Updated: 01/21/2018 | Orignally posted: 1/10/2009
I’ve been living in Bangkok on and off for two years now. It’s become my base of operations as I backpack around Thailand and Asia. It’s the place I return to when I am out of money and need to work. I’ve developed a network of friends, service contacts, learned the language, and mastered the city.
But now this chapter in my life is over. I need to say goodbye to being an expat in the city.
I first came here with my friend Scott in 2005. We were on holiday and, upon landing in Bangkok, made a decision the first thing we had to do was figure out how to get out. We hated the city. It was dirty, crowded, polluted, seedy, and boring. We didn’t come here for crowded, hectic city streets. We wanted beaches and parties and jungles. You know, the “real” Thailand.
Even when I returned to Thailand in 2006, I spent just 10 hours in the city before leaving for the islands. I couldn’t leave the city fast enough. Again, why would I want to spend time in a massive, chaotic city when I could be kicking back on the beach?
But, when I made a decision I wanted to improve my Thai, I moved to Bangkok. It was the best place to learn the language as Bangkok Thai is considered the standard; learning it in one of the outside provinces would have given me a a lot more obvious accent. On top of that, it would be much much easier to find a teacher in Bangkok (especially one that could also speak English). I figured I would hard it out for a month, learn what I could, and then be on my way.
But things changed, as they often do, and I found myself living in the city. before I knew it, I started to take pleasure in my time there. Bangkok started to become a place that I liked spending time in…and then it became a place that I loved. As I pertained to realize, the city has a lot to offer if you know where to look.
As a vacationer on those first visits, I didn’t know where to look — which is why I never took pleasure in my time. but once I was able to peel back the curtain and get a look of the real city, it became a place that I loved. It’s one of my favorite cities in the world.
As I leave in a couple of weeks to go show in Taipei, I can’t help but think about all the things this city has taught me.
5 lessons learned from Living in Bangkok
Living in Bangkok taught me that first impressions are nearly always wrong. I hated the city when I first came here, yet the longer I stayed, the a lot more the city opened up to me and the a lot more I found it an exciting and riveting place to live. had I judged it by my first impression of it, I never would have stayed and learned how to make it in a city. I never would have developed the network I would have.
Living in Bangkok taught me that notions about safety are overrated. In the West, we’re incredibly safety-minded. and if we aren’t, someone will be sure to sue us. but here you see little kids driving motorbikes and people running across busy streets, jumping on and off buses, and walking on sidewalks with gaping holes leading into pipes. Western lawyers would have a field day here. but by living here, I’ve learned that safety, while important, is not as crucial as having a level head. few accidents happen because a lot of people are just conscious of their surroundings and use their heads.
So are notions about cleanliness. Last night, I ate Thai food on the street next to a motorcycle stand. The night before I had chicken BBQ made with chicken that clearly had been sitting there for some time (on ice). The woman who cooks my Pad Thai uses her hands to make it. Yet here I sit, still alive. They say a lot of the reason children develop allergies is because we’re so hyper clean that their bodies don’t develop resistance. There’s no talk about peanut allergies and wheat allergies here. Our species lasted thousands of years a bit dirty. Bangkok taught me that a little dirt never really hurt anyone.
Living in Bangkok taught me that I can be tone deaf yet still learn a tonal language. I love learning languages. I’m also horrible at learning them. It takes me a long time to pick a new one up. I still can’t roll my R’s when I speak Spanish even though I started studying it when I was in high school. though I don’t believe it, my Thai friends tell me my pronunciation is very good. I’m not fluent, but I can hold a basic conversation with the taxi drivers. If I can get my head around Thai, my upcoming forays into French and German shouldn’t be so difficult.
Most importantly, Living in Bangkok taught me I can make it anywhere. . I moved here not knowing any individual and spent the first weeks alone on my computer. Yet, I made friends, got a job, learned the language, found a girlfriend, created a social network. I managed to prosper in a foreign land. I navigated banking systems, rent, bills, and culture I didn’t understand. Bangkok showed me that I could be self-reliant and independent.
If I could stArte una vita in un posto come Bangkok, potrei iniziare una vita ovunque. Potrei essere quello che volevo, fare nuove amicizie e vivere una vita piena di avventura. Ora mentre vado a Taipei di fronte alla stessa situazione, non sono ansioso per nulla. Se riesco a gestire in una città, riesco a gestirmi in un’altra.
*** Se stai zaino in spalla in Thailandia, assicurati di dare a Bangkok la possibilità che merita. Non visitare Bangkok e casuale come ho fatto nel mio primo viaggio. Cerca di metterti sotto la pelle. Scendi dal percorso di vacanza. Bangkok è una città per i residenti. Non si trova nei templi ma là fuori con la gente.
La città ti sorprenderà.
E ora non posso fare a meno di meravigliarsi, dopo aver imparato così tanto a Bangkok, cosa mi mostrerà Taipei?
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Green House Hostel
Mad Monkey Hostel
Se stai cercando di trovare molti più posti in cui soggiornare, ecco i miei ostelli preferiti a Bangkok. E se ti stai chiedendo in quale parte della città in cui soggiornare, ecco il mio guasto al quartiere di Bangkok!
Non dimenticare l’assicurazione di viaggio
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Ala di sicurezza (per tutti sotto i 70)
Assicura il mio viaggio (per quelli più di 70)
Medjet (per ulteriore copertura di rimpatrio)
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