# under 50 retirement visa???



## kuro

Hi guys

Thanks for all your great responses to my previous thread about visas and the like. I have been really busy doing the house up here so have not been on line. It seems like my hands have been permanently in my pockets rather than on the key board. 

I have been checking out the immigration visa situation and for an 'o' type retitrement visa and it seems you have to be 50 or over. Well I am only 41 (fast approaching 42) Trying to interpret the rules it seems like I could apply for a multi entry visa which has a maximum stay of 60 days and 3 entries, which I have to get stamped every 58 days. Now this would only seem to allow me a stay of 180 days (or 240 if the initial entry does not count, would anyone know anything about how this is interpreted) before I have to hit the track home. The only other thing I can see for a more permamant status of an 'o' type visa is either working there ie dive instructor/ teaching English etc or if I was to be working as a volunteer all of these it seems would require me having a work permit. What other ways are me getting more of a perminant status over there, hopefully without the work route. 

I am not really sure that I would want to start any form of business there I was hoping to take things easy and besides most of my money is tied up in assets to provide a monthly income with only about 15k or so liquid, which I would like to keep as some form of security blanket. Giving all of this what would you guys recommend? I have seen a lot of farang living in the land of smiles and not all of them are over 50. 

At a push I suppose I could take a good chunk out and finish my writing (not really what I'm after as I would like to stay somewhere as long as I feel like, going home when and if I'm ready) so would 180 (240?) days be my maximum or is there another way round this. I suppose I could get Teffl qualified and teach english, though not too keen on that as I struggle with the english myself and I have had 40 odd years practice (-: or is there some other type of voluntary work I could do, I am educated to degree standard (ok so only in the arts which is a bit of a big mac and french fry degreeI know) but I have ran a successful business for 16 years and I do have good people skills and have worked all over the world (plus offshore) using aspects of drama for interpersonal skills training particulaly in the area of attitudinal health and safety.

There you go guys a bit about me and a conundrum for the day. Thanks for all your help so far, your advice has been invaluable.

Hope ya all doing well in the sun, the weather's horrible here today in the grey north east of the uk, you lucky b**gers

Shaun


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## King Silk

All I can say Saun is that there are too many diving instructors here in Pattaya and not enough divers! Ditto with English teachers.....sorry. Making a living wage here is hard. Same as elsewhere now. You need a regular income from UK to survive I fear.


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## KhwaamLap

On the Visa front, you could take a education visa (something like Walens) which can get you up to 5 years worth of visas for x amount of hours of study (a fees of course) per week; it would also help you to live in LoS to know some basics of the spoken/writen language. Otherwise, marry a Thai


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## kuro

*to dream*

Hi Guys

I have an income which would be coming from the UK which would bring me about £900.00 a month and a few quid in the bank around the 800,000 bht mark they are looking for so I would not need to work not in the imediate future anyway. I was just wondering that if I had a job in title only perhaps I could get a longer stay visa without having to be over 50. 

Bit of a ****** really 50's 8 years off and I do not really want to be stuck on the old tread mill again, ran a business for too long and had the stress of that looking to take things a little easier. 

Any ideas ?

Hope I'm not been a pain in the a*se on the old questions front but I have traveled a bit with work and I find the key to embassies and visas is forewarned is forearmed, some play to the letter and sometimes it is good to see if there is a back door.:eyebrows:

Cheers guys

Shaun


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## Serendipity2

kuro said:


> Hi Guys
> 
> I have an income which would be coming from the UK which would bring me about £900.00 a month and a few quid in the bank around the 800,000 bht mark they are looking for so I would not need to work not in the imediate future anyway. I was just wondering that if I had a job in title only perhaps I could get a longer stay visa without having to be over 50.
> 
> Bit of a ****** really 50's 8 years off and I do not really want to be stuck on the old tread mill again, ran a business for too long and had the stress of that looking to take things a little easier.
> 
> Any ideas ?
> 
> Hope I'm not been a pain in the a*se on the old questions front but I have traveled a bit with work and I find the key to embassies and visas is forewarned is forearmed, some play to the letter and sometimes it is good to see if there is a back door.:eyebrows:
> 
> Cheers guys
> 
> Shaun



kuro,

You could always bounce back and forth between Malaysia and Thailand. Come to Thailand and spend 90 days then to Malaysia where a 90 day visa is no problem. As soon as you get there you apply for a new Thailand 90 day visa and so on ad infinitum - or until one of them doesn't allow you back in! Voila, problem solved. The food is great in Thailand but probably even better [a lot more variety] in Malaysia.  

