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Being a mother in Thailand can be a unique and fascinating experience, especially for expat moms who have made the country their home. In this video, Lloyd and Mandy share their personal insights and stories about what it's really like to raise a family in Thailand. From cultural differences to everyday challenges, they open up about the ups and downs of living in Thailand as a mother. If you're considering making the move to Thailand or are simply curious about expat life, this video is for you. Get ready for an honest and entertaining look at the realities of motherhood in Thailand.
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Being a mother in Thailand can be a unique and fascinating experience, especially for expat moms who have made the country their home. In this video, Lloyd and Mandy share their personal insights and stories about what it's really like to raise a family in Thailand. From cultural differences to everyday challenges, they open up about the ups and downs of living in Thailand as a mother. If you're considering making the move to Thailand or are simply curious about expat life, this video is for you. Get ready for an honest and entertaining look at the realities of motherhood in Thailand.
If you enjoyed this content, please subscribe for more 👇
https://www.youtube.com/@LloydandMandy
GET IN TOUCH:
🌏 Email: lloydandmandy@ruthlesstalent.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lloydandmandy/
💻 Our Website: https://www.lloydandmandy.com/
🎥 Join Our FREE Youtube Content Creator Community: https://creator-society-lloydandmandy.circle.so/join?invitation_token=9283dc35b4d3fcae4f7f35841827d168181a623c-eed8b995-090e-4cd2-a360-270cb62bd703
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TravelTranscript
00:00Hi guys, welcome back to the channel. My name's Mandy and in today's video I want to share with you
00:05sort of what my experience has been being a new mother here in Thailand. So I just had my first
00:12child back in October. I had my daughter Lila with my husband Lloyd. It was a pretty crazy experience having
00:19a baby overseas and I would love to share it with you guys. But before we get started, don't forget
00:24to hit the like button and subscribe to our channel for all future content. Alright, let's get into it.
00:28So I want to start with healthcare and sort of just like the support that I had throughout, I guess,
00:34pregnancy, giving birth and then postpartum as well. Overall, I've had a really, really great experience. The hospital was incredible.
00:42I had a beautiful female doctor. There's so much access to Chinese medicine and alternative medicine here as well. So
00:49I've been able to get acupuncture, massage, prenatal massage, Thai massage has been incredible for postpartum as well.
00:57So the access to healthcare here has been great. Just also the nurturing nature of Thai women in general. I
01:05have been so well looked after by just strangers and just, yeah, random people wanting to help and loving babies.
01:12And it's been very positive experience with that.
01:16The next thing I want to touch on is sort of what things cost. So one of the contributing factors
01:21was that it is quite expensive for, you know, your startup costs for getting things like the bassinet and the
01:30changed
01:33and the change table. Those types of things have been so affordable. I wasn't really sure what I was looking
01:39for or what we needed. To be honest, I hadn't spent a whole lot of time in the baby atmosphere
01:45before having a child.
01:47So I didn't exactly know what sort of things I wanted. So I kind of went on the lower end
01:52for like a more affordable pram or stroller, whatever country you're in to call that.
01:58I went on the more affordable end. And honestly, I was able to get everything I needed and more like
02:04an outfit for Lila, a full outfit is about $10. Just things like that.
02:10I found so affordable, even more affordable price to get like organic cotton diapers or nappies has been even more
02:18affordable than just regular nappies.
02:20So we've been able to get like organic, good quality things for the same about the same price that you'd
02:25be paying for the lower end of things back in a Western country, for example.
02:29So that's been really nice as well. It's kind of felt more luxurious. Also, one thing I wasn't really sure
02:35about was like getting things ordered or delivered to the house.
02:38I wasn't sure how good like the postage service would be here. It's incredible.
02:43Like we literally can get anything delivered to the house within 24 hours, pretty much.
02:47So for running like low on formula or diapers, that sort of thing now, like it comes 24 hours later
02:54and yeah, it's pretty convenient.
02:56So the lifestyle here has been so incredible for being postpartum for me, the heat, first of all, and just
03:04being able to heal in a warm place has been great for me.
03:07Being postpartum, you want warmth, you want sunshine, you want warm meals like curries, that sort of thing.
03:14So getting access to that sort of stuff postpartum and when I'm just learning how to be a new mom
03:19has been great.
03:21We've been able to go to the beach in the morning with her every day, which has been really great
03:26too. We love the beach.
03:27So as someone who doesn't have a lot of family around here, I have had family come and visit, but
03:33Lloyd and I are pretty much doing this on our own here.
03:37Every time that we leave the house, I have someone helping. So like when we go to the gym, the
03:41lady that runs the gym is holding Lila for me so I can run.
03:44Like that I I'd never seen anything like that, let alone her being allowed to come into the gym.
03:50She's welcomed and like they want to hold her at the whole time, which just says enough about the culture
03:56here.
03:57Having a child growing up in Canada, I don't think children are really allowed into the gym.
04:01Maybe not all gyms obviously are like that here, but where we live, everyone wants her in no matter where
04:08we're going.
04:09Guys, I just want to give a quick shout out to Surfshark for sponsoring this video.
04:12One thing that we don't really show a lot of on this channel is all the behind the scenes stuff
04:17that we do like editing videos, uploading content and of course planning all of our trips.
04:23Now, up until about 10 months ago, we actually didn't have access to our own Wi-Fi because we were
04:29pretty much traveling full time,
04:31which meant going to places like cafes or co-working places to get all of our work done,
04:37which also meant logging onto public Wi-Fi.
04:40Now, if you don't know, public Wi-Fi is an absolute gold mine for hackers,
04:45which is why for almost three years now we've been using our Surfshark VPN.
