Making the decision to “winter-over” in Thailand was quite a significant step - although I believe that everyone should take some BIG steps from time to time. 
Hell, I like to keep people guessing by “re-inventing” myself at random intervals, mainly because it confuses them immensely… and makes it hard for them to “describe” or “categorise” me!
And unlike most people, I really enjoy being outside my “comfort zone.”
I really like Thailand! My ex-wife is Thai, so I’ve had over 8 years of cultural exposure, and of course suffer an addiction to chilli… I even have some (modest) language skills, and I’ve been to The Kingdom of Smiles a few times before… the girls are real pretty - and its my good fortune to have a new Thai GF… 
we met in May 2005 and she is possibly the only girl in Thailand not prepared to leave… so me moving here for the winter was a logical step in the development of that friendship.
Winter sucks, in my opinion! I don’t ski, and I feel the cold something fierce. Fortunately, I’m in a position where I can pretty much please myself what I do - and its 34C here!
I enjoy being a quintessential “road warrior.” The power of the Internet is such that my clients are usually quite unaware of my location. Most SEO jobs arrive directly off my web site and are negotiated via email. Our apartment has 1Mb Broadband Internet access, and I have a VoIP phone with an Auckland number, although it hardly ever rings.
The secret to road warrior success is being responsive - deal with your emails immediately! That way, they don’t escalate into phone calls!
When living in one country and working in another, perhaps the biggest challenge is the time zone difference. Thailand is 5 hours behind NZ, so if you sleep in until lunchtime, its after 5pm in NZ! I try not to do that to often… although it seems many clients sort out their emails in the evening, which works out well.
Remembering to turn the mobile phone off before you go to bed is important for domestic harmony, I’ve discovered. Having a 4am call from a client who is just starting his day at 9am in NZ is a challenge!
Global roaming - its important to bear in mind that if someone calls your cellphone and you are overseas, YOU pay!!! At an horrendous rate, I might add. So if you call me, and I promply offer to call you back, its because the cellphone call is costing ME a buck-fifty a minute, but the VoIP is only costing me 10 cents!
The first month is drawing to a close, so this week I get to do the Visa Run… As you enter the country, most foreign nationals are automatically granted a 30 day Visa. Getting it renewed is a significant bureaucratic challenge, apparently one to be avoided if at all possible! The standard solution is the “Visa Run” where you exit the country at a convenient border crossing, and then come back…
There is a whole industry built around this - and in Bangkok there are at least 3 companies competing for clients. On Wednesday, I get to test the services of Claudio at Sawasdee Transport Co Ltd, the plan is;
- 08.00 AM departure for Ban Laem, a new Border Crossing 300 km from Bangkok.
I’m optimistic all will go smoothly - and if not I’ve still got a couple of days grace before overstaying my visa! Was reading on a Thai ex-pat forum about some guy who went on the last (30th) day and the bus broke down 2 hours away from the border crossing… and whilst there is a modest penalty added to every day you overstay, its more the black mark in the records thats of concern - and you might not get back in!
