Catherine and Talen – I am glad that I am not the only one who feels this way.

I never worry about assimilating into Thai culture though. I am a (relatively) giant white guy and when I ride a bicycle through my wife’s home town even the water buffalo stare at me.

Have just discovered your blog and a number of familiar faces commenting here too.

I hope you enjoy your trip to Thailand and I look forward to reading more from you.

My tuppence, from a twentysomething point of view, I love the pace of life, yet there are plenty of opportunities here too. I’ve been in the country for six months and have adjusted nicely to a tempo of life I want to live. The missus and I are planning to move back to London with my little one at some point, but, you never know, we might never make it back.

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That’s a thought, but time will only tell (30 years is a long time).

If you assimulate well then it might be an issue.

I’m not the type to gravitate to a close community so it might not come up. And even when living in the West I wasn’t ‘at home’.

And as I feel more at home being on holiday, living in Thailand suits me just fine.

But as for moans and groans, I have them in Thailand but I just don’t let them become a huge issue.

Things don’t always work in the West and the same goes for Thailand and elsewhere. I know that people like to pretend that everything works better at ‘home’, but in reality, they don’t. They just break in different ways and since we are used to it, it’s all background noise.

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And while it could very easily wind up being that we become assimilated there is always the option to explore elsewhere.

I think being open to the idea that exploring the world or just a small part of it is much healthier than staying put and going through the motions.

One thing is for sure …western influence reaches around the world. One of the saddest sights for me when I arrived in Thailand the first time was seeing McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC and Starbucks.

One thought from me on this. To long term immigrants to the UK who I know back home, assimilation becomes total and they have the same moans and groans as the native Brits.

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You hit the nail on the head there Catherine!

Walk down a street in America and most people won’t even look at you much less smile or say hello. Walk down any street in Thailand and everyone is smiling and saying hello…and the best part it’s infectious.

Yeah! I know how much you want to be here and I’m SO glad that you are finally on your way!

I have the same feelings towards living in Thailand. In the West, I was always waiting for something to happen, for my life to start. In Thailand, I’m LIVING my life.

In the West, the days are mundane, same same. In Thailand, every day is an adventure, with a feeling of always being on a holiday.

I walk out the door and I’m greeted with smiles and tuk tuks and motorcycle taxis and street hawkers all with their different sounds and I start smiling too.

I’m not talking perfection so please don’t think I’m some sort of wacky grinning loon. Trust me, I’ve been known to mai bpen rai quite often. But for all its imperfections, Thailand is just right for me.

So no, it’s not a phase, not at all.

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