I live in Bangkok AMA

[Eledamorena]

Just that. I've lived here nearly 4 years and have 3 children. Ask away, if you're interested!

Do you feel like you have a strong base and does it feel like "home"? I've moved around a bit but have got to that stage where I really want a permanent base now and feel very settled. Always curious and in awe of those who keep going!

Are there aspects of Thai culture you prefer to the UK?

Do you feel your diet has changed and have you lost/gained weight? That probably sounds like a very odd question I know!

I feel like I have a strong base now because I live in a great community with wonderful neighbours. I also have a great nanny. But I suppose I lack an extended friendship group. I work so have friends through that but my life is pretty much just work and home, although I think with my children being young that would be the case wherever we lived. I don't know how long we'll stay... life is very easy here but I do have permanently itchy feet! I think I just don't feel the same pull for a 'home' base as many people do. We hope to visit the UK next summer and if we do, it will have been FOUR YEARS between visits (because of Covid). That is not ideal, especially as I've had a baby in that time and nobody has met him yet, but it hasn't bothered me nearly as much as other people, and many of them are going 'home' this summer and have only been 18 months-2 years between visits.

Thai culture is interesting. I like that there is an inherent respect for others but I don't like that it's quite hierarchical and I can't stop myself from greeting everyone with a good level of respect, even though I know I should let a shopkeeper, security guard, or taxi driver show ME more respect than I show them (in terms of hand position and depth of head nodding/bowing!) I'm a teacher so we automatically get a lot of respect here, which I suppose is nice!

I love that children are welcomed and enjoyed everywhere. I don't mind that my children get a bit 'too much' attention sometimes because of their colouring, but that does bother some foreigners here. I just take it for what it is - people are interested, especially if we are somewhere that doesn't have many tourists or expats.

I find the Thai refusal to engage with confrontation equally refreshing and frustrating! They will avoid confrontation at all costs which means you never hear a direct 'no' and can sometimes struggle to solve an issue. I've learned to tread carefully and enlist a Thai friend in any situation that could be remotely difficult, e.g. asking my landlord for something to be fixed.

It is very difficult to integrate into Thai culture, unless you marry in. I have Thai friends but it's kind of a separate friendship from their wider group. Even if I spoke fluent Thai, this would probably still be the case. I've heard that many Thais are racist but never noticed if this is the case myself. Some people say Thais will smile to your face while insulting you in Thai but again, I wouldn't know if this is true. They are definitely nationalistic but I've found them welcoming. Having said that, when covid first hit, white foreigners were assumed to be the ones spreading it, and a senior government minister tweeted that we should be avoided because we are dirty and don't shower enough!!

My diet has changed, it definitely involves a lot more spicy food now!! But many foreigners keep cooking western food here, you can get everything you need to do so.

I've probably put on a bit of weight because eating is like a national pastime here! It's a standing joke that a Thai will eat breakfast at home, then again on the way to work/at work, then they always take a FULL lunch break, never eat at their desk etc. At a restaurant they order crazy amounts of food and all share.

Food is cheap if you buy on the street or from local restaurants/markets, and really good. So it's easy not to cook at all. Lots of people live in apartments that don't even have what we would consider a proper kitchen. A real oven is quite a big deal and not included in many buildings! So takeaway food is the norm. And of course, it's easy to overeat or choose less healthy options if you're ordering takeaway! (Maybe that's a western thing though, because we associate takeaway with a treat?)

My children eat mostly fairly western food although one is obsessed with rice and not keen on bread. They all love seaweed as a snack, even the baby!!! And they are fed random things by neighbours. They all love roti because we have several Indian neighbours who often feed them if they're passing by.

Whats Koh San road like these days? i cant imagine it with social distancing at all.

OP, I very nearly moved to Bangkok a few years ago, I still wish I had.
I'd like to visit again when possible. I loved the street food so much. Could you possibly tell me the names of some good street food areas to write down for when I visit?

@scully29 I've no idea! Probably dead. I'm not sure if bars have reopened now, they were closed again recently. Restaurants are open again but aren't supposed to serve alcohol, but many will sell beer or wine in a teacup or disposable coffee cup so it looks legit... I imagine bars on the Kao San Road were doing this!

I've actually only been there once. It's not near where I live and really not somewhere people who live here go, unless they work in tourism or something like that. Definitely one of those place everyone who visits Thailand goes to, but which is not at all the 'real' Bangkok!

I cant imagine it, it must be so strange.

@DK123 I don't know of any specific areas, there is street food everywhere and you just tend to get to know the stands near where you live/work.

The W District at Phra Khanong is a cool food place, a bit more foreigner-targeted but Thais go there too. It's lots of good food trucks/stands around a courtyard bar area, a cool place to hang out and you can find Thai, Jamaican, Indian, Mexican, seafood, smokehouse, even a grilled cheese truck! It's only open from about 4pm, not lunchtime.

