Realities of Living in Thailand Long Term

Thailand Is Not Always Cheap for Long-Term Residents

 

People arrive thinking everything costs almost nothing. Then they discover things like visas, health insurance, imported food, private hospitals, and Western restaurants can be expensive.

Now, I’m sure you’ve all seen those videos on YouTube and TikTok and Facebook where some guy jumps in and says, “Hey, I live in Thailand. I’m on $500 a month. I’m having a great time and I party every night and I’m going out with all these different girls.” Well, that’s absolute rubbish. You can live cheaply out here in Thailand if you live like a local.

So, in other words, if you find a nice Thai girl and you want to settle down and you go back to her smaller town and you live like a Thai i.e. you eat Thai food, you don’t go out to bars at night, and you live a very simple life it is possible to live out here on a very small budget. But you do have to remember things like health insurance, visas, medical emergencies, you might need to buy a ticket to go home for a family problem, something like that. So you’ve got to factor in all these costs. Your monthly living expenses might be low, but you need to think about all the extras that could come later on down the line.

The Heat Never Really Stops

Tourists enjoy the heat for a couple of weeks, but living it every day for years is different. Walking anywhere during the middle of the day becomes a challenge.

Now, I can tell you honestly speaking, this time of year, from my experience living here, it’s very hot. As I said, I’ve been here I’m into my fourth year now and I avoid going out in the afternoons because it just wears you down, it makes you tired, your clothes get wet, and it’s pretty impossible to do anything other than say, maybe walk around a mall. Even for Thai people, when I talk to them joking, a lot of them tell me the same they don’t like to go out in the sun in the afternoon. It can really wear you down.

Holiday Thailand Is Different from Living Here

On holiday you’re in bars, restaurants, and hotels. Living here means supermarkets, bills, repairs, visas, hospitals, and everyday routines. So it’s a bit like living in your own country.

If you’re living in your own country full time, you’re going to have to go out and shop every week and buy your groceries, do your washing, things like that. And when you come here on holiday, you might not necessarily do that. You’ll come here and you’ll eat most of your meals in a restaurant, either Western food or Thai food. Your laundry you’ll send to a local laundry because it’s cheap.

Now, when you live here, you can’t really afford to do that, and it does get a bit tedious having to go out for every single meal. We all like eating in restaurants, but you know, sometimes you’re just chilling out on the sofa and you want something to eat then you need something in your cupboards that you can cook and eat very quickly.

Things Are Done Differently in Thailand

Western logic does not always apply. Procedures, rules, and systems can be completely different from what foreigners expect. Thai culture is very different to Western culture. You can read up on it. You can go onto Google and do your own searches, but it can be frustrating. Some guys come out here and they try to take their Western values and enforce them on Thai people and it doesn’t work.

Relationships Can Involve Family Responsibility

Many foreigners don’t realize that in Thai culture, family is extremely important and sometimes financial support for parents is normal. So, I’ve seen a lot of relationships fail because girls have asked their foreign boyfriends for money to send back to their families. So, they look at the girl and think, “Well, she’s a money girl. She’s not a good girl.”

In Thai culture, this is expected. If you’re a boyfriend of a Thai girl and she has a family, it’s very normal that she will help support her mother, her father, her siblings, especially if she comes from a poorer rural area. I’m not talking big amounts of money like the bar girls are asking for 30, 40, 50,000 a month like a salary that’s just stupid. But you know, if a girl needs two or three thousand baht or five thousand baht to send to her family once a month, you shouldn’t look at her in such a bad way because again, in Thai culture, this is pretty normal.

You’ll Always Be a Foreigner in Thailand

Even if you live here for 20 years, you are still seen as a foreigner which is not necessarily bad, but it’s something people eventually realize. A lot of people come out here and some people do go to language school. They learn to speak Thai. They eat only Thai food and they integrate themselves into a Thai community with maybe a Thai girl.

But you’ve got to remember, you’re always going to be a foreigner. It doesn’t matter how well you speak Thai or where you live people will be very friendly to you. I live in a Thai neighborhood. My neighbors are very friendly, but they’re always going to look at me as a foreigner. They’ll never accept me the same way as they do a Thai person. That’s just a cultural thing again.

