Bringing A Thai To A Cold(er) Country

[Radius]

I am sure many of you have done it.

Please share your stories.

With cold(er) I mean 15 degrees and below.

Did he/she adjust fast?

Did he/she have enough warm clothing?

What surprised him/her?

And so on.

Please share.

[bravingbangkok]

I am sure many of you have done it.

Please share your stories.

With cold(er) I mean 15 degrees and below.

Did he/she adjust fast?

Did he/she have enough warm clothing?

What surprised him/her?

And so on.

Please share.

My wife has been to London a few times and even skiing ! She mainly gets very cold hands and feet but surprisingly not that ill. I think she was most surprised by the open spaces of London, the way nothing is too tall in the centre, she loved up the architecture. The first time she went she could not understand why everyone was not white/caucasian hahahahaha

[h90]

I am sure many of you have done it.

Please share your stories.

With cold(er) I mean 15 degrees and below.

Did he/she adjust fast?

Did he/she have enough warm clothing?

What surprised him/her?

And so on.

Please share.

You must take care for the clothes....they just won't believe it.

My wife is well educated but jumped with very little clothes for fun in the snow at minus 10 degree......she needed 1 hour to recover.

Buy some warm clothes.

If it has minus 10 degree buy clothes you would wear if it has minus 40 degree....

[mmushr00m]

Wife has been to cold 0c to -5c.

But this time we are going home for a vacation in Feb where -5c will be considered warm.

1) yes, but 0c isnt that cold

2) I though she did, she didnt think so

3) Ppl walking around with just a t-shirt and a jacket (unzipped). (afterall it was only 0c)

She found shovelling snow fun...................for 5minutes.

She discovered that water can be so cold it actually feels like its burning.

She discovered from my family that she had married the crazy son.

She started saying "eh" too much.

[chickenslegs]

Mostly, my wife enjoyed the cold weather in the uk. She especially liked getting into a cold bed and pulling a 3" thick quilt over us - though later we did buy an electric blanket and she enjoyed that too.

Often, during the day, she preferred to switch off the central heating and put on a few extra clothes.

Obviously, snow was a big thrill but we didn't get much during the few years we lived in England.

The only weather she didn't take to was the wintery drizzle we get so often.

Regarding clothing - we didn't need to buy much. Extra layers do the trick. One good coat, socks, gloves and suitable shoes were all she needed.

She (so that means we) was very happy in the uk.

One of the main reasons she settled so quickly was her ability to spot another Thai across a crowded shopping centre, introduce herself and make friends. Even though she gets on really well with my friends and family I think she would have had a harder time with no Thai pals to talk to and cook for.

What surprised her - prices of course, cleanliness of the streets, drinking water straight from the tap, still daylight a 10pm.

Still, she (and that means we) was very pleased to come home to Thailand.

Edited November 27, 2008 by chickenslegs

[mickmac]

Took herself over to Ireland last January/Feb.

Arrived in Dublin 19:00, collected car drove to Hotel at Liffey Valley shopping centre. Before checking in went to Marks and Spencer in shopping centre, bought her 2 sets of long sleeve/long leg thermal underwear. Kept her warm for the remainder of the trip.

She loved the fact that we also had 4 days of snow and that it settled for a few days.

This is a woman that gets close to me in the Supermarket when we are in the frozen food section. She survived and no complaints about the cold. Make sure she has a good coat, hat, scarf and gloves.

[thesunset75]

First time I was here on Sunday morning January 2007...I asked my bf where every goes ?

Now I realized yes they are busy on saterday for shopping really busy these day for Sinterklaas.

I can wear only long sleeve shirt while other people wearing sweater in Paris which I surprised my bf alot.

I can eat anything people eat here but then found out I alergic to wheat and chicken egg. So I have to cook food on my way by avoiding those alergic things.

I do the same thing other poster says turn off heater and put extra cloths on.

Playing in snow with out sweater, people asked what ??? are you playing in the snow with those cloths ? yeah I LOVE cold weather

I hate over 25-40 degrees in Thailand.

But many people still can not adjust that well, so prepare some extra cloths yes, she will get use to it in a while.

One thing I dont like here is strong wind almost blow me off the street while im biking.

Most I still enjoy life here.

Best wish.

