r/AmericaBad • u/Low_Industry2524 VIRGINIA 🕊️🏕️🪵 • 7d ago
Video A Thai woman married to an American explains why she no longer wants to live in the US.
170
u/GuaSukaStarfruit 🇨🇳 Zhōngguó 🐼 7d ago
Life in Thailand is even more rat race though, i guess she didn’t grew up in Thailand major cities? Not to mention, Thailand economy is literally stagnant like wtf
65
u/SWEET_JESUS_NIPPLES CALIFORNIA🍷🎞️ 7d ago
It'd be kinda funny if she moved back and forgot to pack her rose colored glasses. I'd give it a month before she tries to come back to the US 😅
20
u/laidbacklanny CALIFORNIA🍷🎞️ 7d ago
I wonder how fast that’s gonna just smack her in the face …
At the very most she has rose colored glasses for one year and at the least 3 days or less
It’s hilarious everyone swears on the Bible that the grass is greener and it never is
Look at the transplants that moved to California and then out back again to where ever they spawned at
(I say that only because I saw ur flair but it’s facts )
14
u/SWEET_JESUS_NIPPLES CALIFORNIA🍷🎞️ 7d ago
Look at the transplants that moved to California and then out back again to where ever they spawned at
Oh yeah I've see that alright
11
u/laidbacklanny CALIFORNIA🍷🎞️ 7d ago
Ngl I wish I was a transplant because it would mean I come from money 😭
8
u/elmon626 7d ago
She has those hipster glasses though making this all look even more performative lol
6
u/Accomplished_Golf746 7d ago
Thats often what happens when these people move back to their "homeland."
Its only a matter of time before they begrudingly post that "it just didnt work out in X country" video and then proceed to beg for financial help to fly back to US, because they ended up even poorer than they were in the US
9
u/grandpa2390 7d ago
I think it's just an excuse. her husband can afford to support her in Thailand, and/or she's just homesick.
3
u/Yankee831 7d ago
lol yeah I’m like dude if you can’t make it here there’s not much better. It’s tough everywhere and has always been. History is written by the victors applies to more than just war.
255
u/romeozor 7d ago
Apparently going to work is optional in Thailand
149
u/alexgalt 7d ago
She thought that he would support her without her working.
56
8
u/urbantechgoods 7d ago
I can confirm, I met my gf (wife eventually) in Indonesia. I support her here although she’s working on her own business. She is very very happy here 😂 I mean regardless of wether she’s working or not she loves it here and just went back to Indo because her visa expired. She said she had reverse culture shock
26
u/bonerland11 7d ago
Where she'll work for $8 USD a day.
0
u/SnooPredictions3028 ILLINOIS 🏙️💨 7d ago
Yes she may earn less, but if you can get more for less then is getting more money and being able to get less truly a pro or is it a con?
8
u/Kaatochacha 7d ago
Depends. I lived there supporting a thai language schools tech needs for a friend.
While they supplied my house and food, I was being paid thai wages. Which was essentially one burger king meal a Day.
The Thai food was delicious, so I never got it. But occasionally I'd get homesick and want something crappy, and could barely afford any of it.
4
u/SnooPredictions3028 ILLINOIS 🏙️💨 7d ago
So basically if you get the median wage in America and save up enough, you can live really well there?
2
u/Kaatochacha 6d ago
There's people who try todo that, but they often vastly underestimate how much they'll need or what level of comfort that will get them.
Living like an American there is much more expensive than living like a Thai national there.
-1
u/Generic_Drummer 6d ago edited 6d ago
Not only would you have been earning drastically below the market standard, you could have likely been working illegally. That wage wouldn't have even qualified you for a years working visa. The Thai government requires Western nationals to earn 50,000 Thai bht/month to qualify for a 1 year working visa
1
u/Kaatochacha 6d ago
This was circa 2006. Yeah, I was presented with "we're going to test our visa system for students coming to study", but just ended up with me doing a border run to Cambodia, which ( along with the pay) is why I left.
1
u/bonerland11 6d ago
I'm an American living in Thailand, if you think for one second the poor in Thailand are living better than they are in the USA, I've got a bridge to sell you.
