Any suggestions? changes?

[JasonFieber]

Hey I am new here and I wanted to let everyone know about my plan so that if there is anything I desperately need to change I would appreciate it.  Well first off, I'm 20 years old, and right now I live in Michigan, USA.  I have about 75,000 USD that is going to fund my "trip".  Now I have been talking to some expats from the Pattaya area and it seems that the cost of living varies significantly depending on what kind of lifestyle you lead.  Well the lifestyle I want to lead, which is a backpacking type to camp on a beach with no "tough" women, seems to be able to get by on about 10,000 baht a month or around 250 USD monthly.  Now my plan is to keep part of my money in a savings account with an ATM card with me and an ATM card with the person running my account in case I lose mine.  I'm also going to shut down any credit functions with my card in case it gets stolen.  The person running my account also has the bulk of it in CD's, Money Markets, and Mutual Funds and they are going to transfer it into the savings account when I email them to do so.  Based on current interest rates and the amount of money I have, this money should last me at least 25 years.  Also, my plan is just to come over on my 30 day, get a 10 day extension, and then go to Cambodia for my 60+30 day.  I'm going to stay in Pattaya for around a year to talk to some expats, get the hang of Thailand, and learn more than talk.  Then I'm going to backpack for a while, maybe towards Rayong first, then up towards Chiang Mai.  I'm interested in learning about Buddhism and the people of the "real" Thailand, more than getting to know the go-go girls of Pattaya and Bangkok.  If anyone has suggestions or if you think this is a good idea, please let me know either way.  Any help or any comments at all are greatly appreciated.  Thank you....

Jason

[Roger13]

Hi Jason,

One suggestion I would make is:

Do not rely on one Bank Account.

You never know what can go wrong ...

If your Current ATM card is a "VISA"

based Card then I would suggest

a second account with a "MasterCard"

based ATM Card with a completely

different Bank or Other Card Issuer.

Debit Card with low available balance for safety.

Maybe you have already thought of:

Check the  Expiry date on your Current

Card - how will the Card Issuer send

your Next Replacement Card - and to which address?

Suggest you keep your current address

or change to your Helpers address

so the helper can then send it to you

by Registered Mail or Courier.

Hope this helps

Roger

[Thetyim]

My American friends ATM card expired  years ago and can no longer be used for purchases in a shop, however it will still work in an ATM machine with the PIN number.

He continues to use an expired card as it is  good security.

If you stay off the booze and women you will be able to manage on 10,000 per month.

I have lived in Phrae  for eight years and the cost of living is cheaper up north and out of the cities.

[Rinrada]

Hi Jason...On first trip I would suggest getting to know the "Real" Thailand amounted to as far as I was concerned a week in Bangkok and then Patttaya making friends with as many of the Go-Gos as one can possibly do in the shortest time possible and with the minimun amount of dosh.

I have on occasions dossed down on the beach-Rio Copa-cabana-Bondi-La Onion- (Philli) Lungi (Sierra Leone) Blackpool (UK)and 1000 others but only until the sun got too high and a refreshment became the order of the day-Backpacking -No thanks.

Someone once went on about the best laid plans -Steinbeck-I think and that tae me sums life up..Welcome to S.E Asia...the best decision you will ever make-Sanuk :cool:

[JasonFieber]

Well Roger your thoughts on getting a Visa and Mastercard are well appreciated.  I missed that fact, and going through my book once again, I noticed that it's a good way to do things because Cirrus and Plus systems work in different areas.  However, on the expiration date, I'm going to have to travel back to the US before 5 years anyway to get a new passport.  So that is when I'll get a couple new debit cards and check on the accounts in general.  I noticed Thetyim said he has been living in Phrae for eight years.  But you guys still have to go back to the US every 5 years for a new passport correct?  Or is there something I'm missing?

[dazdaz]

Just a small travel tip.  If carrying 2 credit cards, *dont* put them in the same wallet.

If your mugged or loose that wallet you've lost both cards.

Use 2 wallets.

[Thetyim]

Dear Jason,

Yes you did miss something, I am English, my friend is American so I get a 10 year passport which I can renew at the embassy here in Thailand.

[jonniebkk]

I don't want to rain on your parade but if you think that 75k is going to last you 25 years anywhere in the world (okay, maybe Sudan or Ethiopia or Burma or the Black Hole of Calcutta [if you lived like a native]), let alone Thailand (which is cheap but not THAT cheap) you don't know anything about the ######ing world dude.

All these guys giving you "advice" on cards to carry and how to carry them are missing the big picture.  Its like throwing water to a drowning man.  They need to take you by the neck and slap you...so you can get out of your I'm in love with Thailand haze and want to live there but have no money so how do I do it dream!!!

