I like tropical Australia especially with a family. Free healthcare, clean environment and great facilities. Yesterday the kids swam in our pool after lunch, then played tennis and rode bikes in the park and later watched the footy at the club.
It's obviously more expensive in the west but when governments offer lots of free money it eases the pain. Two kids are worth over $18,000 a year.

I personally find Thailand so fucking boring. It's SEA for the softies and/or retirees who want the comforts and familiarities of home. Cambodia is heading the same way, so it's only a matter of time. At least Cambodia was different for a while.

I like tropical Australia especially with a family. Free healthcare, clean environment and great facilities. Yesterday the kids swam in our pool after lunch, then played tennis and rode bikes in the park and later watched the footy at the club.
It's obviously more expensive in the west but when governments offer lots of free money it eases the pain. Two kids are worth over $18,000 a year.

horribly expensive and lots of crime
free health care is good though.

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote: ↑Sun Sep 24, 2017 12:13 pm I personally find Thailand so fucking boring. It's SEA for the softies and/or retirees who want the comforts and familiarities of home. Cambodia is heading the same way, so it's only a matter of time. At least Cambodia was different for a while.

Depends on what u consider boring. There's plenty of golfing for some, great diving, fishing, sailing. Plenty of places to get away by car for a weekend or month . lots of places to fly too very cheap both in country and out. Access to unlimited different restaurants, shopping. Vibrant cities, night life NOT exclusive to girl/gogo bars.
If u live up north some great places to get away on a motorcycle. That doesn't include the historical part at all. Could go on and on...

To each his own.....

True Cambodia was different for awhile.. BUT so was Thailand in the 70's-80's.

I lived in SEA for 12 years straight, mostly in Phnom Penh but also for year-long stints in Vietnam and Indonesia. I decided to leave when my daughter got to school age as I wanted her to have a full Western education (not just the academic parts). I have to say that being back in the west has been a lot better than I had expected. It was great being in SEA as a single guy, but really tough with a young family - even though we had a car, our own place, etc, etc the health care system, the lack of freedoms for a young child (eyes on the child at all times - even in the parks!) and the lack of sanitation definitely made the west a better alternative. There are just so many more things for kids to do that are kid-oriented (i.e. not sitting in Family Soup or Pazza Company). Also, how skewed do you think a kid's view of the world might be if they grew up in Pattaya?? I am not sure there would be any way of making a comeback from that.

i raised my daughter in Phuket and she got a FULL western education ( International schools) that prepared her for university in the states.
Everything BUT education ( if u can afford it) in Asia is sadly lacking for kids..

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sun Sep 24, 2017 2:40 pm

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote: ↑Sun Sep 24, 2017 12:13 pm I personally find Thailand so fucking boring. It's SEA for the softies and/or retirees who want the comforts and familiarities of home. Cambodia is heading the same way, so it's only a matter of time. At least Cambodia was different for a while.

Depends on what u consider boring. There's plenty of golfing for some, great diving, fishing, sailing. Plenty of places to get away by car for a weekend or month . lots of places to fly too very cheap both in country and out. Access to unlimited different restaurants, shopping. Vibrant cities, night life NOT exclusive to girl/gogo bars.
If u live up north some great places to get away on a motorcycle. That doesn't include the historical part at all. Could go on and on...

To each his own.....

True Cambodia was different for awhile.. BUT so was Thailand in the 70's-80's.

i think he meant boring in the sense life has become too easy there, in Cambodia you have to improvise a bit more, at a guess

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sun Sep 24, 2017 2:40 pm

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote: ↑Sun Sep 24, 2017 12:13 pm I personally find Thailand so fucking boring. It's SEA for the softies and/or retirees who want the comforts and familiarities of home. Cambodia is heading the same way, so it's only a matter of time. At least Cambodia was different for a while.

