7 year itch

[Gonefortea]

52 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

That's definitely the UK you are referring to.

I'm afraid it is 

[MANFROMBOCA]

I just get bored sometimes... i dont get the 7 year itch i usually get the 10 year itch and move on, i dont know if i would leave thailand  i might try a different region or may end up in a place as yet unknown  but its not for any specific reason each place has its own reason,,  remember its never too late to start over or try something new

[Gonefortea]

26 minutes ago, timewilltell said:

It is the cumulative effects of all those issues from the OP that finally gets you into a frame of mind or rather realisation that Thailand does not like foreigners and barely tolerates their intrusion.

Again and again I see this reply. It's a TVF phenomenon. I see things in a completely different light. But I suspect now I will get the hair dryer treatment as I dare to say you are wrong so wrong.

[55Jay]

Thailand was an interesting, exotic place when I was in my late teen/early 20s.  Lived/worked around the world most of my life so when I ended up here 4 years ago, it wasn't a "Wow" moment.  I'm at the point now where nothing about Thailand really interests me. 

 

Eventual Leaver........but not rushing to the airport out of anger or disgust. 

Edited March 7, 2017 by 55Jay

[SiamBeast]

Stayer. Been here for 4 years.

 

Visa issues: None (Thailand Elite). But many people get along just fine with marriage visas / retirement / work

Land ownership: It's just a few extra steps when setting up an offshore trust to get land

Relationship: I have a lovely wife with no previous boyfriend and she makes me a sandwich every morning

Thai laws: No problem with that - in fact, the anti-defamation laws help preserve order

Driving: It's not a secret that Thais are the worst drivers, but once you know how to adapt, everything is all right.

Dual pricing: Usually a Thai DL does the trick - and in the many places where they don't accept it, I just don't go.

Medical care: I'm happy to be able to pay to see a doctor quickly rather than waiting 12 hours in the waiting room like in my home country

Corruption: When you place yourself on the right side of it, it's not a bad thing.

[Kadilo]

The reason some move on I think is because they cannot "unlearn" and learn a new way of doing things and the language barrier doesnt help either.
They live their life to certain rules/habits etc for 50 years then come here and try to change things to as close to what they are used to as possible and it just doesnt work that way and many cannot/wont adjust.(long term).

Excellent post. I myself don't live in Thailand yet but have been coming here for the past 30 years and am planning to retire here in future.
I think a lot depends on what your perspective of "life" is all about and why you consider to be "quality" I've lived in the UK all my life for me it's got progressively worse. I'm not talking about immigration or anything like that because i embrace a multi cultural society. For me it's all about the greedy, self centred miserable society it has developed over the years.
The most noticeable thing I see is when I step off the plane in London is the change of mood and the angry/stress filled people strutting around. People who are supposed to have everything and look as miserable as sin. I compare that with the people i have grown to know in Thailand, many potless but live by different values.
Everyone is different and their needs and priorities maybe but Thailand ticks many of my boxes and can't wait to settle there.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[FlorC]

I'm in Thailand for nearly 10 years and I've had the 7 year itch from the third year. Thailand is great (I'm not putting it down) , lots of things I like about it , I just don't like ME being in Thailand . I'm now on "holiday" in europe . I get depressed thinking about have to return but no choice . As a grown man I get tears in my eyes knowing I have to return in june , sitting out another freaking hot 2 year prison sentence , with sh_t for food , no hygiene , and sweating all the time. ( paying for the bad descisions I made )
Yes I'm enjoying clean air in fanastic cool temps with all the food I WANT & LIKE to eat at fair prices.......in europe , of course !

Edited March 7, 2017 by FlorC

[Andrew Dwyer]

Stayer ( I think)
It's early days for me, been here full time for just less than a year, coming and going for 1 year previous to that.
Retired and on an O-A so no hassles there.
Travelling around to decide where I would want to make a home still, currently in a cheap apartment in Pathum Thani but probably would like to live in Prachuap ( beautiful coastline).
Driving is not an issue, lived in Brazil 20 years.
Corruption, ditto above.
Relationship, well still on Thai honeymoon and I think I've found a keeper.
Land ownership, still toying with that one, living in a cheap apartment so no real pressure to resolve either buying or renting a place just yet, have just watched a couple of videos on another thread about building a modern home and has got my interest !
Been married twice, 13 and 20 years so figure I can bat this one out past the 7 year itch.