@scully29 the islands are a weird experience right now... Some are just stunning with nobody around but the big tourist places like Phuket and Samui have been devastated by the lack of tourists. Driving around some of the big beach areas last summer was so depressing, just rows of shuttered restaurants and shops. Ghost towns.

It really must be completely devastating. I do dread to think how these places have done. How has the government managed to support people? I think the vaccinations have done well? Do you have friends in Cambodia at all?

I have been to Bangkok for the day on my way to Phuket but found it difficult because I have a phobia of cockroaches. There seemed to be so many, and on the Kao San Road they were even selling them to tourists as a snack! I know Thai people would never eat these although other insects are eaten. Do you find there are a lot of cockroaches and do you find them difficult to deal with or just part of everyday life? And big spiders too?

I've really enjoyed reading this! We moved back from Bangkok about 4 years ago - everything you say resonates very much with me I really miss Cotton On and my youngest still snacks on dried seaweed and Mama noodles (we can get them in the international area of the supermarket).

We also lived in the suburbs (which it sounds like you do) - not far from Mega Bangna.

I soooooo remember really wanting to feel a cool breeze!!

How much is Pad Thai from a street vendor now? I was in Bangkok 20 years ago and it was 17p which was brilliant as I was a skint backpacker

I left my camera there in 1993..its red.,inn case you come across it

What’s the bug/spider/insect situation like?

@scully29

Whats Koh San road like these days? i cant imagine it with social distancing at all.

I was going to ask that 😂

I'll ask this instead...I was in Thailand in 1991 so just before the whole Beach/backpacking trend really got going, and I remember saying to my friend, I want to tell everyone to visit this beautiful country with its beautiful gentle people, yet at the same time I don't want it to be ruined by Ibiza style tourism.

Has it been?

@scully29 last year we had a pretty intense lockdown and the government did have a scheme to support people financially. I don't know if it was enough, but I believe it was quite extensive. But some industries continued to function e.g. construction and some factories. This became a problem this year, when illegal workers living and working in really poor conditions had outbreaks of Covid. They were locked in their accommodation, barb wire outside, and guarded til the spread was controlled. Our second wave was blamed firmly on the illegal workers and caused some issues between Thais and the Burmese workers. Most foreigners felt that perhaps it was the rich Thai people continuing to fund the illegal border crossings and employing the workers who were more to blame...

Our third wave (currently happening) has been by far our worst, though nothing compared to Europe or the US. It is now rife in prisons. But our numbers are not to be believed anyway, we all know the government can entirely invent them and that is what will be printed. Our positive cases are 2-3000 a day and our death rate at its peak is 30 something a day. We do not have widespread testing because it costs a lot and because if you test positive, you are supposed to be removed to a hospital or field hospital to isolate, even if you are not ill. This has eased off a little as hospitals filled up, but I had a neighbour removed in an ambulance by men in hazmat suits and all our grounds were sprayed with chemicals. Lots of people (including me!) will avoid being tested because of the risk of being removed.

Vaccinations have been very slow here. There are rumours that the king has a financial stake in a pharmaceutical company so has delayed us importing other brands in order to profit himself. When we did start vaccinating, we were told Thais would be first. They focussed on locations with outbreaks rather than older/at risk people. They've relented on the Thais-first policy, at least publicly, but in reality hardly any foreigners have been vaccinated and nowhere near all Thais. It depends who you know and where you work. Teachers are high priority but only the top schools or those with government links have been successful so far. We are all on waiting lists and then you just get a text message at some point telling you when to go. Phuket is apparently further along with vaccinations because they are opening to tourists next month as a sort of trial for opening up the rest of Thailand. Current news says we will be fully open to (vaccinated) tourists by October. Nobody believes it though!!

I don't know anyone in Cambodia.

@NotJustACigar

I have been to Bangkok for the day on my way to Phuket but found it difficult because I have a phobia of cockroaches. There seemed to be so many, and on the Kao San Road they were even selling them to tourists as a snack! I know Thai people would never eat these although other insects are eaten. Do you find there are a lot of cockroaches and do you find them difficult to deal with or just part of everyday life? And big spiders too?

I was chased by a cockroach. I swear to god it knew I was there, knew I was terrified and it kept coming at me. First in the shower, then across my bed.

@anatomical I used to live near Mega Bangna! We moved a little closer to Sukhumvit now. Small world!!

Is BK a 24 hour city? I.e is are there cafes, coffee shops etc open all night?

@cruellaDeNile it would be over 50p now, closer to £1 in most places. The exchange rate is not what it once was!! In fact Bangkok is not nearly as cheap to live in as people think, if you want a decent flat and to eat anything other than street food. I think lots of us have backpacking memories and assume you can live on a shoestring but that's not quite the case anymore! Certainly still cheaper than the UK for almost everything, but not like it used to be.

My son wants to have a holiday in Thailand but he has a peanut allergy and I'm really worried about him going there. What do you think about that?

@flightofthecrow I'll keep my eye out for it