Returnng To Thailand, Returning To Reality?

[gbt71fa]

I have decided to return to Thailand and my wife. I thought I could get everything going here but I never could get "connected". Sure, I had an okay job and could get buttered popcorn at the movie theater but it never seemed real to me. I just could never get back into sitting behind that desk, doing all that paperwork that just seemed to mount, working extra hours but never seeming to finish (come in on saturday and suday and we can knock this stuff out!), trying to meet deadlines that were never met. My credit rating is so ###### low that everything I make goes to bills and still it is not enought (over there, credit rating don't matter much). It just doesn't seem real to me here. My only social life is going to the gym because work takes everything out of me. Sure, Thailand can be a complete pain in the tush but all that is pretty manageable. I am two hours from a beach but I have yet had time to visit there in the last four months. I can't get the same money in Thailand, not even close but my thai princess is there, and everything can be so quiet in her hometown. In Thailand, I have a nice car and a house. I'm sure I can find buttered popcorn somewhere in Bangkok or Chang Mai. Maybe, I will register our marriage and make it legal in the eyes of the work (more importantly, the U.S. government). So, am I crazy for leaving this world behind and returning to the Land of Smiles? I know that there is a few in my family who think I'm crazy. But if I am happy (with my wife in Thailand), isn't that all that matters?

[Thaiquila]

Yeah, you sound crazy! Join the club.

[Firefan]

Sounds to me you are making the right choice. In 100 years we will all be gone - so go for your happiness (with a touch of logic/reality/economical sense though) now. Cheers!

[geoffphuket]

Don't forget that there's still bills to pay here. Do you have an investment to provide an income? Arriving with nothing but a dream just won't work. Money you arrive with will quickly be spent and you'll go home broke.

[gbt71fa]

Don't forget that there's still bills to pay here. Do you have an investment to provide an income? Arriving with nothing but a dream just won't work. Money you arrive with will quickly be spent and you'll go home broke.

I have some money "stashed" away in Thailand. Plus, I will be coming over with around 400,000 baht. I already have a house that I am renting and a nice car that I am paying on. I am bringing over my college transcripts and maybe do some teaching till I find something else or I don't. I lived there before for about six months...I still have nightmares about visa runs to Burma-Mynamar...

[geoffphuket]

Good luck to you. It might work out ok - just don't 'burn your bridges' back home in case you need to do a U turn. I came here with the intention of staying 2-3 years.....that was ten years ago now!!

[gbt71fa]

Good luck to you. It might work out ok - just don't 'burn your bridges' back home in case you need to do a U turn. I came here with the intention of staying 2-3 years.....that was ten years ago now!!

That is like artillery math. No, I will have long bridges back to the motherland. I plan to make at least one trip back a year to see the folks and my brother. Believe it or not, I am the healthiest of the men in my clan and that is not saying much...so I need to keep tabs on them. I think I might end up Phitsanulok again...not a bad place, except the movie theater doesn't have english movies and no buttered popcorn. they got waterfalls though and a famous bhudda image...my wife loves going there.

Edited September 19, 2006 by gbt71fa

[BKK90210]

To be honest it sounds crazy to me!

From what I can gathered:

So……. you hate your job, too much work with too little pay and not enough to pay bills. So you’re living on month to month paycheck according to what you said about your credit rating, ““credit rating is so ###### low, that everything I make goes to bills and still it is not enough ”

Now…...you want to come to Thailand with your “college transcripts and maybe do some teaching till I find something else” and “will register our marriage and make it legal in the eyes of the work”…..” I still have nightmares about visa runs to Burma”

I don’t want to sound too negative but I think you’re trying to run away from the problems without concrete future planning & money and you want to try out your luck over here in Thailand.

You will try to find a teaching job first before moving on to something else but not sure at this point. You think you can live very cheaply with your teaching job in Thailand as long as you have your new wife. So now you will make your marriage legal and manage to scrap 400000bths just to get a marriage visa extension. But what about for the next extension? Where are you going to get the money for it. How can you be so sure you would be a teacher by then?.... and you’re still have “nightmares about visa runs”!

“But if I am happy (with my wife in Thailand), isn't that all that matters?”

Love alone doesn’t pay bills and put foods on the table! You still have to work and pay bills in thailand.

Why not try out again for couple months first and get connected through networking? or May be you just like many of us that are going through midlife crisis, and needing/deserving a big break once awhile?

Anyhow best of luck to you whichever you decide

[GuestHouse]

My credit rating is so ###### low that everything I make goes to bills and still it is not enought (over there, credit rating don't matter much).

