A personal View of the u.k,and why im leaving

[Khun Paul]

I do feel that although many or your statements are fact, it is not just reserved for England, many many countries are experiencing , decline in standards, loss of freedoms, taxes and uncompromising political correctness, which aim is to undo long held traditions.
Maybe we are coiming around to another major war as mentioned in Nostradamus predictions.

Mpst of us have lived through a reasonable lifestyle, it is just that we screwed it up for our childrens children, we should endeavour to try to change it , other wise our legacy will be, look what thay did, NOT look what they achieved.

[steveway2]

is life in the UK really that badd?
The worst crime, speeding, etc
Is the UK so far out of wack with the rest of europe - or is the UK the sick man of europe?

I live in Perth, WA - I think it is a really nice place and my "retirement plan is 50% here and 50% Thailand (in a few years).

I visited the UK afew yerars back (only London) and while the sights in the centre of London (St Pauls, etc) are fantastic, I found the place very crowded, busy and (sorry to say) dirty.

I have friends and relatives who live in UK - they complain a lot, but never leave - I suspect that there is some good things about UK that keeps people there.

My exposure too the UK is from TV - probably not the most objective - but it does seem that the youth of the UK (chavs?) seem a bit violent and lost.

I could be wrong - but it seems that soccer violence is the speciality of UK youth.

I have no wish to be offensive and ask the question - are UK youths (say 16 - 25) more violent than thje rest of europe. If the answer is yes, are there any reasons why?

I find it hard to belive that all the social problems of the UK can be ascribed to "refugees" and "migrants"

Australia is a multi culturla society and I think it works (95% of time) - I remember Aus a long time back when the only food available was "steak egg chips" or "pies" - now the variety of food available is fantastic and I would not go back to thet old ways.

More recently in Perth we have many "refugees" from Sudan and Ethiopia - these people are BLACK, and there were very few before - now there are many on the streets. By and large they fit in, but there are some problems with the young men (all balls and no brains). Many taxi drivers are Sudanese and you have to tell them where to go - they learn eventually - I remember when most taxi drivers were greek or italian - now there are 4th generation greek and italian australians.

The new migrants always start at the bottom of the dung heap and work their way up.

There are migrant haters here - but they are treated as the crackpot minority they are.

The world has become a very small place - one world - eventually we will all have to accept each other.

Probably the thinng that makes Perth better than UK is the weather - the sun nearly always shines.

Again, from TV,it also seems that many Brits are moving to France and Spain, in some cases to the concern of the locals. Is it fair for UK residents to complain about "foriegners" when about 25% (I think) are leaving UK themselves.

Many police in Perth are now from UK - they were recruited en-masse (with others from Ireland) about 1 year ago. Most stayed here - some returned because they missed their families.

Sorry for long post - but thought many UK members might find an Ausie viewpoint of interest.

[rick]

Well, maybe some of the things that happen in Thailand can get you down, but as has been pointed out, it is all a matter of balance. Some things in Thailand are better, some worse. Same with UK. Yes, do not burn your boats if possible, it is always nice to have options.

I think my solution will be to do about 70-30, or some other mix. You can then get the best of both places, and although it 'costs' more flying every year, there are benefits:-

1. Your state and maybe other pension gets annual increases (if known to be non-resident, pension can
be frozen in value)
2. Get your health problems sorted
3. Do not need health insurance - can get long stay holiday insurance, cheaper instead (assumes health
fairly good).
4. Can get a new multi-entry visa each year - no need to meet income/saving requirements
5. Air fares cheaper from UK end?
6. Can use those winter fuel payments for the air-conditioning instead!

I am sure you all can think of other benefits. Not certain about Tax situation, if their are benefits from being non-resident in UK. Some thing i have not researched yet.

[Wisdom]

Very interesting posts! On steveway2, you are lucky to live in Aus!!! =D> No wonder you consider 50/50 Aus/Thailand. I mean, more Brits choose Aus to emigrate to then anywhere else in the world, in Daily Mail recently, 615,000 are there. You lucky Aussies, all those whinging poms! 527,000 in US, 232,000 in Canada, 215,000 in NZ, only 206,000 in France, 195,000 in Spain. 45,000 in Thailand also. Aus monitors and controls migration, UK does not. Motorway police found 2 illegals at a service station recently. Did they arrest them? No. They gave them address and map of Croydon immigration offices and asked them to turn up there in next two weeks. They, didn't of course! Illegals who commit crime, don't get deported. I mean, it has changed vast areas of the UK, as there is no plan or control. But Brits are cheesed off cos we have a weak corrupt government who are useless, in a nutshell!