Serendipity2


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## kuro

Serendipity2 said:


> kuro,
> 
> You could always bounce back and forth between Malaysia and Thailand. Come to Thailand and spend 90 days then to Malaysia where a 90 day visa is no problem. As soon as you get there you apply for a new Thailand 90 day visa and so on ad infinitum - or until one of them doesn't allow you back in! Voila, problem solved. The food is great in Thailand but probably even better [a lot more variety] in Malaysia.
> 
> Serendipity2



Hi Serendipity

I was thinking of something like that I have been checking out the multi entry visa's for Thailand and it seems I can have six months without much of a problem (3 x 90 days) for £100 so it seems like I might be able to do 6 in 3 out. 

Besides if I am six in I might find some other way of infiltraiting myself into the system :eyebrows: You sound like you have experience of this is this how you manage your retirement or have you passed the golden 50. 

I think it might be good to have a six month stint to start because I am thinking that there is a big difference between holidaying a lot in a country and living there and I really want to see if I am suited to this long term thing. who knows I cant think why but I might get home sick. 

Cheers

Shaun


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## Guest

kuro said:


> Hi Serendipity
> 
> I was thinking of something like that I have been checking out the multi entry visa's for Thailand and it seems I can have six months without much of a problem (3 x 90 days) for £100 so it seems like I might be able to do 6 in 3 out.
> 
> Besides if I am six in I might find some other way of infiltraiting myself into the system :eyebrows: You sound like you have experience of this is this how you manage your retirement or have you passed the golden 50.
> 
> I think it might be good to have a six month stint to start because I am thinking that there is a big difference between holidaying a lot in a country and living there and I really want to see if I am suited to this long term thing. who knows I cant think why but I might get home sick.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Shaun


Excellent idea, the 'trial period'. I reckon it takes at least a few months for the feeling of bliss and exuberance to die down, and for reality to set in!

I kind of settled down after six months of fun and excess, but the more laid-back approach was enjoyable too, in a different way. Never felt lonely, although I hardly mixed in the farang community, spending most time with Thais.

I have to spend a few months in France every year for a while - family responsibilities - and this time around has been more depressing than I imagined, I can't wait to get back to LOS. So after two years, although nothing's perfect, I can definitely say that all thing's considered, it was a good move.

But everyone's different - so only your own experience after a while in the country will tell you if you are cut out for it long-term


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## kuro

frogblogger said:


> Excellent idea, the 'trial period'. I reckon it takes at least a few months for the feeling of bliss and exuberance to die down, and for reality to set in!
> 
> I kind of settled down after six months of fun and excess, but the more laid-back approach was enjoyable too, in a different way. Never felt lonely, although I hardly mixed in the farang community, spending most time with Thais.
> 
> I have to spend a few months in France every year for a while - family responsibilities - and this time around has been more depressing than I imagined, I can't wait to get back to LOS. So after two years, although nothing's perfect, I can definitely say that all thing's considered, it was a good move.
> 
> But everyone's different - so only your own experience after a while in the country will tell you if you are cut out for it long-term


Hi

Thanks for the honesty, that's what I was thinking myself, Thailand is one hell of a party country and although it sounds attractive I did not really want to drink myself to death of dies of some horribly infectious disease within the year :tongue: 

I really want to settle down and do some writing and maybe take the time to get a little fitter. I met a lot of ex pats out there and some of them are really great guys but some of them were just a little on the mad side. I would have liked to have got to know the Thais better but really did not how do you find Thais when you are living with them. I love the Thai people but really dont want to be bar girl bait 24 / 7 I am weak of will and will probably give in a few times a day. 

Have you traveled all over the country living and if so what is the best place you have found?

Cheers

Shaun


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## Guest

Didn't want to end up in the back of beyond. So was looking at at least fair-sized towns.

Pattaya? Cynical, hard-bitten place swarming with farangs, some of the most professional 'professionals' you'll find there too. Mind your wallet. Loathed the place, ugly town. Not cheap. Overriding sense of smut. Didn't like most of the farangs who graduate there either.

