Life of a Farang in Thailand: A Semi-Retired Journal from Phuket

🌊 Life of a Farang in Thailand

One Man’s Journal from Patong Beach

Author: David Hibbins
Location: Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand
Started: April 2025
Updated: 17 April 2025


🪷 About This Journal

After years of working too hard, losing too many weekends, and surviving a near-fatal car accident, I made a decision: time to rewrite the script. I swapped spreadsheets for sunsets, boardrooms for beach bars — and now I live semi-retired in Patong Beach, Phuket.

These days, I run a little bar and guesthouse, drink too much iced coffee, and try to remember people’s names in Thai. Alongside that, I write — partly for the joy of storytelling, partly to support my creative ventures in travel, photography, and passion-fueled projects.

This journal is my honest, often humorous, and occasionally reflective take on life as a long-term farang in Thailand. Some entries are lighthearted. Some are thoughtful. Some are just about the strange, beautiful rhythm of living in a place like this.

One rule: I only write when something stands out — big or small. No brushing teeth entries. Probably.


📘 Farang Journal Entries

Part 1

👉 Life of a Farang in Thailand: Cliffside Cocktails & Stormy Beginnings
A soft landing… until the sky fell in.

Part 2

👉 Life of a Farang in Thailand: Baptized by Songkran
When sunscreen meets water buckets, it’s a spiritual awakening.

Part 3

👉 Life of a Farang in Thailand: Too Late for Foam, Right on Time for Madness
Missed the foam party. Made it for the revenge soaking.

Part 4

👉 Life of a Farang in Thailand: The Cat, the Tap, and the Doughnut That Saved the Day
Songkran Hangover Phase 3… with carbs and unexpected plumbing.

Part 5

👉 Life of a Farang in Thailand: Sausage Toe, Seafood Plans & Laundry Karma
Some days you conquer the world. Some days the clothes rack does.


🆕 New entries added when life happens — not just when the calendar says so.
Come back often, laugh with me (or at me), and take a little stroll through this beautifully strange journey.

— David


🌏 Explore More of the Journey

If you’ve made it this far… you’re probably one of us. Curious. A little restless. Maybe looking for something real. Here’s where the story continues:

📸 Reflections Photography

  • Sunset Light – Thailand’s golden hours, captured with silence.
  • Island Mood – Palms, boats, and barefoot wanderings.
  • People & Place – Faces, moments, market scenes.
  • Quiet Streets – Life behind the tourist lens.
  • Sacred Spaces – Temples, candles, and calm.

See what I see when the noise fades.
👉 Explore the Photo Galleries

📚 Shadow Drift – The Book Series

Meet Cole Rainer — ex-SAS, now a wanderer caught between paradise and chaos.
He came to Thailand to disappear. But trouble, like shadows, follows.

📘 Read the Shadow Drift Series

🧭 Resurgence Travel

Craving something softer than the city?
Let us take you off-grid — Phi Phi, Racha, and places most maps ignore.

🌴 Plan an Island Escape


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