Depends on what u consider boring. There's plenty of golfing for some, great diving, fishing, sailing. Plenty of places to get away by car for a weekend or month . lots of places to fly too very cheap both in country and out. Access to unlimited different restaurants, shopping. Vibrant cities, night life NOT exclusive to girl/gogo bars.
If u live up north some great places to get away on a motorcycle. That doesn't include the historical part at all. Could go on and on...

To each his own.....

True Cambodia was different for awhile.. BUT so was Thailand in the 70's-80's.

Haha, as Jamie said, you just literally described everything I find boring. Golfing and comfortable shopping? You're basically describing the interests of a guy in a retirement home in Florida That's EXACTLY my fear and disappointment. Cambodia used to be different and you saw/did exciting stuff: guys riding on the roof and hood of the minivans, the clay sellers with their cows who came down from Kompong Chnang and so on. Sure, there wasn't any shopping and it was difficult to find many items, but you saw stuff you wouldn't have seen in many other places. You don't see these kinds of things much anymore as the country "modernizes". It's slowly turning into what every other country in the world is: a giant shopping mall. Sure, I don't mind waking into a mall once in a blue moon, but if you like golfing, shopping and food, why not just stay in Florida or something? Can't you see that the whole world is becoming homogeneous? I find it a bit depressing when I go to various countries and see the same old shit from every other city on earth: McD, Zara, H&M, Burger King etc.

phuketrichard wrote: i raised my daughter in Phuket and she got a FULL western education ( International schools) that prepared her for university in the states.
Everything BUT education ( if u can afford it) in Asia is sadly lacking for kids..

I meant full Western education in the sense that she is at a school with a mix of kids from diverse backgrounds socially, culturally and economically. I think international schools can be good in terms of the academic education they give children, but they tend to very much exist in bubbles within a community and I personally believe this disconnects the child to some extent from their own society. In a Cambodian sense, I think it is well documented that Cambodian children whose parents can afford to send them to international schools tend to come from very influential families, meaning that the children can have an elevated sense of their own importance/ability with in the school community. This is unlikely to happen in schools in the UK where competition exists far more in relation to your ability than your parents' connections.

Also, I am not sure about the USA but in the UK, if you want to attend university and not pay the international student's rate, you have to have been resident for at least the three years preceding the start of the degree. I want my daughter to have the opportunity to attend a university in the UK at 18 if she chooses and I'd hate to think that her debt burden would be greatly increased.

You have to have been resident for at least the three years preceding the start of the degree. I want my daughter to have the opportunity to attend a university in the UK at 18 if she chooses and I'd hate to think that her debt burden would be greatly increased.

In the states, an American kid would pay out of state tuition, not international, an some states, (my daughter went to univ in Ca) you can obtain residence if you show your going to stay, ( open a bank account, get a drivers license, register to vote etc) As i hold CA residence my daughter got residence after one year in school, Some states wont allow u to work towards your residence IF your in school, but require 1 year out of school, before they can obtain in state residence.

I agree having a mix of kids is great and valuable, they will get the mix in University if they choose to attend. BUT if their not taking the courses which they need to show to get into University and get good sat scores ( for US schools) they wont get in a good university. In international schools you have three groups of students; Full expats, mixed parents, full locals.
One thing my daughter told me after the first 6 months of school in Ca., is how immature all her classmates were. She was exposed to alot more than a typical American student.

In a Cambodian sense, I think it is well documented that Cambodian children whose parents can afford to send them to international schools tend to come from very influential families,

I also agree that they are the kids of wealthy expats and locals, that's just the way it is, Any different than a public school education in the UK?
Bottom line..

You have 4 choices when your kid hits around 13-14 and your living in another country
1. If they can get in, pay for the international school
2. pay for a good school an hire tutors to supplement the school work
3. move back to your own country
4. raise your kid as a local that speaks english

You do the best you can and unfortunately sometimes the best costs. Its a tough decision every expat needs to make raising kids outside their own country.