Making Long-Term Friends Takes Time

Many expats come and go, so friendship circles often change. Now, this is something that can be difficult for people. It’s a lot easier in a big city like Bangkok. You can join certain groups.

People often ask me, “If I come to Thailand, I don’t know anybody, I’m not a drinker, I don’t go into bars how can I meet people?” Well, one of the best ways to meet people is to go onto Facebook and look for groups. There are many, many groups here in Thailand. There’s groups that get together and play board games. There’s photography groups, running groups, cycling groups, all sorts of groups. You name it, there’s a group for it here in Thailand. You can reach out and contact these groups, and often they will accept you, and from that you will make friends. And of course, you know what it’s like once you make one friend, he’ll introduce you to his friend, and then your friendship circle will widen.

I’d say the first 6 months I came out here, I was quite lonely. That might be a strange thing to say, but don’t forget I spent a lot of years with my family. I was used to having the noise in the house, and when you’re suddenly living on your own, even though you’re in the middle of a vibrant city, you can feel a little bit alone at times. The first two months out here were terrible for me because I was living out of a suitcase in a hotel in Pattaya . I eventually got my apartment here in Bangkok, and things have been getting better.

One of the things I’ve got on my side is having a I do get recognized by people, and I have become friends with quite a few people out here, and I’m in touch with a lot more. I was coming into the park to make this video today, and a guy stopped me on the bridge. He didn’t recognize me at first, then he recognized me. We had a 20 minute conversation. I’ve now taken his number, and we’ll hook up and go and have lunch one day and probably become friends. It’s that easy out here. It’s a lot more difficult in your own country especially in the UK to meet people like that.

When Alcohol Becomes a Trap for Foreigners

Thailand’s nightlife is fun, but some people fall into drinking far more easily than they ever did back home. This is especially true for Thailand because some guys can get very lonely. They go out to a bar just to socialize, and this is where they meet other people and they enjoy the company, but unfortunately to have that company they have to go to that bar every day and they can fall into a life of alcoholism. It’s very easy to do when you come to Thailand. So you have to really take care and watch yourself because I’ve seen many guys go down very fast with alcohol.

Life Can Become Very Peaceful

One positive surprise many foreigners discover is how relaxed and simple life can be compared to the stress of Western countries. Now, when I was living in England with my family, I was going through difficult times because I have two daughters and a wife and we were coming to the end of our marriage. I was very stressed out. I also had the stress of having to meet my financial needs and bills in the UK.

When you come out here, all that is lifted, and you can live a very peaceful life out here. When I came over here after separating from my wife and my two daughters, it was terrible actually after 33 years of marriage, but now into my fourth year, I feel very relaxed. I don’t get stressed like I did in the UK, and I don’t have those bad thoughts, you know, thinking of always negative thoughts.

Thailand’s Rainy Season Is Real

Tourists often imagine Thailand as endless sunshine, but when the rainy season arrives, it can rain hard for hours or even days. Flooded streets and sudden storms are normal in places.

Now, you don’t want to underestimate this one. You’ve only got to look on Google or YouTube from last year or the year before. Some places in Thailand flood so badly that the water levels actually reach the roofs of the houses. Even in Bangkok, which is the major city of Thailand, the streets do get very flooded. So, it’s not something you can take lightly. You have to expect it, and it goes on for months and months.

But on the positive side, for most of the time, it doesn’t rain from morning to night. You’ll get periods where you’ll learn a pattern. It normally falls into a pattern. It might rain between say 4:00 and 6:00 or 7:00 and 8:00. And there are dry times of the day that you can go out. But unfortunately, in Thailand, the drainage isn’t great, and what can happen is water lies on the ground for a long time, so it can be uncomfortable.

Language Barriers Are Bigger Than Expected

Many visitors think most people speak English, but outside tourist areas, communication can be difficult. Simple things like dealing with government offices, contractors, or mechanics can become complicated.

Now, obviously, if you live in a tourist area like Silom or Sukhumvit, a lot of Thais do have a basic level of English because they’re used to dealing with foreigners. And especially in a place like Pattaya, a tourist town, most Thais who deal with foreigners actually speak pretty good English because they pick it up just speaking English to foreigners.

