In part one of this series I share the 3 biggest challenges I’ve faced since moving to Pattaya, Thailand 6 months ago. I also talk about that I have done and continue to do to deal with them. In part 2, I will discuss several ways you can make new friends here in this crazy city of sin.
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00:00 – Intro
01:04 – Challenge #1
04:43 – Challenge #2
07:00 – Challenge #3
10:54 – The Next Video
11:14 – Outro
32 Comments
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Thanks for the shout out!!! It was awesome meeting you– did I tell you we went to the Jomtien Night Market on Sunday and they had a movie playing? Super fun! When will you be in Bangkok? We're in PAI right now! It's great here! You would love it!
I think you have outlined the biggest challengers for most of us Pete . I admire your reasons for learning the language. Immigration view it differently .
You have said before you want to learn some language before exploring more of the country .You get away from tourist areas & people's joy & willingness to try to communicate with you is as different as night & day to Pattaya/Jomtien .
To find like minded people as yourself ,your location will make it a challenge
Great video Pete, you are covering some good subjects.
Your shows very calming and reassuring Pete 👍
It’s gonna feel great to turn 50 and really feel retired! 🎉🎉
Ire's surprising how I can't pronounce chang well enough to easily get a beer everywhere. I have to repeat myself numerous times before my pronunciation is close enough.
I too, had planned to get an Education visa. It's kind of a shame that ones age is taken into consideration. — and I'm older than YOU!
Way to turn some lemons into tasty lemonade! 😀
Thanks for the video, awesome. Have a fun day. 🙂
As a long term credentialed educator, you are probably doing better than you think just by watching you analyze yourself. Don't judge yourself against others. Thai audio books for kids (3-4 year olds). Do all your media in Thai that are age appropriate to you. Nursery rhymes and such. Watching Disney and Marvel movies not a bad idea for the contemporary use of the language.
Great job on your 3 challenges.
It took me 3 long years to learn Italian – I am a slow learner. What allowed me to crack that nut was to get an Italian roommate who did not know much English so that forced me to learn.
For your 2nd challenge, it will be a piece of cake AFTER you return from Japan because if you will use Mots Services – they make the retirement visa experience easy peasy. Getting the 2 Thai driver licenses ( car & motorbike ) were more complicated than the retirement visa.
For your third challenge, that was my hardest one. I found it easy to make friendships with Thais who live in Jomtien ( although with limited language capabilities and limited opportunities to have meaningful conversations ) However, to make frienships with local expats was not easy. I wanted a friend like you found in Dan – someone that I could hang out with 1 or 2 times a week to go to movies and/or dinner with to discuss interesting topics and to have a travel buddy – as I love going to see new places and to explore the many islands of Thailand.
As I am not much of an alcoholic drinker and the lifestyle in Jomtien and Pattaya is strongly centered around the bar scene – I consequently found difficulty in constantly feeling pressured to hang out in the bars.
So, for challenge 3 – I pressed the escape button and returned to Europe to work. But eventually I will return to Thailand. 👍🙏😇
I play life on hard mode, about 12 years ago I moved to a small town in south Thailand, I had to learn Thai because I was the only parson in town that knew English, I took a job teaching English so the school got me the one year teaching visa, and all my friends there are Thai. Unless I went to Phuket I would not even see another American for weeks or months.
Language will be my biggest challenge.
I'll be there soon enough
🤘😘🌬🌬➡️
And thanks for the shout out !
My understanding is that you are right about the challenges for most folks. You talk about making friends…what I have heard on other channels is boredom and developing bad habits. Taking what you say at face value, I think you are doing it right. You are learning the language, and trying to develop healthy relationships (not just party buddies). The visa thing is what it is. Just have to play that game. Keep living the dream.
You are doing great, Pete. It's so much fun watching your videos and learning from you.
Be out there in Sept, if your around I will buy you a beer.
Key Visa Agency Pattaya is purported to be excellent. You might consider dropping in for a chat if you haven't found an agency to your liking.
Hi Pete! The NG in Thai words is pronounced the same way you pronounce the first two NG in the English word siNGing. So, the Thai word for easy, NGAI, has the same NG pronunciation as the NG in the word SI(NG)ING. I am a Thai-American who is fluent in Thai and in English. I hope that helps!
The Thai language is tonal. Depending on the tone, one word can have several meanings. Take the word, MAI, for example; it could mean WOOD, NEW, TO BURN, or NOT. Here is a complete sentence with the same word using different tones, MAI MAI MAI MAI (NEW WOOD WON'T BURN). Each MAI must be pronounced differently to get a different meaning.
Identifying your challenges is half the problem(!) Since you are a musician, playing in a park or cafe on your own or joining a band for a few gigs should lead to meeting lots of new people. Ground zero for developing some new friends. Good luck to you!
The most disgusting city in Thailand…
nikolaj #99
555, how I laughed when you talked about saying the same Thai word a dozen times or more and each time a Thai friend corrects you, but each time it sounds the exact same way to us. Then you said it one way and they say "perfect" and we are thinking that we said it just like we did the first dozen times.
Language is for sure a big challenge, and making friends.
I think with the language comes more opportunity for more local friends though, so keep at it!
Local friends might not be quite as transient as foreigner friends. 🙂
Bravo
I hear you on Thai visas. I got a 45 day on arrival than a 30 day extension. Went to Laos for a day then got a 30 day on arrival. Yesterday June 19 I got another 30 day extension. I’m going on June 29 for my retirement visa. You need to have 800,000 baht in a Thai bank for 3 months and you need 15 days left on your current visa to get it. Crazy rules,nightmare scenario but I’m almost there. Wish me luck. Really like your videos. Keep up the good work👍
Another good mate, take care me and my sons will be in Pattaya next April(both adults 25 and 27) the wife has given me permission to show what goes on down there. We will have to have beer or two😊
Dude, learning a new language tends to go at an ebb and flow pace. I am fifty-seven, learning Vietnamese, and there are days when I am spot on and there are days when it feels that my level is akin to that of a 2-year-old. Just keep moving forward, each attempt to learn brings you that much further; there will be a time when you will look back to where you started and just be in awe of your progress. Stick to it, Pete, you can do it. Cheers.
From what I hear everywhere, Thai is one of the hardest languages to learn. I can't imagine how challenging it is!
When I stayed in Bali, there was one thing I noticed that helped me learn Indo more than anything else. Like Pattaya, Kuta is a fairly late to wake up city. Breakfast spots were few & far between, especially 7-7:30AM when I was looking to eat. But I found one lil street-side restaurant that was. Run by just a late middle-aged woman, it was a lil over a km away from my apartment. Every morning, I'd walk over. The restaurant was always empty when I got there, I would arrive just after the owner unlocked the doors.
I'd practice my Indo by placing an order. Then I'd study by reading the menu. Whatever was in English? I'd translate it to Indo. If an item was listed in Indo? The inverse. Finally, I'd order a cup of coffee to go. Always in Indo.
Before you knew it, the owner and I were spending every morning together. We'd talk about how our days went. Talk about our friends and family. Talk about what we wanted in life. And we always were speaking in Indonesian.
Not only did I learn how to read, write, and speak faster than I would learn in any class; I made a new friend.
Maybe you'll be able to find that same (or a similar) experience. 2 birds, one stone. Ya know?
(and yes I wanna buy you a beer or a preroll when I'm out there in a few weeks!)