I was lucky. During my time living in Phuket the neighbors on my soi, there were only 11 houses, were from Belarus, Iran, Belgium, Poland, Uruguay, Great Britain and Australia. I walked every morning at dawn out to the end of the Palai Pier and along the embankment to Chalong Creek and back. There was an informal community of people with many familiar faces each day walking the same route. I met many Thai people and foreigners as well and had so many interesting conversations. Leaning on the rail of the pier watching the Sun come up over Cape Panwa and chatting with new aquaintances from different countries and cultures was extremely pleasant. I'm an old white guy and I tended to avoid old white guys and it worked out well.