Bored of Bangkok... Any advice to an alternative place to live?

[Harrisfan]

On 1/19/2025 at 10:51 PM, kingofallasians said:

I am afraid Bangkok is getting a bit boring (and expensive) for me.

 

I had a best friend out here that I used to hang out with a bit.  Long story short, I think she is ghosting me and humankind for that matter.

 

The Meetups have me bored to tears.  The same locals who have nothing going on for themselves seem to show up all the time.  Retired expats and weirdos.  But also, it's exhausting to have the same conversations with people who you are never going to see again in your entire life.  Things were pretty awesome when Tao had his Meetups and I met some pretty cool and interesting people that way, but those are no more.  The only meetup in the city I find engaging is the FIRE meetup.

 

I am considering living in another part of Thailand or Cambodia.  I enjoy the events that happen around Bangkok and the livelihood of the city, but I am becoming an old fart where maybe I want a little bit less people.

 

Jomitien I heard is nice and cheaper than BKK.  Maybe I can try living in Chiang Mai or Udon Thani for a bit. 

 

I get around $1100 a month and was also wondering if it would be possible to living somewhere comfortably and maybe even save some of that per month.  I have horrible discipline in BKK since boom boom is everywhere and I admit I am probably a sex addict and bit of a sexpat at times.  Also, I eat my fair amount of Burger King and McDonald's as I am a cultureless American.

 

Has anyone lived in Siem Reap before?  I heard it is cheap but boring.  I went there for a few days and was pretty impressed.  However, I like to hide in malls from the sun during the day and Siem Reap does not seem to have any of them.  Also, there is the ease of staying there on a visa.  From what I hear it costs around $40 - $50 a month to extend your tourist visa and they will keep doing that indefinitely.  This seems better than leaving for a visa run every few months which also includes the 1900 baht extension at their immigration office.

 

So I guess I'm asking for some advice.  Is there more or less going on in Jomtien, Chiang Mai, and Udon Thani?  I thought I could never get bored of Bangkok because it's such a lively and interesting city, but it really has not been as good as before the pandemic.  No more 24 hour bars.  Thailand wants to be like Singapore which kind of sucks.

 

 

 

 

Bangkok is the most exciting city in Asia. If that's boring now then the rest of Asia will only disappoint. Udon only has 1 good mall.

[ericdk]

3 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

Bangkok is the most exciting city in Asia. If that's boring now then the rest of Asia will only disappoint. Udon only has 1 good mall.

 

I can see how it can get tiring after some years. It's difficult to find places to chill out. Need more trees.

[Harrisfan]

1 hour ago, ericdk said:

 

I can see how it can get tiring after some years. It's difficult to find places to chill out. Need more trees.

His hobbies are burgers and ladies of the night. I think he needs some new hobbies.

[Sigmund]

On 1/20/2025 at 1:55 AM, KhunBENQ said:

Anybody voting for Hua Hin?

I only know what you find on the net.

And that looks like a good mixture.

Don't know about the prices though.

 

The thread is in the Bangkok forum and might miss some attention?

Flee Hua Hin unless you want to be ripped off on a daily basis by any form of service staff comming over to your place for work, garden, maintenance etc. Restaurants are overpriced and when they are some what reasonable, the portions are ridiculous. And No, I'm not the big belly german who need 3 kilos of food at 06:30 pm for his dinner. 🤣

 

You can feel a sort of bitterness and xenophobia all over against foreigners in Hua Hin. Be it the bank, a restaurant service and so on. Never felt this in Bangkok or in Pattaya area when you are polite with people and behave with respect. But here in Hua Hin the more you respect a worker comming to your place, the more he or she will try to cheat you., Not to mention those who will try to steal anyhting when working in your house, on the first occasion. As a falang, I definately do not feel comfortable anymore in Hua Hin.

[Harrisfan]

3 minutes ago, Sigmund said:

Flee Hua Hin unless you want to be ripped off on a daily basis by any form of service staff comming over to your place for work, garden, maintenance etc. Restaurants are overpriced and when they are some what reasonable, the portions are ridiculous. And No, I'm not the big belly german who need 3 kilos of food at 06:30 pm for his dinner. 🤣

 

You can feel a sort of bitterness and xenophobia all over against foreigners in Hua Hin. Be it the bank, a restaurant service and so on. Never felt this in Bangkok or in Pattaya area when you are polite with people and behave with respect. But here in Hua Hin the more you respect a worker comming to your place, the more he or she will try to cheat you., Not to mention those who will try to steal anyhting when working in your house, on the first occasion. As a falang, I definately do not feel comfortable anymore in Hua Hin.

