Forrest Lee [00:00:00]:
I think everybody should have a period in life where they’re honestly just traveling. Like they just need to get the travel bug out of them. Even Command was saying like, oh, you know, you’re not never going to make it on the outside. I wanted to be my own man and just go figure life out, you know, which is what I did. Every place is nice, chill, hospitable. Nobody does it better when it comes to convenience than like Thais and like other Asian countries.
Scott Pressimone [00:00:26]:
Hi there and welcome to Made it in Thailand, the podcast where we learn how to thrive in Thailand from top performers who have found success in the kingdom. I’m your host Scott Presimone and in the episode today I’m speaking with Forrest Lee. Forrest is an American who’s been living in Thailand for four years. He’s made quite a name for himself because he has a very popular YouTube channel that’s focused on what it’s like living in Thailand. I’d highly recommend subscribing to his channel if you haven’t already. Now, I invited Forrest onto the podcast because he’s a very genuine and entertaining guy. He covers some touchy subjects on his channel, but he keeps things light hearted and fun. Even if you don’t agree with everything Forrest says, it’s hard to not respect him for being so open and honest.
Scott Pressimone [00:01:07]:
Something I feel we need a lot more of. So without further ado, let’s jump into the interview. All right, so I’m excited today to be able to speak with Forrest Lee. So Forrest, for those who don’t know you, can you give a brief introduction of yourself and what you’re doing here in Thailand?
Forrest Lee [00:01:24]:
I don’t know, that’s, that’s weird. Introducing myself, I see myself as a. Just a regular ass guy that just makes YouTube videos and you know, just wanted to live, live the expat life here in Bangkok, Thailand. That’s it. I’m, I’m no one special, just a. Just regular guy.
Scott Pressimone [00:01:38]:
What’s your motivation for doing the YouTube side of it?
Forrest Lee [00:01:41]:
Well, to be honest, like I started YouTube back in 2017 when my, when I got out of the army. And then my best friend was like, hey, make a channel. Because my best friend back home, I mean he’s, he’s attained quite a bit of a following making just tech YouTube content, game like gaming, mices, keyboards, PC buildups. So that’s his niche and he’s done very well. He’s getting sponsored by Razer and all these other gaming products. And back in 2017 when his channel was you know, relative. When he was starting out, he’s like, make a channel. Do something.
Forrest Lee [00:02:14]:
So I was like, all right. Well, I tried fitness content for a little bit, and then I. I was kind of bored of it, and I was like, what if I. And at that time, I was transitioning from the army and then working and then wanting to live in Thailand, because back in 2016, 2017, when I was in the army, I was. I was binging off of lost LeBlanc videos.
Scott Pressimone [00:02:35]:
Oh, yeah.
Forrest Lee [00:02:36]:
And. And, you know, back. Back when he was one of the earliest early travel creators, and I was just like, wow. Like, you know, he made a top 10 islands on. On Thailand at the time, before he started niching down over in Bali. Yeah. And I was like, wow, you know, why don’t I give. This is kind of cool.
Forrest Lee [00:02:54]:
Like, what if I were to live and travel in Thailand for a little bit? You know, I mean, this weird transition. I was like, yeah, you know, let me. Let me just do this. And that was pretty much it. It’s like, it’s more of, like, you know, documenting my travels, sharing my thoughts, and, you know, just having fun and, you know, just being creative and entertaining, I guess. Yeah. You know, sometimes I’ll be serious. Sometimes I’ll shitpost a little bit.
Forrest Lee [00:03:16]:
But, you know, if we’re here, just joke around, just having fun and don’t take things seriously. That’s it.
Scott Pressimone [00:03:21]:
Yeah. I think I would say that that’s probably what makes a lot of your videos and your channel so successful, is because some people are chasing sponsorship, some people are just trying to make a lot of money from it, but it kind of shows that you’re just being the legit you. Right?
Forrest Lee [00:03:34]:
Yes. I mean, the things that I say can be quite offensive, you know, but it’s like, if you meet me in real life, like, I’ll tell to you straight to your face, like, this is how I truly feel.
Scott Pressimone [00:03:46]:
Yeah. Well, let’s take a step back as to, like, why you are that way, let’s say. So it seems like you’re pretty bold. You’re not scared to speak your mind or maybe the truth. And, you know, so let’s talk about why that is and where that came from. So can you share a little bit about your childhood, kind of growing up.
Forrest Lee [00:04:01]:
In the U.S. well, I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area to Chinese immigrant parents. You know, I lived a very privileged life, lived in suburbia. Nothing really like, boring, safe. So I owed 100% to my parents. Like, they were fantastic parents that raised Both my sister and I very well, you know, God rest their souls. And you know, just normal childhood, just went to, went to school, went to school, went to, went to high school and you know, in suburbia in Castro Valley, California. And you know, maybe, maybe it was, maybe we lived in a different time period back then.
Forrest Lee [00:04:46]:
It was the late 90s, early 2000s. You know, just me and my friends were just being a bunch of little a holes, like just playing video games and just snack, talking smack, talking with each other and yeah, I mean that was about it. You know, went to college at University of California, Irvine, you know, went to junior college before that because I screwed up in high school and then, you know, transferred, finished out my last two years and you know, graduated, you know, and you know, graduated during the financial crisis and you know, honestly I couldn’t find a job, applied a bunch of law enforcement. My goal was to become a law enforcement officer, whether on the federal or on the local side. And it was during the 0809 financial crisis and literally couldn’t find a job with departments, was working random part time jobs. And I was like, you know what? I’ve always wanted to join the military more for selfish purposes. The selfish purposes being that I just wanted to go on an adventure.
Scott Pressimone [00:05:48]:
Wait a minute.
Forrest Lee [00:05:49]:
No, no.
Scott Pressimone [00:05:49]:
People that go into the military are 100 selfless, they’re doing it for their country. They come on.
Forrest Lee [00:05:54]:
You know, my drill sergeant said that and one of the things he says like, what was the reason why you joined the military? It’s because I want to serve my country. And his, his, I remember him, he was Italian American, his name is drill sergeant to disco. And he was saying like, bullshit, like effing bullshit. Tell me what’s the real reason why? And he’s like, because I want to make money. And when it came to like my term, like, like, you know, my, when he looked at me, it was like, why’d you join the military? And I, this is before he’s already called people out. I was like, I just want to go on an adventure. That’s it. And he was like, okay, yeah.
Forrest Lee [00:06:27]:
So it’s like, you know, maybe, maybe some people really do generally want to serve their country and I’m sure they do, but I think a big portion of it is more for selfish purposes.
Scott Pressimone [00:06:40]:
Yeah, I was curious whether or not you’re gonna say it’s because girls like guys in uniform because that’s another good way to pick up girls.
Forrest Lee [00:06:45]:
Oh, that was a plus. Well then again, I don’t know, it really depends on the town. Sometimes military guys ruin it for the rest of us. So it’s like there could be a stigma. But if you got decent enough game, then you can change that perception, right?
Scott Pressimone [00:06:58]:
Now, you mentioned that you didn’t do so well in high school. I’m curious how you did with that. Given being raised by Chinese parents. I know that grades are kind of a big deal, right?
Forrest Lee [00:07:07]:
Dude, they were fucking pissed, man. Like, my senior year of English, I was definitely not the stereotypical good Chinese kid. I was a bit rebellious. I cursed a lot. I got into a lot of trouble, pissed off my parents. I didn’t graduate high school on time because. The reason why I didn’t graduate high school on time is because this is a terrible story. Me and two other friends, we literally changed grades on my British literature’s teacher’s computer.
Forrest Lee [00:07:42]:
And then the next period, I think it was like, freshman that Raddatz was out, so, you know, naturally got sent to the principal’s office, got. Was suspended for four or five days. And then, you know, no matter how hard I worked, like, she was naturally gonna flunk me because I literally embarrassed her in front of the entire English department staff. Sorry, Ms. Trueblood.
Scott Pressimone [00:08:09]:
Great name, Tiffany.
Forrest Lee [00:08:11]:
She was definitely out for me, and, you know, it’s fine. So, yeah, I didn’t graduate. And plus, plus I received a lot of truancy letters, meaning that I never attended class. I always skipped class. I always played. Was it hooky? Hokey Hooky, yeah. Hooky. Yeah, Played hooky.
Forrest Lee [00:08:29]:
You know, then because that’s what seniors do. Like, it’s your last year in high school, nobody wants to go to class. And yeah, I didn’t pass. I, like, I didn’t graduate on time. So then I had to take summer school and worked my ass off and actually got an A. So.
