Why are you still in Thailand?

[SoiBiker]

I read 'what happened in 1997 could happen again, then where would you be ' what happened ?

I was here then when the pound got to 95 to the baht, so if it happened again i'd be down at super rich changing money. Gold was about 6k for a baht then as well

95 pounds to a baht?

I reckon I'd change a few baht at that rate too.

[Don Mega]

I read 'what happened in 1997 could happen again, then where would you be ' what happened ?

Does that mean we have to endure the Spice Girls again?

Hope not. Took years for the skin on me todger to grow back.

[jacky54]

I read 'what happened in 1997 could happen again, then where would you be ' what happened ?

I was here then when the pound got to 95 to the baht, so if it happened again i'd be down at super rich changing money. Gold was about 6k for a baht then as well

95 pounds to a baht?

I reckon I'd change a few baht at that rate too.

Well I won't go back and edit it, but you know what I meant

[mcfish]

Bringing a Thai women to the USA is like raising a child.

If you like that good for you.

You have to teach them many things.

You also have to show them how to drive (if you dare), get them insurance and medical, the language, teach them a completely different culture.

The job part is huge as I agree it is not easy for them to find one, especially a decent job.

So eventually boredom will settle in.

I think it is easier for a guy from the USA to move to Thailand, then for them to come here.

I think some guys become so convinced that life in the West is so infinitely better that they scarcely give a moment's thought to how well their Thai wife will adjust to a new life in the West, and what effort will be needed to make the adjustment a smooth one.

I genuinely worry that some guys not only fail to fully consider, but may even deliberately neglect, their wife's adjustment needs. Secretly threatened by the prospect that the wife might become too socially or financially independent, they neglect these needs in the hope that their wife's primary focus will remain caring for their spouse. If no planning or effort is made to facilitate cultural assimilation, social extension, language skill, educational and occupational development, social isolation and boredom will almost inevitably set in. OP, what if your wife wants to work, but the best job she can find is as a housekeeper at the local Motel 6, or working the drive thru window at the Jack-in-the-Box restaurant? Will you find this so socially embarrassing that you will refuse to let her work away from home?

I also think that some guys fail to consider how well a wife from Southeast Asia, (especially if they have limited formal education, poor English skills, or there is a big age gap between the husband and the wife) will be socially received in the West. Be it casual socializing amongst family, friends or coworkers, at the local country or golf club, at the company Christmas party or Fourth of July picnic, at school events, or at dinner and cocktail parties, etc., subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) judgmental attitudes and prejudices can bubble to the surface, and a foreign born spouse can be made to feel like they don't fit in, and aren't fully accepted or well-respected. Just as an example, on the TV program '90 Days To Wed' (which profiles couples where one spouse is in the US on a fiancee visa), the foreign-born spouses often encounter suspicion and skepticism from family and friends about their motives for marrying.

Also, even if a woman is relatively well-educated, has marketable job skills, and good language skills, not everyone has the temperament or inclination to uproot and move away from their family and friends to an unfamiliar country, no matter how much promise it might hold. Care for aging parents, relationships with already emancipated children, sibblings, friends, already established careers and businesses, and - believe it or not - genuine enjoyment of living in Thailand, may make people reluctant to uproot.

Any sensible person who truly puts the welfare of his family first should at least consider these factors before deciding to relocate. There's no 'one size fits all' answer to where best to live, and I'm genuinely surprised that the OP seems to so woefully under appreciate this.

Good post. I guess one option is to pimp the wife out If she was aquired from a bar. Good little money spinner and she never get bored, sure beats cleaning motel rooms.. Just sayin

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

[Gary A]

First, I didn't know that I am a loser but according to many of the posts, I must be. My first marriage in the States was a disaster. I suffered for fifteen years. The only good thing that came out of it was my son and daughter. I did come to Thailand looking for a wife because I couldn't find what I thought was the right woman for me in the States. It took me ten years living here to find one who I thought would make a good wife and one who could put up with a crotchety old fart like me. My wife is a farm girl who doesn't own a dress and who needs no, nor uses any makeup, not even lipstick. She is quite independent, not jealous and certainly not a clinging vine. She is financially capable of taking care of herself.

Second, I live on less than a thousand dollars a month. I give my wife 30,000 baht a month which she uses to buy food, household items, pays utilities, including my Internet, my cigarettes and our clothes. I do buy all the big ticket items. We have a nice car, a new truck and I have all the new electronic gadgets. I really don't need any luxuries but I buy what I want, needed or not.

