Are British Expats Missing The Uk?

[Beavis and Butthead]

could this be a troll thread?

[rocky]

could this be a troll thread?

If you look at her thread, it becomes obvious that this is not a joke, first look at her email address and then the web site that is attached http://www.fevermedia.co.uk/

though i always thought a troll was a person going into a chat room and leaving a one liner meaning very little if anything at all.

Beavis in the thime you have been in Thailand how many people do you honestly know that have retuned home, could the number be higher than 0?

Edited October 26, 2006 by rocky

[Beavis and Butthead]

I'd say in my personal experience I can think of only one dude who returned to England for lack of job and cash. He's still back there. Poor dude

[Casanundra]

It's this kind of post with its surreal view of an oppressed England that makes my point rather well.The comment that 55k is a wonderful salary is revealing (because by the standards of the rich South East it's a pauper's wage).This is the kind of guy who's better off in Thailand with The Wife (Thai).

Agree that 55K in the south of England is not a good salary at all but in the North of England it is still quite a good salary (or it used to be when I lived there) which pretty much sums up England and the desparity between the north and south that exists there. If I went to the south I could easily get a six figure salary but that's not the point. The point is that it still wouldn't be enough to entice me back to blighty because my lifestyle and cost of living here gives me so much more than going back there would ever do.

[t.s]

I've been out for ten years, not one visit back. To be honest, the crime, disrespect of the younger generation, local councils bending over backwards to the wims of immigrants to name but some persuade me not to return every time i think about it.

That or i think my mug was caught on cctv during one of the bank jobs...

so when they come to your country they are immigrants and should not be catered to, here you are an "expat" and thats ok. have i got that right?

Perhaps the UK should tighten visa laws and limit the number of entries to the country. Hey, maybe if they didn't allow those pesky foreigners to buy land. I think we are on to something good here.

[Diablo Bob]

Are you thinking about returning to the UK?

Every year more and more Brits are giving up their life in the sun to move back to the UK – last year almost 100,000 expats came home. ITV is keen to hear from Brits who have lived abroad for years without (or very rarely) visiting home, but who are now thinking about returning permanently to Britain.

Perhaps you miss your family and friends, maybe schooling is a problem for your kids, or could you be longing for the simple things? Warm beer, chocolate hobnobs or even the English weather! Are some family members longing for home while others are not so sure?

You will be flown back to Blighty and given the opportunity to test drive life in the UK. Finally the choice will be yours: to remain an expat for good or come back home.

If you are interested in taking part or if you know anyone who might be suitable, please contact Katy Lock as soon as possible by email:

Everyone seems to be assuming that these "Expats" were retired from the UK, came to Thailand and now want to return home!

Of the quoted 100,000 returning "Expats", how many have been working overseas and now are returning home? And a number I would like to see is if a 100,000 returned last year, how many left the UK? This could still be a case of more rats leaving the ship than boarding!

[taxexile]

so when they come to your country they are immigrants and should not be catered to, here you are an "expat" and thats ok. have i got that right?

i think the point the poster was trying to make was that there is a difference between an immigrant who arrives in a country and becomes dependant on the taxpayers of their adopted country for housing , health care , education etc. , and an expat who expects no financial assistance at all..

[Mobi]

Well I did it back in 1983 – went back to the UK after 10 years in Thailand.

I didn’t really want to go, but my wife (Thai) wanted to very badly, and I also felt it would be good for my mother who had recently been widowed after 40 odd years of marriage.

My friends in Thailand, both Thai and farang, were convinced that I wouldn’t last a year back home and that they would see me again pretty soon.

Well I lasted 20 years – albeit interspersed with frequent and sometimes lengthy visits back to LOS.

It took time. But I gradually got back in to the swing of things. I will never forget a job agency telling me to sling my hook, as I’d been out of the job market too long and there was no way he could place me. He said that I would have to find the first job by myself, and if successful, to come back in year and he would put my name on his books.

Well to cut a very long story short, I ended up earning a very large four figure salary, with four figure bonuses to match, running a multi-million pound international company in the City of London.

After the initial culture shock (even before my ten years in Thailand I had been working overseas for most of my adult life), I started to appreciate the good aspects of life in England, and really enjoyed living there. A few years before my eventual retirement, I bought a beautiful place in a lovely spot of countryside, and if it wasn’t for the wife, I could say I led an idyllic existence. Access to large amounts of cash, made a big difference, of course.

The plan was top spend the English winters in Thailand (in a home I had purchased back in the 90's) and the summers in England. That would have been ideal, and I would have enjoyed the best of both worlds.

Unfortunately a nasty, very expensive divorce upset those plans, and my wife enjoys her summers and winters in England, and I enjoy my summers and winters in Pattaya.

Do I regret it? No way – I have a lovely new family, and am very happy here. It would have been nice to have also maintained a nice home in the English countryside, but funds won’t run to that, so I’m quite content with my lot. In any case my new wife doesn’t want to live anywhere But Thailand (she has visited England with me), and I wouldn’t be with her today if I had been able to realise my plans to have two homes.

