How many returnees do this?

[peterpan]

Have an Ozzie mate, good guy met him when he lived here for a number of years, he returned to OZ 2 years ago saying he was tired of Thailand, sick of the people guvermint everything.
Aust had more opportunities, better lifestyle etc. He went smeg like.
Rcd this Email today.

Am coming back this year for sure, just organising the time, prolly May/June from the looks of it. Getting mighty sick of some of the hassles of living here, dunno if I really want to live here for the rest of my days, things are changing a lot, so much aggro and violence around the place, road rage is a joke, gov does fuk all about pretty much everything, I know the thai gov is the same but its heaps easier to live comfy there as a farang regardless what happens with the gov.

This is what i would be afraid if I returned home, I think I have been here to long to do so.

[terry57]

I know a 64 year old dude who lived in Phuket for 10 years and returned back to Perth because of the same reasons your mate said.

Guess what ?

He lasted one year and is now in Udon Thani chasing pussy, having a great time and preparing to settle there once his pension kicks in.

Funny how some people do a complete 360 once they return to the real world and lets face facts, Thailand is a an easy place to live if you got some cash to provide the good life.

Who gives a flying fuk about the politics of the place and just go with the flow is the name of the game.

Get ones self some pussy and drinking some dark ain't a bad way to pass the time is it. ?

[phunphin]

I think it's the whole working deal, in thailand if you have a few rai of rubber or palm you can live rather well, (and have someone else do all the work).
but in the west unless your filthy rich you still have to put in some sort of 9-5 effort.

[blackgang]

I thought about maybe going back, but then I think about the prices, just look at rent there, even in the small towns where I would live in the PNW is way outta sight, and cost more for an unfurnished apt. ,which I wouldn't live in an apt, but would cost more for just the rent than I spend for everything here.
Then some cop would give me some shit about driving 80 in a 65 on the freeways that were sold to the American people as safe at 75mph, and I would tell him to fuk off like I always do and would cost more yet.
So fuk it I will just stay here and save the headaches and fights with US immigration about getting my wife a green card, that is if I could talk her into leaving her home.

[JoGeAr]

Yep, gotta admit, if it wasn't for my 4-year-old son, who I want educated in Australia, I'd be back there in a flash ! After 16 years in Thailand, moving back here was a bit of a shock to the system, especially the prices of everything.

[blackgang]

well my 5 year old daughter came here with me and the next year she was due for 1st grade and went back to the states, and is with her cnut mother for $750 clams a month.
My Thai wife is a school teacher but I sure wouldn't want a kid of mine educated in this country.

[Ivor Biggun]

Where do clever Thai come from if the education system here is crap ? Genuine question.

[Reaper]

Where do clever Thai come from if the education system here is crap ? Genuine question.

Clever is a broad description of nothing.

Innovation is what is important to me and the fostering of skills to explore the world around you. Understanding and asking questions. To me personally that is education. what innovations has Thailand brought to the fore? Asians run the rote system. As long as you can memorize the facts, that is good enough. I would much prefer my kids to fully understand and feel free to ask questions within an educational system. That I know is frowned upon in Thailand.

Education however goes much further than simply learning from a book. It is also about understanding where you belong in the global village. Looking at life from a different perspective. Thai's tend to look no further than their own borders nor could they be bothered to learn about other cultures or social norms in other countries. How do you value your place in the world, when you don't even know it exists?

Looking back at education in Thailand in general, how many children actually fail their exams. School is also about setting a work ethic which becomes very useful later in life. If it is ok to horse around in class and still pass, how much are you going to achieve in life when you are an adult when you have been conditioned at an early age that hard work does not pay off but that being a slacker is acceptable. Could you really expect your child to then be a real achiever or are you just creating another clock puncher.

We all set standards based on what we have achieved and expect our children to be able to achieve even higher goals. This comes down to personal choice. If I was a security guard at home then without a doubt I would send little Lek off to the nearest government school. I have no sense of achievement or standards so I just simply pass that off to her. We raise what we are.

To answer your question about 'clever Thai people', you will note that not all schools in Thailand are bad. The greater majority in my view are, however you do have real schools that teach with a Western perspective. Harrows in my view is a real school comparable to any other Western school anywhere, however you must have a truck load of money to be able to afford it. Many of the elite Thais go to these schools. If you talk to any of these kids, they or their parents have lived and/or worked overseas. Their parents view life with a global perspective where being a slacker means no money. Yet can you afford to send your kids to Harrows if you are earning 40,000 Baht a month in Thailand - I think not?

