good, but some people do things like use the frame in the walls for firewood and stuff.

we do have some people in my city who had "house of horrors" the australian police came and took away their kids and stuff

http://www.adelaiden...3-1226442567229

http://www.adelaiden...37816697?page=6

hmm after looking at some pictures maybe there is Australians who are so bad...

but this is more rare than common. even in the poorer areas.

what to do...

Edited December 1, 2012 by themadpoorfreelover

[impulse]

There are a million children living in poverty in the richest country on Earth. Address that first before expecting Thailand to do better.

Agree it's an unacceptable situation, but most folks in the world aspire to live at a level that would be considered "poverty" in the richest country on Earth. Better to look up what each country defines as poverty before judging one or the other.

Edited December 1, 2012 by impulse

[hotandhumid]

I started reading your post but it just went on far far too long pal.......some sad stories indeed "(what I did read) but as others have have said it isn't just here....generally the Thai people love children, everyone can see that, I have 2 little ones and they are adored even by complete strangers.

Rememeber, we live in a sick evil world, that is FACT. So have to look for the good things of which there are plenty.

[themadpoorfreelover]

There are a million children living in poverty in the richest country on Earth. Address that first before expecting Thailand to do better.

Why don't you live somewhere else in Thailand?

ok ill try to address that:

Is that country USA? yes it may be economically rich, but the growth has been handled the wrong way and now it is the distopic republic of the free world. i see they love to say US is the greatest country in the world, land of the free home of the brave, only in america and the american dream. from what i can see it is not really any of those things. its close to the most violent country in the world, home of the greed, yes only in america and the american nightmare. it would have been a great place (for some people) to live in the 50's, rock and roll, lots of jobs, cool cars.. but yeh distopia. when i dream of bieng a writer i dream of writing distopia novels, about societies that start with pure, high ideals which eventully fall apart, if one was to write a present day story about USA it could qualify as such a story.

i cant say that living in poverty there would be better than here. it is very violent. but here ill address your problems. here is my ideallic solution but it cannot be realized as you are too far gone:

1. Ban gun sales to the public, destroy all the private arms collections.

2 create an inheritance cap which is strictly adhered to, ie a cap on transferring of personal asserts between parties

create and asset cap, keep your system as a capitalist model but with restrictions.

3 no privatization of public works, telecommunications etc

4 use money confiscated from the 1 % to build homes for the 1 million without.

5 it cant be done it is impossible, all the people in power will use thier money to stay there, make coups and other mischief, it may be the richest country but i lags behind others culturally and socially. comparing Thai and USA is interesting but almost has similarities.... only the first idea would actually cause some radical change in your country, it would take a few decades to start getting guns off the street but in the end that one action could have a huge positive effect. ACTUALLY i am wrong. gun control has not improved safety of its citizens see:

http://www.saf.org/j...dexperiment.pdf

so there is not hope im sorry it looks like a worldwide mess....

by far the better countries are the less populated ones, some northern European countries and maybe if there was and island rupublic in the pacific with no problems and plenty of fresh good food then i guess you would want to live there. I had a french friend from new caledonia, from what i know if they worked hard they could achieve a utopian society.. but yet im not sure...

foreign investment here is propping up the economy. My wife's aunties and uncles work in the biggest surfboard factory in the world.

http://www.cobrainter.com/

more than 4000 employees. crazy the amount of fiberglass products they pump out.

maybe that's the problem with Thailand, they have set ideals which are too high for the country and its people to follow, and it lags behind miserably.

Edited December 1, 2012 by themadpoorfreelover

[Travel2003]

This is not a horrible country.

Problems here as other countries have.

The type of problems will differ from country to country, due to the cultural and developed differences.

Good luck Sir.

[krisb]

look i know that bad shit happened everywhere. what i am trying to say that in my TGF village its just rampantly disproportionate to other place i have been.

