SURVEY: Why do Expats Relocate to Thailand?

[Scott]

This week we will look at what are the primary reasons that Expats relocate to Thailand. The emphasis is on the reasons expats left their home country. You can vote for more than 1 choice.

Please feel free to add a comment.

[chooka]

Why Do or Did? Are they still heading to Thailand in same numbers as they did say 10 years ago or have they found warmer and greener pastures?

[beachproperty]

None of the above applies to me ....moved to Thailand because my Thai wife did not want to live in the US.

"Happy Wife.....Happy Life"

[CharlieH]

I came here because of my wife too. That said, I came here for the wife because I didnt want a western woman/relationship ever again!

To me, the approach/attitude to relationships suited me better.

Oh, and there were so many Temples to see.

[SoiBiker]

None of the above.

[Jessi]

The next poll will be "Why are you leaving Thailand"

[Kerryd]

I imagine for many people it is because living in a (cheap) tropical paradise where pleasurable company is but a wink away, sure beats trying to scrape by on a meagre pension in a cold, dreary slum where the opportunity for pleasurable company is non-existent.

Some of us just like how different things are here compared to back "home". I still marvel at the architecture of the temples wherever I see one. Plucking bananas directly from the trees. Seeing things like hill tribe people in their traditional costumes, elephants on the roadside, ancient temples and buildings. Back home everything just seems so...........dull. It's not the total paradise here that people imagine it is (especially after their first 2 week millionaire trip) but it sure beats a lot of the alternatives !

[bob4you]

I left Hawaii because I would have had to work 10 more years for even a remote chance to retire there. I chose Thailand because I like tropical climate, can live off of my SS and love Thai food (prefer steak and lobster but could not afford it in Hawaii so don't need it here. LOL)

[wow64]

Thainess and the temples.

Sent from my c64

[keestha]

-They leave because they have never adjusted well in their own country.

-They are fleeing personal problems, such as family, financial or legal.

These two seem to be pretty close to each other. The guy ended up in a shitty personal situation, sure, maybe because he never adjusted well in his own country.

What I have seen, is that many people come to Thailand with imported problems, especially drinking too much.

I saw so many people starting businesses, especially restaurants/bars/guesthouses/travel agencies. Only a small minority of them I reckon could have become successful doing business in their own country.

[Thaddeus]

Why did you relocate to Thailand, not why do expats relocate would be better.

I answered for myself, can't speak for the others.

[Saan]

If you asked 'why did I' I could answer - otherwise it's just conjecture.

[Don Mega]

nothing in the poll that suits my circumstance.

[GeorgeBrown]

Because the west can be quite boring at times, also don't have to deal with family, and instead of being one of millions you can be one of thousands.

[hsd734jndc6754jnf93ns6ebhd]

None of the above!

I'm here because UK immigration want to see 62,500 UK pounds in a UK savings account for 6 months before they will allow my wife (of 6 years) to apply for a UK marriage visa. If you add application fees and flights we would need about 100,000 USD for myself and my 2 British children to return to our own country as a family unit. We don't want to be here but we are in exile and have to try to make the best of it.

[gandalf12]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

None of the above applies to me ....moved to Thailand because my Thai wife did not want to live in the US.

"Happy Wife.....Happy Life" alt=thumbsup.gif>

Same here but in my case it was the UK

[willyumiii]

I came to Thailand when my Thai wife became very ill.

I was not pleased with how the western medical system was dealing with her illness and felt she would receive better treatment in Thailand...( She has)

At the time, I also felt that being close to her Thai family support system would be very beneficial to her recovery. ( It was )

Now that we have started a new life here, we are content and plan to stay.

*** I must admit, being fed up with the corrupt political system and the atrocities of the Cheney / Bush administration made my decision to leave the USA easier.

[Water Buffalo]

I left for warmer weather, smiling faces, and my girlfriend.

I was tired with the boring lifestyle and grumpy people in the UK. And i was put off western women.

I also thought my lifestyle in Thailand would be healthier. For the most part, it is.

[villagefarang]

None of the above. I moved here at 23 because I could and because I was too young to know better. Now in my 60s I am still here and still too young to know better.

[isanbirder]

Many people come here for positive reasons, not for the negative ones which you have given as choices.

For myself, I had been living in Hong Kong for 26 years; my contract expired in 1991, and I decided to leave in good time before the Chinese takeaway in 1997.

[SoiBiker]

Many people come here for positive reasons, not for the negative ones which you have given as choices.

I agree. The poll seems to presume that you were desperate to leave your home country for some reason, rather than just keen to live somewhere new. I moved here because I like Thailand, not because I hated the UK.

[manly100]

Only place you can find a mint condition 22 year old to hang out of?

[Thakkar]

I came because the grass looked greener. Now that I'm here, the grass looks greener elsewhere. Damned grass keeps shifting.

T

[i claudius]

There were many reasons ,the school our son had to go to when he was 11 was utter crap ,i was sick of PC, speed cameras and all other rip off charges eg parking , To keep our standard of living i would have had to work untill i dropped , Here my wife has a good job ,not the ones she had to do in the UK , eg restaurant work. our son was able to go to a good private school here and now in university with a very good job lined up and best of all I get to do what i please and have never worked since

[IMA_FARANG]

I was born in Massachusetts.

I can explain why I left with a verse from a Bruce Springfield song.

Where he says, "Born down in a dead man's town, first hit I got was when I hit the ground,

and later, "Got in a little hometown jam, so they stuck a rifle in my hand, sent me off to a foreign land, Go and kill the yellow man".

Which for me was Vietnam.

The reason I stayed in Southeast Asia is a quote from the Bee Gee's song "Massachusetts",

"Massachusetts is (just) one place I have been."

[Canuk23]

From Montreal Canada where the sun almost never shines, and the winters are brutally cold, 2c this morning.

Found a great woman, by far better than any western woman. live in the north because to many expats and to

hot for me in the south, if I want the beach I hop on a plane for about $40.00 and I am there in 2 hours, tired of

big city living now in Pua, Nan district love it here!!!!

Edited April 27, 2015 by Canuk23

[Happyman108]

None of the above.......add another option :

They leave for Love so that their thai wife can be more comfortable in her own country, and the cost of living is lower for them to enjoy a better life style as compare to their home country.

[Farang99]

None of the above applies to me ....moved to Thailand because my Thai wife did not want to live in the US.

"Happy Wife.....Happy Life"

Same for me - my Thai wife did not want to live in UK. In addition I was sick of the miserable UK winters and, having spent some years previously living and working in SE Asia, I knew I could be comfortable and content here. So here we are, 17 years later, still comfortable and contented, with a better lifestyle than we could have afforded in the UK.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Farang99

[KittenKong]

This is really two questions:

"Why did you leave <wherever>?"

and

"Why did you come here?"

So I left Europe because it's expensive and wanted to tax me too much.

And I came here because it is one of the places that has the easiest long visa conditions, and because it doesn't tax me at all.

Apart from that there is nothing attaching me to Thailand, but there is nothing attaching me to any other country on the planet either.

[thehelmsman]

I came for the 99baht American breakfast.