SURVEY: What is the greatest drawback to living in Thailand?

[Mudcrab]

Difficulty in making good friends once married in Thailand. And I make friends easily.

Found most of my wife's friends in Bk can be pretty fake and pretentious and I don't seem to have much in common with other expats I meet; although I met a v nice couple through the TV motor forums recently!

Not sure if anyone else had this problem when they moved over or if my age is a factor (in my 40s now).

That's my only real gripe so far. I love the food, the weather, convenient and affordable transportation, the cheap and brilliant dentist I found, discovering new parts of Thailand and that all those amazing bordering countries are so close.

Funny how bordering countries are so close.

[willyumiii]

If the biggest complaint most expats in Thailand is the visa process,

life is pretty darn good in Thailand.

The visa process here is pretty simple and straight forward and pretty linexpensive, if you follow the rules.

Have you ever helped anyone apply for a visa to stay in, for example, The United States?

I have.

Now that is both difficult and expensive, and can take years to do.

It cost thousand of U.S. dollars and took almost three years to get my wife into the U.S. and we did everything correctly

and everything you do, must be done with The Dept of Immigration,, The State Dept. and The Dept of Homeland Security

A visa in Thailand is a piece of cake in comparison.

Edited June 5, 2016 by willyumiii

[berybert]

If the biggest complaint most expats in Thailand is the visa process,

life is pretty darn good in Thailand.

The visa process here is pretty simple and straight forward and pretty linexpensive, if you follow the rules.

Have you ever helped anyone apply for a visa to stay in, for example, The United States?

I have.

Now that is both difficult and expensive, and can take years to do.

It cost thousand of U.S. dollars and took almost three years to get my wife into the U.S. and we did everything correctly

and everything you do, must be done with The Dept of Immigration,, The State Dept. and The Dept of Homeland Security

A visa in Thailand is a piece of cake in comparison.

You could have married an American woman and had none of the problems mentioned.

[Carson2311]

If the biggest complaint most expats in Thailand is the visa process,

life is pretty darn good in Thailand.

The visa process here is pretty simple and straight forward and pretty linexpensive, if you follow the rules.

Have you ever helped anyone apply for a visa to stay in, for example, The United States?

I have.

Now that is both difficult and expensive, and can take years to do.

It cost thousand of U.S. dollars and took almost three years to get my wife into the U.S. and we did everything correctly

and everything you do, must be done with The Dept of Immigration,, The State Dept. and The Dept of Homeland Security

A visa in Thailand is a piece of cake in comparison.

You are perfectly right. If you do everything as it should be, there is not a problem in the world.

Very cheap too. I would say "sweet as a cookie"

[willyumiii]

If the biggest complaint most expats in Thailand is the visa process,

life is pretty darn good in Thailand.

The visa process here is pretty simple and straight forward and pretty linexpensive, if you follow the rules.

Have you ever helped anyone apply for a visa to stay in, for example, The United States?

I have.

Now that is both difficult and expensive, and can take years to do.

It cost thousand of U.S. dollars and took almost three years to get my wife into the U.S. and we did everything correctly

and everything you do, must be done with The Dept of Immigration,, The State Dept. and The Dept of Homeland Security

A visa in Thailand is a piece of cake in comparison.

You could have married an American woman and had none of the problems mentioned.

Why would any man in his right mind want to marry an American woman?

American women all want to be men, and act like men too.

Then there is the obesity issue.

No thank you...very much!

[Agent Sumo]

If the biggest complaint most expats in Thailand is the visa process,

life is pretty darn good in Thailand.

The visa process here is pretty simple and straight forward and pretty linexpensive, if you follow the rules.

Have you ever helped anyone apply for a visa to stay in, for example, The United States?

I have.

Now that is both difficult and expensive, and can take years to do.

It cost thousand of U.S. dollars and took almost three years to get my wife into the U.S. and we did everything correctly

and everything you do, must be done with The Dept of Immigration,, The State Dept. and The Dept of Homeland Security

A visa in Thailand is a piece of cake in comparison.

