Custom «The Effects of Living in a Foreign Country» Essay Paper Sample

Living in a foreign country is very common among the merchants and explorers across the world- a phenomenon that is not only interesting but also beneficial to the businessmen since they expand their businesses and clientele in new territories given opportunities for investment. According to Edmund Clarke, “Thailand attracts masses of foreigners as it offers them employment opportunities, serene business environment, digital education network and ISM Technology, outstanding international living, and tourist services” . Even though living in Thailand is beneficial, it still bears some effects to its foreign residents.

The most detrimental effect one experiences is missing a number of occasions, people and facilities in the mother land. Away from home, one misses his or her family members, friends and all the attention they used to pay to him or her. Besides loneliness, making new friends from among the foreigners in Bangkok is also challenging considering existing cultural and language barriers in the new society. At the same time, ones starts missing facilities like cars, beds and even machines they are used to back at home. Consequently, an individual finds it hard to appreciate and cope with the new amenities in Thailand. Additionally, foreign Bangkok residents are deprived of an opportunity to assist their parents and family members in various activities due to the prevailing distance separating them apart.

It is also important to note that the socialization process of learning how to accept the new society and be part of it is yet another tedious task. Since the new society has completely different customs, values and traditional beliefs from yours, adjustment is a necessity. Adjusting to the new surrounding involves tolerating different opinions, variety of world views and visiting different places. Therefore, one must be under an obligation to learn all kinds of conflicting values and philosophies. As such, the best option is to retain a few important values and make improvements on the others that need to be improved. Fitting in the new society also calls for learning of the Thai language alongside its dialects for communication purposes.

Thirdly, when breaks from parental care he or she learns to be independent in bid to fend for her/himself (Clarke, p. 131). This experience is healthy as it trains an individual to be self reliant and later assume her/his full social and civil kind of responsibility. In turn the spirit of hard work in inculcated.

The fourth effect of living in a foreign country is the high risk of being infected by diseases like HIV/AIDS. For instance, in Thailand most migrants suffer due to the fact that they are unable to acquire enough information about HIV/AIDS and health care. The difficulty is brought about by language barrier. As a result most migrant workers die of the disease.

Finally those living away from their homes can benefit due to a relatively reduced cost of living. Thailand as our point of reference has a very low cost of living owing to the fact that it is a newly industrialized country and its economy has been experiencing a steady growth for the last two decades (Story, p. 265). Renting a house costs between 100 and 200 Euros per month while electricity and water cost 100 Euros every month. According to Lemataire and Liebig, the foreigners are allowed to legitimately change their citizenships for them to own lands in Thailand. It’s quite unbelievable but a number of Thai banks provide housing loans to foreigners.

In conclusion, living in a foreign country has both positive and negative effects on the lives of their respective immigrants. However, the benefits supersede challenges by far in countries like Thailand.