Bangkok? Might be ok for someone from the big city, but I'm a country boy - too much noise and pollution in the capital. Great for a week's visit, I've probably spent 6 weeks there altogether, but never want to live there.

Didn't get further south (eg Phuket), have heard good and bad about these places from farangs who have lived there.

Small towns dotted around the NE and Central Thailand? Could be ok longer term once into the settling down period, but just too quiet for me when I first arrived. Visited quite a few in the first month, but nothing really appealed. So that's how I ended up in Chiang Mai.

CM - Big place, not overcrowded with farangs, but they're there if you need them. No in-your-face sex scene, but again, it's there if you need it. So, it was perfect for me. Plenty to do, relatively cheap accommodation in the centre, great cheap massage places, a choice of good gyms, a night life offering all the options. 

The first few months passed in a blissful haze, until I started to calm down  I'd got to the point when - and this is something I wasn't even doing in my 20s - I was getting in in the small hours, up around lunchtime if I was lucky, and then starting again. A couple of months like that I and realised it was time to calm down. Gave up the regular haunts, started to write the blog, get fit, take Thai lessons, travel again (Cambodia, Laos, Burma), eventually to settle down with my gf, a hotel receptionist. 

18 months on from that period, still with gf, getting married soon, very happy... don't miss the fun and games at all (although I still have to act as 'guide' for the occasional friend who turns up).

CM drawbacks? Only one as far as I am concerned - the growing pollution.


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## kuro

frogblogger said:


> Didn't want to end up in the back of beyond. So was looking at at least fair-sized towns.
> 
> Pattaya? Cynical, hard-bitten place swarming with farangs, some of the most professional 'professionals' you'll find there too. Mind your wallet. Loathed the place, ugly town. Not cheap. Overriding sense of smut. Didn't like most of the farangs who graduate there either.
> 
> Bangkok? Might be ok for someone from the big city, but I'm a country boy - too much noise and pollution in the capital. Great for a week's visit, I've probably spent 6 weeks there altogether, but never want to live there.
> 
> Didn't get further south (eg Phuket), have heard good and bad about these places from farangs who have lived there.
> 
> Small towns dotted around the NE and Central Thailand? Could be ok longer term once into the settling down period, but just too quiet for me when I first arrived. Visited quite a few in the first month, but nothing really appealed. So that's how I ended up in Chiang Mai.
> 
> CM - Big place, not overcrowded with farangs, but they're there if you need them. No in-your-face sex scene, but again, it's there if you need it. So, it was perfect for me. Plenty to do, relatively cheap accommodation in the centre, great cheap massage places, a choice of good gyms, a night life offering all the options.
> 
> The first few months passed in a blissful haze, until I started to calm down  I'd got to the point when - and this is something I wasn't even doing in my 20s - I was getting in in the small hours, up around lunchtime if I was lucky, and then starting again. A couple of months like that I and realised it was time to calm down. Gave up the regular haunts, started to write the blog, get fit, take Thai lessons, travel again (Cambodia, Laos, Burma), eventually to settle down with my gf, a hotel receptionist.
> 
> 18 months on from that period, still with gf, getting married soon, very happy... don't miss the fun and games at all (although I still have to act as 'guide' for the occasional friend who turns up).
> 
> CM drawbacks? Only one as far as I am concerned - the growing pollution.



Hi

really liked Chang mai myself. As you said not really too in your face and it is easy to avoid it or find it however the mood takes you. A friend of mine had some good things to say about Chang Rai said that that was really a good place to be. I have been down south and like you said some pros and cons there. i love the sea so plenty of swimming and diving there to keep me occupied and with the resorts you can get from all night party town to 10 minutes down the road quietsville. the islands are nice but relativly expensive and full of farang but if you go somewhere like Ko Sammet in the gulf rather than near Phukett you can still get quiet and virtually undisturbed. I was thinking of settling in Chang mai for a bit and then seeing where the mood takes me.

What sort of standard of living could I expect from around £900 u.k. a month up there. I do not party every night and expect two women a day but i am not a monk and like the occasional night out. Also I asked some guys before but no one really had an answer what is the score with regards to health care. If I am not a resident and trying to stay on and off on a tourist visa I suppose I will have to get covered in my own country. And what does a half decent appartment cost you and a good gym membership. Just a bit worried that I will get over there, planning for sometime towards the end of the year, and have to live like an absolute pauper. 

