Hua Hin/Thailand: why are you there?

[GLCQuantum]

Those of you that know HHfarang and I know you do Sarge will know why he is reluctant to return

Because someone said something bad on the forum...?

[T.I.G.R.]

I was just reading that last blast you guys were doing on Foo and it appears one of you Brits set him off...........ha ha just kidding. One wonders if he's still reading these posts as I would have thought he'd respond to this thread. Maybe more of those of you who know him better could offer him a cold one and talk him back??

By the way, I never seem to be up to date on what posts are going on and cannot quite figure out why. I normally just read the current ones when you sign on but then I understood you have to go to "view active topics" but I still seem to miss a lot of them......like the one I just mentioned. Am I still not doing something right??

[Homer]

Good ideas Homer but I'm not sure anyone could adapt to a completely new environment in a year.......especially as we get older.

Thank you. Are we referring to the same thing? I've bolded some of the previous post:

Someone suggested moving to a town in the US that has some features you really like but the drawbacks were bad enough that you couldn't imagine living there. His advice was if you can't adapt to that town after a year there, don't even try living in another country unless your finances dictate it.

I don't see going from any town to another in the US that had 'some features you really like' as being a 'completely new environment'. Am I missing something or is this just a difference of opinion?

[dtaai-maai]

By the way, I never seem to be up to date on what posts are going on and cannot quite figure out why. I normally just read the current ones when you sign on but then I understood you have to go to "view active topics" but I still seem to miss a lot of them......like the one I just mentioned. Am I still not doing something right??

TIGR, every time I log in I click on "View new posts". This shows you a chronological list of all the posts made since you last logged in. It's the most thorough option, as you can see every post made if you choose to.

I find it useful as I usually log in 2-3 times a day, but the list would probably be quite long if you only log in once a month or so...

[Homer]

By the way, I never seem to be up to date on what posts are going on and cannot quite figure out why. I normally just read the current ones when you sign on but then I understood you have to go to "view active topics" but I still seem to miss a lot of them......like the one I just mentioned. Am I still not doing something right??

It's not you, it's the software - maybe. I don't know what you mean by 'just read the current ones when you sign on'. If you click on 'View new posts' or right click on any of the titles in the 'Latest Hua Hin Topics' box you get to a page with a URL like this.

start.jpg (7.27 KiB) Viewed 969 times

The topic number shown in the red box isn't always accurate. Two solutions. 1. Erase everything in the URL up and including the '&' before the 'start=' then hit Enter. 2. If you're feeling lucky, put in a new value for start, e.g. 25 instead of 30 in the above image, then hit Enter.

[dtaai-maai]

One thing I'd add to what I said above is that the list of new topics only includes the last post on any given thread - there may be a few before that which were posted since your last log in.

What Homer said may be correct, but it sounds awfully complicated to me!

[Pleng]

I just tend to open all the subforms in new tabs, right click on the little "view last unread" icon next to any topics that interest me, then go through my tabs one at a time, closing them when I'm finished reading

[Calguy]

Special thanx to Tiger for his comprehensive reply! I was initially put off from HH as "retirable" because of the high cost of 120K Baht, more than I pay here in L.A. for a 2 bed apt. a 15 min. walk from the beach. My total expenses here are $2500USD per month. As single I figured half of the $3700 (120k Baht) amount would suffice. But it is the other factors that bother me. My minimum standard is available water 365. Not an option in HH from what I read. Growing up in drought prone So.Cal. I have learned how to conserve water, but I have never been faced with having NONE. I am also unaccustomed to corrupt cops and feeling unwanted by authorities that require a certain amount of income and renewal of permission to stay yearly (Visas). We have no minimum income requirement to stay in the US.
I only mentioned India as an alternative because it is relatively close to Europe and has tropical weather like Thailand. I could have mentioned Spain, Greece, Italy or Turkey as a better destination for good infrastructure, but I don't believe they are affordable on a pension. Is the tropical weather a major attraction after the cold of Europe?
Just like with the media news I realize that only the negative gets into print so I get why this forum is negative in tone. I am just trying to fight off my own negativity and it is easily triggered by reading it.
Many thanx to all who responded. I'm now informed enough to appreciate retiring in the U.S. Perhaps other parts of Thailand would be more suitable for me as I am a Buddhist at heart.
I will keep reading here tho'
Cheers

[HHCanuck]

I am on my 11th year in Thailand, my story is similar to others I came here for a holiday met an amazing woman and married her 1 year later. Coming from "Old Iceberg" (Canada) I put up with high taxes, high prices and low temperatures none of which I liked.

