yong wrote: ↑Sat Nov 07, 2020 6:53 pm I could be lucky or a rare case of foreigner happily living in Land of Smile for 15 years. Looking for more happy and good years ahead here.

If you visit my thread here in CEO it bears testimony to my happy life with nice Thais

Welcome to my thread thailand-news-and-discussion/land-smile ... ml#p450131

You are not a rare case, I know many foreigners who have lived in Thailand for many years and love the place. It has many things going for it that Cambodia is still only catching up on. Whatever about the relative developments here and in neighboring countries, this is not the point the person who wrote this was making. He's just some malcontent who thinks the world is against him and everyone is trying to rip him off. I've lived here for a while, and when I go down to the market area I notice how much the locals pay and how much I pay. It's the exact same. I feel sorry for foreigners who go around with these persecution complexes. I'm not trying to say nobody ever tried to overcharge me, but when they did I always voted with my feet. These guys live in red-light districts and wonder why it's not like the corner-shop back home.

After five years in Japan, I moved back to the US for a while. Then came back to Japan.

My first two years in Japan were awesome. Fun and productive. Third and forth years were more focused but still fun. My fifth year was awful due to personal and professional circumstances. I developed a really negative attitude towards some Japanese people (lying exGF, among others) and the country as a whole. Not logical, not right, but it happened to me.

My time back in the US was overall good. Reconnected with old friends and older family. Still, I chose to return to Japan. I think I learned some lessons along the way. Still have bad moments in Japan, but I try to keep some perspective about the place I chose to live in and the people I have surrounded myself with.

This dude we are talking about may have lost (or never had) the perspective that took me years to develop.

clutchcargo wrote: ↑Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:16 am

Cowshed Cowboy wrote: ↑Fri Nov 06, 2020 11:27 am A decade of his life down the plug hole living in a place he hated, that's got to hurt.

To be fair, it could be that he only felt that way after the 8th or 9th year

I guess a lot will depend on individual experiences along the way.. Maybe he had a few bad relationship issues, a business deal go bad, fell in with the wrong crowd et al. He might have loved the place initially, decided to live there and as he grew to know and understand things, he got turned off.

I know myself I fell in love with Thailand when I first went there a long time ago and it was my annual holiday destination for many years. And I made the effort to converse in basic thai and I even lived there for a while. But as the years went by together with a few personal situations thrown in, I sort of fell out of love with the place. Such that when it came to decide where to live in Asia, I settled on Cambodia. Many reasons for this and too long to mention. But yeah, personal experience.

In any event, I agree this guy should probably move on now that he feels that way. I don't know whether he necessarily hates the place so much or just the people but in any event if you have such a low opinion of thais and you think they are all dumb then it follows, that it would make living there less tolerable.

Maybe he had a few bad relationship issues, a business deal go bad, fell in with the wrong crowd et al.

That sounds like a feature of Pattaya life, not a fault.

I think many people get through the first 2 or 3 years of being an expat and become jaded, regardless of where they live. The novelties wear off and the annoying aspects become dominant. They either move on (true traveller) or stick it out, perhaps hoping it will improve. This is a key juncture point.

I know a few people who have been here for many years and they haven't got another 'move' in them - to old or fearful of starting over in a new country. They seem to tolerate the place but there seems to be little appreciation of life here. The same must be true of Thailand. Very few will admit that though.

To spend 9 years in one country in a big investment, especially if it's your first country of being an expat and with nothing to compare it to. If he spent the last 6 being pissed off and stayed there, he only has himself to blame, he missed the 3 year decision point.

As a new expat, if you're not completely in love with the place after 2 years, it is time to make plans to move on. Don't wait until year 9 to discover what should be readily apparent after 2.

Thailand, like Cambodia, is a money grabbing old tart - she will always welcome you back with open arms.

lets see;
spent 11 years in Thailand and started getting jaded, than 18 months back in america, cured me of that, was so happy to return
2008/09 in Cambodia and than back here for the past 11

18 months? I lasted 6 in the US and went back to Japan.

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sun Nov 08, 2020 11:01 am lets see;
spent 11 years in Thailand and started getting jaded, than 18 months back in america, cured me of that, was so happy to return
2008/09 in Cambodia and than back here for the past 11

Serious question - how did you feel after the first 3 years?

18 months was just enough to buy a new car and a house on Monterey peninsula, get a great job, ( lost the job)
sold the car and house. I lived in a wonderful place which was why i lasted 18 months

which 3 years? the 1st?
I LOVED thailand, bear in mind I moved over from HK in 1985 and was traveling between Thailand, Nepal, Tibet, Holland and Switzerland till around 1989.

PS: i still thoroughly enjoy my time here