Living in the Crazy Fun and Weird Bangkok

We all know Thai food can be spicy, but the air? Yes indeedy. My girlfriend and I walked into a local Thai restaurant, street food with an address, the menu featured on a large plastic banner hanging from rods. The waitress/owner pointed to the chosen cuisine with an umbrella to make we received the correct order. you point to what you want with an umbrella We sit down and gaze around, as the chef puts the ingredients together. A minute later a tear runs down my eye. "Sweetie," implores my girlfriend. "What's wrong?" "I'm not crying!" I rebut.   "You have tears rolling down both cheeks sweetie." "The air is spicy!" She turns around toward the kitchen, and stares in the direction for a few seconds, smoke coming from the chili-peppers cooking on the grill. Her eyes are red as she turns back towards me, moments later tears roll down her cheeks. "Spiciest air ever," she jokes. At least the food was tasty....

Before I begin, I discussed previously what an awesome city Bangkok is , but in interest of fairness, it's not Xanadu. I love this city, but let's discuss-- The Downside of Living in Bangkok as a Foreigner 1. Traffic - There is a light, the Sathorn light to be exact, that often takes in excess of half an hour to get through. To get through one light! I remember taking a taxi ride home through the district on an exceptionally busy night and our poor driver, who is used to the horrendous congestion here, kept dropping his head and sadly stating, "oohhff, trrafffikk." That might have been the only English word he spoke. Bangkok traffic, depending on the metric, is often ranked the worst in the world. It's something all Thais are proud of. 2. Language Barrier - With a completely different alphabet, featuring a whopping 44 consonants and 15 vowels, that combine into at least 28 vowel forms, and several different tones, Thai is one of the hardest languages in t...

So I have been living in Bangkok/ Thailand between various stays for about a year. The benefits of following this blog will not only be to entertain with the funny stories and vast cultural differences which exist between West and East, but to give you a general idea of what life is like in Bangkok, enabling you to vicariously transport yourself here. Also, I hope to be able to offer tips if you wish to visit. Today, let's discuss the positives and negatives of living here as a "farang" (the Thai word for foreigner.) Positives of Living in the BKK 1. Cheaper - Oh my God, so much cheaper than an expensive Western City where I am from. An hour taxi ride through the city might cost you $6, I don't even want to think about that spinning meter in New York. You can easily purchase a delicious and filling lunch for two for $8, and that's with bells and whistles. Rent is much, much cheaper- $2,000 a month gets you an unbelievable 3 bedroom pad in a pristine buil...