Comments

Austintatious

WOW...such a misinformed article. I have been teaching in Thai universities for several years and I have traveled all over the country. My take on your 5 points: 1) There are many good private hospitals in the Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket areas, and I have visited a couple of them. Many of these hospitals specialize in medical tourism and do a good job, at a reasonable price. In the countryside the medical care is adequate and has improved substantially over the last decade. In terms of dentistry, even the Farang price is low, but service seems rushed - a checkup/cleaning is usually completed in about 10 minutes. 2) Food, like music, is a matter of personal preference. I love Thai cuisine, but quite honestly the Thai food in California's Thai restaurants is consistently better than the Thai food you will find in all but a few restaurants in Thailand. Thais don't seem to mind a lot of bones, guts and chicken skin mixed in with their dinners. However, you can find tasty street meals for about 30 baht (one US dollar) if you don't mind the extra work of removing bones, etc. 3) Great weather? If you like hot and humid weather, then Thailand is great. There are usually a few weeks of nice weather in December/January, but otherwise most of Thailand is more like Houston in summertime. The rainy season is June-October and the rest of the year is dry. The smoke from farms burning rice stubble and from thousands of cooks using charcoal makes the air unhealthy much of the year. 4) Relative to about 40 other countries I have visited, people in Thailand tend to walk and exercise less than any of them. Motorbikes are everywhere and people don't walk if they need to go just one kilometer. It is just too hot and humid. Swimming? Have you seen how filthy most of the rivers and lakes are in Thailand? Get far enough away from the cities and the beaches are OK, but they are declining. 5) Farangs cannot buy land/houses in Thailand unless they are married to a Thai person. You can buy a condo, and renting is of course more popular. As for traffic, Bangkok is no worse than NYC, LA, Chicago, or Houston. The taxi drivers are clever and the BTS is very good, so overall it is not too bad. The recent military coup will ensure that most of Thailand's resources remain concentrated in the Bangkok area while the countryside gets the short end of the stick. This will not affect many foreigners unless some type of civil war erupts. Personally, I found this to be "the straw that broke the camel's back" and I left Thailand for good in May. I will miss the norther half of Thailand, but I will not miss the smoke and feral dogs.

djappger

This from a close friend, former Marine helicopter & major US airline pilot who has owned a 1/2 million dollar home in Puckett for many years. Here are his thoughts: "Heat, humidity, vehicle exhaust, standstill traffic, pathetic construction workmanship, violent crime, incessant power outages, cultural-intellectual desert. "Land of Scowls," (rather than Smiles) would be more appropriate. What attracted me is no longer valid, being happily married. ;-) Thought I had found eternal youth.....Forgot to mention "Lese Majeste." No freedom of speech or opinion. Say something negative about the monarchy and you get 15 years in prison. Have to stand up for two minutes before a movie begins to honor the king......