Real education in Thailand comes at a price much higher than in the West. There are many popup international schools, bilingual schools but they are just window dressing trying to appeal to the Thai middle class. No real education takes place. So on a dollar for dollar bases, income to school expenses - you are more likely to be able to afford decent education at home than what you would in Thailand.


Thats my 2 Baht on the matter!

[obsidian]

shit loads.

[Fabian]

What has clever got to do with education?

[JoGeAr]

Where do clever Thai come from if the education system here is crap ? Genuine question.

The ones with money get their education overseas.

[blackgang]

Where do clever Thai come from if the education system here is crap ? Genuine question.

I have seen a few that think they are clever and maybe they are to the other Thai, but not real clever.
You only need to be more cleaver than the others to shine here.

I do know that my daughter was beyond her years in smarts and people always ,after talking to her for awhile would ask me how old she was and never believed that she was 3 or 4 or what ever her age was, and she was free to ask me questions any time and I always had time to answer her, if she was interested in something then she was allowed to pursue it, she helped me restore 3 cars in her life before we came here and she understood what tools were and how to use them, she wanted a computer when she was 3 so I bought her one and she used it along with many dollars of educational software.
She was taught to think and ask questions and I do believe that it will set her in good stead for her life.

Kids here are taught not to think, stay in line and do as everyone else does, do not do anything on your own, when I say something then you all repeat it as a group and never go it alone.
I have spent time in my wife's class rooms and she wanted me to teach her English class conversational English,, how the hell you going to teach 12-14 year olds English when as a group they can recite the alphabet, but only as a group, and no one can read English and they have had English as a subject since they were 5 years old.

[Smeg]

Living in Thailand is generally easy, that is for sure, if you don't think too much about it. I've been here for four years of the past seven, and I wouldn't have been if it was a full-time nightmare. However, I prefer the UK as a long-term option. When I'm there I rarely think about Thailand, and I feel sorry for these sad shits who hate the UK and do everything they can to be in the Land of Bullshit.

Anyone of working age who stays in Thailand only because they can't afford the UK has fucked up, big time. Relegated to the developing world because you can't make it in the developed world is nothing to be proud of, but some people try to talk this up as if they are lucky. Each to their own.

[Spin]

Anyone of working age who stays in Thailand only because they can't afford the UK has fucked up

About half the people in the Uk cant afford the UK any more, mortgage slaves they are. Living with daily redundancy worries and a huge mortgage didnt excite me too much. If house prices crash I might buy to rent and go 6 months here and 6 months there, that way I can moan about the UK when I am there and moan about Thailand when I am here. I'll be as happy as a pig in shite

[klongmaster]

I've been here for four years of the past seven, and I wouldn't have been if it was a full-time nightmare. However, I prefer the UK as a long-term option. When I'm there I rarely think about Thailand

what a load of old cobblers smeg-my-lad...when you were trapped in bournemouth you were on the thai forums every day so we know you were thinking about us!..

[Texpat]

I moved back to the States when I retired in 2005. I lasted one year and two months. My Thai wife and I both worked and I had my pension. We paid all bills by Internet, the newspaper came everyday, on time, without fail. Never once had a water or electric outage. People obeyed the traffic laws. Garbage truck came every Monday and Thursday morning between 9 and 11 a.m. Very rarely a loose dog. Twenty-four hour supermarket with 13 types of mustard within walking distance. We had a new SUV and a big motorcycle in the So Cal sunshine.

It was definitely a shock living there. I also started a new job where I was, relative to my old job, inexperienced and undervalued. My wife worked weekends so we rarely had a full day together. It was, in fact, what many, many Americans do every day -- work to live. I received one vacation day per month, my wife got none for her first four months. Six months into it, we started making plans to move to Thailand permanently.

I often get tired of the pettiness and nonsense of Thailand. But every morning when I get up at 10 a.m. and go outside in my slippers with cup of coffee to play fetch with my dogs, I'm reminded of why I moved here. Sure the standard of living is MUCH higher in Los Angeles. You can surf in the morning and snow ski in the afternoon. Nip off to Mexico, Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon for a weekend. Call an ISP and get a tech over the same day -- as advertised.

