Social Life
Being away from your comfort zones, one needs to adjust a lot of things, one of these is his/her social life. To help you and your family gain friends and expand network, you can try the Meetup Groups. You can install meetup app in your mobile phones and join groups which interest you and which suits your preferences and your profile. There are different activities you can join, some are for free and some has mininimal fees.
Language
In Thailand, most of taxi drivers do not speak English so it is recommended to learn basic words especially numbers for Soi #s and phrases for directions. These little things can help you arrive in your destination hassle-free.
You can install free apps for Thai Languages and learn the basics. Should you want to enroll for a regular class, then you can check out Thai language schools. There are free trial classes you can go into before you decide to enroll. I went in AAA Thai Language School in Phaya Thai station for a trial class and planning to enroll in a regular class. For details, you can check out their website.
Condo/Apartment
There are a lot of condo units being rented out in Bangkok so you better pick one that is near the BTS/MRT station, malls, groceries. Make sure you have ameneties in your condo/aparment such as pool, gym, sauna, library. Having a lot of ameneities and comfortable environment will make you miss home a lot less. As for the price, you can get a place good place for 25k up. Usually the minimum contract time is 1 year but you can discuss this with the owner if you plan to rent less than a year’s time, price can vary depends on the length of stay.
Grocery
Bangkok now has online grocery shopping in which you can get a free delivery when u reach a certain amount. One of the apps I am using is honestbee and happyfresh. I do shop online and pay cash upon delivery as these saves me time and energy. With these apps, I dont have to lift heavy grocery bags and won’t take long for me to do grocery as I dont need to make an effort to read the labels in Thai.
Wet Market
My personal favorite is Klongtei Market. You can take Klong Toei MRT station then Exit #1. Turn right then just straight ahead. This market offers you live and fresh produce in a much cheaper price! Ie. A bunch of banana would just cost you 30Baht; a piece of lemon – cheapest is 1 baht..and many more! 🙂
Note: Queen Sirikit MRT station is nearer to Klongtoei Market (though havent been in this station yet) since you just have to cross from the MRT station to the market, around 3 min walk.
Transporation
You need a rabbit card so to save yourself from the hassle of lining up to get a ticket.
1 month visa extension
Go to the Government Complex B, this is in Soi 7. You can get off from Mo Chit station, exit at #3 then ride a taxi. For the appkiclication, make sure to photocopy your passport’s bio page, visa stamp and departure card. Accomplish TM7 form with a picture attached to it, you can download the form from the embassy’s website and bring 1900 baht for processing fee.
Visa Run
Since you can only get a visa extension once, if you plan to stay a bit longer your next option is visa run. Looking for cheap flights, you can use google flights – this will list all the prices from different airlines. From Bangkok, the cheapest international flight I saw is for Singapore which can be lower than 85USD roundtrip already.
TAX refund
If you stay shorter than 3months, I believe you can still claim your tax refund. For those participating stores, make sure to get the tax refund form.
For other details about Bangkok, you can check out my other blog post Travel Around Bangkok
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