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Life and Work in Thailand: An Interview with an Islander from Ukraine

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Life and Work in Thailand: An Interview with an Islander from Ukraine

Moving to Thailand can be for you not only a pleasant experience of living in a different environment (frankly, a more pleasant environment) but also an occasion to meet interesting people – both residents and foreigners, as well as compatriots. After all, leaving the city in which you lived, you leave most of your friends and buddies there. That is why it is possible and necessary to get acquainted with new people abroad.

I met Vlad Levkutnik, a resident of Kyiv, who came to Thailand 5 months ago and is going to stay here for another month, after which he will go to learn Indonesian Bali. Vlad is a web developer and a former student who got support from essay help. At the moment, he is freelancing on two foreign projects. Before coming to Thailand, he lived only a few months in Moscow, so Koh Samui can be called the first long-term experience of Vlad’s life abroad.

How did you decide to go to Asia for six months? What was the reason?

It was not a reason but a combination of many circumstances. I have long dreamed of going to warmer climes and living on the seashore. Not so long ago, I switched to freelance, which now allows me to live and work without being tied to a specific place. Well, I have long wanted to change something radically in my life. As soon as there were like-minded people, and my friend suggested to go here for the winter, I did not hesitate to agree.

By what principle was the country chosen, why Thailand?

Last spring, at the suggestion of friends, I went with them on a small tour of Thailand and Cambodia. I didn’t know anything about Asia before that trip, but after that, I knew I wanted to live here. Why Thailand? Because Thailand is ahead of the rest of Asia in most points of quality of life. Thailand is also a country of smiles. That’s probably why.

During what period did you start preparing for the trip? What were the difficulties in its organization?

The idea was hatched for 4 months, and the real preparation began in 2 months. There were no special problems in the organization. How to make a visa, what the first steps on arrival need to do – everyone knew it. We are lucky that our company has people who can find any interesting information on the Internet. So the overall picture of the move was clear. The main difficulty was in the head 🙂 It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I was going to get rid of unnecessary things, move out of my rented apartment and go to Asia for at least six months.

What was the first thing you did when you came to Thailand?

The first thing I did was inhale the strange, but already familiar smell of Bangkok Airport, well, I checked myself. I’m kidding 🙂 In general, at first, I had to be nervous and fuss about housing, of course. But when everything settled down, and I was finally able to relax, I went and bought a guitar.

Where did you settle on the island and how did you settle in your new place? 

Since we were traveling for a long time, we decided not to risk searching for housing via the Internet (I did not want to buy a pig in a poke), so we rented a hotel for 3 days, which we devoted to an independent search for housing. The task was not easy.

First of all, a lot of us came, and it was impossible to find housing for everyone in one place, so in the end, we had to divide into 2 groups.

Secondly, it is very difficult, having arrived from Ukrainian autumn to the heart of tropical Thailand, to immediately plunge into the hustle and bustle of finding housing – there is acclimatization, and a million new impressions and a natural desire to relax, because we are already here, on a tropical island!

In general, the search for our first home took 4 days. It turned out to be a large two-story house on the territory of the resort in the southeast of the island (just south of Lamai Beach). The house was perfect for 5 people, and we immediately agreed when we saw it. I didn’t have to settle in much. The house had everything and even more that could be needed for life.

However, after 3 months, we had to move to a new house, because 2 guys who lived with us were returning home, and it was already expensive to rent such a house for three. We looked at the second house when we were looking for the first one, so we only needed to settle the nuances of its lease.

This house is located in the northeast of the island, just near the place where the friends with whom we flew here together live. This house is the exact opposite of the first one, except that it is also two-story. A very simple, typical Thai shophouse, with a summer kitchen, and with a view of beautiful sunsets and a Large Buddha on the horizon.

What does your workplace look like and what can’t you do without at work?

In this regard, nothing special. My workplace is my laptop, a comfortable desk and chair, and the Internet.

What does your usual weekday on the island consist of? 

A normal day? Perhaps I do not have such a thing. Every day is different, and the events are different. So if you put together everything I do from time to time and put it together in one day, you get the following:

I wake up at 8-9 am;

meditate;

I walk to the sea and swam;

take a ride to the market for fresh vegetables or fruit for breakfast;

a little work, if you’re in the mood;

walking on a rope;

I play the guitar;

we go to the beach with the guys;

lunch! 🙂

we can work a little more while the heat is on;

the heat subsided – I went for a ride on a skateboard;

we got out into the sunset;

evening gatherings, or ” walking street”, where you can take a walk, eat various local goodies and listen to live music.
However, so that all this and in one day, it was probably only a couple of times. Usually, someone is lazy, there is no work or too much, it is raining – you will not go anywhere, and so on. But a perfect weekday looks like this 🙂

Has your lifestyle changed since moving to Thailand? Are there any new habits, activities, daily rituals?

Yes, there is a good habit of eating a lot of fruit. I also have a habit of taking a dip in the sea in the morning, but I’m afraid that it will also disappear as it came when I move to a place where there is no sea 30 meters from the house. But I can say for sure that something has changed significantly in my head after moving here.

What do you miss on the island? Are there things/people you miss?

People, of course, I miss a lot of people. And what is missing is places for walking: parks, squares or ordinary streets where you can walk in the shade of trees. There is no way to walk here at all, even there are no sidewalks on the island. That’s what I miss.

Do you have any recommendations for people who want to move to Thailand?

Don’t forget to stock up on a good mosquito repellent!

And if you are serious, then do not think that this is impossible. For some reason, many people think so. If there is a desire, then everything becomes possible. Weigh all the pros and cons, prepare well, think through everything to the smallest detail, and see how everything happens by itself, and you are already halfway to Thailand.

If you can imagine Paradise as a place, then literally add left-hand traffic to it and you get Thailand.

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