Hi Bangkokjax,
As you might have guessed I live in LOS.
Been a holidaymaker over 10 years,had a Thai wife in UK but only actually lived here 6 months now.
I've learnt, had more reality checks in the last 6 months than another 10 years as a holidaymaker would have given me. Mostly without sounding miserable, a lot of the dreams you harbor about living in LOS get shattered. Don't get me wrong it's still a great place to live only things certainly aren't how I imagined them to be.
Right ready?
Here's the good the bad and the ugly.
The good.
Freedom.
As long as you have money you can nearly do as you like.
Break the law and you can pay your way out of it.
None of the shit tax's and government cons like in UK or USA.
Loads of Thai girls to fuck when you want.
Public transport cheap.
Cheap lifestyle possible (but probably not in BKK or Pattaya)
The bad
While the sun is nice the heat pisses me off. I recently went back to UK and loved being cold.
Anything admin/home services/visa/rental agreements/driving licenses/satellite TV/phones/internet etc. Every single one of these is capable of breaking your life. Customer service is a bastard. Very rarely do Thai people do anything properly and you will cry trying to get it fixed. Be prepared for this before you live here.
Thai people.
While I love lots of Thai people I find 99% of the race incredibly stupid. It really pisses me off. I wonder at times. Thai men must wake up, think what can I eat? How can I get money and when can I sleep? Don't depend on anything. Think for yourself.
If you are silly enough to fall in love Western style with a Thai girl expect to lose everything you have. Her family will ruin you by controlling your girl. If you are a butterfly fine. It can be great here for sex but you must think of Thai girls like they think of you. As a commodity. You need a car, when it's fucked you just get a new one. That's all you are to them so while still treating people nicely don't forget that.
The ugly
Beer.
Now this is a tough one. It's very very hard to keep out of the bars. To be honest the heat makes you lazy and I always seem to have a mate on holiday or a good reason to end up pissed. Cold beers nice indoors as well. I've spent most of the last 6 months drinking. Been great but planning on cutting down now.
Thai families.
I've got a handle on mine but this is a bad thing here. Girls answer to their families and like I said before it can be the kiss of death on any relationship. Don't be generous. Get the message across you are a tight bastard and if they piss you off you'll get a new girl.
That's about it really. As a footnote.
The main reason most people want to be in LOS is for sex.
I've always been a shagger. I'd probably had more than enough sex for one lifetime before I moved here.
As usual though, I managed to find my second wind and spent maybe 3 months of shagging 3 girls a week and spending any spare time in soi 6 etc.
On top of that my wife is a shagger,often pulls girls and acts as bad as me.
I'm not ready to hang up my gunbelt but the shines starting to wear off. I do wonder if I'd want to stay in LOS should sex become boring.
Please think hobby.
Golf, motorbikes, keep fit anything that will keep you out of the bars.
As others have said. I discovered Chatuchak animal market. Like everything else in LOS there are no laws enforced. I bought myself some birds of prey and belong to a falconry school in BKK. Look in the sports section of this board if you want to see.
There you go then. You're all set mate.