What are you going to do with your debts?

[naka]

Don't forget that there's still bills to pay here. Do you have an investment to provide an income? Arriving with nothing but a dream just won't work. Money you arrive with will quickly be spent and you'll go home broke.

I have some money "stashed" away in Thailand. Plus, I will be coming over with around 400,000 baht. I already have a house that I am renting and a nice car that I am paying on. I am bringing over my college transcripts and maybe do some teaching till I find something else or I don't. I lived there before for about six months...I still have nightmares about visa runs to Burma-Mynamar...

Sounds like you are going to end up sitting on the

bones of your ass after your 'pocket money' runs out.

Then what ?

Thailand is no place for people who could not even make the grade

in their own society.

Get a life and stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Naka.

[Firefan]

OP might not have much debt but still a bad credit rating(odl bad payment history).

Anyway; if things do not work out just make sure you have enough for the flight back home, and find yourself a new job there.

At least you gave it a go.

Cheers!

[Charma]

I can certainly empathise with the feelings about work you have mentioned. I am working towards a planned retirement where I will not have to worry about the money. I just hope that I don't drop dead at my desk while I am doing this!

The hardest decision to make is just exactly when to make the move - how much money is enough? How old do you want to be and will you still be healthy enough to enjoy it?

If you can live on what you have and you are as unhappy in the US at the moment as your post indicates, it sounds like your ready to make the move. I am lucky to have my wife and daughter with me, which makes life better until we get out of here.

Good luck

[LoveDaBlues]

I have decided to return to Thailand and my wife. I thought I could get everything going here but I never could get "connected". Sure, I had an okay job and could get buttered popcorn at the movie theater but it never seemed real to me. I just could never get back into sitting behind that desk, doing all that paperwork that just seemed to mount, working extra hours but never seeming to finish (come in on saturday and suday and we can knock this stuff out!), trying to meet deadlines that were never met. My credit rating is so ###### low that everything I make goes to bills and still it is not enought (over there, credit rating don't matter much). It just doesn't seem real to me here. My only social life is going to the gym because work takes everything out of me. Sure, Thailand can be a complete pain in the tush but all that is pretty manageable. I am two hours from a beach but I have yet had time to visit there in the last four months. I can't get the same money in Thailand, not even close but my thai princess is there, and everything can be so quiet in her hometown. In Thailand, I have a nice car and a house. I'm sure I can find buttered popcorn somewhere in Bangkok or Chang Mai. Maybe, I will register our marriage and make it legal in the eyes of the work (more importantly, the U.S. government). So, am I crazy for leaving this world behind and returning to the Land of Smiles? I know that there is a few in my family who think I'm crazy. But if I am happy (with my wife in Thailand), isn't that all that matters?

Good luck to you. It might work out ok - just don't 'burn your bridges' back home in case you need to do a U turn. I came here with the intention of staying 2-3 years.....that was ten years ago now!!

That is like artillery math. No, I will have long bridges back to the motherland. I plan to make at least one trip back a year to see the folks and my brother. Believe it or not, I am the healthiest of the men in my clan and that is not saying much...so I need to keep tabs on them. I think I might end up Phitsanulok again...not a bad place, except the movie theater doesn't have english movies and no buttered popcorn. they got waterfalls though and a famous bhudda image...my wife loves going there.

He went heavily into debt supporting his buttered popcorn fetish.

[Donz]

You only live once, have fun, im sure everything will work out

[gbt71fa]

[

He went heavily into debt supporting his buttered popcorn fetish.

Hey, that is not funny...Maybe it is an American thing but when you go see a movie you must have buttered popcorn...not squid sticks!

[SamuiJens]

I'd wait awhile if I was you.

[N47HAN]

Guess youll be able to pick up a bargain flight

[Rinrada]

Welcome to LOS

[sramkok-pratum]

i join you..

Relocate to someplace that less stress.. PRICELESS

no more martgage payment

but now, let's them keep those tanks from street first.

Edited September 19, 2006 by sramkok-pratum

[sendbaht]

Maybe a little late reply but I say follow your heart.

One thing we had going for us back in the USA was our football teams and they are both losers.

Keep me up to date how you are doing.

You friend, Sendbaht

[roamer]

lets face it, doesn't sound like you have much to lose if you can keep a bridge to back home. If it doesn't work out at least you have tried. And it could work out, not everyone is insecure & needs a cast iron guarantee to each step in life, maybe you might find an entrepreneurial spirit you never knew you had and will corner the market in buttered popcorn.