Thailand seemed ideal with friendly people, easy going life style and great weather year round. Since officially I am a tourist I pay no tax on the income I receive from outside Thailand.

Thailand is an illusion many have shared, It is hard to judge a country the first few years living in it. In retrospect I think staying here was a mistake. For a single guy or couple with no children it is fine. Between my wife and I we support 5 children on 2 continents I make a reasonable living however no money can buy the upbringing I had in Canada.

I wish I would have taken my wife back home and raised our family there. It would have given our kids a better education and Canadian values. I can try my best to pass on my values and give them the best education I can. But in the end it is hard to fight against the culture they are brought up in. We have too much invested in Thailand so we will stay and make the best of it.

We are happy here I just hope my kids will prosper, they have dual citizenship so can always go to Canada for a higher education.

What I like about HH is there are no industrial areas pumping out pollution. I think as far as places that are family friendly, with reasonable schools, good hospitals and a clean environment (compared to the rest of Thailand) HH checks all the boxes.

I hope your kids can go to a good school in Thailand, a regular Thai high school will not prepare them for a western university. In fact, it might not even make them ready to go to a Canadian high school.

I have them in Yamsaard school in the English immersion program, all classes are taught in English except the Thai language class. My son's grade 1 class has a requirement that all students have an I-pad, he gets I-pad homework. At first I was skeptical but now I think its a great idea. The school loaded it with learning programs and the kids have fun using them. Even my 3 y/o daughter who is in K1 loves it so we purchased an I-pad for her also so she doesn't use her brother's all the time (they fight).

We can look up our son's progress on it also. Yamsaard may not be an international school but so far from what I see from my kids it seems good.

[T.I.G.R.]

Many thanks guys on the good advice re: new posts, and the nice comments on my "advice"......Calguy you can still retire happily here....just live in Cha Am, Som Roi Yot, Petchburi etal. We've been extremely happy in Cha Am as previously noted because it's close enough to Hua Hin to enjoy all it's benefits but far enough away so we don't have all the congestion.....you can still live close to or on the beach with lots of new stuff going up including some very "cute" new houses near Cha Am town if you wish to be within cycling distance to the beach and walking distance to town....also several condos and townhome projects, two of them very near our place and priced between 4-5 million baht. Also there are plenty of rentals all over the area of both HH and Cha Am, and I'm sure in the other environs I mentioned as well. One of the aspects not regularly mentioned around these parts is the good weather....we get hot, sure, but not 40 degree centigrade hot. Your $2,500 a month will be quite adequate in pretty much any situation...for living expenses.....like I said I play a lot of golf and still manage on less than you have.

[sargeant]

Calguy
I fully understand your trepidation about the water
However there is nil zero potable water delivered by tap to your home everybody buys bottled drinking water in various forms
The water problems in Hua Hin stem mainly because of the dramatic increase in the size of the now small city
In 1998 it was a small fishing village serviced North and south by a 9inch main pipe
As each new housing project came online the water was cut off while they extended it
obviously as the town grew and grew a 9inch pipe was insufficient and the water company have had to increase the bore of the pipe thus more cut offs
this has cut the number of water cuts quite a lot and at some point they wont happen

touch wood

[Nereus]

However there is nil zero potable water delivered by tap to your home everybody buys bottled drinking water in various forms.........................

Well, this "everybody" does not buy bottled water! With the correct filter and UV steriliser the water that I drink is treated in the same way that bought bottled water is treated.
The reliable supply, or otherwise, depends a lot on just where you are in Hua Hin.

[Takiap]

Calguy..........In my opinion, you could easily live here on the amount of money you have. As far as the water is concerned, the entire country buys drinking water apart from those who have their own filtration systems. Drinking water is cheap and plentiful, and if you begrudge paying a few baht, their are many free water dispensers in and around town these days.