Sounds like you have hit the jackpot where you are and are very contented excellent. I sometimes get very disilusioned about Thailand and why the Thai's like us as farang but it is nice to here about someone who has found real happiness, you sometimes meet a lot of cynical farang, especially ones who go over single.

Shaun


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## kuro

frogblogger said:


> Didn't want to end up in the back of beyond. So was looking at at least fair-sized towns.
> 
> Pattaya? Cynical, hard-bitten place swarming with farangs, some of the most professional 'professionals' you'll find there too. Mind your wallet. Loathed the place, ugly town. Not cheap. Overriding sense of smut. Didn't like most of the farangs who graduate there either.
> 
> Bangkok? Might be ok for someone from the big city, but I'm a country boy - too much noise and pollution in the capital. Great for a week's visit, I've probably spent 6 weeks there altogether, but never want to live there.
> 
> Didn't get further south (eg Phuket), have heard good and bad about these places from farangs who have lived there.
> 
> Small towns dotted around the NE and Central Thailand? Could be ok longer term once into the settling down period, but just too quiet for me when I first arrived. Visited quite a few in the first month, but nothing really appealed. So that's how I ended up in Chiang Mai.
> 
> CM - Big place, not overcrowded with farangs, but they're there if you need them. No in-your-face sex scene, but again, it's there if you need it. So, it was perfect for me. Plenty to do, relatively cheap accommodation in the centre, great cheap massage places, a choice of good gyms, a night life offering all the options.
> 
> The first few months passed in a blissful haze, until I started to calm down  I'd got to the point when - and this is something I wasn't even doing in my 20s - I was getting in in the small hours, up around lunchtime if I was lucky, and then starting again. A couple of months like that I and realised it was time to calm down. Gave up the regular haunts, started to write the blog, get fit, take Thai lessons, travel again (Cambodia, Laos, Burma), eventually to settle down with my gf, a hotel receptionist.
> 
> 18 months on from that period, still with gf, getting married soon, very happy... don't miss the fun and games at all (although I still have to act as 'guide' for the occasional friend who turns up).
> 
> CM drawbacks? Only one as far as I am concerned - the growing pollution.


Hi there

Just realised you answered one of my last threads. You have an appartment near the night market, right (-: I think you were saying that appartments got for around 6000 to 10000 bht a month. Are they any good for that, I mean does that include air con tv satalite etc and what is security like up there. I want to bring my lap top and a few bits and pieces nothing much but I would not want them to be stolen. Is it safe or is there a good way to stay safe from burgalry. I have never personally felt threatend in the street or unsafe but I do not want to be broken into every time I am out. 

Cheers (sorry for not recognising you from the other thread)

Shaun


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## Serendipity2

kuro said:


> Hi Serendipity
> 
> I was thinking of something like that I have been checking out the multi entry visa's for Thailand and it seems I can have six months without much of a problem (3 x 90 days) for £100 so it seems like I might be able to do 6 in 3 out.
> 
> Besides if I am six in I might find some other way of infiltraiting myself into the system :eyebrows: You sound like you have experience of this is this how you manage your retirement or have you passed the golden 50.
> 
> I think it might be good to have a six month stint to start because I am thinking that there is a big difference between holidaying a lot in a country and living there and I really want to see if I am suited to this long term thing. who knows I cant think why but I might get home sick.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Shaun



Hi Shaun,

Sadly, "the golden 50" is clearly in the rear view mirror. I should also point out that while I've been to Thailand many times since 1978 I've not lived there and there is a world of difference in how you live as a tourist and how you live as an expat.

I think you're smart to visit Chiang Mai but also look at other places - both in Thailand and perhaps other destinations such as Malaysia and Vietnam [my two top picks] to see if you feel it's right for you. About the only destination I would not consider [for myself] is a Pattaya as those are tourist traps and not somewhere I would want to live. Perhaps a visit there but in all the many trips to Thailand I've not visited it once and probably never will. But what I like could well be different that what another likes so it's good to move around, see several different places and spend a bit of time in each. You've a grand adventure ahead of you. 

