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Are Expat's Opinions of Thailand Influenced by how much money they have?


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1 hour ago, sanemax said:

 

   Spending your working life providing for a wife and kids , getting divorced and losing most of everything you own can have a detrimental effect on your fiances 

Yep. And then you make the best of it. You go out everyday with a smile on your face and say, hey dude, Im walking on top of the grass instead of laying under it.

 

One day you are driving a S550, next day a 76 Ford 150. Its all good.

 

The funny thing is....as a single older guy who just wanders around...what the hell do you spend big money on here?

Edited by Nyezhov
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6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I lived in Cornwall, it was still cold and wet most of the time.

You know of a drier place in the UK?

Cycling and walking isn't much fun in the rain.

Try living in Alaska. Or the heat of Phoenix and the traffic. Or the humidity of NC. Or the traffic and cost of NYC or LA or Miami.

 

Bangkok is paradise.

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44 minutes ago, murraynz said:

what i cant understand is----how do so many people get to retirement age, after 45yrs of potential working time...yet they havent accumulated enough savings ,assets, passive income to provide for a good retirement.

so many dont even have enough to deposit the 800,000thb in bank for visa..{its a pittance,realy}

scrimping and scraping in retirement is not at all clever...prepare for retirement, we may live 30 yrs past 65..

i dont feel sorry for the people who havent saved---they must have boozed or lived over -extragantly, in their early years...

moving to a country with cheaper cost of living-doesnt always solve the problem....

For many of us the 800k represents a part of our working capital, ie: the money we use to make money. Or its already tied up in a fixed asset investment. Most retirees probably have the 800k ten times over but not in a liquid movable asset. Retirees dont have an income any-more and generate their own income using their existing assets. I have 1-2 milliom baht in cash but that money is in and out of the share market and flipping properies etc

 

Let me give an example

 

My retirement is fully funded, money "invested" (it cant be liquidated and moved to Thailand) a pension that kicks in in a few years etc.

I do however, at the moment fund myself through share trading and flipping properties. I have a working capital of $1-2 million baht, with this capital I invest in the share market and renovating properties,  My 1-2 million baht is busy making money.

 

I now find myself in the position where I will have to deposit the 800k (half my working capital) in Thailand, so that is the money that was going to pay for a new kitchen/bathroom/coat of paint etc on a property to flip early next year , or my next 3-4 months share trading etc. 

I think you will find even wealthy people dont often have $20-30k US sitting around doing nothing, most would have it tied up in investments, or be using it to make money. 

On the contrary, I would consider anyone with $30k US sitting around not invested, as either very wealthy or very stupid. Getting a return on your money is usually how people get and remain wealthy.

 

I know millionaires who dont have liquid assets and would baulk at firstly, taking a big hit on value due to current exchange rates, and secondly, having any amount of money getting little to no return.

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40 minutes ago, TPI said:

No no Murray, aah the arrogance of youth! After working for 45 years, marrying, raising children, paying the bills, paying the taxes and when you're getting ready to coast through life...divorce! Back to less than zero inside one year! Start again? With what? Time to go to Asia, look around...can I afford a nice house or apartment and a cheap scooter? Yep! And enough for a couple of beers and the occasional "empty out" (out of the question back home)! Think about it aud$34,000 (800,000) is not chicken feed, in Oz it's a reasonable deposit on a house, young couples work two jobs for years to raise that sort of money! Be gentle with us older folk, we've had a hard row to hoe! ????

Also the ex is entitled to some of your hard earned superannuation which you thought would be a life saver for your retirement.

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Some are happy with very little and some are unhappy with a lot. It is all up to your individual outlook. Sure you might be happier with a bit more, but accepting the lifestyle you can afford and making it happen works for those that want it, whether on 30k or 300k.

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1 hour ago, Nyezhov said:

Try living in Alaska. Or the heat of Phoenix and the traffic. Or the humidity of NC. Or the traffic and cost of NYC or LA or Miami.

 

Bangkok is paradise.