But it can be difficult if you want to live cheaply and you decide to live outside of a tourist bubble. Then most of the time, a lot of the Thais won’t speak English, and just doing simple things like scooter repairs, changing tires, oil changes it can become challenging compared to what would be simple in the West. So just be aware of that one.

Driving in Thailand Can Be Chaotic

Traffic rules are sometimes treated more like suggestions. Motorbikes appear from every direction, and driving defensively becomes essential.

Now, myself, I drive a car and I drive a scooter around. For the most part, I haven’t had any problems yet. You’ve just got to be vigilant, but you do need to be aware that people drive here very much differently to the rules that are undertaken in the West. For example, you could be on a highway and a motorcycle will be coming up in the opposite direction not in front of you, but on the side of the road. That’s very normal here.

When you go into the countryside, you’ll see many motorcycles that don’t have lights. It’s difficult to see them, so you need to take it easy. And you always have to be aware that somebody’s going to pull out. I’ve been on my motorcycle and my car, and guys mainly young guys have just pulled out from a side street. They haven’t even looked right to see if there’s any traffic. They just assume that whoever’s there will stop. So be very careful when you’re driving. It’s not impossible, but it’s not the same as in the West.

Repairs and Maintenance Never Stop

When you live here long term, things constantly need attention. Air conditioning service, water pumps, insects, garden maintenance, and general wear from the climate are all part of daily life.

Again, if you’ve come here on holiday, you’ve never had to deal with any of this. And if you have an apartment that you rent, you won’t have to pay those costs because normally the landlord is responsible. But something that will surprise you: in most apartments, having the air conditioning serviced is usually paid by the tenant. It’s not expensive. I had mine done in my apartment in Bangkok. It was 500 baht per air conditioner. So I paid 1,000 baht. But some people find that very strange because, for instance, in the UK, if you rent out a property, you’re responsible as a landlord to make sure everything works, and servicing an air conditioner would be your responsibility.

If you do buy a property whether it’s a condominium, an apartment, or you live with your wife or your Thai girlfriend and you buy a house through her then you are going to have these practical costs just like in the West.

Thailand’s Red Tape Tests Patience

Simple paperwork can involve multiple offices, copies of documents, and stamps. Things that take 5 minutes in the West can take half a day.

When you go to do administrative jobs, it’s all in Thai, and sometimes you’ll need to get it translated. You’ll need help, and it can become a real pain in the backside. I was going to get my driving license, and I used an agent at the time. This was a few years ago in Pattaya, and the lady who picked me up in a car to take me to the driving office actually said to me, “You know, Thai people like a lot of paperwork.” And I said to her, “Well, who looks at this paperwork?” And she laughed and said, “Nobody.”

So be prepared. Even when you open a Thai bank account, it’s not a case of everything being filled in on the PC. I remember when I opened my Bangkok Bank account with an agent, I had to sign I think it was between 10 and 20 pieces of paper. I don’t know what I signed. My bank account got opened and I didn’t worry about it.

If you have a Thai partner, it makes life a lot easier. For instance, I order bottled water, it gets delivered, but that’s all done with my girlfriend. I have an EasyPass for the highway so I don’t have to stop at the toll booths and pay with coins. I have an electronic tag on my windscreen, and the barrier just lifts. I top that up online. Again, my girlfriend sorted that out for me. So, if you have a Thai partner, it does make life a lot easier here.

Time Works Differently in Thailand

Thailand often runs at a slower pace. Appointments may start late, deliveries might arrive tomorrow instead of today, and people learn to be more relaxed about time.

Now, this is something that can wind people up. If you arrange to meet a Thai person here at say 3:00 in the afternoon, it’s not unusual for that person to turn up at 4:00. And they’ll give the usual excuse, which is heavy traffic. Well, there’s always heavy traffic, especially in Bangkok. But it’s something you need to learn to deal with. When people arrange meetings, most of the time they don’t arrive on time. And if you’re one of those guys who gets really upset because somebody’s late, then you need to calm yourself down because it will happen, believe me.

