I had planned on this being a one-way trip when I moved to Vietnam and at least for now I don't have any rock-solid plans to go anytime soon. However, I have gotten the ball rolling, so to speak on getting a long-term visa for Thailand and likely using it, sometime in the next 6 months.
This was a fun little experiment that mostly began out of necessity, but while I am not 100% sure just yet - I am more than likely going to move back to Thailand before the end of the year and probably stay there too. There are many reasons why this is the case.
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Let's see if I can keep this as brief as possible even though it could easily be a 4000 word blog-entry about why I am doing this. I'll just focus on the major factors.
Thailand is being "cool" about their visas now
The number 1 reason why I ever left Thailand had nothing to do with me disliking the country. It is quite the opposite actually. I love that country and even though I like certain regions better than others and the country isn't without its hassles (honestly, what country doesn't have some hassles?) I generally spent every day in that country very happy that I lived there.
The reason why I left was because they were being outright "jerks" about the visas. The objective of Immigration seemed to be to NOT let you stay regardless of your circumstances or even how much money you had (obviously the super-duper-rich were exempt from this, but that is now what i am at all.) You would be treated as though you were scamming the system by default and both Immigration and the Labour Department would treat you like a criminal even though you had done everything by the book the entire time you lived there.
I moved to Vietnam because at the time, it was a place that was welcoming people with open arms especially if you are American - and I am. Covid has changed a lot of this: Thailand is one of the most reliant on tourism countries in the world for their overall GDP and the complete lack of tourism thanks to the virus so deadly you have to be tested in order to know you have it has resulted in massive losses and unemployment for Thailand. Therefore, they are basically begging people to come there now and this was something I predicted a long time ago.
I have recently found out that I can, for a relatively low price, secure a no nonsense 1-year renewable visa that at least for now seems to be capable of being renewed indefinitely. I am applying for it now and if it goes through as I have been promised it will, the stamp will have a 6 month or 12 month validity (meaning I have to go there initially in that time-frame.) I intend to do exactly that.
Vietnam is likely going to go in and out of lockdown for the foreseeable future
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Depending on your perspective, Vietnam has handled the pandemic better than most places but now we are starting to see a reversal of fortune as far as all of that is concerned. I am not an expert and not interested in a debate on this but our complete lack of lockdowns in the past year (for the most part) may have actually just delayed the inevitable and while a lot of the rest of the world is starting to open back up again, it is starting to seem as though Vietnam has just begun to do what all of you have already been going through for the past year or more.
I don't really mind not being able to go to places that I took for granted before but when a "recent spike" - which means that there was just more than zero cases, happened, they basically locked down the entire country. From insider information that I have heard that honestly, is just a bunch of rumors, the plan is to keep this going and I am in the camp of believing that this virus cannot be stopped, only delayed. I think that things are going to get worse before they get better here.
I can speak Thai, I know almost zero Vietnamese
A lot of expats never learn the language of any country they move to and for the most part you can get away with this. For me though, I have seen both sides of the fence in this situation and I can say from experience that the entire process of living overseas is definitely enhanced if you can speak the local language. This should be obvious but learning a language, especially tonal ones like Thai and Vietnamese, is extremely difficult. Because I am older now I just don't think I have it in me to learn another one and am not going to.
Ignorance truly is bliss when it comes to this factor because people who never were able to communicate in a local language over in this part of the world don't really know how much better life is when you can talk to everyone. Outside of "hello, thank you, and one more beer" I don't know how to say anything in Vietnamese. I once got into a debate with a police officer in Thailand and won. That's how well I speak Thai and while I don't make a habit of getting into discussions with police officers in either country, being able to do so certainly has its advantages.
It took me a decade to reach that level of proficiency in Thai and I'm not going to do it again. Sorry Vietnam but your language is too difficult!
Strange things are afoot with Vietnam visas at the moment
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I don't know if it was because a massive number of people decided to do just like I did and change from Thailand to Vietnam a year an a half ago when visa procedures were getting out of control in Thailand and all moved to Vietnam at the same time - but the friendly, easy, and cheap visas that were the envy of the expat community in South East Asia in Vietnam are slowly but surely disappearing. Multiple people I know are having their visas scrutinized and many people are being told that they have to "go back to their home countries soon." This has not yet happened to me but I don't want to find myself in a similar situation. I have zero desire to move back to my "home country." I have not lived in the United States for nearly 20 years. I have a USA passport but don't really consider it to be my home anymore.
This is not a great place to have a dog
Let me refine that: Everywhere is a great place to have a dog if you love dogs as much as I do. The city that I live in here in Vietnam is just not conducive to doing the things that I want to do with my dog such as enjoying some daily exercise outdoors.
I detailed this in a recent post and for the most part we spend an inordinate amount of time indoors because I am not allowed to bring her anywhere public. There is a ban on dogs, leashed or not, in most public areas. I want more for her than just walking down the sidewalk sniffing what little foliage exists in those environments. Thailand was much better in this regard.
We were reprimanded and kicked off the beach shortly after I took this photo which was just ridiculous because as you can see there is literally no one else around
So if everything goes according to plan I will be back in Thailand by the end of this year, perhaps earlier. Of course I am expecting some "hiccups" along the way because even though they have eased the restrictions as far as visas are concerned in Thailand they still seem to really love paperwork over there and I am expecting to have some problems.
I am happy that I decided to broaden my horizons and move to Vietnam for a time but honestly, If i could click my ruby slippers together and magically be back in any of the cities I lived at in Thailand right now, I would do so.