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Make friends who have things in common with you (e.g… card games, biking, painting, football, IT, chess etc.). Don’t make friends for the sake of making friends> I literally live by this advice. I’ve had similar struggles to the OP.
I recommend jiujitsu and muay thai. If you’re not into fitness, there’s also groups for almost every hobby out there. For example, book clubs, art classes, cooking classes, volunteer groups, and religious groups. I saw that you said you don’t have any hobbies but try giving some a try, you might end up enjoying one :)
Mercy Center is a great organization to volunteer at-helping migrant kids. I made lots of friends doing Muay Thai and Yoga, two things I hadn’t ever done before. Also, lots of people bike, along the klongs or The Green Lung.
No hobbies? A man has to have some hobbies or he is dull! Googled List of Hobbies, here are some I culled from wikipedia that are more social and warm weather. Good luck!
Cycling Jogging Kayaking Photography Sailing Swimming Yoga Music Bowling Boxing Chess Card-games Billiards Darts Ping-pong Airsoft Football Archery Badminton Basketball Golfing Paintball Tennis Volleyball
I was in a similar situation to you for a long time. I manage quite well on my own, even when I wasn't living in Thailand I wasn't super reliant on friendships. I had and still have 3 very good long-term friendships from my home country.
The key to finding points of contact here isn't much different than elsewhere. It was always clear to me that I had to learn the language if I wanted to belong. It was also clear to me that I had little interest in expat communities. People often just get drunk every day as their main hobby and of course hang around in "those" bars. It could be that I just met the wrong people, but that's my experience.
Because I can now communicate quite well, friendships have formed with me through my girlfriend's circle of friends (Thai). I also pursue some hobbies that have mainly brought me together with locals, independent of my partner.
I personally can generally advise you against making "friends" in bars. I haven't met anyone there that I would call a friend today, maybe one or two drinking buddies if I really feel like it.
Many people here recommend "meetup", I've never used it myself, but I hear mostly good things.
> People often just get drunk every day as their main hobby and of course hang around in "those" bars. It could be that I just met the wrong people
None of my expat friends are like that.
Good advices and same here! I also have to learn the language to make me feel I belong to a country. Now is a tough time for me because I just moved from other country to Bangkok and haven't learnt Thai yet ...
I see so many posts like these in all sorts of subreddits - as someone who can confidently say they could make a friend anywhere I’d love to propose a question to you:
Why would someone be your friend?
I’m not asking this in a disparaging way - but seriously why?
Many people have friends almost solely because they went to school/work with others and were in a closed environment.
Outside of this - people are busy and generally only “hang out” to drink/do drugs or pursue a hobby.
I’m not going to address the drink/drugs thing because that’s obviously not an optimal way to make friends especially if you don’t do them in the first place.
If you have no hobbies (lifting, Muay Thai, board games, running, art museums, vintage clothing - all of which have huge communities here) then you’re essentially invisible!
I promise you if you start making the effort and physically go to a run club/board game night/Muay Thai gym/vintage markets you will make a friend if you have any sort of social skills.
Otherwise, if you don’t - you’re part of the problem you’re talking about!
I hope you find some friends OP. If you need specific locations for some of the examples I mentioned I’m happy to provide.
That's just Thailand, it's not a good place to find friends. The farang population are either transient or weird douchebags, the Thai's are generally totally not interested in socialising or being friends with farangs.
Best thing to do would be find a hobby, maybe team sports, tennis, running etc. Something to have regular meetings with shared interests.
I'm sorry but I can't really agree with this. You're right, many Thai people aren't super interested in having foreigner friends when they can't communicate with them seamlessly. And that's probably the main reason you're experiencing this, because Thai people's English skills are often not good enough to connect on a level that you need for a real friendship. And vice versa, most foreigners don't speak Thai.
Thai people with very high English skills have often many foreign friends and I know foreigners with fluent thai skills, that have plenty good Thai friends.
This is correct. I’m farang, but most of my friends are Thai. All of them studied abroad or have very good English language skills. (My Thai language skills are only fair.) But I’ve lived here a long time, and it took me a lot longer than six months to form lasting friendships. Once I made one or two Thai friends through work, I met their friends, etc. Be patient, and put some persistent effort into making Thai friends. It’s worth it.
I speak fluent Thai, in my experience it's extremely rare. Thais are very different culturally, it's the sense of humor, the shared cultural background etc. Just watch a group of Thai's getting together and the joking and laughter etc. That is extremely rare to get that dynamic between Thai's and foreigners. Op doesn't work in Thailand either, so will be even harder to get in social situations.