You could have married an American woman and had none of the problems mentioned.

Why would any man in his right mind want to marry an American woman?

American women all want to be men, and act like men too.

Then there is the obesity issue.

No thank you...very much!

Why would any man in his right mind want to marry an American woman that I can get?

American women that I can get all want to be men, and act like men too.

Just cleared up the accidental omissions

[JAFO]

If the biggest complaint most expats in Thailand is the visa process,

life is pretty darn good in Thailand.

The visa process here is pretty simple and straight forward and pretty linexpensive, if you follow the rules.

Have you ever helped anyone apply for a visa to stay in, for example, The United States?

I have.

Now that is both difficult and expensive, and can take years to do.

It cost thousand of U.S. dollars and took almost three years to get my wife into the U.S. and we did everything correctly

and everything you do, must be done with The Dept of Immigration,, The State Dept. and The Dept of Homeland Security

A visa in Thailand is a piece of cake in comparison.

You could have married an American woman and had none of the problems mentioned.

Why would any man in his right mind want to marry an American woman?

American women all want to be men, and act like men too.

Then there is the obesity issue.

No thank you...very much!

Why would any man in his right mind want to marry an American woman that I can get?

American women that I can get all want to be men, and act like men too.

Just cleared up the accidental omissions

@ willymuiii. That to me is such a silly stereotype. Not all American women are fat. In fact there are some stunning women. However unlike here they will not likely chase an average Joe or the fat old guy and most of them would never even consider dating a man 2-3 times their age.

Just like here. Saying all Thai women are gorgeous. Christ I see some downright ugly ones and some are sickly skinny. I have found once foreigners settle in and sober up(if they ever do) they realize its the same in both places. I always laugh at the US men that default to that "US women are Fat and Ugly". Utter nonsense. there are pretty and ugly women everywhere. Just be honest with yourself. It was just easier for you to meet a gal here for a host of reasons.

But to your other point Willymuiii, Yes the check in here is easy cheesy compared to the US Visa. We applied for the Visa to come to the US and went to BKK. Interestingly its very hard to get a VISA to the US. You better have lots of assets and a reason to come back or you aren't going to get one. After we arrived I took an offer at a company and we stayed. We then acquired her green card and ultimately her US passport. We decided it was a better long term decision leaving us many options. The US process is long and tedious. Price was ~$4K after all said and done. We did it ourselves and no attorney's. We also got married in the US.

Now we are back in Thailand.

[Cook my sock]

Difficulty in making good friends once married in Thailand. And I make friends easily.

Found most of my wife's friends in Bk can be pretty fake and pretentious and I don't seem to have much in common with other expats I meet; although I met a v nice couple through the TV motor forums recently!

Not sure if anyone else had this problem when they moved over or if my age is a factor (in my 40s now).

That's my only real gripe so far. I love the food, the weather, convenient and affordable transportation, the cheap and brilliant dentist I found, discovering new parts of Thailand and that all those amazing bordering countries are so close.

Funny how bordering countries are so close.

having lived in the middle of Russia..[emoji74] Edited June 5, 2016 by Cook my sock

[Cook my sock]

To all the posters that stated the poor driving and the unnecessary road deaths, I have a question for you. Where did you live prior to moving to Thailand? Where are you seeing all the deaths and destruction? The News?

