Almost 6 months

We're nearly at the 6 month mark since we left NL to come to Thailand, its been a fairly uneventful transition for us I have to say.

Perhaps its just because we basically did it right, we got our rental place sorted before we jumped, in a nice area. We shopped around for the right house before deciding to build in another nice area. We have had no real issues with our visa applications or money issues, and perhaps most important, Jirawan and I are very happy having a nice quiet life not filled with social engagements or pub crawls..

We both like and enjoy Thai food, and have found sources of quality western food for the odd days when I can't take another fiery mouthful of something.

We enjoy a peaceful, low cost, low maintenance lifestyle that is easy to adapt to and allows us to enjoy the simple reality of retirement...peace and quiet.

Also of course we came with enough funds.. we're far from rich, but we have the proceeds from our house and asset sales, which buys us the new house and lets us live in reasonable comfort for the next 4.5 years. Then the pension will actually make us 2-3times better off each month giving us a chance to renew our funds which will have depleted by then.. Not having to worry about how to pay the bills is a massive +++ to your lifestyle.

That does still need some control though.. There's a problem with being a multi millionaire in a candy store... even if the candy seems cheap, the more you buy, the sooner you stop being a multi, then a singular,  and then end up short of funds down to your last 100K . 

But we're being careful...locking some cash away into high interest pension funds, and drip feeding interest bearing euros into our non interest bearing Thai account at a rate of 50-60K baht a month seems to be the correct target for us. 

In fact that 50K also includes our current 20K rent, so when we move we'll have even less to pay out, so that 50K will go even further.

Climate wise, I am adjusting... the recent smokey seasons and scorching summer heat was uncomfortable for everyone, but we find ourselves snuggling at home in our office/study watching UK TV on our VPN systems, not missing out on too much. In fact, VPN and subscription TV is really our only real indulgence, since I am not a beer drinker/party beast we're not pissing money away on pointless things. I do like to go for the occasional meal out though, but 20quid for a nice meal is a once a fortnight thing....

But we will probably ship out to somewhere south next year to escape the smoke.. a lot of people escape for a few months to condo's or resorts to escape it.. we will maybe do the same.

The house build is progressing, we had a minor concern once we stood in the house framework and realised that the downstairs 4th bedroom was not going to be big enough, it was basically a cupboard/box room.. 

Far too small for our envisioned use by people who can't get up/down stairs. We suspect in 10-20 years that might be us. So not having enough room for a Zimmer frame or wheelchair to get to the bed was just not going to work. I felt a bit miffed that wasn't obvious from the plan, even if we didn't see it, the architect probably should have flagged it. But blame isn't a resolution, we identified the issue, had a conversation or 2 about it, and Jirawan came up with a masterful plan to reorganize the layout to make the room bigger, at the expense of shuffling the kitchens.. This will give us the bedroom we need and make some parts of the Thai kitchen a bit nicer too... though it will cost a bit more as we have to add that Thai kitchen as an extension now.. we're waiting to hear how much, so we can argue to cut it in half :D
 

6 months in 10 days though... only once had to set a wake up alarm, enjoying life, enjoying everything and finding myself less and less bothered when things don't go to plan, after 40 years of working in environments where plans need to be strictly adhered to, letting that go has proven to be a slow but beneficial process.

Roll on the next 6 months.

Ahthankyew

Surgery..the patient will live

While in NL, I was having "treatment" for a small cyst in my left eye. Not a major issue really just a bit of a niggle that made it feel red and sore, like I hadn't slept for days... but constant. It also liked to cry for no reason at all... but the Dutch were treating it with eye drops. Sadly after several different types of drop, they agreed that surgery was the best option. Not something I was at  all happy about, as I loath having even the air pressure test on my eye at the optician..

But it needed to be done and we tried to arrange it, but sadly despite my excellent private health insurance... there was a bit of a wait.. And we had an appointment, with Thailand.

So the surgery never happened, and I planned to have it done here, but of course when I took out medical insurance they excluded it from the cover... bugger.. 

