True story
True story
Definition of “Cashed Up” – really quite simplistic Oz slang
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/cashed-up
cashed up: adjective: Australian informal: having plenty of money
Plenty: a full or abundant supply or amount
Cashed up is having a full or abundant supply of money.
So, just what metrics do you apply to determining just how much money is an abundant supply?
Frankly, an unanswerable question in that plenty, full, and abundant are subjective adjectives. What is plenty, full or abundant to myself may, or may not, be plenty, full, or abundant to you.
But – speaking only for myself - I am “cashed up” in that I will never have to work (for money) another day of my life. I can afford a comfortable and enjoyable lifestyle of my choosing. I live within my means. Life’s been good to me so far.
If i was an old grunter i doubt i could be bothered with the constant visa worries and financially crippling requirement for health insurance. I would be off to the Philippines. The visa hassles are a lot less and the money requirements are not nearly so draconian. Good luck to the OP on his return home. A mate of mine left Pattaya after a decade to return home to the English midlands. He said it was the best thing he did. Surrounded by family and proper friends made him realise what a lonely existence he had been living in the land of fake smiles
Last edited by Scottish Gary; 05-02-2020 at 06:59 PM.
Your point is well taken. Yet, visa worries are also "financial" - the rich go visa elite, the well-off go lump sum 800k and use an agent or Attorney to deal with Thai Immigration.
But, to expand, immigration in any country has it's regulatory requirements and procedures. Some lesser, some greater. I could write volumes on the ridiculous gyrations and hoops both I and my wife had to go through to get her "permission" to live in the US. As we were officially and legitimately "married" the US government would not issue her a visitors visa. Now we have officially retired in Thailand. She has "abandoned" her permission to live in the US. So, we had to get her a visitors visa. PA - but, that is what the regulations require.
Anyway - Thai Immigration (for me) is a cake walk. Although with travel time it does eat up a half day to possibly a full day dependent upon traffic and the number of "customers" at my Nonthaburi Immigration Office. I use an Attorney to handle the paperwork. I, of course, must show my face, passport and bank book at the bank branch and the immigration office once a year to extend my "permission-to-stay".
It is what it is - you have to accept it because you cannot change it. If you are not financially capable you are better off leaving.
As far as medical insurance. Doesn't really matter where you are - you need coverage. I'm American, when I reach 65yo I'll be Medicare eligible. Yet, medicare only covers 80% of hospitalization. You need supplemental insurance. Interesting item is my Expat Medical package covers both myself and my wife and only costs a bit more than my Medicare supplemental insurance policies (self and wife) will cost if we were 65 yo and stayed in the US. ACA insurance for us in the US was about the same $14k/annum with a large deductible to pay before the insurance company had to open their purse strings.
Again, medical coverage is a sensible and logical requirement. Only your home countries going to provide cost effective coverage - and even then it may not be economical.
As an Expat you really must do your due diligence. Expating is not for the financially challenged.
For us Brits having to pay to see a doctor or get treated in a hospital is a completely alien concept. We can walk into a hospital and get a new knee, cancer treatment, brain surgery or major heart surgery and when we leave the hospital the bill is zero. Its all free but suddenly in thailand you get these old british expats who for the first time in their lives are having to pay for medical treatment. Its not only financialy financially prohibitive but a culture change for them as well.
You don't need an excuse to live in Thailand, to not live in Thailand, or to leave Thailand. "Up to you". But one can't help notice that, after many years of the opposite, the main flow of western expats now is towards the exit gates.
I have no point to prove, but to me Cambo, VN, Malay and the Fil's all seem a better lifestyle prospect now than Thailand. Maybe even Nicaragua, Bolivia, Georgia & Portugal too. Of course that doesn't take into account such factors as family.
In an increasingly small world, the attitude of the Thai government & bureaucracy has been to discourage western expats, while other countries are taking the opposite path- or at least the obstacles put in your way are not as onerous. Don't they know we shop around?
Cost seems to come up a lot too, but being honest about it I didn't find the Fil's that much cheaper when I spent a month there last year. Maybe a bit, but nothing to write home about- or influence your decision.
In my case, it's more about the churlish government, the fecked up politics, the downwards trajectory of the nation, the utterly undeserved sense of national superiority compared to their neighbours (a product of western largesse frankly)- and it is a nice luxury, after all those years, to be able to communicate with the locals in a common language. As a nation, Thailand resembles nothing more to me than a spoilt, petulant child. But you can have plenty of fun there.
I've yet to find a leaver who expresses any regret about ditching Thailand, be it to return home or swap it for other expat shores. Surely that says something.
Last edited by sabang; 06-02-2020 at 06:47 AM.
That clearly has to be # 1.
Great post above Sabang, I quoted this segment of your post as it always interested me because we typically see people return back to their home country and they usually go on a bender about all that's bad here. However the handful I know that left (Americans) all voiced their issues BUT the REAL reasons they left explained why they felt that way. A few got torched by a Thai women and lost a bunch of money. So of course they are bitter and usually want to deflect to complaining about everything else never looking and admitting to themselves it was really just a case of bad judgment. A few left because they just were not ready for "Retirement". One thought they could swing it and after a few years admitted he still wanted to work and no opportunities were available to him. However he started bitching and pissing about all that is bad here in Thailand when it was really all about him.