Scott Pressimone [00:08:46]:
Wow.
Forrest Lee [00:08:46]:
And I remember, like, maybe around July. Well, I took the June summer session. And then July when they found out that I passed, it was me and two other friends. And then we were inside the office. And then like, I remember it was like three or four, like, staff, like admin staff that did like a mock, like, graduation, like, and then me. And it was. It was a little sad, but it was kind of funny at 2. So that was about it.
Scott Pressimone [00:09:12]:
Well, so what was it about school, though? I mean, because I know people similar to you. I didn’t do the quite changing grades, though. I actually knew people that did something very similar to that. Some friends of mine. And they weren’t the stupidest in the class by any means. They were essentially People that put their focus on, I don’t know, they just didn’t like something about school. And so they took their effort and spent more time being smart about how to cheat rather than doing the work. So was that like, you at all? I mean, did you have the capability, but you just.
Scott Pressimone [00:09:37]:
There was something about school that you just didn’t like.
Forrest Lee [00:09:39]:
I never found. You know, I was having this discussion with, like, my good buddy Evan about this, and for him, he. I mean, he was raised in a good family, like, and he thought school was boring, so he dropped out of school early to get his GED at, like, 16, 17, just so he can join the military, like, super early, because he honestly thought it was literally a waste of time. And, you know, I’m not as smart as him, but I felt the same way where this is literally just a waste of time. It wasn’t because I’m trying to cheat or anything, Actually, no, I did cheat. I take that back.
Scott Pressimone [00:10:16]:
Right. Well, actually, I want to go back to your family a little bit because you mentioned, unfortunately, your parents passing, but I’m sure they still had an impact on you. And there was a story that you shared on your channel at one point, which was about how your father escaped the communist labor camps. Right. And how he fled to Hong Kong and then settled in California. So I want to know more about that and whether or not you think anything that he imparted on you when he was raising you maybe changed your outlook on life.
Forrest Lee [00:10:44]:
I mean, not really. My dad was kind of a very quiet, stoic, you know, Chinese father. Like, he was very soft spoken. He was very quiet. He was extremely stoic. Never complained, you know, just did the work, you know, even though he just would complain to himself, if anything. But, you know, I. I think his love for family trump everything else.
Forrest Lee [00:11:06]:
But I didn’t hear about these stories until, like, I didn’t hear about any of these stories until maybe after his passing or I think it was like around the 1970s or so. So, like, I think when my dad was 16, he was sent. I mean, it was during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong was in charge. And my father and my grandfather, they belonged to a banking family. My grandfather was a banker, married my grandmother. They had four kids. My father was well educated. And during Mao’s regime, they saw the educated class.
Forrest Lee [00:11:43]:
You know, whether you’re in academia, whether you’re in banking, you know, finance or whatnot. They saw them as a threat to communism. So since my dad belonged to the. To the quote, unquote, educated class, they sent him to the. To the labor camps during the Cultural Revolution when he was like, around 16, 17 and before. And at that time, I think when I was talking to my uncle in Hong Kong, he. I mean, my grandmother and him. My uncle left for Hong Kong when he was only five years old, so he didn’t even.
Forrest Lee [00:12:14]:
So my uncle didn’t really know his. Know my grandfather that. That well. It was just like, I didn’t really know him at all. Like, I got sent to Hong Kong when I was five because they saw what was happening. So he. So with his story that he got sent to the labor camps around like 16, 17, and he. Like, there were like, many labor camps all over.
Forrest Lee [00:12:37]:
All over China, but then he specifically picked the labor camp closest to Hong Kong because he knew that he was going to escape at some point he was going to escape. So he was like, if anything, you know, I want to do my. Do my hard labor over in this. In this place, because at. At some point I’m going to GTFO out of here and make my way. So I think. So it was about maybe one or two, like, I don’t know, it’s just working on the farm, just building stuff, you know. He didn’t really get into too many details.
Forrest Lee [00:13:06]:
He spoke a little bit about it, but from what I heard from my relatives, he probably spent like two, three years or so. Two, three years or so just doing hard labor. And at one night, him and two other buddies escaped during, like, midnight, which was like, super common. It was quite common. Oh, wow. And, you know, like, while the guards were, like, while the guards were asleep, you know, they left. They escaped the late. They escaped.
Forrest Lee [00:13:34]:
They slept during the daytime while all the guards were working. And then, you know, pretty much, you know, made their way over to Hong Kong. They all found basketballs as flotation devices. Because I think at some point, I don’t know, my geography’s not that good around that region. But they eventually held onto some basketballs. And I don’t know how true this is, but like, one of my. One of my. I call her my aunt, but it’s technically my.
Forrest Lee [00:13:57]:
My dad’s cousin. She told me that my dad made a compass, like, out of scratch to point them towards a direction towards Hong Kong. British Hong Kong at the time. And then they had, like, basketballs as floating flotation devices and pretty much just like, like, you know, paddled over to. Closest to Hong Kong Harbor, Hong Kong, before they were picked up by the Coast Guard. And then they. They were. And then they were oh, Hong Kong Coast Guard.
Forrest Lee [00:14:25]:
I got to clarify. Right. And then they were in. They were in jail for four days, interrogating them to make sure they weren’t communists. And then they’re just saying, like, hey, we just, you know, we’re just here to escape. We want to live in Hong Kong. And then after four days of being in jail, they’re like, okay, you know, come to Hong Kong. And then that’s when my father reunited with.
Forrest Lee [00:14:43]:
With. With my grandmother, his younger brother that he doesn’t know too well, and a bunch of his cousins.
Scott Pressimone [00:14:54]:
They were all in Hong Kong.
Forrest Lee [00:14:55]:
Yeah, a big portion of my grandmother’s side of the family were already in Hong Kong. They’re actually all involved in academia. They’re all in. Perfect. They all end up becoming professors in Australia, in California, in. In Buffalo, New York, in Hong Kong. So that. That part is all.
Forrest Lee [00:15:17]:
Yeah, they’re just all academia.
Scott Pressimone [00:15:19]:
Well, are any of them still in Hong Kong? Because I heard of some outspoken professors in Hong Kong over the last few years. There’s been a little bit of a crackdown on that. So I’m curious, are any of them caught up?
Forrest Lee [00:15:29]:
Yeah, I think some of them have. I mean, I think a lot of them are still in Hong Kong. They’re not so much on the outspoken side. The ones on the outspoken side have already left for Australia, I think. Manchester United or not Manchester United. Manchester, UK was a big part, and Canada during, like, 2019. 2020. So.
Scott Pressimone [00:15:51]:
Wow. Now, another thing, since I think you grew up the same time as me, are you 38?
Forrest Lee [00:15:56]:
39. 38.
Scott Pressimone [00:15:57]:
38.
Forrest Lee [00:15:57]:
Okay.
Scott Pressimone [00:15:57]:
So same age. So we grew up around the same time. I was on the east coast, of course, of the U.S. but when I think back of my education, I guess this would be middle school, high school years. I don’t remember learning a lot about Mao and about what was happening in China. Right. I mean, you learn a lot about the Nazis and all this other stuff, but for whatever reason, in our education system, they don’t talk about the numbers of people that were killed, the number of people that were impacted. Was that the same experience for you?
Forrest Lee [00:16:23]:
Yeah, I mean, that was the same experience. I mean. I mean, for high school, what we learned. Sophomore year of high school, we just learned about World War II. That’s it.
Scott Pressimone [00:16:29]:
Yeah.
Forrest Lee [00:16:30]:
You know, Operation Barbossa, like Operation Overlord, and then that’s about it. You don’t really learn too much about, like, the stuff about Mao. You don’t learn about the Bolsheviks. Yeah. So it’s all very, like. Well, naturally, It’s American focus.
Scott Pressimone [00:16:44]:
Right, Right. Yeah, I guess I totally understand the American focus, but I just wish the people knew what happened. I mean, obviously your father being directly impacted by that. But it’s just the numbers, right? Like, the number of people that were affected is huge. And it’s like, it probably influences in some way your views on things. Right, Because. Yes, right.
Forrest Lee [00:17:02]:
Yes.
Scott Pressimone [00:17:03]:
Because.
Forrest Lee [00:17:04]:
Yeah, I’m very. I think because of that. I am. It’s a combination of, like, my father’s backstory, plus, like, how we were raised up with American ideals and values, that I’m very anti communist, I’m very anti anti Marxist. I mean, this is the plague to society. Right. That’s how I feel. Yeah.
