SURVI
VI
NG THAI
LAND
Yes, Thai
l
and i
s a beaut
i
f
ul and f
asci
nat
i
ng count
ry. I
t i
s a
wonderf
ul pl
ace f
ul
l of cul
t
ure and hi
st
ory, and has one of t
he
best cl
i
mat
es you coul
d ask f
or! I
t i
s very easy t
o see why so
many peopl
e set up a new l
i
f
e here. However
, t
here are several
t
hi
ngs t
o consi
der when set
t
i
ng up a f
ul
l t
i
me l
i
f
e here. Thai
l
and
i
s a pl
ace where dreams come t
rue, but i
f you i
gnore t
he warni
ng
si
gns you coul
d soon be endi
ng up i
n a worl
d you never
i
magi
ned was possi
bl
e!
M ONEY
Consi
der your f
i
nanci
al si
t
uat
i
on t
horoughl
y. Yes you may have a
pot of gol
d, some more gol
den t
han ot
hers, but i
f you are on a
l
i
mi
t
ed or f
i
xed i
ncome, make sure you st
i
ck wi
t
hi
n your l
i
mi
t
s.
Thai
l
and has some of t
he best ni
ght
l
i
f
e i
n t
he worl
d readi
l
y
avai
l
abl
e, but i
t doesn’
t come cheapl
y! Li
vi
ng ni
ght af
t
er ni
ght i
n
ni
ght
cl
ubs and bars, whi
l
e i
t maybe f
un, can al
so become
addi
ct
i
ve and very cost
l
y! Li
vi
ng i
n a count
ry i
s vast
l
y di
f
f
erent
t
han hol
i
dayi
ng, t
ake care of your pot of gol
d bef
ore i
t soon
becomes an empt
y pot
!
Y OU
Li
vi
ng i
n Thai
l
and you need t
o t
ake care of yoursel
f
, not j
ust
physi
cal
l
y, but ment
al
l
y and f
i
nanci
al
l
y as wel
l
. You wi
l
l have
hours of t
i
me at your di
sposal
, part
i
cul
arl
y i
f you are here as
someone who has ret
i
red. So do make t
he ef
f
ort t
o exerci
se, you
don’
t have t
o become an agi
ng gym f
reak, but a l
i
t
t
l
e exerci
se
everyday wi
l
l keep you i
n good shape. Fi
nd t
hi
ngs t
o do, i
f you
can occupy your mi
nd you wi
l
l avoi
d t
he t
empt
at
i
on of si
t
t
i
ng i
n a
bar
, guzzl
i
ng “Happy Hour” Leo’
s at 40฿ a bot
t
l
e day af
t
er day .
The i
nt
ernet i
s al
ways at hand and t
here are zi
l
l
i
ons of t
hi
ngs
you coul
d do on t
here, j
oi
n a cl
ub, st
udy, maybe st
art your own
bl
og? I
f you are not i
nt
ernet savvy, ask around i
n your area, f
i
nd
cl
ubs t
o j
oi
n, see i
f t
here are chari
t
i
es t
hat coul
d do wi
t
h a hand?
But what
ever you f
i
nd or do, keep out of t
he bars day i
n day out
.
I
t i
s not good f
or you and you wi
l
l pi
l
e on t
he pounds, especi
al
l
y
i
f you don’
t exerci
se! I
nsurance, a dreaded word, but one t
hat i
s
si
gni
f
i
cant
l
y more i
mport
ant here i
n Thai
l
and t
han probabl
y i
n
many ot
her count
ri
es. Yes you may be super f
i
t and abl
e t
o run
back t
o back marat
hons. However
, i
f you are unf
ort
unat
e t
o be
t
aken i
l
l
, or worse, i
nvol
ved i
n an acci
dent
, unl
ess you have
sui
t
abl
e i
nsurance you wi
l
l need t
o pay pri
vat
el
y! Remember
, you
are a f
orei
gner l
i
vi
ng i
n Thai
l
and. You wi
l
l get no assi
st
ance
f
i
nanci
al
l
y f
rom t
he aut
hori
t
i
es so you wi
l
l have t
o di
g deep. A
si
mpl
e hospi
t
al procedure can cost t
en’
s of t
housands of baht
!