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Comment by apatters | Hacker News Reader

Bangkok, because it offers all the amenities of a major city at less than half the cost. It has world class restaurants, nightlife that never stops, good public transport, and endless beaches an hour away. I traveled extensively and lived in the US and Australia before settling down here but I like big cities and there aren't a lot of nice ones like this where you can get a luxury condo with maid service for $1,000/mo.

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I can't quite understand the appeal of Bangkok for westerners (compared to the rest of Thailand).

It's a hot, overcrowded, dirty city populated by people who don't really want to be there (Thais who come from other provinces just for work), or who only want to be there to be seen by all the people who don't want to be there (the irony of deathly-white hi-so girls shopping in a mall with a name that translates to "Brown people" is lost on most people)

If you're remote anyway, there are much nicer, cheaper places to be in this country.

As a westerner, there are other benefits to being outside Bangkok. The next time I do a 90-day-report (the smart mans alternative to a trip through immigration every 3 months) I fully expect to be in and out of the local Immigration office in less time than it takes to buy/brew a cup of coffee. By comparison the Bangkok offices are constantly overcrowded. For most things, if you're not in the queue by lunch time, forget about getting served that day.

Yeah, I don't get it at all either. I couldn't stand living in Bangkok. Traffic is abysmal, it's hot, dirty and muggy. I understand the appeal of living in a big city, but BKK would never be my choice.

Where else in Thailand would you recommend? I have traveled around the country quite a bit and still like Bangkok best, probably because I like big cities, but I'm open to trying other places.

Personally I've considered Mae-Rim, Cha-Om and Nakhon Nayok, besides where I am now (Ayutthaya, due to family). But there are lots of other places - it just depends what you want.

at this point I couldn't go back to living in an apartment, or even a town house - and I much prefer to live somewhere I can jump on my bike for an hours ride without worrying too much about motorbike taxis trying to kill me, rather than somewhere I can step outside and have 4 7/11s, a Mini Big C and a Lotus Express within spitting distance.

Waking up to the sounds of birds rather than the sounds of street vendors and cars/motorbikes is amazing, and because it's not Bangkok we're still just 10 minkes drive from the centre of town (eg for immigration, amphur etc)

Are you a US citizen, or Aus?

How do you deal with the visa?

I want to move to thailand for an unknown amount of time but the visa seems like more than I would care to deal with. Don't want to have to do visa runs and all of that.

> I want to move to thailand for an unknown amount of time

Have you visited before? Unless you're particularly adventurous I wouldn't suggest a move to Thailand without visiting first. I like living here, but its definitely not for everyone.

> but the visa seems like more than I would care to deal with.

You can hire a lawyer here to organise everything for you, it just depends how much you want to spend and what your situation/goal is.

> Don't want to have to do visa runs and all of that

Regardless of your type of visa, you will have to do something. I've lived here for close to 4 years, on a combination of business and now marriage visas, but I've only left the country twice in about 2 1/2 years.

Non-tourist visas get you a longer total stay (and some give the ability to apply for a work permit to work legally) but you still need to report to immigration every 90 days (resets each time you enter the country). As I said elsewhere, reporting in Bangkok is a fucking joke, in the provinces, its pretty quick and painless.

It's easy enough to take Thai language classes and get a student visa in Thailand, though they appear to be getting more strict with their checks to validate that you are actually learning Thai. I say that, because some people just get the student visa and never actually take the classes.

You can also get a student visa (in Chiang Mai at least) for hand-to-hand combat training with the military police. You just take two lessons a week on Saturday and Sunday afternoons for two hours. http://chiangmaibuddy.com/services/chiang-mai-visa-services/....

You're spot on though - doing visa runs all the time gets old fast.

I believe that in Bangkok the Thai language schools currently require 8 hours of study a week to qualify for a student visa, which is more than it used to be but is still incredibly lenient. In the provinces I hear the requirements are even lower. Anyone who intends to stay here for more than a year without learning at least basic Thai is shooting themselves in the foot anyway IMHO.

If I remember correctly, I think it was 6hr/week in Chiang Mai. About 40% confident about that number.

If I were 10 years younger & without kids... Hand to hand combat with the military police on a weekend sounds awesome!!!

Never understood westerners who live in Thailand (or any non-english, Asian country) but don't bother to learn the language. It's not as if you need to be fluent or even that good at it...

I have held various types of visas during my time here. One of the perks of Thailand, immigration-wise, is that while it can be a hassle (visa runs, bureaucracy, or both), there is always some way to stay here legally for as long as you want.

You can get a tourist visa in your home country and then just show up. If you decide you want to stay for a long time you should start researching your options early on and developing connections with people who live here. This is true in any country--connections with locals make everything, including visas, a lot easier.

I started with the visa run every 30 days. I liked the excuse to go do a weekend trip somewhere.

Getting 1 year multi entry visas for business visa are pretty easy. And then your visa runs are down to once a quarter.

I really enjoyed my year and a half stint in Bangkok. But. It also taught me that I value climate pretty highly when choosing my next location.

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