Living and Working in Bangkok 2009 Update

I'm still here, still living the life although in some ways I feel a little stuck in Bangkok. With the world economy in total disarray it's not the time to be moving to a new country, or returning to one's homeland in the pursuit of a new job.

I can't help but think that Bangkok is a great place to come to enjoy for a year or two in your twenties, perhaps straight out of university, or to enjoy if you're on an expat package. Of course if you own and operate your own business in Thailand and manage to make it work, then good on you.

Bangkok is a great place for a short stay and is somewhere everyone should visit once. But to live here for many years, well, I am starting to have my regrets. It has been a great time, but I am rapidly reaching the point where if I don't get out now, or very, very soon, I will never be able to successfully adjust to life back in the West.

Let's be honest, Bangkok is a single man's city and in many ways, a single man's playground. If you are or wish to be an eternal single then the opportunities here to enjoy life are phenomenal, perhaps as good as or better than anywhere else on the planet.

If you are retired then Bangkok might appeal although I personally think there are many better places in Thailand to retire.

I am still working and that is where the problem is. Working in Thailand is not like working in the West. Jobs are far too easy and you often do not feel that you learn a lot of gain really valuable experience from it. And how this experience would be perceived in the West, I do not know. With the big 4 oh not that far away I find myself that I have reached the crossroads and I have to make a decision fast. If I don't leave now, I might never leave…