What is the difference between living in Thailand and being a tourist?
First off, I think many foreigners confuse themselves at first thinking living in Thailand is going to be the exact same as the holiday they experienced.
Well, it isn’t.
When you have to live and survive day to day, Thailand is no different than the country you just arrived from.
If you move to Thailand at age 30 with the intent on staying here the rest of your life, what do see yourself doing the next 40 years?
Most foreigners never seem to get themselves out of the tourist mode.
They think if they move to Thailand, everyday is going to be a new tourist adventure and it is not, sorry.
Thailand costs money just like any other country in the world.
Young people need to have an income and you still need to work your entire lives.
Having you given any thought to savings or how much you will to put away so you can retire someday? Probably not!
Thinking Youtube or social media is going to financially support them the next 40 years is a fool’s game.
I have said it 100 times.
Your quality of life in Thailand will be directly related to how much money you earn per month.
Ask the majority of people in Isaan living on US $2,000 a year?
No, you won’t be traveling around Thailand, seeing all the sites, eating whatever you want, buying whatever you want. You won’t be able to afford it.
You will be likely renting a 1 room size condo, no car, no assets, no nothing.
In the beginning, I would say for about a year or less, this seems to work out ok because it is new.
But then you wake up and realize you don’t have enough income to live the kind of life you expected to have in Thailand or to afford the things you want to buy.
It is almost impossible to earn the kind of income in Thailand to have the kind of life you really expect to have.
The question becomes what happens when you don’t have enough income and your life here becomes boring and depressing?
What happens when you cannot afford to do the things you want to do?
How many years can you drag on this depression before you give up and have to move home?
The problem with foreigners is they come from a life where most were able to do what they wanted to do, eat what they wanted, buy what they wanted, own a house, car, take a holiday.
Did you ever stop to think how much that exact same life would cost you in Thailand?
For the majority that move here, that lifestyle is unattainable.
With limited money, regret sets in and sooner or later, tired of Thailand, many find themselves have to start over at an older age.
The converse side to living in Thailand, is that for retired folks that worked their entire lives and have a pension.
Many have pensions more than enough to pay for the lifestyle they want to have in Thailand.
Many move here, get married, buy a house, new car and have money to live the same kind of lifestyle they had in their own countries.
The deserve that for working their entire lives and savings.
But, you cannot tell young people anything.
They equate arriving in Thailand for a holiday with a pocket full of money, as the same lifestyle they will have if they move here permanently.
Sadly, for the majority, they will learn the hard way.