Serendipity2


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## Guest

If you want to be central then the best bet is a studio in the likes of the Night Bazaar Condos. Nothing flash, but perfectly adequate for a single guy on his own (with the occasional guest ). A friend of mine used one for a couple of months last summer, didn't have any problems.

He paid about £100 basic, plus water, electric and cable tv. It cost him about £140 pm all in - and he had aircon on a lot of the time. Security? No safe or anything like that, but they are mainly long-term residents, and there's someone at reception 24 hours. Can't remember if they had wireless internet there or not. Don't think so. But to get internet connected for a six month contract costs about £20 to set up and between £10 and £20 a month, depending on how quick a connection you want. Otherwise there are internet cafes around for as little as 30p a hour.

I knew someone else who lived in that building for two years, 'Cheerful' (No Bones) Charlie  of the nearby fish 'n chips shop, he never had any problems.

If you cook some food for yourself, restrict yourself to Thai fare if you do eat out, avoid the many farang restaurants, then you can get by on about £3 a day, including bottled water and the occasional juice. A tight budget would be about £100 or so pm, assuming you don't have any steak bar lapses and blow a tenner in one fell swoop.

What's that so far... about £260 pm for the basics? Say £300 to err on the safe side.

Ok if you're in that location you won't be needing to take tuk-tuks so much, because it's about as central as it gets, pretty much everything is within walking distance. But if you want to, say, go to the cinema at the Airport Plaza mall, a 50p baht bus ride will get you there, or £2 if you take a tuk-tuk.

Say £340 a month, including transport.

Do some reading? Go to the Gecko bookshop, massive choice of second hand stuff, cheap, and they'll take the books you've read off you for a reduced price.

£350 pm

Drinking? £1.20 upwards for a beer in a bar. If you have an occasional beer at home, and don't knock'em back too quick when you go out, then ... well ... you know what you're likely to spend a month in the bars (on yourself). So twenty beers a week (on the heavy side I hope!) would set you back £100 pm at bar prices, obviously a lot less if you have some of them at home, bought at the 7-11.

£450 pm

The gym? I ended up going to the Powerhouse, getting a year's membership when an offer was on. Good gym, but I have to take a tuk tuk each time (150 baht return from the centre), it's too far out. Won't renew there, but I've got 6 months to run when I get back. How much? Can't remember, but there are gyms that are a fair bit cheaper I later discovered. Think it might have been about £150 for a year's membership. It's a fair bit more for short term memberships.

A better bet for you would be one of the big hotels right in the centre of town. There's one about a 5 minute walk from the Night Bazaar. Pool, gym, reasonably equipped. Still, short term might set you back £30 per month.

£480 pm

Company? The sky's the limit. If you go to the bars in Loi Kroh, you'll have the girls trying to wheedle drinks out of you at around £1.70 a throw - but mostly they don't hassle you too much. The system you probably know already if you want to pay for company. Before closing time there's the bar fine (a tenner or so, sometimes less, negotiable). Then it's 1000 baht for short-time companionship, 1500 long-time... that's about average anyway. Pretty much the same sort of costs in the go-go bars. Ok at £30 a night that's enough to wipe out your monthly budget in one fell swoop, but I'm assuming you can get by on a bit less! Better still, find a lovely lady working in a hotel reception, or one of the stunners in the phone shops at the Airport Plaza . Should work out a lot cheaper!

Around midnight - 1am a lot of the unemployed girls head for Spicy's. No barfine there, it's a bit of a dump, but safe enough. 

Oops.... £1500 pm :rofl::


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## kuro

Serendipity2 said:


> Hi Shaun,
> 
> Sadly, "the golden 50" is clearly in the rear view mirror. I should also point out that while I've been to Thailand many times since 1978 I've not lived there and there is a world of difference in how you live as a tourist and how you live as an expat.
> 
> I think you're smart to visit Chiang Mai but also look at other places - both in Thailand and perhaps other destinations such as Malaysia and Vietnam [my two top picks] to see if you feel it's right for you. About the only destination I would not consider [for myself] is a Pattaya as those are tourist traps and not somewhere I would want to live. Perhaps a visit there but in all the many trips to Thailand I've not visited it once and probably never will. But what I like could well be different that what another likes so it's good to move around, see several different places and spend a bit of time in each. You've a grand adventure ahead of you.
> 
> Serendipity2


Know what you mean about pattya, it is about as Thai as I am really. I have been a couple of time the beach in the town is not very good though Jomtien beach just down the road is not too bad. The only reakl thing on the plus side for Pattya is that Songkran finishes there and it is really good fun. They knock it off at around 8ish at night so at least you can go out dry at night, Patong is really good for Songkran too but ti goes on all night there very hecktic good if you can take the pace.

