Is this actually a good place to live?

[AlexRich]

Thailand can be a good place to live for a young guy working here on an ex pat salary (for a large corporation) or earning a good income working as a so-called digital nomad (although not all of them earn well).

Outside of these groups I'm not convinced that most 23 year olds would be wise to attempt to build a career in Thailand ... the rules and laws of the country make it difficult to pursue entrepreneurial projects and the salaries on offer for local work are not particularly good. I think it would make sense to build a career in the home country and only come here when you have a sizeable nest egg.

It can be a great place to 'hang out' but ultimately I'd always want the option of returning to my home country if I got bored or the political situation took a turn for the worse. And for that you need some capital behind you ... which might be difficult if you arrive here young.

[roadrunerboi]

NO! It is not a good place to live...

It is an AWESOME place to live!

555

[WishWashMan]

How much Thai have you learned? A solid command of Thai language very much changes (and enriches) your experience living there. Imagine someone coming from another country to live in yours, without a good command of the language, and what kind of perceptions/experiences they might have. Just something to think about.

Speek thai is overrated. You still dealing with people who genereally have much disdain for you.

Be generous and helpful(give lots of money) and you will do fine................hahahahaha.

[Fookhaht]

Location location location, you perspective will be determined largely by your surroundings.

What you see and feel in a main tourist area or large city will be totally different to what you see and feel in a rural area or away from the usual beaten track.

Its not wise to judge an entire country or nation of people based on just one or two locations or a variety of "tourist" areas.

Hear hear!

The longer I live in my Thai location (over a decade which has included a tsunami and two coups), the safer I feel than in my home country, Thai tourist areas, and certainly Bangkok. The OP needs to broaden his/her horizons.

[thaibeachlovers]

Whether Thailand is a good place to live really depends on what you are doing there. When the honeymoon phase is over it's all about

how you spend your life, i.e. work, family, etc.

In general Thailand is not a good place to live for Westerners. There are many problems with it that even the smartest long term expats can never get beyond.

Some of these include the terrible heat, the fact that the country is hugely corrupt, and does not allow foreigners to have the

same economic rights as locals (i.e. ownership, etc.), the fact that it's practically impossible to ever become a citizen,

the fact that Thais (unlike filipinos) don't really want foreigners to integrate with them,

the more often than not thai-farang romantic relationships going sour, often with the

farang taking massive losses,

the increasing hostility towards foreigners over the past decade or so,

the completely different culture which Westerners fail to understand

and so on...

if you can figure out a way to live in you own little world where these things don't affect you, then it could be okay.

Bullshit

It's a great place for foreigners to live but only those with a flexible attitude

People complaining about not having the ability to buy land are just pissed they can't leapfrog the locals and take advantage of rising prices. Saps who failed to get a piece of the Western real estate boom just want a headstart on the poor, economically-ignorant locals. The standard argument is that Thais can buy land in the West easily but that's being disingenuous. Markets in the West are developed. How many Thais can even afford to travel to the UK or Europe let alone buy up swathes of land?

Personaly, I hope the Thais NEVER change that law. If you want to buy land, there's plenty for sale in the West

It really is as simple as that

I don't think the majority of Thais give a f*** whether Westerners integrate or not. Most of us - myself included - can barely string together a sentence in Thai but it doesn't inordinately affect our lives here.

Relationships go sour because loser farangs who found it hard to get their penises wet in the West come here and become addicted to the easy lay focusing almost entirely on the pool of women immediately and most obviously available to them

They take losses because they're morons who think with their genitalia, not because these women are undiscovered masters of strategy

There is no "increasing hostility" towards foreigners - incidents are just reported more. I accept that there could be more awareness among Thais about just how many foreigners come here and disrespect the country, the culture and the women but that doesn't automatically translate into more attacks

I Like your post. We are mostly on the same wavelength, especially about farangs buying land. Given what is happening in NZ I wish NZ had the same laws to stop the madness. I too hope farangs will NEVER be allowed to buy land in LOS.

I have never found a Thai not in the tourist industry to discriminate against me simply for being a farang.

However, I disagree with your comment about disrespecting Thai women. Thai men are pretty good at that themselves. I've heard too many tales of abusive husbands to think otherwise. IMO Thai men couldn't care less about farangs with Thai women, unless it's getting a cut of the earnings.

[Gary A]

Terrible heat? Yes it does get hot. That said, the only place I EVER want to see ice again is in my glass. If the heat is too much, there is always my air conditioned bedroom, computer room and my vehicles. After all these years here, I still enjoy the genuine smiles from the locals. No one will even convince me that those smiles are not genuine.

I cannot eat all the Isaan food but I probably eat 90 percent Thai food. Fortunately my wife is a great cook. It's her fault that we rarely go to restaurants. Her cooking is better. Everytime I go to a local place that sells booze, I always have to politely decline the offers to drink with the guys. If lao kao was the only booze available, I'd be a teetotaller.

Whenever I have some grunt work to do, the guys know that I will usually offer them a couple beers. Most drink that horrible lao kao because beer is too expensive. I don't have any problems getting help. A few of the stores will charge you a farang tax but you soon learn which ones to avoid. I should add that most of those stores are Chinese owned.

Not everyone can be happy living in the boonies but it suits me well. I hope my wife continues to put up with me because I'd hate to have to go back to the farang ghettos.

[Stradavarius37]

Go back to the UK. The nanny state will make you feel safe, young man.

[Erik BKK]

I actually love most things here. Everything is convenient and affordable. I also love my job which might help. The only problem is the occasional encounter with locals.