I’ve been around Bangkok for a week now and I’m slowly getting used to all the new sights, smells and sounds of this wild city. I actually thought of moving to Bangkok last year but I procrastinated and shelved the plan. That plan was revived after I read the 4-Hour Workweek.

Moving out of home, let alone my country is not something that is common in a Chinese family. Almost all my family members disagree with my decision. It is a Chinese tradition to live in your parents’ home to “take care” of them. However, I see a lot of Chinese parents taking care of their adult kids instead of them taking care of their parents. Either way, as long as you live with your parents, you’re generally seen as a good filial kid. To leave your parents and move out is seen as being selfish and unfilial.

It was not an easy decision for me but I believe I have to do it for my own good. I cannot please them by making myself unhappy any longer and I am sure they would understand my reasons for leaving. Furthermore, my family is very dysfunctional and I have been longing to leave this negative environment for ages. I won’t go into great detail about how they are negative but they are just unsupportive, judgemental and manipulative. They can say with their mouths that they support me in whatever I do but their body language gives them away.

The place I live in Singapore belongs to mother but she has not been living there since late March 2008. I made a deal with my mother that I pay for the internet and utilities in exchange for living in 1 of the bedrooms in her apartment, which is about SGD $400 or more per month. She rents out the remaining 2 bedrooms for about SGD $1700 per month. Rental prices are very expensive in Singapore and I am getting quite a good rate with SGD $400 or so.

It seems like a good arrangement but both me and my mum broke some promises. I promised my mum that I would give away 2 of my kittens and she promised that she would not rent to students. So I think it is fair that we both broke our promises.

I find it very difficult to live with my mum’s tenants due to some hygiene and cultural differences. They tend to use the aircon on a lot, which drives the electricity bill up. Singapore has one of the world’s highest electricity rates and I don’t enjoy paying for it. My mum hates my cats and she is not happy to see the cats when she visits.

These are just some of the personal reasons for me wanting to leave Singapore. I could simply move out of my mum’s apartment and live in a small studio apartment but that would cost me about SGD $1500 per month excluding my own internet and utilities. I could get myself a nice studio apartment in Bangkok for about SGD $400 or less. If you do the math, it makes financial sense to live in Bangkok just for the cost of rental, internet and utilities.

I really just want to escape my family and the repressive authoritarian government in Singapore. I think the environment in Singapore is not conducive for my development. I have no faith in the Singapore system. I feel very unhappy and angry at a lot of things that happen in my country but I don’t think it is worth the sacrifice to try to fix it because my fellow Singaporeans do not seem like they care about changing the country.

Thailand is not a perfect place. Neither is Australia. Thailand has this crazy lese majeste law that is harsher than some of the draconian laws in Singapore. Australia has a little bit of racism against Asians and high taxes. However bad these things may seem, they are nothing compared to the high cost of living in Singapore and the denial of our human rights. I would like to make Thailand and Australia my home – Singapore shall be my hotel, where I transit in between these 2 countries.

I spent my first week in Bangkok visiting a lot of tourist attractions. My second week (this week) will be the week where I find an apartment and a way to get a 1 year visa to live in Thailand. I think I will simply sign up to be a full time student and learn Thai for a year or more until I have found a way to get a better visa.

Tomorrow, I will be checking out an apartment I found on craigslist.org. I hope I will be able to negotiate a lower price for the apartment. I have also contacted 3 property agents with my list of requirements. I hope that turns out well too.

I have been testing out the Pipzu and Piptronic forex automated trading systems. I have been making money on autopilot before and during my current trip to Bangkok. It is nice to know that my holiday has been paid for with the income I made while I was doing little or no work. If you’re wondering what they are and which one to get, I would say get Pipzu and the Pipzu Extrapolated. Pipzu Extrapolated is a 99.99% clone of Piptronic. Pipzu has a promotion right now for the Pipzu Extrapolated version at only $59.99 while Piptronic costs $129.99. I would refund Pipzu because it does not make as much money as Piptronic but keep the Pipzu Extrapolated version.

I will be hiring 2 part timers after the new year holidays. That should free up more of my time to do the things I want to do. This is both an exciting and scary time for me. Stepping out your comfort zone is never easy but it has to be done if you want to grow and experience new things in life.

Tagged As: Asia, australia, Bangkok, forex, migration, moving, piptronic, pipzu, Singapore, Singapore dollar, Thailand

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