I understand and agree with all the gripes that have been made about England on this thread, but quite frankly, most of those problems disappear if you have a sufficiently high income.

I don’t – so I’m very happy where I am, in my lovely mansion, surrounded by family, servants, and trusty dog with all the trappings of a wealthy, relaxed life in Sunny Thailand.

[libya 115]

I am here in the U.K. on a flying visit, although I've only been here 7 days, I am already depressed, angry and frustrated. The U.K. cities are a conglomerate dump of 'Little Britain' characters and backward criminal misfits.

So, I shall be glad to return to Pattaya in time for Roy Kratong. I can't imagine that any ex-pats would be happy to return to the U.K. unless they are in Iraq or Afghanistan.

To quote a friend of mine after his six week annual holiday in Thailand over Christmas and New Year: "I hope the plane crashes on the way back".

Edited October 26, 2006 by libya 115

[nostrel]

depends where you are leaving from in the UK ,Left Leeds Burnley or downtown Manchester to go to LOS = Big Improvment . But if you are established in say leafy suburb of Guildford or Wimbledon it might be seen as a bad move . I know a few expats who sold up for what now appears very little and must be sick as parrots for loss of capital apreciation whilst they have been teaching english for a pittance.

They always claim they love it in LOS but you know that deep down they realise they made a mistake ,when the reflect on the half a million pounds extra their old property is now valued at.

If only they had hung on a bit longer before packing up .

[Rinrada]

I thought that maybe I was an EXPAT at times over the years when I was living and working in...

Saudi Arabia,Bahrain,Kuwait,Iraq (Basra -Fun City...at the Time) Algeria, Morocco, Poland,Sierra Leone,Nigeria,Malawi,Cambodia and Viet Nam....and others that I forget....but ..really...

theres only one place to call "ome....

Maybe its because I"m a Lon..... ...

Up the apples.....

[endure]

They always claim they love it in LOS but you know that deep down they realise they made a mistake ,when the reflect on the half a million pounds extra their old property is now valued at.

If only they had hung on a bit longer before packing up .

But that's always going to be true no matter when you move. It's the same as the 'shall I buy a computer now or wait till the new model comes out' argument. It's one you can never win.

[nostrel]

Katy,

as you're not having a lot of luck here , why not change the subject of the programme to

"why so many people can't wait to leave this police-state called the UK where almost everything is illegal and that which isn't soon will be " ?

Just a thought .

The only things i would miss would be the occasional respite from Thailands incessant heat , and the chance to buy proper chocolate

And the tragedy is that the UK was such a great place to live before all this political correctness and obsession with sending everyone who breaks the law to jail came in .

Lots there for your programme !

so you swapped a 'police state' for a military junta with curfews ! the UK was never that bad !

[taxexile]

But if you are established in say leafy suburb of Guildford or Wimbledon it might be seen as a bad move .

in the year before i sold up and left a very leafy north london suburb , there was a rape in a churchyard 100m from my house , three fatal stabbings on the high street in broad daylight , a viciously enforced no parking regime introduced in my residential street , a 40% council tax rise , the police taking 2 days to come round and take a report at a neighbours house after it had been broken into and trashed , and an old age care home closed down to make way for a half way house for neanderthal thugs and wild eyed psycho patients .

[nostrel]

from sky news >>

***************

Beware A Place In The Sun

Updated: 15:46, Tuesday October 24, 2006

Thousands of Britons who retire to a 'paradise' abroad are being warned of ending up living alone in poverty and poor health.

The Foreign Office says too many emigrants fail to prepare adequately for their new life.

Many go to Spain - where some have to be dealt with by Bruce McIntyre, the British Consul in Malaga.

"Sadly, we spend much of our time with elderly British nationals who moved out here 10 or 15 years ago and now cannot manage alone," Mr McIntyre told Sky News.

"Sometimes a partner has died and the other is too old or infirm to go out and buy food.

"Sometimes people have made bad property investments or have not budgeted their pensions sufficiently and are living in extreme poverty."

Mr McIntyre is urging British retirees to realise that few European countries have welfare provisions like the UK.

"There are often no old people's homes, no district nursing, community care or meals on wheels.

"We provide help where we can but there are just a few steps you can take to ensure that it doesn't come to this."

The Foreign Office has produced a guide called Going To Live Abroad as part of a Know Before You Go campaign.

Those planning to retire abroad are urged to research their destination, including local laws and customs, and to learn some of the local language.

They should also work out their retirement income, allowing for inflation and exchange rate fluctuations.

[bkkmadness]

I thought that maybe I was an EXPAT at times over the years when I was living and working in...

Saudi Arabia,Bahrain,Kuwait,Iraq (Basra -Fun City...at the Time) Algeria, Morocco, Poland,Sierra Leone,Nigeria,Malawi,Cambodia and Viet Nam....and others that I forget....but ..really...

theres only one place to call "ome....

Maybe its because I"m a Lon..... ...