Excuse me but where did you buy your rose colored glasses that obviously block your view of Bangkok traffic??  

If I can market them I’d have a penthouse in both my favorite cities New York and BKK. 

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1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

For many of us the 800k represents a part of our working capital, ie: the money we use to make money. Or its already tied up in a fixed asset investment. Most retirees probably have the 800k ten times over but not in a liquid movable asset. Retirees dont have an income any-more and generate their own income using their existing assets. I have 1-2 milliom baht in cash but that money is in and out of the share market and flipping properies etc

 

Let me give an example

 

My retirement is fully funded, money "invested" (it cant be liquidated and moved to Thailand) a pension that kicks in in a few years etc.

I do however, at the moment fund myself through share trading and flipping properties. I have a working capital of $1-2 million baht, with this capital I invest in the share market and renovating properties,  My 1-2 million baht is busy making money.

 

I now find myself in the position where I will have to deposit the 800k (half my working capital) in Thailand, so that is the money that was going to pay for a new kitchen/bathroom/coat of paint etc on a property to flip early next year , or my next 3-4 months share trading etc. 

I think you will find even wealthy people dont often have $20-30k US sitting around doing nothing, most would have it tied up in investments, or be using it to make money. 

On the contrary, I would consider anyone with $30k US sitting around not invested, as either very wealthy or very stupid. Getting a return on your money is usually how people get and remain wealthy.

 

I know millionaires who dont have liquid assets and would baulk at firstly, taking a big hit on value due to current exchange rates, and secondly, having any amount of money getting little to no return.

I think you need to re word your first sentence containing “ for many of us” I just don’t believe that is why at least 95% of the posters who don’t  have the 800k, don’t have the 800k. But it’s nice to have your glass half filled!

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4 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

I dont think anyone has ever moved back home because its cheaper. 

Isnt that what every expat that runs out of money does.. 

 

Western social safety nets, free housing, free healthcare, pension support cheques, etc etc etc.. Plus the ability to make proper money. 

 

Also in the big picture theres 'net monthly' in asia I only spend, in the west making money is trivially easy, so when thats factored in west is far cheaper.. How many expats come here with nothing and end up rich v how many come here with assets and go home broke ?? 

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15 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

Excuse me but where did you buy your rose colored glasses that obviously block your view of Bangkok traffic??  

If I can market them I’d have a penthouse in both my favorite cities New York and BKK. 

Notice I said traffic AND cost.

 

Here I got cheap Transport. Cheap everything. No winter

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Well, to give a more straight answer to the OP's query, I worked but never lived in SE Asia and PRChina for 15+ years and, after a few lengthy visits to Thailand, I decided I was more comfortable here than in the area where the OP lives. Financial considerations really had little to do with it.

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15 hours ago, i claudius said:

I could not imagine living back in the UK with all the rules and regulations and the PC bullsh-- . I like the fact that if i park my car with its wheel touching the yellow line i dont get a fine for 90 quid,l

 

 

 

 

 

But be sure not to park your car on a piece of road that has no yellow line and is available for the use of the public but located in front of a shop.

 

I do that all the time in the UK (1 hour waiting allowed in my community) and so far have suffered no deflated tyres and no keying or threats of violence from the shop owners.

 

I have "heard" that the same is not true of Thailand.

 

Maybe it's all a myth.

 

"Swings and roundabouts" is the saying I believe.

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, connda said:

Well, he owns half.  Then out of his 'half' comes child support, alimony, then university expenses.  It's a bit like sailing a boat with the anchor deployed: your sails are full of wind, but you go nowhere.

 

Methinks that those who chastise others for not being 'responsible enough to have adequately saved for retirement' never had their anchors wedged and stuck firmly in the shoals and reefs of failed matrimony.  Nothing like a vindictive 'ex' and her lawyer to take the winds out of your sails and keep it that way during your most productive years of life.

 

10/10 for imaginative and colourfully illustrative use of metaphor and simile.

 

 

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