Scott Pressimone [00:17:24]:
And it’s different when you’re impacted by it. I think people can think theories a little bit and they don’t actually see the people that are affected because in that case it’s going to be close to the heart. It’s not because that happens now in South America. You get people from Venezuela, like, fleeing in some other areas and they’re just like, oh, no, I have different views because I’ve seen what can happen.
Forrest Lee [00:17:42]:
Yeah, millions, like hundreds of millions of people have died in Russia and in China because of all these policies.
Scott Pressimone [00:17:47]:
Right. It’s a big deal.
Forrest Lee [00:17:49]:
And a big deal. I mean, there’s some measure of that. There’s a good, like, huge measure of that happening in the United States as well, too.
Scott Pressimone [00:17:55]:
Right, Absolutely. Now, let’s go back to the Army. You had mentioned why your motivations for enlisting in the army, and it wasn’t 100% selfless. Right. But what about your reasons for deciding to leave?
Forrest Lee [00:18:08]:
You know, also another reason why I decided to join the army was, to be honest, I just wanted to be on my own. I just wanted to be. Just wanted to be on my own. I just wanted to learn some life skills. I just wanted to be my own man. And I just felt like I was suckling my. You know, I don’t want to be somebody that was attached to their parents teat. I wanted to be my own man and just go figure life out, you know, which is what I did.
Forrest Lee [00:18:32]:
So joined the army, basic training, Airborne. Was first stationed my first three years I was stationed in Anchorage, Alaska. You know, fondest times in Anchorage, Alaska. Great place was a bit cold during December, January, but summers were amazing. And then my last three years, I was stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Like over in Fayetteville, in the city of Fayetteville. And I mean, same. I mean, different environment.
Forrest Lee [00:19:00]:
It was Fun like I enjoyed it. So you’re from North Carolina? For my.
Scott Pressimone [00:19:04]:
No, no, I’m so. I’m from Maryland. But interestingly, my grandfather, he was in the Air Force and he also was I believe stationed in Anchorage, Alaska. Ness would have been many years before you, but, but, and then he eventually was stationed in Udontani, Thailand. So small world. Yeah.
Forrest Lee [00:19:23]:
Yeah. The, yeah, the base out of station, it was a, it was Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson. So it was an Air Force army like connecting base. So that’s probably where he was for where he came through at right now.
Scott Pressimone [00:19:35]:
What do you think, what did you learn from your time in the army that influences either how you operate today? I know that you’re really big into fitness. I imagine that somewhat related. But what do you take?
Forrest Lee [00:19:46]:
I mean when I was 18, I started lifting before the Army. I really enjoyed the discipline, the time commitments, you know, building muscle, building endurance, how it made me feel. And I mean I think that because of everything that I learned through fitness that overlapped in other areas of my life, you know, whether it came to like my getting, being serious with my studies post high schools, being serious with my studies, building that confidence, pursue what I want to, you know, go out and say hi to that beautiful girl or something, you know, it’s just, it overlaps everything with the way I see, I see fitness and then, and in regard. And going back to your question where with the army it’s honestly it taught me so much about discipline. Like I, I really do believe what Jocko Willink, you know, the former Navy SEAL mentions about how discipline is freedom. I’m not like, honestly, I’m, I’m pretty. Can I curse a little bit?
Scott Pressimone [00:20:44]:
Of course, of course.
Forrest Lee [00:20:44]:
Yeah. Honestly, I like, I consider myself pretty fucking stupid. But to make up for that, I will make sure that I’m like disciplined to the T and just ask a bunch of questions more often. Stupid questions I would ask, but I would try to be as disciplined as I can because honestly I don’t have any natural talents. Like I’m just being real. So I’m like to, to make up for that, I’m going to do my best to run as to get my cardio up, to be a better runner, to be a better lifter to whatever activities that needs to be done.
Scott Pressimone [00:21:14]:
Right.
Forrest Lee [00:21:14]:
Yeah.
Scott Pressimone [00:21:15]:
And things come downstream from that. So if you’re confident in yourself and you’re keeping good care of yourself, you’re going to probably be more positive and people are going to look at you differently. All that fun stuff right? It has an impact.
Forrest Lee [00:21:24]:
Yeah. So it’s, I think, discipline. And I think for me, I mean, this is so like, I guess not arbitrary, but like being, I mean, ever since I left the army, like, I think being prompt and time management is. Is what I’m super anal about.
Scott Pressimone [00:21:38]:
Wait, hold on. You’re in Thailand, which is not known.
Forrest Lee [00:21:40]:
For which, which, which kills me, man. It’s just like. And especially hanging out with my. When I first, like, you know, I’m still with my girlfriend, but when, when we first dated, like, I remember, like, she. She’s more of like very laxadaisical. And for me, I’m just like, like, where is she? Like, I’m here like 15 minutes before where we’re 15 minutes before the agreed. Meetup time. Yeah.
Forrest Lee [00:22:04]:
And it’s like even five minutes, I start to get a little irate. I’m a little bit better on it because it’s Thailand. You’re right. Like, I have to be chill, survive. But like, so it’s still something I’m still working on.
Scott Pressimone [00:22:15]:
Yeah. Fair. So you eventually decided to leave. And again, I want to make sure we got your motivations for leaving and then deciding to travel. So what was that transition like for you?
Forrest Lee [00:22:24]:
Like leaving the Army.
Scott Pressimone [00:22:25]:
Leaving the army and then leaving the U.S. yeah. And starting your travels.
Forrest Lee [00:22:29]:
So leaving the army, I mean, it was. I was super happy to leave the army. Like, I, I’ve, you know, technically I served. You know, I say six years. Technically it’s five years, eight months. It’s. I was ready to leave at that time. I was like, all right, I’m ready to go do something.
Forrest Lee [00:22:45]:
And I remember like, even command was saying like, oh, you know, you’re not never going to make it on the outside. But they do that with every soldier that’s leaving. So it’s like, whatever, F off. But pretty much like, you know, I was transitioning out. You know, I want moved back to the San Francisco Bay area. I got an apartment with my best friend. I started working at a startup, at an education tech startup in doing sales and marketing. And it’s like, all right.
Forrest Lee [00:23:14]:
You know, and at that time, like, you know, I, you know, I’ve been, I’ve been an early investor since I was, you know, 25, super frugal with my money. Like, all I would do is whenever I would get paid, I’d put into my brokerage account, I would just invest. And it was like the same thing. Like, you know, nothing really special. I mean, my. Nothing really special. Just worked a job, whatever paycheck I would have. I would just buy more stocks, buy more ETFs, and, you know, still kind of felt really empty.
Forrest Lee [00:23:45]:
Like, like working, living in the. Like working in tech, living in the Bay Area, post. Post military. And, you know, this is in between watching Anthony Bourdain videos, watching, you know, Thai travel videos. Lost Lebanon, lost LeBlanc. I know there was a guy that. I know there was an Asian American guy that was posting videos during, like, the early. I get.
Forrest Lee [00:24:14]:
I call them the first generation Thai expat YouTubers back in, like the 2017, 2019 heydays. His channel is called Live Travel Asia. So I was like, kind of binging on, like, their content and it’s like, I’m here in California. I’m like, this kind of sucks. Like, you know, and once I got the military and I was working in tech, I started feeling more and more empty. And watching all these early YouTube travel content creators like Las LeBlanc and live travel Asia and Fun for Louie and a few of these other ones, I’m like, why don’t I just do something fun? And, you know, Anthony Bourdain was a huge influence, you know, God rest his soul. Well, you know, why don’t I just do something fun with my life fun for once and, you know, why don’t I do this Southeast Asia travel that I’ve always planned out since. Since the Army.
Forrest Lee [00:25:01]:
So honestly, like, I took two months off, you know, it was a bit long. But I traveled through Thailand my first time in 2017, and man, I could still recall that feeling when I. During my very first day. Like when I remember I checked into an airbnb over on Rama 9. It was kind of a dingy area, now that I think about it, where I stayed. I still remember the condo that I stayed in called TC Greg. And I remember I checked into my Airbnb. Really, this is.
