I lived in Thailand for a year and some of us learned Thai and made local friends (including myself, fortunately, and special shout out to my incredible host dad who gave me Thai lessons for six straight months) BUT out of the group of young expats I was with from across the globe, I was one of the few. A good half of the 40 or so of us left the country with no ability to speak Thai or understanding of the culture.
The biggest difference was where we lived—the kids out in the boonies like me got really integrated since we were the only white people in town most of the time. The kids in Bangkok, however, were constantly surrounded by English-speaking tourists and Thais so it was never really an issue.
I lived in Thailand for a year and some of us learned Thai and made local friends (including myself, fortunately, and special shout out to my incredible host dad who gave me Thai lessons for six straight months) BUT out of the group of young expats I was with from across the globe, I was one of the few. A good half of the 40 or so of us left the country with no ability to speak Thai or understanding of the culture.
The biggest difference was where we lived—the kids out in the boonies like me got really integrated since we were the only white people in town most of the time. The kids in Bangkok, however, were constantly surrounded by English-speaking tourists and Thais so it was never really an issue.