I guess my point is that there are thousands of expats here working and living good lives. They are established from either working or just planned it well to live here and be retired. I would also suspect that many that are bitter may also want to leave but are basically "all in here". That leaves limited options and it becomes easy to dwell on all that's bad versus trying to seek a balance between what is good and bad. No place has it all. Forums typically attract the folks that want to vent about their angst and typically they will find others to support it.
In the end, whatever works for each of us.
I left after a couple of years in the 90s.
Didn't think I'd return except for holidays, but five years later I did.
I've met quite a few people who've done this, but with the tougher exchange rate now the rubric has arguably changed.
It seems obvious though that most leavers who changed their mind are no longer leavers.
Ditto, I left in 1997, returned "officially" in 2016 although I visited/vacationed every year or two without fail.
That being said - the locality choices I made were based on business and finance - not standard of living or personal happiness.
Frankly, location plays a much smaller part in "happiness" than people assign. Where you are may matter - but, what matters more is what you make of it. If you do not like your lifestyle/location/standard-of-living, then change it.
Can't imagine Cambo has developed that much since I last wisited the place.
Perhaps in 2 decades time. Though from reports it's developing into a Chin province and might well be renamed Cambzhou.
Reckon Laos, Philippines (if still love living in SEA) or Europe for me in around 15 years time (mid 50's).
I tend to disagree a bit Bowie in that some make a 180 degree lifestyle move/change from what they had or were accustomed to in their home country to here in Thailand. It may start out as a good idea and welcome change but soon they settle in and realize that living away from the things they want and need becomes a slow burn ultimately causing them to implode and in many cases leave. This goes back to the being realistic and honest with ones self about their personal expectations. Moving with their woman to the farm after living their entire life in suburbia might work for some but many it consumes them. You add in the lack of social interaction and its just a matter of time.
However to your other point, It will always be what one makes of it. You can choose to be miserable and bitch all the time or you can change it. All this bitching and complaining about immigration and "They want foreigners Out" stuff is exaggerated but it does whip the masses into a frenzy that post on Thai forums to the point people start to believe that EVERY expat here feels the same when in fact that is the furthest from the truth. I have met a few expats in various locations and when they start complaining I usually move on. I have a handful of expats here that I talk with and most seem well sorted and level headed.
Very true. The stories I have been told and the ones I have read over the years seem to come back to a naive/desperate guy who fell in love with the wrong woman and then moves with her. When is the last time a poster came on and said "Well I am glad to be moving. I totally screwed up, got burned by a woman and left. Its not Thailand's fault but my own based on my decisions". "Additionally I do not have enough money to sustain myself to the level I want" Instead its always about How all Thai women are scammers and steal. How Immigration wants them out. How the cops harass them. How all Thais are stupid and do not care about you, they just want your money"....the list is lonnnnnnng.
Clearly the OP left for legitimate reasons and probably should have lead with the health issues which I think we all would have felt was a smart move. I tend to laugh at the ones that come back to a Thai forum and say "How being back in their home country is great and so much better". Give it time, it will settle in and all that they had forgot about will usually resurface but they never come back and admit it.
I’ve seen just as many old geezers here in the North as there has ever been! Can’t convince me many of us are moving away. The only one I actually know who got fed up* and left is now making plans to spend six months of every year here.
* Couldn’t collect pension or get free healthcare.
I lived full time for a few years in Jomtiem then 2 weeks per month for about 5 more (commuting between TH and Singapore) and now have been in The Philippines for 5 years.
I'm looking at retirement within the next 12 months.
Currently Penang is the top of my list, with maybe a move to Langkawi if/when it's a bit further developed.
Of course most of these share some common traits.
Don't bother learning the language and are completely illiterate. Which frustrates them and inconveniences their life here.
Don't bother setting themselves up with annual extensions and house registration etc. So stuck doing visa and border runs every few months for years and years and years, having to get Certificates of Residence any time they buy something or get a driving license.
Get fatter and lazier.
End up having a hissy-fit after 10 years of it and flounce in a huff.
They are, in a word, Dillinger.
I have scoured the internet for data related to how many foreigners live in Thailand. The only thing I found so far is a 2010 study done by Chula Uni. No doubt Thai immigration has the figures but even though they release tourist numbers, nary a mention of number living here.
Are there more or less now than in flawed (absence of other Euros) Chula study shows?
Same in Isaan near as I can tell. No visable mass exodus at all.
"Foreign residents by country of origin 2010 (apologies for crap format)
Nationality Population Percentage
Myanmar 1,292,686 50.08
Cambodia 281,292 10.90
Laos 222,432 8.62
China 141,553 5.48
UK 85,836 3.33
Japan 80,898 3.13
India 46,326 1.80
US 40,230 1.56
Germany 24,383 0.94
France 22,486 0.87
Vietnam 17,662 0.68
Philippines 17,574 0.68
Malaysia 8,182 0.32
Singapore 2,952 0.11
Indonesia 2,952 0.11
Others 174,236 6.75
Stateless 117,315 4.54
Unknown 2,147 0.08
Total 2,581,141 100.00"
Demographics of Thailand - Wikipedia
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect,"
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)