Forrest Lee [00:25:33]:
This is really stupid. But, like, I met this, like, guy on my flight, you know, that was kind of like a dingy backpacker, much older guy that I am. This guy, his quick background, you know, he worked in the LA music industry and was completely burnt out and decided to say effort. And then I actually invited him to, like, come crash by place because we, like, on our flight where we just chatted up, I was like, they lost your luggage? You know, they lost your luggage? They lost my luggage. So I was like, dude, if you need a place to crash, just crash by place. It’s cool. But thinking about it, thinking, like, hindsight now, it was a bit dangerous, but, you know, We. I remember, you know, once I checked to my Airbnb, we went outside and walked around the streets of Rama 9 and this was around like 9:10pm and there’s like a ton of like street food stands.
Forrest Lee [00:26:19]:
I just remember seeing like the noisy, like chaotic traffic experience, the raw sewage smell and then eating a bowl of egg noodles like in day zero of landing here. I remember like, I don’t know, it’s. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s this weird innate feeling where I’m like, yeah, like this is where I belong. Like I. I’m at home. As chaotic as it may sound, I knew this was right. Yeah.
Forrest Lee [00:26:44]:
I don’t know how to describe it.
Scott Pressimone [00:26:46]:
Yeah, There is just something about Thailand and to your point, it’s. It’s not all rainbows and butterflies, it’s not all good smells. Right. Sometimes walking late at night and seeing the rats and stuff, it’s not always the cleanest. Right. But it has something to it. Maybe a little bit like New York or something like that. People have, you know.
Forrest Lee [00:27:04]:
Yeah.
Scott Pressimone [00:27:05]:
Similar feelings.
Forrest Lee [00:27:05]:
It was raw, unauthentic, but the people are like just wonderful. It’s a combination of a lot of things.
Scott Pressimone [00:27:14]:
Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I’ve got a quick message to share. If you own a business in Thailand or if you’re thinking about opening an office here, there are a few challenges that you might face. First, for every business, growth is essential. Whether you’re targeting the local Thai market or if you’re serving clients outside of Thailand, you’ll need a marketing and growth strategy. Second, you’ll need to hire and train your Thai team. And while there’s a ton of excellent talent here, there’s certainly a learning curve when it comes to attracting and retaining people. Third, to get the best results from your team, you’ll need to develop your operations and systems of accountability. I’ve spent over 10 years helping Thailand based businesses overcome these challenges, either acting as an advisor or as a hands on leader within the organization.
Scott Pressimone [00:28:01]:
I’d love to hear more about your situation and goals to see if I can help. I’m currently offering a free consultation to podcast listeners and I’ve included a link in the description. Now let’s get back to the episode. Let’s talk about the people. What did you first notice about the people? Or was there anything surprising, I guess, about the culture in general? Not just the city, but the culture of Thailand and Thai people?
Forrest Lee [00:28:24]:
I think. I think the culture is that every place is nice, chill, hospitable, they’ll Literally give their shirt off their backs to make sure that you’re well taken care of in their home country. I have nothing bad to say about the Thai culture and the Thai people. Just wonderful people. There are some things that Thai people do that I find quite peculiar and quite funny.
Scott Pressimone [00:28:49]:
Like what?
Forrest Lee [00:28:51]:
You know, it’s the way they, you know, sometimes like, you know, let’s say for example, like they’ll be working on a project, they’ll be working in construction and then, you know, out of nowhere, they’re. They’re just taking a nap in some random like cr. Crevice or anywhere or crevice or something like that. Back then in the States, like, you know, depending on who’s the, the foreman or whoever’s overseeing that project will, you know, have a heart attack through that.
Scott Pressimone [00:29:18]:
But wait, you’re not allowed to drink on the, on the job site in other countries.
Forrest Lee [00:29:22]:
In other countries, some people, and a lot of them, you know, they’ll just bust open a nice thing or a nice, like chong and have, you know, have a nice drink and. Yeah, you know, it’s so chill here. It’s relatively a high trust society and I don’t know, maybe it has to do with like the CCTVs or it’s. Or there’s a lot of. Or maybe that’s how the culture is. But it’s relatively a high trust society. That’s one thing. Okay, how much of a high trust, you know, you’re telling me the differences.
Forrest Lee [00:29:48]:
I noticed it’s a high trust society that I can just leave my phone or leave my wallet here and it’s going to be perfectly fine. The reason why it’s a high trust society is because within Thai culture, Thai culture is very extremely family oriented, you know, where, you know, regardless of which socioeconomic status you belong to, like everybody comes from a very family oriented background or they’ll literally take care of each other for the most part. Not always, but for the most part. And I found that to be quite like, endearing beautiful. Yeah, yeah.
Scott Pressimone [00:30:33]:
Well, I mean, speaking of that and taking care of each other, I’m not sure if you noticed that in environments like a restaurant or something, you’ll have kids and oftentimes the wait staff will, you know, take the kids off to go play or look at the chickens in the back or whatever it may be. Did you notice that?
Forrest Lee [00:30:49]:
Yeah, I mean, I noticed with. I’ve seen a couple reel like I’ve seen that in person here and then I know I’ve seen a lot of Instagram reels Where, like, you know, you. There’s an Australian family, they’ll take their. Their infant kid, like in some random restaurant in Bali, and like, the waits. That the staff will just pick up their kid, like, like. And I like that. I. It’s.
Forrest Lee [00:31:08]:
It’s like the. The whole village is raising your kid.
Scott Pressimone [00:31:11]:
Yes.
Forrest Lee [00:31:11]:
In a sense. Yes.
Scott Pressimone [00:31:13]:
To your point of high trust society is that maybe they’re. There’s a bit of nationalism here too. And it’s. I don’t know, it seems a little bit different. It’s not super, super diverse. It’s a lot of ties, but the ties take care of the other ties. And in fact, I still feel, as a foreigner, I feel pretty welcomed. But.
Scott Pressimone [00:31:28]:
But it’s just that, yeah, you trust your neighbors. You trust the people down the street from you. You even trust the staff at restaurants. It’s. It’s great.
Forrest Lee [00:31:37]:
Well, I mean, to. I would counter your point a little bit when you were saying that I think Thailand is somewhat diverse, you know, given their history. I mean, you’ve got the Thais, you have the Thai, Chinese, you got the Portuguese that came here during King Rama IV and Fifth. You’ve got the Thai Indians, see Portuguese. You’ve also had a good amount of French influences over here. So I would say it’s. And then you also have, you know, northeast regions, you have the Tai Lao that. That have their own dialect over there.
Forrest Lee [00:32:10]:
You have the esan over there, you have the Esau that have their own separate dialect, you know, northern t. Like northern ties. And then you have the southern ties with, like, you know, a big Muslim area. Yeah. So I think it’s pretty. Pretty diverse. But I think there’s also another factor that unifies them, the Nash, like nationalism. They’re very nationalistic people.
Scott Pressimone [00:32:31]:
Right.
Forrest Lee [00:32:31]:
So regardless of all this, all these diverse cultures, they do have nationalism to unite all of them together.
Scott Pressimone [00:32:37]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And that’s like the Thai national anthem being played two times a day, you know?
Forrest Lee [00:32:45]:
Yeah.
Scott Pressimone [00:32:45]:
There’s a huge respect, it seems, for the. For the royal family, things like this. Right.
Forrest Lee [00:32:49]:
Yeah.
Scott Pressimone [00:32:50]:
Now. But moving to Thailand is a little bit different. Right. You mentioned that you really. There was something about Thailand, there was something about Bangkok that attracted you. Right. But then there’s also a honeymoon period that happens. But you are still here after how many years?
Forrest Lee [00:33:05]:
Four years.
Scott Pressimone [00:33:06]:
Four years. So you’re past the honeymoon period.
Forrest Lee [00:33:08]:
I think I. How long. How long do you. Would you say the honeymoon period lasts, do you think? It’s probably one or two years.
Scott Pressimone [00:33:13]:
That was my. That was my Guess I’m going to say that you’ve. You’ve gone past the honeymoon period. So what is it that has kept you here.
Forrest Lee [00:33:23]:
Man? You know, honestly, probably the people here, the culture, and I think the convenience. Like, nobody does it better when it comes to convenience than like, Thais and like other Asian countries. They make it so convenient for things to run efficiently, to travel, to do things. I mean, and it’s also a fantastic hub. You could live in base over in Bangkok, but then this is such a huge international hub. There’s so many, like, direct flights that are coming into Suvarnabhum airport, direct flights, London, Sweden, Dubai, Qatar, you know, direct flights to Japan, Korea. It’s such an amazing Internet, like, transient travel hub. So I think convenience, the food, the people, I think.
