would you still feel comfortable in your home country?

[khunPer]

I don’t think I will feel comfortable in my good old home country, Denmark, anymore. I’ve been here permanently for more than eight years now – however been back three times, of which two were very short stops of a few days only. I’m not missing anything, feels a bit like a stranger or tourist in my old country – and the more news I read from home, the more happy I am to stay here in LOS. Many of my friends back “home” even talks about that my native country has changed and is not at all what it used to be.

Apart from the feelings comes the bit more affordable life-style here, which I couldn’t keep up with back home – something like my money in average lasts for double as much in daily living costs, even considering that some products or services I wish are more expensive. Some things are more difficult in Thailand compared to “home”, and other things seems to be quite easy and/or with a better service – including the little I have been in touch with government departments. In general a very positive experience to live here; but I may have been lucky – or well prepared – not being contributing to any of the “horror stories” (yet).

Even I always will be a foreigner in LOS, I feel too much farang-Thai-style – or just too comfortable here – to think of going back to Europe.

Only one minus, my nightmare: That it all is nothing but a dream and I shall wake up a snowy and freezing cold winter morning back home.

[sgtsabai]

Hey there 10Yen, I've lived here permantently since 2010, bought a house for my Thai wife in '07 and have been coming here since early '02, do I count as one who lives here, maybe?

[10Yen]

Hey there 10Yen, I've lived here permantently since 2010, bought a house for my Thai wife in '07 and have been coming here since early '02, do I count as one who lives here, maybe?

Compared with my living here since 1990, not really.

But, I'd gladly have a few brews with you, as long as you're in Pattaya, cheers mate, hope to get a PM.

[sgtsabai]

Got me there, next time I get down to Sin City luv to have a few. Hey, my first trip to SE Asia in 1966, count for anything? Nah. PM being sent.

[HardenedSoul]

I have been in SE Asia, Australia and New Zealand since 1995, but 80% of the time in Thailand. I was born in London in 1953. I still have property in East London and Torbay, Devon. I can't wait to go back home. I am sick of the sun and the lack of any aesthetically pleasing counrtyside. Everywhere here is the same, when you travel its like a hamster on a wheel, very boring. If all you want to do is drink beer and sit outside a bar looking for girls, then, yes, Thailand is great, Philippines even better for that. However, I am a day person and an outdoor person. I rarelt imbibe alcohol and the girls here really bore me stupid. Anyway, It is just too hot. In April I am returning to UK permanantly. I was there for 6 months last summer and one month in December last year,, I was so happy there. Yes, I am financially solvent, I retired when I was 41, and I just love it back in England. I'm going home !!

It took you all this time to realise there was nothing aesthetically-pleasing about the countryside??

<deleted>! It was good enough for you for 20 years on and off wasn't it?

Just a guess but it's more likely that during those two decades, you were too busy doing exactly what you're so flippantly dismissing now; namely drinking and chasing tail.

You just got bored, you cut down on your excesses, then you found there wasn't much here to match your new lifestyle.

[RandomSand]

Then she pulled some other bit*&es from another table into it!

_________________________________________________

Weird, I don't suffer these incidents. Why is that I wonder? Oh yes, It's because I don't presume that women I don't know must be bit*&es.

[Tanis]

With a heavy heart I will be returning to America after spending a number of years here. This is a great place to retire or start a business (if you are able) but surviving as an ESL teacher for the next twenty or so years is not something that I look forward to. There will be a lot of things that I will miss about Thailand like not having to worry about the smallest infraction which could potentially cost hundreds of dollars. Even so, I am scared of the global economy is about to go south and I believe that emerging markets are about to be crushed. I much rather be in my home country when the proverbial poo poo hits the fan than to be a stranger in a strange land. Additionally, I believe that the confrontation that China has with her neighbors could potentially lead to something quite unpleasant. I wish I had a crystal ball so I could divine the future. Living off the grid somewhere in the mountains sure does sound appealing to me lol

[RandomSand]

I my weak friends will feel "comfortable" where ever i go because i am a survivor, a hunter & able to adapt to any environment, you clowns are just puppets posting text on a website

Genius, Julie, pure utter genius. Thailand makes her visitors both clowns and puppets at the same time... and then we whine about it on a website. The truth will set u free !

[Thongkorn]

I think the UK is great, Good food you can get, food from every Culture in the world, A safe, place to live , Gas electric every where , Clean water everywhere. Brilliant health care. and dental care, No guns, (legal), Police not corrupt, Very few accidents on the safest roads in the world. No rioting because we don't like the Government but believe in democracy. Thailand is ok , but getting expensive. bad roads Corrupt police. Racism, double standards. and pricing. nice to go to but nice to come away from it from time to time.

