Most expats will never understand Thailand until they live here.
Then they find out quickly Thailand is not all about fancy tourist hotels and island hopping.
When you have to find a place to rent and go through all the daily mundane things that particular location offers on a fixed budget, it isn’t long before some get a completely different impression of Thailand.
Anything and everything from the traffic to the heat, starts to annoy them.
In the end it all comes down to how much money you have and whether you have the funds to travel and escape the mundane.
Single men might like the city for it’s nightlife and sacrifice living in a box sized condo, to be able to go out every night in the entertainment district’s.
One issue we often see, is after meeting a woman, wanting to settle down and she is NOT going to live in a box sized condo.
That means finding land, often building a house and relocating to a rural area she calls home.
With home ownership comes all the chores you left your own country to escape.
Living in Thailand outside of tourist areas and cities, you also will find no one can speak English, or they speak a different dialect of Thai.
There will be no taxi’s and transportation may be limited.
VISA’s, you have to keep on top of your reports and your annual VISA requirements.
Some find out in the end, if they are not island hopping or staying at the Marriot, that life in Thailand is not all it is cracked up to be.
It is up to each individual to plot their own course when moving to Thailand.
If you have limited funds or need to work as an English teacher to survive, your happiness in Thailand may be very short lived.
It takes money and as each year passes it will take more and more money.
Thailand is not a free ride and the island hopping never lasts more than 2 weeks.
If you are thinking about spending the rest of your life in Thailand, do some serious planning and make sure you can afford it.