Forrest Lee [00:34:13]:
I think that’s what it really is. Not to say that I don’t get, like, blues. Like, there are times that, you know, every person that has lived here, I got a buddy of mine that has been living here for coming up. I think this year is his 20th year of living here. Wow. And. And, you know, I tell him that sometimes I get the blues too. And he’s just like, dude, everybody that’s living in Bangkok, they.
Forrest Lee [00:34:36]:
They all go through that. You just need to, like, go travel from, like, different places. And then once you come back, you’ll have a. A true appreciation for how much, like, how much you’ll appreciate Bangkok. Right. Like, I had a buddy. Yeah. Like a couple days ago, I was grabbing drinks with my buddy.
Forrest Lee [00:34:53]:
You know, we. I mean, we have the same background. Like, he’s also Chinese American. He’s lived here since. For like eight years now. He recently went on a trip to Egypt for three days. And he was telling me, like, all right, well, I’m gonna be a little bit explicit, but. And I won’t get to too much detail.
Forrest Lee [00:35:09]:
But long story short, his Egypt, even though he was in Egypt for two, three days, he had a horrible experience. And he was just like, listen, if you want to put things in perspective, you know, and have true appreciation for, you know, living in America or living in Thailand, go travel to Egypt, you know, spend two to three days there and then come back. You’ll have a new appreciation for life. And I think. I think that’s what. And I’m not saying that everyone should travel to Egypt, but, like, like, get outside from Thailand from time to time, go travel to different places in Europe and the Middle east and then come back here, and then you’ll have a newfound appreciation. It’s like a Reset of how you’re going to have a newfound appreciation for living here.
Scott Pressimone [00:35:46]:
Right, of course. And you did quite a few travels too, Right? So I think before even settling more in Thailand, it sounded like you went to some other areas like Korea, some places like this. Like, what were some of your highlights during those adventurous times where you’re not as settled and you’re just doing interesting things out there in different countries. Any highlights?
Forrest Lee [00:36:06]:
I mean, there was no specific highlights. Like, Korea was full. I mean, it just like made videos over there. Japan was cool. It, I mean, I had a wonderful full time in Japan. I’ve traveled to Bali twice. Not a big fan of Bali. Definitely not.
Forrest Lee [00:36:19]:
I. Bali’s too weird for me. You know, it’s, you know, I’m trying to recall on, you know, I think the interesting experiences are honestly the people that I met, the other travelers, you know, some of the host families that I’ve stayed with in the Airbnbs and whatnot. Anyway, I mean, it was cool. I mean it was a, it was a. I think everybody should have a period in life where they were honestly just traveling. Like, they just need to get the travel bug out of them. And then once, I mean, man, this question is.
Forrest Lee [00:36:55]:
I wish I can give you a better answer for this question, but to be honest, like, nothing. It kind of stales in comparison to like the time that I’ve met over here or to the time that I’ve been over here. Because after I traveled to Japan, Korea, like, you know, Middle East, Europe, like, I’ve honestly, man, I’ve always kept thinking about Thailand and never left my radar.
Scott Pressimone [00:37:14]:
Right, right. No, that’s fair. Well, you’ve also mentioned that some people have maybe made mistakes here, but you’ve also have some friends that have been here for many, many years and it sounds like they’re doing well. So I’m curious, maybe on the mistake side, what do you think are the bigger mistakes you see foreigners do when they get into Thailand?
Forrest Lee [00:37:34]:
Number one, I think they’re, they’re coming over here with this whole price arbitrage with the US or the, the British pound or the euro compared to, you know, trading against the Thai bot and how much of an advantage they come from. But if you’re not worth having something or you helping you generate, whether it’s passive income or whatever, that money’s going to run out super quick. So for me, like, I’ve always been like, ever since I was like fairly young, I’ve always been very money conscious, you know, all thanks to my father. Like my Father taught me the basics about credit card and credit card debt when I was like, 15, 16. Like, always pay it off in full every single month because that interest can work against you. And then, you know, just talk about investing with my other friends. So, anyways, I digress, but I think one of the biggest things that, you know, you. That people screw up is not having the financial acumen or the financial discipline in planning things.
Forrest Lee [00:38:41]:
You know, they spend. And to be honest, like, the majority of the world, I mean, nobody plans their budgets. Everybody spends their. Like, we live in a very materialistic society. Everybody just spends their money on, like, dumb shit that they really don’t need and, you know, therefore, they’re out of money.
Scott Pressimone [00:39:02]:
Yeah, it’s a good point. And to your point of the arbitrage, you can say, oh, I can get a nice condo here for, you know, $700, and that would be $1,400 or $3,000 in California. And that’s one way to look. But that’s a kind of a defensive move. It’s kind of like I want my dollars to go further and you’re not thinking about the production side, right?
Forrest Lee [00:39:21]:
Yeah. Well, dude, when I was, like, living here, what I mean, when I first started off, I lived in some crappy, like, shack for like, 300, 400, like, dollars. Back in, I think it was like, 2018, 2019. And then, you know, because I was very money conscious, it’s like, I’d rather play more. How would I say this? I’d rather be more on the defensive side and, you know, suffer now, you know, and be conscious of how much I’m spending. And as soon as I started in, because I know that, you know, I’m taking a break from work. I don’t want to blow up my entire nest egg on some thing that I don’t really need instead of exercising delayed gratification. To me, if anything, like, my best advice is delayed gratification is more.
Forrest Lee [00:40:11]:
More important than you think.
Scott Pressimone [00:40:13]:
Right. So it’s back to your credit card example. I think some people say credit cards are bad. They’ll never have a credit card. But the way that you shared that is that, no, you pay it off every month. Right. And you probably don’t buy things that you can’t afford, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to pay it off each month.
Forrest Lee [00:40:26]:
Right? Yeah, I’m very strict when it comes to my budgeting. And even, like, you know, like, I’ve got. I’ve got through travel, credit cards. And if you really think and if you really Think about it. Like, the credit cards like Visa, MasterCard, they make their business off of debt. And since, I mean, for guys like you and I, you know, we pay off our. What I would assume that you pay off your. You know, we pay off our credit card, like, in full.
Forrest Lee [00:40:51]:
And in return from all this debt that they’re collecting, they’re rewarding people, like fiscally responsible people, like travel benefits, points, transfer points to, like, partner hotels like Hyatt Marriott Hilton. So it’s like, there’s actually a lot of benefits of being financially responsible, right, from paying off all your debt. I don’t know where this is going. Sorry.
Scott Pressimone [00:41:11]:
Well, yeah, no, in a way where we’re the best customers, in a way, we’re the worst customers. I always think about the years and years that I’ve had certain credit cards, and I’m like, they’ve never made a dime off me, other than, of course, on the providers that are. They’re getting the fee from. Right. So, but. But other than that, it’s like, it’s nice that you can apply to any credit card. You can say, I have perfect credit. I have all this history of paying off my credit card.
Scott Pressimone [00:41:30]:
But from the monetary standpoint of that company, they’re not making a lot of money off us by comparison.
Forrest Lee [00:41:34]:
No, not at all. They’re making, like, they’re making tons of money off, like, what, the 85, 90% people that are holding credit card debt for, what, one, two, three years? I had a buddy of mine that, you know, was telling me, like, oh, yeah, you know, I’m. I’ve got around 30 grand on credit card debt. Like, you know, I’m still paying it off monthly. And I was like, are you, like, I’m thinking, like, are you kidding me? Like, are you serious? Like, how are you, like, holding this much on? I don’t know that. Yeah, that bothers me a lot.
Scott Pressimone [00:41:57]:
Yeah, yeah, totally fair. And I do want to talk a little bit more about money and how you generate income here, but before I get there, I think visas are another interesting issue here, right? Because people can, once they get past that travel period of, oh, I’m using Thailand as a home base and I’m coming in and out. I’m a tourist visa. I’m extending for another 30 days when you’re settling here. Now you actually have to think about a visa strategy, right? So if you could share. What type of visa are you on now? Or do you have any opinions on visas in Thailand? Because I know obviously there have been a lot of changes, so Yeah, I.
Forrest Lee [00:42:28]:
Got the 20 year Thai lead visa or Thai Privilege visa. At the time I bought it was a million baht. But Then now it’s 5 million now after Ty Lee rebranded to Thai Privilege after all now for. And because like, I had an inkling that this offer wasn’t gonna last forever. So I was like, I need to jump on this and I need to, I need to get this handled asap. In terms of visas, man. I mean, I know there’s education visa, I know there’s some of these other ones, but like, there’s also the marriage visa. And I’m thinking to myself, I like, like this is what I did.
