My Therapuetic thread on moving to Thailand

[Damian Mavis]

I'm moving to Thailand in about a week and I'm a bit freaked out. It's pretty scary dropping everything you've been doing for 8 years and everything and leaving your nice safe quiet life behind to start something totally new in a strange country. Oh man, even though I've been there before it's a weird feeling knowing you're moving there....

Things I'm looking forward too:

1. Movies, believe it or not Bangkok has nicer movie theatres than North America. And the tickets are only around $3 Canadian. And there's no waiting in line! You buy your seats and they are reserved for you. The only bad part is Hollywood movies have Thai subtitles along the bottom. There was one theatre I went to that cost MORE than North American prices but there's a reason for that. Your seat at this theatre is a big luxurious leather lazy boy that comes with a remote control to go back and raise your feet, it also comes with a pillow, blanket and socks all individually sealed in their own little plastic bag. You have a little table beside you and you can order alcohol, drinks and snacks. They also have a love seat version for couples.... I can't wait to watch the new Lord of the Rings in this theatre!

2. Food, dear lord I swear I'm moving there for the food. It's so plentiful and cheap and there is so much choice... I'm so sick of all the fast food crap I'm forced to eat in North America because I'm always on the run. In Thailand you can get fast healthy food for next to nothing. And if you want other types of food it is usually pretty authentic. Like if you want Italian and you find an Italian restaurant it will be run by an Italian guy straight from Italy that cooks things like they do there... yum. Not the "North American" watered down version.

3. Heat, I'll be happy to not have to go through another Canadian winter for a few years.

4. Professional training, it will be awesome having access to so many places and camps to train at.

5. The Ocean, I had never swam in the Ocean until I got to Thailand, looking forward to doing that on a regular basis.

6. The people, they are generally alot nicer than what I'm used to... or maybe it's just that I appeal to so many Thai women and gay men... hmmm. Either way they are nicer! haha

7. Did I mention the food?

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[S.Anucha]

hey hey! man i will be in Bangkok in about 5 weeks time, haha... well I aint exactly dropping everything because, well basicly I have nothing to drop! I've been travelling around since 1997, training in Muay Thai and having fun while living life.

Mate I am moving there, Chiang Mai though, wont be living the life of luxury even though it does have its ups! I will also be professionally training and fighting.

yeah man seriously any chance of catching up in Bangkok? I usually go to Banglampoo area (Khao San Road). I'ts just to relax for a few days even a week till I make my way up north. Khao San is backpacker hell but its cool for me as I know one or two locals there who I want to say hello to and I also know a sweet little guest house just off the Thanon close to the chinese night market, 10 minute walk from Khao San road.

So Damien if you wanna catch up for one or two games of pool and have a few Singhas/changs let me know.

Good luck and I think you're making a good move.

[Tom Yum]

mmmm...singha, the lion's beer Thai food is the bomb.

You guys should keep up to date with your travels. Damien, I know what you mean by more authentic Italian food in Thailand. Everything is watered down here, especially in the south.

Try to learn to converse in Thai, who cares that the language has 8 tones...lol just give it a shot. People think I'm nutz because I like Thai music, you know all those crazy clarinets and bongos, but there's something addictive about it!

Good luck training in Thailand! Carpe diem!!

[Maxetai]

I wish you all the best Damian Mavis.
Keep us posted on your experiences.

[Damian Mavis]

Ya S. Anucha you bet, just email me when you're going down and we will meet up. I'll also be going to Chang Mai at one point or another, want to visit Lanna Muay Thai and Pedro's camp.

Khoa San road isn't my favorite place but it's kool to visit every once in a while... I just made the mistake of living there for 3 weeks and it was a big waste of my time... why go to Thailand to be around white people? heh

Anyway email me at dmavis@honourtkd.com and we will make plans to meet somewere.

TomYum, I've been working on my Thai for awhile now, I want to be fluent within the year, I also like Thai music. I have a hard time understanding muay thai guys that don't like the muay thai music... when I hear that I know it's go time! Gets me pumped up. But I like regular Thai music too.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[Thai Bri]

Yeah, you have to keep us updated on your life in Thailand. Good luck to you.

Brian S

[Athecy]

hehe... Dont forget to send me some shorts Damian! Man, I would love to move to Thailand to learn muay thai. But how would you make money? Will the money you make from fighting be enough to support you?

