How I changed in Thailand

During my first year in Thailand, my own attitude changed quite a bit:

In the past, I often did what people asked me to do. In Thailand, I found that people want me to do things that are good for them and bad for me. Or fun for them and no fun for me. Today, I'm more selfish and independent.

In Germany, I used to be a modest person. I bought cheap and second-hand items, good enough for my needs. In Thailand, the people are happy with less and everything is lousier. The very best is often my minimum requirement.

I used to repair things that had broken down. In Thailand, repair is done by poorly paid people with poor skill. For them, it is not a problem to spend 5 hours in a chaotic city, finding a sparepart and another five hours getting a second spare part because the first one was actually not at fault. For me, this is not economical. Today, I repair less and junk more. Because this comes down to money, I'm now a lot less happy to share my things with others.

I used to be patient. I understood that I cannot have everything immediately but trusted God to give me what I need when I need it. In Thailand, I quickly learned that there is no God and if I don't get it today, I never get it. I've become extremely impatient, always asking "when ?" and pushing people.

In Germany, I didn't travel much. I believed that there'd be nothing of interest while getting around was expensive. Thailand instead is a real traveller-country. Today, I know the Thailand map better than the Germany map. Sometimes I ask myself if travelling in Germany could not be fun as well.

In Thailand, time flies. Even simple things go unbelievably slow. At the beginning of my working assignment, I spent all my evenings and most of my weekends working at home for the company, just to get things done. My boss considered this appropriate, for the western salary that I received. At one point I said to myself: "Hey, everyone here is talking about having fun and I have no fun at all. I don't want this job any more !" So I started to go out in the evenings and spent my weekends on mountainbike and kayak. Now there are unfinished jobs at work and on my desk at home, I hear occassional complaints, but not more than I complain to other people. My first boss has been fired, not me. If today people appear non-economical on my time, I try my best to avoid them. If I can safe time by spending money, I often do that.

Back to Thailand mainpage