I've lived in five different areas since I moved over here about 8 and 1/2 years ago . At first I was still bouncing around back and forth between Japan , China and here.. and then covid hit and it was just here.

I've been lucky enough to meet some of the right people and turn what started out as a vacation into a full-blown life. I feel very fortunate for that..

I think it's probably one of the best countries on Earth.. no it's not perfect. But I think Thailand has a lot to offer the world, and has lots of offer us as people who are allowed to stay here..

When you first get here you'll notice a lot of hostility in the expat community. While I don't agree with it , I've started to understand why they're a bit standoffish..

The hostility comes from a desire to keep things the way they are.. and also from a general weariness of aholes that reflect badly on the Foreigner Community as a whole..

If you've seen a lot of the recent news during the high season , there is generally an influx of really poorly behaved individuals.

I'm not saying it's fair.. but the long-term expat community watches that kind of thing and they assume that pretty much everyone new is going to be detrimental to what they have here.

Some of them will warm up to you eventually..

Some of them will remain a holes forever.

Is much of the hostility unjustified?? Yes

But there is a reason.. all it takes is one look at the news to understand why.

If you're moving over here in the near future. I wish you the absolute best in your new life abroad..

Stay positive and don't let a few irritable people get you down.

#expatlife

#TheLandofSmiles

#thegoodlife

#lovethailand

#thailandlife

I am planning to move to thailand on DTV. I would like to know your experience of moving to thailand as solo person. I am kind of scared. Is it easy to find housing, new friends, locals?

Regarding my question about SEA countries worth moving to I would like to sincerely thank you all. This group really is the hub of hubs of knowledge about SEA. Seriously, your helpfulness and the wide range of your information helped me narrow down my research and also made me see things more clearly. Thanks again. As to my unwise choice of the phrase "farang bashing" - I did not refer to the two "Swiss cases" although I think that even an admittedly unpleasant person doesn't deserve to be judged by some do-gooders and a xenophobic mob based on not so unambiguous evidence without a proper trial. Maybe the muggy heat and the micro dust were simply getting to me and making me paranoid. At the end of the day it is up to ourselves to live in harmony with the locals and enjoy this wonderful country.

I hear a lot of people say Thai people are dishonest and only after your money

I've barely had any bad experiences since I got here 2 month ago. The only bad experience I had was in Bangkok dealing with tuktuk and suitshops lol

I cycled from Bangkok to Chiangmai and once I was 100km away from Bangkok the people were so friendly and accommodating even if I didn't want anything from them.

I had a guy give me free orange juice just because he wanted to speak to someone from the UK.

I dated a Thai chick and okay maybe I was unsure about a few things that could have been lies but I mean you gotta be careful with relationships anywhere.

Landlords have been great and helpful.

Massage ladies flirt with me, kaaaaaa good night I love you.

I don't partake in prostitution btw.

Saying that I checked out a hooker bar and made it clear I didn't want to partake and just had a drink there, host still treated me well and I made one of the escorts laugh on stage cause I was being awkward ahhhaa

I went for a joint and the owner gave me a free. Bong Rip of his premium bud lol.

Old ladies let me washup at there's cause I got muddy and I had a leg rash so one of them called their English speaking relative to tell me to go to the doctor lol.

Idk people were friendly in Bangkok for the most part but the more north or out of tourist areas I go the friendlier I found.

People welcomed me to shop with them and recommended me buy like pastries and stuff and let me eat them at their place.

Ye that's my experience so far.

As far as fitting in with the locals, I recon it's not that hard to get Thai friends and Thai girlfriends but I mean as long as you aren't broke and working a Thai job the money separation isn't something I'd even want to fix.

If me having money is what separates me from fitting in then so be it ahha.

Living here has made me want to make even more money though so I can spend even more money on local businesses. I ain't trying to be broke in a 3rd world country. That doesn't sound like fun anywhere.

I haven't tried the south out yet like Phuket and Pattaya, maybe they're different. I'm currently in Chiang Mai and having a blast tbf