Thailand or England? I Know Which I Prefer
I live and work in England and Thailand at different times of the year and as I see both sides of life I feel I can make a fair judgment which country offers the best lifestyle and in my opinion Thailand is a better place to live in many respects.
I have just read the submission 'Jinxed' by PattayaSigel and even though I agree with much of what he says I feel his opinion does not give a clear picture of life in Thailand but more of his own experiences which have been for
the most part limited to short holidays in Pattaya spending a fair amount of time in bars and with bar girls which by the looks of things has worn him down and he has now realised the magic can go if you overdo it in the wrong places and with
the wrong kind of people.
I have also had the holidays, the bargirls, the good times and the not so good times. They were excellent and fun experiences that I do not regret but a time came when I realised I could not party forever and that I needed to live a more
normal life. You either take the Thailand holidays for what they are and enjoy the fun or do as PattayaSigel is doing and give it all a break and go elsewhere or do something different.
I decided I wanted to live in Thailand, a decision I didn't take lightly, but after spending a reasonable amount of time in the country I had learned something about the people, culture and language which I knew would make living there
easier.
As stated on the Stickman site many times, if you are going to settle in Thailand and want a reasonable standard of living make sure you are financially secure. If you have a steady income or savings or can earn a decent salary there, then
I would say it is a hard place to beat and I know of many people who would agree.
I can live in both countries because of my work and generally feel happier when I am in Thailand. I recently arrived back in England and as usual it was good to see family and friends and to catch up on everything. After a few weeks I eventually
settle down to an everyday routine but it doesn't take long before I start to miss my life in Thailand.
Like most people I prefer warm and sunny days and we had nice weather here in Manchester last week when it was quite sunny, not much cloud with a gentle breeze and the temperature was about 17C. My parents were telling me it was the best
day they have had in over six months, a nice change from the cold, windy, dull and rainy days they had been having. I didn't rub it in that it had been sunny and warm with temperatures between 25 to 35 C nearly every day in Chiang Mai for
the last 6 months. This is just one of the reasons Thailand wins, the weather there generally does not stop you doing what you want, where you want and when you want. This is a major plus for me.
Then there is housing, I own a beautiful house with a pool on a large plot of land. To buy the same house in the UK would be unaffordable for most people. For what I paid for it, one would struggle to get a decent two bedroom terraced house
in England. It is much cheaper to live in Thailand where I don't have a mortgage, I don't pay council tax, I don't have expensive gas, electric and general household bills. The car I drive would cost 50% more in the UK and if I
want any maintenance done to the house or the car it's cheap, very cheap. As everything is so affordable I can have a maid, a gardener and pay someone to clean my pool. I have my rubbish collected twice a week for a grand total of 200 baht
a month. The most expensive fixed outgoing I have is electric which is still cheap.
I can eat out whenever I want, dine in new restaurants all over the city and drink beer at my local bar at 40 baht for a large bottle. I can fill my car up with diesel for half the price of what it costs in the UK. I can do most things for
a fraction of the cost.
The vibrant nightlife is another plus in Thailand with so many excellent entertainment venues to choose from, whether it's in Chiang Mai where I live or a weekend trip to Bangkok or Phuket. I like the fact that I can go out into the
city centre of Chiang Mai with my family after 10.00 p.m. on any night of the week and not feel threatened or annoyed by drunken idiots.
Oh I forgot to mention the women. Even though I am married to a beautiful, kind, honest and loyal Thai lady it is a joy to see so many pretty and sexy girls nearly everywhere I go. Where I stay in the UK a gorgeous girl is a bit like a ship
in the night, blink and you may have to wait a while before you see another. There are many nice looking girls in the UK but not in the same abundance as Thailand, it probably has something to do with the fact that Thai girls are mostly slimmer
whereas British girls tend to be on the hefty side. Also I do think Thai girls generally have a better dress sense and behave in a more feminine manner.
Thailand is far from perfect but I try not to dwell too much on its problems because I know I can't change anything, I instead enjoy the positives, I like the freedom I feel, I like to be able to drive around and not have to look out
for speed cameras everywhere just in case I am going 3 mph over the speed limit and I can have a couple of beers and not be worried about being classed as a drunk driver. I see far less of the political correct bullshit that I see in the UK, probably
because as a foreigner in Thailand I can distance myself from a lot that goes on (I can't vote in Thailand anyway) whereas in England it's not quite as easy to ignore our useless government and some of the ridiculous policies and decisions
it makes.
Every country has its pros and cons but for me and many other people if you can accept Thailand for what it is and not dwell too much on its shortfalls you can have a quality of life you just cannot get in the UK.
Stickman's thoughts:
Fair comments. The thing I have in the back of my mind is where one would live if they had a lot of money. How many genuinely wealthy people choose Thailand? For me, I still believe Thailand is something of a poor man's paradise.
If I was loaded, I would be living in the West.