I mean seriously i think that area could have been one of the worst i have visited in thailand?.

and yes my views are something like i think Australia should correct its problems with its first people before it give aid out to other countries. i have lived around some of the aboriginal people "camps" and they live worse than refugees in a war zone. the UN needs to go down there and give them tents. The australian government builds them houses which many are taken care of good, but some people do things like use the frame in the walls for firewood and stuff.

we do have some people in my city who had "house of horrors" the australian police came and took away their kids and stuff

http://www.adelaiden...3-1226442567229

http://www.adelaiden...37816697?page=6

hmm after looking at some pictures maybe there is Australians who are so bad...

but this is more rare than common. even in the poorer areas.

what to do...

Well I would appreciate not putting pictures up of Aussie problems.

That what you can do...not Thai related.

[themadpoorfreelover]

This is not a horrible country.

i disagree.

it feels like many farangs dont really get out there much, i could have made my post about 1000x longer trying to put in everything i have seen here over the last four years.

if one was living in some nice little city in thailand like chiang mai, and hung around the center of town with all the farangs, then thailand can seem like a pretty cool place. i invite you to spend a few months in my tgf village, free accomodation, free food (rice) tell me its not a horrible country. i mean like i said have you ever caught the train out of Bangkok in the daytime, as it slowly rocks past all the slums and people that live under freeways, on canals, and in betweeen every other road, intersection and sewerage pipe? if there are worse places than that then this place is a horrible country, if those are the worst places then it is a horrible country, to allow that to happen.

farangs we have to be responsible for some of the damage too. they leave their trash on the roads, pay to ride the elephants, take pictures of the hill people, buy stuff from tourist markets at inflated prices, give people some crazy ideas about farang and thier "lands" and semen in the women.

there is a young kid in TGF village whos italian father got the mother pregnant, by not wearing a condom while he was on a holiday, really cute kid, I would be happy to be her dad.. but yeh he didnt care/know/take responsibility. it is a bit sad, I am literally the only farang ever to live in there, and every time i come back to the big city she will come running out of her home to see me... oh there is even another girl who has the same name as my son, was born in the same month she is about 7 now, half farang kid with an australia dad. the dad "went home to work" when she was born, never to return... it is clear she is half farang, i tried to explain to the mother that she could get possibly get an Australian passport and maybe have some kind of a life or education there, the first thing the mum asked is "will Australia give us money".... i said no and they offered the responsibility to me to take the kid to australia with my son, but i think raising the kid in thailand would be no problem, but to bring someone who is not your kid to Australia would be hard ?

[themadpoorfreelover]

look i know that bad shit happened everywhere. what i am trying to say that in my TGF village its just rampantly disproportionate to other place i have been.

I mean seriously i think that area could have been one of the worst i have visited in thailand?.

and yes my views are something like i think Australia should correct its problems with its first people before it give aid out to other countries. i have lived around some of the aboriginal people "camps" and they live worse than refugees in a war zone. the UN needs to go down there and give them tents. The australian government builds them houses which many are taken care of good, but some people do things like use the frame in the walls for firewood and stuff.

we do have some people in my city who had "house of horrors" the australian police came and took away their kids and stuff

http://www.adelaiden...3-1226442567229

http://www.adelaiden...37816697?page=6

hmm after looking at some pictures maybe there is Australians who are so bad...

but this is more rare than common. even in the poorer areas.

what to do...

Well I would appreciate not putting pictures up of Aussie problems.

That what you can do...not Thai related.

yeh well i was just trying to take both sides of the argument.

for me im still hashing it out i could go either way with this love/hate relationship i have for thailand. but the more people i hear from and if anybody can put forward a convincing argument that is more than a few lines then maybe ill take heed and listen.

[themadpoorfreelover]

look i know that bad shit happened everywhere. what i am trying to say that in my TGF village its just rampantly disproportionate to other place i have been.

I mean seriously i think that area could have been one of the worst i have visited in thailand?.

and yes my views are something like i think Australia should correct its problems with its first people before it give aid out to other countries. i have lived around some of the aboriginal people "camps" and they live worse than refugees in a war zone. the UN needs to go down there and give them tents. The australian government builds them houses which many are taken care of good, but some people do things like use the frame in the walls for firewood and stuff.

we do have some people in my city who had "house of horrors" the australian police came and took away their kids and stuff

http://www.adelaiden...3-1226442567229

http://www.adelaiden...37816697?page=6

hmm after looking at some pictures maybe there is Australians who are so bad...

but this is more rare than common. even in the poorer areas.

what to do...

