What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

General chat about life in the Land Of Smiles. Discuss expat life, relationship issues and all things generally Thailand and Asia related.
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Re: What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

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Homer wrote:
hhfarang wrote:90% of the time what I was looking for would not ship to Thailand, at least 50% of the items I found that would ship internationally, would not accept payment from a credit card with a Thai billing address, and finally, the few items that I did successfully purchase and get shipped to Thailand exorbitant duty was levied on most.
Over half the time I can find a firm that ships to Thailand, but it takes time and the prices are often not the best. So I send purchases from a single source to my mail forwarder. Shipping for what I've bought averages $35 (1200 thb) because I always select USPS + EMS. Shipments have always arrived intact and within 2 - 3 weeks, except one letter sent by the cheapest USPS international option took 10 weeks.

Mail forwarders usually don't consolidate shipments into a single box, so in those situations I impose upon my sister once a year. There are US companies that receive and hold one's purchases, then consolidate into a single box, e.g. https://www.expatexpress.com/ . Not cheap. If your location or credit card is rejected, they can order and pay for you - at a price.

Why use a Thai credit card with a Thai billing address? I've rarely met a Yank expat, in any country, who didn't keep at least one US bank account with debit and credit card.

Yep, gotta pay duty. That's a feature, not a problem. Duty is never "exorbitant" IMHO, it's 'motivating', because the purpose of duty is to motivate those who don't want to buy local to reconsider.

In Japan, Rakuten ( http://www.rakuten.co.jp/ ) is similar to Amazon. It's a single site with oodles of vendors of all sizes. I've ordered about 6 times from them. Processing was fast, the product was as stated, shipping was cheaper and faster than from the US. Use Chrome browser for automatic translation. Persistence is sometimes required for searching. If English searches don't bear fruit, use a translate site to get the Japanese language version for your search terms. Rakuten has a 'global' site. Poor selection and high prices for my searches.
A lot of U.S. Banks will put an electronic 'lock' on your credit/debit card if you use it to make a purchase when you are outside of the U.S. So my advice is to notify your bank before you travel outside of the U.S.
There are very very many hurdles and obstacles that make life here in Thailand difficult and sometimes even miserable.
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Re: What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

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Ratsima wrote:Here's what I've learned after years of online ordering from Thailand:

• Avoid ordering from places that use logistics services like DHL, TNT, and FedEx. Items shipped by these services seem to receive extra scrutiny from Thai Customs.

• Avoid ordering from America or Europe for the same reason.

• If you can handle the agony of dealing with poorly designed websites, have a look at Thai online retailers like Tarad and Lazada. They carry a huge range of products, both local and imported. Things I've recently ordered from Thai retailers:
  • An AeroPress coffee maker
    A Hario coffee grinder
    A couple of Japanese-made floor chairs
I'm very happy with all of the above. The prices were close to Amazon prices, shipping was nominal and there were no customs charges to worry about. The Thai online sales market is changing rapidly. It's worth a look.

As I mentioned before, I've been ordering imported beer and excellent quality coffee beans online for a very long time now. Extremely pleased with the service and quality of both.

• Give AliExpress a shot. I know many people are wary of ordering from China, but I've used them for several years now and have yet to be disappointed. But you have to be diligent about researching both the product and the seller. Things I've recently ordered from AliExpress:
  • A digital Lithium Ion battery charger
    An Archon dive torch
    A high quality microfiber towel
I could not find either the charger or the towel locally. The dive torch was available here, but at almost twice the cost of the one from AliExpress.

As was noted, there are a very things that are simply not available locally. Here are a few things that I regularly buy from the US and pick up when I visit:
  • Trader Joe's "Pound Plus" dark Belgian chocolate
    Solid stick deodorant
    Large containers of petroleum jelly, aspirin, Cetirizine and Ibuprofen
That's about it. As far as I'm concerned, the higher prices we pay on some imported items (and even locally produced items like automobiles) is more than offset by the extremely low prices we pay on things like food, housing, clothing and transportation.
I can get literally anything I want in 3 minutes on the internet and have it sitting on my front porch in 2 days. That's convenience.
And it also fully explains why you were not happy here.
I find that really very hard to believe, I have seen microfiber towels for sale in Tesco Lotus and Robinsons Department Stores.
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Re: What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

Post by Homer »

Name Taken wrote:
Ratsima wrote:Here's what I've learned after years of online ordering from Thailand:

A high quality microfiber towel

I could not find either the charger or the towel locally. The dive torch was available here, but at almost twice the cost of the one from AliExpress.
I find that really very hard to believe, I have seen microfiber towels for sale in Tesco Lotus and Robinsons Department Stores.
Were any of them high quality?
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Re: What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

Post by STEVE G »

I don't think the availability of microfibre towels is something that will make me reassess my choice of being based in Thailand! My partner organises things like towels, you find them on a rail in the bathroom.
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Re: What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

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Dislikes......The critters that come in when it rains but mostly that is referring to the huge spiders and after that is the ants followed by the mozzies.
The way some Thai treat their pets be it cats or dogs.
The lack of concern in regards to litter/garbage and pollution.
How anything not Thai is lesser in in status be it political to thought process.
Some of the driving skilled displayed by some
I could go on but that's enough

Likes.... The weather in general. The exchange from my home country to Thai baht and the life style it gives me in Thailand.
The food
The culture
the Thai female populous

Hmm That's enough for now me thinks

Pope gun mai
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Re: What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

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My main dislike in Thailand are Farangs who live here and continually complain about Thai people and the Thai life style. If they don't like the way things are here they should go home!
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Re: What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

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expat71NL wrote:My main dislike in Thailand are Farangs who live here and continually complain about Thai people and the Thai life style. If they don't like the way things are here they should go home!
Hey that's another dislike rude and impolite tourists and I dislike the term farang as it is rather negative also would be considered rude and demeaning especially when used by other expats. :guns:
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Re: What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

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expat71NL wrote:My main dislike in Thailand are Farangs who live here and continually complain about Thai people and the Thai life style.
I agree. They're almost as bad as the "if you don't like it, go home" grateful guest brigade...
If they don't like the way things are here they should go home!
...oops!
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Re: What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

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^ :lach: :lach:
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Re: What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

Post by Spitfire »

Like:
Pace of life
That I'm left alone to do as I want....mostly
The weather
The exchange rate
Cost of living
No nanny state government squawking at me all the time
Surrounded by beautiful women at work, out shopping, everywhere.....one at home too
Under little threat of any real crime
No lifestyle fascists of any real mention
Better quality of life than whence I came
Few real stresses of any note

.....and more besides.

Dislikes:
Self righteous, insane, naive, apologist and criminal foreigners
Dealing with immigration
Having to photocopy a staggering amount of documents just to do something trivial
Regardless of how long I make this country my home I will not get any official recognition
Petty edicts from officialdom designed to annoy everyone that wants to live here
The cultural discrimination the locals apply to each other sometimes
The general absence of consideration you often come across (like playing deafening music at 5 am)

Not too bad really....had to dig around for them and the first one isn't even the locals' fault plus half the rest are the system trying discourage us from staying.
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Re: What do you Like/Dislike most About Your Stay in Thailand?

Post by JamesWest »

i like Thailand because they have cheap adrenaline and endorphins here. Very expensive in the States.
Thailand makes my brain happy.
I really like this forum because there are no personal attacks. All the members contribute in a positive way to my posts.
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