I even had it with a good friend of mine from Scotland years ago. He was always late. We’d arrange to meet at a restaurant at 6:00 p.m. He’d turn up at 6:30, even 6:40. I’m sitting there twiddling my fingers, looking at the menu. I complained fearlessly to him about him wasting my time. It didn’t change anything. If somebody’s one of those people who is going to turn up late, you’re never going to change them.

Small Everyday Comforts Can Mean a Lot

Things like a reliable air conditioner, a good internet connection, a favorite coffee shop, or a quiet beach walk suddenly become the things that make life here more enjoyable. Little things out here like a beach walk, a good internet connection, a good TV package can really make a difference to your quality of life out here.

Adapting to Thailand Weather and Seasons

The first time I visited Thailand was in 2012. The heat, humidity, rainy season, food, mood, culture, traffic, and busy life of Bangkok were shocking. The weather is the first challenge because the heat and humidity can hit you as soon as you land and enter the airport.

Thailand can sometimes feel as if it has four seasons in the same day, especially during the rainy season. Living here taught me to adjust my schedule, work, and life to the high and low seasons. Local people helped me learn to enjoy every season, and I now enjoy the rain as much as the sun.

Learning to Enjoy Thai Food and New Flavours

Thai food was another important adjustment. I am a picky person and Thai food was not one of my favourite types of food, so deciding what to eat or where to eat every day was difficult. Life in Thailand taught me to try everything and enjoy every flavour.

Going out for dinner, lunch, and early breakfast with local people helped. I started trying new dishes, drinks, and places, and eventually realised that the food challenge was an illusion. I eat Thai food a lot now and continue trying new flavours, although I do not consider myself Thai or go to extremes.

Accepting Cultural Differences in Thailand

The style of dress, colours, genders, traditions, and many other differences were strange to me at first. Interacting with people helped me understand that seeing differences, accepting them, and respecting them is a beautiful thing.

One of the changes was learning not to care whether someone is a girl, a boy, a ladyboy, or whatever they like to be called. What matters is kindness and humanity. That was one of the good things Thailand changed in me.

Getting Used to Bangkok Traffic and City Life

Bangkok’s busy and hectic life was a major challenge at first. The traffic and crowds make the city loud and noisy every day and at every time, and anyone who is not used to living in a big city may find it difficult.

After about one year, I became used to it. I now feel that I cannot live in a quiet, lazy city. I love the action and feel alive when I see and hear these things every day. They are part of my life and complete my day.

Low Profile Living and Everyday Courtesy

Living in Thailand can mean managing your own business, staying low profile, doing your own duties, and respecting other people’s lives. From your accommodation to work, shopping, the train, and everywhere else, local people are usually busy with their phones and their own lives rather than being concerned about your clothes, shoes, or work.

People smile, greet, and help, but they do not usually interfere in your personal life. Even in a condominium with 100 families, I barely know what other people do or think. Conversations may be limited to a brief greeting. A small circle of friends and a low-profile life can work well.

Thai Smiles Hospitality and Good Manners

Thailand also taught me to smile and use good manners whatever my mood. The hospitality, kindness, and smiles of local people are noticeable in the streets, trains, and markets. People love to smile and greet you.

After living here, you start to act in the same way. The Sawasdee greeting and the wai become part of daily life, and you may greet and thank people even when you do not know them or are not in the mood. Thailand can change you, make you smile, greet people, and enjoy daily interactions.

Small Condos and Daily Life Beyond Weekends

Living in a small condo was another adjustment. My condo is only 27 square metres, while I previously lived in a house of about 180 square metres with four rooms and three balconies. The kitchen in my old house was about the size of the condo I live in now.

If you want to live in the capital and do not want to spend a fortune on accommodation, a small condo near public transportation can be practical. It was difficult in the first years, but Thailand taught me to save space and I now feel comfortable and cosy in my small condo.

There is not always such a thing as a weekday or weekend. Life happens every day, and even people who work ten hours a day go out daily. Night markets, local food courts, bars, and restaurants are active throughout the week, so I no longer plan all my fun days for the weekend. I do things whenever I feel free.