The logic of an expat/pensionado
March 30 2017
We often talk about Thai on Thailandblog. A grateful subject that everyone has an opinion about. For the balance it is also good to take a closer look at the sometimes somewhat strange behavior of an expat / pensioner.
The editors must have made a start and ask you to complete this list (a little self-mockery should be possible, right?)
Well, here we go. A summary of the logic of an expat/pensionado:
- Because too many foreigners in the Netherlands have moved abroad (Thailand).
- An elderly expat with a 25-year-old girlfriend who is going to complain that she only cares about the money.
- Expats who find Thailand a terrible country because of corruption, human rights violations, lack of democracy, censorship, etc., but continue to live there.
- Laugh at Thai people who speak bad English, but can babble two words of Thai themselves.
- Expats who have been divorced three times in the Netherlands and then do not understand that their relationship with a Thai is not a success.
- They insist that they have a very interesting life, but are actually bored to death.
- Old, bald, fat bellies who actually believe they're suddenly a 'sexy man'.
- Expats who say they have emigrated to Thailand while you cannot emigrate to Thailand, you can stay there temporarily as long as you meet the financial conditions.
- Open the first can of beer at 10 o'clock in the morning and notice that Thai men are idlers and drunks.
- Expats who do not speak the Thai language but agree that foreigners in the Netherlands must integrate and speak the Dutch language.
- Think the Netherlands a country of rules, but are annoyed by the fact that Thais do what they want.
- Expats who say that the food here is so healthy, despite the fact that fruit and vegetables in Thailand are chock full of agricultural poisons.
- With dry eyes claiming that traffic in Thailand is not dangerous, even though the country has the second most road deaths per 100.000 inhabitants in the world.
- Expats who go to Dutch catering establishments and then start arguing there and get annoyed at compatriots who know everything better.
- Elderly expats who dance excessively in a Thai nightclub, as if they were celebrating their 18th birthday.
- Submit to their country of birth, but receive a monthly benefit of 1.200 euros credited to their bank account.
- Expats who complain about corruption in the country, but still keep 300 baht aside if they are stopped by the police.
- Finding it strange that Thais don't laugh all the time while they have to work hard for 250 euros a month 7 days a week and 12 hours a day.
- Walking around in a Singha shirt at an advanced age, getting tattoos and then going to the beach in speedo swimming trunks that are too small.
You probably know a few more, so fill it in!
Masterful caricature! But not unrealistic. Permanent vacationers. Oh no they prefer to call themselves “expats Sounds more interesting. Plus an English word! Boy, unfortunately, the word once again doesn't do the trick. illusions? Thailand wholesales in it. You pay, they deliver. Nice young woman? You pay, she tells you that you still look good! You are buying an illusion. In the Netherlands/Belgium you are a decrepit elderly person. In Thailand: A still vital elderly person who, despite his 60 plus, looks like a 40er! Dream on Dream on
Spicy written and unfortunately 99% true!
This is really very well written and truthful!
Laying in the blazing sun all day to get a tan, and complaining afterwards that it was so terribly hot today.
Although the mirror image in older gentlemen speaks a realistic truth,still think that for the opposite sex they are a kind of Adonis.
Going out again in the evening with the umpteenth Barmaid, hoping that this one will be much better than the previous one, because, as she says, this one has no PLOBLEM, and therefore does not need money.
Nice caricature but far from the truth. Throwing everyone in a heap and placing them in boxes is typical of the Netherlands. Have lived in Thailand for over 10 years and know more than enough Dutch people who adapt well. Comparison with integration and language learning is comparing apples with oranges.
Those who are going to integrate in the Netherlands still have their whole life ahead of them in the Netherlands and may be dependent on all possible facilities. Pensionados, I prefer pensioners and I oppose the word expat because I know what it means, cannot rely on any provision whatsoever in Thailand and have a limited shelf life. Thai is a tonal language and unfortunately I can't hear the difference anymore. I speak English (very good after 41 years of using it in my work), German (good) and French (moderate) so I can't deny some knowledge of the language. Tried to learn Thai, speak very little but I simply can't.