IMO, nearly everything is better. Quality of products, quality of service, quantity of choice, speed, efficiency, politeness, product knowledge, attention to detail, cleanliness, the list goes on.

But at what price?

My first year in Thailand was far more difficult than my second. Ratcheting down my standards and expectations has not come easily. I used to think it was very cheap in Thailand, but with the erosion of the dollar and high Thai inflation even that attribute rings increasingly hollow. I will not say, "I'll never go back." But hell, we're all guests here anyway. Who knows?

[obsidian]

nice post.

[Smeg]

I've been here for four years of the past seven, and I wouldn't have been if it was a full-time nightmare. However, I prefer the UK as a long-term option. When I'm there I rarely think about Thailand

what a load of old cobblers smeg-my-lad...when you were trapped in bournemouth you were on the thai forums every day so we know you were thinking about us!..

What a load of old cobblers klongy-my-potatohead.
I have never been "trapped" anywhere, including Bournemouth. I spent 18 months from 2003 to 2005 there because I wanted to. Jealous because you don't have such choices in your loser tefler existence because you hate the uk? I spent about an hour per week using ajarnforum during that time, and did a hotseat. That is it. So your claim that I'm addicted to thailand like you and your ajarn loser friends is pretty weak.

[Smeg]

Ratcheting down my standards and expectations has not come easily.

That is the key. Most here are ok putting up with bullshit, poverty, soi dogs, crap quality etc etc around them because they want to slow their life down to delevoping world speed and/or bang cheap hoes.

[Agent_Smith]

She was taught to think and ask questions

You're prepping her to be a filthy Liberal, shame on you!

[chitown]

Jealous because you don't have such choices in your loser tefler existence because you hate the uk? I spent about an hour per week using ajarnforum during that time, and did a hotseat. That is it. So your claim that I'm addicted to thailand like you and your ajarn loser friends is pretty weak.

And you teach as well, right Smug?

[klongmaster]

Jealous because you don't have such choices in your loser tefler existence because you hate the uk?

Now now smeggers: just when we were starting to like you and you come on with the supreme insult...so just to straighten you up my boy...I am from New Zealand which by the last reckoning was on the opposite side of the world...

do try to keep up laddy...

oh and I'm not a TEFLer either...Christ smeggers...wrong on both counts...time to sharpen the act up...

[Smeg]

^ That shows how much attention of mine you get

And you teach as well, right Smug?

No, not in Thailand, only in real countries.

[Happyman]

Living in Thailand is generally easy, that is for sure, if you don't think too much about it. I've been here for four years of the past seven, and I wouldn't have been if it was a full-time nightmare. However, I prefer the UK as a long-term option. When I'm there I rarely think about Thailand, and I feel sorry for these sad shits who hate the UK and do everything they can to be in the Land of Bullshit.

Anyone of working age who stays in Thailand only because they can't afford the UK has fucked up, big time. Relegated to the developing world because you can't make it in the developed world is nothing to be proud of, but some people try to talk this up as if they are lucky. Each to their own.

What about those of us from the UK not of working age who worked their bollocks off for 40 odd years- paid tax and national insurance contributions - in an attempt to provide a better lifestyle for the next generation (including you) only to find that the incompitent government has joined forces with the politically correct mob and turned the place into a nanny state?

To add insult to injury the wonderful pension that you were promised and contributed towards all the time you were working,was bull shit. OK! there were marginal increases and a 10GBP "gift" towards helping towards heating costs at Xmas, but it has not kept pace with inflation,as promised, and, if you retire overseas none of these measly increases are applicable anyway!

So Mr Smeg - if you can live in the UK on about 110GBP a week and still think it is the best place on earth - please tell how!

Pension fund scams with private firms and takeovers etc have kicked any extra pensions that you contributed to into touch and you are left with the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel !

You must really enter the world of reality!

Rant over

I like Thailand and it is affordable .

The only thing I miss in the UK is casting a dry fly on a chalk stream - early morning - with a cheese and onion cob in my back pocket and a couple of beers cooling in the stream !

[chitown]

So you deny teaching English to company employees in Bangkok?

Are you saying that you are a TEFLer in another country....

^ That shows how much attention of mine you get

And you teach as well, right Smug?

No, not in Thailand, only in real countries.