How long did it take you to feel like a local in Thailand?

[SAFETY FIRST]

1 hour ago, Mekmong MICK said:

How long did it take you to feel like a local in Thailand? 

A few years after I arrived, I was sat in the accounts department Pattaya Bangkok Hospital paying for the C section delivery for my first child in Thailand. 

 

[Mekmong MICK]

1 minute ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

A few years after I arrived, I was sat in the accounts department Pattaya Bangkok Hospital paying for the C section delivery of my first child in Thailand. 

 

Congratulations friend

[Celsius]

1 minute ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

A few years after I arrived, I was sat in the accounts department Pattaya Bangkok Hospital paying for the C section delivery for my first child in Thailand. 

 

 

Same here except i ran away and did not pay the bill. 

 

Which makes me more local than you.

[OneMoreFarang]

After a few weeks I felt like a local.

Then, sometimes later I realized I will never be a local.

Now, after almost 3 decades of Thailand I know I will never be a local. And I also don't want to be a local. Life is easier being an outsider. 

[Yellow Fever]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

After a few weeks I felt like a local.

Then, sometimes later I realized I will never be a local.

Now, after almost 3 decades of Thailand I know I will never be a local. And I also don't want to be a local. Life is easier being an outsider. 

You’re just another farang to them unfortunately 

 

some farang never learn and will never become a local

[Mekmong MICK]

1 minute ago, Yellow Fever said:

some farang never learn and will never become a local

This so much

 

I see heaps of them at the bar; they look like they've been sitting in the same chairs with the same sex pest farangs for years

[Celsius]

1 minute ago, Mekmong MICK said:

This so much

 

I see heaps of them at the bar; they look like they've been sitting in the same chairs with the same sex pest farangs for years

 

So you finally invested in the mirror?

[SAFETY FIRST]

9 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

Same here except i ran away and did not pay the bill. 

 

Which makes me more local than you.

I'd say the child's mother had a few issues to deal with after you ran away.

The poor woman to deal with that, after giving birth. 

 

 

[Celsius]

10 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I'd say the child's mother had a few issues to deal with after you ran away.

The poor woman to deal with that, after giving birth. 

 

 

 

It's okay. It was Pattaya, so she probably found a Farang mug to take care she 

[Gottfrid]

2 hours ago, Mekmong MICK said:

I've been pleasantly surprised how quickly its taken me tbh. I've been here nearly 3 weeks and already feel at home.

Long time Mick! My first step out of the Airport did it for me. Actually, I thought I was a little bit hesitating there, as I had expected the feeling when the plane hit the ground.

[CharlieH]

Off topic and response removed.

[richard_smith237]

26 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

After a few weeks I felt like a local.

Then, sometimes later I realized I will never be a local.

Now, after almost 3 decades of Thailand I know I will never be a local. And I also don't want to be a local. Life is easier being an outsider. 

 

I don't think there is a need to be or 'feel local'...   We can just be ourselves though - that means assimilating, getting on with those around us, enjoying ourselves and fitting in as part of our community in which ever area we live with with those whose lives we overlap with. 

 

Thailand has a huge diversity and there is a significant difference in 'everything' (wealth, education, attitudes etc) across the spectrum of Thailand...   We are very likely to find ourselves in close alignment with many somewhere along that spectrum - but that also depend on exposure and openness. 

 

At some point in Thailand, I stopped caring whether locals accept me or whether I fit in... and found that just like anyone else - everyone fits in somewhere... I'm happy here, I call it home...  I know I'm not a local, but I can feel 100% comfortable in most settings and social environments here, more so than some of my Thai friends.

I'll never be Thai (unless legally and going for citizenship), but as far as feeling like a local is concerned - I don't think its important at all.

... So long as we are comfortably relaxed in our surroundings and are happy calling Thailand home, then thats good enough for me.

 

 

[EVENKEEL]

2 hours ago, Mekmong MICK said:

Really great to hear you're fitting in mate and feel at home. And it must be a laugh hanging with the lads after kickboxing training.

 

I had always thought bahm mi was a Vietnamese dish but apparently it's a local dish here too. 

 

It's really nice to hear someone else feeling like the assimilation process hasn't taken long

 

Isn't his post pathetic, resorting to name calling.

 

If posters don't like the OP, don't post in here, it's simple. I just thought it would make an interesting topic of conversation 

Is Bob there? Hey Bob, knock it off with twidle dee and twidle dum.

[bubblegum]

1 hour ago, susanlea said:

In a bar?

No. I don't do bars. Are you projecting much?