Third, I have a plan B. My liquid assets are roughly divided equally between Thailand and the US. I have a condo in the farang ghetto and I won't miss any meals if she does throw me out. I am self insured and have enough money to cover any illness or misfortune that hopefully will never happen. I am covered by medicare in the US but doubt that I will ever have the misfortune to return and use it.

Considering all the mistakes I have allegedly made I find myself content and happy for running away upcountry and living in the boonies. I also do not meet dress codes. My uniforms of the day are rubber sandals, below the knee shorts and T shirts. If I am expected to dress up to go somewhere, I don't go. Besides that, my wife has no dresses. Maybe I should add that at 49 years old, she still fills out a pair of jeans nicely.

ADDED, I do space my paragraphs but when I post, they all run together. I guess that I am not smart enough to fix that.

Added again. After the edit, my paragraphs are there ...... hmmm

[SoiBiker]

First, I didn't know that I am a loser but according to many of the posts, I must be. My first marriage in the States was a disaster. I suffered for fifteen years. The only good thing that came out of it was my son and daughter. I did come to Thailand looking for a wife because I couldn't find what I thought was the right woman for me in the States. It took me ten years living here to find one who I thought would make a good wife and one who could put up with a crotchety old fart like me. My wife is a farm girl who doesn't own a dress and who needs no, nor uses any makeup, not even lipstick. She is quite independent, not jealous and certainly not a clinging vine. She is financially capable of taking care of herself.

Second, I live on less than a thousand dollars a month. I give my wife 30,000 baht a month which she uses to buy food, household items, pays utilities, including my Internet, my cigarettes and our clothes. I do buy all the big ticket items. We have a nice car, a new truck and I have all the new electronic gadgets. I really don't need any luxuries but I buy what I want, needed or not.

Third, I have a plan B. My liquid assets are roughly divided equally between Thailand and the US. I have a condo in the farang ghetto and I won't miss any meals if she does throw me out. I am self insured and have enough money to cover any illness or misfortune that hopefully will never happen. I am covered by medicare in the US but doubt that I will ever have the misfortune to return and use it.

Considering all the mistakes I have allegedly made I find myself content and happy for running away upcountry and living in the boonies. I also do not meet dress codes. My uniforms of the day are rubber sandals, below the knee shorts and T shirts. If I am expected to dress up to go somewhere, I don't go. Besides that, my wife has no dresses. Maybe I should add that at 49 years old, she still fills out a pair of jeans nicely.

ADDED, I do space my paragraphs but when I post, they all run together. I guess that I am not smart enough to fix that.

Added again. After the edit, my paragraphs are there ...... hmmm

You claim not to meet dress codes, but you seem to have imposed a rather strict one on yourself, which restricts what you can and cannot do. An odd choice.

[Gary A]

Not too odd. I live exactly as I choose and don't feel that I have to impress anyone. I am not especially social and my social events are meeting up with the few other farangs who live around here. I drink beer with them and we solve world problems a couple times a week.

[elgordo38]

There is a polar vortex coming in from Canada. So I can complain on TV. To thankfully reinforce that I was born elsewhere. To better understand the whole world not just my own country. To die with the sun shining on my smiling face and my arm around my young honey. To stay free and clear of my children's problems. To get away from 3 ex-wives. To get a bigger bang for my buck and live cheaper. To escape the madness called politics (still working on this one) To see first hand how the big corporations rob and pillage Asian countries for the sake of their own greed.

[smotherb]

I guess I have been spending too much time and for too long on TV. This is the third thread I have seen recently on this topic. Worse even, the responses are far too similar to those in the previous threads.

So many of you have the same old "normal" stories--came for the Thai girls, burned bridges at home,I like it here, money is not happiness, etc, ad infinitum.

I am happy to say none of those fit me. I have not buried myself here like so many of you--sorry, just had to reiterate that statement, it seemed to generate so much comment last time.

So, why am I still here? My son and his family are here. However, when they leave in a few months; I will have little reason to stay. I can always return to visit friends here.

[aronp1]

Good you moved back to the toilet bowl of the world and corrupting the minds of your family. Typical American thinking.

[Suradit69]

The trick to Thailand is not to burn your bridges back home, Have a Plan B,

I cringe when I hear " I sold the house, sold the business and moved to Thailand" a recipe for disaster IMO.