Sunset

Edited November 27, 2008 by thesunset75

[WeeGB]

Like most other folks who've replied, my wife felt the cold mostly in her hands and feet. Suggest buying her one of those wooly hat/scarf/gloves combinations, plus some of those thermal socks.

I'd also suggest she buys some underwear before she goes, my missus is quite small and struggled to find bras that fit her in the UK, she reckons the sizes are different to Thailand.

Hope she enjoys it.

[wileycoyote]

Never mind the cold outside,if she has a warm heart ,she will cope OK

Lots of layers,home made soup & ability to phone home frequently

Good Luck

[Radius]

Thank you all for these great replies. They are of great use and funny also, they bring a smile to my face.

Edited November 27, 2008 by Radius

[snuggzzz]

My Thai Wife bought herself PJ's, housecoat and furlined boots to walk around the house in the last few days when the Temperature dropped to minus 3. She loves Charity Shops and the Sales, so gettting warm clothing isn't a problem, so long as upon arrival a nice big coat is available.

After registering with the Doctor, she has had the flu jab, plus all other jabs, tetanus, polio etc., she's also booked in for smear test, so she has had an all round check up to equip her for life in the UK.

As someone else mentioned, we have a telephone network which allows her to ring home to Thailand for 2p per minute, if you have a Computer, you can download Thai TV, I've also had it wired with a camera and microphone so she can see and speak to her friends and family as well.

We just discussed the only thing she dislikes is that it gets dark very early, 4pm until 7am next month it'll be 3.30pm until 8am; but in the Summer it'll be light until 9.30-10pm it's living in the Northern Hemisphere..... Good luck to you both....

[jetjock]

My Thai wife and I are currently in Chicago visiting my family where the low temperature has been around -2 C. for the last few days. Although my wife travels alot in the US and Europe and is familiar with cold climates, she says she would NEVER-EVER want to live in a cold climate. She does prefer the climate where we live in California and Hawaii very much over Thailand's heat but would always choose a very hot climate over a cold climate.

Edited November 27, 2008 by jetjock

[henryalleman]

When my wife arrived in Europe 33 years ago she thought she will die because of the cold. My heating bill was sky high, many times she put on 3 sweaters and was still sitting with her back against the heating radiator.

Now 33 years later she love the cold, we even sleep with open windows when -5 Celsius. She adores the fresh wind. She always said that in our climate she can breath whit open lungs and its more healthy than in Thailand. When we are in Thailand its the cold climate she miss the most, and also the changing of the colors in nature when the autumn starts.

[Geekfreaklover]

When my wife arrived in Europe 33 years ago she thought she will die because of the cold. My heating bill was sky high, many times she put on 3 sweaters and was still sitting with her back against the heating radiator.

Now 33 years later she love the cold, we even sleep with open windows when -5 Celsius. She adores the fresh wind. She always said that in our climate she can breath whit open lungs and its more healthy than in Thailand. When we are in Thailand its the cold climate she miss the most, and also the changing of the colors in nature when the autumn starts.

So it only took 33 years fo her to adjust to the climate??

[lowerlakeside]

My wife landed in Toronto on Christmas eve .I had come to the airport with enough goose down and polar fleece ,mitts hats boots to spend the night in the Arctic.

i will never forget when the airport doors opened and she saw her breath for the first time! Its one of my fondest memories.

Any way the drive to where i live is about 2 hours and as we drove north the snow got deeper and the snow banks higher till we reached home in the wee hours to -15C and snow covering everything.

By mid winter she was driving my snowmobile up and down the lake and learning to ice skate on the rink we shovelled off on the lake.

So hopefully you and your Thai wife will have similar great memories.Its all what you make of it isnt it.

G.

[Kf6vci]

My wife visited Germany and Scotland in April. Lousy weather and she felt very cold. ++ I bought some 100% cashmere overcoat for the next trip. Light and warm and cheap on eBay. Finding the appropriate clothes in LOS might be a challenge.

[thesunset75]

My wife visited Germany and Scotland in April. Lousy weather and she felt very cold. ++ I bought some 100% cashmere overcoat for the next trip. Light and warm and cheap on eBay. Finding the appropriate clothes in LOS might be a challenge.

I agreed about cheap cloths in Thailand, even brand names here still double - triple prices !!