Have you been to Indonesia, I have been there several times with work and it is also a great place.

Shaun


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## kuro

frogblogger said:


> If you want to be central then the best bet is a studio in the likes of the Night Bazaar Condos. Nothing flash, but perfectly adequate for a single guy on his own (with the occasional guest ). A friend of mine used one for a couple of months last summer, didn't have any problems.
> 
> He paid about £100 basic, plus water, electric and cable tv. It cost him about £140 pm all in - and he had aircon on a lot of the time. Security? No safe or anything like that, but they are mainly long-term residents, and there's someone at reception 24 hours. Can't remember if they had wireless internet there or not. Don't think so. But to get internet connected for a six month contract costs about £20 to set up and between £10 and £20 a month, depending on how quick a connection you want. Otherwise there are internet cafes around for as little as 30p a hour.
> 
> I knew someone else who lived in that building for two years, 'Cheerful' (No Bones) Charlie  of the nearby fish 'n chips shop, he never had any problems.
> 
> If you cook some food for yourself, restrict yourself to Thai fare if you do eat out, avoid the many farang restaurants, then you can get by on about £3 a day, including bottled water and the occasional juice. A tight budget would be about £100 or so pm, assuming you don't have any steak bar lapses and blow a tenner in one fell swoop.
> 
> What's that so far... about £260 pm for the basics? Say £300 to err on the safe side.
> 
> Ok if you're in that location you won't be needing to take tuk-tuks so much, because it's about as central as it gets, pretty much everything is within walking distance. But if you want to, say, go to the cinema at the Airport Plaza mall, a 50p baht bus ride will get you there, or £2 if you take a tuk-tuk.
> 
> Say £340 a month, including transport.
> 
> Do some reading? Go to the Gecko bookshop, massive choice of second hand stuff, cheap, and they'll take the books you've read off you for a reduced price.
> 
> £350 pm
> 
> Drinking? £1.20 upwards for a beer in a bar. If you have an occasional beer at home, and don't knock'em back too quick when you go out, then ... well ... you know what you're likely to spend a month in the bars (on yourself). So twenty beers a week (on the heavy side I hope!) would set you back £100 pm at bar prices, obviously a lot less if you have some of them at home, bought at the 7-11.
> 
> £450 pm
> 
> The gym? I ended up going to the Powerhouse, getting a year's membership when an offer was on. Good gym, but I have to take a tuk tuk each time (150 baht return from the centre), it's too far out. Won't renew there, but I've got 6 months to run when I get back. How much? Can't remember, but there are gyms that are a fair bit cheaper I later discovered. Think it might have been about £150 for a year's membership. It's a fair bit more for short term memberships.
> 
> A better bet for you would be one of the big hotels right in the centre of town. There's one about a 5 minute walk from the Night Bazaar. Pool, gym, reasonably equipped. Still, short term might set you back £30 per month.
> 
> £480 pm
> 
> Company? The sky's the limit. If you go to the bars in Loi Kroh, you'll have the girls trying to wheedle drinks out of you at around £1.70 a throw - but mostly they don't hassle you too much. The system you probably know already if you want to pay for company. Before closing time there's the bar fine (a tenner or so, sometimes less, negotiable). Then it's 1000 baht for short-time companionship, 1500 long-time... that's about average anyway. Pretty much the same sort of costs in the go-go bars. Ok at £30 a night that's enough to wipe out your monthly budget in one fell swoop, but I'm assuming you can get by on a bit less! Better still, find a lovely lady working in a hotel reception, or one of the stunners in the phone shops at the Airport Plaza . Should work out a lot cheaper!
> 
> Around midnight - 1am a lot of the unemployed girls head for Spicy's. No barfine there, it's a bit of a dump, but safe enough.
> 
> Oops.... £1500 pm :rofl::


