Most people assume that culture shock is something you experience when you come from one cultural environment into a totally different one.  Mostly this is happening when visitors from first world developed nations visit a developing nation or a third world country where everything is more chaotic, unorganized and unpredictable.

I have been living in Thailand for many years, and nothing seems unusual or strange to me. Thailand is a developing nation, but is surrounded on three sides by third world countries, namely Myanmar (formerly Burma), Laos and Cambodia. In the USA, a lot of the labor force comes from the poorer countries of Central and South America. They do the jobs that Americans don’t like to do, like agricultural, construction and cleaning work. Read the rest of this entry

Thailand is known as the land of smiles, but it is also the land of beautiful faces. Here is a stunning visual presentation of one the most endearing aspects of Thai culture, the naturally beautiful faces of the Thai people.

Is living in Thailand paradise? What are the pros and cons? Who is this lifestyle for? This is a behind-the-scenes look at living in Thailand as a foreigner.

When I tell people that I live in Thailand, I often get feedback along the lines of “You are so lucky”, “I would love to be able to do that too”, “You live in paradise”, or “What an amazing lifestyle”.

Then there are the people who are not sure on which continent Thailand is and who could not find it on a map if their life depended on it.

Here is a tip. China is easy to find on a map, it is plenty big enough. If you look for the lowest or southernmost part of China, then you will see Thailand right below there along with some other small countries like Burma, Cambodia and Vietnam. This part of the world is called “southeast Asia”. Read the rest of this entry

Thailand is a hot country. Not all tropical areas are hot. You might be at the equator, but if you are high enough in the mountains, the weather can be very pleasant. But closer to sea level, it can get mighty hot in the tropics.

This year we have unusually hot weather in Thailand in May. Thais don’t bake their food, so there are hardly any ovens in Thailand, but these days just being outside feels like being in an oven. The sun is cooking you mercilessly. That is no big deal if you live in an airconditioned house and drive an airconditioned car. But airconditioning is far from being standard equipment in Thai homes, and small motorbikes are the transportation of choice, or rather necessity, for many millions of Thais. Read the rest of this entry

How do you find a girlfriend or wife in Thailand?

Let’s be honest, millions of westerners have come to Thailand for that very reason. There are lots of websites promoting such relationships, and there are many dating sites where Thai women are actively searching for western men.

There are stories about Thai parents literally selling their daughter into prostitution or arranged marriage. Although such cases do exist, and not only in Thailand, they are a tiny percentage compared to the voluntary relationships which are the norm and which are the subject of this article. It is not my intention to focus on some cases of abuse in Thailand or to launch a moral campain against prostitution or judge age differences between men and women in relationships. Read the rest of this entry

Many expats or longer term residents in Thailand have to leave the country every two or three months in order to obtain a new visa. Within Asia you can generally only get short term tourist visas. There are exceptions: Retirement visas let you stay in Thailand permanently, but you have to put a big chunk of money in the bank (about US $25,000.-), and you have to be older than 50. Work visas also allow you to stay in the country, but they are only good as long as you are employed by a company.

My visa is good for one year, but I have to leave the country every three months in order to get a  new entry stamp in my passport. And once a year I have to travel to the US or Australia to get a new one year visa. Just recently it was again time to get a new visa, and I went to the US to get it. Read the rest of this entry

We have heard the stories: Westerners go to Thailand and find that suddenly their world is turned upside down. People react to them in ways they cannot understand, the language is not even remotely similar to European languages, the food is strange, the traffic seems chaotic, people are smiling but you have no idea what they are really thinking, relationships don’t work at all like in the west, and the religion can be contrary to western beliefs. It can be confusing indeed, and it is called culture shock. Read the rest of this entry

Why are Thai men not interested in relationships with foreign women? And why don’t western women care about Thai men? After all Thailand is known for cross-cultural relationships and men come here by the tens of thousands to find female Thai partners. Why is this a one way street? Why do you rarely see Thai men with western women?

Who follows whom?

Thais are shy people compared to most westerners. Culturally it is not acceptable to show strong emotion, get angry, yell at people, confront someone head-on, or have an intense argument. On top of that in many Asian cultures the woman traditionally follows the man much more compared to the total equality concept that is prevalent in the west. And here we have a major sticking point. Read the rest of this entry

I live in Thailand, the Land of Smiles, as it is often called. The Thais pride themselves of their easy, natural and beautiful smiles. Many times I have gone out and felt touched by the wonderful smile of someone whom I had never seen and will probably never see again. It might have been a passerby on the street, a market vendor, or someone who stopped at a red light on their motorbike and flashed me one of those great Thai smiles.

What I love about the smiles in Thailand is that total strangers, including those of the opposite sex, will smile at you without ever feeling that this might be inappropriate or seductive or overly friendly. Thais are normally quite shy people, but this is one area where there is no shyness and no hesitation at all. They give away the greatest smiles to anyone at any time and there does not have to be a reason or justification for it. This is the Land of Smiles, after all. Read the rest of this entry

What does it mean to be truthful? In the west we think that there is an easy answer – tell the facts, don’t hide anything, say it as it is. But it turns out to be a confusing fact that other cultures don’t agree with this definition. Thais have a very different relationship with the “truth”. We call it lying, but that is just our own cultural bias, and it is more of a judgment than a correct assessment.

Is there a correct definition for the “truth”?

The western model of truth often places truth ahead of other considerations, like being inconvenienced or put in an uncomfortable position by speaking the truth. We have sayings that confirm this: “Call a spade a spade”, or “Just the truth, nothing but the truth”. Lying is considered totally unacceptable to us, and the truth is upheld as a sacrosanct principle. Read the rest of this entry