9 Signs You've Lived in Bangkok Too Long

Back in your native country, 1 km might seem like a pleasant stroll. But in Bangkok, this distance turns into a full-on assault course of broken paving stones, boiling pots of street-side noodle stalls, cars, bikes and beggars (not to . To avoid this, locals often make use of the groups of motorcycle taxi drivers that sit at the entrance to most streets in the city.

Dressed in bright vests, they're easy to spot and will take you short distances for as little as 10 or 20 baht. As convenient as they are, motorcycle taxis are notorious for overcharging tourists, but for the foreigner who has been in Bangkok too long, most distances are easy to estimate.

We’re certain the master brewers of Europe would turn in their grave at such sacrilegious behaviour, but in the heat and humidity of Bangkok (known as the world's hottest city), constantly adding ice cubes to your glass is the only way to keep your beer cold. It undoubtedly affects the taste, but it does ensure your Singha or Chang stays cold and fizzy until the last drop.

For an expat that has been in Thailand too long, toilet paper is used for wiping your mouth and hands after eating a meal at a street stall. For all your sanitary needs, one only requires a toilet hose, affectionately called a ‘bum gun'. If you think about it, using water to wash yourself makes a lot more sense. After all, you wouldn't wipe mud off your face using only paper, would you?

This one is not limited to Thailand but it sure is apparent for foreigners unaccustomed to this practice. Whenever you enter a house, apartment or place of worship, it's a common courtesy to remove your shoes at the entrance or even before you enter. Not doing so would be noticed by everyone, though thanks to the kind and forgiving nature of most Thai people, they may not say anything to you as they wouldn't want to embarrass you.

Thai people are nothing if not resourceful, and it's interesting to see how people can adapt items to fit their purpose. An everyday example of this is when you want to buy a drink from a market or local restaurant to take away with you. The shop owner would have to pay if you take the glass bottle, so the solution is to take a small plastic bag, fill it with ice, pour your drink into it, and finish it off with a long straw.

The temperature in Bangkok rarely drops below 25°C, so there's absolutely no need for any kind of warm clothing, right? Not quite. While the weather outside is scorching, offices and shopping malls often put on air-conditioning at full blast to keep the sweat off our backs.

This may be pleasant while shopping, but if you go to the cinema in your summer clothes, you will end up shivering throughout the film. That's why foreigners who have been here too long remember to bring winter gear whenever they want to catch the latest blockbuster.

When you buy fresh pineapple or mango from a fruit stall in Bangkok, you'll notice a small packet of pink granules put in the bag along with your fruit. This mixture is actually chilli flakes and salt. Sounds weird, right? Not to the foreigner who has been in Bangkok too long, because they often think nothing of dunking every piece into the bag.

You might have grown up with dollars, maybe pounds or even lira, but for a foreigner who has spent too long in Bangkok, all purchases often require conversion into Thai baht to truly understand its value. This becomes apparent when it is your once home currency that you can no longer judge.