Essentials to live in Thailand

Passport, Visa, Money, Insurance.
Some cloth for the first few days / week.

If you need medicine, take to cover your first 1-3 month.

Come with a open mind, Be ready to do things other way that you "might" be doing normal.

Don´t be afraid to try new things.

I think that a good start...

Thailand have all i want, So for me, there is no point to bring to much.

medicine, especially if you are from a country where the cost is subsidized such as Australia.  it can be expensive in Thailand

If you are coming to an area where a lot of expats live or visit then most things a western person needs can be found here. Many houses are almost fully or partly furnished already and new furniture is good and cheap. Make sure your TV's and other electrical appliances will work here its PAL / 220 Volt system 50 Hz power. The USA is NTSC / 110 Volt 60 Hz system so most of your stuff will not survive if you plug it in here.   The plugs are mostly 2 or 3 pin US style but the power is different.
Clothes are cheaper and lighter than Europe or USA because of the climate.  If you are a larger lady then underwear may be harder to find.
Imported Western food and wine is more expensive than the local fresh variety but the food is part of the joy of living here. Be careful importing wine in your container it could be subject to tax.

Be willing to accept different ways, An open mind is essential along with a sense of humour and a large supply of smiles.

Hepatitis and typhoid shots, MAG flashlight with extra batteries on hand, personal meds, dysentery pills, slip on shoes, baseball hat, good sunglasses, best sunscreen, walking stick.  dcb

Shoes over size 10 and sox.
Prescription meds and the prescriptions written on paper or on bottle;  lately pharmacies are not so open to sell just anything to anyone;  you will soon need to see a Thai doctor to renew your prescripts here to remove doubts.

Any clothes over size XXL.

EVERYTHING else is available, often by free home delivery via Lazada on-line company here.

No need to bring bamboo nor the big leaves used to put on your roof;  dont bring a dog (we have a vast extra pack); and one piece sarongs are good only at home.

You will love it here.

MONEY, Money and more money.  EVERYTHING is available here (for a price!)  Always have more-than-enough money, plus some extra for "emergencies."  But don't bring more than the total amount you can afford to see "vaporized!" 

Khnom wrote:

Shoes over size 10 and sox.
Prescription meds and the prescriptions written on paper or on bottle;  lately pharmacies are not so open to sell just anything to anyone;  you will soon need to see a Thai doctor to renew your prescripts here to remove doubts.

Any clothes over size XXL.

EVERYTHING else is available, often by free home delivery via Lazada on-line company here.

No need to bring bamboo nor the big leaves used to put on your roof;  dont bring a dog (we have a vast extra pack); and one piece sarongs are good only at home.

You will love it here.

I use size 16 shoes and no problem, have them many place. And i all so use sox again no problem.

Cloth up to 4-6-8 XL at many market, So again it is here, I use 4 XL in T-Shirt / shirt.

If medicine you need is not on the "prohibit list" you can go to much hospital and get you medicine, If the pharmacies don´t sell it direct to you.

Kindly.

You can also order things you need from Lazada.com
They are Thailand's answer to Amazon.  Free shipping and great prices and orders filled expeditiously.
If you are a man with a size 12 or more bring as many pairs as possible. Hard to find in my case anyway.

It seem only positive comments are wanted here, what is the point, if alternative
opinions are not displayed.  Is this site run by Travel Agents.  Wipe this off as well. and if so, please cancel my subscription as I cannot find where to unsubscribe.

I have found all my prescription medicines here with an initial effort.
Otherwise I cannot think of anything I could not find between Makro, Tesco, Big C, Home Pro, etc
I must admit in the beginning I struggled to find certain things until I realised it was my own stupidity by not knowing where to look and get to know the Thai names or use the girlfriend and Google to find what I require.
In one instance I wanted a canvas needle and went to the hardware shop and asked for one
The owner looked at me as if I was mad and assured me that this is not available in Thailand.I went home printed an example of one and when I showed this to the person he produced about a 100 from under the counter
Lesson learnt for future unusual articles required.
Barry

mogo51 wrote:

It seem only positive comments are wanted here, what is the point, if alternative
opinions are not displayed.  Is this site run by Travel Agents.  Wipe this off as well. and if so, please cancel my subscription as I cannot find where to unsubscribe.

Easy mate. Don´t panik !!!!

A Admin move some of the post to "Is Thailand a great place to live?"
Starting with your post. Easy link here:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=562898

I believe your get Mad super fast ?
Learn from the Thai people, Take it easy and relax...