[scubascuba3]

34 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

 

some farang never learn and will never become a local

why would you want to be a local? they hate each other as much as dirty falang

[susanlea]

2 minutes ago, bubblegum said:

No. I don't do bars. Are you projecting much?

I'm asking a question billy.

[BobBKK]

Silly topic: you will NEVER be a local.

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, Mekmong MICK said:

I'm asking about others' experiences 

I was first here in 1974 and it was like putting on a comfortable pair of slippers... 

[OneMoreFarang]

14 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I don't think there is a need to be or 'feel local'...   We can just be ourselves though - that means assimilating, getting on with those around us, enjoying ourselves and fitting in as part of our community in which ever area we live with with those whose lives we overlap with. 

 

Thailand has a huge diversity and there is a significant difference in 'everything' (wealth, education, attitudes etc) across the spectrum of Thailand...   We are very likely to find ourselves in close alignment with many somewhere along that spectrum - but that also depend on exposure and openness. 

 

At some point in Thailand, I stopped caring whether locals accept me or whether I fit in... and found that just like anyone else - everyone fits in somewhere... I'm happy here, I call it home...  I know I'm not a local, but I can feel 100% comfortable in most settings and social environments here, more so than some of my Thai friends.

I'll never be Thai (unless legally and going for citizenship), but as far as feeling like a local is concerned - I don't think its important at all.

... So long as we are comfortably relaxed in our surroundings and are happy calling Thailand home, then thats good enough for me.

 

I agree. But I think it's important to realize that.

I.e. in my home country are lots of people from other nearby countries. After a while there are no significant differences anymore. We eat the same, we do the same jobs, have the same language, etc. Sure, there are differences, but no big differences.

In Thailand there will always be big differences. 99% of farangs are different and will never be like a Thai person in Thai society. 

[OneMoreFarang]

49 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

You’re just another farang to them unfortunately 

 

some farang never learn and will never become a local

 

Maybe if you spend a few more weeks in Thailand, you will realize that there are advantages of not becoming a local. 

[1FinickyOne]

18 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Silly topic: you will NEVER be a local.

I don't think the topic is about trying to be a local, but about what % you want to try and assimilate. 

[susanlea]

11 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

I was first here in 1974 and it was like putting on a comfortable pair of slippers... 

So you bend over? Makes sense. It is Thailand.

[1FinickyOne]

1 minute ago, susanlea said:

So you bend over? Makes sense. It is Thailand.

huh? 

[brewsterbudgen]

After 18 years, I'm quite content to have never felt a local.

[pub2022]

A local who needs to report every 90 days

 

Yeah...sure

[ElwoodP]

Some racist posts and replies removed.

[Will27]

4 hours ago, Mekmong MICK said:

I've been pleasantly surprised how quickly its taken me tbh. I've been here nearly 3 weeks and already feel at home. I've previously done the usual tourist trips to Pattaya, Patong and Kuta but never been a local in Thailand.

 

Even though I'm well travelled and cultured, it's a different feeling actually feeling like a local in a foreign land. Between wives 2 and 3 I spent a month in the Philippines to try and meet someone but never felt totally comfortable and like it was home. There were too many Western sex tourists.

 

Here, I've already met someone, starting to learn the language, joined this online forum which is a useful resource and even eat mostly local food. The locals are always smiling and welcoming. I have even stopped adding tomato sauce to my pad Thai (in Australia tomato sauce accompanies every meal). Case in point below; my breakfast this morning was a Thai bahm mi and two little boys.

 

 On 6/27/2024 at 10:22 AM, Bangkokhatter said:

so you are really saying you want to have sex with some teenagers, how old are you ?

 

On /27/2024 Mekong Mick said:

21, do we have a problem?

 

So you're 21 and have been married 3 times.

OK.......

 

[TheFishman1]

I read the guy’s post and was thinking how I felt after I was here a very short time like two or three weeks after being here 12 years I still think amazing Thailand TIT

[soalbundy]

2 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

I never feel like a local, because I'm not one.

Forgot to add, and neither do I want to be one. 

I agree, I've been here 20 years, I have a 16 year old son, 2 step daughters and a load of step grand children but I'm not a local. I'm used to everything, it doesn't feel strange or foreign it feels like home but I'm a falang even if my step daughters and grand kids don't see it like that, I'm just papa. I've lived and worked in several countries and always felt at home wherever I hung my hat. The author Heinrich Boell once wrote, "On your first day in a strange country, buy something, that way you take possession of the city." I've found that to be true.

[paahlman]

Been here 27 years and to be fair Im stil not sure im totally local. To many layers of the onion to peel off.