-Alex

[S.Anucha]

Damien, yeah farang in Thailand can be strange most of the time, I dunno why it is, westerners go to S.E Asia and then turn into hippie like dudes! haha.

Thai language is easy, Tom Yum, its 5 tones... sorry to correct you .....

Damien, I speak Polish (out of necessity), Dutch and Thai (currently learning). Thai has vowel lengths as well as tones so technically one Thai word has 10 different meanings, long and short vowel length and then the 5 tones. The grammar, thank ****, is simple, I find it very simple.

Damien, i have books here that are bloody great for learning Thai, I recommend buying these, they will teach you how to write Thai and speak it. The author, Benjawan Poomsan Becker "Thai for beginners" and "Thai for intermediate", Buy them.

Anyway, Khao San road is like a friggen magnet for some reason, lol, but what really pisses me off is it is actually at a handy area, I mean everything is close by and walking distance, the stadiums etc. What is annoying at most of the times is when you are sitting having a chat with the little Thai stal holders and then some arrogant farang pops up and starts asking questions about "how much is this and how much is that" they start trying everything on and then haggle for like 10 bhat then once the Thai says "ok ok" they say "erm, nah, up there is better" then walk off.

I'll be honest, I was colaborating with a Thai tuk tuk driver who I will be visiting, damn I couldnt take it so decided to join in on the fun. We would stand there, he would be on one side of the road and I the other, some farang would walk over and he would spin some crap about a 10 bhat tour for one hour, the farang would be standing wondering if it was a scam or not then I would pop over and say "hey it's all cool, I was with him earlier we went here and we went there, damn guys go for it its worth 10 bhat!..." hehe, so off they'd go, and Somsak, thats his name, would take them to Jewel shops, Silk shops etc, he would say "today is coupon day and if you go in there and pretend to buy something I get a government coupon for benzine", yeah but if all went well he got a little commision and the came back and gave me half of what he got! great huh? it was, when a farang wouldnt fall for it we would look at each other and shout "Kwai Tham" meaning he is as stupid as a buffalo. I loved it, we drank all our money we earned and hung out at a brothel for cops!

**** I love Thailand.

[Damian Mavis]

Dude shhhh man... too much bad information about Thailand haha, you're going to scare all the little thaiboxers away.

Alex, I will be teaching Tae Kwon Do there as well as doing small roles in action movies but the movies doesn't pay very welll... it's just for fun. The fighting doesn't pay well at all, unless you are moving up high in the ranks. The Tae Kwon Do is what will pay my bills. And if the shipping in't too costly I might open up some sort of online store for Thaiboxing stuff.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[Athecy]

sounds good Damian

[hoplite]

ÀÒÉÒä·Â (Thai Language)

I’ll second S.Anucha’s recommendation of “Thai for Intermediate Learners” by Benjawan Poomsan Becker. I’ve never seen “Thai for Beginners”, but if it’s anything like “Thai for Advanced Readers” or “Thai for Intermediate Learners” then it should be good too. I would also recommend picking up a copy of "Culture Shock! Thailand." It won’t help you with the language, but it will tip you off on how to behave so you don’t make an ass of yourself. Later after you learn to read the Thai script, pick up a copy of “Thai-English Student’s Dictionary” by Mary R. Haas. This dictionary probably hasn’t been updated in several decades, but it’s still the best.

There are a few online resources you should look at too. LearningThai.com is a really great site that I’ve found usefull and so is Thai-Language.com. Also the Nation posts Speak Thai Weekly which has dialogues for practice, but it wouldn’t be to much help for you until you have a reasonable command of the basics.

I can’t recommend much about KrungThep though. I only lived in the north and east coast and only went through the capital for day trips and such.

[aseepish]

Reasons for moving to Thailand

Originally posted by Damian Mavis


3. Heat, I'll be happy to not have to go through another Canadian winter for a few years.

This would be enough for me. I haven`t experienced a Canadian winter since I left Winnipeg in 1997. Living in Vancouver doesn`t count.

[osopardo]

I' wasnt even going to respond to this thread, Damian, u s.o.b. - You're young, strong, healthy, good-looking and you're going to live in some kinda frikkin' paradise and do something you love doing. I hate you I hate you I hate you.


p.s Wish you all the best! Good Luck!