Not easier for me. In 1984, wanting to spend my EU winter somewhere warm and a bit exotic , I contacted the Thai Embassy ( at the time there was one in Monaco,Marseille, Lyon, and Paris) so I chose Monaco being nearest to me. Filled out the forms , a photo, passport, some money ( can’t remember how much) and walked away with a double entry tourist visa , renewable and as she explained allowed me to spend my 4 months in Thailand with one border run. I did this every year for many years, had a beautiful condo ( hardly any at that time) in a small building in Kata beach , 5 mins to beach. My border runs turned into 10 day trips all over Asia, and even a 3 week Australia and another 2 weeks Japan,Borneo, Bali, etc. Fantastic, all I had to do was bring my own tea with me from home. Never had a problem, yes , Thailand was a better place then. Went often to Patong up the road shopping or a night out.Bangla was a fun road but no fights or drop dead drunks, no drugs . It changed of course after the Tsunami, so I moved to Hua Hin , then Jomtien. Of course, no more double entries , but none bothered the genuine long stayers , many of my friends had bought condos legally, played golf. I’m quite sure we all contributed to Thai society, spending , eating out every evening and bothering no one. Changed my mind about 2019 when I saw that Thailand was changing fast, and the tourists weren’t quite so nice. Also, nothing was being done by the Thai authorities to regulate everything, including the roads ( the 20 000 dead every year ) no city planning, dangerous lack of pavements, pollution and general filth. ( including some newcomers).very expensive health care and being treated as unwelcome objects. Ok, I’ll stop “ whining” as Yagoda puts it. I still come, rent a great place instead of buying and try my best to get 3 months stay without being hassled. PS, my retired snowbirds who have bought are not happy.
