There are a couple important things to consider when living in an apartment in Thailand.
- Cooking
- most teachers will eat out either on the Soi (street) or at restaurants. This is normal in Thailand. Most Thai’s do not cook in their apartments as it is too hot and the food attracts too many ants/bugs. Eating out is very inexpensive and delicious. If you do decide to cook on your own, most apartment do not come equipped with stove and thus you will be required to buy a burner or a hot element and required cooking utensils and apparati.
- Air-Conditioning
- most apartments have airconditioning but some simply have fans. If your apartment has airconditioning BE SURE TO TURN IT OFF when you leave. Some teachers have had unfortunate surprises at the end of the month as a result of irresponsible air con usage.
- Pests
- When you move to Thailand, you enter an entirely different bug zone! Keep the food out of your room and your room clean and the bugs will be manageable. The following are some of the pests you can expect no matter where you live.
- House Lizards
- Geckos are friendly, eat bugs, and are considered good luck.
- Cockroaches
- Cockroaches are a lot bigger than in the West. They visit occasionally everywhere. Keep a supply of moth balls and bug spray in your room and they won’t be too much of a problem.
- Ants
- Ants are everywhere. Expect to see any open food crawling with them. Don’t keep open food in your room, do keep bug spray and you can control them. Camphor or the menthol in prickly heat powder also tends to keep them at bay.
- Dogs
- A common problem in Thailand is animal control. Stray dogs are everywhere. They are generally non-violent. There is nothing you can do about them.