I mean, what coconut tree did you fall out of and hit your head on...have you ever been to Thailand before.  I could write a 10,000 word essay on what is wrong with your "plans" and will if you e-mail me and really want the inside-scoop on living in Thailand.  (I have lived here 4 years.)  

God...where to even start!!!

So you think you can live in Pattaya on B 10k a month...$250.00 dollars...B333 per day.  NOT!!!

Lets just start with the basics...shelter and food.  Since you say you can live confortable "backpacker" style as you are a strapping 20 y/o from Michigan (and I assume you will maintain this lifestyle until, like you say, you are 45 and out of money).  So you need a room.  Even a small non-aircon room where the "working girls live" will set you back B2000-2500 per month, and these can be hard to find because there are only maybe 5-10K hos already in town and they scoop-up all these rooms as they become available.  And there are more arriving by bus, trains, and automobiles everyday.  As these girls are actually working, while you are loafing, they can also outbid you for any new available rooms as they are build as most are making lots more thatn B 10k per month or their farang ting-tong BF's will pay the rent for them.  OK, best case scenario, you find a room for 2-2.5k a month...wow...20-25% of your income is gone so you are down to lets say B7500 to spend.

Food and dring.  As you will definitely be living a Thai lifestyle.  I hope you LOVE Thai food as that's about all you will be eating for the next 25 years LOLOLOLOL  

A big strapping Michigan boy like you will devour maybe 4-5 plates of street-food a day.  Let see, at B20-40 a plate that comes out to between B80-200 per day.  That doesn't include any drinks.  You could drink from the free comunal water jugs attatched to most food carts.  But lets just say that maybe a few times in the next 25 years, you want something besides water.  Maybe a coke, beer (it's only about 90-95 degrees here 365 days per year you know), cup of tea or java, OJ, whatever.  I will be generous here and say 2 servings of non-free water beverages per day.  I will be generous here and let you buy them from street vendors and such and not such expensive places like 7-11 or heaven forbid...a beer bar or gogo.  Even then, for the 2 drinks, you are talking B20-50 per day.  Let me get back to my trusty calculator here and see where we stand...

Let see now...food at B80-200 per day equals B2480-6200 per month...now lets now forget man (even Michigan men) do not live by bread alone and have to drink too...so we add B620-1550.  So, food and drink will cost from B3100-7750 per month.  Don't forget dude, this doesn't even include 1 Mickie D's Happy Meal here...you know, maybe to treat yourself on your birthday a couple times during the next 25 years...just that alone would practically blow-away your daily food allowance LOLOLOLOL

So, where does the budget stand now?  After paying your rent, you had B7500 left.  In the best best case scenario, you now have B4400.  In a more likely scenario, you have around  B(-250)...HOLY SHIT...how did that happen, you are already underwater and you haven't even finished eating yet.

To bad you are not a girl and eat like a bird because it looks like you will have to stick to just 3 plates of food a day.  Or maybe you are a little overweight...this new diet regime will get you in fighing trim by the end of you first year in the Land of Smiles (or Land of Idiot Farangs Trying to Live on $250 per month).   At least then, you may have around B4400 left after paying for shelter and food.  OK...now on to lifes little luxuries. You know, the stuff that makes like worth living...like transportation!!!

Now, I know you are a strapping backpacker dude type from Michigan and are perfectly willing to walk and hike your way around Thailand in the 90 degree heat and 90% humidity,with at 50-pound rucksakc on your back, for the next 25 years.  But lets just suppose, just suppose, that when you get settled in Pattaya, you just might want to take a songtoew once in a while to get around town.  Forget about motobike taxis as they are way way out of your budget. LOLOLOLOL  Let say you end up taking 2 rides a day.  Now, if you look farang, these will likely cost you B10 each so that's B20 per day.  If you want to argue at the end of every ride you take, you could pay the local price of B5 per ride and risk the verbal and sometimes physical abuse that come with this territory.  Of course, these rates assume you are going one direction either up or down Beach or Pattaya 2nd road.  Trips to Jomtien or Naklua would cost you more.  So lets see...using the local rate...it comes to B10 per day or B310 per month.

We are now down to  B4090.  Now, lets review a minute.  You have paid for your room, a little bit of food, and a few rides around town.