But it needed doing, as my eye has been getting angrier and redder as time went on, so I booked an appointment with a specialist eye clinic...They booked me in for a consult at my convenience, and doc had a look, agreed it probably wouldn't respond to any more drops after so long, and he could take it out today...

Ulp.... today... ermm no, I hadn't built myself up to that yet... and we had a road trip planned at the weekend, so we set a date 1 week from then, and sure enough. In I went, a few valium to calm me down, then off to a private room, on the bench, needle in eye to numb... which was the worst bit, I did flinch a lot, that panicked them. But once a pretty nurse held my hand I was a big brave boy and the jab was done. Waited a minute and he was off..snipped or slipped it out...in under a minute. Doc was happy, it was a clean flat cut, so no need to stich it, just keep it well lubricated with drops and take a few pills to avoid swelling.

Now..it was a good outcome, so far at least... 2 days later I don't really have much discomfort and don't seem to need to wear the eyepatch, but it will take a few more days to heal.

However... it fucking scared the shit out of me and I still hate having my eyes messed with... so no way in hell will I be doing Lasik or other eye stuff unless I realllllllly need it.

Total cost, consult, drugs, surgery and a lab biopsy just to be sure, came out just under 20K Baht.... about 520euros.... not bad for instant treatment is it?

There's a lot of people here saying insurance is a mugs game and I kinda see why when you can get things like this done so quickly and relatively cheaply. 

But this was a simple 10min procedure... imagine the cost of a heart stent, or major abdominal surgery, broken bones, cancer care, etc... yes you probably could pay them, up to 10, 20K euros... but the drain on your finances is very real.. 

Though I did this as a private patient, I'm happy to use the government hospitals for any minor ailments or injury I might have, its not free for me, (it is for Jirawan), it might take a bit longer to see specialists, etc... but the cost is very cheap.. So the insurance is protection against big events, high costs and not just comfort.

It is reassuring to know that health care is easy to access and affordable here, lets hope I don't need it too often.

Ahthankyew

Marriage Visa

After being here 4 months, 3 months on the waiting for visa status, 1 month extended awaiting approval. I now have the final 11 month stamp on my marriage visa.

So am now "officially" able to live here, not work, not yet, though not sure there's a real need to work at this point.

Our savings/house equity, are funding the building of our house and future financial needs just fine, and there's a little interest coming from those funds, but that will decrease as it is used for the build... But we have enough to last the 4.5 years until the pensions start to kick in.  A bit more wouldnt hurt though, so hopefully I will get a few bob in book royalties.

My 1st 4 months have been quiet, there's no doubt, we're living a quiet comfortable life in a nice rented house, eating sensibly and not going out too much, though we do like to find nice places to eat, we've resisted the 5000bhat western style places.. We tend to eat locally and cheaply 2 or 3 times a week, and of course Jirawan is in her element cooking up food she picks up for comparativly nothing at the markets. Or just getting premade from the noodle bars. 

I see a lot of expats complaining that Thailand isn't cheap any more.... I suspect they've not been home for a while :D prices may indeed have risen here over the years but they did so in spades back in their home country. Thailand is still cheap as chips as long as you get out of holiday spending mode as quick as possible.

The air quality though....oh thats pretty bad here. Yes we knew about it, yes we were all warned, but wow... somedays its like fog and its going to stay this way for a couple of weeks more at least, maybe a month...It has curtailed some of our trips to landmarks, walk abouts etc...but its also suuuper hot at the moment, temps up to 40-42 are hitting some days, so staying home in the air con room is wise..

But overall, my 1st 4 months have not been too overwhelming, I am failing miserably at learning Thai, and Jirawan isn't the best translator in the world, she tends to have conversations with people I want to ask questions about things, rather than just simple translate and reply... but she can't help chatting away to people. Her friendly nature finds a conversation in even the most mundane of interactions, she's not really interested in how high will the wall be, when the builder has a family story to tell :D

I can't wait for the rains to come and things to cool down and the air to clear, yes I also know those rains are apocalyptic in nature but its going to be wonderful to see and really smeel some fresh air.