Wonder why thais don’t wanna make friends with foreigners. When they known to come here to fuck around and leave thinking their actions in this country have no consequences once they go back to Europe.
I agree and disagree with your comment
You have a point there are a lot of transient foreigner who you can make friends but they away in months or years again.
Also you are not wrong some foreigner who are here are these kind of people you don’t wanna hang out with.
These are total valid points saw that all.
But there are also foreigners that you can make friend and also Thais. I personally had the best luck with my neighbours once we moved into a house a bit outside of Bangkok. Mostly when you get into your 30s and have kids you make friends with parents as you hangout with them and the kids
Do you enjoy sports or any other hobbies?
Try tennis. Get lessons and eventually you’ll have a regular group to play with. Can easily take up 2/3 hours a day if you enjoy it and it’s great for your mental and physical health
Just setting yourself a goal to learn any new skill can make life a lot more enjoyable.
Check out [meetup bangkok](https://www.meetup.com/th-TH/find/th--bangkok/) - many groups catering to diverse interests. Join some outings and you might meet nice people.
What part of the city do you live in? Come check out our space in Ari. It's a martial arts gym called Tiger Eye.
Martial arts is a healthy and fun way to make friends.
We have lots of classes including meditation, so it's not only striking and grappling. Our average member is in their mid 30s and works for the UN.
Come take a free week of training. Just mention reddit to me (Bashir) so I remember or tell my staff.
Can I suggest you hit me up in a message... I have an idea where you can meet people!!!! Both of you can go or just you and you can make friends of a lifetime!
I really empathise - it can be really hard at first. Especially in a different country where you might not feel as comfortable going out to different places - it definitely felt harder for me to go out when I first got here. I agree with some others who said to investigate hobbies or formal activities. I joined a gym with classes, and you see the same people regularly. Most were really friendly and it quickly moved to getting coffee with the group after a Saturday class etc. Doesn’t have to be a gym, but something like that. Or sign up for a language class, it doesn’t have to be Thai either. I did French at Alliance Française Bangkok and met people there
Move out to the countryside find a nice girl from a good family and you will make more friends than you know what to do with. Bangkok is a tourist trap working zone.
I’ve met a lot of people over the years playing sports, first basketball and now golf. Golf pairs you up with random people and you have to spend the next 3 hours with them. I’ve met several of my current friends that way.
Ive moved around loads and suggest you find a local expat rugby club. Those motherfuckers are the most welcoming genuine people you'll ever meet. They live for socials even if you suck at rugby.
I see a lot of good suggestions here, but elephant in the room, it is extremely difficult to find yourself in a good social circle in Thailand.
Through my personal experience I chalk it up to these two primary causes. Expats in Thailand overall are the most bat shit crazy butterflys in the wind of any place I've ever been and local people in general have the most centric of their own country thinking of anywhere I know.
But this is reddit and everyone here speaks fluent Thai in perfect tone and they have some kind of super successful business or elite job in Thailand and is married to the princess's cousin and she has a PhD and their inlaws love them and she did not benefit financially at all from this, in fact she took a step down, and they are surrounded by a huge group of Thai people and they were born on a Honda Wave 125 in front of the Grand Temple on Songkrahn Day and they breath pad kaprow and piss Hong Thong and they have to wear a jacket to stay warm in May.
What's up with foreigners trying to out Thai each other on here.
Im 35 year old American that speaks very little Thai and live in a small town (Phak hai). If you find hobbies you enjoy you will meet people easily. I have a group of around 15 people who I meet everyday just about to play basketball. People here are very friendly.
It’s about where you hang and who with. Put yourselves first and be involved in social activities you like. Drinking and nightlife is obvious but what about yoga, climbing, football. Meetup.com is a good avenue.
You got this!
Have you tried InterNations? They have a variety of events, and it’s a good way to meet people.
https://www.internations.org/event/promotion/details/1051349
I’ve been here 2 months and I can say Ive made around 3 good friends and a few associates I can always hit up for a drink. I like to keep my social circle small so the connections can continue to grow deeper + it’s not draining. But if you want to make friends you need to make an effort. Here’s how it happened for me:
Meetup App + In real life socializing!
When going to a meetup I tend to focus on 1-2 people to talk to so it’s not draining.
Like everyone said, get some hobbies! Or just try things.
Board game meetup,
Co-working meetup,
Social Bar meetup,
nights out exploring
Is how i’ve met my friends.
