Move To Cm

[quailegg]

Hello,

I am going to move to Chiang Mai within the next 6 to 8 month and want to know what to bring from the US and what would be just as easy and least expensive to replace when I get here. Want to rent a small house.

I won't have alot of extra money. Do they have garage sale/ goodwill type things in Thailand. Really looking forward (and scared) to an adventure.

I would really like advise . Thank You,

[WaatWang]

Hi Quail Egg,

I've lived here for about 1.5 ys and just had a trip back home recently. I can tell you what I brought back most of (because I have difficulty buying them here) were clothes and beauty supplies. Especially jeans, and cute feminine looking shirts. Even though I'm a M in the US, I'm an XL here because of the size difference between Asia and US. There is a lot of underwear cheap here but it just does not seem very durable, and also the size difference makes it difficult to buy that stuff here.

Sure wish there was a Goodwill - nothing like that here that I've found. Secondhand stuff seems to be looked down on in Thailand. There are a few pawn shops around but they seem to try to sell for high prices even though their stuff is used. Definitely not like in the US where you can get everything high quality second hand for next to nothing! I am currently in Pattaya area, not Chiang Mai, so maybe some locals up there would have more ideas for you.

There is a Craigslist for Thailand but it's the whole country, so you'll need to look at each item to find out how far from Chiang Mai it is. Maybe you can find some good deals that way.

As far as household products, if you go to the night markets you can get the items you'll need for your house, like towels, bedding sets, dishes, storage containers, etc quite inexpensively.

So, why are you coming to Thailand? Good luck with your move!

Kind regards,

WaatWang

[amykat]

Bring your own sheets. Sheets are crap here, and usually you can't find anything with a top sheet, or you will spend 20,000 baht for a set you could get, shopping well, for $40-50 in the US.

Towels are also crap here, so you might want to bring a few of those. However, it isn't such a big bite if you want to buy some imported ones. Towels seem to be made out of only materials that repel water for some reason, and don't feel good. However, super thick nice towels take 3 days to dry, so pick carefully. As well, if you like to have a mattress cover or any special pillows, those are good things to bring. Covers cost ridiculous amounts, and pillow tend to be like rocks ...other pillows are very expensive ...like down,or memory foam, or other specialty items, forget about it.

,

Any and all underwear and bras ...they are not the same here, it seems Thai women have no space between boobs, easy to see they have such small frames. I am the max size here I think, a 34C in the US, and I have rarely found a bra that fits as I actually have an inch or more space between boobs, as well as underwear ...for some reason, underwear also has some smaller patch area between the legs ...and to go along with that, period pads, are the size of giant diapers ...not sure how people are making those work, so I would bring a big supply of tampons, those are a total rip-off here.

Any vitamins or supplements you like, those are 3 times the price here ...I get boxes sent to me a few times a year, that includes all of these things.

And well I would include clothes. Either the clothes here won't fit well, and I am small, wear an XS, and also petite in the US, and the quality is crap too. If you like plain t-shirts, without a bunch of stupid, nonsensical phrases written all over your body, you really can't find just plain shirts here. And just in general, I think Asian ladies like to have poofs, and bells and whistles on their clothes, it seems to give their body some shape, but doesn't really work on farang woman, unless you are under 100 pounds maybe? But do not bring low cut shirts, and your idea about what is low cut, will change after you get here ...although some Thai ladies walk around nearly naked, in many cases, mostly their legs, they think showing 2 inches of your neck is a total scandal. And there seems to be different standards for Thai and farang ladies. I was told, and did experience, that "farang women are all whores, because we don't charge for sex" so you need to dress more carefully than Thai ladies do. I would not bring short, shorts, try to get bermuda type shorts, the ones that go down to your knees or close to that.

High-heels, probably not needed here, you are probably taller than most men already, they don't work well with the crap streets and you feel like a giant already ...at least me, and I am 5' 3".

You might consider any make up you like, although you may find it impossible or pointless to wear here ...as everything just sweats off, but colors aren't really made for us, and perfume, if you like any nice brands, that will cost you a lot here ...but they also won't last long due to the heat, so you might just give that up ...another thing I think just sweats off before you leave the bathroom, and turns into colored water after some months.

I would bring a good, manual can opener, as every one here seems totally unable to open an actual can. Then hide it if you have Thai friends at your house, it will be the first thing stolen. Good knives as well, hard to come by ...first thing stolen. You will be surprised at what things your "freinds" steal from you ...practically my whole kitchen was stolen, many times here.

Leave leather and maybe artwork at home, everything will fall apart, be growing fungus here. You will find, you put on a pair of newer shoes, from the US, and after 5 minutes, the tread falls off, crumbles. Although you may never need socks here, if you do, try to buy them here, those are also crap, not 100% cotton. And cotton PJ type things, sort of like boxer man styles, are good to wear at home, but not so easily found here.

