Expats give their life savings, get little in return

I have read some pretty bizarre letters from Vint Chavala through the years, but this one beats them all.

Khun Vint, since I arrived in Thailand 18 years ago, I have gone from affluent to poor. During that time, my wife has gone from poor to affluent. Obviously there is a correlation between the two facts. I don’t mind because my wife is an exceptional person and I love my kids and want them to be successful in life, so going through roughly Bt20 million through the years didn’t upset me. I’m content with my life. But what of the many expats who did not get so lucky in meeting their Thai wives and got fleeced out of millions of baht, only to end up broke and homeless? Is this what Thailand has given us? We can’t own real estate, so if we decide to settle down, we have to be lucky.

Vint, we come here with money, and the only “right” we are given is the right to spend it. We are made to report to Immigration every three months, like wayward children, and once a year we have to go through the same bureaucracy to renew our visas. Despite depositing the spoils of our life’s work in Thailand, if we write an uncomfortable letter to the newspaper, we are assailed by some well-to-do, Western-educated Thai for meddling in Thai affairs. 

So you see, Vint, you give us nothing. We give you our life savings. And yet you feel injured if we offer an opinion. It would seem, Khun Vint, that you’re the one who is not appreciative of what we expats have to offer. 

John Arnone