I am not even going to consider such essentials as dental and medical care because these are so variable and so depentant on chance.  Suffice it to say, however, a word to the wise.  If you get sick in Thailand or have an accident, don't expect anyone but your mother in Michagan to feel sorry for you or lift a finger to help you.   As a foreigner, you have no rights to reduced cost or free health care of any kind and you will be turned away from the door of any government hospital if you should show-up on their door-step.  If you are lucky, you will be referred to the nearest private hospital.  Many of these are of very high quality, some even world class, but as the name implies...no money no treatment.  This is not the good-ole USofA...There is no free treatment of poor or indigent patients here...certainly not farangs.  There is no legal obligation for any hospital (let alone a private one) to even let you in the door [let alone stabilize your condition] if there is any suspicion on their part that you do not have the money to pay for treatment.  I know, I have had friends die from motocycle accidents because they had no medical treatment and the hospitals refused to treat them and they tried to get back to the USA for free-treatment and died in the departure terminal of Don Muang.  

So, on to more pleasant subjects.  I know you want to come to Thailand and commune with nature, hug trees, and absorb the teachings of the Lord Buddha  and all that other good stuff...which is good, because one of the cheapest forms of entertainment for you will be sitting on the floor of your room and staring at the wall...just like your hero Sudarta Gudtarhma did for something like 7 years wasn't it.  Just think, maybe you can do this too for 7 years (saving money on food, drink, and transportation expenses in the process) and at the end of it all...have obtained enlightment!!! Whopee.  

But just in the off chance that you should get bored after 7 minutes...maybe you will want to step out in to the real world (a place you don't seem to inhabit much) and go to the beach.  That is one of the cheapest forms of leisure and you can sit in a nice beach chair covered from the burning rays of the sun by an umbrella for only B20.  Maybe consume one of you 2 alloted beverages a day there too.  Lets say, geez, that you want to splurge and have a 1 coconut a day too.  Okay, chair and coconut come to B30 or B930 per month.

We are now at B3160.  Now, I sorta neglected it before, but you will need some essential toletries during your 25 year stay in Thailand.  I mean, it is a little hot and humit and maybe a little soap and shampoo and razers, toilet paper (maybe you will really go native and shoot water up your ass instead, therefore saving the cost of toilet paper), masquito repellant, insect spray for you room, I could go on and on.  Just look in you vanity cabinet now and see what you have now.  You will need all that and more here.  

There is also the cost of shoes and clothes.  Now, I know you are going to backpack-it for the next 25 years and maybe even weave your own clothes but once in a while you may actually buy clothes from one of the Thai markets around town.  (Though it is a good bet that nothing would fit a strapping Michigan lad like you because they are all made for a Thai/Asian frame and are much too small for even small-average sized farang men.)

Again, toletries are hard to price because it depends on what you use and how much.  I would say, the bare bare minimum would be B1000 per month.  For this you could buy toothpase, brush, shampoo, a few razors, body soap, laundry detergent (forget about having someone do your laudry...it's not in your budget...but don't worry, you will have lots of free time on your hands because you won't have much money for entertaiment pursuits).  Clothes are really cheap in Thailand, assuming you can find ones that fit.  So here maybe we budget B500 per month.  This may flutuate, with some months more and others less but maybe an average of B500 per month.  For this, maybe a cheap-ass pair of knock-off tennies, a t-shirt or two, shirt, and maybe a pair of cheap shorts or jeans.  

So your toiletries and clothes cost you B1500 per month.  That now leaves you with B1660.  I have barely scratchedd the surface here.  There are innumerable expenses I have neglected to mention and my cost estimates are so low to be pitiful and you are still down to just B1500 per month.

Let just consider one of the other "major" expenses you will have.  The dreaded visa run.  These will be basically either monthly or quaterly trips either to a border town or city with a counsulate or embassy.  If you live in Pattaya at first, you will likely do your runs to Poipet or Trad.  You have a couple of options in getting there.  Being a strapping Michigan backpacker type, you could set-out maybe 2-weeks ahead of time and hike to the border.  Eating insects, frogs, birds, and snakes you catch and drinking out of the polluted and sewage filled lakes and streams you come accross along the way...again stretching out your budget and saving on the cost of food and water.  Of course, if you choose this option, your clothing, and especially your footware costs, will go through the roof.  Better stick to something else.

Maybe a "visa-run" service to the border.  There are agencies that arrange the whole thing for you...transport and visa costs for like B2500.  Of course, these are just to the border and there you get just 30-day tourist visas so you have to do this every month but SHIT...you only have B1500 to play with.

What to do...you have to do a visa run...you don't want to want end up in the Pattaya Police Immigration Detention Center (getting ######ed up the ass by some big mean Nigerian do you...well, maybe you do, I don't know...and at least you again will save on housing, food, and "entertainment" costs).  

Another option is to take the bus to the border.  But to do this, you need to go back to Bangkok because to get to Poipet you need to leave from the Morchit bus terminal in Bangkok and not any bus staion in Pattaya.  The bus to Morchit station is B90 (B180 return).  The fare to Poipet in about B190 (B380 return).  The "taxi" fare from the bus station to the Cambodian border is B40 (B80 return) and the cost for your Cambodian visa to have the priviledge of walking across the border and turning around and walking back into Thailand is B1000.  

