Living and working in Thailand.. By an Englishman!

HI, Today I just thought some of you guys and girls might be keen to know what its like living and working online in Thailand..So here goes..Although today I am actually in Laos.

If you click on this link you will see where I live and where I am now. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/thailand/

You can see Thailand. Look at the top and I live in Udon Thani, But at the moment I am in Ventienne in Laos.. I come here every 2 mths to get a 60 day visa so I like to treat it as a Vacation sort of speak.

I go to the Thai embassy in Ventienne, I drop my passport in say Thursday for example and pick it up Friday lunch with my new visa in. This next 3 mths Visa,s are free which is great!! They usually cost about 30 usd and I have asked for 2 so thats good..

Let me tell you about Ventienne so you have a better picture of what its like.

Its pretty modern but as with any Asian cities, although I dont think it,s a city its more like a large town say like Boulder or a town with about 100,000 people in.It has some very nie old buildings and some very new looking buildings, There is people who are rich and people who are poor.. When your poor in Asia you are very poor, I mean you are living on a handful of rice or something similar, There is no govt handout so if your broke, Your going to stay broke. But people in Asia dont seem unhappy or miserable, Buddha Religion in Asia is very strong. If people are starving they can go to the local Buddha temple and get a meal, It does take some getting used to at first, Some people get upset at seeing some of the poverty here but its not in your face like India or other countries similar to that.

I am writing this email from a Internet cafe which is a bit like a starbucks, There are alot of other "westerners" as I call people from other parts of the world.. Not Asian. Mostly all are here doing some world tour or just crusing round Asia for 3-6 mths, Many young people with back packs is popular travelling on a budget.

There are lots of "Tuk Tuks," which is like a 3 wheeler motorcycle that has a built up seating area in the back for customers and the front half is like a motorcyle.. They look weird at first but make good sense cos of the price of cars etc.. Google Tuk Tuk and you will get a pic of what they look like.

Their is a big river that is on the edge of town called the Mekong, Thats a big Asian river that borders Thailand and Loas and Cambodia here in Laos its about 700mtrs wide and sometimes it does flood with terrible results. I have seen it in the past 8 mths go from a very wide and fast flowing river to now..it is virtually bone dry.. People try and swim across to get into Thailand (Just like you guys for Mexico into the US).

Ventienne is ok for a visit, I could not live here, Its a PDR.. (Peoples democratic republic) Communist is the order of the day here, Although its not in your face here you just know its here, if you know what I mean.

The people are not as friendly as Thailand, I like to greet people as I walk past people, Just saying hello or good day.. The response is not the same here as in Udon Thani my home town.

So like I say, I am here for 1 day and thats enough for me., There are lots of people working here from the rest of the world, Its just a personal thing for me.

The food is very good, Its got a European flair to it. The French have an influence here with the food and of course the lovely french bread is everywhere.,. I love that stuff!!!

So today in a few hrs from now I will be heading back to Thailand, Udon Thani as you can see on the map is only 50kms from Laos, So thats one of the reasons why I live there and of course for the golf!!

I have a great apartment in Udon Thani and live with my girlfriend "Tik" Her real name is Maruwee Timtok but Asains for some reason I do not know have nicknames.. So Tik it is.. She is actually meeting my parents for the first time in 3 days, There on their way back from New Zealand back to Europe, They live on a Yacht in Turkey in the Mediterranean, Anyway she is excited about that as you can imagine. I have been going with Tik now for 7 mths, I love her very much and I tell her everyday too. She works in a Furniture store in town in the office and thats where I met her.. I was a customer and I was buying a corner sofa and some of the sales staff were talking in a group and Tik was there and we just got talking, Her first words to me were: "You have lovely blue eyes", I was hooked!!! and we went out for a meal that nite, In Thailand when you take a girl out for the first date, They bring a friend aswell, I guess for a 2nd oponion and safety too course. She taught her self English out of a dictionary, she litterally just picked it up and started teaching herself English.. That was one thing that has always stuck in my mind and impressed me no end.. Cos that tells me she is a person who wants to get ahead in life.

Sorry I am dragging on a bit about Tik but she has impressed me a few times.. And heck...why not you want to know right?

For you who do not know, I am British and proud of it, I am very keen on the royal family and all thats English. But the UK is not the best place to live at the moment, The pound is week and the country is going thru some hard times..

Thats one reason I work online from home in Udon Thani, if I didnt do what I do I would be in UK working a 9-5, I think that would kill me to be homest. I am fortunate enough to be able to either live in Thailand or New Zealand, My aim is in December this year I want to go back to NZ and buy a motor home and start having 6 mths in NZ and 6 mths in Thailand.. For Tik it,s not easy for a young single Thai girl to get out the country. She is 34 with no children so I am going to have to work out a way to get her to NZ.. I do not want to go on my own. I knr ouow I would miss her too much.

Udon Thani is a great place to live. Its got alot of nite life and a great nite market that,s open of course everyday, The food is great and pretty cheap.. Its under cover outside and has some big tv screens everywhere, Ay weekend its very busy with people watching European soccer.. The Asians love soccer and good on them..

Manchester United is the mosy popular team out here, I go sometimes at weekend and watch a game.. There is never any trouble in town. Its very peaceful and one thing I have noticed is they do not hoot there horns. The driving in really bad and they do not give way much, They think nothing of cutting in front of you.. But never ever hoot your horn or definelty never scream and shout at Thai,s .. Its very impolote to raise your voice to a Thai or show aggresion, That is one of the worst things you can do in Thailand, I will tell you this.. It has changed my persona living here for 18 mths, I am a very mellow person who never shouts or gets angry anymore,

If you embarass a Thai here.. You could be in big trouble.. Its all about losing face you see.. If a Thai loses face thats the worse thing that can happen to them and you can get major repercussions from it too. I was told that the first week I was in Thailand and I am well aware of it..

Let me give you an example this is really weird but its true: If you are driving in town and your lost, If you ask a Thai for directions and they do not know.. A thai will not say, "sorry I do not know" They will send you in any direction but never say I do not know!! werid but true!!

Anyway...Hope I didnt bore you with my ramblings.. I might do this again soon!!!

You take care!

http://mrktngtools.blogspot.com/

Russell Birtwistle

Ph 813 579 3835

Skype: RussellBirtwistle