This is dedicated to those that still have a packed suitcase at the bottom of their beds, ready to depart at a moments notice.

I suppose some may comment what's your definition of home.

Well let me tell you mine.

I first came here physically, solely vacations, and then one early morning flying into Don Muang looking out at the rice fields below, I don't know why but I thought to myself I'm coming home.

This was the emotional stage.

Next up after my Mother passed away I thought to myself, well lets see if I can handle the humid monsoon season. As a couple of mates of mine said they actually preferred it.

Not so bad, and it's true with time you do adjust.

So now this left the physiological stage, could I in theory, let alone in practice divide my heart between two continents. Sit on the fence, run two homes with all the inherent costs that are involved.

For the first ten years I didn't have a choice as I couldn't sell my home, so I rented.

Finally I did sell, so this left the last decision to make, the financial one.

Importing committed funds into Thailand to establish a home.

These are the steps I took on this staircase to contentment, I recommend them to others as they served me well.

When Will You Call Thailand Your Home?

I supposed that would be when you were "Going "all In" In Thailand........"

.

When Immigration makes a provision ( that is followed ) for honest, law abiding foreigners to reside past a year-

I'll add personally, without having to marry a Thai.

BTW about those funds, make sure you get the " Foreign incoming funds" paper from the bank and make sure it is filled out correctly, or you will not be able to take funds back out.

I decided in 1999 to move after my divorce.

I remarried in 2000 to my Thai wife.

We moved here in 2001 and lived here ever since apart from time spent working offshore and that is when I called Thailand my home..

It was the third best thing I ever did.

The second was marrying my Thai wife.

And the first was the birth of our son 8 years ago.

Never.

When you get a comment like "if you don't like then go home" and you stay.

Though I am happy enough here in Thailand, I'm not sure I could ever call it home. There are inherent difficulties associated with living in Thailand that do not seem to be resolved.

I too have a house back in the U.K. though I refuse to sell it. I've seen and heard too many horror stories of those that broke all ties from back home. Pensioners who are now stuck here with no possibilities of going back. One or two have had to almost beg relatives to help them out by giving them a place to stay and an address so they can have things like heart operations and such.

Two people I know have lost everything when they were booted out of house and home.

No, not home, but a place I am generally happy with currently

very good question and i am not sure it will ever be my true home

maybe in time we will see.

Never but now spending a lot more time in LOS than at home

To expand a bit more. I do 90 address reports here and will continue to do 90 day address reports as long as I live here, no matter how many years. Or decades. That kind of place can't really be your home in reality. You can decide to delude yourself that it is if it makes you happier.

Lived here for almost 11 years but home???? No way, born in Scotland, forever Scottish.

By the way, I quite like it here though.

To expand a bit more. I do 90 address reports here and will continue to do 90 day address reports as long as I live here, no matter how many years. Or decades. That kind of place can't really be your home in reality. You can decide to delude yourself that it is if it makes you happier.

That's just silly. Do you know how many pieces of paper have to be filed every month and year to open a hot dog stand in Florida? Start with a fictitious name notice in triplicate to operate under your own name. Health inspector, building inspector, and on and on. Thailand is a breeze of no paperwork place. Don't be silly; living and working and everything here is a heaven for those who can't stand paperwork.

To expand a bit more. I do 90 address reports here and will continue to do 90 day address reports as long as I live here, no matter how many years. Or decades. That kind of place can't really be your home in reality. You can decide to delude yourself that it is if it makes you happier.

Yes, and very different for Thais living in farangland.

To expand a bit more. I do 90 address reports here and will continue to do 90 day address reports as long as I live here, no matter how many years. Or decades. That kind of place can't really be your home in reality. You can decide to delude yourself that it is if it makes you happier.

That's just silly. Do you know how many pieces of paper have to be filed every month and year to open a hot dog stand in Florida? Start with a fictitious name notice in triplicate to operate under your own name. Health inspector, building inspector, and on and on. Thailand is a breeze of no paperwork place. Don't be silly; living and working and everything here is a heaven for those who can't stand paperwork.

You missed my point. It wasn't about paperwork per se.

Never.

It,s not the reporting or other nonsense. It's the simple fact that we are farang and they are Thai. Very different mentality on both sides

So I'm a guest in this country. Not different to other countries in this world, where foreigners make their own groups. Even in 2nd or 3 rd generations.

To expand a bit more. I do 90 address reports here and will continue to do 90 day address reports as long as I live here, no matter how many years. Or decades. That kind of place can't really be your home in reality. You can decide to delude yourself that it is if it makes you happier.

That's just silly. Do you know how many pieces of paper have to be filed every month and year to open a hot dog stand in Florida? Start with a fictitious name notice in triplicate to operate under your own name. Health inspector, building inspector, and on and on. Thailand is a breeze of no paperwork place. Don't be silly; living and working and everything here is a heaven for those who can't stand paperwork.

You missed my point. It wasn't about paperwork per se.

The US government tracked my every move in my little business and I had to report everything I did. The cops tracked me with radar when I drove home and god forbid I crossed the street in the middle of the block. I feel the 90 day address report is a lot less intrusive on my privacy than the ever increasing big government in other Western nations. Be it the actual amount of paperwork or the government wanting to know where I live. Thailand wins on both points.

To expand a bit more. I do 90 address reports here and will continue to do 90 day address reports as long as I live here, no matter how many years. Or decades. That kind of place can't really be your home in reality. You can decide to delude yourself that it is if it makes you happier.

That's just silly. Do you know how many pieces of paper have to be filed every month and year to open a hot dog stand in Florida? Start with a fictitious name notice in triplicate to operate under your own name. Health inspector, building inspector, and on and on. Thailand is a breeze of no paperwork place. Don't be silly; living and working and everything here is a heaven for those who can't stand paperwork.