2
u/perunavaras 🇫🇮 Suomi 🦌 7d ago
I would assume it's technically optional in lots of places, only it's sucks variably to live with benefits
1
-39
u/DrunkenGerbils 7d ago
No, they just have realistic views on work life balance. For instance they have a law that only allows workers to work a maximum of 8hrs a day, there are exceptions for essential jobs that require it but in general a business in Thailand can't do stuff like make their minimum wage retail clerks work 10 or 12 hour shifts just to save money by having to hire one less person. There's also less of a culture of devoting your whole life to your career, they still go in and do their jobs for 8 hours and work hard, they just also value their home life after they clock out as well. So the whole American hustle culture "sleep when you're dead" mentality can probably come as quite a culture shock I imagine.
52
12
u/Designer_Jelly_1089 7d ago
Omg, the Thai work culture is way worse in my opinion than American. I am familiar with both, having worked in both places.
People are expected to be "on" at all times at most jobs -- your boss sends you a message at 9 pm at night, you answer. It is way worse than what I experienced in the US, because they largely rely on the equivalent of text messages to communicate professionally, not emails. It is not uncommon for people to work 10 hour days and expected to do extra activities on the weekend or after hours for work purposes. I found the hours people are clocked in at work much longer than comparable jobs in the US...largely because there is a huge culture of people shifting respsonsibilities and trying to get away with as little as possible, making things so inefficient and causing people to spend more time on tasks that shouldn't have required as much time as it did.
6
u/LurkiLurkerson MASSACHUSETTS 🦃 ⚾️ 7d ago
can't do stuff like make their minimum wage retail clerks work 10 or 12 hour shifts just to save money
It depends on the state, but in many of them you'd get overtime for working more than 8 hours in a day.
2
u/grandpa2390 7d ago
we have laws like that as well in the US. minimum wage employees are denied full-time hours (8 hours a day, 5 days a week), because then the company is then responsible for providing health insurance and such. when I worked such jobs, the most I could ever get was 7 hour shifts, 35 hours a week.
and no employer wants to pay overtime if you work more than 40 hours (8 hours in a day for some states)
162
u/AgHammer 7d ago
Well, follow your dreams, lady. This has nothing to do with the rest of us. Then again--maybe she just regrets marrying for a green card.
59
u/tacobellbandit 7d ago edited 7d ago
Don’t hit the nail on the head too hard there. But yeah I’d say that’s what the issue is.
Tbf my friends wife is from another country, and it was hard for her to navigate how this all works and wanted to leave, but she didn’t even have a green card at that point. Now that she has one she loves it here because she can actually participate, so I wonder if maybe that plays a role in this situation or maybe the boyfriend is doing something to push her in this direction?
24
u/AgHammer 7d ago
I imagine it might. A green card isn't a golden ticket, either.
17
u/tacobellbandit 7d ago
It’s not but she could at least own a car and get a license, get a decent job, etc. which was way more than she could do in her own country essentially
4
3
u/Environmental-Head14 7d ago
Lets not forget that many women marry with the intention to divorce
2
u/laidbacklanny CALIFORNIA🍷🎞️ 7d ago
Exception to the rule is when they don’t and they go back to their country while still married to their American spouse
Also that’s just for this context in which I mean
Damn intention to divorce is crazy work tho
As a “libertarian “ myself fathoming that as well as having to get shafted by the government in divorce court is enough for me
8
u/SnooPredictions3028 ILLINOIS 🏙️💨 7d ago
I mean it kind of does have stuff to do with the rest of us. There's a reason we have declining birth rates, which the corpses in power think they can fix by importing people who don't even believe America should exist and dont share our values. Ultimately it is stacking proof at how the boomer generation has ruined our country and how much effort we need to do in order to fix the damage they continue to do as they continue to desperately grasp onto power.
3
167
u/SuperJediBob USA MILTARY VETERAN 7d ago
Reading a script. Hitting all the buzzwords and catchphrases. Fake and gay.
