What I Learned From Two Weeks With My Parents in Thailand

By Josh Butterworth. Josh is Impact Teaching’s Thailand Program Coordinator, and he lives in Thailand.

It’s a week on from my mum and stepdad taking off from Chiang Mai airport after a wonderful fortnight of holiday together in the city that I call home. It was my mum’s first time in Asia and only my stepdad’s second, he visited India as a much younger man, many years before I was even an idea.

Thailand is a very special place to me and I was excited to show my parents why I love it so much. But I was also aware that two people in their 60s and 70s who live a cosy life in the Lake District might be affected by a small dose of culture shock.

In this blog post I will reflect on a few key points that were significant to both my parents and myself, how we reacted to them, and how they might affect you.

Food

I should probably first mention that both of my parents are vegan, however, this is not actually particularly relevant to the main point I am going to make. But I must say that Chiang Mai is one of the most vegan friendly cities of the planet. The tourist centre is packed with vegan restaurants that serve delicious food, as are suburbs, even more delicious in my opinion and far cheaper. But although all of the restaurants we ate in were vegan or vegetarian, my point applies to everyone, vegan or not.

Just as many tourists are, my parents were drawn to the beautiful restaurants adorned with miniature waterfalls and colourful local art on the walls, with menus that offered everything from vegan cheeseburgers to Thai classics like khao soi. I will admit that these restaurants are lovely and the food is delicious, but they are not authentic and are very expensive compared to what else is on offer. But for a nice dining experience and a treat, they’re great.

However, as a teacher abroad or traveller in Thailand, you would be wasting a great opportunity and lots of money only eating at these types of restaurants. I guess my parents were attracted to the clean and safe Western dining experience done in a Thai style with food that is far tastier and cheaper than the UK. But there is so much better on offer for a far smaller price. My big problem, however, is that the only Thai people in these restaurants are the people who work there. I want to eat where the locals eat, not tourists.

From restaurants set up on the side of the road with only a tarpaulin to protect you from the hot sun or intense rain to those in the back of someone’s house where rowdy children play next to your table; these are the type of places you want to be eating. The food is authentic, delicious, cheap, and you’re contributing to the community rather than a big business. These restaurants can be hard to find, likely won’t have English menus or any at all, the staff won’t speak English, and the dining experience is not as comfortable as in restaurants set up for tourists. But they have their own charm and offer a unique window into Thai culture.

We eventually ate at a few of these types of restaurants, my stepdad was more a fan than my mum, but they both agreed the food was great and were blown away by the price. I am in a lucky position that I can speak a bit of Thai, have a Thai partner to show me these places and advise me on what to order, and have the time to explore them as someone who lives here. This is more difficult as a tourist but is something I definitely recommend. If possible you should eat away from tourist restaurants and get out of the centre to explore different places, try local foods and take risks.

Here are my favourite restaurants in Chiang Mai that serve authentic Thai food but aren’t in the tourists handbook:

And here are few extra points that don’t quite warrant as much focus as food, because other than the good weather, isn’t eating the main reason anyone comes to Thailand?

Tourism

I stay away from the tourist centre of Chiang Mai and only visit hotspots such as waterfalls and temples when they aren’t as busy. Call me grumpy but tourists annoy me. I was one myself once, but as someone who has lived in Thailand for a while now, I find some tourists disrespectful and lazy when it comes to dealing with Thai people and their culture. People in my local area see me as a foreigner who lives there, not a tourist, and I like that.

So being with my parents who I had to take to all the ‘sights’ was a bit of a shock. It reenforced my feelings more and I was not keen on feeling like a tourist once again. I did enjoy the experience with my parents and they were not bothered by it, I was happy they were happy, but I much preferred showing them my local area and places off the beaten track.

My point here links to my one about food, for a fuller and richer experience, do not spend all of your time in touristy areas with foreigners. It’s more of a challenge to deal with language and logistics outside of these places, but it’s so worth it. Put yourself out of your comfort and you’ll never regret it!

