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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2016 3:09:13 GMT 7
He was a smart looking older man, who stepped onto the rackety old local bus taking me from Mae Sai to Chiang Rai at a record breaking eight miles an hour. No one had ever driven the same route so slowly. The man sat to the front and right of me, almost too far to carry out a conversation - but he was determined to investigate why this handsome and charismatic farang ( me ) was on "his," bus.
It was "his," bus as he took it twice a week every week to meet the only other farang in the vicinity for lunch. He'd never seen another foreigner on this bus the whole ten years he had traveled this journey.
The man said many things - but one thing stood out above all over.
"When you live in Thailand, live in Thailand. Don't waste a second seeking out news from the old country, and getting angry about things you cannot change or control. You chose to live here, so live here."
I'm watching a lot of dogs barking at the moon just now, growling, and some going rabid about things that are happening in a far away land that they abandoned years ago. I reckon the old man was right.
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MrToad
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Post by MrToad on Jun 23, 2016 8:22:46 GMT 7
Did he drink Archa or Leo?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2016 9:25:20 GMT 7
Did he drink Archa or Leo?  |
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smokie36
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Post by smokie36 on Jun 23, 2016 10:08:30 GMT 7
I think most of em are still in Shrewsbury and Rotherham blether....else they would be sitting by the pool innit?
Vote OUT today folks...not because life will be necessarily better but just for shits n giggles.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2016 10:32:43 GMT 7
I think most of em are still in Shrewsbury and Rotherham blether....else they would be sitting by the pool innit? Vote OUT today folks...not because life will be necessarily better but just for shits n giggles. So you like my (temporary) new signature then? |
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rubl
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Post by rubl on Jun 23, 2016 12:00:55 GMT 7
I think most of em are still in Shrewsbury and Rotherham blether....else they would be sitting by the pool innit? Vote OUT today folks...not because life will be necessarily better but just for shits n giggles. So you like my (temporary) new signature then? Yep, not bad, the old British school humour type. A quick repartee might not be funny. Let me use lunchtime to think of a nice, all new continental version  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2016 13:43:06 GMT 7
I was merely pointing out that the guy reckons once you move to Thailand live in Thailand and forget about the old country. An idea that never occurs to many.  |
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Post by rgs2001uk on Jun 23, 2016 14:22:51 GMT 7
I was merely pointing out that the guy reckons once you move to Thailand live in Thailand and forget about the old country. An idea that never occurs to many. So the old guy is willing to forget about the old country, willing to forget about the pension the old country probably provides him with? Willing to forget about policies that may affect things like exchange rates, and affect his ability to provide the minimum income required to stay here full time? Met more than a few who are stuck here, cant go back, bridges burned etc etc. Not having met this particular individual I cant comment on his circumstances. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2016 15:46:58 GMT 7
I was merely pointing out that the guy reckons once you move to Thailand live in Thailand and forget about the old country. An idea that never occurs to many. So the old guy is willing to forget about the old country, willing to forget about the pension the old country probably provides him with? Willing to forget about policies that may affect things like exchange rates, and affect his ability to provide the minimum income required to stay here full time? Met more than a few who are stuck here, cant go back, bridges burned etc etc. Not having met this particular individual I cant comment on his circumstances. Former engineer that worked in a nuclear plant in South Africa. Met his wife at uni in the UK back in the early seventies - lived in BKK 76 - 82, then South Africa, then back to the UK sometime in the 90's until around 2002. Moved back to BKK, didn't like it so built a house in CR area. You're different as you have a half eye on going back to the UK at some point, he doesn't. He knows he will die in Thailand. Way too many people spend way too much time looking over their shoulders, they'd be better off lowering their blood pressure and just getting on with life. Proof? wait till you see the wailing tomorrow by thousands of geriatrics who will never see Britain again going mad that the people who live in Britain decide they want to stay in the EU. Save |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2016 13:01:02 GMT 7
I was merely pointing out that the guy reckons once you move to Thailand live in Thailand and forget about the old country. An idea that never occurs to many. So the old guy is willing to forget about the old country, willing to forget about the pension the old country probably provides him with? Willing to forget about policies that may affect things like exchange rates, and affect his ability to provide the minimum income required to stay here full time? Met more than a few who are stuck here, cant go back, bridges burned etc etc. Not having met this particular individual I cant comment on his circumstances. Don't know if the old guy was getting at that at all rg, and I agree with him wholeheartedly. Think what he was getting at was if you decide to live in Thailand don't spend your time stressing about things going on back 'ome that you have no control over. Put all your energy into living a happy life here. That's the way I read it. Thai forums are full of bitter and twisted old and middle aged foreigners who in a lot of cases have brought their misery on themselves and are now taking it out on Thailand. Which is why I was banned from a certain forum, for flaming twits like that. Yesterday I spent two hours with an American guy who is married to a friend of my wife. He did not say one bad word about Thailand the whole time we spoke but made a few jokes about Trump and his supporters. (Claimed a lot of Americans are thick and will believe anything you tell them.) Hard to forget the old country altogether but don't dwell on it too much. (For a lot of people the pension is a right, not a gift from the government. People like me spent more than forty years paying lots of income and sales tax as well as GST. Part of that tax paid is used to cover old age pensions etc.) |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2016 13:32:47 GMT 7
So the old guy is willing to forget about the old country, willing to forget about the pension the old country probably provides him with? Willing to forget about policies that may affect things like exchange rates, and affect his ability to provide the minimum income required to stay here full time? Met more than a few who are stuck here, cant go back, bridges burned etc etc. Not having met this particular individual I cant comment on his circumstances. Former engineer that worked in a nuclear plant in South Africa. Met his wife at uni in the UK back in the early seventies - lived in BKK 76 - 82, then South Africa, then back to the UK sometime in the 90's until around 2002. Moved back to BKK, didn't like it so built a house in CR area. You're different as you have a half eye on going back to the UK at some point, he doesn't. He knows he will die in Thailand. Way too many people spend way too much time looking over their shoulders, they'd be better off lowering their blood pressure and just getting on with life. Proof? wait till you see the wailing tomorrow by thousands of geriatrics who will never see Britain again going mad that the people who live in Britain decide they want to stay in the EU. SaveHands up - I called that one wrong. The lemmings have chosen their cliff. Save |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2016 13:43:17 GMT 7
To be honest I have little interest in what goes on in my own country and even less in what goes on in the UK (except of course when the Ashes series in on) but in plain terms what will happen if the UK does exit ? Will it be the end of the world, or another Global Economic Disaster ?