Well I would appreciate not putting pictures up of Aussie problems.

That what you can do...not Thai related.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2012/11/28/09/20/toddler-killed-in-garage-racing-identitys-son

sorry but i had to.

[expatdreamer]

Mate,

I live in Australia now and would like to move/retire to Thailand one day. Just saving up as much as I can before I do it.

Kids die everyday here in Oz (swimming pool backyard drownings, toddlers getting run over by big 4WDs, etc)

We have very poor areas here as well, just take a drive around some of the suburbs where the government has provided housing to people on welfare (I can guarantee that you will want to have your car doors locked and you wont be wanting to walk around there late at night)

OK, the governmentt provides handouts here to the poor, and free state schools, but if you live in a poor area, those schools arent going to be the best. Your child could get bullied, bashed up, or end up on drugs very easily.

I dont know your personal situation re age and gf status, but if you are planning to come here with your son as a single dad, and you are middle aged, you wont have anywhere near the ability to get a woman of the quality (looks, younger than you, etc) like you can have over there in Thailand. But you probably already know this. And if you own a house here and decide to live with a woman, well be prepared to hand over half of the house after 2 years if the relationship goes bust - dont think that can happen in LOS. And if you have a child with a woman, and the relationship goes pear shaped, well you wont be worried about stuff like what you are worrying about now, more likely you will be wondering when the courts will let you see your child again.

Ultimately you need to decide what you want to do with your son. Just saying the grass isnt always greener.

[themadpoorfreelover]

Mate,

I live in Australia now and would like to move/retire to Thailand one day. Just saving up as much as I can before I do it.

Kids die everyday here in Oz (swimming pool backyard drownings, toddlers getting run over by big 4WDs, etc)

We have very poor areas here as well, just take a drive around some of the suburbs where the government has provided housing to people on welfare (I can guarantee that you will want to have your car doors locked and you wont be wanting to walk around there late at night)

OK, the governmentt provides handouts here to the poor, and free state schools, but if you live in a poor area, those schools arent going to be the best. Your child could get bullied, bashed up, or end up on drugs very easily.

I dont know your personal situation re age and gf status, but if you are planning to come here with your son as a single dad, and you are middle aged, you wont have anywhere near the ability to get a woman of the quality (looks, younger than you, etc) like you can have over there in Thailand. But you probably already know this. And if you own a house here and decide to live with a woman, well be prepared to hand over half of the house after 2 years if the relationship goes bust - dont think that can happen in LOS. And if you have a child with a woman, and the relationship goes pear shaped, well you wont be worried about stuff like what you are worrying about now, more likely you will be wondering when the courts will let you see your child again.

I dont know your personal situation and

yeh well i dont know if you have lived in Thailand yet or not.

A few years ago I was encouraging my mother with the idea that she could retire here with here boyfriend and live happily ever after. she is not rich but a normal lady, and she probably doesn't have enough money to fully insulate herself from all the chaos. but we both decided last time she visited that it wasnt a good idea. if you are going to retire here i hope you are Thai smart and ready for the headaches. if you want to get involved with the women then you will find that you could have a more fulfilling relationship with Chang beer than the average Thai woman. yes i think all the visa stuff is a bit easy for retirees but i hope for yuor sake you speak the language and understand the culture, or my words will be ringing in your ears in ten years time...

mate i have had better looking more intelligent girlfriend in australia, bout 3 long termers and 100+ other women in my time there, yes when i first live in pattaya as a young man in the first year i scored more girls than i had in five years in Adelaide (it got to over 100 different ones), but yeh i got sick of that because they are uneducated and you do get bored of the same game that is too easy to play (and it doesn't always involve money). and you say the educated ones? well personally i cant stand thai culture and i can think of nothing more boring than bowing to granma and granpa all the time, and if you are an old guy with a young girl you may be even older than granma and granpa but they wont respect you anything.

