What’s it like to live in Bangkok as an expat?
I’m curious about the general quality of life, how you deal with traffic jams, the expat community, and more.
I’m curious about the general quality of life, how you deal with traffic jams, the expat community, and more.
Bangkok in a general sense is a "work centric city" in my own opinion. I particularly enjoy living here for the access to opportunities it presents as a student. I seem to always meet interesting people that open new doors to life constantly -in large ways. I find BKK takes a serious side of the working world, whereas I always truly wish I could escape North (Chiangmai) for the relaxing daily life...in the north, personal growth at my stage in life can be hindered in terms of opportunity I feel.
One thing BKK for sure has is night life as most know. In regards to DJ and gigging ... the city is absolutely fantastic. A simple chat with any of the owners usually leads somewhere quickly. Everything from small art bars/ mixed environment club and bar settings etc. I personally live a bit far from the main city so don't go out much ! I have played a couple gigs in the city (BEAM club/ GOJA art Bar/ De Commune/ The overstay hostel). Most of the really cool art community resides around "Thonglor" and I have heard this is cool area to be around. The expat community of Chiang Mai is certainly another spectrum than BKK. I personally love the north--- as the melting pot is much smaller. But the people I have met in BKK can be a lot more serious in terms of business and this has its own growth/ benefits.
It does help tremendously to have some Thai language in your skill belt. I can't stress how much learning the language has helped particularly in my daily life and dealing with situations. In the city you have a simple BTS (sky Train) line, MRT (metro), taxi, bus , tuktuk, and motorbike - the most important for getting around fast and beating the traffic. By balancing these traffic elements you can usually get somewhere in convenience.
I truly love being in BKK for some of the general Thailand living reasons (cheap food/ culture is very relaxed and people keep to themselves....as I'm very independent/ I am always discovering something about the culture in a simple way..........to elaborate sometimes cultural differences in Vietnam can really leave me confused....whereas Thailand's is somewhat graspable).
I feel it's quite easy as an open-minded expat to form a simple life in this city and quickly it will become more complex- in typically pleasant ways.