Anything tight, with lycra will probably be unbearable in the heat, but that might just be me. Anything that is totally white, will soon be destroyed, due to people washing and not separating colors, or some mysterious thing in closets, that puts big yellow stains on only white clothes, I haven't figured out what that is yet. But your white clothes will be the first thing ruined here and they don't seem to sell replacements.

Deoderant or anti-perspirant usually sucks here, and stains clothes, so bring a few of your favorites, like Mitchum is a good choice.

Basically, anthing imported, will cost you 3 times what it does in the US. And I think most of the imported things are from China, and low quality crap, like the rejects from first world markets ....I buy a lot of things when traveling, because a lot of things you can't bring from the US, like electronic everything, however you can find good deals in other nearby countries ...like electric toothbrushes, irons, small appliances, so if you will be traveling, especially to Malaysia or Indonesia, you can buy some things there.

And another note about sheets, and to some extent clothes ...many Thai or Asian? people love cartoons. So, if you like non-cotton everything, and want to decorate your house/body with Mickey Mouse/Teddy Bear bullshit, you will really like it here. I've seen several fairly well-off people who fill their curio cabinets and cars, with stuffed animals, cartoon stickers, cartoon sheets, plastic cartoon statues, cartoon shower curtains, if they have one at all, cartoon floor mats... I have visited several rental homes, where they want 40K baht and more, where the entire home is one cartoon nightmare, stickers all over the dam_n place, in windows, cartoon tiles, they seem to have a cartoon sickness here.

Jeans, if you wear them, bring them. The jeans here won't fit unless you lare very small, like skin-tight, and back pockets near your knees, and they are too expensive. Unless your legs are the size of most people's arms, you wont be able to buy any here.

I think khaki pants are good to wear here, good due to the light color, good due to the cotton, and look decent in most situations. However I have never bought some here, get them sent from the US.

Okay, well good luck with everything and hope you will enjoy your time here.

[quailegg]

Hi WaatWang,

Thank you so much for the information. That is what I was looking for. I have a cousin living in CM that I visited a year ago this month and really liked the people and area, in spite of the smoke. I'm 62 and figure if I'm going to be adventurous I'd better just do it.

Thanks again,

Quail Egg

Hi Quail Egg,

I've lived here for about 1.5 ys and just had a trip back home recently. I can tell you what I brought back most of (because I have difficulty buying them here) were clothes and beauty supplies. Especially jeans, and cute feminine looking shirts. Even though I'm a M in the US, I'm an XL here because of the size difference between Asia and US. There is a lot of underwear cheap here but it just does not seem very durable, and also the size difference makes it difficult to buy that stuff here.

Sure wish there was a Goodwill - nothing like that here that I've found. Secondhand stuff seems to be looked down on in Thailand. There are a few pawn shops around but they seem to try to sell for high prices even though their stuff is used. Definitely not like in the US where you can get everything high quality second hand for next to nothing! I am currently in Pattaya area, not Chiang Mai, so maybe some locals up there would have more ideas for you.

There is a Craigslist for Thailand but it's the whole country, so you'll need to look at each item to find out how far from Chiang Mai it is. Maybe you can find some good deals that way.

As far as household products, if you go to the night markets you can get the items you'll need for your house, like towels, bedding sets, dishes, storage containers, etc quite inexpensively.

So, why are you coming to Thailand? Good luck with your move!

Kind regards,

WaatWang

[pjclark1]

Sheets, towels and a Kindle.

[nephron]

Contrary to what amykat says, I've not had any problems buying clothes in Thailand that I'm comfortable with, whether casual or work. I'm 27, 5'7" and about a US 6-8. If I was much bigger it'd be hard though. I have larger feet though (US10) and shoes are just about impossible.

[Carry]

There's lots of stuff to be found on the different nightmarkets in Bangkok, second hand from clothing to furniture to complete tv sets and so on, wouldnt ship any of that stuff from home, even new furniture isnt that expensive here and u need different things than back home, espec. if u havent got a space to live yet...see where thast brings u maybe a furnished app./room?

[sbk]

OP is moving to Chiang Mai tho Carry.

Shoes are tough - I am a US 8 (size 40 here) and can find shoes but I do search. I am a 36 C and do manage to find bras but they don't fit well. I buy those in the US when I go home every year. Underwear, well I do find ones that fit but they are invariably just nylon g-strings, which are ok sometimes, but if you want decent cotton undies, bring those.

