Having moved to Thailand 2 and a half years ago and working in a job with many ‘farang’ I can see both the positive and negative sides to the city for Westerners relocating here. My experience is pretty positive and I do not feel as if I will leave but I will also give the views of colleagues who have not stayed as long for various reasons.
Firstly I think Bangkok is a wonderful city where there is always something to do if you want to. Obviously living and working here are very different to going on vacation and most nights I will not go out, rather I will head to the gym after work or go straight home and cook dinner/relax with my partner. Sometimes I may pop to my local bar with my colleagues for a quick beer. But at weekends and when I have time off work there is always plenty to do from restaurants, bars, markets, malls and art exhibitions.
In terms of food you will never go hungry in BKK, there is food everywhere! If you like Thai food then you can live very cheaply from markets and street food vendors (or cooking yourself). However, if you cannot stomach Thai food and need to eat western food everyday then you will start to see money disappear more quickly. All types of food are available in the city from vegan cuisine, to Italian, Sunday roasts, Japanese, fish and chips, Greek, Maccy D’s, Lebanese, etc… but these often come with a higher price tag than the Thai food. The same goes for if you want to cook more western foods at home, ingredients that I took for granted in the UK were harder to come by and subject to huge import taxes. Cheese is a big one for me as I am obsessed with it! what I could pick up for 2 pounds in England will cost 200+ Thai baht (5 pounds) here. Luckily I love Thai food and keep the other stuff as a treat or when I am really craving it.
The bars are pretty good here too! Again they vary in price depending on location and drink selection. There are lots of quirky and ‘trendy’ bars around Thonglor and Ekamai, then there are the more toursity/expat ones along Sukhumvit road and the party ones down Khao San Road. I live away from this and in a slightly quieter area, which suits me fine. My local is near my work and we tend to head there on a Friday evening to see in the weekend. Local beers are 3 for 230 baht. Night markets are also pretty good for shopping,, food, beer and music, (the train market - talad rot fai) being one of the best.
One thing that I miss a bit is the theatre scene that I was used to in England but there are cultural things to do, just less than in London and obviously less in English language.
Language is an important thing and I really recommend that anyone moving here learns the language as it just makes everything more accessible and is just a polite thing to do if you live somewhere that does not have English as their first language. Yes you can get by with just English, many of my colleagues do, but it is a much better experience, easier and you are less likely to get ripped off if you can speak Thai. Also it is nice to be able to make friends that are not all expats, you get to find some really cool places that you may never have found hanging out with locals.
Accommodation here ranges in quality and price a lot; if you want to be in the ‘hub’ like Asoke area then expect to pay a lot of money for small condos. If you are happy to live further out then you get a lot more for your money. I live within 5 minutes ride from Rama 9 MRT station, so pretty convenient for getting around, in a slightly older condo block (1990s) These were luxurious when first built but do look a little dated now but perfectly acceptable. I have a 160sqm 2 bed 3 bath condo with 3 big balconies and views into the city for 600 pounds a month about the same as I paid for a bedroom in a house share in London! The condo also has a swimming pool and a (lousy) fitness room.
Getting used to the climate is a big thing when you live here too. It is all well and good enjoying 35 degree heat on a beach with a cold beer and a book but going to work in a suit, carrying your groceries home from 7–11 or washing the car become a chore when you are sweating through your 3rd t-shirt of the day. You do acclimatise so some degree but there is no getting away from the fact it is a hot country. There are 3 seasons; hot, very hot and very hot + wet.
One wonderful thing is that you can be on a tropical beach in a couple of hours or in a beautiful national park in 3 hours. Finish work on a friday, bags already packed in the morning, jump straight into the car and off we go. Hua Hin is about 3.5 hours away, Koh Larn is 2 hours by car then a boat, Koh Samet 4 hours then a boat, Khao Yai 2–3 hours, Kanchanaburi 3 hours. or get on a plane and you are in Hanoi in little over 90 minutes, Laos in 1 hour, Phuket in 75 minutes, etc. The possibilities are endless. Bangkok is one of the major hubs of air travel in South East Asia and you can get really cheap flights to so many places.
Traffic and pollution are pretty bad in Bangkok, which is a good reason to get out of the city at weekends and enjoy nature and fresh air… Getting anywhere in the city will take you double the time it should because it is chaotic. Bikes are a quicker way to get around during busy times as you can cut through the static traffic but make sure you know how to ride first and get a licence; Thailand has one of the highest fatality rates on the roads. Other than that, take the BTS, ARL or MRT if you can! There are 2 BTS (overground) lines and 2 MRT lines for now but there are many more being built currently. These are air conditioned and avoid all of the traffic problems and are relatively cheap compared to similar transport in the UK or US. The river and klongs are another good way to travel away from the traffic. I am lucky where I live there is a canal that goes all the way into the centre of BKK. I can just get a boat for about 10 baht and I am there in 15 minutes. You do have to consider transport when selecting a place to live because of the traffic. What do you want to do? Where do you need to go. I opted for somewhere close to my work as I have to go there 5 times a week and there is no BTS/MRT next to my job. So I prefer to be close to that and a bit further away from nightlife districts as I go there maybe one or two times a week. Many colleagues have opted to do the reverse because they like to be able to go out and have a beer or some dinner or go to a mall within 2 or 3 minutes and do not mind the extra commute to work.
Overall I love living here and this has been the best decision of my life so far. I am less stressed with work, managing to save more money and having more time to spend at home or doing things that I enjoy. Bangkok is not a city for everyone, some hate it, they hate the traffic, the constant hubbub of the city, the lack of paths, the oppressive heat, many things, but there are good and bad things to every place, and I feel the wonderful food, the variety of things to do, the ease of travelling to a tropical island, the people and the culture far outweigh the negative aspects.
Hope this helps
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