The truth of the matter is that at some point for many of us Thailand will get old, and we will want to get back home and for sure, if we are lucky we will get old and might need to repatriate.

So the solution IMO is to heave some doors open

I am also Back in the US, working, padding up my pensions and social security. In four years I will retire , but still maintain my Florida residence, I will move to my property in Thailand, for as long as I like and rent the property in FL .

if I dont like it there,or need to move back for medical reasons, I will have a way back home.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

"The trick to Thailand is not to burn your bridges back home, Have a Plan B,

I cringe when I hear " I sold the house, sold the business and moved to Thailand" a recipe for disaster IMO."

Not really a trick specifically related to Thailand. Anytime you make a major decision in life ... , choosing where to work, whether to marry or divorce, a move to a new location in your own country or elsewhere, making a significant investment ... you should approach it cautiously and, if possible, allow some opportunity to change your mind before committing. It's like finishing school and wasting no time moving away from mom and dad. For many it works out fine, but for others they soon find themselves sheepishly asking to move back home where mom does the cooking and laundry.

Some people make impetuous, entirely emotional decisions and then regret them. Rather than learn from the experience they spend all their time shifting blame ... onto Thailand or the wife or the neighbors or ...

I agree you shouldn't burn bridges too quickly. If your decision to move to Thailand coincides with your decision to retire and possibly a marriage to someone you barely know, you're taking on several major life changes at the same time and some people can't handle it all especially late in life and if they've always lived in their home country.

On the other hand many of us took time to decide what we were going to do and didn't have irrational fantasies about the outcome or our ability to cope. I've started on my 10th year here in retirement and owned my condo long before that. Thailand is 100% my home now. The expression "move back home" is meaningless. I am home. I suppose I could pull up stakes and move back to the US, but have no desire to do so and expect that would be far more traumatic than living out my life here. I left the US over 40 years ago. It's a foreign country to me now.

[mihalis]

The reason for the RARITY of good stories is, most on this forum are damaged goods, iv met more who love thailand and thrive living there in person.. This forum it mainly full of thai haters burnt out expats who blame, Thailand for there mess..

[khunPer]

My Situation:

Lived in Thailand for over 10 straight years

Found the Thai wife, have a kid

Moved back to Florida USA - Back to Corporate America, near the beach, climate same although cooler than Thailand, lots of Thai people, numerous Thai restaurants, Thai grocery stores to buy anything Thai and cook your own.

So basically everything is the same as in Thailand except it is much safer and cleaner where I live.

What is not the same:

Have huge income

Nicer house and vehicles

Nicer places to visit on weekends, holidays, cruises, etc. It's Florida!

Kid is in an excellent school, will be able to go on to Uni and actually have a future when he graduates

We even have a Thai temple

As is in Thailand, we have Thai's here working at Walmart just getting by but most appear to prefer it to Thailand

»So what is keeping you in Thailand?«

For me, it’s because I have a much better life here, than at “home” – not because I had a bad life there, it’s just better here; and so is the weather.

But we are all individuals and have different backgrounds – and age – so what may be a success for some, may not work that well for others; and like OP says, most of us know sad stories about folks who need to return to nothing...

But just to compare with OP, my “not the same” situation seem almost opposite:

My Situation:

–Lived in Thailand for more than 10 straight years

–Found a lovely Thai girlfriend and we have a kid

–Found an outstanding spot by the beach to build a house, pretty close to what I could only dream about; climate warmer than Denmark and about same all year round, 28-34 centigrade, and only about two month rain-season; some Scandinavians and other foreigners living here (but I hardly mingle); numerous of farang restaurants, grocery stores stock almost all kind of farang stuff (including my homeland butter and cheese etc.) I can buy and cook myself.

So basically everything is the same as in Denmark, except the weather is much better, I feel more save than Copenhagen and suburbs, and the neighborhood I live in is nice and clean.

What is not the same:

–Have higher income due to legally be freed from some of the Danish “you name-it, we tax-it” rules; furthermore I can buy little more for my money

–Nicer house, and I even for years had a vehicle (American) I could only dream about at “home”, now I drive a similar nice car as I had at home, but it was cheaper here

–Nicer places to visit on weekends, holidays, cruises, etc. it's Samui and her sisters, and only 50 minutes flight from Bangkok or 1½ hour from Hong Kong and Singapore!