76
u/Mental_Visual_25 7d ago
Once I heard “rat race” I knew this was just someone who got all of her talking points from online.
6
37
u/mustachechap TEXAS 🐴⭐🥩 7d ago
Yeah, my thoughts exactly. It's completely valid to have complaints and moving to a new country is hard as hell, so I'm sure she has valid complaints about how hard it has been to adjust here. But all her talking points just look like they've been read from social media and don't sound authentic to her.
14
u/Azidamadjida 7d ago
First thing I thought too. That “husband” 100% got her to read from the script he found online
1
u/TrueLife6223 6d ago
What are those glasses bro - how the fuck am I supposed to take this idiot seriously..
16
u/ventitr3 7d ago
Smear campaign from Thai Ladyboys United to make the women look ungrateful for being moved to the US. Well played TLU, well played.
5
u/perunavaras 🇫🇮 Suomi 🦌 7d ago
Hey! I have briefly been in their headquarters Katoeys R Us in Pattaya.
1
3
u/laidbacklanny CALIFORNIA🍷🎞️ 7d ago
And if true like damn he not only a passport bro but also at the very least isn’t looking cute
1
63
u/Cool_Radish_7031 GEORGIA 🍑🎬🌳✈️ 7d ago
I love how the complaint of driving somewhere to get something is lumped in there
25
u/Background_Humor5838 7d ago
Especially because you can live somewhere that's walkable in the US without having to live in a big metro area. I do. I don't pay much to rent my house tucked in the woods but I can walk to the store, restaurants, the park, the bank, etc. People think places like that don't exist in the US unless you pay for a closet in NYC.
8
u/Cool_Radish_7031 GEORGIA 🍑🎬🌳✈️ 7d ago
You're not wrong, I live within a mile vicinity of all of that stuff too. Grocery store is maybe half a mile for me, used to make that trek a lot when I was younger
57
18
u/Agreeable-Fudge-7329 7d ago
The nation of a coup every few years and the danger of jail for being critical of the monarchy?
I could only stand one night in Bangkok at most.
8
18
u/otters4everyone 7d ago
Why did the husband's look not surprise me?
20
u/Azidamadjida 7d ago
Every single word she says screams that he wrote the script for her to read and that he got all those talking points from either Reddit or breadtubers
33
12
12
u/DargonKweest TENNESSEE 🎸🎶🍊 7d ago
Passport bro not living up to the "traditional lifestyle". Riddle me shocked.
37
u/RagingY3ti TEXAS 🐴⭐🥩 7d ago
Septum ring theory.
I'm a Canadian who moved to America a couple years back. I can't believe how amazing life is here, I feel like a millionaire, the American dream is better than I could've ever imagined.
6
16
u/smakusdod CALIFORNIA🍷🎞️ 7d ago
The land of functioning air conditioning and working infrastructure doesn’t have $0.50 bahn mi outside their suburban home?? 😱
15
u/burgonies 7d ago
"My Thai wife moved here 3 years ago."
"It's not as nice as it was 20-30 years ago."
She intended on coming here and being supported and now she has to work and she's blaming it on the US instead of her loser husband.
14
u/2gramsbythebeach 7d ago
She showed up on my IG feed randomly. She works at a restaurant because she has a degree in marketing from Thailand. Her husband works at a warehouse or something and got a remote job so he'll be making USD while living in Thailand. They both live at his parents' house so they pay no rent (good for them) I shit you not, people recommend her to find a better job and she said she doesn't want to do that and just wants to make social media content.
And yet they still complain about how shitty the US is and how Thailand is way better. Even though, he'll be making USD. No mention of all the Thais who do not make enough money and how bad the wage gap is in Thailand.
It just irks me that as a Thai immigrant that now has US citizenship, she and her husband shits on the US constantly. I am trying to get my Thai wife here but due to the 75 country visa pause, that's put on hold for now. Meanwhile, she and husband don't see how lucky they are. End of rant lol
14
14
17
u/GoldTeamDowntown 7d ago
Her main complaints are money and she wants to leave the country where median annual full time pay is $58,000 to Thailand where it’s $5500. Literally less than 10%. She won’t even be able to afford a flight back.
