Thought I would have a go at starting a thread to discuss making the transition from holidaymaker to full-timer in LOS. Two caveats at the outset, I am aware that the issue has been addressed in various ways before and second I am not setting myself up as an expert, for me its a case of "learning as doing" + some great advice from a number of BMs (both online and face to face).
So who wants to live full time in LOS? There is not one type, many want to live the dream. Older guys retire on their pension sure, but there are a wide age spectrum here in LOS, a lot of young guys are over here trying to carve out a future (from teachers to entepeneurs). There are also people like me "inbetweeners", mostly resident in LOS but doing some work on-line and commuting abroad (I should add in my own case I classify myself as semi retired).
As the thread progresses it can take many directions, but in this opening post I would like to focus on 3 issues - "why", "where" and "how much".
WHY?
Why LOS...well we could all give a several reasons I am sure, dissatisfaction with our home country, a warm climate and great golf are 3 that resonate with me. However many years ago when I left school and worked in a factory an old guy gave me a bit of advice, albeit wrapped up in the somewhat industrial language of the day, he said ..."all the world revolves around the hairy hole". Applying this theory, then many of us seek to move to LOS full-time to find love or lust.
For those seeking to fill their boots and have a whale of a time Patts, as the Aussies say, is the GO! There is no better place on earth for a guy to seek "fun times" than Patts. The first word of caution though is that you cannot live a 24/7 party-person lifestyle if you live here, (even if you are a young gun)....neither your health or wallet will take the pace. The second word of caution is that very big word "LOVE". How many guys have come over here to have fun and end up falling in love.
One observation I would make in this regard, is that if your motive is to meet a nice lady and settle down, then Patts is probably the worse place in LOS to begin your search. Why? Simply because most of the ladies are part of the P4P industry, and it is my view that these ladies are less likely to make ideal partners than other girls in LOS. I make no moral judgement on the girls (any of us who holiday in Patts are no better or worse than the girls who work there). My point is that a BG or GG leads a dysfunctional lifestyle and this, in many cases affects their behaivour and judgements. Now I am not saying that meeting a girl in Patts is inevitably doomed to failure - how could I say that when I have 2 mates, happily in longterm relationships with ex BGs, however these 2 are the exception, I know far more who have crashed and burned.
So my first conclusion is that if you want to live in LOS ask yourself are you looking for love (or open to it finding you). If the answer to that question is yes, then my advice would be to keep Patts as a holiday destination and look elsewhere in LOS for love. If you are not looking for love then clearly this advice does not apply Patts is a great place to be.
WHERE?
LOS is a big place, I have visited many parts of the country. For me Issan ticked all (or at least most) of the boxes. I wanted a quiet life, but not too far from a city. I wanted hot weather,good value for money, friendly expats, even friendlier locals and wall to wall golf. Yes but see the section above, was I looking for love or lust...bit of both, but I was certainly open to falling in love if I met the rigt girl and Issan has IMHO the most beautiful ladies in all of LOS.
Now I am not saying that Issan is right for you, I am saying its right for me.I met somebody shortly after I moved there, a 23 year old teacher - an absolute diamond, but maybe more of that later.
How Much?
How long is a piece of string? Much of it depends on what lifestyle you had back home and what you want now. Personally speaking I have radically downsized my life (big houses and flash cars - lets leave that bolloks to Harry "Loadsamoney" Enfield), not so much a financial thing for me, more a lifestyle choice. If you ask BMs in Patts you will get budgets quoted from 30k - 150k+ pm. My take on things is that Patts is roughly 1/3 cheaper than the UK and Issan is about 1/3 cheaper than Pattaya. Now please don't shoot me down in flames - its just my view and it depends on what you measure - I play golf around 4 times a week and if I went with one of the golf bars in Patts it would be 1700 + 300 caddy tip; 2k x 16 = 32k pm (there are ways to reduce this figure of course). In Issan golf is around 400 +200: 600k x 16 = 9,600k pm...a big difference.
Accomodation, food, booze and most other things are that bit cheaper in Issan compared to Patts. Had I chosen to live in Patts, with the lifestyle I wanted to lead, I would have budgeted for 120K, whereas I expect to be living really well for 80K in Issan (this projection will come down over time).
OK thats me done for the first post. Please remember that I am not setting my self up as any sort of expert, just somebody currently going through the transition from holidaymaker to expat.