–My daughter is in an excellent EP-school – better than public schools at “home”, when I compare and ask friends – she will be able to attend University just 10 kilometers from where we live, and actually have a future when she graduates (in Denmark she may just be unemployed).

We even have a Christian church (or two); however I’m not religious and we visit the temples instead...

We have Tesco with Thai workers instead of Walmart – same, same, but different – but we don’t have snow and White Christmas, unless we take a trip to Bangkok’s “Snow Town” (artificial); however snow is also rare in Denmark and there are no mountains, so if you wish to ski, you’ll have to travel to Norway or the Alps, same here, I’ve heard there should be excellent ski-sport in Korea, maybe try that one winter.

[SoiBiker]

The reason for the RARITY of good stories is, most on this forum are damaged goods, iv met more who love thailand and thrive living there in person.. This forum it mainly full of thai haters burnt out expats who blame, Thailand for there mess..

I'd agree with that. The expats I know personally are a happy bunch who love it here. None of them post here, as this place is considered a bit of a laughing stock.

[sirineou]

The trick to Thailand is not to burn your bridges back home, Have a Plan B,

I cringe when I hear " I sold the house, sold the business and moved to Thailand" a recipe for disaster IMO.

The truth of the matter is that at some point for many of us Thailand will get old, and we will want to get back home and for sure, if we are lucky we will get old and might need to repatriate.

So the solution IMO is to heave some doors open

I am also Back in the US, working, padding up my pensions and social security. In four years I will retire , but still maintain my Florida residence, I will move to my property in Thailand, for as long as I like and rent the property in FL .

if I dont like it there,or need to move back for medical reasons, I will have a way back home.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

"The trick to Thailand is not to burn your bridges back home, Have a Plan B,

I cringe when I hear " I sold the house, sold the business and moved to Thailand" a recipe for disaster IMO."

Not really a trick specifically related to Thailand. Anytime you make a major decision in life ... , choosing where to work, whether to marry or divorce, a move to a new location in your own country or elsewhere, making a significant investment ... you should approach it cautiously and, if possible, allow some opportunity to change your mind before committing. It's like finishing school and wasting no time moving away from mom and dad. For many it works out fine, but for others they soon find themselves sheepishly asking to move back home where mom does the cooking and laundry.

Some people make impetuous, entirely emotional decisions and then regret them. Rather than learn from the experience they spend all their time shifting blame ... onto Thailand or the wife or the neighbors or ...

I agree you shouldn't burn bridges too quickly. If your decision to move to Thailand coincides with your decision to retire and possibly a marriage to someone you barely know, you're taking on several major life changes at the same time and some people can't handle it all especially late in life and if they've always lived in their home country.

On the other hand many of us took time to decide what we were going to do and didn't have irrational fantasies about the outcome or our ability to cope. I've started on my 10th year here in retirement and owned my condo long before that. Thailand is 100% my home now. The expression "move back home" is meaningless. I am home. I suppose I could pull up stakes and move back to the US, but have no desire to do so and expect that would be far more traumatic than living out my life here. I left the US over 40 years ago. It's a foreign country to me now.

Sure, plan B does not always have to be a way back home. For me it is for a number of reasons.

That's where my medical insurance is. I wish I didn't but I know one day I will need it. Burying my head in Thailand will not make that eventuality go away.

Being older than my wife, chances are I will pass away way before her.Thailand is not a good place IMO for her to earn a living should my provisions for her prove insufficient.

Back in the US she has a marketable trade and can always earn a good living.

I am glad you were able to cut the umbilical cord, for me unfortunately it's not an option

Provide a solution to my medical needs concern and I might also be able to cut the umbilical cord. Self insuring makes Thailand way to expensive for me, a serious illness could wipe out all that I spend years to build.

[JLCrab]

The reason for the RARITY of good stories is, most on this forum are damaged goods, iv met more who love thailand and thrive living there in person.. This forum it mainly full of thai haters burnt out expats who blame, Thailand for there mess..

I'd agree with that. The expats I know personally are a happy bunch who love it here. None of them post here, as this place is considered a bit of a laughing stock.

So do your friends laugh at you with your almost 7000 posts in less than 2 years?

[SoiBiker]

The reason for the RARITY of good stories is, most on this forum are damaged goods, iv met more who love thailand and thrive living there in person.. This forum it mainly full of thai haters burnt out expats who blame, Thailand for there mess..