Given his hobbies Pattaya would be ideal.

[newnative]

1 hour ago, Harrisfan said:

Given his hobbies Pattaya would be ideal.

Ideal even without those hobbies.

[ChaiyaTH]

If you are bored of Bangkok you go too much to the same places in the same areas. Aside from that just go to a place like Chiang Mai for a few days and you will love to back in the big mango soon enough, traffic jams and grab car cost even more.

 

I used to get bored of Bangkok too but that was when I always hang around sukhumvit area or like ekkamai etc. To from covid starting onwards find out that that is actually the <deleted>tiest of Bangkok compared to the dozens of other areas and places there are. 

The same if you look how fast they now develop around higher ratchada and lad prao area alone, is great, like semi old Thailand while having the MRT + BTS at your foot steps, you have like 10 malls in a 10 minute radius. Multiple huge daily night markets etc etc.

The most funny part is you can even still get monthly rooms in those areas for just 5K baht a month. As well it is the best place to get the nightlife girls when they are not working for peanuts or free. It's like the sukhumvit gogo life without the spendings lol.

[scubascuba3]

Op should move to Pattaya, Jomtien, Pratumnak or the dark side. I live in Pratumnak and go to both central Pattaya and Jomtien daily.

 

I wouldn't move to another country until your options are up here

[newnative]

5 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Op should move to Pattaya, Jomtien, Pratumnak or the dark side. I live in Pratumnak and go to both central Pattaya and Jomtien daily.

 

I wouldn't move to another country until your options are up here

I agree.  Pattaya offers plenty to do but in a more compact area than Bangkok and that makes it more manageable for year-round living. 

[Harrisfan]

Go to Korat for a week. After that Bangkok will be exciting again.

[Njoku]

On 1/19/2025 at 11:14 PM, grumpyoldman said:

Sounds to me your next move would be Pattaya.

 

Somewhere inexpensive on the outskirts, when you want to have some fun you can head into town.

Over crowded worse traffic in a smaller area, ugly women, food is crap, macdonalds over charge here in the tourist areas so thats a killer for him and even less to do and way more boring people to meet.

[Lorry]

On 2/8/2025 at 4:01 PM, Sigmund said:

You can feel a sort of bitterness and xenophobia all over against foreigners in Hua Hin.

In Hua Hin, this has been officially adopted as the attitude towards foreigners (decades ago already).

In Bangkok or even Pattaya,  it's up to the individual how they treat foreigners. 

[newbee2022]

On 1/19/2025 at 10:51 PM, kingofallasians said:

I am afraid Bangkok is getting a bit boring (and expensive) for me.

 

I had a best friend out here that I used to hang out with a bit.  Long story short, I think she is ghosting me and humankind for that matter.

 

The Meetups have me bored to tears.  The same locals who have nothing going on for themselves seem to show up all the time.  Retired expats and weirdos.  But also, it's exhausting to have the same conversations with people who you are never going to see again in your entire life.  Things were pretty awesome when Tao had his Meetups and I met some pretty cool and interesting people that way, but those are no more.  The only meetup in the city I find engaging is the FIRE meetup.

 

I am considering living in another part of Thailand or Cambodia.  I enjoy the events that happen around Bangkok and the livelihood of the city, but I am becoming an old fart where maybe I want a little bit less people.

 

Jomitien I heard is nice and cheaper than BKK.  Maybe I can try living in Chiang Mai or Udon Thani for a bit. 

 

I get around $1100 a month and was also wondering if it would be possible to living somewhere comfortably and maybe even save some of that per month.  I have horrible discipline in BKK since boom boom is everywhere and I admit I am probably a sex addict and bit of a sexpat at times.  Also, I eat my fair amount of Burger King and McDonald's as I am a cultureless American.

 

Has anyone lived in Siem Reap before?  I heard it is cheap but boring.  I went there for a few days and was pretty impressed.  However, I like to hide in malls from the sun during the day and Siem Reap does not seem to have any of them.  Also, there is the ease of staying there on a visa.  From what I hear it costs around $40 - $50 a month to extend your tourist visa and they will keep doing that indefinitely.  This seems better than leaving for a visa run every few months which also includes the 1900 baht extension at their immigration office.