Wow

Thanks for the great breakdown it is good to know that at least I will not have to live like a peasant, unless I spend all my money on company :tongue:

I was thinking of starthing my six month visa so that it finished around the Songkran time then if I had to leave to jet off else where because the thais had had enough of me I would be going out on a high. I have heard that Songkran is really good in Chang Mai completely mad. I have only really caught the very start of in there mostly seen the full swing of things in Patong and finishing in Pattya, this will put me leaving the UK around November time. Songkran is some of the most fun I have had as an adult acting like a complete little kid, the thais know how to party. I have never tried one of their famous full moon parties but I have heard that they have been largly hijacked by stoned farangs and are not that good these days. 

Looking forward to it just trying to get these places over here rented it is a bit slow at the moment in the uk and people are haning on to there money, do they not realise that there is a man here trying to catch some sun 

Just on a personal note if you dont mind, how do real thai women (i.e not bar girls / street girls no disrespect to bar girls or street girls I have met some really nice ones) respond to farang, some of us have a pretty colourful reputation out there when it comes to the female kind, is there a good level of trust between people? 

Hvae a good one

Shaun


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## tumbleweeds

Here's a different idea: Though you might have trouble getting a paid job teaching English in Thailand or staying there long-term with a retirement or working visa, you could certainly be a volunteer for teaching English and stay long-term that way. There are lots of fairly remote areas in the hills of northern Thailand that are just desperate for volunteers, and they will provide you with housing and hospitality for as long as you're willing to stay there, as well as helping you to get an extended visa. I know some people in Mae Sariang who have coordinated several volunteer projects with some of the rural schools in that area (it's near Mae Hong Son). You can contact them through their website: Thailand Hilltribe Holidays - Cultural and Authentic Tours Northern Thailand. Note that some of these villages are accessible by roads and are within about 30 minutes of Mae Sariang, which is a nice little town not too far from Chiang Mai.


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## kuro

tumbleweeds said:


> Here's a different idea: Though you might have trouble getting a paid job teaching English in Thailand or staying there long-term with a retirement or working visa, you could certainly be a volunteer for teaching English and stay long-term that way. There are lots of fairly remote areas in the hills of northern Thailand that are just desperate for volunteers, and they will provide you with housing and hospitality for as long as you're willing to stay there, as well as helping you to get an extended visa. I know some people in Mae Sariang who have coordinated several volunteer projects with some of the rural schools in that area (it's near Mae Hong Son). You can contact them through their website: Thailand Hilltribe Holidays - Cultural and Authentic Tours Northern Thailand. Note that some of these villages are accessible by roads and are within about 30 minutes of Mae Sariang, which is a nice little town not too far from Chiang Mai.



Hi Tumbleweed

I was looking through the visa section and noticed that you could do voluntary work. I was thinking of something like that, I think I am starting to develop a social concience as I get older  just did not really know how to get into it 

Cheers for the lead I will check out there web site. It might be nice to see a little bit of the outback. Do you know anyone who has done this and if so what was it like for them. I am not TEFL qualified for English and speak only a tiny bit of Thai but I do have a degree, will this be ok. Also are there other things you can volunteer for like building schools and hospitals rather than teaching? I taught for a bit and it is a bit of an aquired tast 

Cheers for the contact

Shaun

Shaun


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## tumbleweeds

When volunteering in the "hinterlands", you do not need any degree or certifications, just a willingness to teach. And it isn't limited to English teaching, either - you can teach computers, arts and crafts, etc. On the link that I had provided, there is a section on "volunteering" that goes into it a bit. The people who run the company are very sincere in wanting to help these people. They do not charge for setting someone up for volunteer work. I never actually taught for the schools, but I was involved in meeting some of the teachers and children and discussed various ways that volunteers could be of service. The schools really, really, really would like help! The teachers I spoke with were falling all over themselves to try to get me to stay and teach for them (and I don't have TEFL either). Mel and Pat, who own Thailand Hill Tribe tours, know much more about it than I do, so do check out their site and contact them for more information. It would be a fantastic experience. 