Forrest Lee [00:43:07]:
I don’t know if I don’t know any other solution after these price raises. Like, I remember I was talking to Mark about this during, during our interview and he, and he even mentioned that even with the price, the price drum jump from 1 million to 5 million for the 20 year, it’s. It’s still worth it because it averages. He’s. Mark’s way better with numbers than I am, so he remembers saying that the cost benefit is still worth it.
Scott Pressimone [00:43:32]:
Right. It’s a good point. So you’re paying for that up front and it’s a little bit of a set it and forget it.
Forrest Lee [00:43:36]:
Right.
Scott Pressimone [00:43:36]:
You kind of got that visa and now you’re good to go.
Forrest Lee [00:43:38]:
Yeah. So it’s like a set of forget it. I like, listen, I don’t want to deal with any of this stuff. Yeah. But I guess to say is that, you know, whether it’s in Thailand or the Philippines or whatever country you, you decide to domicile, dude, just pay the extra. Just pay the extra and just get it, get it done and just get it so done so you don’t have to worry about it.
Scott Pressimone [00:43:59]:
Yeah, please. The point too of just not trying to be the cheapest and just get by of like, how little can I get by on here? It’s that if you’re going to be on an ED visa, jumping across the border and hoping they don’t stop you the fifth time, it’s. That’s probably not a good way to live.
Forrest Lee [00:44:12]:
They’re going to stop. If you’re on the EDU visa and you’re like the EDU visa, you’re meant to stay there for the entirety of whatever year, like 12 years or, excuse me, 12 months or 12 months or 15 months. And it’s like if you’re jumping in and out even just two times, they’re gonna question you. Right? Yeah.
Scott Pressimone [00:44:29]:
It’s not a way to live if you have the options. If you have the options. And I think to your point, when you find out this is a good place, think, think, you know, think about it a little bit. Take, take time and don’t just live like a nomad for your whole life potentially.
Forrest Lee [00:44:41]:
So one of the accounts that I follow on X, he’s pretty big on the crypto space, but crypto is not his main thing. I remember following him before he started putting, making a shitpost crypto content. But his name is Alex Becker. I don’t know if you ever.
Scott Pressimone [00:44:52]:
Yep, yep, I know him and I.
Forrest Lee [00:44:54]:
Remember one of his posts that he, he posted on X saying like, you know, you guys aren’t going to listen to me when it comes to like crypto stuff or whatever, but so I’m going to give you the best advice when you, when you start making decent amount of money, you know, a lot of. And he even mentioned mentions in his post. You know, these countries have firms where if you hire these firms they can either number one, you know, set up a, set up a business, set up a company for you or number two, they can employ you, you know, employ you in their company and then you’re, you’re just, if anything you’re, you’re paying the employment P, you’re paying tax on it and then it, that can be a pathway towards residency for you.
Scott Pressimone [00:45:32]:
If let’s say there’s an American, Canadian, Brit, whatever else moving over to Thailand. Right?
Forrest Lee [00:45:37]:
Yeah.
Scott Pressimone [00:45:37]:
And they are trying to calculate, okay, I have a bit of investments, I have some money saved in the bank. I’m still, let’s say they’re not a retiree. They’re actually like looking to work here a little bit so they can actually build up some income. But what do you think is a realistic budget for someone in their, let’s say, 30s working age? How much do you think they should earn in order to live a pretty comfortable living here in Thailand?
Forrest Lee [00:45:59]:
Comfortable living over here. Like I’ve seen, man, this is if it’s, hmm. This is a very subjective question that I think a lot of people would have agreements and disagreements on. And it’s like I remember I made a video two years ago. Like I remember this is back when I was living in my old place and I think I was budgeting around $2,600. Honestly, like if you want to live very comfortably and you know I’m gonna get a lot of disagreements with this but like, honestly like $3,500, 4k a month, like, you know, I know that may Seem a lot to some people but like, I would rather like push someone to strive to make more money and to have a more comfortable lifestyle living here than somebody living in some sort of small like run down condo, you know, like why put you, why put yourself in that situation? Why don’t we just pay the extra money and just live comfortably? So I think like in numbers wise, I’d say 3504K. Live in like, live, live your, like, go live in like a nicer neighborhood. That way you don’t have to stress out and it’s just, you’re just gonna be, you’re just gonna have a more happier peace of, peace of mind.
Forrest Lee [00:47:11]:
Why not?
Scott Pressimone [00:47:12]:
Yeah, Fair, fair points. And I think every time when I watch videos on the cost of living in Thailand, there are a few things that are often left out. Right. So you can run through things like cost of apartments and cost of food and stuff like that. But then what about saving? You had mentioned that you save money, right?
Forrest Lee [00:47:29]:
Yeah.
Scott Pressimone [00:47:29]:
And so how do you say, what about travel? Guess what? Airfare, even to go back to your home country can be pretty expensive.
Forrest Lee [00:47:35]:
Yes.
Scott Pressimone [00:47:35]:
So, so there’s like the living cost but then there’s also the, oh, emergencies, you know, I just had my car break down a couple days ago. Right. It’s like, you know, there’s costs that just pop up, there’s health things that pop up. So you have to not just be able to get by, think through what does it cost to be able to deal with big issues that come up.
Forrest Lee [00:47:52]:
Yes, right. So it’s like it’s, you never want to be in a position where you’re constantly penny pitching and like, okay, you’re spending $700 a month. Was like, what are you going to do? Stay in your condo and just eat ramen noodles all day? So way to live.
Scott Pressimone [00:48:08]:
Yes, yes. Now, on the people side, I’m just curious, have you been able to build up pretty good network since you’ve been here in Thailand of friends, of community, of peers, of mentors? I’m just kind of curious of your situation, of how you were able to maybe build up that circle. And then additionally, are there any interesting characters that you’ve met over the years that you maybe avoid since you’ve been here?
Forrest Lee [00:48:34]:
You know, my case is really different just because I had a social media following and it’s like, you know, I’ve had consulting and it’s like people that would book sessions with me and then I’d be like, all right, this, this guy’s cool. This guy’s a weirdo. I don’t want to. And I’ve kind of like, you know, and through friends of friends, it’s like I’ve kind of, because of, you know, having a decent social media presence, I’ve able to pick and choose, like, all right, you know, these are the people that I want to hang out with. These are the people I kind of want to filter out. But I mean, for those that don’t have that, I mean, just know that when you’re going to move, when you first move here, you’re going to have like, maybe your first few years, like you’re going to have around 20 to 30 surface level friends. And then after those two years that those 20 to 30 surface level friends, it’s going to nail down to four to five, you know, because I mean, you have to realize that like a lot of people here, you know, and it’s. And it could be here, it can be anywhere in life.
Forrest Lee [00:49:27]:
Like, but I sense it a lot more here. I mean, people, people. I mean, once you realize people’s true attention from like all the surface level friends are going to hit up, hey, let’s go party in soy 11 or let’s go to this bar in Tong or let’s go clubbing. You know, a lot of people will only contact you if they want something from you. That’s quite often here. That’s very common over here. It’s like if they need something from you, like, I’ll buddy cozy up to you. That’s up to you to kind of discern whether this person is genuine or not.
Forrest Lee [00:50:01]:
And some people aren’t really good at discerning that. And some people are pretty good at picking things up. And maybe it’s because I’m getting old, but to be honest, like, I’m not old. No. Old, but we’re not old. I hope not. But it’s like I only have like three to four friends that like I truly hang out with. Yeah.
Forrest Lee [00:50:16]:
Other than that, like, I love to hang out with my girlfriend. That’s it. Just keep life simple.
Scott Pressimone [00:50:20]:
Yeah, yeah, fair point. And that kind of brings to the topic of dating in Thailand, right?
Forrest Lee [00:50:25]:
Yeah.
Scott Pressimone [00:50:26]:
So what has been your experience with dating in Thailand? First, compared to dating in the U.S.
Forrest Lee [00:50:31]:
I mean, dating in the U.S. has been, man, I don’t know, like, I’ve been so out of date, like the zone of dating in the US That I don’t even know how it is to date in the US anymore. I maybe, maybe it’s because it’s more I’m Assuming in Western dating environments, it’s, they try to keep it more of like a 50, 50 playing ground. Like, oh, let’s, let’s do this 50, 50, like split the, split the bill type of thing. And then versus dating over here, it’s more traditional where it’s like the man is taking care of everything. There’s, there’s, there’s set male female dynamics. Like the males, the male dating here. As a man, you’re expected to handle everything, handle everything in the finances.