Some come on here and post like they are walking down the street and there are dead people all over the place or wrecks every 10 feet.. I simply do not see it and I travel around Thailand a lot. Bangkok to CM to Nakhom Ratchasima and I drive it a lot. Some of the time when I am not driving myself I am in a company van from Nakhom Ratchasima to Ayutthaya and I still don't see it. Admittedly I have seen bad wrecks on the news but let me tell you, I am from California and I saw multiple car accidents every single day to work and back. EVERY DAY. In fact the news and GPS in cars have warnings to tell you about the wrecks. Some serious some minor. <deleted> I have seen on the news 35 car pile ups on the news where 15 people died on Interstate 5. When is the last time any of you saw a 35 car pile up in Thailand? I never see a multiple car wreck in Thailand. My point is, if you came from a place in your home country in the middle of nowhere and move here you might shake your head because honestly you were never exposed to it so you complain about it. However stop with this image you portray that people are dying and wrecking everywhere and bodies are all over the place. If you watch the news to formulate your opinion then you should reconsider watching the news if you can't filter it properly and if your a putz old man driver then you should stay off the road.

With that said, Yes I see families of 4 or 5 on a scooter. Yes I see 5 people in the back of trucks, Yes I see some guys on top of a garbage trucks, Yes I see people riding scooters right to the edge, but I still have only seen a few wrecks in Thailand in my 10+ years.

Over 24k dead a year that's about one every 20 mins. Just cos YOU don't see it does not mean they are not getting killed

This is actually funny. So foreigners complain how there is virtually no infrastructure, systems don't work, they do what they want etc and yet posters will believe the data when it's convenient. You can't have it both ways. I would question those numbers. I do not believe them. How are the numbers reported? Province to province from each little police station? Come on. Don't make me laugh.

Compared to uk..alot of things work a lot better in Thailand

Call centers, banks, transportation(in Bangkok), hospitals..

When u get back to heathrow and it's a shithole compared to suvarnabhumi ..the ticket machines at the station won't accept your coins and everything is designed to give you high blood pressure

[ardokano]

There are plenty of wealthy, educated Thais who speak little to no English.

1.welthy and upper class it NOT same. Drugdealer can be welthy but i not think it can be upper class( its not Colombia)

2. So no English- no problem. So they then have the Chinese, French, Spanish or the language of mathematics is it?

[SoiBiker]

There are plenty of wealthy, educated Thais who speak little to no English.

1.welthy and upper class it NOT same. Drugdealer can be welthy but i not think it can be upper class( its not Colombia)

2. So no English- no problem. So they then have the Chinese, French, Spanish or the language of mathematics is it?

Huh?

[Henry89]

driving safety in my #1 concern. Too many accidents, too many sad endings

[Ace of Pop]

Ex Pats Club members Women

[Carson2311]

Ex Pats Club members Women

Seems like you have a lot of experiance

[Ace of Pop]

Not as much as an Exxl Bargirl.[emoji56]

[T_Dog]

Uncertainty is certainly a drawback for foreigners living or thinking about living in Thailand. In the past, there was at least a basic level of stability even with all the prior coups but the current regime has raised the bar on the powers they may evoke. There is also uncertainty on inevitable events and now the banks are making it more difficult to transfer money out of the country. There are a lot of obvious things like the dangers of driving and corruption, but the uncertainty is what caused me to move away.

[wow64]

The heat and having to juggle women.

Sent from my c64

[Cook my sock]

The heat and having to juggle women.

Sent from my c64

id pay to watch that.

[Scotwight]

Uncertainty is certainly a drawback for foreigners living or thinking about living in Thailand. In the past, there was at least a basic level of stability even with all the prior coups but the current regime has raised the bar on the powers they may evoke. There is also uncertainty on inevitable events and now the banks are making it more difficult to transfer money out of the country. There are a lot of obvious things like the dangers of driving and corruption, but the uncertainty is what caused me to move away.

What banking laws have changed? I don't have any problems transferring money.

[T_Dog]

Uncertainty is certainly a drawback for foreigners living or thinking about living in Thailand. In the past, there was at least a basic level of stability even with all the prior coups but the current regime has raised the bar on the powers they may evoke. There is also uncertainty on inevitable events and now the banks are making it more difficult to transfer money out of the country. There are a lot of obvious things like the dangers of driving and corruption, but the uncertainty is what caused me to move away.

What banking laws have changed? I don't have any problems transferring money.