So lets again get out the calculator and see where we stand.  If my math is correct, the visa run will cost you B1640 and B1500 - B1640 equals (-B140).  Shit, there you are again, under water.  I sure hope you are a good swimmer, or better yet, scuba diver (of course, one of those pearl diver types who can hold their breath for extended periods of time because you sure ain't got the money to rent a tank and reg!!!).  

You see how easy it is for me to demolish your fanticy of living in THailand/Pattaya on B10k per month.  Even in this fanciful scenario where you are barely existing (and lots of basic living expenses were not even included, let alone any entertaiment expenses that make living in Thailand worth the while) let alone "living".  There are a hundred more exsamples I could give you to demonstrate why living in Thailand on $250 per month is just not possible.  I have barely started here and still, any way you slice it, you are over budget.  It would be the same even if the monthly amount was slightly more.  If doesn't even get within the realm of possibility until you at least double the figure to B20000 ($500) per month and then, it is still not easy and you would just be surviving and not living.  

No, my advice to you, like it is to all my other friends who dream of living in Thailand, is to make your first 1 million dollars and then come to me and we'll talk.  Before then, don't even think about moving to or "retiring" to Thailand.

[dazdaz]

It's a case of do you want to live in the future or the present.  You may earn a million dollars or you may not.  Today is important, tomorrow is not so important and the past does'nt matter.   Thai's embody this sentiment.  I'm not advocating a hedonistic lifestyle, I am advocating being realistic with your life situation.  Too many people view others living in Thailand as hedonistic, however i'm coming to the conclusion that what others view as hedonistic is just living life as it should be lived.  Don't over indulge daily, yet find a good balance.

Regardless of what has been said, you can change your timeline to several years of lazing around, that can be healthy, by which time you'll want to do something else.  Lazing around is fun, but too much of anything is boring regardless of what it is, trust me on this one.

Live the dream, that is very important, but you will grow beyond it, that is important too.  Everyone should travel, and it appears you have a rare opportunity to do so.  Try it out, see what happens, and take it as it comes.

The fantasy of never wanting to work is *not new*, everybody has it at some point, but you have to ask yourself where it comes from.  Mostly fear actually from not wanting to work with other people in new situations because you've lost control, if your absoutely honest with yourself.

The gogo girls are as much the real Thailand as are the Buddhist monks.  It simply is, people always draw distinctions between the two, because they don't or do like one more than the other.

In short, go for it, live the dream, learn from it.  It's better to live in a foreign country and make friends with the locals, as you learn about yourself from this experience as opposed to travelling the world visiting tourist spots, you may meet a few people but you don't have the cultural insights which lead to better knowledge of you as a person.

Consider this.  You work for the next 40 years in America and never travel and never learn about culture, new people, new lands etc.  Would you regret it?

Do what you want to do, not what you think others would want you to do.

Good luck Jason.

[jonniebkk]

daz...that's all very nice and I agree with your setiments...but you are avoiding the issue.  Jason wants advice on his plan to live in Thailand for the next 25 years on $250 per month.  If he had said he wants to visit for a year or 5 years or come and work and study or some other scenario your advice might be more on point.

He needs real life information on the ground about what it really costs to live in Thailand as he doesn't seem to have a clue...even a Thai lifestyle.  I mean, shit, my maid makes 10 per month and she even struggles to get by.  

At least give Jason real information, and not lectures in The Dhamma, so he can make an informed choice.

[dazdaz]

Surely as many approaches as people can input will help, because it's not us that decide.  You sound tied down by money?  You either take my advice or leave it, it's no lecture, I don't give a toss what you think about my post.  It's upto Jason to decide certainly not me.

People often seem to want some form of guidance is is my interpretation, you decide if you agree with it or not, well it's not for you as i've already said (excuse the crude language, I don't like or agree with your approach, I do agree with adding some grounding to the grand plan but not with the sense that the $ controls everything, sorry that topic I really do have a big issue with).   I have friends who look at everything, even people in terms of $ and I just don't agree with that limited approach to life, you miss out on so much.

If I had based my entire life on money, i'd of achieved nothing.  I'm saying that the great picture includes $ but is only a part of it, not the whole.

I will say, that it's rare for someone to come up with such a long term plan and actually stick to it by the letter, i'm not saying he's not going to, but it's rare.

Did you have a dream when you were 20?  Don't be so harsh in bringing people down, your almost doing the reverse of helping here imho.  Your not the first person i've seen to do this, have some compassion.

