What kind of hobbies can you have in Thailand?

[howard ashoul 229]

Settled in Thailand. But lately I come to realization, that I'm missing hobbies. Just going about daily business, without any passion or interests.

 

I looked into my past in my home country.  From that I ruled out cycling, as it could be quiet suicidal on these roads. So I was thinking about fishing. A lot of rivers and lakes around. And it seems unregulated. As anybody can be fishing here as he likes and what he likes.

 

But I couldn't find anything else.

 

Do you any hobbies while living here? That would fit Thailand, not requiring be in Bangkok or other big city? Thanks for experiences.

[allane 744]

Swimming, if you have a pool nearby. It is the only aerobic exercise I want to do in this climate.

[Crossy 16,653]

Pretty well anything you like.

 

I'm getting back in to model engineering that I last did as a teenager. Machinery available at a price, materials (brass etc in small sizes) uncommon but possible.

 

Name your poison.

[tifino 3,229]

 

keep away from model hot ballooning - big fine if you're near an airport!!   

[GarryP 3,643]

I go cycling. Crossing the road is an adventure here, so don't rule out cycling.  Used to go fishing. Luckily I am still working so only have weekends free. But when I retire I will definitely need to take up additional hobbies otherwise I will go insane.  Not looking forward to it actually. 

 

Learn to sing, take up a musical instrument, join a club, try writing the next best seller (even if it does not sell, you will be proud when you have finished the project or at least you should be). Bite off more than you can chew and have fun proving the world wrong that it wasn't impossible after all. Whatever you do, have fun doing it.   

[impulse 16,104]

I'm more into concurrent and sequential projects than repetitive hobbies.   My biggest problem in Thailand (and China) has always been that last component or tool to put a project over the finish line. I can find about 90-95% of what I need (instilling the cruel illusion that it should be do-able, right?), then the project sits in that state for months and months while I'm searching for that last little bit.  Which is where the concurrent projects come in.  I usually have half a dozen working at once.

 

Oh.  And more often than not, once a project is finished, I find out that there's some silly laws that render the resulting wonder of improvised design and craftsmanship pretty much useless.  Examples are drones (no longer legal within 20 km of my BKK place), car top kayaks (not allowed on the expressways) air rifles (hard to find a good one, easy to buy, way illegal to own), a boat trailer (the toughest part was the receiver hitch for the truck, then I couldn't get the trailer registered), and a few other fiascoes that mercifully slip my mind.

 

Best of luck.

 

Edited June 30, 2017 by impulse

[sinbin 608]

4 hours ago, howard ashoul said:

From that I ruled out cycling, as it could be quiet suicidal on these roads.

Depending on your location you should stick with off-road initially. I started that way a number of years back until I felt competent to go on roads. In fact getting off road opened my eyes up to parts of my local area that a car cannot go. Go early in the morning before sun up if you can.

41 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I go cycling.

Good for you. Best exercise regime one can get. I do 20km four times a week. In between cycling my time is taken up with gardening and DIY. Never a dull day.

[GarryP 3,643]

34 minutes ago, impulse said:

I'm more into concurrent and sequential projects than repetitive hobbies.   My biggest problem in Thailand (and China) has always been that last component or tool to put a project over the finish line. I can find about 90-95% of what I need (instilling the cruel illusion that it should be do-able, right?), then the project sits in that state for months and months while I'm searching for that last little bit.  Which is where the concurrent projects come in.  I usually have half a dozen working at once.

 

Oh.  And more often than not, once a project is finished, I find out that there's some silly laws that render the resulting wonder of improvised design and craftsmanship pretty much useless.  Examples are drones (no longer legal within 20 km of my BKK place), car top kayaks (not allowed on the expressways) air rifles (hard to find a good one, easy to buy, way illegal to own), a boat trailer (the toughest part was the receiver hitch for the truck, then I couldn't get the trailer registered), and a few other fiascoes that mercifully slip my mind.

 

Best of luck.

 

Have you made your own marine ply kayak. I bought a couple of books and was all gungho at the time but could not source a decent supplier of marine ply.

[impulse 16,104]

19 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Have you made your own marine ply kayak. I bought a couple of books and was all gungho at the time but could not source a decent supplier of marine ply.

 

I bought a couple of Cu M of BS1088 marine ply in China, but my problem there was finding a decent epoxy (and the time- had plenty of space).  So the plywood ended up somewhere in the USA at a buddy's shop, though I doubt I'll ever see it again.

 

If you've got the space and the time, I'd suggest a strip plank construction. Then you're not at the mercy of the quality of the plywood.  The biggest Asian hiccup is finding a router table and bits to rout the bead and cove on the planks.  I found one table on Lazada for around 8,000 baht, but my 5th floor balcony just isn't big enough.  The epoxy and glass cloth is available in Thailand at boat dealers (and in bulk- but harder to find).  I still have the strips cut, waiting for me in China when my BKK contract ends...

 

My solution in China is a gorgeous fiberglass sit-in kayak, factory made.  In Thailand, all I could find was roto-molded.  Works fine but not as joyful to paddle as the  one I have in China.  But getting it to a beach without getting on an expressway is tough.

 

On an aside, there was a guy selling his strip built kayak shop near Kanchanaburi a few years back, but my contract precludes me from doing anything on the side (WP issues), so had to give it a pass.  That would have been a great hobby shop.

 

Edited June 30, 2017 by impulse

[MINIMIGLIA 298]

Plenty of good cheap golf courses here.

[balo 9,639]

6 hours ago, howard ashoul said:

Do you any hobbies while living here?

I live near the beach so one of my hobbies is to go metal detecting .  Just to get some exercise really . You will find a few coins and sometimes jewelry. 

 

Also I pick up trash , also to get exercise. Try to do something meaningful when I can.  

Other days I'm out with my bicycle . 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2017 by balo

[Jonathan Fairfield 5,139]

In January I tried Muay Thai and boxing for the first time, having never done anything like that before in my life. Six months later i'm still really enjoying my new hobby! 

[impulse 16,104]

11 hours ago, balo said:

I live near the beach so one of my hobbies is to go metal detecting .  Just to get some exercise really . You will find a few coins and sometimes jewelry. 

 

Also I pick up trash , also to get exercise. Try to do something meaningful when I can.  

Other days I'm out with my bicycle . 

 

I rent canoes at Q Sirikit Park and Lumpini for my upper body workout, bringing my own double kayak paddle.  There's quite a few of us that seem to have the same idea since the rental paddles aren't as good a workout.

 

At Lumpini, I carry a trash basket and pick up floating trash, just to make it a challenge to maneuver the canoe (I'd prefer fishing, but- oh well).  First time I did it, one of the local recyclers got rather perturbed, thinking I was horning in on her territory.  But I gave her the basket when I docked and now I get friendly waves and thumbs up from half a dozen vendors every time I show up.

 

And a good, no impact workout.

[dotpoom 6,787]

Watching Fox News (we don' t have it at home) and shouting like crazy at the Television.

    Great fun and pastime...and really leaves you knacketed after a few hours. 

[williamgeorgeallen 4,177]

try kiteboarding or stand up paddle. drone flying is a good laugh.