So as said before:
Stayer ( I think )



Sent from my iPhone with the usual amount of sincerity and sarcasm [emoji4]

[fdch]

6 hours ago, superal said:

Try travelling all over Thailand not just main areas.

 

I have over the last 14 years,  all bar the far south , now live in a non tourist town , north east and what I stated refers to all of Thailand 

i think u discribe the situation perfectly, many things to anoy the farang but still better than europe climate and taxwise

to many locusts coming from everywhere , eating all bringing nothing

[bazza73]

Stayer. Every time I fly into CM from Australia, I can feel myself relaxing.

Yes, some of the Thai thought processes can be bewildering or infuriating- Jai yenn yenn. The positives far outweigh the negatives for me.

[Nowisee]

I get why some people say they love it here and they stay.  They're from a place that is much worse and so it makes sense. For me, it can be an extremely boring place after a (short) while.  At least what I am used to in home country.

Beautiful?  Paradise?  NO.  far from it.

It is easy to live here and doing it legally with the right visa.

It's also a good place if your single and or on a tight budget.

 

Just can't do full time living here any more.  You have to be a certain person to hang here long term.  

Not hateful or resentful, in fact I really can't say I've been treated poorly, aside from the unfair pricing, but it happens to thais too so I get over it.  If you put yourself out there, most thais will try to be friendly, maybe not so much in the tourist holes of CM.  I really like hanging out in Chiang Rai and found the people to be more pleasant and the city much easier to get around.  

 

Getting out of the country often is the key and the only reason I've stayed longer than I should have.  

5 year itch for me.

Edited March 7, 2017 by Nowisee

[bazza73]

1 minute ago, Nowisee said:

I get why some people say they love it here and they stay.  They're from a place that is much worse and so it makes sense. For me, it can be an extremely boring place after a (short) while.  At least what I am used to in home country.

Beautiful?  Paradise?  NO.  far from it.

It is easy to live here and doing it legally with the right visa.

It's also a good place if your single and or on a tight budget.

 

Just can't do full time living here any more.  You have to be a certain person to hang here long term.  

Not hateful or resentful, in fact I really can't say I've been treated poorly, aside from the unfair pricing, but it happens to thais too so I get over it.  If you put yourself out there, most thais will try to be friendly, maybe not so much in the tourist holes of CM.  I really like hanging out in Chiang Rai and found the people to be more pleasant and the city much easier to get around.  

 

Getting out of the country often is the key and the only reason I've stayed longer than I should have.  

 

Chiang Rai is like Chiang Mai used to be 20 years ago. I enjoy both. It depends on your preferences - the cuisine choices in CM are far greater than  CR. On the other hand, access to sights like Pu Chi Fa, Doi Mae Salong, Doi Ang Khan etc. etc. is far easier from CR.

One exception on cuisine - the sai ua near the Clock Tower in CR is sensational. Thais drive up from Bangkok to stock up on it.

[hdkane]

7 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Sounds you have a perspective of Beirut Lebanon not Thailand,  of none of the above happens in the UK of course.

Try travelling all over Thailand not just main areas.

So...where are the places to be where the very real problems listed above do not exist?

[superal]

3 hours ago, smotherb said:

I have never liked staying in one place for any length of time. I was a service-brat growing up, so not longer than two or three years in the same place. When I was older, I worked international contracts and circumstances, like different job locations, caused me to move every two or three years. I once lived for ten years in one place in the States so that my son could go to school; I once lived in the same house in Iran for five years, and now I have lived nine years in Thailand at the same place-- the last three years mostly because my grandson is here.  It's time to move on.  