I'd agree with that. The expats I know personally are a happy bunch who love it here. None of them post here, as this place is considered a bit of a laughing stock.

So do your friends laugh at you with your almost 7000 posts in less than 2 years?

I don't tell them I post here. It's my guilty little secret.

Word to the wise - mocking someone for participating in the same thing you do just makes you look a bit silly.

[thaiduncankk]

The reason for the RARITY of good stories is, most on this forum are damaged goods, iv met more who love thailand and thrive living there in person.. This forum it mainly full of thai haters burnt out expats who blame, Thailand for there mess..

I'd agree with that. The expats I know personally are a happy bunch who love it here. None of them post here, as this place is considered a bit of a laughing stock.

So do your friends laugh at you with your almost 7000 posts in less than 2 years?

I don't tell them I post here. It's my guilty little secret.

Word to the wise - mocking someone for participating in the same thing you do just makes you look a bit silly.

Maybe they have a guilty little secret too, and are serial posters ?

[Bernard Flint]

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY

Not anything else to say other than winning the lottery keeps a smile on one,s face, wherever one is hahahahahhaahahaha.

[JLCrab]

The reason for the RARITY of good stories is, most on this forum are damaged goods, iv met more who love thailand and thrive living there in person.. This forum it mainly full of thai haters burnt out expats who blame, Thailand for there mess..

I'd agree with that. The expats I know personally are a happy bunch who love it here. None of them post here, as this place is considered a bit of a laughing stock.

So do your friends laugh at you with your almost 7000 posts in less than 2 years?

I don't tell them I post here. It's my guilty little secret.

Word to the wise - mocking someone for participating in the same thing you do just makes you look a bit silly.

The difference is I don't hang out with friends who think it's a laughing stock and laugh along with them even though you have your almost 7000 posts ... but then again, I don't have (hardly) any friends who even know what ThaiVisa is as I have hardly any friends. So that makes it easy.

[SoiBiker]

The reason for the RARITY of good stories is, most on this forum are damaged goods, iv met more who love thailand and thrive living there in person.. This forum it mainly full of thai haters burnt out expats who blame, Thailand for there mess..

I'd agree with that. The expats I know personally are a happy bunch who love it here. None of them post here, as this place is considered a bit of a laughing stock.

So do your friends laugh at you with your almost 7000 posts in less than 2 years?

I don't tell them I post here. It's my guilty little secret.

Word to the wise - mocking someone for participating in the same thing you do just makes you look a bit silly.

Maybe they have a guilty little secret too, and are serial posters ?

I doubt it. I don't see anyone even vaguely like them here. They're largely under 40 for a start.

[thaiduncankk]

The reason for the RARITY of good stories is, most on this forum are damaged goods, iv met more who love thailand and thrive living there in person.. This forum it mainly full of thai haters burnt out expats who blame, Thailand for there mess..

I'd agree with that. The expats I know personally are a happy bunch who love it here. None of them post here, as this place is considered a bit of a laughing stock.

So do your friends laugh at you with your almost 7000 posts in less than 2 years?

I don't tell them I post here. It's my guilty little secret.

Word to the wise - mocking someone for participating in the same thing you do just makes you look a bit silly.

Maybe they have a guilty little secret too, and are serial posters ?

I doubt it. I don't see anyone even vaguely like them here. They're largely under 40 for a start.

I did not know there was an age limit to post on here. 40 is it ?

[SoiBiker]

There isn't.

There don't seem to be a lot of younger posters though. Certainly nobody that resembles the kind of expats I know personally here.

Have we gone off-topic enough now, or would you like to take it a little further?

[BookMan]

The reason for the RARITY of good stories is, most on this forum are damaged goods, iv met more who love thailand and thrive living there in person.. This forum it mainly full of thai haters burnt out expats who blame, Thailand for there mess..

I'd agree with that. The expats I know personally are a happy bunch who love it here. None of them post here, as this place is considered a bit of a laughing stock.

Are they over on big mango?

