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Originally Posted by Roger Parkinson
It does sound nice (and cheap!) but the climate is too warm for me. Well, Bangkok is, I didn't get any further afield. so maybe that's a poor evaluation.
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Bangkok is a horrible place. I'm amazed that life was able to flourish there. When forced to go down there, I find that after three days my brains turn to mashed potatoes and start flowing out my ears.
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But I do prefer the cold.
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As do we. Northern Thailand, especially in the mountain regions where we prefer to live, the climate is much more comfortable. Still hot in summer, but in fact, this area of Japan is usually hotter, so moving has its plus side. And in winter, the temps get down into the middle teens. Very comfortable. In fact, one year the overnight mountain temperatures got low enough to create frost on the fields, and the local folks were all excited thinking it was snow!
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When I was there a couple of years ago we'd been in sales mode for several visits and then we got the deal and moved into 'working there' mode. The morning we arrived 'working there' our business partners announced that we'd better get work visas or we risk getting arrested.
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In Thailand, one needs a work visa to do even volunteer work! One year they arrested several members of 'Doctors without Borders' for working the refugee camps without work permits. Of course, they just bribed the police and were left alone. That is one advantage of a Third World Country. Paying 'tea money' to a cop avoids just about any problem... The going rate to avoid a speeding ticket is about $3 USD.
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To do that we had to fly to Singapore, fill in forms and pay money, stay there two nights, fly back etc.
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We usually go to Kuala Lumpur to renew ours as it's much cheaper. S'pore is NOT an inexpensive city any more. Another popular destination is Penang in Malaysia, so you can enjoy the beach for a couple of days while waiting for the Embassy to get your papers together.