" toddlers getting run over by big 4WDs, etc)"

yes this was in the news as i pointed out, but you are seriously wrong

but Thailand official road toll for ever year is about 12-13000 people with about 110,000 injuries resulting from around 85,000 road accidents, or every year 20 in 100,000 people will die on the rods in thailand

australias rate is 5.7 people per 100,000 fatalities.

remeber thailand in size is 15x smaller than australia, that is 15 thailands could fit into australia. but has less than three times the population.

so in that respect thailand is more dangerous than australia

and you are planning to retire here, good luck, I have met some people that got away with it nicely and do what they want to do, but i ahve heard every kind of sob, dissapointment and horror story here too.

[themadpoorfreelover]

Mate,

I live in Australia now and would like to move/retire to Thailand one day. Just saving up as much as I can before I do it.

I know the story of an old guy who met a lady from my TGF village in pattaya, he was about 70-80 and from UK i think. (remember there are only about 200 people in this village but alot happens) so anyway, he came back to their house in the country saw what a horror it was and decided to build them a new one. he had fallen head over heals for her.

about him- he was aparantly in a walking frame, he couldnt walk without help.

about her, she was at the time a mid 30's ice using in and out of jail prostitute...

anyway,

so he built the home, bought the camry, gave money to the family, did anything to keep her happy, occasionally she would relieve him and cook him a bowl of fried rice or something, anyway, like i said he couldn't really walk well, not more than a 100m even with his walking frame. so she starts to become a bit abusive and stuff, stealing his money, smoking rock, gambling the gold he bought her, but he still loves her and and would do anything for her.. so she gets bored and starts going down to pattaya and mucking about and stuff like that, he lets her at first but then she doesn't return at times for weeks or whatever he is stuck with grandma (younger than him) who has a heart of gold cooks him his bucket of rice everyday and changes his diapers... eventually she came back from pattaya only to take him back down to pattaya, as he is unable to travel alone. so he goes down to pattaya from prachinburi with his "love", while she sit in some some bar, no doubt she is up to the usual tricks, he forgives her and takes her back to the hotel room. he needs someones company he is old and dying. she really took him down to pattaya to get access to his bank account which of course she gets his visa or whatever and starts going around on a spending spree.. anyway 3 or 4 days or rock smoking and partying in soi buahkaw she realizes her sugar daddy has been alone in the hotel room, she gets back there to find him lying in his own sweat and urine, dying in the bed dehydrated and really in a bad incoherent way... she is scared.. I mean he was nearly dead, what did she do, well she took him down to banglamung hospital and she told the staff there that she found this old guy on beach road and he was all messed up. they (i guess she was with some other junkie friends) then just left him there, threw his passport in the bin or lost it or whatever, maxed out his card, went directly back to the village and sold the car that he had put in her name and got rid of everything that was his. in short, they never saw him again, i guess he didnt really know where they lived or anything, i mean this guy was on his way out, I cant for sure say what did happen to him but im sure if he came back to life he would be an emotional wreck. yes her name is kung and there is not point worrying she is in jail again now.. but yeh... THIS IS THAILAND.

[David006]

OP your priority is your son, get home & be the best Dad you can. You don't want to hear it but you really are a lucky guy, I respect you taking on being a single parent.

Brain dump everything else and don't let the crap get you down.

+1 Think someplace like Melbourne ( beat out Vancouver as worlds most livable city?) would be good..raised our twins there from 11+ to Uni.....sure there are problems but seems a better option for you...good luck mate.

[expatdreamer]

I dont know your personal situation and

yeh well i dont know if you have lived in Thailand yet or not.

A few years ago I was encouraging my mother with the idea that she could retire here with here boyfriend and live happily ever after. she is not rich but a normal lady, and she probably doesn't have enough money to fully insulate herself from all the chaos. but we both decided last time she visited that it wasnt a good idea. if you are going to retire here i hope you are Thai smart and ready for the headaches. if you want to get involved with the women then you will find that you could have a more fulfilling relationship with Chang beer than the average Thai woman. yes i think all the visa stuff is a bit easy for retirees but i hope for yuor sake you speak the language and understand the culture, or my words will be ringing in your ears in ten years time...

mate i have had better looking more intelligent girlfriend in australia, bout 3 long termers and 100+ other women in my time there, yes when i first live in pattaya as a young man in the first year i scored more girls than i had in five years in Adelaide (it got to over 100 different ones), but yeh i got sick of that because they are uneducated and you do get bored of the same game that is too easy to play (and it doesn't always involve money). and you say the educated ones? well personally i cant stand thai culture and i can think of nothing more boring than bowing to granma and granpa all the time, and if you are an old guy with a young girl you may be even older than granma and granpa but they wont respect you anything.

