Moving to Bangkok - what do you miss from Blighty when you live overseas?

[TheBossofMe]

Job is confirmed, package is negotiated, I leave London in 3 weeks, family to follow a month later, once house is packed up and shipped out (the contents rather than the house, obviously!). I'm flying first class, which means that I can take a large volume of stuff with me - one case for my clothes, 1 for DD and DH clothes, shoes and toiletries, one for DDs toys, all to fill the gap until the shipment arrives.

But I can still take more, and I'm thinking food products and anything else that I might really miss in Thailand (or would be hard to get, expensive etc). I can't ship food, so if I want to take it, this is the only opp until any home leave later in the year. Suggestions from people so far are:

Marmite (whole family are Marmite monsters and vegimite doesn't cut it)
Porridge (DD loves it)
Tampax (I was a bit about this, but two Bangkok expats say to bring some if I can)
Branston pickle
Oxo cubes

Have also stocked up on bras and bikinis since am a bit "buxom" as they say, and have been warned that larger sizes (ie anything above a B-cup) is hard to get in Bangkok.

Any other suggestions? Or should I just scrap the idea since all is easy to get in Thailand and use the space for more toys etx for DD?

Definitely bring over as many bottles of wine as you can. They are very expensive here.

You can get tampax here. Here in BKK, you get Boots pharmacy in nearly every corner. Price is similar I think..

And your fav tea bags, coffee ...

Will come back with more ...

Oooh - tea bags - got to be able to have a proper cuppa!

Wine is on the list, although am a tad worried about breakage..

I'm always jealous of the fact you have Boots in Thailand. We can get marmite & Branston's here fortunately so you can always stock up if you're ever in Singapore!

We have to buy M&S extra strong tea bags as they're the only ones with any flavour all the Lipton's stuff is way too weak for me!

Also if you get really stuck then you can always try these guys www.airberg.co.uk - I ordered some stuff (baby food at the time) and it came really quickly and in tact.

Yes, baby food ... they don't have Organix and Ella's Organics, etc here ... there is a delivery company here that imports them over but the prices are OTT. Eg, 380 baht for a regular box of Organix cereal-type bars. That's 7-ish pounds.

By the way, the usual brand toiletries, toothpaste, soap, etc are cheaper here. And so are stationery stuff.

I never managed to find superplus tampax or OB tampons so if you have a heavier than normal flow..................
Porridge is available at all supermarkets but wine is definitely something you should take.
Marmite is (or at least when we lived there) was sporadically available and Branston and Oxo are there for the taking in Villa or the one on top of the posh shopping centre that isn't Paragon but whose name I can't remember.

Just found out we're moving to Bangkok too - in April or May (depends on when current job lets my husband leave ). We're moving from Saigon though, so I'm looking forward to all the things I can get in BKK that I can't here!

That aside, I agree with what you've got on your list. You can get clothes made, but if it's anything like Vietnam, I find copying things you like / fit you well works best.

We have a set of winter clothes (for ski holidays to Japan!), but all our UK stuff is pretty redundant (we wear the same few things every time we go back), so think about how much storage space you want to take up with oodles of jumpers, boots, jackets and hats.

Good luck with packing and perhaps I'll meet you in BKK! [How old's your DD? Mine's almost 6 months...]

Just came to me in a flash, it is called Emporium

I've just had another thought. We used to buy sausages and pies from a man whose company was called Bunters. He is on a soi near On Nut and is quite happy to sell to the public. He supplies the pubs and bars in Bangkok

Thanks guys - am leaving next weekend so packing like a fury! kreecher - will be staying in the Emporium Suites when I first get there courtesy of the company, so will check out the food hall in the mall and then send orders to husband re what to ship (he's following me out a month later)! The pie and sausage man will definitely get a visit - yum.

Bean - DD is 2 and a little madam! DH will be taking her to various M&T groups when we get there, so will let you know what we reckon is good and maybe we'll run into each other. I think a Bangkok MN group might find its way into existence...!

There used to be a group called BAMBI, they organise play sessions. That would be worth googling.

Someone has given me the Bangkok Guide which is written by Bambi, and apparently they have orientation people in lots of areas in Bangkok, so will definitely be looking them up.

kreecher - did you like living in BKK? How did you find the heat? Am a bit worried about hair frizz - any tips????

Bangkok was fab. The heat you will adjust to as long as you don't just use the a/c constantly. Hair frizz I can't advise on, I look like I've got a dead cat on top of my head. Hairdressers are so cheap and numerous you can have your hair washed and dried for about 100 baht so it wouldn't be unrealistic to have it done daily.

and being in Empo suites means you are just down the road from Samitivej hospital. Brilliant place with top paeds (and other english speaking doctors)

Just nip round to Singapore from time to time. We have everything here.
Congratulations and enjoy!