I thought it time to talk about how we’re adjusting to our new environment, and about some everyday observations. But just so you know, as this is a family-oriented blog, I’ll omit red light entertainment and “sexpat” commentary. On this blog, in any case.

Life in Thailand suits us, it seems. After years of countryside and small town living, I admit it was a bit of a shock to settle in the big city for all of us. Even after eight months, the kids still ooh and aah over the tall buildings, elevators, escalators, bright lights, and creative architecture. Alright, the adults do too. We haven’t quite got used to the crowds and traffic, but have accepted them as a fact of city life.

We have learnt a few lessons too:

We know not to wear regular flip-flops except for quick supermarket runs, since dirt finds its way to the top of our feet, no matter how carefully we step. Platforms or closed-toes are our trusty friends.

We know not to leave the umbrella at home in the rainy season, because we will get soaked on the days we do leave it behind.

We know never to leave home without a little packet of tissues; it is by far the single most useful beauty product in one’s bag. From patting a sweaty face (frequently), to wiping a dubious lunch table (occasionally), to mopping up nosebleeds (rarely), these babies come in handy again and again.

Learning Thai, even a few basic sentences, has proven essential. Even in our expat-populated area, there are fewer English-speaking Thais than you would assume. Often, we tentatively say our one good Thai sentence, only to have the Thai speaker rattle off a long line of Thai, leaving us floundering and scrambling for our back-up phrase: “I speak Thai a little, a little!”

We also realize that when we do speak English, we need to adopt a peculiar dialect to be understood. We omit “the”, “a”, and the plural “s”, and say the number after the noun: “You have shirt, red colour?” or “I take Coke two”.  There are a few phrases that only work in Thailand; for example, say you want to know if the store can fulfill a certain request. You say what you want, then conclude with the all-important question: “Can?” To which the store person will reply “Can!” or “Sorry, cannot.” Or, say you are shown a red shirt but want it in blue. You say, “I want same same but different.” This statement is so popular, you can actually buy t-shirts printed with “Same same but different”. A tongue-in-cheek homage to Thai popular culture.

My friend Thereza, a fellow expat, now begins her shopping negotiations with, “I live here, give me Thai price, not farang price.” And it usually works too!

More to come soon…