10 things I love about life in Thailand

How to start a Blog? No idea. This is my first attempt at blogging. However, I have to start somewhere, and since this whole thing is supposed to be about travels and places, Thailand seems to be the right topic to begin with. I've been living in the Kingdom for a little over two years now, the first 8 months in Bangkok, the rest in Krabi. And here are the 10 reasons why I love life in Thailand. 

1. The Thais & their sense of hospitality. Thailand is a country of warm smiles and open arms. Everybody is welcoming and willing  to help if they see you are having troubles. Sure, they might laugh at you at some point, but not for mocking, instead it’s a way they have in Southeast Asia to deal with funny/ potentially embarrassing situations. You slip and almost fall? They’ll laugh. It’s to say: "Nothing’s serious, don’t feel embarrassed, we’re all happy and laughing together in a friendly way". Mai pen rai, no problem, is like a mantra in this country. People are not loud, on the contrary they are quiet, they avoid confrontation as much as possible, but are funny in an almost childish way. They are also mostly happy and proud to be Thai.
2. Cuisine. Food in Thailand is cheap and delicious. Of course you can find McDonalds, Starbucks, KFC in almost every city and large village, but the best deal and choice you can make is to eat street food. And even if you don’t speak any Thai,  it’s very easy to order: just point at the ingredients you want to order, and signal for how much chilli, or fish sauce or sugar you want. Most street food vendors specialise in only one or two recipes, so you need to look around and found the one that cooks what you want. My favorite Thai food? At the beginning it was Pad Thai, the national dish together with somtam (papaya salad), basically fried rice noodles with egg, vegetables, fish sauce and cashew nuts. But then I discovered Massaman curry, Hunglay (a curry with ginger from the north) and kuaglin. Also, I love Mango & sticky rice. And fruit: fruit is delicious, and so varied: I mean, have you ever eaten longan? jackfruit? dragon fruit? rambutan? mangosteen? and rose apple?  And what about  durian? I’ve tried it and, surprise,  I liked it very much!
3. Food delivery. Not only the food is delicious, but it’s so easy and cheap to eat everywhere. Most Thais don’t cook everyday at home, but just order delivery or drive themselves to the food stalls and take away cheap, local, yummy cuisine. This happens everywhere, from villages to metropolis like Bangkok. Food is available at every hour of the day and night. And if it’s really too late and the street food stalls are closed, there’s always a 7/11 nearby, open 24 hours.
4. Style. Or NO style. In Thailand you don’t need to have a huge closet and hundreds of clothes. There is only one main season with few variations: hot and sunny, or hot and rainy. Except for some areas in the north where a few months a year it gets cold at night and chill during the day, everywhere else the temperature is warm, and people don’t need much more than a t-shirt and shorts. And nobody will judge you for the way you dress. Upper class Thais love Fashion and girls and guys can spend loads of money on clothes, however the attitude in the country is “dress as you please, as long as you are neat and clean”. Sure, you need to cover your shoulders and legs to enter temples, but any other occasions call for whatever you feel like dressing. Oh, and you have to remove shoes before entering a private house! This is one of the habits I truly love about Asia; in fact when I go back to Italy it's painful to see my parents walking inside the apartment with their dirty shoes on and we always end up bickering about it.
5. TUK TUKs. They look like crazy version of mini-cars and sometimes drivers drive them like crazy, but tuk tuk are fascinating and fun, I can’t resist to get a ride when I’m in Bangkok or Chiang Mai. Samlor, the Thai version of a sidecar, is another popular way of transportation (used in smaller villages) that you should try at least once. 
6. Incredible nature. From jungles and rain forests to rivers and mangrove forests, from mountains and karst peaks to tropical islands and dreamy beaches, Thailand has a nature so stunning and diverse that you are surrounded by it no matter where you are, even in the centre of Bangkok (take a walk in Lumphini park and you’ll see what I mean! Monitor lizards and exotic birds everywhere). Not to mention the variety of plants and flowers that grow literally everywhere, power lines included.
7. Temples. No, they aren't all the same, and they aren't boring if you take the time to learn about Buddhism and its exquisite art. Thailand has over 40,000 temples, and I won’t even try to make a list of the most beautiful. From the Tiger Cave Temple perched on a mountain’s peak to the white big Buddha that overlooks Phuket, not to mention the Blue, White and Silver temples of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, or the almost unknown khmer architecture of  Phanomrung Temple in Isaan and the Phuttakaya style of Wat Bang Thong in Krabi, the number of pagodas deserving to be seen around Thailand is almost endless. Remember that they are holy places and dress accordingly when visiting: cover your shoulders and knees, and wear easy-to take-off shoes and a pair of socks if you are not comfortable in walking barefoot inside the buildings. 
8. 7/11s.  You can find anything and everything you might think of at 7/11. Plus, they are open 24 hr a day and they are everywhere. And when you are bored, just enter inside a 7/11 and look at all the incredible products they sell: from bath stuff and cleaners to snacks, food, frozen food and drinks. The biggest 7/11 even sell a few clothes and accessories like thongs, t-shirts, hats and sun-glasses, and mobile phones, too. Not all the food you find inside these shops is healthy (more on the contrary, I’d say), however it’s surely fresh because they are re-stoked everyday, and  if you are in a hurry you can buy your meal and have it warmed up at the shop. 
9. K-Bank and all phone payment methods. Once you open a bank account and get a debit card (which might take some time due to the extent of Thai bureaucracy) it becomes very easy to go around cashless and forget about banknotes. You can pay by phone literally everywhere, including restaurants, super market, deliveries, and most street food stalls.
10. The weather. Well, not if you are one of those weirdos who can’t stand summer. In tropical Thailand is summer all year around. And I love it. Actually, this is the reason that got me dream about moving to Thailand since I first set foot in the country as a kid. In reality, there are three official seasons:  November to February is warm and sunny, with blue skies and mostly calm sea; March to May is very hot and humid, with storms or showers in between blue skies; June to October is mostly rainy with winds and rough seas in the west coast; many islands close during this wet period, and tourists and expats go travelling somewhere else. Life is quiet in these months, and I’ve come to appreciate the green season and the calm and peacefulness that goes with it. Apart from some mountainous areas in Northern Thailand, where night can be freezing and days very cool, the temperature rarely drops below 20 degrees, even at night. How amazing is this? No need for winter clothes, no need for a heating system, yet you can buy decent Christmas Trees online if you fancy a traditional Christmas.

​What about you? What are the things you like most about the country you live in? Should I also make a list about what I DON'T like about Thailand?