[hdkane]

For me, I got "stuck" here in Thailand...I had a very good job in the USA, secure with a stable, but not huge income...I met a Thai girl and brought her to the USA...married in Thailand, but not the USA...after she could not adjust to the USA, we moved to Thailand, where I knew I could continue the same work, albeit at a much lower salary...quite literally 3 days upon my arrival here, it came to light that she had a couple of other fellows that she was stringing along the same as me...keep in mind that I thought that we were exclusive to each other for almost 5 years...she had a fellow from the UK and one from Norway, in addition to me...apparently, my settling in Thailand made her deceptions come unraveled...I never thought a "good" girl (government worker) could even consider such a lie that destroyed 4 people's lives...but of course this is Thailand...and I now know firsthand that there is no code of behavior...and no one thinks about their future happiness...today is what matters most, even if it is at the expense of others.

so I am stuck...i brought my assets here...I am too old to return to the USA and hope to find meaningful work, even though I was top in my field, it would mean starting over...I've decided to take my savings and squander them here...I have enough money saved to drink until I am drunk every day...I have enough to rent a decent place...and enough to have a woman anytime I feel the urge...and the women here are usually prettier than the drug addled whores available in the USA...On the upside, I take care of dogs in the area, I garden, I read and study...but I do not even consider to help Thai people...I figure the additional cost I pay for taxis, food, rent, clothes, and even electricity (yes, the pricing structure for utilities is set up to force farangs to pay more) is charity enough...I will never help a Thai, because they will never help themselves.

Before you berate me for being so cynical...I dare say that my story is far more common than the one where a farang meets a Thai and they live happily ever after, sharing life and planning a future together...

Thailand is filled with whores, cowards, liars, and thieves...and some of us try to make the best of it...for many farang this is heaven, because these are the people that attracted us...for more of us, it is just the best alternative...

[stickylies]

Maybe -- but in Thailand, no one has ever asked me: "So, what do you do?"

?? Oink !! ??? They ask me all the time. LOL. As well as how much I pay for my house (rent) which will always result in the obligatory Pèèèèèng (I pay 5000/month, mind you, but because they don't know/understand that i can't buy here they think it's expensive to pay such a fortune on rent instead of mortgage. i gave up explaining in the name of Thainess.) and why I don't have Thai wife/gf (a question I actually love so I can answer with my straightest, angel-like face "I don't like Thai women, they talk too much and know so little") and how much the plane costs (Pèèèèèng too of course but that's because it's the equivalent of what they spend on LEO in 3 months, imagine what that means to a thai)... But... at "home" people ask me the same idiotic questions (what i do, if it's true that all thai women are whores, etc). It's sooooooo hard to find intelligent, mindfull people anywhere in the world... who mind their own business.

[stickylies]

For me, I got "stuck" here in Thailand...I had a very good job in the USA, secure with a stable, but not huge income...I met a Thai girl and brought her to the USA...married in Thailand, but not the USA...after she could not adjust to the USA, we moved to Thailand, where I knew I could continue the same work, albeit at a much lower salary...quite literally 3 days upon my arrival here, it came to light that she had a couple of other fellows that she was stringing along the same as me...keep in mind that I thought that we were exclusive to each other for almost 5 years...she had a fellow from the UK and one from Norway, in addition to me...apparently, my settling in Thailand made her deceptions come unraveled...I never thought a "good" girl (government worker) could even consider such a lie that destroyed 4 people's lives...but of course this is Thailand...and I now know firsthand that there is no code of behavior...and no one thinks about their future happiness...today is what matters most, even if it is at the expense of others.

so I am stuck...i brought my assets here...I am too old to return to the USA and hope to find meaningful work, even though I was top in my field, it would mean starting over...I've decided to take my savings and squander them here...I have enough money saved to drink until I am drunk every day...I have enough to rent a decent place...and enough to have a woman anytime I feel the urge...and the women here are usually prettier than the drug addled whores available in the USA...On the upside, I take care of dogs in the area, I garden, I read and study...but I do not even consider to help Thai people...I figure the additional cost I pay for taxis, food, rent, clothes, and even electricity (yes, the pricing structure for utilities is set up to force farangs to pay more) is charity enough...I will never help a Thai, because they will never help themselves.

Before you berate me for being so cynical...I dare say that my story is far more common than the one where a farang meets a Thai and they live happily ever after, sharing life and planning a future together...

Thailand is filled with whores, cowards, liars, and thieves...and some of us try to make the best of it...for many farang this is heaven, because these are the people that attracted us...for more of us, it is just the best alternative...

excellent story! so many farang - not you btw - call thai stupid and ignorant but when it comes to the old "u handsum man" trick the farang isn't much of a genius either. kudos for taking care of the dogs.

[connda]

Why am I still in Thailand?