[rgs2001uk]

I have been in SE Asia, Australia and New Zealand since 1995, but 80% of the time in Thailand. I was born in London in 1953. I still have property in East London and Torbay, Devon. I can't wait to go back home. I am sick of the sun and the lack of any aesthetically pleasing counrtyside. Everywhere here is the same, when you travel its like a hamster on a wheel, very boring. If all you want to do is drink beer and sit outside a bar looking for girls, then, yes, Thailand is great, Philippines even better for that. However, I am a day person and an outdoor person. I rarelt imbibe alcohol and the girls here really bore me stupid. Anyway, It is just too hot. In April I am returning to UK permanantly. I was there for 6 months last summer and one month in December last year,, I was so happy there. Yes, I am financially solvent, I retired when I was 41, and I just love it back in England. I'm going home !!

I have been in Asia since 1990, no way to I want to go home.

Everywhere is the same, sorry far from it, get your sorry ass down to Chan, helps if you can actually speak and read Thai of course.

Not interested in girls or bars, its hard enough trying to find an a/c snooker hall.

Phillipines, gimme a break what a effin shithole.

The girls bore you stupid, can you actually speak to them in their language?

Sound more like another cash strapped coffin dodger.

Best you move to a ground floor room asap.

[herb59]

after living here for a few years, i love to go back to ol' europe every year.

would i still fit in the system,the over regulated society,the enourmous cost of living? --> yes, better than the under regulated society here.

i like it here because of the weather.

i can water my garden half a day and it doesn't effect my water bill too much.--> i save here also water, like in every other country i go.

i go out for food almost daily,--> not necessary ,if you have a good cook.

i dont need to heat my house, --> me too, as i am not there in winter.

the electric bill is still under control,--> also in Europe.

the ppl are not looking so miserable when going to work as in my home country,--> depends on the people.

i dont have to worry too much if i violate some minor traffic rules,--> also in Europe ,there is not always police on the road.

i do have here most of the products i need,--> same in europe.

i couldnt even have my dogs with me due they are banned in my home country--> to ban dogs, is not a bad idea in comparison to here!! freedom needs (self)control.

...and the list could go on.

[soihok]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkakIq20Qm0

Go Dave Go

[mimithewoof]

I didn't feel at all comfortable in my home country, the UK - that's why I left and ended up in Thailand. The London I grew up in had become almost unrecognisable under Blair's government- although I'd been a strong Labour supporter back in the day. The changes in the UK paralleled the changes in the Labour party, and gross commercialism allied with mega-greed and an encroaching nanny state just wasn't my thing. Following further changes over the past eight years,I'd rather live in Outer Mongolia than the UK - so no, I'd feel more than uncomfortable if I were to return.

The changes here during the last eight years have also been considerable - although predictable post-coup - but there's still a link between what should be important in our lives and the chance of staying grounded. Being a lot closer to what's left of nature is a help when I get too fond of my own position as a human being. So, for good, bad or better, I'll be here for a while yet, although Chiang Rai seems like a good option when CM becomes a replica of BKK!

Basically, ever since I was a kid, I haven't felt I 'belonged' in any one country, but have been 'comfortable' in several, including Japan and Greece.

[fxe1200]

....papa was a rollin stone
Wherever he laid his hat was his home.

[kimmy]

Lived and worked in Thailand for about 7 years, had a good time, liked Thailand and Thai people, but decided I would not want to die in Thailand and escape in time. It was diffilcult and the first half year the easy way was to go back to Thailand. If you dont have money or friends and family who will help in your home country you could in the end find yourself trapped in Thailand with no way out.

Thai dogs are not banned in Europe, easy to take them with you. I took my old soi dog to Europe and back to Thailand and back again, takes some planning but local dog rescues will help you with the paperwork and export and import license. My dog loves the cold weather in Euopre and seems much more happy and playful here than she was in Thailand

[3NUMBAS]

i couldnt stand it after some years i arrived at the conclusion that LOS is a basket case and you have to dumb yourself down to live there. you also have to censor what you say and do so on that score the UK is not so bad.

its all shallow in LOS ,nothing of substance beneath the veneer ,but for trips its ok . some great eye candy about every day . But

when you get older and lose your health/ mobility you will be in trouble if you don't have some good cash reserves to get your health taken care of by others who need to be very reliable.

its the lack of good well structured conversation that really palls after a while ,as you have to tolerate a lot of rubbish spoken by locals and expats who in many cases are the dregs from where they came from.hardly stimulating speech and thought

[nithisa78]

Wish I can say the same, but I am working 60 hours a week now so I don't have to later - kind of thing.