Dude, what's wrong with the Dhamma?  Maybe you can start a new topic on that one i'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Regards

[JasonFieber]

Obviously as much as I appreciated your smartass comments jonniebkk they tended to bore me about half way through.  First off, I have talked to many expats from Pattaya and I have been researching this idea through books for about a year now.  It seems that many people on a "budget" lifestyle can easily get by on 250 a month, although that is a low end figure.  First off, you haven't even thought about my whole statement.  I said I was INVESTING my money.  I have 75 grand now, but through the investing I'm making I'm getting around 140 a month in interest, so there is an extra 140 I have for a little while until my capital starts dwindling down, also I will be using some of the interest to pay for my visa runs.  And as well, I didn't say I was living in Pattaya for 25 years you dumb ######, I said I was going there for a year and then backpacking the rest of the way.  I don't know what part of Thailand you're from, it would seem Bangkok by your screenname, and I know that's an expensive part of town, obviously 10 a month (your poor maid) couldn't get anybody by on that amount.  Maybe you're only considering tourist areas with those figures you're coming up with.  But with my book "Thailand Handbook", among others, and the friendly expats in Pattaya I have been talking to, those figures are grossely overblown.  And I would agree with Daz when he expressed that you are obviously tied by money.  Life anywhere in the world is what you make it, and your expenses are what you make them as well.  It would seem you like a nice lifestyle, obviously when you said "MY MAID MAKES 10 PER MONTH", it is obvious you like the high life, I do  not and never have.  Life means more to me than eating 5 TIMES A DAY? LOLOL, and having maids do my work for me.  I eat 3 times a day as it is now, and I'm sure I'll eat less once I get there.  Perhaps you need to come back down to earth and realize that life is more than getting fat on Thailand food and hiring cheap maids my friend.  I'll leave you with that.  My choices are already made, and through dilligent research I have found that my choices are well informed.  It takes more work to research and do your homework on a topic then it does to bring someone else down LOLOL.  But obviously you are set in your ways, maybe you should consider being more of a gentlemen in life, maybe give your maid an extra buck or stop eating so much.  Your body is a temple.

P.S.  Nowhere have I said that I plan to stay in Thailand for a full 25 years, it's just good to know that I have money that will last me for a while to live there.  And I'm not going there to be lazy or to "not work".  If I could work in Thailand, I gladly would, but I don't have any special qualifications or skill that would warrant the government to give me considerations.  I am going to Thailand to backpack through villages, get to know a different culture, to live a life that I'm proud of so that when I'm 80 years old and on my deathbed I don't look back in vain, wondering what I did with my life....regretting everything.  Take things with a grain of salt jonniebkk, it seems that you aren't that happy even with your special maids, your lavish food and your nice lifestyle, because if you were at harmony with you and your life you wouldn't lash out at others in the way you do.  Maybe while your taking advantage of Thais and their country, you could at least do them a favor and learn a little about buddhism, then you'd know why it's such a bad thing to bring others down.

[jonniebkk]

Jason,

At least I got your and Daz's attention.  Money is never an "issue" with anyone until and unless you don't have enough of it.  It's too bad I had to give you the bad news...that you cannot afford to live in Thailand.  Like I said, I was just beginning...it doesn't really matter if you have another $175 per month (whop-te-######ing doo)...you would have to have AT LEAST another $250 (total $500) to even make it remotely possible.  

Neither you or Jaz actually contradicted any of my cold hard facts about what things cost in Thailand, what the minimum amount of material "things" you will need to live here (of course I left out a lots of other material necessities you will also need), and how quickly you will be underwater.  Unless you count the fact that you believe will be able to survive on 3 plates of rice a day.  And even with that, you are still underwater because that lower figure for food is what I actually used in my calculations...otherwise, I coundn't have even gotten past shelter and food before you were flat broke.

These are the harsh realities...you a cannot escape them.  That is one good thing that Bhuddism teaches... to see things as they really are and not what you would like them to be.  The Thais are very good at this.  Whereas foreigners are not...seeing some type of mirage or Shangri La here in Thailand while it really is no such thing.  Life is hard and brutal here...especially for Thais AND foreigners with no money.  You are not in Peoria anymore!!!   There is no government welfare here and practically no private or religious charity either (especially for down on their luck farangs).  You don't work or have money, you don't eat...it's as simple as that.

 

I can see you are an expert on living in Thailand by talking to apparently some of the multitude of Farangs barely hanging on in Pattaya (they really are a pitiful sight) as even you admit and by reading some book.  That's really a sound basis for planning the next 25 years of your life.  You didn't answer my most important question, HAVE YOU EVER EVEN BEEN TO THAILAND or anywhere else in SE Asia.  Do you have ANY idea what of the cost of living here is other than what some down-and-out farangs have been telling you and reading some probably inaccurate and/or out of date book!!!

