Life in Thailand - The Good, Bad, and the Ugly
Located in the heart of mainland Southeast Asia, Thailand is a country of mountains, hills, plains, and a long coastline along the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. Back in September 2019, I moved to Bangkok and joined Agoda as a software engineer. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to explore various parts of Thailand and experience its unique culture. I get a lot of questions about what it’s like to live in Thailand which motivated me to write this story. On a side note, Thailand is the only country where I’ve lived apart from my home country - India.
Pros
Thai People
Thai people are one of the most kind-hearted people I’ve ever seen. They are extremely polite and always greet you with a smile. They treat others with respect and most of them have a stress-free laid back life. Thailand is predominantly a Buddhist country and I guess it has a lot to do with its culture. I haven’t faced any racial discrimination here, but I have felt westerners get special treatment here. Thais are also very tolerant towards the LGBTQ+ communities.
Travel & Tourism
One of the biggest motivations for me while moving to Thailand was the vast amount of places it offers to spend your vacations. It has beautiful beaches, pristine islands, lush green forests, stunning temples, and foggy mountains. Thailand is a well-known tropical paradise in the world and it provides good hotels, well-maintained tourist locations, and offers an amazing culture. Also, have a look at my Instagram account for pictures from Thailand: here.
It’s also a hub of South East Asia and one can easily explore nearby countries like Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The tourism industry is big in Thailand and is one of their major sources of revenue with many having full-time careers in this domain.
Medical
Thailand has a healthcare system that is ranked one of the best in the world. With a wide network of hospitals giving international facilities and services, they have started gaining attention in the medical tourism domain. As I’m under a work permit, I have medical coverage by their social security system, allowing me to have free access to public hospital services.
Gender Equality
Women in Thailand seem to have better participation in the skilled labor force of the country. Women indeed run businesses here like food stalls, boutiques, cafes, and hotels and enjoy a lot more freedom. Being from India this was more of a culture shock to me.
Public Transport & Infrastructure
I’ve been living in Bangkok for the past 2 years and the traffic here is huge during peak hours. The good part is that Bangkok has a well-connected mass transit train system called BTS, MRT, SRT Redline, Airport link, etc. which takes off a significant chunk of the city’s transit and it is also expanding outwards to neighboring provinces. When it comes to interprovincial travel, most of the provinces have an airport with cheap flights going in and out. The road connectivity is really good and there are lots of AC buses, and minivans plying across provinces. I’ve also recently used their SRT railway to travel to Chiang Rai and it was a smooth experience. While backpacking across the country I have felt that the developments are very much Bangkok-centric.
Food & Night Market
Thai food is very unique and probably the best in South East Asia. Like everyone else, nothing beats the food back in my hometown, but I eat Thai food almost daily and I’m pretty much used to it. It has quite a lot of choices for sour, spicy, soupy, sweet dishes and some of my personal favorites are Laeng Sab, Tom Sab Moo, Tom Yum Gung, Keang Om, Som Tam, and Pad Kra Pao, and more!
Night markets are great places to hang out and try some authentic Thai food. I’ve visited several provinces and one thing which is consistent across all of them are their night markets. In general, people here eat out a lot as it's pretty cheap, convenient, and a way to socialize.
Safety
In general, Thailand is a peaceful country and is rated as the least dangerous country in Southeast Asia for travelers. I’ve traveled through some remote areas and haven’t faced any issues with my safety. Crime rates are relatively low and women are safer here than in other Asian countries. You can check the crime index statistics on numbeo.
Cons
Dual Pricing
Being an expat who pays taxes, I have to pay almost 5~10x entry fees at national parks, monuments, etc. compared to a Thai citizen. This isn’t great when you live long-term in the country and I have instances where I had to drop plans to visit several places as it takes a big bite off of your wallet and isn't worth the money.
Language Barrier
One of the major challenges I faced here is the language barrier. English is not widely spoken in Thailand and I’ve been extensively using google translate to get things done here. I’ve also felt some of them are shy to speak English because of their accent and I’ve noticed this at work as well. In reality, being an alien in their country it makes more sense for me to learn Thai but I still consider this as a drawback since I don’t have any Thai friends here.
Cost of Living
This is debatable since westerners would find it very cheap and affordable. Being from India I feel it’s more expensive to live in Bangkok. Websites like numbeo show that the cost of living in Bangkok is pretty high compared to Bangalore. As an expat, you would at least need about 50k baht/month (roughly 1,500$) to live a decent life here. You can also check my granular breakdown of monthly living costs: here (I live a very lean life here).
Road Safety
Thailand is notorious when it comes to road safety. Although I’ve felt the driving discipline is better here in Thailand than in my hometown, people drive extremely fast and any minor mistake can put you in a lot of trouble. I find it very stressful while driving a motorcycle here given the speed at which people drive past. There are lots of reported cases of drunk driving, especially during festive seasons, and road deaths are on the rise here.
Noisy Cars & Motorcycles
I’m very sensitive when it comes to loud noise and sometimes I’ve felt Bangkok streets are a nightmare. Motorcyclists and cars do a lot of speeding on the roads with insanely loud aftermarket exhausts and it makes me extremely uncomfortable. I’m living in a condo with a balcony facing the highways, and it has started affecting my sleep.
Infamous Sex Tourism
I think sex tourism is one of the dark sides of Thailand and is not promoted by the government nor are the people proud of this. Major tourist destinations like Bangkok, and Pattaya are known for prostitution catering to the demands of foreign tourists. This fact was meddling in my decision-making process while moving to Thailand and my parents had serious concerns. On a side note, prostitution is not something special to Thailand its almost there in many other countries.
Political Instability
Recently there had been a lot of protests happening within the country. I don’t want to poke my nose into their internal matters and in general, I haven’t had many issues with it except for some cases where I had to plan my office schedules based on the protest timings.
Extreme Summer
Summers are very harsh here in Thailand and the daytime temperatures can easily go above 40 °C. During my initial days, I severely underestimated this and used to go out on my motorcycle wearing a half sleeve t-shirt and have burnt my skin in the scorching heat. These days I always wear full sleeves and carry enough sunscreen to get away with the heat.
IT Industry
The IT industry scene is quite nascent and not as sophisticated. The list of big IT giants originating from Thailand is comparatively low. If you are employed in Thailand as a software engineer, your career switch is pretty limited. This is one place where India beats Thailand hands down.
Overall, I feel it was a good decision to move to Thailand. Personally the pros listed here weigh more over the cons and the cons are something which I’ve got used to or gotten irrelevant at some point. Thai hospitality is addictive and is something that I cherish the most. I’ve also got influenced by the kindness of Thais and have got a pretty good change in my personality. There are still a lot of places that I haven’t visited yet, mostly the southern and Isaan regions of Thailand and I’m planning to explore them this year.
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