Thread: I'm so happy I'm gone.

^^Really??? Look what happened to the Brit obscenely maligned by the weirdo creep Musk who lost his defamation case because the bone-achingly stupid American jury of "fukwitz"RUs" thought that calling a chap a paedophile because he lived in Thailand was all a bit of fun.

Originally Posted by fishlocker

One of the Beatles has a place on the water. Must be nice.

Why not to try to live like a Beatles do?

BTW, in my area - not really frequented by tourists - in the large shopping places, I am always surprised seeing more and more (older) falangs, incomparable with yesteryears, even 10 years ago...
(knowing few also moving over from Hawaii)

I just could not do it.
Move back to the West.
I go back every 15-18 months for a 4 week sojourn.
See my Dad, see my Mum, see my old friends.
After 4 weeks i've had enough.
The greyness.
The drabness.
The cold rain and drizzle.
The everything the sameness.
The slowly dying town centres.
The grotty cities and city centres.
The traffic.
The speed humps and speed cameras and 20 mph speed limits.
The PC.
The laws and regs.
I've lived here 16 years now, and every time i step out of BKK airport and the sounds, sights, smells and heat hit me, i say Yes!!!, Thank Fuck i'm home.

Originally Posted by thaiguzzi

I've lived here 16 years now, and every time i step out of BKK airport and the sounds, sights, smells and heat hit me, i say Yes!!!, Thank Fuck i'm home.

That's about what I said when I returned yesterday. I stopped and got some lunch. Wife and I smiled.

I am thankful though that I can visit and see family and friends. It's just enough, pack up 4 suitcases of stuff we wanted and "get out of dodge" as they say.

I laughed at immigration as they did a random check on my wife's luggage as we were walking out. She was asked about the vitamins and advil for my FIL and the 4 Coach purses. She said they are gifts for family and friends. Of course the purses are for friends who paid a lot for them and my wife will make about $350. That said they just waved me on and I walked on by with 4 bottles of alcohol, lawn mower wheels, motorcycle parts, a cordless Hoover upright vacuum cleaner. Truck parts and a host of other things.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

I had the correct paperwork

Not quite.

Originally Posted by thailazer

Just thinking about the smoke in Chiang Mai makes me never dream of living there again. I

Hey Hey Thailazer. Good to see you post again.

To your point, location is everything when living here. I could never do the brutal CM smoke. We get a flash of it for a week or so but I have driven to CM and as soon as you hit the summit it's just down right terrible. I'd be a part timer there for sure just for health reasons. Too bad as you had a beauty house.

Happy Holidays

Originally Posted by Norton

Not quite.

Yes, the inherent corruption is a big problem; similar to the Middle East, but less predictable and harder to deal with, imho.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Yes, the inherent corruption is a big problem

I prefer to call it a "Service Charge" versus corruption. If everything was on the up and up the cost benefit of living here would be gone. I just renewed my license in the California on this trip. Had to make an appt, then still stand in lines filled with complete and utter idiots with all their pathetic excuses why it expired etc. I took a test and had to cough up $45 (1400 bht) and they will mail it to my parents place in 2- 3 weeks. Here in Thailand I go in, no lines, pay $9 (300 bht) get new license immediately and gone. If any problem toss'em a few hundred baht "Service Charge" and be on your way.

Elim i think you won't regret moving under the UK flag of friendship

Hey. I get it. It's guys like snubs and all that don't smell the roses while we pass gas.

Originally Posted by Norton

They do indeed but the constant changes here are not typical in other countries. When I did my first long stay O visa (Retirement) about 20 years ago, the Gov of Thailand and I essentially established a contractual agreement. The significant changes since then amounts to a Gov breech of that contract.

That's been the killer and the crux of disheartened anxiety over decades.
The ever changing draconian squeeze as regarding to resident immigration/visa issues, that really needn't be, under the near authoritarian xenophobic policies on display today.

Those of us who have long experienced and witnessed the dramatic change over 20-30 years as compared to today's complexities of madness can certainly extend empathy.

^But frankly, how easy does it work when you decide - just over night - I want to go and live my life in USA, Australia, UK, you name it...

Originally Posted by Eliminator

I'm back in Hawaii and have my family with me and feeling so much better with the move. Granted it's so much more expensive here but at least my daughter will get a better education here and my wife has just received her green card and is well on her way to US citizenship.

There are so many reasons for my decision. The hot and humid weather was killing me, the total BS about doing visas and taking multiple pictures inside and outside of our house and even inside our bedroom. Drawing maps to get to our house and all the other BS for 17 years.

The crimes in Thailand are way above what goes on here in Hawaii. Granted there is crime here but at least the police do their job and post pics of the bad guys and hunt for them.

Why anyone is staying in Thailand is beyond me. I hope and pray that the only reason I go back is to sell everything, ship all my personal stuff and leave it forever.