" toddlers getting run over by big 4WDs, etc)"

yes this was in the news as i pointed out, but you are seriously wrong

but Thailand official road toll for ever year is about 12-13000 people with about 110,000 injuries resulting from around 85,000 road accidents, or every year 20 in 100,000 people will die on the rods in thailand

australias rate is 5.7 people per 100,000 fatalities.

remeber thailand in size is 15x smaller than australia, that is 15 thailands could fit into australia. but has less than three times the population.

so in that respect thailand is more dangerous than australia

and you are planning to retire here, good luck, I have met some people that got away with it nicely and do what they want to do, but i ahve heard every kind of sob, dissapointment and horror story here too.

"you could have a more fulfilling relationship with Chang beer than the average Thai woman" - LOL!

OK, I just read another one of your posts which said you are 24. So I have to moderate some of what I said. You wont have a problem with women here in Oz at that age, and indeed I have no doubt all of what you say is true re the success you have had here and in LOS with women. Maybe wait till you are double that age, and then you might feel different at 48 here in Oz. From what I also read from one of your other posts you have a house in Oz (you have done well to have that at your age) so sounds like you will be fine back here. Raise your son here, then move back to LOS if you feel like it when your retired.

More than happy for you to PM me with your horror stories, always interested to know what to look out for and mistakes to avoid.

[themadpoorfreelover]

OP your priority is your son, get home & be the best Dad you can. You don't want to hear it but you really are a lucky guy, I respect you taking on being a single parent.

Brain dump everything else and don't let the crap get you down.

+1 Think someplace like Melbourne ( beat out Vancouver as worlds most livable city?) would be good..raised our twins there from 11+ to Uni.....sure there are problems but seems a better option for you...good luck mate.

yeh mate going to hobart, lived in melbourne and hobart. melbourne a bit big for me these days need something a little more easy to get around.. hobart is like a little melbourne only colder (sick of this heat)...

[themadpoorfreelover]

I dont know your personal situation and

yeh well i dont know if you have lived in Thailand yet or not.

A few years ago I was encouraging my mother with the idea that she could retire here with here boyfriend and live happily ever after. she is not rich but a normal lady, and she probably doesn't have enough money to fully insulate herself from all the chaos. but we both decided last time she visited that it wasnt a good idea. if you are going to retire here i hope you are Thai smart and ready for the headaches. if you want to get involved with the women then you will find that you could have a more fulfilling relationship with Chang beer than the average Thai woman. yes i think all the visa stuff is a bit easy for retirees but i hope for yuor sake you speak the language and understand the culture, or my words will be ringing in your ears in ten years time...

mate i have had better looking more intelligent girlfriend in australia, bout 3 long termers and 100+ other women in my time there, yes when i first live in pattaya as a young man in the first year i scored more girls than i had in five years in Adelaide (it got to over 100 different ones), but yeh i got sick of that because they are uneducated and you do get bored of the same game that is too easy to play (and it doesn't always involve money). and you say the educated ones? well personally i cant stand thai culture and i can think of nothing more boring than bowing to granma and granpa all the time, and if you are an old guy with a young girl you may be even older than granma and granpa but they wont respect you anything.

" toddlers getting run over by big 4WDs, etc)"

yes this was in the news as i pointed out, but you are seriously wrong

but Thailand official road toll for ever year is about 12-13000 people with about 110,000 injuries resulting from around 85,000 road accidents, or every year 20 in 100,000 people will die on the rods in thailand

australias rate is 5.7 people per 100,000 fatalities.

remeber thailand in size is 15x smaller than australia, that is 15 thailands could fit into australia. but has less than three times the population.

so in that respect thailand is more dangerous than australia

and you are planning to retire here, good luck, I have met some people that got away with it nicely and do what they want to do, but i ahve heard every kind of sob, dissapointment and horror story here too.