No debts, just swelling the bank balance.

Have a severely disabled daughter to provide for as she will never be able to support herself. This is one thing that could be helped if living in the UK, daughter is already a British national / Thai national, but quality of life is so much better in Thailand - as long as you have the money.

i am sorry to hear that- all my best wishes to her.

i have to work more than 60/70and sometimes 80 hours a week but god dam_n,now i know for what i am doing this- not for the taxes!!!the quality of life is here so much better and i enjoy the freedom.keep on going mate you'r doing the right thing.

I am also sorry to hear about your child. We are currently in coastal Fla. Everything is very easy for us. We'll return Thailand and everything will status quo. Our family tells us it was about as chilly in Isan as it was here in Sunny Fla. Having escaped from NY, you end up in chronic state of Grace and Appreciation.

[nithisa78]

Wish I can say the same, but I am working 60 hours a week now so I don't have to later - kind of thing.

No debts, just swelling the bank balance.

Have a severely disabled daughter to provide for as she will never be able to support herself. This is one thing that could be helped if living in the UK, daughter is already a British national / Thai national, but quality of life is so much better in Thailand - as long as you have the money.

i am sorry to hear that- all my best wishes to her.

i have to work more than 60/70and sometimes 80 hours a week but god dam_n,now i know for what i am doing this- not for the taxes!!!the quality of life is here so much better and i enjoy the freedom.keep on going mate you'r doing the right thing.

I am also sorry to hear about your child. We are currently in coastal Fla. Everything is very easy for us. We'll return Thailand and everything will status quo. Our family tells us it was about as chilly in Isan as it was here in Sunny Fla. Having escaped from NY, you end up in chronic state of Grace and Appreciation.

Also, Sir, thank you for looking after the daughter. In recent years it has amazed me the number of males that leave their wives and children. Men don't do that. Men do what you're doing.

[crazydrummerpauly]

Yes, of course. I love my country. But actually there's no such thing as 'country', just the part - maybe even the village - one lives in. As for ex-pats finding it disorientating to go back for short periods or for some special event, and not feeling 'at home' there, of course you don't. After being abroad for a long time what is there to go back to?, and what is there to make you feel 'at home'. It would take at least a year or two to build up a normal social network, and build a decent home again. I see lots of guys who go home and then run back at a million miles an hour because there's 'nothing there for them' - obviously !! It takes time and cash to re-build a life.

Edited February 8, 2014 by crazydrummerpauly

[honcho]

ive done it! lived in thai for many years... have a thai/farang son, didnt like the education in thailand so moved back to new zealand for free good education... i have a farm here... my son loves it here school mates etc, but im bored silly, hate dealing with the tax man and beaurocracy here.... its like im just marking time (wasting my life) till i can return to lieland... lieland is far from perfect, but it is the easiest place to live ive been to... (sigh) only another 8 years or so to go.

[flyingdoc]

The weather, cost of living, hyper regulations and lack of service all go to make Thailand more attractive, but as so many posts have said, you need money to exist at a reasonable level even in the country areas!

[lucifer666]

Have to agree with the OP. I'm originally from Sheffield, UK and i have spent all my life working abroad. Sitting on a plane as it lands at Manchester Airport always gave me an instant feeling of depression. I don't have any plans to ever return

[Crazy chef 1]

No. Too many people are rude and aggressive in the homeland and I've had too many years of young attractive ladies actually paying attantion to me here. That would never happen, at my age, back home.

sad but true,not even at my age(40).

BTW where is Jingthing,transam and naam and all the old veterans- may still sleeping?

I'm still awake. Jingthing is on a baht bus, Transam is fixing an old engine, and Naam is busy with his students.

hope JT doesn't get hurt in the bus...

[Ajaan]

I AM in my home country (5 1/2 years now, after living 6 years in Thailand), and no, I do not feel "comfortable".

I have to say, I never did feel 100% comfortable here, especially as an adult (I'm from the US); there are so many things about the ways that many, many Americans see the world and act that have never felt right to me...so I've always been something of an oddball, haha.

After living in Thailand, though, I truly hate it here. I'me resolved to stick it out here until retirement, though (the reason I came back, to take a job that I mostly like, and is very much in my field...it doesn't pay great, but the retirement benefits are quite decent)...another 11-13 years at this point.