As for the doubters "If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you etc"

Good Luck.

[paulsmithson]

Whilst working in petro chem in the Uk I met one of the nicest guys it was every my privilege to meet.

At 64 years of age he was suffering badly from rheumatism partly resulting from his work as a scaffolder.

He told me of his dream retirement planned for the following year when he would sell his house in "scouserland" for a hefty sum by any standards, told me how he had worked and saved for years so that he and his wife could retire to Spain where he hoped the warmer climate would make his arthiritis more bearable.

6 months before he was due to retire he suffered a massive stroke at work one Saturday morning.

Dream over for him!

Life can be a bastard so pal, if you have a dream go for it whilst the choice is your own

[terry57]

I have decided to return to Thailand and my wife. I thought I could get everything going here but I never could get "connected". Sure, I had an okay job and could get buttered popcorn at the movie theater but it never seemed real to me. I just could never get back into sitting behind that desk, doing all that paperwork that just seemed to mount, working extra hours but never seeming to finish (come in on saturday and suday and we can knock this stuff out!), trying to meet deadlines that were never met. My credit rating is so ###### low that everything I make goes to bills and still it is not enought (over there, credit rating don't matter much). It just doesn't seem real to me here. My only social life is going to the gym because work takes everything out of me. Sure, Thailand can be a complete pain in the tush but all that is pretty manageable. I am two hours from a beach but I have yet had time to visit there in the last four months. I can't get the same money in Thailand, not even close but my thai princess is there, and everything can be so quiet in her hometown. In Thailand, I have a nice car and a house. I'm sure I can find buttered popcorn somewhere in Bangkok or Chang Mai. Maybe, I will register our marriage and make it legal in the eyes of the work (more importantly, the U.S. government). So, am I crazy for leaving this world behind and returning to the Land of Smiles? I know that there is a few in my family who think I'm crazy. But if I am happy (with my wife in Thailand), isn't that all that matters?

its an honerable thing that you love your wife, but you also must love thailand, as she could leave you tomorrow and then you will have nothing.

if you love thailand as well, you can pick up the pieces and start over.

good luck, and im sure you are making the right decision.

im very jealous of you.

after all, you can always go back to the U.S.A anytime you want and start working a boring job again.

[Macx]

While bicycling around Baja ten years ago, I met an old guy who was living in a run down trailer on a gorgeous beach with only his dog for a companion. He was one of the happiest old dude I had ever met.

He said to me, "You've got two choices. One: Life is a b!tch, and then you die. Two: Life is a beach, and then you die. Your choice. What's the point in finding reasons and making excuses?"

[CymruAmByth]

Came here 4 years ago for 2 weeks to see what it was like and now I have my own little import/sales business and have never been happier.

HOWEVER...it did take about 3 years to really become settled and I had substantially more than 400,000 to support myself with.

IMHO...that is not enough to realize your dreams.

[helicoptor]

If you can do it - do it.

Keep your house in the US with a rental company. Keep some money aside for BFH (Bargain Flight Home)

Give yourself at least a year over here if you can come hel_l or high water

If it doesn't work out then you go home, but at least you tried!

I did it, I was stuck in a rut like you living hand to mouth, I took a big pay cut to come here but the pros definately outweigh the cons IMO.

I love it here in LOS!

[pumpuiman]

Work out a solid financial plan. Buy property in Thailand that you and your wife will be able to derive income from in the future. Straighten out your bills...save your money(your probably making 10 times what you would make in Thailand.)

It sounds like you want to run...but you should wait and do it right, or your problems will follow you.

Good Luck

[dereklev]

While bicycling around Baja ten years ago, I met an old guy who was living in a run down trailer on a gorgeous beach with only his dog for a companion. He was one of the happiest old dude I had ever met.

He said to me, "You've got two choices. One: Life is a b!tch, and then you die. Two: Life is a beach, and then you die. Your choice. What's the point in finding reasons and making excuses?"

Pretty much what my Dad said to me just before he died.

So I quit my job, started my own business and now I am semi-retired in LOS.

I am married and have a gorgeous 2 year old son.......

Death comes too quickly, chase those dreams whilst you can!

A cautionary word, in LOS and life be well prepared for the unexpected....

[helicoptor]

Oh I forgot to mention .. CONSOLIDATE your US debts before departing for LOS or, as Pumpuiman says, they will follow you, they may be out of mind but they certainly won't go away

Chok Dee