OP. I came here in my mid 30s on a 5 year sabatical. I was not single, I had (and still have) a Western gf.

Here's my 2 cents:

The locals will always be locals no matter how educated they are. Thai structures are very rigid and very complex. You can meet great people but Thai will be Thai. Nuf said.

Brings us to the expats. IMO they can be devided in the good (often educated, doing well in thailand professionally or happily-retired), the bad (sexpats, white trash, scum) and the ugly (bitter, frustrated, often alcoholic know-it-alls, often with dominant isaan wife, often self-proclaimed thailand specialists, often speak +/- 40 thai words after being here 10 years, often wearing a buddhist amulet). In my experience (but I have never lived in BKK or any touristy area) the "ugly" are the majority here (60%) and a total pain in the @ss. On a first meeting they might be able to listen to your story and engage into a "conversation". After that it's a one-way system, complaining, telling you don't understand thailand, etc. So my advice: find the good! They often have a low-profile, will rarely drink beer chang and don't wear budhist amulets, haha!

Brilliant post and oh so true.

...

i love reading all this crap generally posted by people sitting around behind the computer in their village palaces stripped down to their underwear to save a baht on AC.

I kid myself I'm being environmentally friendly with the air con off, stripped down to my boxers, enjoying a breeze through the open windows.

They've had trouble renting out the place opposite for a while now, though...

SC

This topic is passed it's use by date. Thanks for the useful contributions, however, too many troll posts are being removed.

Closed.