 

So I guess I'm asking for some advice.  Is there more or less going on in Jomtien, Chiang Mai, and Udon Thani?  I thought I could never get bored of Bangkok because it's such a lively and interesting city, but it really has not been as good as before the pandemic.  No more 24 hour bars.  Thailand wants to be like Singapore which kind of sucks.

 

 

 

 

There are many events and exhibitions or museums in BKK, which you have not visited yet I reckon.

Depends what you're looking for.

Good luck

[Paul52]

On 1/20/2025 at 7:25 PM, Yagoda said:

$4 a gram? Are you joking?

It does sounds incredibly expensive.  1 gram would be an about teaspoonful at the most.  $4 for the whole cake would be cheap.  $1 a slice/scoop would be pricey but ok-ish.

[Yagoda]

6 minutes ago, Paul52 said:

It does sounds incredibly expensive.  1 gram would be an about teaspoonful at the most.  $4 for the whole cake would be cheap.  $1 a slice/scoop would be pricey but ok-ish.

Have you been hitting the $20 gram stuff?

[LALes]

Jomtien blows.  Take it from someone who has lived there for 17 years.  Boring, bar infested nothing.  Beach water ain't clean, either.  No mall, one supermarket.  Most things you need you have to go in to pattaya for.  If you don't

drive, that means public transportation.

 That means hot sweaty overcrowded.Baht busses that take thirty to forty five minutes to get into pattaya.  

I try and spend as much time as possible away from there.

[Aussie999]

On 1/20/2025 at 8:55 AM, KhunBENQ said:

Anybody voting for Hua Hin?

I only know what you find on the net.

And that looks like a good mixture.

Don't know about the prices though.

 

The thread is in the Bangkok forum and might miss some attention?

Shhhhh, not want Hua Hin to turn into another Phuket or Pattaya 

[Aussie999]

On 1/20/2025 at 4:43 PM, bluemoon58 said:

Just what I was thinking KhunBENQ! From first hand experience, it has everything I need (even boom boom when required), in my opinion very affordable if on a budget and the poster who mentions all the cons is talking complete bs. Been here 13 years and if you know where to live and get a decent circle of friends, there's no need to go anywhere near the expensive tourist traps to have a very affordable,  pleasant life indeed. Love it that much that I'll kick the bucket 🪣 here! 

I've got friends coming over soon, can you suggest some spots to visit, both tourist and non tourist, and a nice swimming beach, besides Hua Hin beach.

[pchansmorn]

On 1/20/2025 at 7:55 AM, KhunBENQ said:

Anybody voting for Hua Hin?

I only know what you find on the net.

And that looks like a good mixture.

Don't know about the prices though.

 

The thread is in the Bangkok forum and might miss some attention?

Hua Hin is getting crowded these days and they have to many tourists arriving everyday.  But Cha Am is about 10-15 minutes away and it’s more country style living no tourist yet, half of dozen decent restaurants, wet market, chicken & pork market, nice beaches with few people, but for big shopping you have to take a trip to Hua Hin, there is a Makro in Cha Am though. We like living there because it’s quiet and relaxing.  Patrick 

[renaissanc]

In my opinion, you would become happy by spending time alone in nature for a few months. You seem to have lost the connection with your true self, with your true nature. Human beings are spiritual beings, not material beings. You'll never find true happiness with beer bars, nightclubs, bar girls, sex, money, and materialism. When you discover your spiritual self, you'll discover happiness. Until then, you'll simply be wandering from one thing to another in pursuit of happiness when ironically is to be found inside you and closer than your life's vein. ... If you want unconditional love in abundance, look after two rescued cats. I have 26. ... I wish you happiness!

[WDSmart]

I advise you to try some other country, any other country... 

[bluemoon58]

23 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

I've got friends coming over soon, can you suggest some spots to visit, both tourist and non tourist, and a nice swimming beach, besides Hua Hin beach.

https://thethaiger.com/travel/thailand-travel/places-around-hua-hin-that-you-should-visit

[noobexpat]

I lived in pattaya and went back for a weekend recently. I just can't live amongst the expats and tourists there. Many are fine, but most are scruffy low class folks, compared to my neighbourhood in bkk.

 

Empire tower in sathorn on a monday evening. Coffee on floor 55 first, then the sky bar on 56. Love the sky bars here. Not for the budget folks though...

 

[GypsyT]

On 2/9/2025 at 10:50 PM, Harrisfan said:

Go to Korat for a week. After that Bangkok will be exciting again.

Great advice!

I'm flying soon back to Manila to get beaten up again.

After that I'll be happy 2-3 months on Jomtien beach.