On BBC today, was programme 'Wanted Down Under', where families go to Aus to see if they want emigrate there! Is there an Aus programme 'Wanted Up Top' where Aus families try out UK? No! I wonder why....

[Irish Alan]

No dancing girls and free open bar on arrival......what kind of cheesy game is that?

Dancing girls? No, you get access to nine virgins when you reach paradise after you've blown yourself up.

I thought it was 72 virgins!

[izzix]

[quote="
On BBC today, was programme 'Wanted Down Under', where families go to Aus to see if they want emigrate there! Is there an Aus programme 'Wanted Up Top' where Aus families try out UK? No! I wonder why.... [/quote]

you jest ,London is packed with ausies, aussie pubs are the only pubs that are packed out every night ,and brewers name them to pull in the ausie punters

[izzix]

you wont be able to get heart bypass surgery or cancer treatment ,sorry to be a worry but these things happen to ageing farangs .

[Irish Alan]

Steveway2... Just don't go back to Ireland you will not recognise it... And Drimnagh Castle is like a UN convention... :-" :-" :-"

[Wisdom]

izzix says: you won't be able to get heart bypass or cancer treatment, sorry to be worry, but these things happen to ageing farangs.

In actual fact first on the forum, then checking website, Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok does do world class health care for ageing farang, including first class heart and cancer care! Ageing farangs therefore, can get good care and, its not too expensive i believe!

[steveway2]

PhilR - I am told Perth has the highest percentage of UK migrants of all Australian capital cities and I think it is true. There are Perth (southern, aprticularly near the coast) suburbs that are very much "english" - friends of friends and relatives tend to clump together - it would be very unfair to call them a "ghetto", but they certainly have the trapppings of "home". As for Aussies in London - they tend to be the younger graduate crew (and highly qualified) - there is a big push to get them back to Oz and suspect it may become easier with financial crisis - also, UK is making harder for Aussies to get visas. I think Oz manages immigration fairly well - and it is a bit harder for illegals to make landfall here (but the bvoats are coming again).

Irish Alan - did go back to Dublin a few years back and was surprised at number of Poles, Bulgarians and Nigerians!!! A relative said that joing the EEC was good for Ireland, but it turned Dublin into "just another european city" - and I tend to agree. As for Dimnagh Castle - the Nass Rd was the middle of nowhere when I was a boy - now it is an iner suburb - people now communte from Kildare!!!

[Genuine]

im 44 and Id jump at the chance to leave the uk and live in thailand but sadly i dont think the 60k i would pocket selling my home would keep me going for the next 30 years ,so i need to still be earning which makes me even depressed about living here and how the uk's become ...i agree with most of the above about the uk especially ''no respect'' from the kids of today ..i dread to think what my old man (god bless him)would have done if i spoke to him like most youths do to their parents and to the ordinary joe bloggs on the street .but then again, it never would have happened because we all looked up to our elders 25 years ago !!

[mikk3]

Yep

Sounds like Australia

I cant wait to get out of here too

Australia used to be a great place to live - about 30 years ago or more

The sad part is that Thailand and similar so called under developed countries that we love are slowly becomming the same as the ------ expensive ones that we live in and want to escape from

The people from these under developed countries seem to think that our western world countries are so wonderfull and we are all rich and famous

I just hope I can retire and live out my life in Thailand before it is stuffed too

[chilli657]

I`m 35 and have been married to my wife Noi for 3 years and we have a 3 month old baby, we currently live in the UK... A few points i wanted to make....

Ok so our so called `great` NHS service here in the uk which we get all this treatment for free, free!! Sorry but don`t we pay for this with our taxes and national insurance.

Pensions... Well i`ll be very surprised if i get anything when i get to 67 or will they make that 75, even private pensions are a joke, you even get taxed on them too! I know this elderly lady who paid £300 per month into a pension but when she retired only ended up getting £180 per month back.

Schools and our great education... Ok so you do well at school but can you actually get a job when you leave? Go to university which costs the earth too.

Lazy b`stards on benefits... If half of these lazy gits were to get a job then maybe we wouldn`t have half the problem with immigration.

Council tax... Oh come on, does it really cost £156.76 per month to have my bin emptied twice per month!!

And i could go on and on......

My father who is 55 years old and is an electrician moans constantly when he comes back from work and to be honest it does my head in, so i say to him " if your pissed off with work or life in general, change it then"

I know that is easier said than done with some people but after lengthy talks with my father and wife we`ve decided to move to Thailand but it will take 3-4 years to be in a position to be able to do this, however i know it`s achievable and i now have a goal so will work my nuts off for the forseeable future to make this a reality. I know the grass isn`t always greener but until you`ve tried you never know! It`s far to late when your 6ft under!