Forrest Lee [00:51:14]:
And then the women will fulfill her feminine role. And you know, just for a lot of guys that are, you know, that are coming from Western countries that are dating over here, just remember and some of them will complain, like, oh, well, you know, I gotta, I gotta complain. You know, they’ll complain about, man, I got to take care of the bill for my Thai girlfriend or whatever. Like, you know, I pay for everything. They’ll and complain about that. Well, keep it, keep in mind that you could go back to the 50, 50, splitting the bill, but just know that in a woman’s subconscious mind they’re not going to respect you as much if you’re doing this whole 50, 50 split. You know, where, if you’re over here, if, if you want to have a more traditional, more traditional relationship where you’re in a more masculine role, then know that you’re going to handle like, as a man you’re going to have like, you’re going to handle the majority of the finances. You take it or leave it.
Scott Pressimone [00:52:06]:
Right?
Forrest Lee [00:52:06]:
That’s it.
Scott Pressimone [00:52:08]:
Yeah, fair. I mean, is there anything else outside of finances in the masculine and feminine roles, like things that you’ve learned that you kind of wish you knew years ago when you first started dating in Thailand, you know, if you have trouble.
Forrest Lee [00:52:20]:
Dating over here, I would say that you’re terrible with women. This is probably one of the easiest, easiest places to date. But whether it’s like myself or a lot of like, or a lot of my buddies over here, like, whether it’s their Thai or whether they’re a foreigner, like it’s super easy to have this like playboy, like this playboy lifestyle. Like, oh, I can date, you know, like four or five different girls at the same time. Like, you know, I’ll be honest. Like I, you know, when I, before, when I was single, like, I, you know, was dating multiple girls at the same time. And my big, my like looking at this hindsight now, you know, when I think about, think back in those days, like three, four years ago, like, it’s honestly just a waste of time like dating, like dating multiple girls at the same time. It’s, it’s literally the biggest time wasted.
Forrest Lee [00:53:09]:
You’re spending so much time like know, trying to enter like it, it feels like you’re more of in a managerial role compared to, let’s say if you were to like, you know, go on many coffee dates and then commit to monog. One monogamous relationship. Like, like there was a period where I felt like I was a manager where I’m like, all right, I gotta make sure I keep, you know, girl A, I’m entertaining that one. I got to make sure girl C is you know, like still on her radar and all this other stuff or to, to the point where it’s like I’m not even enjoying this dating experience. I feel like I’m just a manager trying to keep up a schedule with all the, all these girls. Whether. And I’ve seen this with some of my old former friends, keyword former, that, that have done the same thing too. And it’s like it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s just a draining, draining lifestyle where everything is just surface, like just very surface level.
Forrest Lee [00:53:59]:
It’s like surface level is like surface level reactions or interactions. And at the very end of the day, like I just wasn’t happy and I thought it was honestly just a waste of. It’s literally a waste of fucking time compared to, let’s say if you find one that you really like, you know, and you know, invest more time in that one monogamous relationship. So I think, you know, knowing what I know now, I would have kind of been. Wish I would have been a bit more serious committing to one monologue, just really relationship investing in that time, having a deeper connection and then whatever time spent on dating three or four other girls when you focus on your fitness, making money, gym, more impactful interactions.
Scott Pressimone [00:54:44]:
Yeah, it’s great advice. I can’t help but think it reminds me a bit we’re both at bit into business, right. And I hear some people, this isn’t around the passive income side of things, but on the active making money. Sometimes people try to start three businesses at the same time. There’s no way you can be as effective balancing three businesses nor three or.
Forrest Lee [00:55:04]:
Five girlfriends or people you’re dating as men aren’t multitaskers. I think we’re best at focusing on one thing at a time and just putting your heart and energy towards that, right?
Scott Pressimone [00:55:19]:
Absolutely. Now, I understand you have a pretty serious relationship now and I think you had mentioned in a past Video something about there are differences in groups of women here and let’s say culture.
Forrest Lee [00:55:32]:
Right.
Scott Pressimone [00:55:32]:
So there’s Thai women and there’s Thai Chinese women.
Forrest Lee [00:55:35]:
Right.
Scott Pressimone [00:55:35]:
Do you want to share anything about that, what the differences are in your mind?
Forrest Lee [00:55:39]:
Absolutely. So I think with my past relationships, dating Thai, Chinese women, Thai women, I think. How do I say this? Well, to give a little bit of a background, like, you know, you have your Chinese diaspora, your overseas Chinese. The Thailand is one of the. Thailand is one of the biggest. Is one of the biggest countries that have the largest Chinese diaspora with up to between 9 to 10 million Thai Chinese compared to Chinese Americans in I think war number third with 5.4 million Chinese Americans living overseas. So there’s, there’s a big Thai Chinese community over here. You know, in terms of Chinese culture, whether with mine too, how I was raised, is that we place big significance whether it comes to wealth and education.
Forrest Lee [00:56:28]:
Those are very determining factors of why, you know, they have the money the way they are. Because we place a huge importance on building wealth. You know, like wealth has to be protected. And in terms with the way I was brought up is that we pass on that wealth one to two generations down, where even in my current mindset, when I die, I expect to take care of my heirs and then I would expect my heirs to take care of their children. That’s the way I see it. So when it comes to their communities over here, everybody’s here is building, you know, textile shops, auto shops, building businesses, and then not spending money on like alcohol or anything. It was just constantly saving and investing that money into like real estate and whatnot. So with Thai Chinese women, you know, they’re, they’re definitely more financially stable, but the trade off is that they’re going to be more focused on making money and then a little bit less on the feminine side about wanting to take care of you, you know, versus if I compare to like, if I were to compare to Thai women, they may not be financially stable, you know, like, you know, hint, you know, generalized statement that I’m making.
Forrest Lee [00:57:46]:
Not all of them are, but at the same time, they’re more, much more devoted to their husband and their boyfriend. And they’ll offer, they’ll be play that support of femininity, you know, see what the trade off is. You may, you can’t have it all. That’s what I’m trying to say. Yeah. And I think for my case, I chose like a tie Thai woman.
Scott Pressimone [00:58:08]:
I know that you, you’re not married now, right? So you have a Girlfriend. But I’m curious if you have any opinions on building families in Thailand. So let’s say that in the future you do get married and you do end up, let’s say having kids.
Forrest Lee [00:58:22]:
Do you.
Scott Pressimone [00:58:22]:
Would you move back to the US if that happened or do you think that it’s feasible to raise a family here in Thailand?
Forrest Lee [00:58:28]:
100%. Yes, absolutely. And it’s like you don’t have to raise them in Bangkok. You could. What if you want to raise them over in Ohin, where you’re going to have a much bigger space, two international schools, quieter community, more of like a sleepy retirement community. So you can do that. You could raise them in Bangkok where even though it can be a bit chaotic, you’re going to have options with many multiple bilingual schools, international schools that you can send them to. So it’s different variety.
Forrest Lee [00:58:53]:
You just got it. It’s, it’s, it’s not a one size fits all. That’s what I’m trying to say.
Scott Pressimone [00:58:56]:
Yeah, yeah, fair. And you said that you don’t plan to move back to the US So I’m just curious, are there a few reasons that you prefer Thailand over the US and obviously we talked about relationships and dating and traditional side of things here in Thailand, but are there anything else that you’d share as to why you prefer to live here than the.
Forrest Lee [00:59:14]:
I really prefer, I prefer here just because it’s still, I’m saying currently right now, it could also change. But I really enjoy the family culture. It’s extremely family oriented. The older I get, the more I cherish how much family means to me and how I want to raise my kids in a very family oriented society versus in the United States. I know every state is very different, but it just seems more or less family oriented. It’s more leaning towards on the woke side. Birth rates are plummeting in the U.S. i.
Forrest Lee [00:59:52]:
You’re kind of going through this period of millennial self narcissism where it’s. And it’s happened to some of my friends, some of my married couple friends that I know where it’s like, oh, we’re going to forego having kids, children and you know, we’re going to, you know, live for ourselves. Well, I don’t want to live for myself. I want to live for my family and I want to live for my kids and I want to provide for them. I can definitely see myself like raising my family over here, whether it’s going to be in Bangkok or in elsewhere, maybe in Hua Hin or something. These are Some things I’m still just war gaming in my head, so.