Yes 1st 4 months, great, next 4 months, expecting rain, then looking forward to the cooler "winter" season where will will do a bit more exploring. Next year for sure though we're going to bug out and go south during the burning season... Condos in Hua Hin and places like that are cheap enough when we're no longer paying rent here.

Ahthankyew

I hope I'm wrong.....

I think I have found a potential downside to living in Thailand..

Bloody immigrants.... or more specifically the type of ex pats who join up local ex pat groups and do nothing but moan and complain.. have 0 sense of humour and are all opinionated mostly right maga types, or extreme left, or hippies floggin crystals.... I mean not all, but so so so many utter pricks on those forums its scary.. And when you see some of the posts, drill down to discover they are flat earth, anti vax, 60+yo with 20yo commodity wives, that rent cos they don't trust their wives to buy... oh dear god..there is a pattern.

I'm hoping its just a case of the loud ones are the pricks and the nice ones are generally quiet and rolling their eyes.. but... it does seem that for the most part ex pats here are entitled nasty pricks.

but as I say, I hope I am wrong.. 

However if not, thats fine, the very nice thing about being my age with no real cares or stress on me is I can literally walk away and ignore such people.. I don't need them in my life.

Meanwhile my eye rolling exercises are showing great results as is my block button.

Ahthankyew

Happiness is measured in many ways.

Having my babies back home is one of them
I shipped 4 over, including my Vintage Les Paul, Goldie, and my MadDog acoustic, hand picked from a small shop under railway arches in Ramsbottom of all places,...both very nice guitars which I like to play, but nothing very special....

These 2 however and very special, much loved parts of me, and I have been a bit lost without them. I did buy a cheap Acoustic to play but didnt enjoy it. And a nice G&L electric, which was more fun, but not quite my thing.... now I have my babies back, maybe some creative juices will start flowing again.


Ahthankyew

that 

Margaret, Goldie, Breedlove and Maddog are coming home

The four guitars I couldnt part with, are finally on the last leg of their trip.. After an absolute age being shuffled around, stuck in a container, being stored, being loaded and waiting.. they are finally going to be here on Friday....oh and lots of other stuff too, but my babies, especially Margaret are on their way home to pappa...

Im very excited, also a bit nevous, especially for the 2 acoustics, even though they were packed well, such intruments dont like wide ranging temp changes, so I hope all is ok when they get here.

I will update when they arrive.

Ahthankyew

Parkinsons Law multiplied

Back when I was doing Project managment, I was aware of a thing called Parkinsons law, which basically outlines the fact, that any work you have to do in a given time, expands into that given time

So give someone a 15 min job, and allow them a day to do it...it takes a day.

Well I've discovered there's a catalyst to Parkinsons Law... its called Thai weather.... its hot... so so so hot at the moment... And if you try to do ANY kind of work outdoors....it's going to take the entire day...there's no way to rush, or hurry. You need breaks to catch your breath, gulp down a gallon of cold water and to just stop for a minute to check on how much is left.

Yes you guessed it, I was doing a job outside, something I thought was simple, about an hour/90 mins, and it utterly destroyed me. 

I added to our garden watering/cooling system. Extending the mini hose to the upper part of our central tree and then around the fence to our small "alpine" (no it wasn't me that put it there) garden, so that when the water is turned on, strategically spaced nozzles, spray a fine mist out into the garden to give the little plants a drink/soaking.. 

It was a great idea... it almost works perfectly....there's a slight issue with water pressure by the time it gets to the last couple of nozzles, but it does still give a thirst quenching drip feed to the plants under it.

But it took me all day, and I am physically destroyed....

I'm going to have to adapt to this heat, but its hard work, 37+ today, and with poor air quality it wasn't easy.

But its done, for now, I have another misting set coming in a few days which will do the other side of the house, which is a smaller amount of trees/hedges to soak. So it will only take me... a day to do.

Oh and Immigration came to see me on Monday last, and didn't ask me a single question, but told Jirawan, its all fine, I just need to go get my passport stampled the day before it runs out for a full marriage Visa... So...I get to stay :D

Ahthankyew