I think I know the type of bus you mentioned as I lived in CR for four years and did countless trips to Mai Sai over the years. I reckon I could overtake one in my wheelchair.
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Post by rgs2001uk on Jun 24, 2016 13:50:15 GMT 7
So the old guy is willing to forget about the old country, willing to forget about the pension the old country probably provides him with? Willing to forget about policies that may affect things like exchange rates, and affect his ability to provide the minimum income required to stay here full time? Met more than a few who are stuck here, cant go back, bridges burned etc etc. Not having met this particular individual I cant comment on his circumstances. Don't know if the old guy was getting at that at all rg, and I agree with him wholeheartedly. Think what he was getting at was if you decide to live in Thailand don't spend your time stressing about things going on back 'ome that you have no control over. Put all your energy into living a happy life here. That's the way I read it. Thai forums are full of bitter and twisted old and middle aged foreigners who in a lot of cases have brought their misery on themselves and are now taking it out on Thailand. Which is why I was banned from a certain forum, for flaming twits like that. Yesterday I spent two hours with an American guy who is married to a friend of my wife. He did not say one bad word about Thailand the whole time we spoke but made a few jokes about Trump and his supporters. (Claimed a lot of Americans are thick and will believe anything you tell them.) Hard to forget the old country altogether but don't dwell on it too much. (For a lot of people the pension is a right, not a gift from the government. People like me spent more than forty years paying lots of income and sales tax as well as GST. Part of that tax paid is used to cover old age pensions etc.) Not going to argue with you. But in a country like Thailand with its varying visas and ever changing rules, personally I would consier it madness to put all my eggs in one basket. For many their home country is the first place they will run to if it goes pearshaped here, I nclude those who think they are going to rock up back home for free healthcare. Personally if a UK OAP was the only thing I had I wouldnt even consider leaving the UK. Heres one example I know of, of going all in. Old guy living here on a married mans visa, 400k in the bank. Wife died, hasnt the capital to put 800k in the bank for a retirement visa. The 400k plus pension doesnt meet the 65,000 baht per month requirements. A guy in his '70s now reduced to doing visa runs with backbacker types, sorry that not my idea of what retirment is. Another observation I have made over the years, if you have to sell up elsewhere to finance your stay here, you probably shouldnt be here. No way on gawds earth would I ever liquidate UK assets to finance my life here. Keep the UK property/properties and rnt them to finance yourself if you have to, rather than be at the beck and call of some girl with no more than a P9 education and here family. I concur on your point about self imposed misery. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2016 14:07:56 GMT 7
^ Good sense rg and you will not get an argument out of me. My problem was I could not afford to have assets in both Australia and Thailand and as my wife is Thai and I actually prefer to live in Thailand I sold up what I had over there and bought land/built house over here. I could have happily lived out my days in a condo in CM city but did not want to raise a boy in that environment, so chose to build the house instead.
Would have liked to have assets at both ends but poor financial planning and disastrous first marriage canned that.
Getting back to the old dude on the bus, I believe the whole point of what he was saying was if you decide to live in Thailand don't stress too much about homeland, not whether or not it was better to relocate or not. That choice is up to the individual.
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rubl
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Post by rubl on Jun 24, 2016 19:01:19 GMT 7
To be honest I have little interest in what goes on in my own country and even less in what goes on in the UK (except of course when the Ashes series in on) but in plain terms what will happen if the UK does exit ? Will it be the end of the world, or another Global Economic Disaster ? I think I know the type of bus you mentioned as I lived in CR for four years and did countless trips to Mai Sai over the years. I reckon I could overtake one in my wheelchair. Practising for the Olympics, are you ? |
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