After spending three weeks in Thailand, with one more to go, I’ve finally learned enough to share with you.

Before starting, here is some important information you must know:

I came here for my SRS (sex reassignment surgery), so my whole experience here was about optimizing recovery and not sightseeing (there are not many sights to be seen in Chonburi anyway) Being in a vulnerable condition, I’ve decided to avoid street food altogether. The only cooked food I ate was in the hospital and no more than a few times at the hotel’s breakfast. I’ve prioritised industrialised food as I assumed it would adhere to higher quality standards. People here have the customs of cooking food on the sidewalks, and I can only imagine it contaminated by the gases expelled by automobiles/scooters, dirty water from the rain, or even dog poop… there are a lot of stray dogs here. So I couldn’t bear to try any of those. I was also very picky in what kind of industrialised food I would buy. As I’m in recovery, I would opt-in for high protein/low carb items. I also picked up a few fiber-rich supplements, as after the surgery, I was mostly constipated all the time.

What Not to Do

Tap water is a big no-no! だめ！

Don’t drink tap water! Never!!! Not even the locals do that. Bottled water is a must, and make sure you always have a supply of that, you won’t regret.

Buying Stuff

In almost every corner you will find a 7-eleven store. Literally. Those were my favourite places, where I could get most of my desirable items. They also have a high range of Japanese imports, which are high-quality products.

One interesting aspect of the 7-elevens are the stamps. Every time you buy something from them, they will give you some stamps as “reward points.” Depending on the products you’ve bought they will be 1 baht or 3 baht stamps. They are usually anime/manga themed, and the current theme is Doraemon.