Leaving Thailand

It’s been almost five years since I came to Thailand and I’ve finally grown sick of it. The things I miss have become more important, and the things I used to find exotic or endearing I now find irritating. I want to buy a house, grow some vegetables and live somewhere clean.

I made a list of the things I was looking for in a city last summer and polled my friends. A few friends suggested Portland, Oregon. I remember loving Oregon while on the US cross country trip I took, so I gave it another try this summer and still loved it. So it’s final – I’m moving out there!

Here was my list, in case you’re interested:

Requirements for a City

  • liberal, intelligent and worldly people
  • green city
  • bike friendly
  • not too cold
  • interesting music scene
  • good beer
  • inexpensive and fresh fruits & vegetables
  • food people
  • reasonable drug laws
  • fast internet
  • decent public transportation
  • non-smoking city laws
  • not super expensive
  • friendly & happy people
  • does not have to be large
  • does not have to be English speaking

Now that I’ve decided I’m going to leave, things are a bit bittersweet. I have been eating at my favorite veggie restaurant daily, and trying to acquire all the recipes I can before I go. I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking about Thailand. I’ve been compiling a list of things I’ll miss and things I won’t miss. I’ll share that with you all too:

Things I’ll miss

  • the rainy season
  • the food
  • orchids blooming everywhere
  • how inexpensive some things are
  • the beach and ocean
  • soi animals
  • my friends
  • geckos: both jing jok and tookay
  • vegetables & fruit
  • thunderstorms and night rains
  • big crazy tropical plants
  • noisy birds
  • Thai temples
  • Thai trains
  • artist kids
  • night markets
  • street food
  • water gardens
  • water taxis and klongs
  • Suan Phai veggie restaurant
  • the cleanliness of the bts, malls, houses
  • Kanchanaburi
  • night swims and phosphorescence
  • Koh Samet
  • $1 lunches
  • dingy, delicious roadside country restaurants
  • spices, herbs
  • mango season
  • elephants
  • amazing clouds
  • frogs
  • cats with broken tails
  • ginger, my apartment cat
  • having so many international friends
  • speaking Thai
  • how nice people are

Things I won’t miss

  • lack of good taste & style
  • clackity high heeled shoes. everwhere
  • the heat
  • people staring at me
  • “you speak Thai so well”
  • lack of forethought and sense
  • the politics
  • the pollution
  • plastic whistles
  • skeevy taxi drivers
  • Thai beer
  • lack of sidewalks and difficulty walking
  • lack of stuff to do other than shopping
  • those scary garden ornaments
  • lack of care for the environment
  • mosquitoes
  • sand flies
  • dual pricing
  • strict gender roles
  • Thai music and the same fucking 5 songs over and over
  • THE VOLUME OF EVERYTHING!!!
  • crossing the road
  • Thai walking speed and lack of spatial awareness
  • taxis and motorbike taxis honking at me all the time
  • people not getting out of the way for ambulances
  • the Ministry of Culture deciding what websites I can and can’t look at
  • corruption
  • no screens on windows. hello, dengue?
  • attack umbrellas at eye level
  • hovering store clerks
  • ditsy Chulalongkorn University accents
  • loose sidewalk tiles in the rain
  • traffic
  • little pink napkins which disintegrate when wet
  • wet stinky bathrooms
  • kamikaze bus drivers
  • fire ants
  • commercials on the skytrain
  • constant construction and the resulting dust
  • sexpats

I love lists. And I’m excited about trading the heat for some rain.

My First Sourdough

siam at rush hour

sunset 2, koh kood

sunset, koh kood

eggs with feta and salsa

strangely sexual latte

yet another condo

guaytiaw kua gai

homemade pasta with pesto, sun dried tomato and feta

it’s 5:00 somewhere…

best. shirt. ever.

homemade bread 2

homemade bread

bagels