Transport

My parents live in a small-town call Kendal, the gateway to the Lake District. They rarely drive other than to the supermarket or up into the Lakes for a walk. Within the town they usually walk everywhere, even if the rain is pouring, which it often is. They were in for a bit of a shock in Chiang Mai with transport issues that I am used to and rarely think about.

Awful traffic, streets that are not designed to be walked on, and the intense heat made getting anywhere rather unpleasant for them. The traffic in Chiang Mai, Bangkok and many other Thai cities is not good. Poorly designed road networks and too many vehicles may be the cause of this. My mum almost had a breakdown every time mopeds surrounded the car when we stopped at the lights, I’m used to it by now and it’s not a problem. Pavements are useless, broken or non-existent, and full of hazards. Anyone with mobility issues would certainly struggle walking. And the heat means that walking for more than ten minutes works up a sweat, and we are in the middle of the cool season.

For my parents who would always choose walking over driving, and hate traffic, this was rather challenging. Cities in Thailand are not like London or Barcelona, they are not designed to be strolled around, and public transport is rarely the answer outside of Bangkok. People drive cars and mopeds because it’s so hot or extremely rainy. I advise you to be prepared for this and either rent a moped or use Grab moped taxis to get around.

Money

Even in those fancy restaurants I mentioned earlier, my parents were always blown away when we got the receipt. A massive meal for four people, a bottle of wine, drinks and dessert only came to around £50. They said the same meal in the UK would be at least triple that. And when we went to the local Thai restaurants that I prefer, they couldn’t believe that a delicious meal for four people came out to less than £10.

But despite all of this, my parents and I both managed to spend a fortune. This is because when you are in a place where you believe everything is super cheap, you spend more, but it adds up. It’s clear that most things in Thailand are inexpensive when you are on a Western wage, but nothing is free. And if you are a teacher in Thailand you will not be on a Western wage, so it’s important to be careful.

I advocate for good money management anywhere, but especially when you are in the Land of Smiles. If you don’t look at what you’re spending then money seems to disappear. Even though I have been here for a long time, I still get confused with the conversion rates and have not yet made the switch to think in Thai Baht rather than British Pounds. Limit your time in tourist areas, don’t eat at fancy restaurants often, and drink less alcohol. The locals aren’t spending a fortune every day, so eat what they eat and do what they do, and your bank balance will thank you for it.

Health Insurance

Last but not least I want to talk about something that’s not very exciting, but is very important. One evening I was in the garden of our Airbnb trying to block off a hole in the garden fence that my pesky dog could use as an escape route. I turned around quickly and caught my ear on the roof of a rusty swing, blood poured out and the pain was intense. My girlfriend and mum managed to patch me up and the pain reduced, but I couldn’t sleep all night thinking of that rusty swing and all the nasty things that could have entered my ear.

So the next day we headed to the hospital to get my ear cleaned and a shot of some vaccines. Luckily, I had given in to my dad’s pestering before I left for Thailand. He had been telling me to get some good health insurance, eventually I did. It was expensive, around £800 for the year if I recall, but I’m so glad I have it. I won’t go into the hospital experience in too much detail, but it was a breeze. It was so clean and efficient, and I was in and out in around an hour without paying a penny. For my treatment at a private hospital it would have cost around £100.

This time it was a small injury and wasn’t too expensive in the grand scheme of things, but a broken arm or few nights in the hospital with bad food poisoning would have been a different story. So although this anecdote doesn’t relate to my mum and stepdad’s experience in Thailand, I guess this is my opportunity to say thank you to my dad for encouraging me to get health insurance, and I encourage you to do the same for both long and short stays in Thailand. All I did was show my cards at reception and the rest was all taken care of.

If you’ve read this far down, thank you and I hope you enjoyed sharing this special time with me. I had a fantastic time with my parents and they loved Thailand, it’s validating that they can now understand why I’m here. If you want to start a teach abroad journey in this wonderful country, and have your parents come out to visit, we can help you get started.

Check out our Thailand program and all the brilliant places we offer across the country here. See you soon!