I have been to all continents and Utopia does not exist anywhere, there is something to criticize everywhere. Also in Thailand and also in the Netherlands. Live and let live is my motto.
I notice in your response that you personally do not recognize yourself in the expat's logic. Yet I think that these statements certainly apply to many. But of course not for everyone. It remains a stereotypical approach. In any case, it is very funny to see many of these statements happen every day when I am in Thailand.
Haha
Self-mockery, recognizable, and everyone has to fill in what applies to him (or her).
Only the point about integration - that people in the Netherlands must master the Dutch language - well
The difference with immigrants in the Netherlands and “Immigrants” in Thailand is of course that one is taken care of by the government and the other has to bring money, so you can expect something from it.
nicely summarized!
Certainly not a few exceptions.
Haha know and still wear sandals with white socks that's really my limit.
In practice, there is probably not much difference between a year extension and a permanent residency status.
In both cases, Thailand will undoubtedly throw you out of the country if they want to get rid of you.
It's more the constant need to ask for permission to stay another year, which is frustrating.
That half day at the immigration office once a year is not the problem.
Complaining about corruption (although there is a lot of it) is laughable indeed.
Don't wear a helmet first, then complain about the corrupt police officer, but don't go to the police station with your ticket to pay the (higher?) fine against receipt of a receipt.
Who is corrupt now?
Life is a play and the best actors go the furthest.
The majority of Dutch people in Thailand voted PVV in the last elections, so their observations and comments are usually to that.
And that while that was not the case for the entire expat community in the world, as shown by figures that were recently published on this blog.
expats
– grumble that those Thais know nothing about the history of Europe, but know almost nothing about the history of Thailand or neighboring countries
– blame the Thais for showing off expensive iPhones and off-road vehicles, but they do not do otherwise
–always know what those Thais are talking and gossiping about ('lampposts') even though they don't speak a word of Thai themselves
–believe that they are 'guests' in Thailand and should be treated as such while immigrants are deported in the Netherlands
–think that Thais have a 'mai pen rai' mentality while they themselves take little responsibility for problems
– believe everything their Thai wife and their Thai family tell them ('marriage before the Buddha')
–thinking that all Thais believe the same and have the same ideas ('Thai culture') without asking
– always think they know everything better than any Thai
—
—
Despite all the prejudices, I think that a very large percentage of Dutch pensioners would be happy to exchange.
Languishing in a nursing home in Appelscha, or partying down in Hua Hin, I would know.
Dutch people abroad
Wooden shoes – wooden heads – wouldn't listen
The expats like me who want nothing to do with all those expats mentioned above, and withdraw, in my case Pattaya to a part where you don't see any other expats, only Thai, and try to live like a Thai with his Thai girlfriend, and to be happy in his new homeland, and to succeed wonderfully, without having money, because that's how there are!
Rudy.
Surely many items will apply to the 'average' sexpat in the Dutch enclaves in Phuket, Pattaya or Hua Hin…
Fortunately, I myself score quite badly on the list, only 2 matches 🙂
Additions I can think of:
Living in another country and then daily the telegraph from front to back, and back, spell, read nu.nl and watch bvn.
(An NRC subscription, on the other hand, is no problem 🙂 )
expats
– claim that Thai food is so healthy, but prefer to eat a meatball with greasy gravy or kale mash with Hema sausage;
– say that they no longer have anything to do with the fatherland, but go to town and country for licorice, salty herring and frikadellen;
– who start sneering at Thai bargirls only after hooking one of their own (which of course is an exception to the rule)
– spending a few thousand baht a month on alcohol and looking daily for the cheapest exchange rate to 'earn' 100 baht
– Vote PVV because the Netherlands is so full of Islamic terrorists (not a single attack yet, by the way) but would love to live in a country where hundreds of thousands of Muslims live and shoot or blow up people every week.
Expats:1 Will never drive a motorbike e/o car with a gulp.