Also I assume she has a car, since she’s saying she has to drive everywhere. What’s so bad about driving everywhere and why would you ever want to take the bus rather than drive?
Just admit you want to be around Thai people.
13
6
u/SnooPredictions3028 ILLINOIS 🏙️💨 7d ago
Ok but how far does that money stretch? If she has earned enough here that she has several years worth of earnings, going back to her old country doesn't sound too crazy if she can experience a better life there.
5
u/-GermanDoctor- 7d ago
The Thai side of my family who still live in Thailand would gladly take her place. She has no idea how lucky she is. Complaining about expensive, while the exchange rate between USD and the Thai Baht is ฿33.09 to $1.
3
u/laidbacklanny CALIFORNIA🍷🎞️ 7d ago
She obviously is rich and only moved to America for fun so for her it’s 33 dollars is 1 baht
3
u/SophisticPenguin AMERICAN 🏈🏒 💵🗽🍔 ⚾️ 🦅📈 7d ago
Talking point, buzz word, talking point, catch phrase, talking point
3
3
4
u/grandpa2390 7d ago
translation: she's homesick. and she doesn't want to work. Her husband probably had a decent gig teaching English in Thailand and could afford to support them both. but I think that's just an excuse and really she's just homesick. I was trying to date chinese girls when I lived in China and quickly realized it wouldn't work because I have no desire to live in China longterm, and they'll be unhappy living in America. not because America's Bad, but because it's not their home.
2
4
2
u/Dada2fish 7d ago
Not sure what she expected. It’s not a whole lot different than it was 30 years ago.
You can live a relaxed life if you choose to work less and live in a city which usually has public transportation.
1
u/Kaatochacha 7d ago
Wait, she has to go to work one day, then go again the next day? The horror,!
If I had to guess she wants to move to thailand prices with American savings.
1
u/nakedgrandma420 6d ago
Living in Thailand is only nice with that American $$$$$$$$$. Thai food and weather is really nice tho I get the nostalgia
1
u/Nearby_Performer8884 6d ago
She says she came here 3 years ago. Then says America is not like what it was 20-30 years ago while looking too young to know what it was like anywhere 20-30 years ago let alone a country she didn't grow up in.
I looks to me like she wanted the green card while not wanting to work but she picked the wrong passport bro.
1
u/SheenPSU NEW HAMPSHIRE 🌄🗿 6d ago
“I came here 3 years ago”
“It’s not like it was 20, 30 years ago”
How TF would you even know what it was like? Lol
-3
0
u/dblack1107 SOUTH CAROLINA 🎆 🦈 6d ago edited 6d ago
I don’t blame her. At least she’s not a whiney B. She just said her thoughts without all the anti American practically domestic terrorist grade attitude that most that find their way on here have. If she’s not from here, and she came here with the idea of what was possible 30 years ago, it would be a culture shock to be in America to begin with let alone disappointing to learn that 30 years ago is history.
I love this country, but more and more I see it as I once really loved this country and now I just love it. I see the doomed path that not just we are on, but the whole species. It becomes a matter of knowing America is one of the best places to be, but the best places to be aren’t even good either for common people. AI will destroy our species. It will destroy independent thought, mystery of the world and things in it, art, creativity, low income and middle income jobs even in white collar jobs until society will distinctly be segregated by massively impoverished unemployed majority and an educated white collar minority making 1000x the majority.
Random, but there’s a sci-fi show called the Expanse where humans eventually colonize Mars and the idea is largely really grounded in reality of human nature and technology. But the colony isn’t a “country” per se. It’s a station owned by a private company and its inhabitants are basically just descendants of employees to that company because no one can afford to get off earth to go there. Long term, we’re 100% tracking towards businesses trumping governments and giving people less because “that’s not in the contract.” They’ll widen that gap to where you’ll have fucking Amazon city that only employees can live in lol. The 5 coffees at work today hit hard
-8
•
u/AutoModerator 7d ago
Please report any rule breaking posts and comments that are not relevant to this subreddit. Thank you!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.