Your comments about the salary of my maid confirm my suspicions that you no nothing about Thailand, it's people, customs, economy, nothing.  Are you not aware that B10k per month is a very high wage for an uneducated person in Thailand.  That many maids, as well as waitresses, shop clerks, hairdressers, and most other workers in the service sector of the economy make from B5000-7000 per month!!!  Shocking isn't it.  Jason learns something new today!!!  Did you also know that these workers work 8-10 hours a day 6 days a week, and often have to have a high-school education to get those jobs.  Where as my maid, like most others who work for foreigners, have only primary school educations and, if working for a Thai company or Thai household, would be making B4000-5000 per month.

Are you aware that most government employees in Thailand (police recruits, civil servents, military personel, etc.) have starting salaries of B 5000-6000 per month.  Maybe before you go about making comments and casting aspersions about salaries in other countries you should actually learn something about them.

The fact that you will only live in Pattaya for a day, week, month, year, whatever makes no difference.  Sure, it might be cheaper living out in the country but WHAT THE ###### ARE YOU GOING TO DO OUT THERE ALL DAY LONG, 365 DAYS A YEAR!!!  What are you planning to do...go live in a kuti at a forest monestary or something?  Did you know that to even visit a national park for a day will cost you B200!!!  Sure housing and food will be cheaper but there is nothing ######ing to do.  Beleive me, after 1 month of living out in the boonies someplace you will go bonkers.  Most of the farangs who live out in these places have married native girls and moved back to their locales and their families keep them occupied.  Of course, on your budget, a wife, GF, kids, whatever, is out of the question.

Another thing, like I said before, I have not even touched the topic of medical care.  But it really canot be ignored.  Thailand is a hot and steamy tropical country with all sorts of little nasty bugs, creapy crawlies, viruses, bacteria, etc about.  This is no reason not to come and live here...heck, I love it here but this will cause you some additional expenses.  Everyone who lives here is always battling some little ailment of some type or another...colds, flu, ear infections, cuts and scrapes, fungus infections, sore this or that, whatever.  The point is that, though most medicines are relatively cheap and plentiful, you still have to buy them.   At a minimum, you can add another B500-1000 per month for medical and dental care and this, of course, wouldn't include any serious illness or accidents requireing hospitalization.

I could go on and on but people like you just don't want to hear it.  Fine with me.  You can continue to live in some dream world.  I look forward to seeing you walking around dazed and confused the next time I am down Pattaya way for holiday...which should be a couple days...a little break from there as I was just donw there yesterday.  

Cherio

Nothing is wrong with the Dhamma Jazz...just you can't eat nor drink it, or live in it, nor ride it to the Cambodian border, no use it to pay a hospital bill, nor trade lectures in it for any of the above services.  See, Thais can get it for free from their temples any day and Jason will not be able to sell it to obtain any of the above goods and services. :cool:

[JasonFieber]

Well ######o, I'm not going to aruge with you anymore about this topic, this is my last post on this subject.  Obviously you are just looking to bring someone down or pick a fight, either way I don't really care, and I'm not affected that easily, especially by such a simpleton.  I never argued your points about what I'll need, necessities are the way of life, but your figures are overblown, I already said that, maybe you didn't read it.  I'm going to do what I want to do, when I want to do it.  You wonder what I'm going to do all day.....I'm surely not going to sit by my computer and make fun of others all day lol, but that's the kinda life you like, so hey I'm not going to lower myself down to your level.  I asked for comments and suggestions, not some ###### to go rooting around....so if you'll kindly stop posting, look elsewhere to spread your gospel.  Besides, Thetyim has lived in Thailand longer than you and he said that I can manage on 10,000 if I stay of the booze and women.  But I'm done trying to defend myself for no reason lol.  That's it, finito.

[pnustedt]

Hey Jason

A few tips -

1. When in Thailand do not respond to aggressive people aggressively - that is not the culture.

2. You will never regret having too much money.

3. If "your body is your temple" make sure that you have the means to look after it.

4. By all means live for today but have a way out for tomorrow.

5. Don't spurn the tough girls - if you want to learn Buddhism they can teach you a thing or two - listen and learn.

I wish you well and hope that the experience is all you could wish for.

[jonniebkk]

mai pen rai dude...seems like you are the one loosing your head...have you never heard you must learn to calm your heart...jai yen yen...is any of that in your little book.

Again...no reply to my "facts" just more bland generalities about how you WILL be able to live despite the facts to the contrary.  