But is the grass always greener on the other side ?  so you have a case of itchy feet it seems , however you are well travelled and qualified to suggest alternatives to Thailand . I count my blessings living here and can think of many friends in the UK who would like to be in my position . For sure it is not a bed of roses here and to suggest otherwise would be naive . Much depends on your disposable income and to cut your cloth accordingly . Meeting up with a good woman is important as I have found and if you have expat connections to chat with , that is the icing on the cake .  This TV forum is a good service for communications . I wish you well on your next move , anything that you can share with us ? 

[Stevemercer]

I reckon you go through stages in your life. I'm currently retired and wanted a bit of a hobby farm to muck around on and use my hands. I'd go mad in a suburban house.  I'll probably stay in Thailand for about 10 years. The big advantage for me is that I can live in Thailand at a similar standard to my pre-retirement income as in Australia. If I stayed in Australia, I'd have to keep working.

 

As they say, 'happiness is just a state of mind' - it's not a place, a new car, a big house, a new girl or whatever.  By definition, a happy person is one who is content with their lot in life and what they have. I'm content in Thailand at the moment and have everything I need at this stage of my life.

[MaksimMislavsky]

Yes! My story in Thailand began in 2007 (first touchdown in Dec) and ended in 2014 (haven't stepped on Thai soil since Sep that year). Exactly 7 years.

Edited March 7, 2017 by MaksimMislavsky
spelling

[khunPer]

10 hours ago, superal said:

Are you a stayer or a leaver ?

Stayer – and as OP, I missed Thailand the last times I vistit my homeland, now I've not been back home for almost 6 years, and don't miss it. This is "home".

 

And yes, lots of thing, looked by foreign eyes, that could be different; but ain't we here and stay here, because we want something different from home..?

 

I understand "moving on" – has tried to visualize myself, to confirm if I'm on right track or not – but a change may just be for another "7 year itch" if considering for example Cambodia or...

–and Singapore might quickly both be too boring and make one – at least me – run out of money; so I better stay put...

[Shaksey]

I can stay in Thailand for 3-4 months at a time but that's it. There just isn't the wide enough range of social, cultural, sporting and other activities/attractions that I enjoy and can easily find in the UK.

[mrfaroukh]

I have visited few neighboring countries to Thailand like Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia and didn't find them interesting enough to leave Thailand. I feel more safe in Thailand than Philippines. Others are reasonably safe but you can't compare them with the comfort you get in Thailand. All of them are also corrupt so you don't really get anything better, at least for the time being.

[joecoolfrog]

10 hours ago, Gonefortea said:

Coming up on third 7 year itch then and have no interest in leaving. In fact leave for what? Birth country is going to the dogs nothing there for me.

I hear this a lot , except for the sunshine and available women , how exactly has your country , compared with Thailand , 'gone to the dogs ' ?

[Odysseus123]

After six years in Thailand I am returning to my home country for medical reasons.I may come back for a holiday sometime in the future-but there again,I may not.

[Gonefortea]

2 hours ago, joecoolfrog said:

I hear this a lot , except for the sunshine and available women , how exactly has your country , compared with Thailand , 'gone to the dogs ' ?

Not my country any more. 

[hawker9000]

16 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

Of course many of these issue largely exist only between the ears of people who never adjusted to living so far away from their mothers. Insofar as they exist at all, they exist everywhere in the world ... although it does seem the incessant childish whining about them is at a higher pitch than most other places.

 

I imagine most intelligent people manage to get by with no visa issues, find very good medical care, can manage a relationship, knew about restrictions on land ownership before they settled here, can't seriously be bothered about the few places where dual pricing exists, have no problems with Thai laws, and whatever the other things are that you were throwing a tantrum about. 

 

Stay or move on. Don't turn it into a whole dramatic production.

 

Since there really is no point in asking about a 7 year itch ... obviously some people stay on and some people move on ...it would seem your only objective is to join the chorus of Thai bashers. 

 

Here's a website that may help.

