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Moving to Thailand
by David Barkdull
Bangkok, Thailand

Are you thinking about moving to Thailand? Are you contemplating moving to Thailand, to what is essentially the other side of the world? I say, go for it! However there are considerations that you need to address before you make the jump to Thailand. Just a few years ago only about 7% of all Americans had passports. That number has tripled because after 9-11 we need a passport to travel to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. My take is that America is so big and diverse, most never leave the country in their lifetime. America is a comfort zone and most people feel very uneasy about leaving for the great unknown.

On the subject of money you should be able to work that out for yourself. No matter where you live you need money. If you want to be a millionaire in Thailand bring $2,000,000. The simple fact of the matter is that few foreigners make money in Thailand. You will need a retirement income or at least an allowance from your parents. Some foreigners live in Thailand on less than $20 a day. In my opinion a meager existence is not character building or positive in anyway. Doing without simply means you’re poor. You would be better off committing a Federal crime in America rather than making the move to Thailand. Once sentenced in America, your housing would be far superior to your hovel in Thailand and you would get dozens more cable channels.

I retired in 2002 from government service in the US. My best friend and I had been visiting Thailand every few months for a couple of years when we decided to make the big move to live overseas. By anyone’s standards living offshore is a major decision. After the decision is made there is usually a lot of work to be done to get your affairs in order. Family, bills, debts, the girlfriend and other property have to be sorted out properly before the big move. Each process, depending on your health, personality, values and state of mind, will cause some degree of stress. Stress is something many thrive on but which I avoid at all costs.

You cannot stop thinking about the pending move. I felt many things including excitement, anticipation, stress just because I was making a major life change, even an unexplained foreboding. I took the easy way out in most cases. I gave most everything away including the girlfriend. The organization of all aspects of the move became a priority. Setting up all forms of banking and making arrangements for wire transfers need to be done BEFORE leaving the country. I was able to whittle down my monthly nut in the United States from about $8,000 a month to less than $10 a month by divesting myself of everything. I cannot let go of my original email address from 1996, hence the $9.95 monthly charge.

In my experience, after the move to Thailand I began to drift farther and farther away from everything I had back in my home country. Anyone who thinks that the Internet and videophones can assist in maintaining relationships with family and friends in the home country is mistaken. Without face to face contact eventually relationships will begin to drift to the point where there is just that call on a birthday or Christmas. People have their own lives to live and it is human nature to adjust to the present circumstances.

On the plus side it gives you a great deal of time to take advantage of what to moving Thailand has to offer. You will make new friends. In the beginning you will make so many friends, often with surefire ways to make money here in the Thai Kingdom. I believe Job One here is to control your assets so avoid the new friends who want you to invest. Stick with the new friends who actually seem to have assets themselves and that are not on the run. Of course you should learn the Thai language. I have not.

Moving to Thailand is as easy as you make it. The transition to a new country is as easy as you make it. You must prepare for it physically and mentally. It really is a “BIG DEAL”.

Your intrepid reporter,
David Barkdull
Bangkok, Thailand

Moving to Thailand

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