I've Had Enough!

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by Twotimer

Hi all...I DO live in SE Asia full time.........You can do it very cheaply, a bottle of San Mig runs me .50 can do it cheaper tho.....my flat runs $150 per month inclusive........food is cheap fresh and as long as you stay out of the major metropolitan areas you are not gonna get taken advantage of as much. Any third world country is gonna have local politics that are quite arbitrary....would I bring a nice rig??? hmmm...depends where I would want to stay....with other expats in an expat community???? up to you.....but..... it is not what you are use to.
Plus in your post, other than warm weather, 85 here today, what else do you need to be happy??? Smokes here are cheap...you can even buy them by the stick on the street, medical costs....next to nothing. Most of the posters here really have very little experience with SE Asia........How about social interaction?.......the lack of ageism here, unlike "western" countries is refreshing and enlightening......Don't let the guilt freaks tell ya otherwise......but if you are just tired of being ripped off by your government....well you are going to get taken advantage of here also....the bite is much smaller tho......what else can I tell you.....oh fly over for a look see....spend a couple months and scout things out...then commit to bring your vessel over if you want...or like me.......just live near the beach, hire a ya ya....(someone who cleans for you, shops etc....only 100/month ) And go out with the locals or expats when they have an empty seat.........for 2k(US) a month here you are a king! Best of luck whatever and wherever.......I will say this....governments are pricing themselves out of business in the western world...I still have a choice so....here I am......

Care to identify the country? i live in Krabi, Thailand.

[cat man do]

Wish I could get the boat into Vietnam.
Costs of living there are considerably cheaper than Thailand.
Vanuatu while nice to visit is not really an option in my opinion, facilities are lacking, especially if needing medical.
Malaysia (Penang) has several excellent facilities as is Bumrungrad in Bangkok and Franco Viet in Saigon.
Cost of Fuel, alcohol, labour and living in general is cheaper in Asia as are flights back home to Australia using Air Asia or Scoot.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by vientoman

some people seem to think that all "governments" are bad. I believe that there sound reasons for them. They govern and maintain rule of law. We are lucky to have governments of the people and we are fortunate to benefit from an organized "state".

In Australia, you get health care, In Sweeden you get almost everything and a beautiful standard of living. In the US, you get cheap gas and wide roads. Choose your poison.

If you are alone on your boat, maybe you could choose to be a totalitarian dictator.....or perhaps have no government at all but if you sail close to land, you'll always have to deal with your own or someone else's government.

The Dominican republic is nice but you have to know the right government officials.....just like most every other place on the planet.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by s/v 'Faith'

Who IS John Galt?

An Ayn Rand character.

[Twotimer]

I live in the Philippines......Visaya region......hope to get to Thailand for the xmas break this year!

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by CCBullseye

I would go with the ketch. Wind is free and not taxed. A trawler would consume a lot of fuel and that fuel is heavily taxed.

Mast and sails are not free and they are taxed, quite heavily if you need them imported and they are classed as a luxury item.
Some trawlers use a lot less fuel than others, 1l/nm for the trawler in my sig.
Some countries have cheap fuel.
Some areas dont have much wind so you motor a lot anyway.

[ozskipper]

This thread is based on a grumpy ol man who is bitter at his country for whatever reason. Perhaps he watches too much Today Tonight? But hell, after post after post of reading a fellow country man sledging our own country on an internation forum, I find it discusting. Others have provided feedback on his questions, however the public sledging of our wonderful country continues, sadly, without true discussion of real places to go .

Bill. Hurry up and go. Then you can tell us how bad the rest of world is.

