Should I Move To Pattaya?

[jdinasia]

short answer to the OP .... "no"

[Mobi]

Is it manditory that you quit your job? Could you just take an unpaid leave of absents? Maybe you could keep your seniority.

Actually, I'm considering the same thing so this thread has been very useful - and I'm not a troll.

Or maybe even go sick for a year - as many of the Europeans, whose quality of life, the OP is so envious of, are apt to do now and then.

Or better still, go and live in Basildon for a year, where the entire town's population is on disability benefit.

[davethailand]

Or better still, go and live in Basildon for a year, where the entire town's population is on disability benefit.

[wannabeexpat]

I just want to thank everybody for taking the time to give me some valuable advice. It was really helpful. My final decision is to go to Thailand for 6 months beginning in October. Work for 6 months in America. Then repeat. A 6 month holiday every year sounds good to me. I'm tired of selling my soul/life for a few bucks. Thanks again!

[slipper1]

I have seen many guys come to Pattaya with a few Million Baht and think it will last them a lifetime, sure they have a good time when they first get there, they don't worry about how much they are spending at first.

After a while they realise that they can't keep living the way they are and try to economise, eventually they have to economise even further then even further after that, eventually they become just another jaded shabby Farang sitting outside a local shop at 10 am drinking the first of his Chang beers for the day, waiting for his new buddies to awaken from their drunken sleeps to join him in the daily slagging off of Thailand and all things Thai.

The Traffic, the Pollution, Thai drivers, Thai men, Thai women, Thai intelligence, Thai politicians, Thai Police, Thai immigration laws, dumb Farangs that send money to bar girls ( secretly wishing someone would be stupid enough to send it to them instead ), Farang tourists that throw money around and give girls too much money, ( Fcuks it up for the rest of us! )....etc etc....

Many come here as fun loving guys that think they have found paradise, many end up jaded, cynical and suicidal.

Welcome to Pattaya.

well cant help thinking that after reading near to the bottom of your story,,it sounds like you been there,,worn the cap,,won the egg race,,,and done millions in on thai brass???

come on Maigo6,,tell us the truth about your secret life!!!!

[nagasaki]

I think this is an excellent topic, I have thought of this for a while, and come up with the same idea, 6 month in either place, thinking of jobs that will allow me to work in UK 6 months and holiday 6 months thailand, also am of a similar age, been to thailand 4 times in 2 ytears, and am not naive in any way, especially about how easy money can fritter away in Thailand

only advice I would give is not to worry to much about pension, i am 43 and have property anyway, but seems to me in UK when i get to that age 70 will be retiring age, and i might poip my clogs without having chance to spend my money

[tc101]

been to thailand 4 times in 2 tears, and am not naive in any way, especially about how easy money can fritter away in Thailand

How much money do you need to have a good time, and what are the big mistakes people make about frittering away money?

[pepsi666]

If you want advice about living in Thailand or Bangkok, I'd ask Mobi D'Ark, the guy has been in Thailand on and off for 30 years, he posts some pretty good advice and you dont get no BS

He does tend to say it how it is and not what you want to hear (this tends to get him sent on 'holiday' frequently )

Send him a PM, in fact send PM's to the few people who have been in Thailand sometime, they'll tell you the pitfalls the hard luck stories and the succeses

But for my tuppence worh I'd look for an early retirement*, rather than ditching it and starting at the bottom again (hard if your over 40)

* this is what I'm after, work like a dog for a couple of years, crack in as much O/T, as much PJ's as hours will allow and then a big Iron bird heading east

Edited April 10, 2006 by pepsi666

[roderick17]

Good luck with your upcoming adventure. I reckon you will succeed with your relocation plans and I hope you relish in the new sort of decadent lifestlye that is Sin City.

I plan to retire to pattaya next year, if you are in town then I'd be happy to buy your a beer or two to see how your plan isunfolding for you.

Roderick

I just want to thank everybody for taking the time to give me some valuable advice. It was really helpful. My final decision is to go to Thailand for 6 months beginning in October. Work for 6 months in America. Then repeat. A 6 month holiday every year sounds good to me. I'm tired of selling my soul/life for a few bucks. Thanks again!

[icecubes]

Sorry to be a downer ear.

I have not met one person who has done 6 months

In there home country working then spent the proceeds on a 6 month holiday in the LOS.on a regular basis year after year. It?s just a nice dream. to many things go wrong.

Loads of people will tell you they do it, but I watch them go back well before the six months is up, the reason. why for this you may ask?

Its the cost of accommodation , not in Thailand but in there home country. It will eat a big chunk of your earnings up.

So you will have to work more than six months to pay for the six here.