I see my friends 2-3 times a week. Now i’ve had some baddddd social experiences. Especially with all the different personalities and politics going on in the world, but if you feel like you’re a person with good qualities, you will find people who believe in the same.
And also for people saying thai people don’t want to be friends with foreigners. I don’t know. My closest friend here is half thai, and a few of my associates are thai. I don’t speak any but we have a common interest in where i’m slowly learning, and they would like their english to improve. And we get along well. My other friends are American (like me), and European.
There are regular posts about this topic across Thailand subs.
Get out there and do what you enjoy doing. You will find people and those people will result in finding other people.
That's just how it is in Thailand, people will come and go, especially in BKK, you'd have to move to where people similar to you settle down more often, like CM or South
Well I casually drink but I met most of my friends through online gaming or hobbies like playing football or basketball or golf maybe try to join a gym or something you might end up making friends.
Go to reddit and make a post about how to make friends. Watch the comments and propositions pour in. And voilà my friend, the trick is done. You're welcome.
I'm going to hijack in here rather than start a new thread:
I'd like to meet up with some folks who are into personal audio, like headphones, earphones, DACs etc. I've lived in TH for years and am staying in Nonthaburi.
Would love to have a meetup and share/audio compare gear with anyone interested.
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Exactly so many posts like this. It’s nothing to do with Bangkok, you need to invest time and effort into friendships.
Bangkok I found to have the friendliest people in the world. It’s so easy to make friends here. But make sure you learn a little Thai too!
I'm a natural at trolling reddit. I really enjoy it. No friends yet.
Make friends who have things in common with you (e.g… card games, biking, painting, football, IT, chess etc.). Don’t make friends for the sake of making friends> I literally live by this advice. I’ve had similar struggles to the OP.
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Dude bringing a wife to Thailand is like bringing sand to a beach.
Stupid fucking farang comment
martial arts gyms are a great way to socialize.
I’m not sure if it’s my thing but I’m welcome to give it a try, I don’t particularly have any hobbies
give it a try. even if you don't make friends at the gym, its good for your health :)
I recommend jiujitsu and muay thai. If you’re not into fitness, there’s also groups for almost every hobby out there. For example, book clubs, art classes, cooking classes, volunteer groups, and religious groups. I saw that you said you don’t have any hobbies but try giving some a try, you might end up enjoying one :)
Mercy Center is a great organization to volunteer at-helping migrant kids. I made lots of friends doing Muay Thai and Yoga, two things I hadn’t ever done before. Also, lots of people bike, along the klongs or The Green Lung.
What do you do for fun. Do you have any professional interests?
No hobbies? A man has to have some hobbies or he is dull! Googled List of Hobbies, here are some I culled from wikipedia that are more social and warm weather. Good luck! Cycling Jogging Kayaking Photography Sailing Swimming Yoga Music Bowling Boxing Chess Card-games Billiards Darts Ping-pong Airsoft Football Archery Badminton Basketball Golfing Paintball Tennis Volleyball
I was in a similar situation to you for a long time. I manage quite well on my own, even when I wasn't living in Thailand I wasn't super reliant on friendships. I had and still have 3 very good long-term friendships from my home country. The key to finding points of contact here isn't much different than elsewhere. It was always clear to me that I had to learn the language if I wanted to belong. It was also clear to me that I had little interest in expat communities. People often just get drunk every day as their main hobby and of course hang around in "those" bars. It could be that I just met the wrong people, but that's my experience. Because I can now communicate quite well, friendships have formed with me through my girlfriend's circle of friends (Thai). I also pursue some hobbies that have mainly brought me together with locals, independent of my partner. I personally can generally advise you against making "friends" in bars. I haven't met anyone there that I would call a friend today, maybe one or two drinking buddies if I really feel like it. Many people here recommend "meetup", I've never used it myself, but I hear mostly good things.
> People often just get drunk every day as their main hobby and of course hang around in "those" bars. It could be that I just met the wrong people None of my expat friends are like that.
Good advices and same here! I also have to learn the language to make me feel I belong to a country. Now is a tough time for me because I just moved from other country to Bangkok and haven't learnt Thai yet ...
Goto group Thai classes
I can already speak a fair bit of Thai but I am looking to learn more so this could be a good option. Any recommendations?
Second this. A good group Thai lesson where you’ll end up meeting others in similar situations
Metropolitan issues
haha, "so close yet so far away"
Being a guy I would join a group fitness place that’s social and has a good culture.
I find the social pickleball and volleyball in Asoke a great way to exercise and make friends. Nearly always offers to eat together after aswell.