Kindly.

Vitamins, shipped large quantities  of vitamins received by mail will be confiscated .  Vitamins are very expensive  in Thailand, which is still a great place to retire. Vitamins  in luggage are usually no problem.

For men, "don't bring" a woman. Bringing a woman to Thailand, is like bringing sand to the beach! If you do come to Thailand with a female partner, you will wish you hadn't.
Do bring vitamins, and lite weight cloths, also computers (laptops) with english keyboards are best bought outside Thailand.
Perhaps learning the "sabi sabi" and "mai pen rai" terms best describe the cultural shift you will ecperience. It can be difficult to make this part of your daily life, but once you get it you will not need alot of "stuff" (material things) in Thailand. Life is simpler and people friendlier. Do bring your sence of humor.

Thanks for the heads up.  But no I don't get super mad, but believe that if you want to have a true robust and informative forum, both sides of an argument must be voiced. 
I take postings on important subjects such as this, seriously and genuinely try to help other members by telling it exactly as it is.
the sentiments I expressed in my post are held my many long term expats in Thailand.  I also believe that those looking to come here should know what the true situation is here.
But I do  appreciate your comments.

Money.... that is all you need

may I suggest "Delete"....

Money is essential in Thailand....I have seen foreingers without and they have seen hell..

About pharmacy, some are selling much more than the others. As a good example, CITRUS were you can have almost everything except drugs sold only in hospitals. Take care that private hospitals are delivering "normal" drugs for two or three times the price for the same drug in a pharmacy...

Yes a good point about medication.  I just went to the public hospital and got a month supply of meds for several conditions for 620 bht.  I was quoted 3 or 4 times that at Pharmacies.   Different brands, same ingredients.

Little funny to read here.

In Bangkok (Victory Monument area) the Medicine at the Pharmacies is a lot cheaper then at the Public / Military / Privat hospital.
Even my Doctors at the Military hospital tell me to go and buy medicine outside the hospital, he he

Good doctor.  I was quoted for the same meds that I get back in Australia for $6 on pensioner discount,
to 3500 bht per packet  that is just one of 5 that I have to get.

As I have said the only article i still bring from my home country are my prescription pills.These I obtain there from my medical aid at a heavily subsidized price.
For my statins and two types of blood pressure pills I pay about 300 THB per month
I usually bring a 3 month supply.
This keeps me going until I visit the kids again in  South Africa.
In an emergency I can obtain the pills here at the local pharmacies at a reasonable price.
Thailand is great in that all my other requirements for any goods have been met here.
Barry

When you moved to thailand, you can hardly need bringing anything, as everything much cheapers than other asean countries.  Perhaps you just bring your favorites local food/prescribe medicines, which might not available in thailand.    Do not bring :  winter clothes, cause thailand average temperature is mostly 25 - 35 degrees celcius.   We have rainy/cool/hot season but cool season only for few days period.    For accoomodation, better at CBD area for transportation/languange convenience.

To LIVE here, you need.....
-conversational Thai or a very close relative, like wife, to translate for you.
-Thorough understanding of and an open mind about Buddhism.
-Check your "American ways" in a locker at the airport upon arrival.
-Tell everyone NOT to settle here.

jinta wrote:

When you moved to thailand, you can hardly need bringing anything, as everything much cheapers than other asean countries.  Perhaps you just bring your favorites local food/prescribe medicines, which might not available in thailand.    Do not bring :  winter clothes, cause thailand average temperature is mostly 25 - 35 degrees celcius.   We have rainy/cool/hot season but cool season only for few days period.    For accoomodation, better at CBD area for transportation/languange convenience.

I was in Chiang Mai a few weeks ago. When the temperature got down to 12*C / 53f (daytime) for a few days I was very glad I had socks, long trousers & fleece jacket. Wore a shirt over a Tshirt and had to keep all the lights on (about 10 of them) in the room all day to try to obtain a tiny bit of heat.

I use to live in Chaing Mai, 1 or 2 days a year it will reach that temp at night but be in the upper 70's (f) during the days..... Enjoy it while you can!!... lol

Deleted

Common Sense, Patience, & a baseball bat to protect yourself from the aggressive scooters.

Common sense and patience we all should have before we move to Thailand
A baseball bat wont help, you need a Abraham's tank and a good driver that can pulverize them.
Thailand motorbikes are part of the challenge to live here and the attitude that "I am right is"  part of there culture.
Saying that Thailand will not be Thailand without the motorbikes and their good road manners.

