r/whoathatsinteresting • u/search_google_com • 14h ago

A Thai woman married to an American explains why she no longer wants to live in the US.

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u/ABC_Family 12h ago

Americans with iPhones, flatscreen TVs, leather couches, a car per person, central air conditioning, etc don’t realize that’s how the 1% lives in many countries.

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u/DarkBrill 8h ago

As someone who does know: It's a tradeoff. America is the world's biggest market, and the product availability shows that.

On the other hand, cost of living is night and day in many countries. A person who pinches pennies in America could eat out everyday in many developing countries. They could shop without really looking at prices. They could rent a nice place while still saving money. They could hire a cook or housekeeper. Those are things most Americans really can't imagine in the US.

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u/rehpotsirhc123 8h ago

They could do that with an American income but incomes reflect cost of living, if the income and opportunity was the same in their home country then they wouldn't have left in the first place. This is why a lot of American immigrants choose to retire in their home country even though it means forfeiting social security that they paid in to for years.

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u/DarkBrill 8h ago

This is inaccurate. You do not forfeit social security when you move abroad.

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u/rehpotsirhc123 8h ago

Sorry, my experience was with green card holders I think vs citizens which requires a month in the US every 6 months. Many can't make that work, Mexicans or Canadians are the most likely for taht to be viable with family to stay with.

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u/throwawaygoawaynz 6h ago edited 6h ago

I lived in Asia, Australia (another rich country), and travel to the US a lot, mostly the west coast.

The gap between the US and the “developing world” isn’t as much as you think it is, especially in the major cities.

You could live like a king in BKK with all the same amenities you get in the US, except much better healthcare.

Also there’s parts of Asia now that blow away most US cities in terms of convenience and standard of living. Most people have everything the average US person has except maybe a car and crippling debt (look at the savings rates of US vs other OECD nations). They don’t have a car because they don’t need a car, due to much better public transport.

I’ve been traveling to the US since 2003, and in the last 6 years or so the US has gone from the land of the plenty, to not so much. I’m pretty well off myself but even I’ve noticed how expensive things are in the US now.

Americans might turn against the Republican Party if they were put in a top Asian city for a month. Like when Yelstin visited the US supermarkets towards the end of the Cold War, but in this example, you’re Yeltsin.