Sheets, nice ones are very expensive. I brought high count cotton sheets from Target a few years back and it was the smartest thing I ever carried over.

tampons, only ones I have ever seen have been OB, and they aren't cheap. Unfortunately, if you are here for a while you just have to learn to make do with what you have as you can't possibly buy and carry enough for an entire year. I do buy toothpaste in the US as I dislike the sweet toothpaste here, and fortunately they are small enough that I can carry a years supply.

I have found clothes in Thailand but that all depends on size and what kinds of clothes you want to wear.

[quailegg]

Thank you all for your help. I will be bringing all you have suggested. Great info!

Kindest regards,

Quail Egg

[Carry]

Well bringing stuff from Bangkok to CM is still a whole lot cheaper and closer than bringing stuff all the way from another continent when not necessary! [like furniture]

I alwaysbring lots of bra's from home since I really dont fit the thai ones, these are things u have to figure out as well when your here...

Basicly there's nothing that u can't find here in some form or another, the advices are mainly for comfort reasons I guess.

[SadieMBeagle]

I have been living in CM for nearly 1.5 years. In my experience, I can find anything I need here, or at least a decent substitute. For those things I can't live without (Burt's Bees Lip Balm! OMG!!!), I have my family send some over in the mail. For things like clothes, I haunt the numerous export shops (shops selling the "seconds" of clothes that are made in SE Asia and sold in the west - like Banana Republic, J. Crew, GAP, Old Navy, etc., etc.), plus go to Robinson's Dept. Store. I guess if you really have a hard time, you can go to Bangkok for the weekend, where they have the actual GAP clothing store, plus all those lovely shops that can be found in places like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. (Places where the hoi polloi such as myself can't afford to shop But I like to look in the window!)

Bottom line is, it's not a third world country. We have stuff here. Also, try to form a network of women who've been living here longer than you. I never did that until recently, so had to go all around town doing everything for myself. Which kinda sucked, but also means that I know a lot about where to get things. Feel free to contact me once you get here with any questions, by the way

Good luck with the move!

[NancyL]

I agree with the earlier observations about sheets and towels. I finally ended up making a trip to Bangkok just to spend a small fortune on them. I did find bras in CM (I'm a 34 C in the U.S.) but still haven't found good cotton underpants. Ditto on socks and I'm a size 8 shoe. Mitchum deodorant isn't available here, but after reading about it on the internet, I finally had my armpits botoxed. Procedures like that are much cheaper here than in the U.S. and now the Thai deodorants work just fine. I don't use tampons anymore, but the selection here seems very limited. There are many varieties of pads available, though.

I've found that I dress very differently than I did in my home country. There are many excellent fabric shops and dressmakers in CM. Get to know some ladies about the same age and build as you, that dress nicely. Ask them where they get their clothes and they'll be pleased to take you to their dressmaker. The Thai dressmakers are pros at copying an item, even from photographs. In the U.S. I wore khaki pants and tee shirts from Lands Ends as daily attire. Now I wear flowing dresses and skirts. Indulge your inner girlie-girl.

I miss some of my kitchen items. Yes, definitely bring a good manual can-opener with you. We go thru 4 or 5 Thai can openers a year. Thank god we brought our wine-bottle opener. I hate think what they must be like here. I wish I'd brought my larger teflon-coated skillet. I brought the smaller one, mainly because I could fit it into a 12" x 12" priority mail box. I eye the bigger ones at Rim Ping grocery store and gulp at the prices.

[Goinghomesoon]

There is a lady in Bangkok that sells the hotel-quality cotton linen out of her apartment at m-u-c-h cheaper prices than in the department stores (I think she sources from a factory that makes them for export.) Since the OP is moving to CM it might not be an option, but she might mail or send stuff up to you. You need to measure your bed anyway when you arrive, as the mattresses are bizarre dimensions. PM me if you want the linen lady's details.

[sawatdeeyesitsme]

Mitchum deodorant for sure. When I made a trip home to the UK in September it was on special in the supermarket, so I ended up buying a dozen.

If you wear Max Factor make-up, then buy that at home as I've never been able to find it out here. I do tend to wear a lot of foundation because I've got a lot of marks on my face, otherwise I wouldn't bother. Plus, if you like wearing a decent mascara, I'd recommend bringing that out with you.

Tampons! Although, in Boots the Chemist they do have applicator tampons, so didn't feel the need to bring that many tampax back out with me.

Bras. I'm a 36E back in the UK and tend to like investing in decent bras.

Shoes - I'm a size 42. I can get shoes to fit me here, but I find it hard to find a nice pair of ballet flats for casual wear. However, I would agree with the comment that if they have a synthetic sole, it may disintegrate very quickly (which happened to 3 pairs of cheap shoes I brought over from the UK).

Books. I wish I'd brought more out with me.

I'd definitely recommend investing in Thai-English dictionary back home. I found it impossible to get one with transliterations of Thai words into English here.