It will end up about 9 months home country and 3 here. That?s ok if that?s what you want.

Even if you own your own pad in your own country it won?t be easy, rented out or left empty when you come over here both scenarios can, and do have problems, break-ins, non payers, people trash the place!!! the list is endless. Can you deal with all of this from the bar stool you will be sitting on in pattaya? No is the real answer.

It maSoap Doggersy evolve a trip back home to deal with things. family stuff and all that,

it alSoap dodgersl comes at a monetary cost. Get my drift. You need a lot of cash for the unexpected disaster,, they do come her, thick and fast some times.

I?m not trying to piss on anyone?s bonfire but its more involved trying to have two different lives in two different countries than people think.

Having said all that, this is my advice if you want it.

Come here with say 13000.00 us, have a good time, do all the bars and as many girls as you can handle. Don?t take a full time lover, you will find that quite hard, but be strong, move on to the next, you don?t want anyone clouding your judgment over the year.

Move around Thailand for a few weeks Pattaya might not be the place for you, don?t be frightened of not specking the language when outside Pattaya its not that hard to make your self understood, Thais are warm and welcoming people so you wont have any real problems with them, its just the money side that let them down . be careful of that one.

After the year is up in Thailand or the time the money runs out, this could be different., return to the USA and start work again, it wont be hard to step back into your old line of work after a short brake.

Then reflect on the last year in Thailand. Then ask yourself , is this where you want to be ?

If it yes, then plan for a long term future in Thailand and then ask the question here

Before you do it.

Have a nice life.

Ps for you all. -Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, was some French guy back in around 1630.

Soap dodgers

[opothai]

you omly have one life

enjoy it and go for it,

you have enough money to last a while and the idea of six months on and six months of sounds great

good luck to you

[hiromj]

One more bit of advice - read the novel called "Private Dancer" before to come. It's based in BKK but it will apply anywhere in Thailand. You can find it free on the internet. Very informative.

[Mobi]

been to thailand 4 times in 2 tears,

Only 2?? .

You're a hard hearted man

[Mobi]

If you want advice about living in Thailand or Bangkok, I'd ask Mobi D'Ark, the guy has been in Thailand on and off for 30 years, he posts some pretty good advice and you dont get no BS

That's very flattering of you Pepsi666, but I think I've just about disqualified myself from giving advice on this subject, as if you look on the visa forum, I still managed to almost screw my visa up after 30 years of coming and going with marriage visas, work permits, retirement visas, some very long illegal periods, including a spell in jail when my then employer shopped me to save his own skin.

As a young man (late twenties) I spent quite a few years here on very low wages, after coming to live here with what I thought were pots of gold. I did this several times over, and each time, managed to lose the lot very quickly - either to ladies or Thai businessmen. Of course, Pattaya in it's present form didn't exist then, so Bangkok was the place to be. I guess you could say I was one of the original naive stupid farangs. At that age I was pretty durable, and overall I had some great times - even though for much of the time I was extremely poor. There were still plenty of girls who beleived that where there's a farang there must be money - somewhere. I married one of those, but had to leave the country to make her dream come true.

Finally did pretty good in the outside world which financed various Thai homes, wives etc and very long trips back here, and these days, a comfortable retirement.

So if the original naive farang can give advice to a wanabee, I say go for it. Even if it all turns to shit, you will still have a lot of fun, and you're young eough to go back and make another pot of gold, and do it all over again, and again, and again....

[Maigo6]

One more bit of advice - read the novel called "Private Dancer" before to come. It's based in BKK but it will apply anywhere in Thailand. You can find it free on the internet. Very informative.

hahaha.....

[EnglishPaul]

Hi very intersting topic thread

Thanks to the posters who contributed

In case you haven`t guessed I also have been thinking of the option of 6 months Thailand,then 6 months back at work.

Cheers

[Sophon]

The rule of thumb that financial planners use is that if you invest your nest egg in a balanced portfolio of stock and bond mutual funds you can withdraw 4% a year and never go broke. That figures in taxes, inflation, ups and downs in the markets and so on. 4% of $500,000 is $20,000 a year, which is enough to live modestly in the USA, so I am sure you could live on less than that in Thailand.

Mainstream financial planners almost always advice INCREASING your percentage withdrawal (by a small degree) every year to account for inflation. This is totally OK as long as the BEGINNING outflow is small enough. Some planners advise cutting back during down years in the market. Also, remember, very important point, you will not live forever. Unless you need to leave a legacy, history has shown you can't take it with you, and at a certain point, you CAN start eating into your capital. This point upsets many people. It is a shame though that so many people work so hard all their lives and then deprive themselves, only to leave a fortune in their accounts. The most successful people bounce their last check (for the funeral), but not one check beforehand.