 

 

 

"Dramatic production".   LOL   To an over-invested apologist, anyone who doesn't join the circle-jerk is a "basher".  Oh, and now a drama queen as well.  And is, preferably, silenced, or at least marginalized and badgered.   But who's actually the more lame?  The person who can keep his objectivity and make the hard decision to move when the situation deteriorates past his pain level, or the rose-tint who takes up with either rationalization or outright denial of all the negatives, to include harassment of anyone who doesn't "go along".  You know, the frog who remains in the slowly heating pot until he finally boils to death in it.

[GOLDBUGGY]

I am sure many people who have lived here for 7 years or longer do move on. But I don't really agree with your reasons as I am sure these reasons would pop up in the first few years, and not the 7th Year. You have to live a pretty sheltered life not to notice after  7 years Thai Land Ownership Laws, or Thai Drivers. I doubt one would become Home Sick all of a sudden and in his 7th year.

 

I think one of the greatest factors in moving is Financial Ones. It is just harder to make a go of it on just a Pension these days. Having a shortage of funds also cause other problems to. My Mom used to tell me that when there is money problems in your family, and the Wolf comes to your door, love soon flies out window. How true!

 

Sadly many people living here on Retirement are passed the working age and working in Thailand is not an easy task to accomplish  either. So their only options are to try and make a go of it on limited funds, or go back home, where they know they will get some Medicare at least and not starve.

 

I plan to stay! But then I am not in a bad financial position right now. I suppose if I ever got that way I would be forced to go back home to.    

[Kwasaki]

14 hours ago, hdkane said:

So...where are the places to be where the very real problems listed above do not exist?

Go look for yourself if you have the same mind perception as of the OP your probably won't find em. 

I find mostly younger people get to voice opinions about Thailand the way the OP does,  and after a laughable 14 years or so his says feeling that way about Thailand why doesn't OP go and find a place to be happy.

Edited March 8, 2017 by Kwasaki

[Kwasaki]

58 minutes ago, GOLDBUGGY said:

I plan to stay! But then I am not in a bad financial position right now. I suppose if I ever got that way I would be forced to go back home to.  

Forced home to do what.?

If you want to stay Thailand make it so.

[smotherb]

14 hours ago, superal said:

But is the grass always greener on the other side ?  so you have a case of itchy feet it seems , however you are well travelled and qualified to suggest alternatives to Thailand . I count my blessings living here and can think of many friends in the UK who would like to be in my position . For sure it is not a bed of roses here and to suggest otherwise would be naive . Much depends on your disposable income and to cut your cloth accordingly . Meeting up with a good woman is important as I have found and if you have expat connections to chat with , that is the icing on the cake .  This TV forum is a good service for communications . I wish you well on your next move , anything that you can share with us ? 

All places have drawbacks; perhaps the grass is always greener when you get to some place new. I don't blame you, I would not live  in the UK either--for starters the weather sucks and the price of a beer is ridiculous. While I agree with most of what you said; I have already found my good woman almost 40 years ago, our income is quite sufficient to allow us to live almost anywhere, even in the US. Since we have traveled all our lives, we have friends in many places. However, we both prefer being expats. I think we will go back to Vietnam for a while--remember, I do not consider anywhere a permanent move.

[Morch]

Like Mom used to say, "if it itches, don't scratch".

[superal]

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Go look for yourself if you have the same mind perception as of the OP your probably won't find em. 

I find mostly younger people get to voice opinions about Thailand the way the OP does,  and after a laughable 14 years or so his says feeling that way about Thailand why doesn't OP go and find a place to be happy.

What are you talking about ? my post addresses the reasons farangs find that are not to their liking and so choose to move on . If you have read my posts it is more than evident that I like living in Thailand . Please take time to read other posts and my " likes "  instead of writing a load of gobbledygook .  

[Robert24]

based on my experience, most expats that had to leave (got posted somewhere else), would like to Thailand to live here. The only retirees I saw leaving were for health and financial reason. They certainly didn't want to leave because they didn't like it anymore.

 

Quality of life is pretty good here despite all the drawbacks. 

 

Never came across expats who say they want to return to live in Singapore, KL, Hong Kong, Shanghai etc.