You missed my point. It wasn't about paperwork per se.

The US government tracked my every move in my little business and I had to report everything I did. The cops tracked me with radar when I drove home and god forbid I crossed the street in the middle of the block. I feel the 90 day address report is a lot less intrusive on my privacy than the ever increasing big government in other Western nations. Be it the actual amount of paperwork or the government wanting to know where I live. Thailand wins on both points.

My wife does the 90 day reports for me.

To expand a bit more. I do 90 address reports here and will continue to do 90 day address reports as long as I live here, no matter how many years. Or decades. That kind of place can't really be your home in reality. You can decide to delude yourself that it is if it makes you happier.

That's just silly. Do you know how many pieces of paper have to be filed every month and year to open a hot dog stand in Florida? Start with a fictitious name notice in triplicate to operate under your own name. Health inspector, building inspector, and on and on. Thailand is a breeze of no paperwork place. Don't be silly; living and working and everything here is a heaven for those who can't stand paperwork.

You missed my point. It wasn't about paperwork per se.

The US government tracked my every move in my little business and I had to report everything I did. The cops tracked me with radar when I drove home and god forbid I crossed the street in the middle of the block. I feel the 90 day address report is a lot less intrusive on my privacy than the ever increasing big government in other Western nations. Be it the actual amount of paperwork or the government wanting to know where I live. Thailand wins on both points.

CMK. Beware. The US government are still tracking you. Have you not noticed the black SUV with black windows parked around the corner????

And the echo on your mobile?

My home is in the Uk.

Thailand is where I live presently.

At some time in the future I will return home,

probably when my mother needs my assistance.

Home is my bank account and possessions. I can take them anywhere, so I'm always at home.

I will call Thailand home when:

Thai people stop calling me Farang and address me as Khun.

When I can get a visa that permits me to stay beyond the 2 years that my current one does.

When I can own a company and make money without having to have 51% of the shares in a Thai persons name.

When I stop getting harrassed by the boys in brown searching me every time I walk down Sukhumvit.

When I can own a house and land that I can leave to my wife and children.

When I qualify for a credit card with the same amount of salary that a Thai can get one. (50k amonth for westerner, 15k amonth for Thai!)

When I get charged the same for a tourist attraction as a Thai.

When Thai taxi drivers stop seeing me as a cash cow and rip me off.

So basically when hell freezes over - so the answer is never!!

It's best to be realistic. Rose colour on the glasses causes red on the brain ...

The 90 day report.

It is like police bail reporting to a police station.

Hardly makes you feel welcome.

I would only do that at home if I was a criminal.

It's best to be realistic. Rose colour on the glasses causes red on the brain ...

You may see what you want to see. I have built and operated 28 restaurants in 4 different countries. Thailand is a breeze. A breath of fresh air. I spend 30 minutes a year with the Thai government. In the Western countries I spent 3 hours daily complying with all their regulations. When I even think about the number of inspectors I dealt with on a daily basis I see red.

To expand a bit more. I do 90 address reports here and will continue to do 90 day address reports as long as I live here, no matter how many years. Or decades. That kind of place can't really be your home in reality. You can decide to delude yourself that it is if it makes you happier.

Yes, and very different for Thais living in farangland.

As is the process of applying for a tourist visa for Thais visiting the UK (for example) when compared to what we have to do to get a tourist visa for Thailand

In answer to the OP, I will never consider Thailand as my home. It's somewhere I will probably stay until I die but it isn't my home.

It's best to be realistic. Rose colour on the glasses causes red on the brain ...

You may see what you want to see. I have built and operated 28 restaurants in 4 different countries. Thailand is a breeze. A breath of fresh air. I spend 30 minutes a year with the Thai government. In the Western countries I spent 3 hours daily complying with all their regulations. When I even think about the number of inspectors I dealt with on a daily basis I see red.

Think you are looking at it from a money making point of view which is very different from the OP.

When Thailand gives me citizenship ...............

When Thailand gives me citizenship ...............

Agree, but for you and me it will never happen, thats when the real meaning of home and taking care of some of the natives doesn't compute here, sadly.

It's best to be realistic. Rose colour on the glasses causes red on the brain ...

You may see what you want to see. I have built and operated 28 restaurants in 4 different countries. Thailand is a breeze. A breath of fresh air. I spend 30 minutes a year with the Thai government. In the Western countries I spent 3 hours daily complying with all their regulations. When I even think about the number of inspectors I dealt with on a daily basis I see red.

Think you are looking at it from a money making point of view which is very different from the OP.

Exactly!

It's best to be realistic. Rose colour on the glasses causes red on the brain ...

You may see what you want to see. I have built and operated 28 restaurants in 4 different countries. Thailand is a breeze. A breath of fresh air. I spend 30 minutes a year with the Thai government. In the Western countries I spent 3 hours daily complying with all their regulations. When I even think about the number of inspectors I dealt with on a daily basis I see red.

Think you are looking at it from a money making point of view which is very different from the OP.

Not really money only from a BS point of view. Petty bureaucrats that took their little 10 cent jobs and made them like the Gestapo. Sure Thailand has the same problems but I only have to deal with them once a year for 30 minutes. I watched two nurses weigh a dead body because it was easier to do than then explain to an inspector he died before they weighed him that day. Inspected by the IRS. Three divorces. Government contracts. The West has gone paperwork crazy. We bought a house here last year. They typed the documents with a mechanical typewriter. It was great. When I got to Thailand I took a step back in time. I liked it. That is part of the reason I feel at home here.