04:51And still to this day, even though we have our own Wi-Fi, I never go online without first firing
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05:02So basically it acts like a mask encrypting all of the data that gets sent between your computer and the
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05:14But that's honestly just one reason we use Surfshark.
05:16The other reason is that it also lets us log on to servers from all over the world,
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05:43Our experience has been wonderful.
05:46Of course, there is always the flip side to every situation.
05:51There also has been some struggles that we've had, some things that I haven't really thought about.
05:57So one thing that I do get DM'd about a lot is the Zika virus.
06:02So there are a lot of women or mothers that want to come to Thailand or travel here and they're
06:06quite worried about Zika virus.
06:08So Lloyd and I actually did a deep dive into Zika and understanding how likely is it for a child
06:16to get it,
06:17what happens if they do get it, that type of thing.
06:20And after doing our deep dive, we've come to the conclusion it's not as common to get Zika as you
06:26think it is.
06:26I believe the percentage of the amount of people there are in Thailand to the amount of people that get
06:31Zika virus.
06:32There was 400 cases out of 80 million people last year.
06:37It's quite rare to get Zika.
06:39I honestly wouldn't make that a reason to not bring a baby here.
06:43I think it's one of those things like every country has their thing.
06:47You know, like Canada's got bears and cougars and Australia's got sharks and spiders and all that and snakes.
06:53And then here, maybe that's the thing you get told about is like, you know, Dengue or Zika, that sort
06:58of thing.
06:59And I really don't think it should be a reason that holds you back from coming here with children because
07:04it is just a paradise.
07:06One of the biggest struggles for myself has been, I guess because I grew up in a colder climate as
07:13a child,
07:14getting used to not really being able to go out in the middle of the day, especially with a baby
07:18that sleeps at night.
07:19It shortens the window that you can bring your baby outside.
07:24For us especially, my baby is quite Scandinavian and white.
07:29So she's quite sensitive to the sun and gets hot quite easily.
07:32That's our genetics.
07:33And, you know, I should have probably known that prior, but I'm great with heat.
07:38So I just assumed that she would be the same, but unfortunately she's not.
07:42So something to keep in mind that especially during, you know, April, May, when it gets really, really hot,
07:48kind of a limited time to go outside, even at seven o'clock in the morning, it's already too hot.
07:53Something to keep in mind there, there is a section of the year that you probably don't want to be
07:58here
07:58or you at least want to have a good area in the house with air conditioning or a good fan.
08:04So you're not in the heat with the baby.
08:06So I grew up, again, in Canada.
08:08I grew up going to parks and running around on the grass and, you know, running through the woods.
08:13And there isn't really, like, parks here.
08:17With it being that it's too hot in the middle of the day, it does limit, I guess, the places
08:21that you could put a park
08:23because it would be too hot with the sun on it.
08:25But also there just isn't, like, grassed parks anywhere.
08:29So there, that's definitely a downside.
08:32We do have the beach, but the beach also does wash away from time to time.
08:37It's not really available.
08:38So we found ourselves hanging out inside more than we thought we would.
08:44I thought with the sun that we would be outside more.
08:47But the heat, honestly, like, after you've been here for a while, it gets to be a lot.
08:52And with a baby, when they're a lot more sensitive, it can be a bit full on.
08:58So it is something to think about.
08:59If you're not someone who absolutely loves heat, I wouldn't recommend it.
09:03If you're just sort of like, yeah, I like when it's warm, it can get to you.
09:07So I did go with a more affordable option with our stroller or pram because I didn't really know what
09:13I was looking for in it.
09:14And I didn't know for sure that we'd even use it here because there are not really sidewalks anywhere.
09:20They have started adding some on the main street in Hua Hin, I will say that, which is very good
09:24for Southeast Asia.
09:25But in Southeast Asia as a whole, there's not really sidewalks.
09:30So pushing the pram around, I've seen other mothers like committing to it.
09:34And it's like, it's a, it's a trek and you're, you know, you're kind of going over rocks and trees
09:41and or whatever else.
09:42The footpath isn't always reliable or you're just on the street.
09:45I found that just having a baby carrier is a lot easier.
09:49It would be nice to be able to use a pram or a stroller as well.
09:53So another thing to keep in mind, if you are someone like that, that uses a stroller or pram all
09:58the time, it's not convenient usually here.
10:01Overall, my experience has been extremely positive becoming a new mother here in Thailand.
10:06I'm really happy that I did this here.
10:09I think I've had more access to the health side of things that I needed for myself.
10:14I was able to have a quiet, peaceful place that is surrounded by banana trees.
10:20And I've been able to have a house cleaner help me when I, you know, haven't been able to clean
10:25my home.
10:25I've been able to afford to have that.
10:27So yeah, it's been overall a wonderful experience having a baby here.
10:31So whether you're traveling here or maybe you are also thinking of having a child in Thailand, I would recommend
10:37it a hundred percent.
10:39I feel like it's made me a mentally stronger person.
10:41I also feel just super grateful to have witnessed what it's like when women help each other out and look
10:48out for each other.
10:49I maybe didn't really witness that much growing up, maybe just the circle that I grew up around.
10:56But getting to just see how other women help each other and it's been really inspiring to me.
11:02I think Thailand sort of can like set the bar for how treating babies should be or treating, you know,
11:09new mothers should be.
11:10Because I, yeah, I've been treated like royalty and so has Lila.
11:14So if you're thinking about it, feel free to send us a message on Instagram if you have any questions.
11:18I'm always happy to answer.
11:20Thank you guys so much for watching.
11:21And as always, we will see you in the next one. Bye!
11:23Hey!
11:25Hey!
11:26Hey!
11:28Woo!
11:32Hey!
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