Mains water is very reliable for the majority of people living here. It's only small isolated pockets that experience water shortages, and even then, it's not all that often.


All in all, Hua-Hin is a nice place to live, apart from the amount of traffic on weekends. There are also some good rental deals to be had, although maybe not right in the center of town. I know an English guy who has just rented a lovely 3 bed room European style home with three bathrooms, fully fitten kitchen, and furnished, and it's costing him 8,000 baht per month.


Whatever you decide.....good luck

[Takiap]

I am on my 11th year in Thailand, my story is similar to others I came here for a holiday met an amazing woman and married her 1 year later. Coming from "Old Iceberg" (Canada) I put up with high taxes, high prices and low temperatures none of which I liked.

Thailand seemed ideal with friendly people, easy going life style and great weather year round. Since officially I am a tourist I pay no tax on the income I receive from outside Thailand.

Thailand is an illusion many have shared, It is hard to judge a country the first few years living in it. In retrospect I think staying here was a mistake. For a single guy or couple with no children it is fine. Between my wife and I we support 5 children on 2 continents I make a reasonable living however no money can buy the upbringing I had in Canada.

I wish I would have taken my wife back home and raised our family there. It would have given our kids a better education and Canadian values. I can try my best to pass on my values and give them the best education I can. But in the end it is hard to fight against the culture they are brought up in. We have too much invested in Thailand so we will stay and make the best of it.

We are happy here I just hope my kids will prosper, they have dual citizenship so can always go to Canada for a higher education.

What I like about HH is there are no industrial areas pumping out pollution. I think as far as places that are family friendly, with reasonable schools, good hospitals and a clean environment (compared to the rest of Thailand) HH checks all the boxes.

I hope your kids can go to a good school in Thailand, a regular Thai high school will not prepare them for a western university. In fact, it might not even make them ready to go to a Canadian high school.

I have them in Yamsaard school in the English immersion program, all classes are taught in English except the Thai language class. My son's grade 1 class has a requirement that all students have an I-pad, he gets I-pad homework. At first I was skeptical but now I think its a great idea. The school loaded it with learning programs and the kids have fun using them. Even my 3 y/o daughter who is in K1 loves it so we purchased an I-pad for her also so she doesn't use her brother's all the time (they fight).

We can look up our son's progress on it also. Yamsaard may not be an international school but so far from what I see from my kids it seems good.

Why did you buy your kid an iPad? I thought the government was meant to do that?

[Calguy]

Have continued reading all the excellent opinions from all thru the spectrum and my hope is renewed altho' not necessarily for HH. Actually I like Phuket better as the beaches have waves and good scuba diving. Dived the gulf and found few fish and murky water.
Special thanx to Takiap and Tigr for pertinent and useful info and the others were very interesting as well. I will solve the water problem with a home distiller like the one I have here IF I an get it. Can I catch rainwater living in a condo?
My situation doesn't really reflect anyone else's on this forum but I have been to LOS twice and found the vibes very good and the landscape very beautiful. The first trip was during Songkran (purely by accident) and I have NEVER been to such a good party! The whole county partying at once! That would NEVER happen in the US.
I also find the girls quite beautiful having been raised in a city of Asians, Latinos and blacks all of which I find more attractive than pure caucasian. I also LOVE the food and have eaten it for 30 years here. There are about 10 Thai restaurant within 5 miles of here. I disagree about the beer greatness tho' Too limited a selection and types. Wine FAR too expensive.
To JonnyK and others, I have NOTHING against Buddhists, I AM one at heart. I have studied it and it's parent Hinduism for 30 years and my favorite pass time in LOS is visiting the phenomenal wats. I only mentioned it in the context of the majority of those emmigrating from other countries, come from Christian places which Thailand is not. Value systems differ between the cultures obviously based on religion. Mai Bpen Rai is not a Protestant attitude.
The most annoying part of this forum is how people home in on one sentence, take it out of context and go off on some tangent about it instead of absorbing the entire message. My reference to a 3rd world infrastructure is not MY opinion of it but borrowed from another contributor. I just consider availability of water a minimum requirement, a deal breaker.
I suddenly realized that this forum can be a major source of entertainment and complaining is a form of therapy. Even tho' it puts me off it is a source of valuable info. Do your thing all!