Up the apples.....

he'll be doing the lambeth walk next.

Edited October 26, 2006 by bkkmadness

[Casanundra]

so you swapped a 'police state' for a military junta with curfews ! the UK was never that bad !

Military junta with Curfews? Are we talking Thailand? If there have been any curfews here then I have not been aware of them and even as I stood right next to one of the tanks with a yellow flower in my left mitt when they came trundling down my road, not one of the squaddies mentioned anything about getting myself off home before the curfew kicked in.

As for the police state UK, they don't need a curfew because one of the 40 cameras that is constantly taking pictures of you is tracking you instead, as is the signal on your mobile phone, as is the number plate recognition camera that tracks the movements of your car...

[suiging]

so you swapped a 'police state' for a military junta with curfews ! the UK was never that bad !

Military junta with Curfews? Are we talking Thailand? If there have been any curfews here then I have not been aware of them and even as I stood right next to one of the tanks with a yellow flower in my left mitt when they came trundling down my road, not one of the squaddies mentioned anything about getting myself off home before the curfew kicked in.

As for the police state UK, they don't need a curfew because one of the 40 cameras that is constantly taking pictures of you is tracking you instead, as is the signal on your mobile phone, as is the number plate recognition camera that tracks the movements of your car...

Yep and with all this technology, you'll still get mugged.

[Mobi]

A few flippant comments:

Curfews? I'm not aware of any in the current situation, but they used to be second place back in them thar good old days.

Great fun - trying to beat the midnight curferw before the door were bolted and the all the daughters were locked up.

Many's the time I'd rescue a damsel in distress in the Patpong area at around 11.45 when she had no money for the taxi home. I was a cheap charlie on those days, and had many an adventurous, and enjoyable nights with grateful lasses who were helped out in such circumstances. Ah those were the days.

This business of becoming old, infirm and unable to look after one's self. Well, if you find the right one, there is much to be said for marrying a young lady who is of considerably tenderer years than yourself Of course, she might rob you and desert you as soon as you're too feeble to fight back - but that's a chance you take, I guess.

Now to more serious stuff. I I know of a very old gentleman (perhaps the OP might be interested), who is 80 years old, has a bad heart, can barely walk and survives on a UK pension that was frozen back in the 60's. He lives in a tiny room in Prakanong, and only manages to get out a couple of times a week to do a bit of shopping. He has no money to pay for medical care, and is so infirm he cannot take the buses and has no money for taxis. There is a lovely Chinese lady, who has taken pity on him, and visits him 2-3 times a week and brings food, cleans up his place, and generally does what she can - all for nothing - she has a heart of gold.

I keep promising myself I will bring the poor old bastard down to Pattya for a holiday - and one of these days I really must do it.

Totally off topic - but I wonder what has happened to all those lovelies I used to know back some 30 years ago? I guess old bar girls never die - they just fade away......

[taxexile]

Now to more serious stuff. I I know of a very old gentleman (perhaps the OP might be interested), who is 80 years old, has a bad heart, can barely walk and survives on a UK pension that was frozen back in the 60's. He lives in a tiny room in Prakanong, and only manages to get out a couple of times a week to do a bit of shopping. He has no money to pay for medical care, and is so infirm he cannot take the buses and has no money for taxis. There is a lovely Chinese lady, who has taken pity on him, and visits him 2-3 times a week and brings food, cleans up his place, and generally does what she can - all for nothing - she has a heart of gold.

are there any "falang love falang" type help / meals on wheels / check on oldie wobbly falang neighbour / got any health problems / type volunteer organisations or networks run by falangs here in thailand ?

there must be many solo falangs here who are old and infirm and need but get little help .

Edited October 27, 2006 by taxexile

[PhilHarries]

It's this kind of post with its surreal view of an oppressed England that makes my point rather well.The comment that 55k is a wonderful salary is revealing (because by the standards of the rich South East it's a pauper's wage).This is the kind of guy who's better off in Thailand with The Wife (Thai).

Agree that 55K in the south of England is not a good salary at all but in the North of England it is still quite a good salary (or it used to be when I lived there) which pretty much sums up England and the desparity between the north and south that exists there. If I went to the south I could easily get a six figure salary but that's not the point. The point is that it still wouldn't be enough to entice me back to blighty because my lifestyle and cost of living here gives me so much more than going back there would ever do.

I went back in early '04 after 12 years in LOS and got myself a job contracting on limited company basis taking home a little over 50k GBP. I was only "well off" because I was lodging at my mother's house (sh1t, 50 yo and living with mummy? Oh well it was only short term as it turned out). Now I'm in KL on a six figure package accumulating my retirement fund for LOS, unless things go tits up there. I have no intention of returning to the UK except to visit family, but as someone else has intimated in contracting you go where the work is.

But would I consider a voluntary return to UK? Well if Sir Alex called me and offered a desk job on Wayne Rooney's money and Gordon Brown kindly agreed to waive my tax liability, future and past, yes I'd think about it.