Common sense is essential here, but an "us and them" attitude that needs a tank to get on is a disastrous attitude.   The motorbikes are pesky but nothing like VN.  Further, the driver behavior is rooted in ancient beliefs in fate......."If it is my day to die, why worry?  and if it is not my day to die, why worry?"  Thai I meet do not necessarily believe they are always right, only that very often, the foreigner is wrong.  .... and due to westernized attitudes, that is usually correct.
Leave your American attitudes in the arrivals part of the airport and you will get along much better here.  But, please do not settle here anyway.

I wrote the reply with a tongue in the cheek attitude.
I have been to VN and they are worse there at least they wear helmets
I love living here and enjoy the Thai way of living and they are always right as it is their country and I am the intruder and I will never live in the US with clowns like sanders and clinton.

I agree with barrytaylor. Remember that Thais are riding on scooters even before they are born and immediately after. They grow up with them and on them and think nothing more of it than we do about switching on the electric light. The attitude is not aggressive but more like unthinking opportunism. " I see a space - I'll drive in it."  without regarding other people who might be walking in that same area. They have no concept of a pedestrians "rights". To them its just a matter of avoiding impediments to their progress. You are naturally expected to avoid being hit by them too.
There is normally no malice intended and they are non plussed at our seemingly agressive response.  That being said they are who they are and we are also who we are. But in this country it is their system and so we must cultivate hyper awareness and protect ourselves - this is not a nanny state. Its a scary lesson to have to learn and one must never trust the motorcyclists to do the right thing.  Again a nod and smile works if someone is polite to you which also happens.

So do we also say the same for the car drivers here in Thailand, because they drive the same as the scooter only they take up more space.

I agree with you on that one.  Thai drivers are mostly only taught how to operate the car and very little about safe driving. Luckily before moving here my wife and I were given defensive driving courses in Australia.
What I learned there changed my attitude to driving considerably. The point of the journey is to arrive intact at the destination. Again hyper vigilance is required so I never trust that another driver here will do the expected correct thing but I have been amazed at how unutterably stupid some of them are.

This again comes down to attitude " Rules apply to everyone else - I'm just nipping in here for minute so I will drive on the wrong side of the road and park across an intersection -0h but I will leave my hazard lights on. " The trouble is that other Thais tolerate such behaviour and so there is no culture of disapproval to work against it.

Poor driving education is the problem and it saddens me to see people needlessly dying through excessive speed and bad driving skills every day here. Until this mentality is changed nothing else will make any difference to the road use.
In short, without exception, regard them all as if they are trying to kill you.
If a driver does something which in our culture would be grossly stupid or offensive just try to let it go  - their fate is in their hands it's no good trying to teach them. They will probably not understand why you grumpy Farangs are making a fuss about everything so the lesson wil be wasted.

Its one of the most difficult things to come to terms with when living here but you mostly only upset yourself. Now we just comment and laugh at their road antics - as long as we are safe from them that is. 

Drive carefully - it is a strange idea which might eventually catch on here.



,

Soundspeed has said it all.Live en let live as you cannot change them
Ihave at times wished that I have there attitude about life
They are actually great people

I have a few hundred thousand miles on a bike in the states which help a lot here..... Drive defensively. Always look for an out before its needed. This is Thailand and its the country of the Thais. I am here because I fell in love with it as a soldier stationed here nearly 50  years ago. If ya cant except things then simply say ho-hum and go your merry way....

MCHKIN is right
Fall in love with a country and accept it as it is.You cannot change it.Like a woman

I guess am just different than anyone else, I have tried to live here for over 3 years but I can't do it.  I bought a condo & a car, all of which I will be selling, this is a diffcult decision to make as my wife has family here. But I also miss my friends at home in California, so am going to come back for 4 months every year to visit.  Big plans for traveling are in our future.  Good Luck To All Expats.

Never understand why so many foreigner want Thailand to change to be more like their home country.
I come to Thailand because i love Thailand, And i love it even more for not being like my home country.

And i am pretty sure that the Thai people are the kind, friendly open heath, warm people because of  the way Thailand is.
And i do fear that when Thailand change (Chang are coming) that Thailand might lose all of that.
Like "all" western country people have back home, Lost it all ready.

I will only return to my home country one time more in my live, Because my Thai wife want to see it, After that it is over for me, Never again.

I know changes are coming, I only hope hope it come very slow, and over many years, So i be a old man when it change Thailand and the Thai people.
Sadly the change to come are not for the better, As western country and the people live in them is a clear proof off. (See from my eyes)