Things To Do In Thailand

Thailand is just wonderful. The Thai people are friendly, kind, and generous. They also seem to be very accepting of other people and how they wish to live. I am absolutely impressed by all this and frankly find it entirely peaceful and relaxing.

Thailand is a stress free environment for me and I love it.

I should mention Thailand is hot, like really hot. In March most days are 80 to 90F. In April daily temperatures are 90 to 95 F and lows at night are 82 F.  Once I met a Thai lady in an elevator.  She looked at me and said “Thailand has two seasons, Hot and Hotter.” Man was she right.

The people of Thailand are polite, nice and kind. I am sure somewhere, there are some mean and unpleasant Thai people, but after a year of living here, I have not met any.

The simplest way to demonstrate this is my experience at an optical or eye wear shop, one in Thailand and one in Atlanta Georgia, USA.

My glasses has a screw that was loose. It just needed a few turns from one of those tiny screw drivers and it would be fine. I walked into an eye glass place in Atlanta and was told they can tighten it for me, but it would cost $30 USD. I asked if they could just leave the screw driver on the counter and look away for 10 seconds and I would do it myself? They told me no.

After a few months in Thailand those same glasses needed tightening again. I walked into a Thai optical shop and asked the same question. They happily took the glasses, tightened the screw, cleaned the lenses and adjusted them so they would sit better on my face.

When it was all done, I asked how much money I owed them? The answer was just beautiful. “Pleasure to serve you.” There was no charge.

Thailand is so relaxing and peaceful I find my mental health improves every day.

I live in a condo at the beach with a 180° view of the ocean.  The building is in a quieter part of town and is a bit older,  but that also means the living space is bigger than normal.   I pay $400 USD rent per month.  A weeks worth of drinking water is delivered to my door on the 29th floor for $1 and 1/2 USD.   I eat out two meals a day.  Breakfast is oatmeal with berries I buy from grocery store.  Total cost for food is about $5 to $10 USD per day.  

Electricity is about $50 USD and water is about $10 USD per month; Lastly I get high speed internet and that costs about $30 USD per month.  A taxi from my condo to the grocery store (about a 15 minute ride) costs about $3  USD.

As you can see, it does not take much to live like a king here.  I would add, that in Bangkok most of these costs are higher.

There is crime in Thailand but it is dramatically less than crime in America.  So much less, that it feels as if there is no crime in Thailand.  I can walk around in Pattaya or Bangkok with my money and passport on me and have no worry about being robbed.  People here generally believe that doing wrong is not for them.  Thai people are friendly and kind.

Violent crime and robbery does exist, but generally you need to be very foolish with your behavior to experience it.  I read an article a while back about a 70 year old man who was robbed near Walking Street Pattaya.    Reading the details, you understand quickly that this old man was very foolish.  Walking Street is a dirty part of town filled with prostitution, bars and drunks.  It is a magnate for unhealthy people.  The old man was alone at 3 a.m., drunk and flashing cash.

Life is often difficult for local people.  They struggle day to day to survive.  Your cash can be life changing for many people.  They can be tempted to do wrong.

If you can avoid being as foolish as the man I described above,  you will likely never experience or see any crime.

A quick note regarding scams:  Trying to get you to pay too high a price for something is not generally considered a crime or bad.   If something costs 100 and you pay 1000 for it.  That is “shame on you”  for not know what the price should be.

The weather in Thailand can be brutal. Even for Thai people sometimes struggle with the heat.  Day time temperatures can be rough on your body and mind.

If you are old, out shape, obese, drink alcohol often and basically are your typical American or European, you need to be very careful. These temps can literally kill you. I am shocked at how many visitors either die or get a serious injury related to heat, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and other such things. I drink nothing but water all day and night, and even then I can barely stay hydrated.

Do not come to Thailand for fun in the sun and maintain your normal behaviors from back home. Most long term Westerners living here either know someone or have heard of someone who died because of the weather.

Have the address of where you are staying written on paper and keep it safe on you.  There will be times when you address.   Sometimes to get home.  Other times it might be police or immigration.

Prior to arriving in Thailand I had a patch of skin on my leg that always itched and was driving me crazy. I do not have health insurance in America so I just did not go to the doctor. Too expensive.

Upon arriving in Pattaya Thailand I noticed pharmacies pretty much everywhere. So I went in. Oh my goodness they sell so much over the counter that you cannot find in America.

I went in and told the lady about the itch. She grabbed this tube of something (no idea what it actually is) and told me to apply three times a day. The Tube cost 3 USD. A couple days later the itch was gone. This entire episode really bothered me. For 3 dollars and 5 minutes of my time I resolved something that had been bothering me for months back home in America.

Maybe there are really good reasons for medical care to being the way they are in America. All in all, I think I prefer the Thai system, at least so far. (I am unsure what the Thai persons experience is for medicine.  I am confident it is not as good as mine is.)