1. The good still outweighs the bad;
2. I have a wife, a family, a nice home, and two dogs My wife wants to live in Thailand, and my stepkids aren't eligible for a visa to enter the US to live and work, even though I raised them. Those visas, unfortunately are disproportionately given to those illegally crossing the southern border, refugees from the ME/NA, and extended family members from Mexico. If my stepkids were Mexican, different story. I don't make this up. Research the laws and executive orders.

[thaiduncankk]

For me, I got "stuck" here in Thailand...I had a very good job in the USA, secure with a stable, but not huge income...I met a Thai girl and brought her to the USA...married in Thailand, but not the USA...after she could not adjust to the USA, we moved to Thailand, where I knew I could continue the same work, albeit at a much lower salary...quite literally 3 days upon my arrival here, it came to light that she had a couple of other fellows that she was stringing along the same as me...keep in mind that I thought that we were exclusive to each other for almost 5 years...she had a fellow from the UK and one from Norway, in addition to me...apparently, my settling in Thailand made her deceptions come unraveled...I never thought a "good" girl (government worker) could even consider such a lie that destroyed 4 people's lives...but of course this is Thailand...and I now know firsthand that there is no code of behavior...and no one thinks about their future happiness...today is what matters most, even if it is at the expense of others.

so I am stuck...i brought my assets here...I am too old to return to the USA and hope to find meaningful work, even though I was top in my field, it would mean starting over...I've decided to take my savings and squander them here...I have enough money saved to drink until I am drunk every day...I have enough to rent a decent place...and enough to have a woman anytime I feel the urge...and the women here are usually prettier than the drug addled whores available in the USA...On the upside, I take care of dogs in the area, I garden, I read and study...but I do not even consider to help Thai people...I figure the additional cost I pay for taxis, food, rent, clothes, and even electricity (yes, the pricing structure for utilities is set up to force farangs to pay more) is charity enough...I will never help a Thai, because they will never help themselves.

Before you berate me for being so cynical...I dare say that my story is far more common than the one where a farang meets a Thai and they live happily ever after, sharing life and planning a future together...

Thailand is filled with whores, cowards, liars, and thieves...and some of us try to make the best of it...for many farang this is heaven, because these are the people that attracted us...for more of us, it is just the best alternative...

And where did you meet this 'good' girl ? Internet ?

[Gecko123]

For me, I got "stuck" here in Thailand...I had a very good job in the USA, secure with a stable, but not huge income...I met a Thai girl and brought her to the USA...married in Thailand, but not the USA...after she could not adjust to the USA, we moved to Thailand, where I knew I could continue the same work, albeit at a much lower salary...quite literally 3 days upon my arrival here, it came to light that she had a couple of other fellows that she was stringing along the same as me...keep in mind that I thought that we were exclusive to each other for almost 5 years...she had a fellow from the UK and one from Norway, in addition to me...apparently, my settling in Thailand made her deceptions come unraveled...I never thought a "good" girl (government worker) could even consider such a lie that destroyed 4 people's lives...but of course this is Thailand...and I now know firsthand that there is no code of behavior...and no one thinks about their future happiness...today is what matters most, even if it is at the expense of others.

so I am stuck...i brought my assets here...I am too old to return to the USA and hope to find meaningful work, even though I was top in my field, it would mean starting over...I've decided to take my savings and squander them here...I have enough money saved to drink until I am drunk every day...I have enough to rent a decent place...and enough to have a woman anytime I feel the urge...and the women here are usually prettier than the drug addled whores available in the USA...On the upside, I take care of dogs in the area, I garden, I read and study...but I do not even consider to help Thai people...I figure the additional cost I pay for taxis, food, rent, clothes, and even electricity (yes, the pricing structure for utilities is set up to force farangs to pay more) is charity enough...I will never help a Thai, because they will never help themselves.

Before you berate me for being so cynical...I dare say that my story is far more common than the one where a farang meets a Thai and they live happily ever after, sharing life and planning a future together...

Thailand is filled with whores, cowards, liars, and thieves...and some of us try to make the best of it...for many farang this is heaven, because these are the people that attracted us...for more of us, it is just the best alternative...

I do think stories like yours need to be aired, and people need to be made more aware that this can happen. Thanks for sharing. You are on the right path trying to stay active. Try not to dwell on the past, cut back on the drinking, and try to stay positive. Wish you the best.