Living in Thailand: 5 Things That Surprised Me Most

Living in Thailand can be full of unexpected moments, especially in the first few months of teaching abroad. This personal story shares five of the biggest surprises one teacher experienced after moving from the UK to Thailand.

From settling in faster than expected to discovering cheap travel, welcoming locals, and beautiful national parks, this post gives a real glimpse into everyday life while teaching English in Thailand.

When I first moved to Thailand from the UK, things here were a little bit different from what I was used to. I remember feeling startled by the tangled telephone wires choking every concrete post along the streets of Bangkok. Feeling overwhelmed by what seemed like total chaos on the roads as I whispered my final words from the back of a motorbike taxi. During those first few weeks, and still even now, there’s a lot about living in South East Asia that comes as a surprise to me. It can be shockingly different from what I’m used to back in the Western world, but it can also be quite similar at times too. The differences can lead to challenges when living abroad but they have proved to be refreshing for the most part. All in all, Thailand never fails to surprise me, and that’s one of the main reasons living out here is so fun!

Here are the 5 things that have surprised me the most about living in Thailand:

How quickly I settled in:

It’s amazing to me how quickly all of the things that shocked me so much when I arrived went from being the total opposite of what I considered ‘normal’, to becoming my normality. The idea of eating food from a plastic table and chair on the side of the road (street food) intimidated me — especially as I’m a vegetarian. How would life go on without roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings? What if I accidentally order chicken feet with my veggie fried rice? A lot could go wrong at dinner time! Yet, now I know exactly which plastic table and chair I need to sit at to get the tastiest version of a particular dish I like.

I’ve somewhat managed to suss Thailand’s extensive network of public transport. And I do my best with what little I know of the Thai language, so I can order those tasty dishes, and get myself from A to B without the language barrier being much of a barrier at all, and more a gateway to laughter when my attempts to speak Thai are about as well put together as a bowl of dog meat. Four months in and I have a morning routine, my favourite places I like to get my dinner, a coffee vendor I visit to a few times a week to buy a coconut and banana smoothie and hold their baby whilst they make it, and friends around me that have become my family. It truly feels like a home away from home already. So much so that after a trip away to a national park or a beach on the weekend, I’m always excited to get ‘home’ to my little town of Sam Phran, Thailand.

How easy it is to get around:

I mentioned at the start of this post how I whispered my last words from the back of a motorbike taxi when I first arrived in Thailand. Well, when I arrived in Thailand I was absolutely terrified by the thought of riding on a motorbike, and I swore I would never ever use them to get around! However, motorbikes are one of the most popular, most convenient, cheapest and easiest modes of transport to use to get around Thailand. They get you where you need to be in half the time, with their expertise in traffic weaving, and are very cheap to ride. And - believe it or not - they are also very, very fun! This is coming from someone who hated motorbikes only 4 months ago: riding on the back of a motorbike is now one of my favourite ways to get around.

Thailand also has very cheap taxis, trains, and overnight buses you can use to travel longer distances. Most amazing though are the white minivans that seem to go literally everywhere for a very cheap price. I use them whenever I’m planning a weekend away. I can often travel a long-distance for under £5 - that’s cheaper than a day ticket for a public bus back home. This has meant that I’ve been able to visit a few different cities, beaches, and national parks during my weekends off teaching, helping my experience of Thailand be full of exploration and adventure.

How cheap everything is:

The cost of living here is much lower than that of living in the UK or the US. I was told about this before I left for South East Asia, but I could never have fathomed just how dramatically different the price of everything would be. In Bangkok, and in tourist areas, it can remain pricey depending on where you go because of the amount of tourism that passes through. However, in my little town of Sam Phran, I pay < £150 for monthly rent and bills, and can buy delicious and satisfying meals for as little as 50p! As long as I avoid the snack aisle of my local Tesco Lotus, I barely spend a penny day to day. This means that I get to use my monthly pay cheque to save for my month of planned travel in October, and to explore other parts of Thailand on the weekend!

How friendly and welcoming the Thai culture is:

I’d heard Thailand get called the ‘Land of Smiles’ countless times before my travels, and it was one of the things that really drew me to explore this country and culture. It certainly lives up to its name! I’ve been surprised by how common it has become to make connections with strangers in Thailand: a country where I speak a foreign language, in comparison to how likely it was to connect with strangers back home in the UK: a country where we all have the equipment and vocabulary necessary to have a decent conversation with one another, but often choose to stare at the concrete pavement instead. Thai people are very welcoming and genuine, and they will do their very best to help and assist you should you need it. They really do smile at you at every turn, and I feel very safe and content here because of this.

How beautiful their national parks and beaches really are:

Before I came to Thailand, I’d never travelled so far from home before. I’d never left Europe, and the longest I’d been away from the UK was four months. I was crossing the world with no real idea of when I would return, on the promise that I would be met with experiences and beautiful sights beyond my imagination. In the build up to my departure day, I became obsessed with travel instagram profiles, pinterest travel boards, and blog posts about travelling South East Asia. Not so long ago, on a trip to Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, I had the realisation that I was no longer scrolling through social media pages with envy and dreamy eyes. I was present in, and actively living out, the posts I used to long for in my life. Four months isn’t really that much time at all, and yet I’ve already witnessed so much wonder and beauty on this side of the world, that my world has opened up a tenfold.

And there’s still so much left yet to discover! My plans to teach in Thailand were motivated by a desire to travel and discover new things, but I’ve been surprised by how, with every discovery, my desires are never met - only increased. With every discovery, there comes a hunger for more, an urge to keep on exploring, to keep on moving, and to keep on discovering.

Teaching English in Thailand can quickly become about much more than work, opening up a lifestyle filled with adventure, discovery, and everyday surprises.

This reflection shows why living in Thailand can feel both unfamiliar and deeply comforting at the same time, especially once it starts to feel like home.