"you could have a more fulfilling relationship with Chang beer than the average Thai woman" - LOL!

OK, I just read another one of your posts which said you are 24. So I have to moderate some of what I said. You wont have a problem with women here in Oz at that age, and indeed I have no doubt all of what you say is true re the success you have had here and in LOS with women. Maybe wait till you are double that age, and then you might feel different at 48 here in Oz. From what I also read from one of your other posts you have a house in Oz (you have done well to have that at your age) so sounds like you will be fine back here. Raise your son here, then move back to LOS if you feel like it when your retired.

More than happy for you to PM me with your horror stories, always interested to know what to look out for and mistakes to avoid.

just read the horror story about the old guy its just after your first post.. that will make you think twice...

but if you do go to the village, just eat with them and sleep on the floor, you'll quickly fit in!

[draftvader]

Though I disagree with the OP almost entirely I can say that I empathise a tiny amount. About 3 years ago in our soi, in Bangplad, a young man had not been keeping up on his repayments on his Fino. The loan shark took a dim view and sent a reminder for him. 2 in the morning he and his girlfriend (a girl born and raised in the soi) were pulled from their bed and she was shot dead in front of him. The end result to this was all the new Finos at the top of the soi disappeared the next morning (I assumed they all returned them to the loan shark).

The thing that bugged me (and still does when I see him) is that he was back drinking and chatting with the girl's family within 3 weeks of her death. There was no secret that it was his debt that caused her death yet he seemed forgiven.

This was never going to stop me living in the soi or returning there (now we have left) to see our friends. I just wonder how they can even face him. Not something I could see myself doing if the same happened to my little girl. I can only see my hands around his throat even though I am not a violent man (the last time I landed a punch I was still wearing knee-length shorts!).

[expatdreamer]

Mate,

I live in Australia now and would like to move/retire to Thailand one day. Just saving up as much as I can before I do it.

I know the story of an old guy who met a lady from my TGF village in pattaya, he was about 70-80 and from UK i think. (remember there are only about 200 people in this village but alot happens) so anyway, he came back to their house in the country saw what a horror it was and decided to build them a new one. he had fallen head over heals for her.

about him- he was aparantly in a walking frame, he couldnt walk without help.

about her, she was at the time a mid 30's ice using in and out of jail prostitute...

anyway,

so he built the home, bought the camry, gave money to the family, did anything to keep her happy, occasionally she would relieve him and cook him a bowl of fried rice or something, anyway, like i said he couldn't really walk well, not more than a 100m even with his walking frame. so she starts to become a bit abusive and stuff, stealing his money, smoking rock, gambling the gold he bought her, but he still loves her and and would do anything for her.. so she gets bored and starts going down to pattaya and mucking about and stuff like that, he lets her at first but then she doesn't return at times for weeks or whatever he is stuck with grandma (younger than him) who has a heart of gold cooks him his bucket of rice everyday and changes his diapers... eventually she came back from pattaya only to take him back down to pattaya, as he is unable to travel alone. so he goes down to pattaya from prachinburi with his "love", while she sit in some some bar, no doubt she is up to the usual tricks, he forgives her and takes her back to the hotel room. he needs someones company he is old and dying. she really took him down to pattaya to get access to his bank account which of course she gets his visa or whatever and starts going around on a spending spree.. anyway 3 or 4 days or rock smoking and partying in soi buahkaw she realizes her sugar daddy has been alone in the hotel room, she gets back there to find him lying in his own sweat and urine, dying in the bed dehydrated and really in a bad incoherent way... she is scared.. I mean he was nearly dead, what did she do, well she took him down to banglamung hospital and she told the staff there that she found this old guy on beach road and he was all messed up. they (i guess she was with some other junkie friends) then just left him there, threw his passport in the bin or lost it or whatever, maxed out his card, went directly back to the village and sold the car that he had put in her name and got rid of everything that was his. in short, they never saw him again, i guess he didnt really know where they lived or anything, i mean this guy was on his way out, I cant for sure say what did happen to him but im sure if he came back to life he would be an emotional wreck. yes her name is kung and there is not point worrying she is in jail again now.. but yeh... THIS IS THAILAND.

no fool like an old fool - thanks for the story