Since the original premise for withdrawing 4% a year included inflation and never going broke, there would be no need to increase the percentage, unless you wanted to raise your standard of living along the way.

Of course, if you are planning for the money to run out around the time you do the same, you would need to increase the percentage to fight off inflation.

Sophon

[Sophon]

You quit your job when you were 40 and were able to go back without losing seniority. Great. I wish my job would let me do that. You didn't say, but it's my guess that your English. I've always admired the quality of life the Europeans enjoy. 35 hour work weeks, 6 weeks vacation, 1 year off for the birth of a child, generous benefits, etc...

Actually I'm Scandinavian but not even "the Scandinavian model" have quite the benefits you seem to believe. I do have the 6 weeks vacation though .

I did apply for a leave of absense but in the end had to quit my job, so there were no guarantees I would be able to get my job back. However, in the end it all worked out.

If it's possible for you to work six months followed by six months off, I think that would be a very good solution. How feasible that would be would however very much depend on your fixed expenses back home. I wish such a schedule was possible for me, but where I come from it would be all but impossible to find anyone wanting to hire you for only six months of the year.

Sophon

[Thaiquila]

The rule of thumb that financial planners use is that if you invest your nest egg in a balanced portfolio of stock and bond mutual funds you can withdraw 4% a year and never go broke. That figures in taxes, inflation, ups and downs in the markets and so on. 4% of $500,000 is $20,000 a year, which is enough to live modestly in the USA, so I am sure you could live on less than that in Thailand.

Mainstream financial planners almost always advice INCREASING your percentage withdrawal (by a small degree) every year to account for inflation. This is totally OK as long as the BEGINNING outflow is small enough. Some planners advise cutting back during down years in the market. Also, remember, very important point, you will not live forever. Unless you need to leave a legacy, history has shown you can't take it with you, and at a certain point, you CAN start eating into your capital. This point upsets many people. It is a shame though that so many people work so hard all their lives and then deprive themselves, only to leave a fortune in their accounts. The most successful people bounce their last check (for the funeral), but not one check beforehand.

Since the original premise for withdrawing 4% a year included inflation and never going broke, there would be no need to increase the percentage, unless you wanted to raise your standard of living along the way.

Of course, if you are planning for the money to run out around the time you do the same, you would need to increase the percentage to fight off inflation.

Sophon

Afraid not.

These are two totally separate issues.

Standard financial planners say START at a low percentage (4 is probably OK), and increase a VERY SMALL AMOUNT annually to cover inflation, and this still won't even begin to deplete capital in the vast majority of standard portfolios (based on historical market studies).

It is also prudent to not take an inflation raise during years in which there is a downturn in the portfolio.

Obviously the key points are having a balanced portfolio, starting at a low enough percentage (obviously the lower the better to decrease risk, starting at 3 percent would pretty much guarantee you would never run out of money), and of course the hardest part, STICKING to the program.

I personally suggest being more radical and taking life expectancy into consideration so that you don't croak with a huge pile of unspent cash. In other words, boosting the outflow in later years. Yes, it is tragic to run out of money before you run out of life, but there is such thing as a rational BALANCE.

Edited April 12, 2006 by Thaiquila

[tc101]

If you want to get into the details of financial planning, the best place I know of is www.diehards.org. I agree with the gist of previous posts. You can do more detailed planning and avoid some of the pitfalls if you read some of the books recommended on that site, and then ask some questions. This is money you need to make last the rest of your life. Learning how to do that is one of the most important things you will ever do.

[wannabeexpat]

You quit your job when you were 40 and were able to go back without losing seniority. Great. I wish my job would let me do that. You didn't say, but it's my guess that your English. I've always admired the quality of life the Europeans enjoy. 35 hour work weeks, 6 weeks vacation, 1 year off for the birth of a child, generous benefits, etc...

Actually I'm Scandinavian but not even "the Scandinavian model" have quite the benefits you seem to believe. I do have the 6 weeks vacation though .

I did apply for a leave of absense but in the end had to quit my job, so there were no guarantees I would be able to get my job back. However, in the end it all worked out.

If it's possible for you to work six months followed by six months off, I think that would be a very good solution. How feasible that would be would however very much depend on your fixed expenses back home. I wish such a schedule was possible for me, but where I come from it would be all but impossible to find anyone wanting to hire you for only six months of the year.

Sophon

I've heard about the excellent benefits the europeans enjoy from various sources. I stand corrected, I was misinformed. The benefits at my job are horrible. I don't have health insurance (because it's too expensive), I have only 3 weeks vacation, If I call in sick more then 10 times in one year I get terminated, 55 hour work week, and I could get fired for just about any reason. One good thing though; easily fired, easily hired. There's always jobs available here, albeit crappy ones. I think Monty mentioned long haul truck drivers as a good temp job. I agree. Pretty good pay, long hours, and many jobs available. Plus, driving long haul, there's no need to have an apartment (because you're on the road all the time) and you don't need a car. So you can save a lot of money.

