Many Westerners, mostly men are attracted to living in Thailand, but surviving in the country is a little bit like taking a trek through the jungle with seemingly friendly natives but with limited supplies and without a map or compass.
In a real survival situation those with the proper training or who are at least prepared for the situation do best and so it is for expats who set out to live in Thailand.
It seems to me that there are probably four types who can survive here. If you are rich for instance and are skilled at retaining your hard earned wealth, or you have a job from an international company earning a salary consummate with a Western lifestyle. Even folk retiring on a pension can survive modestly providing they avoid some of the human traps they might encounter. Of course if you are just out of college/university then you can certainly survive a year or so teaching English.
Now if you don’t fall into these groups then perhaps you are not best prepared to survive. Maybe its better just coming to Thailand for a holiday or two each year.
Of course there are many folk who don’t broadly fit into the above groups but still come to live here anyway. The most common is probably the entrepreneur types, who want to start a bar or some other similar business selling western food or running a girlie venue. Visit Pattaya, Phuket and Bangkok and I guarantee you will come across them. Never had it so good, great country to live in, they are really enjoying the good life. Or so it seems, because like anywhere appearances can be deceptive. Most, but not all, end up failing through being broke or having fallen in love with the wrong person or perhaps more commonly a combination of the two.
They head home, along with the other people who were not prepared for the reality of life in Thailand, some of whom have lost a fortune, been cheated or just got in with the wrong crowd. Some even head to other Asian countries berating Thailand and all things Thai.
Those who didn’t survive the jungle tend to complain about everything, visa rules, graft, corruption, company law and doing things the Thai way.
Well I am sorry for them but they really should have prepared better. This is Thailand and things are done the Thai way, after all you chose to come here. Its no good complaining that you cannot own a controlling interest in your business, have a fair crack from the legal system or own the land your house stands on like Thai people could if they lived in the UK or US for example. Perhaps the Thais are not as fickle as some suggest, perhaps they actually see themselves as a lot cleverer than the average Westerner. Maybe they have a point?
Most Thais also love to gamble(mostly illegally) and in a way you might compare Thailand to being one giant casino for a fresh faced Westerner. Sure its exciting, even exotic, you can certainly get an adrenaline buzz, you can be a high roller for a while but in the end just like in a real life casino you may well find that the house wins more than it loses.
Rest assured the casino owners will take your money, but don’t for one minute think you can ever change anything, whatever your skill set, because Thailand is not geared up to see Westerners being successful.
And, no, before you accuse me of being bitter and negative about Thailand, I’m not. I just wanted to write a few words of warning for the unsuspecting Westerner that might think the streets are paved with gold, or that they can make a positive contribution to Thai society. You can’t because the Thais won’t let you. You need to understand where you stand and in Thai society’s eyes that is not even on the radar screen.
Lets face it if you really want to come and live here you will anyway. But take my advice come without the blinkers, try it for a few months first and don’t sell up back home. Experience life and look at the complete picture, the politics, the corruption the emerging nature of many services you take for granted back home. Hopefully if you do this you will be able to say that you learned how to survive and you are ready to move here. Chances are you will still have a lot to learn but at least there is less chance of you burning out within a year.