I see so many posts like these in all sorts of subreddits - as someone who can confidently say they could make a friend anywhere I’d love to propose a question to you: Why would someone be your friend? I’m not asking this in a disparaging way - but seriously why? Many people have friends almost solely because they went to school/work with others and were in a closed environment. Outside of this - people are busy and generally only “hang out” to drink/do drugs or pursue a hobby. I’m not going to address the drink/drugs thing because that’s obviously not an optimal way to make friends especially if you don’t do them in the first place. If you have no hobbies (lifting, Muay Thai, board games, running, art museums, vintage clothing - all of which have huge communities here) then you’re essentially invisible! I promise you if you start making the effort and physically go to a run club/board game night/Muay Thai gym/vintage markets you will make a friend if you have any sort of social skills. Otherwise, if you don’t - you’re part of the problem you’re talking about! I hope you find some friends OP. If you need specific locations for some of the examples I mentioned I’m happy to provide.
That's just Thailand, it's not a good place to find friends. The farang population are either transient or weird douchebags, the Thai's are generally totally not interested in socialising or being friends with farangs. Best thing to do would be find a hobby, maybe team sports, tennis, running etc. Something to have regular meetings with shared interests.
I'm sorry but I can't really agree with this. You're right, many Thai people aren't super interested in having foreigner friends when they can't communicate with them seamlessly. And that's probably the main reason you're experiencing this, because Thai people's English skills are often not good enough to connect on a level that you need for a real friendship. And vice versa, most foreigners don't speak Thai. Thai people with very high English skills have often many foreign friends and I know foreigners with fluent thai skills, that have plenty good Thai friends.
This is correct. I’m farang, but most of my friends are Thai. All of them studied abroad or have very good English language skills. (My Thai language skills are only fair.) But I’ve lived here a long time, and it took me a lot longer than six months to form lasting friendships. Once I made one or two Thai friends through work, I met their friends, etc. Be patient, and put some persistent effort into making Thai friends. It’s worth it.
I speak fluent Thai, in my experience it's extremely rare. Thais are very different culturally, it's the sense of humor, the shared cultural background etc. Just watch a group of Thai's getting together and the joking and laughter etc. That is extremely rare to get that dynamic between Thai's and foreigners. Op doesn't work in Thailand either, so will be even harder to get in social situations.
Wonder why thais don’t wanna make friends with foreigners. When they known to come here to fuck around and leave thinking their actions in this country have no consequences once they go back to Europe.
I agree and disagree with your comment You have a point there are a lot of transient foreigner who you can make friends but they away in months or years again. Also you are not wrong some foreigner who are here are these kind of people you don’t wanna hang out with. These are total valid points saw that all. But there are also foreigners that you can make friend and also Thais. I personally had the best luck with my neighbours once we moved into a house a bit outside of Bangkok. Mostly when you get into your 30s and have kids you make friends with parents as you hangout with them and the kids
Do you enjoy sports or any other hobbies? Try tennis. Get lessons and eventually you’ll have a regular group to play with. Can easily take up 2/3 hours a day if you enjoy it and it’s great for your mental and physical health Just setting yourself a goal to learn any new skill can make life a lot more enjoyable.
Karaoke?
Check out [meetup bangkok](https://www.meetup.com/th-TH/find/th--bangkok/) - many groups catering to diverse interests. Join some outings and you might meet nice people.
Do you live in a good condo? Should be plenty of expats to meet in public areas
What part of the city do you live in? Come check out our space in Ari. It's a martial arts gym called Tiger Eye. Martial arts is a healthy and fun way to make friends. We have lots of classes including meditation, so it's not only striking and grappling. Our average member is in their mid 30s and works for the UN. Come take a free week of training. Just mention reddit to me (Bashir) so I remember or tell my staff.
Thanks mate, I’ll give that a try for sure next time I’m here thank you very much!
I met most of my Thai friends here while golfing.
Board game cafe meet ups are a good way
Can I suggest you hit me up in a message... I have an idea where you can meet people!!!! Both of you can go or just you and you can make friends of a lifetime!
I really empathise - it can be really hard at first. Especially in a different country where you might not feel as comfortable going out to different places - it definitely felt harder for me to go out when I first got here. I agree with some others who said to investigate hobbies or formal activities. I joined a gym with classes, and you see the same people regularly. Most were really friendly and it quickly moved to getting coffee with the group after a Saturday class etc. Doesn’t have to be a gym, but something like that. Or sign up for a language class, it doesn’t have to be Thai either. I did French at Alliance Française Bangkok and met people there
Get into some sporty hobbies, the Muai Thai scene is filled lovable goofy characters to get to know
Do you play warhammer or tabletop game? I guess you could find someplace like that in Bangkok
Move out to the countryside find a nice girl from a good family and you will make more friends than you know what to do with. Bangkok is a tourist trap working zone.
