Thailand and the expatriate experience

Many farang had alcohol and/or depression problems before moving to Thailand, where the problem has worsened because it remains unchecked by anybody.

Thai authorities and the respective embassies of foreign nationals have no jurisdiction or interest to get into these problems faced by a number of expatriates. There is also very little incentive for the respective authorities to do anything about them.

Unlike the Malaysia: a second home program, there are no provisions, programs, or privileges that come with Thai retirement visas that may assist with health issues. There are still loopholes in the police report provisions in long term visa applications, where potential criminals are not always identified during visa application processing.

Social problems caused by foreign expatriates are going to increase, particularly as expatriate numbers increase over the coming years, unless measures are put in place by both Thai and foreign governments to assist foreign residents in their stay in Thailand. This runs the risk of the growth of some form of backlash against farang in the future, if nothing is done about these issues.

Unfortunately these issues are not on any government agenda, and will continue to be ignored until that backlash arises.