What I most miss about Thailand/why I have trouble adjusting to life back here:

-respect for older people

-the way Thais--for the most part--go out of their way to avoid conflict and to maintain harmony in social interaction

-the willingness of many women to consider and pursue a relationship with a man over 40 (as opposed to being pretty much invisible as one here)...and I'm not talking bar girls here

-the way life is so social, lived on the street, face-to-face, out-of-doors (I'm talking about just about any Bangkok neighborhood here, well off the main thoroughfares/tourist areas)

-the fairly unregulated way life can be lived

-the excellent transportation systems (especially within Bangkok)

-the weather (and I live in a part of the US with no real "winter"...still, anything below 20 C. cuts through to my bones), excepting of course March-April, which I don't think anyone in their right minds could "miss"!

-Thais' love of sanuk

-how cheaply life can be lived, with regard to everyday needs, and how convenient it is to do so many things (have keys made, have your shoes fixed, buy a decent, inexpensive meal, etc.)

-how cheap it is to go out on the town...seriously, the nights I had out in Thailand for a few hundred USD would cost me up to ten thousand USD in the US, and could only be accomplished in a very few locations here, haha

-cheap, well-working cellphone providers (trust me, the US is in the stone age in this regard, and SO expensive)

Those are the main ones that come to mind. Sure, there are things I like about life in the West that I missed while in Thailand: the ease of buying cheap electronic hardware, the ease of buying just about anything on amazon.com, good coffee/cafes, fast internet, ease of walking in a city (I walk an average of 12 km per day)...but to me, the good things about Thailand FAR outweigh the bad.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Ajaan

[Crazy chef 1]

Lived and worked in Thailand for about 7 years, had a good time, liked Thailand and Thai people, but decided I would not want to die in Thailand and escape in time. It was diffilcult and the first half year the easy way was to go back to Thailand. If you dont have money or friends and family who will help in your home country you could in the end find yourself trapped in Thailand with no way out.

Thai dogs are not banned in Europe, easy to take them with you. I took my old soi dog to Europe and back to Thailand and back again, takes some planning but local dog rescues will help you with the paperwork and export and import license. My dog loves the cold weather in Euopre and seems much more happy and playful here than she was in Thailand

i don't talk about Thai soi dogs- i have a english bullterrier and a pitbull.

[Crazy chef 1]

amazing how a topic can go.usually Thai bashing but now ppl realize how good is our live here compared to the west....

thanks fellows- keep it going.

[spidermike007]

Going back to the US to live would be a daunting prospect. Most of the people I run into back there are run down, depressed, bitter, lacking humor, and just plain old unfulfilled. Of course there are exceptions. But, I am talking about people without big money. They are really struggling, as the middle class has all but disappeared, and been stolen by the government and the rich. It is a fairly joyless existence. And if you happen to be over 50, even if you are still good looking, and in good shape, the only women you get attention from are the ones your own age. Make of that what you will, but I do not find it encouraging. I love getting a warm smile from a 20 something clerk in a shop here. It warms my heart! So many other aspects of life here make me smile on a daily basis. And I am always hunting for good Thai food back there! Hard to find. I have my fair share of complaints here, but I would sorely miss this place if I had to leave.

[sniffdog]

A definite 'no'. In the last 20 years I've been back twice (9 days and 6 days) and both times I couldn't wait to get on the plane back.

[belg]

when you go back to your home country, and you see it is invaded, yes invaded by lowlife imported poverty with no education sucking down the social security system where your mother or grandparents, need to pay much more for a retirement home than they get as a state pension they worked for, you see criminality all around with 85% of the prisons filled with imported scum, when you see the judicial system, only there to tax people and fines, where criminals get 20-50 chances to rob again a person instead of being put into jail... when those imported lowlifes hinder & harass your wife & daughters, sisters or mother... than yes, ... that were some reasons to go try it in another place like thailand, far from perfect, also for us farangs full of hasstles & constraints... but i feel it is a better place anyway, compared to what used to be called home

[Crazy chef 1]

when you go back to your home country, and you see it is invaded, yes invaded by lowlife imported poverty with no education sucking down the social security system where your mother or grandparents, need to pay much more for a retirement home than they get as a state pension they worked for, you see criminality all around with 85% of the prisons filled with imported scum, when you see the judicial system, only there to tax people and fines, where criminals get 20-50 chances to rob again a person instead of being put into jail... when those imported lowlifes hinder & harass your wife & daughters, sisters or mother... than yes, ... that were some reasons to go try it in another place like thailand, far from perfect, also for us farangs full of hasstles & constraints... but i feel it is a better place anyway, compared to what used to be called home

you are so right,it's a shame what's been made of our home countries!