Good one mate i have also bailed out back to oz for the fore seeable future we are 5 days into it with Lao wife and 2 kids and after 14 years away so much has changed. Moved for pretty much the same reasons as you, except the visa problem. Visa in Lao is nowhere near a headfuck as it is in thailand. We got of to a bit of a depressing start as my mum died about 6 hours before i got there. Funerals on friday. Came across a bit of buraucracy enrolling my kids in the school with one school insisting my youngest bouys immunization records recorded ina book be pug inthe MYGOV system. We duly done that now waitin for them to manually input the data. Meanwhile to do that they needed a medicare card which they dont have.(,they hold aussie passorts but never lived there until now) went to the relevant office and the lady we dealt with could not of been more friendly and helpful. She asked aboug my wifes card and i explained that she has been in oz for 2 days and i was told she couldnt get one. She soon sorted that out and my wife has a medicare card after being in oz 2 days. Thats sorta like winning the health lottery because without it BLD has to take sell a kidney to pay the bill should something go medicalltly fucked. Good result and took my mind of my mums demise. Good luck in hawai mate

^Sorry to hear you missed your old mum by just a few hours Lao. Damn shame.

Hope the family are all stoked to be down under for keeps.

Seconded BLD that's really hard on you and the kids not getting time with their grandma.

Good on you, Eliminator. Best luck to you and your family.

As for me, I can’t wait to get back to Thailand. Life here in the USA is so soul crushingly boring. Mind you, I’m not in an exciting place like Hawaii, either!

Sorry to hear of your mom’s passing, BLD.

My dad passed away last month. He was 88 but rather healthy so it was a surprise.

Cool beans Eliminator. Wish you nothing but the best in your journey.

Considered heading to Hawaii but told the wife we could go all in on that but it would be a done deal and any thoughts of living in Thailand again would be over. At least while I’m alive. If I we retired to Hawaii we’d live on Oahu in the Ala Moana area. Great beaches, great food and UH Rainbow Warrior football!

We all know you hate Thailand. The cime, immigration....... But it's not fair to compare thailand to Korea it's not a borderline third world country besides who would want to be in Korea other than waiting at Incheon for a connecting flight.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

With respect to grass is greener, that's not true with regard to immigration - Thai immigration is a nightmare...

1) In one job, I had the correct paperwork, went to the immigration place (in central Bkk, this was back in the day), the immigration woman wanted to do the visa but the fat fuk sitting in some high-up chair looking down at everyone refused (for no reason in the regulations that I or anybody else I've spoken to understands...) - he simply said no, whether he was having a bad day or didn't like the look of me who knows; I asked why, so that I could put the application in properly, and wasn't told anything other than this visa wouldn't be given to me... The woman was very apologetic and could give no reason. So, I sat down, made a call to a Thai woman with some status, she was there within 30 minutes, walked in, smiled to the guy, said who she was, and the visa was done within 60 seconds (literally...).

2) I had done the same visa and work permit, the same way, at the same place for 7 years, everything was tedious going back and fro between visa and work permit offices (the main ones in Bangkok), but ok, I knew what I had to do and how to do it. I changed job, went to a new office in a new province (up at Mahidol), and an entirely different approach with an entirely different application of rules, done in a different order (seemed to breach the Thai work laws as I understood them, but who I am I to tell these folks) - got it done, but was a real pain...

3) Changed the job again a couple of years later, back into Bkk, got all the documentation, went to the big Immigration, and they said the documentation was wrong... I asked them what they wanted, they detailed it, and basically said that I had to leave the country, come back with the same paperwork, but with an entrance stamp from an airport and all would be fine; said I'd see her in 2 days. Went to Singapore, came back, saw the same woman, she said the paperwork was wrong, I mentioned that I'd done exactly as she'd asked 2 days previously, she said that there was a different line manager now, different implementation of the regulations and there was nothing she could do to help me, I had to start the application all over again with new paperwork from the employer dated after I entered the country... Got a job in Oman that afternoon, and never came back to work in Thailand...

Thai immigration is terrible, even if you follow the rules and know the process, you can be fuked over for no other reason than a new manager who decides on new processes from the day before - welcome to Thailand...

Korean visas/work permits are professionally managed, quick and exact - everything is on your ARC, a photocard registration, takes me less than an hour to redo it every year or two (depending on my work contract), the wife's automatically links to it, she doesn't even go to the immigration office to renew (I do both); bank, credit card, taxes, healthcare, etc all link to the ARC and work perfectly. I use the Korean automatic entrance machines went entering Korea, takes me just a few seconds at immigration; exactly the same as when entering Oman on the Omani ARC. Some countries are efficient, consistent and work. Thailand immigration is not and does not... No, Thai immigration is certainly not the same as other countries...

Originally Posted by Norton

Good to hear it's working out well for you.

You are far from alone in flight from the LoS. At least 5 folks I know have left or will be soon. Since the current gov came to power the country is going to hell in a hand basket. Except for the big 5, the rest of the folks are really hurting financially with no improvement in sight. This along with the ever changing immigration nonsense and increasing costs for expats makes Thailand far from an ideal destination for retirement or tourism.

So like you many long stayers have said fuck this I'm outta here.

It's the cool and hip thing to do.

Grass is always greener.

2 years later , after the flauncers are settled and bored stiff with their wet dreary nanny police state , they will be groaning about coming back

And a new batch of clowns will being saying that moving to LOS was the best decision

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Not a bad place to fall back on... Hawaii. In fact why did you move in the first place?

Now Milton Keynes...

Yeah what a lucky greedy snob.😁 I'd die to live in either place