I'm sure that there are other types of volunteer work available, too, but I don't know what! Some places charge (big-time!) their volunteers, which never sounded like a very good deal to me. Teaching with the schools, the school will provide basic lodging, help with your visa, and anything else they can do to make you happy. You would have to buy your food and medical insurance, which should be all the out-of-pocket expenses on your end. Again, talk with Mel and Pat and explore what opportunities are available in their neck of the woods (which would be anything from Chiang Mai west to the Myanmar border).


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## kuro

tumbleweeds said:


> When volunteering in the "hinterlands", you do not need any degree or certifications, just a willingness to teach. And it isn't limited to English teaching, either - you can teach computers, arts and crafts, etc. On the link that I had provided, there is a section on "volunteering" that goes into it a bit. The people who run the company are very sincere in wanting to help these people. They do not charge for setting someone up for volunteer work. I never actually taught for the schools, but I was involved in meeting some of the teachers and children and discussed various ways that volunteers could be of service. The schools really, really, really would like help! The teachers I spoke with were falling all over themselves to try to get me to stay and teach for them (and I don't have TEFL either). Mel and Pat, who own Thailand Hill Tribe tours, know much more about it than I do, so do check out their site and contact them for more information. It would be a fantastic experience.
> 
> I'm sure that there are other types of volunteer work available, too, but I don't know what! Some places charge (big-time!) their volunteers, which never sounded like a very good deal to me. Teaching with the schools, the school will provide basic lodging, help with your visa, and anything else they can do to make you happy. You would have to buy your food and medical insurance, which should be all the out-of-pocket expenses on your end. Again, talk with Mel and Pat and explore what opportunities are available in their neck of the woods (which would be anything from Chiang Mai west to the Myanmar border).


Hi Tumble

This all sounds really cool actually. I have enjoyed the hospitality of Thailand many times over the years and it would be quite good to be able to give something back. One of the things I did not want to happen was to become a bar fly. You see a lot of ex pats go that way. I really want to kick start my writing I kinda loosly write for a living now but actually having some other purpose over there as well would be really fun. I actually specialise in teaching drama and the arts so this might be a good opportunity but I would also like to do some physical work. I have been involved in Princes trust camps in the uk voluntaraly before repairing ancient monumnets and it was some of the best times I have ever had you meet some excellent people. 

Cheers for all of this this has put a new spin on my planned thai experience

Cheers

Shaun


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## Guest

There are some groups involved with the Hill Tribes in the north. Various types of work involved, including teaching English, or computer studies, that sort of thing.

The problem - well it's only a personal thing, so it might not apply to you - is that a fair number of these organisation are funded by evangelical Christian missions, something I don't agree with for various reasons (that I shan't be going into here).

There is a separate agenda, some would say an overriding one, to the basic goal of supplying help to those who need it.

Just thought I would make that point so that you are aware of the situation...


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## tumbleweeds

Good point, Frogblogger. I should point out that Hilltribe Holidays definitely _does not_ have a religious agenda!


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## kuro

frogblogger said:


> There are some groups involved with the Hill Tribes in the north. Various types of work involved, including teaching English, or computer studies, that sort of thing.
> 
> The problem - well it's only a personal thing, so it might not apply to you - is that a fair number of these organisation are funded by evangelical Christian missions, something I don't agree with for various reasons (that I shan't be going into here).
> 
> There is a separate agenda, some would say an overriding one, to the basic goal of supplying help to those who need it.
> 
> Just thought I would make that point so that you are aware of the situation...



Hi Pete

Thanks for the heads up on that one. Never thought of that, should have really as I met an evangelical coming back from Thailand this year and he was working with the hill tribes with the hidden agenda of conversion (without going into it I think I share your views and this is something that I would not be interested in) 

Tumbleweed has said that these trips have no hidden religious agenda which is cool for an athiest like me. This is something I think I will give a go to, I also really fancy helping to build a school or a hospital or something too. 

Cheers 

Shaun


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## kuro

tumbleweeds said:


> Good point, Frogblogger. I should point out that Hilltribe Holidays definitely _does not_ have a religious agenda!


Hi 

Cheers it is good to know that there are some humanists who do great things too as I am not a religious person myself. 

I was looking to travel out towards the end of the year, all depending how the rental market goes here for property. As well as teaching do they have other voluntary work such as building hospitals or schools and the like. I am not a craftsman but learn fast, can heave heavy things for a long time and I am willing 

Shaun


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