[BillAU]

Originally Posted by Twotimer

Hi all...I DO live in SE Asia full time.........You can do it very cheaply, a bottle of San Mig runs me .50 can do it cheaper tho.....my flat runs $150 per month inclusive........food is cheap fresh and as long as you stay out of the major metropolitan areas you are not gonna get taken advantage of as much. Any third world country is gonna have local politics that are quite arbitrary....would I bring a nice rig??? hmmm...depends where I would want to stay....with other expats in an expat community???? up to you.....but..... it is not what you are use to.
Plus in your post, other than warm weather, 85 here today, what else do you need to be happy??? Smokes here are cheap...you can even buy them by the stick on the street, medical costs....next to nothing. Most of the posters here really have very little experience with SE Asia........How about social interaction?.......the lack of ageism here, unlike "western" countries is refreshing and enlightening......Don't let the guilt freaks tell ya otherwise......but if you are just tired of being ripped off by your government....well you are going to get taken advantage of here also....the bite is much smaller tho......what else can I tell you.....oh fly over for a look see....spend a couple months and scout things out...then commit to bring your vessel over if you want...or like me.......just live near the beach, hire a ya ya....(someone who cleans for you, shops etc....only 100/month ) And go out with the locals or expats when they have an empty seat.........for 2k(US) a month here you are a king! Best of luck whatever and wherever.......I will say this....governments are pricing themselves out of business in the western world...I still have a choice so....here I am......

G'day mate,

Good to hear from another who is living life to the full on his own terms...Good on you

Having lived in work-camps in the Persian Gulf States with other ex-pats, I think I may understand.

In all my travelling I preferred going to out of the way places and mixing with the local people. When I wanted a dose of Western culture, I would head for the big smoke, have the taxi driver drop me at the ex-pat hotel, head in and strike-up a conversion with anyone looking for a chat with the stranger, me

I don't need much to be happy, a warm bed, space for me and my dog to laze about and relax in, I do my own shopping, cooking and cleaning. I enjoy all kinds of fishing and hunting, bow and riffle, reading, writing, listening to music (all sorts of music) and watching movies. Basically I'm a loner, always have been but I do enjoy mixing with people when I feel the need. I get along with most people. Friends I have made on my travels stretch from rickshaw drivers to royalty, princes and princesses, and a lot of very wealthy old money people from all races. They all accepted me as I was and I hope, still am.
I do enjoy a cigarette or a good cigar, I can also enjoy a drink but I'm not a drinker by any stretch of the imagination. With alcohol, I enjoy Irish Whisky (Bush Mills Black Bush) Vodka, a good Brandy and German or Australian White Wines but I seldom drink anything...Apart from tea

I have been to KL but nowhere else in S.E. Asia, that was only for a two day stopover on my way to Europe 35 years, or more, ago, I no-longer even recall the name of the hotel, no-way can I say I got to know the people, even if I did meet a few helpful taxi drivers and hotel staff during my two day stop-over.

Lets see...I never get involved in politics in any foreign country, I leave that up to the locals but as I live in Oz and I did vote for some of the B.S'ers, I guess I have the right to voice my disapproval of them.

I would like to take my boat to live aboard for my own comforts, I could hire someone local to help me keep the boat up to scratch...Or even do the cooking and cleaning when I didn't feel like it. I have sailed with Philippine and Malaysian Chinese crews in the merchant service and found them to be excellent, clean and honest seamen who were happy to follow orders. With my own boat I could clear-off to some-place new when I felt like it.

BTW, where in S.E. Asia are you located?

Bill
Australia

[Twotimer]

BillAU..... I live in the Visaya region of the Philippines........I find the poorer folks here to be the most honest...the richer ones, pulis, politicians, barangay captains (little mayors), to be the worst. But I keep to myself and try not to offend too many. You can also get a residency status here....keeping your AU citizenship which allows you unlimited stays in country, not having to pay ridiculous airport fees etc. I think for someone your age it is relatively cheap....10k lasts for life tho.........It sounds like you have plenty of experience with doing things on your own and had lots of great adventures.......you are not alone in doing this .... Everyone has a breaking point when they say enuf is enuf......some just enjoy misery more than others.....So whether you decide to either stay or go hopefully every night you will go to bed with a smile on your face with your choice.........I personally do not need to worship a country, defend a country or die for a country......but again it is a personal choice......Since at this time in history we do have more choices, I chose to live in a region that sucks less. Good luck to you. With a smile, good frame of mind you will be welcomed most anywhere...and if you're not ....move

