Under Thai Skies – Light & Shadow

Thailand is famous for its smiles, beaches, and temples. But stay a little longer and another reality comes into focus: corruption and double standards. Two forces that quietly shape daily life far more than tourists ever notice. Corruption shows up in everyday life in many ways. With money, almost anything can be bypassed. Need a visa, want to settle a traffic fine? Cash will do the job for you. In the office, paperwork can drag on for weeks—unless you know the right person who can “smooth” the process. That’s why many expats prefer to use agents instead of facing the system themselves. It saves time, frustration, and often turns out to be the only realistic way to get things done. In Thailand, connections don’t just help, they change everything. And then there are the double standards. Foreigners quickly learn about the “farang price.” At temples, national parks, and even small tourist attractions, Thais pay one fee, foreigners another—often several times higher. It’s not hidden; it’...

When people ask how life is here, we usually answer quickly: calm, cheap, stress-free. That’s the tourist version. Reality, however, is a bit more twisted – Thailand has a way of smacking you with surprises when you least expect it. The first shock for us? Toilets. Forget toilet paper – here it’s water, either from a bucket or a spray hose. And not just any hose – the pressure is stronger than in the shower. I didn’t exactly test it… it tested itself on me. For a while I was too embarrassed to leave the bathroom. And as if that wasn’t enough, sometimes you come across signs that make you wonder what stories they’re hiding. “No enter 2 person. Fine 2,000.” The rule is clear: only one person in the toilet at a time. But the illustration… let’s just say it sparks more imagination than necessary. Hard not to laugh when you see something like that. On the streets, scooters rule. Back home, two people on a motorbike already looks daring. Here, five is perfectly normal – parents, kids, someti...

On Instagram, Thai beaches look like paradise: turquoise water, white sand, palm trees leaning over the shore. And yes – sometimes they really do. But walk a bit further, beyond the resort’s cleaned stretch of sand, and you’ll see another picture. Plastic bottles, straws, styrofoam food containers, flip-flops carried in by the tide. Whole corners of the beach look more like a landfill than a tropical escape. Thailand has a plastic problem. It’s everywhere. Takeaway food? Wrapped in three layers. Coffee? Plastic cup, plastic lid, plastic straw, all packed in a plastic bag. A single quick snack can leave behind a pile of rubbish. Tourists don’t always notice. In popular places, resorts clean their stretch of beach every morning – sometimes before sunrise. Here in Bang Sare, we often see a small team clearing the sand in the early hours, and from time to time locals organize beach clean-ups through the community Facebook group. For us expats, joining in can be both a useful experiment and...

 Everyday life in Thailand has its unique rituals that may surprise a foreigner. One of the most striking is the national anthem, played twice a day – at 8 AM and 6 PM. Wherever you are, everything stops. On the street, in a park, at a train station, in a supermarket, in a shopping mall, or at a bustling night market – people stand still in silence to show respect. It is a daily moment of unity and loyalty to the country. The monarchy is at the heart of Thai identity. Portraits of the king and members of the royal family are everywhere: on billboards, in offices, in shops, and even in the smallest villages. Yellow and blue, the symbolic colors of the king’s and queen’s birthdays, are often worn on certain days of the week as a visible sign of loyalty. Thailand also enforces one of the strictest lèse-majesté laws in the world. Any negative or offensive words directed at the king or the royal family are considered a crime and may lead to prison. For foreigners, this is a clear rule: ...

  We set off from Bang Sare in our own car. The ferry to Koh Chang also takes vehicles, so the trip was straightforward – just drive on board and after a short crossing you’re already on the island. Driving on Koh Chang itself turned out to be a real challenge. The roads are paved and generally in good condition, but the terrain is tough. Steep climbs, sharp descents, and tight curves follow one another without pause, making every trip demanding. It’s not the kind of driving where you can relax – it requires focus, steady hands, and a lot of patience behind the wheel. We stayed at Aiyapura, a resort made up mostly of cottages spread out in greenery right by the beach. Quiet, spacious, with a view over the bay – it felt like the perfect escape. Breakfast was included and generous. We often returned to the restaurant for a late lunch, a drink, or ice cream after exploring all day. The food was delicious, the portions large, and the prices surprisingly reasonable for this standard. Ad...

I never dreamed of big money, a huge house with a swimming pool, or a fancy car. My dreams were different – simple, yet immense: to see something, to touch something, to experience something. There were three places I carried in my heart for years: - Niagara Falls – because I wanted to feel the power of nature. - Stonehenge – because it always seemed magical to me. - The Colosseum – because I longed to touch history. I never truly believed I would see them. And yet – I did. All of them. And then something surprising happened. Instead of euphoria, I felt… emptiness. As if the closest friends who had accompanied me all my life had suddenly left. Luckily, that’s when Wlodek and his memories stepped in. In his youth, he dreamed of Machu Picchu. Unfortunately, it was already too late for us – age, health issues, and limited physical endurance meant we had to admit we were simply too old for such a journey. But that didn’t mean the end of dreams. We went to Mexico, saw Chichén Itzá and the r...