Scott Pressimone [01:00:26]:
And obviously there’s differences in a lot of these areas. You got a chance to travel around a bit right when you’re maybe getting tired of smog and everything of Thailand and different seasons. If there was flooding in the past, a few years ago there was a lot more flooding and stuff here. But did you ever sort of escape to some of the other regions in Thailand and appreciate any of them?
Forrest Lee [01:00:44]:
Maybe there were some minor floods here in Bangkok, but I’ve never felt compared to, escape to like a different region compared to, let’s say if you were to escape smoky season in Chiang Mai and go to Hua Hin instead. I’ve never lived in Chiang Mai for an extended period of time, so. So I think so far, like knock on wood, my experiences over in Bangkok are good so far. But I don’t see myself living in, you know, in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai up in the north where they’re heavily impacted. I know Chiang Mai is going through a massive flood right now. On top of that, they have to deal with smoky season. So I don’t think so. Not yet.
Scott Pressimone [01:01:24]:
Yeah. So like I said before, you’ve gotten through that honeymoon period, you have come out the other end and you’re appreciating Bangkok.
Forrest Lee [01:01:32]:
Yes, I would say so. In order to maintain, you know, leaving, I mean, maintaining, you know, once post honeymoon period, you just need to get out of Bangkok every now and then, like go travel, go like whether it’s to like a nearby province or short getaway, go overseas, like book a three, three and a half hour flight to Hong Kong, spend two or three days and then just come back. Like, I mean, I think small trips really do make a huge impact for long term sustainability living here.
Scott Pressimone [01:02:02]:
Do you have any ideas for the future? Whether that be on the personal front, on the business front, you know, what are your thoughts for the next few years?
Forrest Lee [01:02:13]:
I think ideally in the next couple of years I’d like to get married, start like I’m not a young, I’m not a young man. So I’d like to get, I like to get married. I like to have kids. I, you know, have kids. I’m going to be a father, be a great husband. You know, I’m a, you know, just, I don’t know, that’s pretty much, I mean be a great father, be a great husband. Like, I’m kind of in the, like, I’m kind of in the process right now, you know, to talk a little bit more on the religious standpoint. I’m kind of in the process of being a catechumen, which is I’m going through a process of becoming a Catholic.
Forrest Lee [01:02:49]:
So I’m, you know, focusing on becoming, you know, going through baptism, confirmation and becoming a Catholic here, you know, and being more in tune with the Catholic Church here. So I mean, those are some things that are currently in my mind right now, you know, finding like, I think when it comes to like, finances, finances are like doing great, you know, always, you know, kind of building wealth. Like, for me, you know, building wealth and being able to provide my family is very like, important for me. Business, you know, if there is the right opportunity. Sure. Like, you know, whether it’s going to be on the digital front, E commerce or maybe something brick and mortar over here. I think when you look at the realms of business over here, and I know a lot of people are eager to get into something here, I’d say probably just timing is very important and you kind of have to wait, like, don’t rush into, like, getting into a business and just getting screwed over, like, and having to fold if you see the right opportunity. It’s better to wait than to rush something.
Scott Pressimone [01:03:52]:
Well, first I’m thinking about opening a bar and then attaching a massage shop to it. Are you down to invest my venture?
Forrest Lee [01:03:59]:
Yeah. A few million upfront costs. Getting hassled by the cops.
Scott Pressimone [01:04:06]:
No, no. That’s great though. So that’s very interesting. Kind of taking the religious bend to it and it sounds like, I mean, is there a pretty good Catholic community here?
Forrest Lee [01:04:14]:
I’d say, believe it or not, I think the Catholic community is actually quite big over here, even though this country is very predominantly Buddhist. And you know, the whole. When it comes to the Catholic community, it spans all the way from King Rama IV and fifth due to the relations with, you know, with the Vatican. And I’ve been going to Assumption Cathedral for the past couple of months near the nearby the Chatham Groon area. And I think it’s. I think it’s a wonderful community over there. But even if you’re not Catholic, I mean, there’s plenty of like, churches over there if you’re Anglican or evangelical or whatever. So it’s.
Forrest Lee [01:04:50]:
So I think from my experiences, it’s been quite wonderful. The Catholic community over here, it’s actually quite big.
Scott Pressimone [01:04:57]:
It’s really interesting because I think it goes back to the lesson of there’s something for everyone here. And the reason I think it’s so interesting is because there’s what people think about of Thailand, whether it be Debauchery and, you know, silly stuff and I don’t know, drinking all the time and getting a beer gut or whatever else it is. There’s, there’s that side of it, but then we’re kind of talking about the other side, which there is a serious side.
Forrest Lee [01:05:19]:
Yeah.
Scott Pressimone [01:05:20]:
There is a family side, there’s a religious side. There’s. There’s so many things you can find your, your place in Thailand and even in Bangkok. I mean, would you say that’s.
Forrest Lee [01:05:28]:
I mean, yeah, there, there’s Thailand in general. There’s always something for everyone over here. And you know, when I moved here back in December of 2020, like, compared to like some of the videos I posted, I mean it was like posting dating videos. Like I look at back on, I’m like, dave, what? Like, you’re fucking idiot. Yeah, it’s like I posted like just like compared to what, what I post now, it’s like I’m posting like, like travel videos of like the girls that I’ve dated and just like being unfiltered with, you know, some of the stuff and some of the advice that I say. And then I’m. I look at my old videos, I’m like, oh my God, this is so cringe compared to like where like I’m currently at and like with what I want to do in the future. So it’s like I.
Forrest Lee [01:06:08]:
And you know somebody, I mean, if you want to perform like, like debacri stuff or like being a degenerate, you just want party. What? Like, whatever. Like, like I’m not going to judge. Like I’m. Because like who am I to judge? I did some of the stuff like when I first came here. So, you know, I’m like, you know, but for me, like, that’s not something I want to do long term. Like, I like that because all the debac and all the degenerate stuff, I kind of see this as like fun, surface level stuff. It’s not serious, you know, but if you make that your primary, then, you know, might have some problems.
Scott Pressimone [01:06:41]:
Yeah, fair. Fair. Well, you’ve been incredibly generous with your time. I’m just curious, do you have any last words of wisdom that you’d like to share and like, what’s the best place for people to follow your journey or get in touch with you?
Forrest Lee [01:06:55]:
You know, I think my last, my last parting words of wisdom advice, I would say is that this is a country that you know, that will take care of you. They’ll give to you even if you’re like A new person, like, not knowing anything, like, ties will go around and just give their shirt off their back for you. But my big, like, my biggest advice is make sure you give back, you know? And I think the biggest thing to give back is like, I don’t know, like your security guards, like, buy them like something, buy them whooping or like, if there’s Thai New Year’s, like, give them, like, give them money. That’s, that’s how you get. That’s how you help Thai people. Just give them money. That’s it. I’m not, I’m not saying that.
Forrest Lee [01:07:42]:
I mean, be wise about it. Like, you know, don’t, don’t feel like you have to give them every now and then. Don’t, don’t make. We’re like, oh, you know, I got to give them money like all the time. But it’s like when it comes to, like, special occasions, like, I don’t know, like Thai New Year’s, like Chinese New Year’s, or maybe like, or maybe Songkran, give them like a 500 Baht or something to like celebrate the occasion. Like, that actually goes a long way.
Scott Pressimone [01:08:04]:
It’s a great point. And I’ve always had relationships with the people that have worked at my condos and whatnot. And the sad thing is sometimes the condos, the management that runs them for the New Year’s, they’ll give them maybe 100 Baht or 200 Baht. I’m sure there’s good management. But sometimes I’ve heard the horror stories of people that have worked there for so long and they don’t get appreciated, right?
Forrest Lee [01:08:24]:
They never get appreciated. It’s like, I’m not saying that you gotta buy them like sacred or anything. Like, just buy them like gestures, like buy them a little bit of breakfast that costs like 20 or 30 baht. It’s like a lesson up, like it’s around a dollar or something. It actually goes a long ways, you know?
Scott Pressimone [01:08:41]:
Absolutely. Now, what about the way to follow your journey or even potentially get in touch with you? Any services or anything that you could help people with.
Forrest Lee [01:08:48]:
Just YouTube.com forcely like there, that’s where you can find my videos. You know, I’ve got my Instagram, you know, if they need coaching and consulting, you can just book it all off my website. That’s pretty much it.
Scott Pressimone [01:09:01]:
That’s fantastic. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time for us. It was awesome.
Forrest Lee [01:09:04]:
Appreciate it, Scott. Cheers. Cheers.