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by ozskipper

This thread is based on a grumpy ol man who is bitter at his country for whatever reason. Perhaps he watches too much Today Tonight? But hell, after post after post of reading a fellow country man sledging our own country on an internation forum, I find it discusting. Others have provided feedback on his questions, however the public sledging of our wonderful country continues, sadly, without true discussion of real places to go .

Bill. Hurry up and go. Then you can tell us how bad the rest of world is.

Get a grip.

I think Bill is like many in Australia at the moment who are on lower wages or none at all and find that you are hard pressed having much more than a paupers lifestyle.
And for those of us who have been lucky enough to get out of this place for a while you soon realise we are being ripped off.
Those of us on $100k plus will mostly find Australia just wonderful, but not many of us are this fortunate.
I for one also can't wait to get out as here, while I lead a comfortable lifestyle "over there" I live a god like lifestyle on not much more than the change that falls behind the lounge cushions.

I think our retires deserve a bit more than being taxed and charged so much for basic services and accommodation that they cant do anything more than stay at home and eat dogfood.

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by cat man do

Get a grip.

I think Bill is like many in Australia at the moment who are on lower wages or none at all and find that you are hard pressed having much more than a paupers lifestyle.
And for those of us who have been lucky enough to get out of this place for a while you soon realise we are being ripped off.
Those of us on $100k plus will find Australia just wonderful, but not many of us are this fortunate.

I have a grip. And am on nothing like 100k. But I am very well travelled.. I cant stand it when people sledge a wonderful country like ours. We have good medical, education and policing. Our roads are amazing considering kilometres per capita. Sure we have regulation and govt scew ups- everyone screws up, its just that poli's are publicised when they do it. There isnt a perfect country on the planet. But ours is one of the closest.

A paupers lifestyle? He is about to buy and run a 50ft boat!

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by ozskipper

A paupers lifestyle? He is about to buy and run a 50ft boat!

And how much would that boat cost elsewhere in the world compared to here?
1/4 of the cost?

Sure Australia's good but by Christ it costs.
and the same $ spent elsewhere goes so much further.
THAT you cant deny.

[Twotimer]

This convo reminds me of a scene in the movie Matrix...where Agent Smith is explaining that at first that they made a "perfect" world. But people needed to be miserable to be happy so they had to rewrite the program so that people would have "problems". All countries have problems....and positives and minuses....but....just like my tastes have changed over the years so do my requirements on what it takes to make myself happy. The less hassles I get, the cheaper I can get by, access to fresh foods (not factory farm) clean air and water, and decent weather....hell to me that is paradise. SE Asia is NOT everyone's solution. For me at this time it works....,when it does not then I will migrate elsewhere.

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by cat man do

And how much would that boat cost elsewhere in the world compared to here?
1/4 of the cost?

Sure Australia's good but by Christ it costs.
and the same $ spent elsewhere goes so much further.
THAT you cant deny.

Having done a lot of research in the last 18 months. Yes there are cheaper boats in the USA and the Med. Much cheaper, but I would say a third of the price based on the boats I have looked at.

Prices in Langkawi and Thailand were not much cheaper than here. Perhaps 20%.

Petrol is cheaper in USA (dont know the euro prices). But it was interesting that in cambodia recently, I was paying $1.20 a litre- a very small saving. So in their case, it is VERY expensive.

Swings/roundabouts. Try buying steak in Japan? Not cheap. But comparitively cheap here.

Sometimes I think people put the blinkers on and forget the positive things we have. Talkback radio and Today Tonight have much to answer for.

[Twotimer]

Sometimes I think people put the blinkers on and forget the positive things we have.

Ican drink to that for at least a week!