There is an interesting saying among lawyers...if you have the facts on you side...then argue the facts, if you have the law...argue the law, if you have neither...pound on the table...man, your hand must be pretty sore by now  :laugh:  

[JasonFieber]

Thanks for the suggestions pnustedt, I'll definitely take them to heart

[jonniebkk]

I would be very interested in hearing from others on this board, WHO ACTUALLY LIVIE IN THAILAND and not all armchair travelers who lurk around these boards about their thoughts on this matter.

Do any of you think my cost figures are "overblown"?  They are all real-time on the ground figures.  Nothing is inflated in the least.  If anything, I erred on the low-side if I didn't have an actual retail price I have in fact paid.

Anywhere in my posts did I include any costs for girls and booze... None, nope, nada.  I barely included the necessities of life.  You can be sure your right or left hand will get quite a workout once you get here.

It's clear you have made up your mind...come hel_l or high water nothing is going to stop you...you asked for "comments" but when you get real on the ground information from someone already doing what you want to do, and you don't like it, you just ignore it or start to get hysterical.  A smart person would consider them little nuggets of gold.  So why even post asking for comments in the first place.

As to Typlime or whatever his name is who lives in Phrae...it's a little town of about 20000 people in northern Thailand not far from Chiang Mai.  I'm sure it's very nice for him and likely his wife or girlfriend.  You might survive there on 10k per month...but you said you want to travel around and see the country.  Travel costs money dude...even if you walk everywhere.  How long is a 20 y/o fella, who wants to see the world on $250 a month (or at least Thailand), going to be happy sitting around another hot and dusty nothing to do town Thai town like Phrae???  Did you ever think about that...come to think of it...do you think about anything at all anytime?

So again, I invite others "on the ground" to comment on this thread.

[JasonFieber]

Since this is my thread based on comments I was looking for, I would invite anyone to comment on my issue not something this other guy has a problem with.  Please any helpful comments welcome.  If you have an issue with prices or anything this guy has said please start a new thread.  Not because I'm ignorant or not interested in it, but simply because my thread was not started to find opinions of this jonniebkk character.  Thanks alot guys :cool:

[Brian]

Jonniebkk,

I find your comments interesting and whole hartedly agree that a young farang will soon be peniless with a budget of only 10,000 BHT per month.

I would be interested though to hear a breakdown of your budget and lifestyle.

Brian

[JasonFieber]

Brian, you obviously didn't read this post's topic or what I just said.  It's titled suggestions, changes, if you have neither don't post here.  If you want to talk to that guy then instant message him or start a new thread man.

[jonniebkk]

my lifestyle and budget are not really important...like jason sez, this is his string and i was just adding some comments on his plans as he laid them out...as he requested.  apparently, he didn't like what he heard and choses to block it out...and eventually get hostile.  

if you like, i might start another string setting out my lifestyle here in bangkok and my budget and stuff like that so people can get a sense of what it takes to live the lifestyle i do. however, i will not do that here.

thank you for your support of my basic point...B 10k is not enough for anyone to really live on here in LOS.  there is a much more intelligent post/string i saw today in the "visa" section i believe posted by a young english woman...asking about living costs here in thailand.   she apparently has a job lined up in the petchaburi area (western seaboard area) that includes her lodgings and a salary of B 20k per month and she asks if this should be enough.

several posters have intelligently replied, that yes, if she lives a rather modest but comfortable lifestyle (with boarding included) B 20k per month should be enough.  a simple lifestyle in a quiet coastal town should be possible on this salary and I certainly agree with this...like I said in my posts...if Jason at least doubled his money to the B 20k range he just might make it.  

why is it that i get the feeling this lady will do ok...she is modest and seems genuenly looking for information and feedback.  jason, on the other hand, seems to have this dream/fantasy of living some adventure of a lifetime...finding his inner Buddha...etc. in thailand on peanuts and then spurns real world advice people try to give him if it doesn't comport with this fantasy.  why is it that women are so much more practical than men...that men are such dreamers.

i mean, jason has still not even answered the simple question of HAS HE EVEN EVER BEEN TO THAILAND OR SE ASIA BEFORE!!!  i get the feeling that he has not even left michigan before.

no, i get the feeling jason wasn't really interested in comments about his plans in the first place but just looking for other armchair travelers to give him a hearty slap on the back send-off on his journey into the great unknown and when someone actually gave him the real dope on thailand, and burst his fantasy, he sees his dream crumbling before his eyes and turned on the messenger like a rabid soi dog.

[laduladiva]

Hey Jason, you said you wanted to work in Thailand. Have you ever thought about teaching English. Im 21 years old and British  with no special skills and I got a job there no problem.

I just e mailed a load of schools and got quite a few offers. I have a friend who did as well in China and Koria ,she didnt have any special skills either and managed to have enough cash to travel around SE Asia.