The views of experienced ex pats and wannabe expats are welcomed.
Sabai![:GoldenSmile1:]()
So who wants to live full time in LOS? There is not one type, many want to live the dream. Older guys retire on their pension sure, but there are a wide age spectrum here in LOS, a lot of young guys are over here trying to carve out a future (from teachers to entepeneurs). There are also people like me "inbetweeners", mostly resident in LOS but doing some work on-line and commuting abroad (I should add in my own case I classify myself as semi retired).
As the thread progresses it can take many directions, but in this opening post I would like to focus on 3 issues - "why", "where" and "how much".
WHY?
Why LOS...well we could all give a several reasons I am sure, dissatisfaction with our home country, a warm climate and great golf are 3 that resonate with me. However many years ago when I left school and worked in a factory an old guy gave me a bit of advice, albeit wrapped up in the somewhat industrial language of the day, he said ..."all the world revolves around the hairy hole". Applying this theory, then many of us seek to move to LOS full-time to find love or lust.
For those seeking to fill their boots and have a whale of a time Patts, as the Aussies say, is the GO! There is no better place on earth for a guy to seek "fun times" than Patts. The first word of caution though is that you cannot live a 24/7 party-person lifestyle if you live here, (even if you are a young gun)....neither your health or wallet will take the pace. The second word of caution is that very big word "LOVE". How many guys have come over here to have fun and end up falling in love.
One observation I would make in this regard, is that if your motive is to meet a nice lady and settle down, then Patts is probably the worse place in LOS to begin your search. Why? Simply because most of the ladies are part of the P4P industry, and it is my view that these ladies are less likely to make ideal partners than other girls in LOS. I make no moral judgement on the girls (any of us who holiday in Patts are no better or worse than the girls who work there). My point is that a BG or GG leads a dysfunctional lifestyle and this, in many cases affects their behaivour and judgements. Now I am not saying that meeting a girl in Patts is inevitably doomed to failure - how could I say that when I have 2 mates, happily in longterm relationships with ex BGs, however these 2 are the exception, I know far more who have crashed and burned.
So my first conclusion is that if you want to live in LOS ask yourself are you looking for love (or open to it finding you). If the answer to that question is yes, then my advice would be to keep Patts as a holiday destination and look elsewhere in LOS for love. If you are not looking for love then clearly this advice does not apply Patts is a great place to be.
WHERE?
LOS is a big place, I have visited many parts of the country. For me Issan ticked all (or at least most) of the boxes. I wanted a quiet life, but not too far from a city. I wanted hot weather,good value for money, friendly expats, even friendlier locals and wall to wall golf. Yes but see the section above, was I looking for love or lust...bit of both, but I was certainly open to falling in love if I met the rigt girl and Issan has IMHO the most beautiful ladies in all of LOS.
Now I am not saying that Issan is right for you, I am saying its right for me.I met somebody shortly after I moved there, a 23 year old teacher - an absolute diamond, but maybe more of that later.
How Much?
How long is a piece of string? Much of it depends on what lifestyle you had back home and what you want now. Personally speaking I have radically downsized my life (big houses and flash cars - lets leave that bolloks to Harry "Loadsamoney" Enfield), not so much a financial thing for me, more a lifestyle choice. If you ask BMs in Patts you will get budgets quoted from 30k - 150k+ pm. My take on things is that Patts is roughly 1/3 cheaper than the UK and Issan is about 1/3 cheaper than Pattaya. Now please don't shoot me down in flames - its just my view and it depends on what you measure - I play golf around 4 times a week and if I went with one of the golf bars in Patts it would be 1700 + 300 caddy tip; 2k x 16 = 32k pm (there are ways to reduce this figure of course). In Issan golf is around 400 +200: 600k x 16 = 9,600k pm...a big difference.
Accomodation, food, booze and most other things are that bit cheaper in Issan compared to Patts. Had I chosen to live in Patts, with the lifestyle I wanted to lead, I would have budgeted for 120K, whereas I expect to be living really well for 80K in Issan (this projection will come down over time).
OK thats me done for the first post. Please remember that I am not setting my self up as any sort of expert, just somebody currently going through the transition from holidaymaker to expat.
The views of experienced ex pats and wannabe expats are welcomed.
Sabai