[wannabeexpat]

Hi very intersting topic thread

Thanks to the posters who contributed

In case you haven`t guessed I also have been thinking of the option of 6 months Thailand,then 6 months back at work.

Cheers

Work hard for 6 months and then party hard for 6 months. Like Monty said, when you work for only 6 months a year, your income is lower, so you pay less taxes. It helps if you have some money saved already to help with your 6 month holiday. My total budget for my 6 month holiday is about 600,000 Baht (about $15,000)

[daleyboy]

I think Monty mentioned long haul truck drivers as a good temp job. I agree. Pretty good pay, long hours, and many jobs available. Plus, driving long haul, there's no need to have an apartment (because you're on the road all the time) and you don't need a car. So you can save a lot of money.

I know a couple of guys that do this in the uk. They live in Thailad six months a year, then come back to the uk, and work for the same company and they live in their lorries for 6 months a year. No council tax or rent. They have showers in the yard i used to work in, also have a cooker and microwave in the canteen. Their only expense is taking their washin to a laundry once a week and their food.

Persoanlly i could never do that, i used to sleep in a lorry 4 nights a week and tha was more than enough for me. Too cold in the winter, too hot in the summer, very cramped. And if you are not a really tidy person it can soon become pretty uncomfortable in there

[CaptainM]

I've always admired the quality of life the Europeans enjoy. 35 hour work weeks, 6 weeks vacation, 1 year off for the birth of a child, generous benefits, etc...

Talking of benefits. In Sweden, the goverment have started a project called "free-year".

I can take one year off and get 80% of my unemployment payment and I giving my position to a unemployed person. When I come back I just start where I stopped, one year earlier.

The goverment think this system will get longtime unemployed people a chance to get into the job-market again. I'm not so sure it will work, but it will absolutly give some people a chance to live in Thailand for a year....

[BKKGuitar]

Well, that is pretty much exactly what i did (quit a job i hated and started traveling and living on money saved) so i can relate to that exquisite combination of excitement and fear that you must be going through! It is finding a balance between the old "Enjoy your life while you're young..." and the terrifying prospect of being broke (in any country

I posted to a previous thread, maybe four months ago, on how i've been managing things on the money side, if you want to search on my old posts. It's critical how you store that money, don't neglect that part. If you handle the money well, you can make it last a LOT longer than you think.

I have total respect for you that you have the cajones to do that. Trust your instincts, you sound like a very balanced guy to me. There have been a lot of excellent posts here offering advice and comments, this is one of those threads that really brought it out of the members of this forum. PM me if you want to get together for a beer after you're on the ground...

Have a great time!!!

[jas007]

One of the big problems of going back and forth between Thailand and your home country will be all your possessions. The more stuff you have, the harder it will be to take care of it all. I'm just a few months away from a move to Thailand myself, and I'm now in the process of getting rid of furniture, artwork, books, clothing, my car, etc. Even though I don't have a lot of "stuff" at this point in my life, it sure does seem like a lot now that I have to get rid of it all. In any event, I'll be set once I manage to slim it all down to one carry-on bag and one suitcase. Then, all I have to do is show up and check into a hotel. If I get tired of one place, I'll move to another.

J

[think_too_mut]

Talking of benefits. In Sweden, the goverment have started a project called "free-year".

I can take one year off and get 80% of my unemployment payment and I giving my position to a unemployed person. When I come back I just start where I stopped, one year earlier.

In any country more wild than Sweden I would be worried about my job if it could be handed over to someone, unemployed, coming off the street.

[slipper1]

Hi. I've been to Pattaya one time about 6 months ago and loved it. My plan is to quit my job and move to Pattaya. Women, beer, beaches, weather, and cheap cost of living are some of the reasons why. I'd like to just have some fun. Maybe, I can meet a Thai girl and establish a home in Thailand. I'm 39 years old and I work as a bus driver for the city. I hope/think I have enough money saved to last 2 to 5 years. Then I will be broke and I'll have to go back to America to make more money. This is a big decision for me. I'd appreciate any advice on "if I should move to Pattaya" and "what to expect when I get there". Thanks!

Take care...

Talking of moving to pattaya,,,has any 1 heard of estate agents in pattaya called PARAGON PROPERTIES,,,i think that is there name!,,and if so,,are they a reputable estate agents? I think they have around 3 offices now in pattaya..any info would be grateful??