This is a blog to share my thoughts on life here in Bangkok, the everyday things that we have to deal with (home, garden, getting about, shopping, entertainment, etc) and anything that may be helpful or of interest to anyone. I write from an expat perspective, but hope that everyone can find something of interest here.

I first came to Bangkok in the mid ’90s. Honestly, the first 6 months were a nightmare of culture shock, as I had never been in a country where I could not get by speaking only English.

Simple things like getting into a taxi, telling the driver my destination, getting an OK and 5 minutes later being lost. His OK meant he would take me, not that he knew the place. Either I had to know the place or have directions for him in Thai.

Well, I adjusted slowly and with difficulty, but with many thanks to the Thai people all around me who were patient and kind, put up with me and generally made it possible for me to adapt.

Later, when I moved out of the hotel, there were other challenges like where to get things done and how. Language was a barrier, still is though less so, and I have discovered things like 1 stop payment counters, where best to shop, eat, and drink while catching up on the latest live sport.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I do writing it. Do comment and I’ll try as best I can to reply promptly.