2 Always obey the traffic rules, always wear a helmet on a motorbike.
3 Are environmentally conscious, always take a shopping bag with you when shopping, do not want plastic bags.
3 Are the best craftsmen, a Thai is crying with the cap on.
4 Don't feel like a Thai anymore, Don't look down on them.
Ah, all those judgments and condemnations, Thailand will never be my new homeland.
I like to stay there for a few months to enjoy the sun with my old bones and not be financially ripped off if I want a cup of coffee or something to eat in a restaurant or at a stall.
And it's always nice to make new real friends in a country where you like to stay.
But the Netherlands will always remain the home base.
Perhaps not exclusively for expats, but also for tourists:
– in NL and look down on (window) whores but in Thailand enjoy without hesitation because they are called 'bargirls'
– ditto with street prostitutes in NL versus 'freelance' in Thailand
– complaining about Thai food and after dozens of times still not realizing that you should not eat some ingredients
– are annoyed by the eternal smile but do not bother to read about it, so that they would notice that there are many variants, each with its own meaning
– getting annoyed with their Thai friend for keeping her past with them, throwing them out, only to take a closer look at the culture much later and find out that shame plays such a big role (painful mistake on my part)
– disapprove of imitations of expensive brands of clothing and watches, but continue to walk in them yourself
– have been coming/staying in Thailand for years but still want to enter a temple area with shorts and singlet (quickly unlearned)
– Admire Thai for their patience and smile but rant at official authorities and in other situations including shouting and cursing (also done wrong myself and have to learn)
– say they don't care what others do, but really enjoy being annoyed with them out loud, sparing themselves (to some extent I am too)
I argue that as the expats in Thailand are presented in these columns, or make themselves appear to be, they are probably a majority but not all have the same hobo look (see photo above), not all have a beer belly (idem), just not the exhibit behavior as described in the description above, and especially not dwell in the world of thoughts described above.
But I can add an example of logic and behavior to that description of those expats to whom all this applies:
they consider their behavior to be the norm, or in other words, argued from their psychological pseudologic: I, the ideal example of the social person, am like that, and 'so' every expat should be like that too. I dress like this and 'so' every expat must also dress like this, I go to the pub and the whores (or am married to one) and 'so' every expat also has to go to the pub and the whore. In other words, one two three in the measure otherwise mister the ordinary, old angry expat will get angry.
In short: this blog does show how many expats live and think, and it also occasionally shows that someone does not conform to their behavior, and therefore refrains from dealing with his fellow expats, but is then presented with : if you don't interact with them, how do you know that they are en masse as you think they are? Well, from `our` thailand blog, I think, someone like that thinks.
Extremely complete and perfectly complemented by the members.
I would add one more:
– Pride boasters who only travel " buisness class ", but complain bitterly about the costs of debit cards.
There aren't too many of those, but still...
i also live between thai but not in patthaya adapt me and have many friends here don't need farangs either the place where i live is a hamlet of ayutthaya and the only thing that bothers me is the noisy pick up in the morning at 6 o'clock, walkers , and the dogs now the advantage is that I'm awake every day at 5 o'clock but I don't understand why peddling so early? Where I stay 200 homes about no foreigner and I don't need ribs on Belgian method or schnitsel will prepare it itself
hee well written the article at the top especially the comment sexy man ne old fat boy with a beer belly with a young doll
Grumble that the Dutch women have become too emancipated, but follow the 'orders' of his Thai girlfriend/wife like a docile dog.
Complaining and whining about being physically ill, but able to make 'acrobatic' movements on a silver pole in a beer bar.
Think of being funny by joining the dance when the barladies perform a folkloric dance when an Isan song is played.
Being deregistered then complaining and whining that people are no longer regularly insured for care or grumbling that a new insurance policy is many times more expensive and also finding it a scam that various exclusions have been imposed due to age and or associated physical defects.
Finding it ridiculous not to be allowed to own or work in Thailand, but to criticize foreigners in the Netherlands because they want to take over the Netherlands in that way.