The 10 best things about living in Thailand
Following on from my slightly negative (but honest) post on the 10 most annoying things about living in Thailand, as promised here are the ten best things about living in Thailand as I see them, again in no particular order.
1. The people
Thai people are generally exceptionally friendly, accepting, smiley and non-aggressive. They also go out of their way for foreigners on a regular basis, and generally accept our regularly idiotic behaviour with little more than a smirk.
2. The food
The food here is cheap, tasty, varied, and comparatively very healthy. You can eat a delicious local meal for little more than $1 /50p. The range of cheap fruit deserves its own mention - wow!
3. The weather
Warm & sunny with a few months of warm & wet. You normally get about a 6 month stretch of continuously blue skies in the dry season. Perfect for the avoidance of cold, dark, miserable, drizzly and generally pants weather like I experienced in London for 12 years.
4. Driving
As the Thais do, you can get in any vehicle without any idea how to control it, and hit the road. Cool for hiring things and “learning as you go along”. The maximum fine you face for any kind of ‘driving error’ (lack of license, helmet, or know-how etc.) is usually about £3/$6.
5. Buddhism & monks
The predominant religion is Buddhism, simply the coolest ‘mass religion’ in existence. This obviously influences the general ambiance of living here and also makes you think briefly before killing mosquitoes/ants and other biting insects.
6. National Parks
There are hundreds of these dotted all over Thailand, and they are wonderful places to spend a day and/or night.
7. The islands & beaches
As we all know, Thailand has some of the most stunning islands and beaches in the world. Wherever you live in Thailand you’re not that far from a decent beach and the costs of internal flights are coming down thanks to the likes of Air Asia.
8. The cost of living
You can live like a king here and still spend about a quarter of what you’d spend in London eating baked beans and living in a dump.
9. Thai women
This has been put in a separate category not because I consider Thai women to be inhuman - as Tina has suggested below, but merely because it was the first thing mentioned when I questioned a few male friends in Thailand. I should add that I am happily married and do not look at, or think about Thai women myself.
10. What is your number 10?
What have I missed out? If you’ve visited Thailand or you live here, please feel free to suggest something YOU love about it by submitting a comment below!
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March 4th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Are women not “people”? I think you should check with your male friends how they classify “Thai women”? Because you already have a category called “The people”-in my opinion “women” belong to this category.
March 5th, 2008 at 3:51 am
Hmmm, how come it was easier to agree with the other post??
March 5th, 2008 at 4:32 am
Not sure I agree with #4 - driving in Thailand is definitely taking your life in your hands.
My #10 would have to be shopping and all of the great markets. I know it’s usually women who love shopping, but the markets in Thailand are so great and have such a huge selection. You can literally find anything and everything, especially at the larger ones.
March 5th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
#10 mix of cultures. living in thailand, espacially in bangkok, is the closest you can get to traveling without moving places.
March 5th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Monks are also people but they deserved a special mention of their own
April 5th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I think just the sheer number of things to do in this country. There is so much that one lifetime isn’t enough! - Great post… Vern
April 9th, 2008 at 3:57 am
I don’t live in Thailand, but I hope soon I will be able to find a job and go over… it’s the general feeling you get when you’re there. Traveling on a bike trough the north, where a simple smile and a fantastic thai meal with a cool Singha can make you feel like the luckiest person in the world. To be able to be happy with small things. Thai style!
April 9th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Dear Elke,
It’s funny you write that because I just thought about it the other day…the things I will miss about Thailand when I leave. And the Thai smile is definitely one thing I will miss tremendously. When I have a bad day I just out into the street and smile at the first person I see and they always smile back. In Denmark where I grew up people think you are up to something suspicious if you smile at them in the street (and you don’t know them).
I always feel blessed that I have been able to live here for several years of my life.
Best wishes,
Tina Noga
April 13th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I agree! The smiles are the best. Big friendly smiles.