Shoes (Boots) in Europe are variaty and nice to choose and good quality than Boots in Thailand

Wish you and your wife all the best Kah.

[dingdongrb]

My wife lived in the USA (Colorado) for 2 years with me before we moved here to LOS. She really didn't have a hard time adjusting to the cold as we bought warm clothes for her as well as an electric mattress pad (much better than an electric blanket). Her biggest bewilderments were:

1) How was she able to go outside when it was cold out and see smoke come out of her mouth when she wasn't smoking?

2) How did the house stay warm and how did the heat come from those floor vents (where was it coming from)?

She learned many things in the two years she spent there. Probably much more quicker than the things I am learning and being puzzled about here in Thailand. (i.e. How do they actually fit 5 people + on those dam_n small scooters? How can someone sweat anymore while sitting in 100 degree 95% humid climate by just eating Tom Yum Goong? How can being pulled over errrrr 'waved over' by a policeman cost me just $2 and not get a ticket? etc. etc. etc..........)

[rocky3]

My wife and I were married in Jan 1969 and I was transferred to RAF Greenham Common, England in April, She arrived in June 1969 and with the constant drizzle year round we were both cold from the damp climate and many nights we curled up under the blankets for warmth. We had storage heaters that used electricity (off peak on a shilling meter) and gave off vary little heat during the remainder of the day. Both of us had cold feet but I remember her cold nose in the middle of my back on many occasions in the middle of the night. We dressed warm when we went out and she eventually learned how to enjoy the warm days to the fullest. I think the cold drizzle of rain was the worst as it never seemed to stop. Our daughter was born on the 20th of Nov '69 and keept us home and out of the cold most of the time. I did not make much money then as a young Airman so we could not go out often. When it snowed for the first time we had some fun outdoors playing in the snow. We did adapt some to the weather and after four years were reassigned to Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base and boy was it hot. We spent 4 weeks in California befor going to Thailand where she finally got to meet my family they fell in love with her and our talkative 3 year old daughter. They were all crying when we left for Thailand not knowing when we would return as I had planned on staying as long as they would let me extend for, which ended up being 18 months as the Vietnam war was winding down and we were turning the base back over to the Thai Air Force. We went to Texas for a year of training where our son was born. If you do not like the weather in Texas wait 30 mins. and it will change. We were in the middle of the Tornado Ally at Whichta Falls, Tx and living in a mobile home park. Not a good place for sleep with all of the tornado alerts and warnings on T.V. in the evenings. Gosh I did not mean to highjack this post with our life story. We are now living in Thailand and the children and grand children are in California.

[henryalleman]

My wife visited Germany and Scotland in April. Lousy weather and she felt very cold. ++ I bought some 100% cashmere overcoat for the next trip. Light and warm and cheap on eBay. Finding the appropriate clothes in LOS might be a challenge.

can find warm clothes at Pantip plaza 2 at the ground floor

Thai Garment outlet shop where they sell overstocks from their factory on Chaeng Wattana;

you can find there real winter jackets, sweaters, socks and so on, all top quality and about 25% of the price in Europe.

[Radius]

My wife visited Germany and Scotland in April. Lousy weather and she felt very cold. ++ I bought some 100% cashmere overcoat for the next trip. Light and warm and cheap on eBay. Finding the appropriate clothes in LOS might be a challenge.

can find warm clothes at Pantip plaza 2 at the ground floor

Thai Garment outlet shop where they sell overstocks from their factory on Chaeng Wattana;

you can find there real winter jackets, sweaters, socks and so on, all top quality and about 25% of the price in Europe.

Good tip, thanks.

[Underdog]

Took my missus to Harbin, -30 or colder, she was really surprised how her hair froze...now that was COLD!

[Lockstock]

I brought my wife to the UK about 7 years ago. Since then we have had a long line of relatives visit. Initially they all were surprised/curious at the cold but soon got used to it. Most if not all of them preferring the colder weather. It is easier to stay warm during an English winter than cool during a Thai summer.

Now when we visit back to Thailand (PAD permitting) my wife cant wait to get back to the comfort of a cooler UK.

The weather will not be a problem. What you need to worry about is that there is a ready supply of Thai and Asian food stuffs within a reasonable driving distance from home.

Never get between a Thai woman and her food

Good luck.

Byron.