Bank of Thailand released new regulations for Thai Nationals that want to transfer money overseas last week. Don't have the news story but things seem to be tightening down.

[Scotwight]

Uncertainty is certainly a drawback for foreigners living or thinking about living in Thailand. In the past, there was at least a basic level of stability even with all the prior coups but the current regime has raised the bar on the powers they may evoke. There is also uncertainty on inevitable events and now the banks are making it more difficult to transfer money out of the country. There are a lot of obvious things like the dangers of driving and corruption, but the uncertainty is what caused me to move away.

What banking laws have changed? I don't have any problems transferring money.

Bank of Thailand released new regulations for Thai Nationals that want to transfer money overseas last week. Don't have the news story but things seem to be tightening down.

Nonsense. Like I said no banking laws have changed.

[mania]

Uncertainty is certainly a drawback for foreigners living or thinking about living in Thailand. In the past, there was at least a basic level of stability even with all the prior coups but the current regime has raised the bar on the powers they may evoke. There is also uncertainty on inevitable events and now the banks are making it more difficult to transfer money out of the country. There are a lot of obvious things like the dangers of driving and corruption, but the uncertainty is what caused me to move away.

What banking laws have changed? I don't have any problems transferring money.

Bank of Thailand released new regulations for Thai Nationals that want to transfer money overseas last week. Don't have the news story but things seem to be tightening down.

Nonsense. Like I said no banking laws have changed.

Actually there have been some changes/enforcing of rules already in place

He could be referring to this

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/921115-my-bank-intends-to-disallow-international-transfers/

But also I have experienced such holdups at some banks...Fortunately my main bank I have I had no problems with

& in fact just did one transfer to US yesterday as we are moving back in a few months

The other banks just want more proof of where funds cane from regardless of amount.

Third bank has a rather higher limit before requiring info/proof etc.

We have proof so ultimately no problem for *us*. But for those that did not obtain

the FET forms etc when bringing money into Thailand maybe years ago & are now leaving it sometimes can be a

question of proving where funds came from/whether taxes are due *depending on source income etc) on them etc etc etc

So far a storm in a tea cup...But something to note

Edited June 8, 2016 by mania

[Aj Mick]

Thai people are, in general, great….. Just gets difficult when it comes to dealing with xenophobic civil servants. But then, they don't really discriminate; regular Thai folk have more than a few problems with officialdom too.

Edited June 8, 2016 by Aj Mick

[Eclipse]

The noise levels are the only thing that gets me down.

Why do Thai's love noise?

[Ace of Pop]

Empty Vessels make most noise.

[Ace of Pop]

The twisted logic regarding car accidents.IE. 2 old drunks mocy hits car,clear cut cause,yet they try to put blame on innocent party.Amazed insurance firms put up with this fraud.

[NumbNut]

The noise levels are the only thing that gets me down.

Why do Thai's love noise?

Yeah, good point, anything that makes sound seems to be on 'eleven' eh. It will be distorting to hell but no matter, volume on 'eleven'.

Maybe Thai's are all secret Spinal Tap fans...

[Agent Sumo]

The noise levels are the only thing that gets me down.

Why do Thai's love noise?

Move somewhere quiet.

[NumbNut]

The noise levels are the only thing that gets me down.

Why do Thai's love noise?

Move somewhere quiet.

In Thailand? Good luck mate, let me know if you find somewhere 'quiet'

[Agent Sumo]

The noise levels are the only thing that gets me down.

Why do Thai's love noise?

Move somewhere quiet.

In Thailand? Good luck mate, let me know if you find somewhere 'quiet'

Plenty of quiet places to live.

Lots of TV members live in quiet compounds or gated communities Fine if you're waiting to die but, if you've got even a tiny spark of life in you, you'll want to avoid these like ebola

Me, I love the buzz of the big city; the cars, horns, BTS roaring by, chattering office girls at the food carts - F......ing love Bangkok