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SURVEY: What Is the Main Deterrent to Living in Thailand?

What is the main deterrent to living in Thailand? 577 members have voted

  1. 1. What is the main drawback to living in Thailand?

    • Safety factors, such as the liklihood of a traffic accident, being electrocuted, injury due to uneven, congested foot paths, etc..
      33%
      156
    • Economic Factors, such as cost of housing, food, medical care, exchange rate, etc..
      8%
      41
    • Political factors, including the protests, military coup, changes in visa rules, work permit regulations, etc..
      28%
      133
    • Lifestyle issues, such as a more conservative attitude, restrictive regulations about nightlife, controls on alcohol, etc..
      2%
      12
    • Lack of acceptance into Thai society and xeophobia.
      25%
      118

Please sign in or register to vote in this poll.

Featured Replies

One category is missing: Corruption, resulting in unnecessary high costs and second rate solutions to most infrastructure challenges.

If anything could make me leave this country, that would be it.

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Visa issues without a doubt.

It needs to follow Cambodia's lead with 1 year business visas from travel agents.

I am already here, I love the place, food, people and weather... main concern is the uncertainty about visas, whether your house/home is safe.... not sure if you can renew the lease in 30 years etc etc.

Not being able to legally own the land your home is on and therefor leave it to your wife/children....

Not being able to own a company and put work, effort and value into the country you want to live in... (49% ownership only)

It's a risk...

I am happy to bring money in to Thailand, happy to live by their rules, pay my way... but it would be nice to be treated fairly... especially when I am law-abiding and want/plan to stay....

For me... the biggest problem is the uncertainty of whether I can live here, die here and know my family will be able to continue after I am gone!

I considered unrestrained environmental pollution to be included in #1.

The amount of fly tipping around where I live in Jomtien is just appalling.

My development tries hard to keep the Soi leading to our houses neat and tidy- planted bamboos and Palm trees- pick ups arrive and dump any old crap along the road. It's just depressing.

Visa issues without a doubt.

It needs to follow Cambodia's lead with 1 year business visas from travel agents.

Why does it need to do that?

There are no drawbacks living in Thailand its our choice if any of the drawbacks affected us we would move else ware to live the only bad point I think for me living in Thailand is the language as my Thai is not very good even after 16 years.

Sorry none of the poll options are considered a deterrent to me. Not being able to speak or read the language is the biggest deterrent for me.

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One price another price for foreigners a different price for Thais,, Thai drivers, dogs to be culled if found in the street.

Differential pricing for local community and visitors exists in the west too.

How can anybody say anything else than ..... RTP ..... ???

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Agree. But I opted for the last one, they do not really want us here.

Perhaps you'll feel more welcome in Syria or Iraq.

Deterrents? Doesn't everyone on this forum live in Thailand? If there were any deterrents, they wouldn't be here. Or is this just another topic for old losers to complain about everything Thai.

CORRUPTION

true! the lack of total corruption n Thailand is another deterrent for people like me who enjoyed the positive effects of real corruption when living and working in Nigeria laugh.png

Farangs tongue.png

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especially the moaning, whining and whinging species and their complaints "they don't like us, they keep changing the goal posts, they only want our money, they poke their noses, they charge Farangs 35 Baht for a noodle soup whereas the Thai price is only 25 Baht, they insult us by calling us Farangs, their thieving banks charge fees for using their ATMs...

The general unavailability of intellectual stimulation.

There's also the extreme version of Face, and it's attendant racism.

Agree with this. If I moved back to the USA I'd come back to Thai Visa and post every day just to show people how intellectually stimulated I was since leaving Thailand.

Absolutely. There are a number of TV members who do not (or no longer) live in Thailand but they post every day. I don't know if they think they are intellectually stimulating but some of them are usually very critical and negative. They never give praise or encouragement.











The general unavailability of intellectual stimulation.

There's also the extreme version of Face, and it's attendant racism.

Agree with this. If I moved back to the USA I'd come back to Thai Visa and post every day just to show people how intellectually stimulated I was since leaving Thailand.

.

Perhaps you misread the title of the thread. It says Poll, not troll.


Even you, HJC, have to admit that there is more than a little irony that someone who found Thailand intellectually unstimulating, upon returning to his more intellectually stimulating home country, can't seem to find a better source of intellectual stimulation than revisiting a forum filled with expats who, according to you, must be suffering from the same lack of intellectual stimulation that you experienced here. smile.png

.

Don't put words in my mouth, and don't presume to know what I find intellectually stimulating, or where I find it.

There are a number of posters here who are intellectually stimulating.





EDIT: Spellchecker

Yep
You are a genuine SuperDog fan

CORRUPTION

true! the lack of total corruption n Thailand is another deterrent for people like me who enjoyed the positive effects of real corruption when living and working in Nigeria laugh.png

I feel you bro...

i am based in PH

I have met plenty of Thais over the years who think most of the things mentioned in the "survey" are drawbacks to them. Then they go abroad, realise it is much worse and return to Thailand. Things like the cost of living, healthcare and social attitudes are much more serious issues for many Thais than foreigners. I have always adored being different here, dont care one jot if people who dont know me assume i am a tourist, have earned big and found my niche that i am so happy with. I found it interesting, though, that the OP did not put in a category about problems learning Thai and communicating. Judging by the constant wingeing of many on TVF that is one thing that puts people off.

I feel like I'm treated as an illegal migrant by some Farang country.

Guess I understand by how Imperialism is breeding "Terrorism".

Idiot Thai drivers that would rather crash into you than let you into the flow of traffic and the hot season.

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Agree. But I opted for the last one, they do not really want us here.

But does that really matter ?

I agree. I've been visiting since 1993 and now live here full-time since 2013. I've yet to hear any Thai tell me that I wasn't welcomed. Whoever the "they" is that was mentioned, please provide more information as to who "they" are specifically.

whistling.gif Having been living here as an American retiree for 5years now, I can say with confidence that the real problem many foreigners have is adapting to the fact that where they are now is not Britain, California, Australia, or whatever country they came here from.

The excuses they use are such things as the bad drivers to such things as I can't find proper British Ale here.

But that's only the excuse they use..... their real problem is that it's not Britain,California, Australia, or whatever here.... and they just can't adapt to that fact.

A general lack of government accountability. Wrong doers are ignored or if caught, paid to sit around at inactive posts. Too many village government palms to be greased before any public benefit is realized. This, of course, is not a deterrent. It's just a couple of my gripes.

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