[JasonFieber]

laduladiva,

How did you go about doing this?  From what I seen, it seems that a bachelors degree is usually needed for this kind of work.  How exactly did you go about doing this?  Do you just have a high school degree?  I'll guess yes since you are only 21, but I apologize if I'm wrong.  I have 3 years at the University of Michigan.  Maybe that would be worth something?  Do you think I should just email some schools and see what happens?  Just tell them I have 3 years at a University and I did major in English/Secondary Education....mabye that would help?  Thanks for the suggestion.

Jason

[Morgan]

Go for it Jason i did backpacking years ago best years of my life. You have plenty of money to start only time will tell how things will pan out. My only advise is i think your talking to the wrong people you need to be with backpackers as soon as you hit thailand.There is a road in Bangkok which is known for backpackers cheap hotels ect. This is where you are going to get the best advise cheap travel, places to go. Can't remember the name of it but someone on this board will know. Also a web site for this road. Pattaya is not on the backpacker trail. Expat life in pattaya is totaly different from backpacking you might waste a lot of time and money finding that out. Go for it have a great time morgan.

[laduladiva]

Hello again Jason,

I have a rubish Education. Finisht school at 16 like you do here in the uk went to college for one year and quit. I dont know what that equivalent is in America but its quite rubish here. Went on web sights with Teaching posting on sent them my cv with a covering letter telling them how wicked I would be for the job ( I ignored the part about bachelors degree). Also Important to put down on your cv that you have done some private tuition. I sent my cv to about 40 schoos and started getting phone calls and e mails back around 4 days later. Got a job starting the 1 st of june in the end,so leaving shortly for thailand. Web sights I found good where ajarn.com,Englishexpert.com and dave's esl cafe  (eslcafe.com). I dont know if they need anymore teachers where Im going to work but I can ask them .

Good luck and dont listen to that other jonnie bkk it seems you want different things out of life , I recon youre going for the right reasons

[JasonFieber]

Thanks alot for the pointers guys,

That's some of the best things I've heard yet.  I'll definitely look into the opportunity laduladiva.  Morgan, I'll start doing google and yahoo searches looking for this.  But yes, you're right, Pattaya is full of Russians, sexpats, criminals and loose women, nowhere I should start my backpacking.  The only reason I was going to go there is because I have contacts and the one thing I truly truly have no idea about is the visa runs.  I mean I know "on paper" how they work.  But when the practicality of me going to PP or Poipet or if I'm down by Phucket, Malay runs....I don't know what to do or say...so I was hoping one of the sexpats could tell me how to go about doing it....but maybe that will be just be part of the fun of the backpacking lifestyle...learning on your own.  I think you're right my friend, I am totally wrong for starting out in Pattaya.  I don't smoke, drink, or partake in loose women.  I truly appreciate the go ahead too...maybe you could email me sometime telling me of some of the great backpacking adventures if you have time, if not that's fine too.  Thanks again!

Jason

[email protected]

[skalman]

Hello Jason.

I say go for it. It’s your life and you have to live it. Mai pen rai how much money you need every month. It’s up to what standard you want when you live In Thailand. If shit happens all you need is a ticket back to US. OK. I live in Bangkok (Sukhumvit) my rent for a 1 bedroom apartment is 4500 THB. I have my own washing machine my own kitchen so I can live cheap if I want to. Shop and make my own food. Ladies and bars will be more expensive but that’s up to you.( I am married)

Don’t let some bored middle age farrang like Jonniebkk tell you how to live your life.

Just a tip gets as much information as you can get before you come.

Good luck and don’t listen to so much to bored people.

Best regards.

Skalman

 

     

:cool:

[JasonFieber]

Thanks man, I appreciate the thumbs up on everything.  Oh and it seems I found that road.  I believe that road in BKK is called Khao San Road.  Thanks for the heads up guys.  Yeah I've received a few emails from people on this board giving me tips, so as I don't go into a situation w/o up and up info.  Thanks again!

Jason

[jonniebkk]

sorry to tell you sweedie, but i'm younger than you lolololol

yes, jason, definitely take your advice from somebody with 5 posts to his credit...hanging on by his fingernails "trying" to get hooked up into some business in Thailand so he can keep his sorry ass here...and mouth filled with B20 bowls of somtam, probably cleaned dishes for 10 years, worked as a travel agent (any monkey that can tell time could do it), and can hammer in a nail lolololol

forget about taking any advice from a 38 y/o "retired" ex-californian who has lived in Bangers for the past 4 years, has  traveled extensively to all provinces of Thailand, has traveled to just about all the countries of se asia - sans vietnam and indo...nah...listen to all the armchair travelers and wannabees who wouldn't know the difference between "hoi" and "haam" ...that motly lot is definitely your best source of information lolololol