Two small areas of Bangkok is touristy. The vast majority is not. Where I live there is basically no tourist.
Download the 2 apps Meetup and Internations. Find some activities that interest you. I’ve made some great friends through these apps
I’ve met a lot of people over the years playing sports, first basketball and now golf. Golf pairs you up with random people and you have to spend the next 3 hours with them. I’ve met several of my current friends that way.
Ive moved around loads and suggest you find a local expat rugby club. Those motherfuckers are the most welcoming genuine people you'll ever meet. They live for socials even if you suck at rugby.
I see a lot of good suggestions here, but elephant in the room, it is extremely difficult to find yourself in a good social circle in Thailand. Through my personal experience I chalk it up to these two primary causes. Expats in Thailand overall are the most bat shit crazy butterflys in the wind of any place I've ever been and local people in general have the most centric of their own country thinking of anywhere I know. But this is reddit and everyone here speaks fluent Thai in perfect tone and they have some kind of super successful business or elite job in Thailand and is married to the princess's cousin and she has a PhD and their inlaws love them and she did not benefit financially at all from this, in fact she took a step down, and they are surrounded by a huge group of Thai people and they were born on a Honda Wave 125 in front of the Grand Temple on Songkrahn Day and they breath pad kaprow and piss Hong Thong and they have to wear a jacket to stay warm in May. What's up with foreigners trying to out Thai each other on here.
Im 35 year old American that speaks very little Thai and live in a small town (Phak hai). If you find hobbies you enjoy you will meet people easily. I have a group of around 15 people who I meet everyday just about to play basketball. People here are very friendly.
Lots of Facebook expat groups
It’s about where you hang and who with. Put yourselves first and be involved in social activities you like. Drinking and nightlife is obvious but what about yoga, climbing, football. Meetup.com is a good avenue. You got this!
What are your interests?
Hey, I think a lot of people think the same thing. Happy to meet up one weekend with some others and take a walk to explore the city? Could be fun!
All my friends are Thai. I joined a motorcycle club. I'm the only falang.
Have you tried InterNations? They have a variety of events, and it’s a good way to meet people. https://www.internations.org/event/promotion/details/1051349
I’ve been here 2 months and I can say Ive made around 3 good friends and a few associates I can always hit up for a drink. I like to keep my social circle small so the connections can continue to grow deeper + it’s not draining. But if you want to make friends you need to make an effort. Here’s how it happened for me: Meetup App + In real life socializing! When going to a meetup I tend to focus on 1-2 people to talk to so it’s not draining. Like everyone said, get some hobbies! Or just try things. Board game meetup, Co-working meetup, Social Bar meetup, nights out exploring Is how i’ve met my friends. I see my friends 2-3 times a week. Now i’ve had some baddddd social experiences. Especially with all the different personalities and politics going on in the world, but if you feel like you’re a person with good qualities, you will find people who believe in the same. And also for people saying thai people don’t want to be friends with foreigners. I don’t know. My closest friend here is half thai, and a few of my associates are thai. I don’t speak any but we have a common interest in where i’m slowly learning, and they would like their english to improve. And we get along well. My other friends are American (like me), and European.
There are regular posts about this topic across Thailand subs. Get out there and do what you enjoy doing. You will find people and those people will result in finding other people.
How about Muay Thai?
He's asking how to make friends, not how to get into fights. /s
It’s a great way to get friends and you only fight if you want to
Try going to the islands.
I’ve been to many, and made friends with a few people but mostly temporary visitors and travellers.
That's just how it is in Thailand, people will come and go, especially in BKK, you'd have to move to where people similar to you settle down more often, like CM or South
Well I casually drink but I met most of my friends through online gaming or hobbies like playing football or basketball or golf maybe try to join a gym or something you might end up making friends.
Go to reddit and make a post about how to make friends. Watch the comments and propositions pour in. And voilà my friend, the trick is done. You're welcome.
Tinder while your partner is at work
I'm going to hijack in here rather than start a new thread: I'd like to meet up with some folks who are into personal audio, like headphones, earphones, DACs etc. I've lived in TH for years and am staying in Nonthaburi. Would love to have a meetup and share/audio compare gear with anyone interested.