What I Love About Thailand

[mirimark]

What I Love about Thailand ?

Nobody Knows me there.

[kahuna]

I'm a little lost...seems to me not much changes whether you stay for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months...health insurance for example is sold for a week a month a year or whatever...and the cost ranges from about 1000 bht for 1 week to 6000 bht for 6 months...In fact I just discovered you can go to Bumrungrad (sp) Hospital and have a complete physical...lab work, xrays, doc exam, etc., for 2500 bht....less than a night out with a babe...

The answers likely won't change much...the problems as you see them remain the same..indeed, folks are likely to offer much better solutions than I have...but you can solve all of them...

Some time ago I decided I wasn't gonna leave this world with an estate...no grand real estate holdings, no collections of expensive collectibles, no huge stock portfolio...I'm going out with a smile, a cheer and a happy heart...

If money was meant to hold on to it would have a fucking handle on it...So I try very hard not to worry any longer about the little things...they're gonna happen despite what I do...You gotta decide on your own Doc...

kahuna

[stogie bear]

So, I guess I need answers and information to figure out how long I am going to stay.

You are making this way to complicated. Get here first, THEN then decide when you want to go back.

Get a three month lease at a maid service apartment which will give you ample time to get to know whether or not Thailand is where you want to stay.

[kahuna]

Exactly my no-plan plan...

[Guest]

Three months is very difeerent than 12 months.

For three months you're not renting out your home, but for 12 months you're leaving too much on the table if you don't.

Think you gotta give a frriendf a good deal on rent and in return they'll handle shit for you.

Fed taxes can be done online, but you may have to get your friend or an accountant to do your stte taxes.

Health inurance think the plan is to keep what you have in the USA in case you have a big problem you have to fly home.

In Thailand you can just pay out of pocket.

I encourage you to goforit Doc!      

[mardhi]

If I were in this position and was looking at a year off so to speak I would do the following:

1. Form a base somewhere - most probably Thailand and bring the minimum of stuff to travel with - dont shift an entire house full of stuff.

2. Base yourself in Thailand for the first 3 months using a multiple entry visa and rent a serviced apartment that is convenient and relatively cheap - you wont be needing a 3 bedroom 300sq m condo.

3. After 3 months, go to somewhere like Bali for a month and chill out and leave most of your stuff (assuming its just a suitcase or something) at someones condo in Thailand.

4. After Bali, head off to the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia etc.

5. Come back to Thailand and stay for a further 2-3 months and then start all over again - maybe visiting Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, and all the other places in Asia.

Dont even attempt to work - you will get yourslef in knots and wound up big time - just chill out and go with the flow. Before you leave the USA, sort out a decent one year travel insurance policy for peace of mind and finally enjoy yourself. After one year, you may decide Asia is not for you, but you can go back and continue with your job if you so choose and to all intents and purposes, it seems like you have just taken a year off and gone travelling while your young and healthy - if anything your employers should welcome it as it shows an ability to move outside of normal routines.

Cheers
Mardhi

[mardhi]

(kahuna @ Nov. 12 2006,10:04) I'm a little lost...seems to me not much changes whether you stay for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months...health insurance for example is sold for a week a month a year or whatever...and the cost ranges from about 1000 bht for 1 week to 6000 bht for 6 months...In fact I just discovered you can go to Bumrungrad (sp) Hospital and have a complete physical...lab work, xrays, doc exam, etc., for 2500 bht....less than a night out with a babe...

The point you raise about medical costs is an important one. Sure, relative to other countries, its a lower cost but what you have to contend with is could the 'traveller' produce 400,000 baht or $10,000 on demand if shit happens and they are hospitalised???

Reason I am aware of this, is that I have just had to do that and pick up the bill for a friend of mine who has spent the last 3 weeks in Bumrungrad where basically they warned me they expected her to die. She did not and they were fantastic, but one week in ICU and twenty medicines being fed intravenously does not come cheap. Her total bill came to 520,000 baht and she was seriously ill - she had 5 doctors attending her every day covering among others, Heart, lungs, hematology, infectious diseases. Four weeks ago you would not have known there was anything wrong with her - the point I am making is that there is no decent emergency service - if you dont have the money - you dont get treated. She was not even awake for the first 5 days - unless she had told me she was sick, she would be dead now and luckily I was able to sort out payment for her. So just because you have access to money, does not matter - you need it readily available and for you to be able to access it - credit cards and or Insurance are a must for this type of situation.

Cheers
Mardhi

[Guest]

I agree travel light. Laundry is cheap.

The easiest place to start is Pattaya where you can get a nice but cheap room for 500-600 baht a night, try tofind a place with a weekly rate.

Now sure you can get an apartment cheaper but I couldn't care less about a kitchen and it's nice to get sheets changed everyday.

[SamplerDoc]

  All great advice Guys...Thanks so much

F*ck It....I am taking the year off for sure.
Sort out all the crap at home first which all should be easy enough.
The idea for taxes online is great.
The thoughts on Health care and travelers insurance is good stuff too.  I think I would be fairly set using those tips and the no-plan plan.  It all sounds good.

I think at this point a few months there with a serviced aptment or hotel type would be good so if you all have links or websites for those, I would love to have a PM or post here.  Thanks again.

What type of Visa would I be looking for besides Multi-entry?  and how would you get one?  How long can I go currently without a visa?  Is it still the 30 days and Cambodia run or is that the wrong way to do it now?

Thinking of a big Asia trip will surely make the days at work here go by better

[kahuna]

Try these is I can get them right...Had surgery on my hand last week and its not working well yet...please forgive my mistakes...

Health Insurance:     www.bupathailand.com

Apts:     www.bangkokapartments.info
            www.thaiapartment.com
           

Thai Consulate:      http://www.thaiembdc.org/index.htm

Cambodia Visa Runs:     www.thaivisaservice.com
                                     

[jhcal26]

Man how do you guys pull off going/staying in Thailand so long? Just came back from my first trip ever to LOS (only stayed in Bkk) and loved it. But I can't imagine going again for another year due to work.

[divertwo]

Aloha Doc......just got back from Vietnam and Cambodia as well as Thailand. Vietnam visa HAS to be obtained at the embassy/consulate before you get to teh country. It was $45 for me(USA Citizen) plus the registered mail. No embassy is on my island. Be sure to get the multi entry visa which is good for up to 30 days, but you can come and go as you please. In Cambodia.....you get the visa at the border/airport.....could not have been easier but be sure to have a few passport photos. Took all of 5 min and $20 USA for the visa.....good for 30 days also. Cambo uses USA bucks for any purchase more than $2.00...............aloha

[Guest]

Hi troops, am in MY favourite city at the moment, but having spent six months a year for the last thirty years in and around Thailand have some views to put forward when i get back this coming week end. For now just a couple of points to ponder. New visa rules, if your coming to work or are over fifty not a problem, if not it COULD be. What made me smile was the way it was done. NO warning, any reasonable place would have given what, three months for folks to sort there lives, but hey were only farang, and this L.O.S. bit ? land of shags yes, land of smiles, not really. On a list of the finest folk in Asia (only my opinion guys) the Thais are nearer the bottom than top.