Expat Women’s Voice

Most expat publications and websites covering Bangkok and Thailand are focused on men – even though that’s not an explicitly stated policy. There’s a ton of purely male-oriented sites out here. As a woman, looking for like-minded information, you quickly find yourself in the desert.

Local women’s magazines are with practically no exception published in Thai. But this very exception proves the rule. As now there’s Acclimate, a women’s magazine published in English that addresses the “complex life of expatriate women in Bangkok.”

The magazine’s mission statement sums it up: “While she enjoys comforts and luxuries that she might never have experienced in her home country, she also faces issues and challenges that she never would have encountered (…) Acclimate makes it a little easier for expatriate women to find their best life in Bangkok.”

By Tracey Starr, Editor-in-Chief, Acclimate Magazine

When I first moved overseas, I was miserable. Back in the U.S., I was someone. I worked hard and established a career. I managed a team, and the company looked to me as the expert in my field. My partner and I were equals, both successful in our own rights, and happy as a couple.

But when we first moved to Asia for his career, suddenly I was nearly invisible. I didn’t have a job and wasn’t sure what opportunities would be available. Everyone in our lives looked to my partner for answers to any questions about our lives, and I was merely an appendage. Well, that’s how it felt anyway.

Without my job, without my friends and colleagues, without the world I’d established, what was left? Who wasI? That was six years ago. Today, several countries later, I’ve managed to find my way and truly enjoy this unpredictable, peripatetic life.

But one of the things that surprised me (and comforted me!) the most along this journey was finding out that nearly every other “trailing spouse” I met was struggling with exactly the same issues. While most of us were enjoying luxuries beyond what we could reasonably expect back home, we’d all lost ourselves a bit in the relocation. We were all starting from scratch with each move, forced to reinvent ourselves again and again.

And that’s where Acclimate tries to help. We talk directly to expat women in Bangkok – trailing spouses especially – in an honest, respectful, non-judgmental way, to help them make a great life in this fantastic city. We’re lucky to have talented women in our community who volunteer their expertise to write about, edit, and photograph stories that matter to us. It’s a small community, a niche market for sure, but one that I’m passionate about and proud to be part of.

With so much journalism going online, many people have wondered why we chose print. There are two reasons. In order to get your new life in Bangkok started, you need to leave the house. Even if you don’t know another soul in town, you can take your copy of Acclimate along with you to read at a coffee shop and not feel quite so isolated.

The other reason is a bit selfish: I love magazines. I love to read them, flip through them, rip pages out of stuff I really like. Starting one was my childhood dream, and that’s probably the best part about being a trailing spouse: the need to start over and reinvent yourself sometimes results in reinventing yourself in a way you always dreamed of.

Thanks for reading. – Tracey

(The latest edition of Acclimate focused on Moving & Repatriation hits the street on May 6th. Pick up your copy at Dasa used bookstore, Villa Markets, Kinokuniya, Books@53, The American Women’s Club of Thailand, The Pilates Studio, OffWorld and The Place – near the back gate of Nichada Thani.)




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April 28, 2009 | Filed Under Being Farang, Fashion & Style, News & Media, Truly Bangkok 

Comments

13 Responses to “Expat Women’s Voice”

  1. Expat Women’s Voice | Business Article Source on April 28th, 2009 8.34 am

    [...] here to see the original:  Expat Women’s Voice Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and [...]

  2. KConsciousness on April 28th, 2009 10.37 am

    Is it just me or does that front cover look a bit wrong? Like some sort of advert for modern day colonialism.

  3. Paul on April 28th, 2009 10.41 am

    Best of luck to you – BKK needs this. For sure, women in BKK face a whole host of unique challenges when compared to other Asian cities.

    Please, whatever you do, keep this thing from turning into a guide on sourcing domestic help and personal services … the whole “good help is so hard to find” gripe is sooooo 19th century British colonial …

    Good luck, best of wishes -

  4. laura on April 28th, 2009 10.50 am

    Give us girls a break will ya? There’s nothing more boring than typical expat talk. I find this cover a pleasantly refreshing depiction of a stereotype. Girls also wanna have fun.

  5. Talen on April 28th, 2009 4.42 pm

    I have to agree something just doesn’t look quite right about that cover. I don’t see the stereotype of girls just want to have fun … for some reason I keep thinking “Look I have a servant women.”

    I hope the magazine does well but with the way print is going these days it might be an uphill battle.

  6. BangkokDan on April 28th, 2009 5.29 pm

    Maybe I shouldn’t have published that cover. But as laura I understand it more as the women making mild fun of their own situation.

    Asked Tracey for the May ‘09 cover. Let’s see what they’re up to.

    BangkokDan

  7. Robin on April 28th, 2009 5.36 pm

    I grimaced when I saw this cover because it underscores the stereotype of how expat women fill their hours here … but at least the next month’s issue featured Claire Deacon with a rescued soi doggie on the cover – Deacon is one of Soi Cat & Dog Rescue’s most tireless volunteers, hence an inspiring example rather than a colonial throwback.

    I wish Acclimate good luck but I do wonder, how long before they run out of fresh topics and devolve into being yet-another listings mag (i.e. “Where to find the best tailor/salon/foot massage/brunch/etc. etc. etc.”)?

  8. KV on April 28th, 2009 6.25 pm

    Wow, I opened this page fully on my RSS reader to leave a comment about the cover but I guess everyone else had the same thought as I did: “Look at me, I am a colonial era lady taken care by these women, sweet!”

    Hmm, also this I guess shows that still the most couples, it is the man who is moving for work, and not vice versa. Oh I wonder do they sell to Japanese and Korean and Chinese market too? They got lot of spouses too following for other halfs work.

  9. Sharon on April 28th, 2009 7.30 pm

    Hi Tracey

    Reading your story is just like looking in the mirror. Only for me this was in Venezuela and later in Canada.

    Publishing this kind of magazine is a great idea, and I believe it should be followed by many other cities around the world.

    I could sure have used it both in Venezuela and Canada.

    Lots of Luck
    Sharon

  10. Robin on April 29th, 2009 5.01 pm

    Thanks, BKKDan, for adding the magazine cover image to illustrate my earlier comment!

  11. Tracey on April 30th, 2009 9.30 am

    Thanks for this opportunity to introduce Acclimate to your community, Dan. And thanks for all the thoughtful replies from everyone. It’s exciting and interesting to hear the feedback. I’m grateful for the kind words and the constructive criticism.

    That cover did spark more discussion than I imagined it would when we planned/shot it. Indeed, as Dan commented, we were trying to poke some good-spirited fun at one of the expat women stereotypes, as we did with our first cover that featured an expat woman all dressed up, on her mobile phone, carrying shopping bags, riding side-saddle on the back of a motorcycle.

    Our next one, which will also feature a woman from our community, will be more in line with the Claire cover … definitely no controversy, but hopefully lovely and interesting. Look for it next week …

    Thanks, Tracey

  12. crocodilexp on May 1st, 2009 2.33 am

    Good to hear that cover was meant in an ironic sense, mocking the stereotypes … with women these days, it’s not entirely clear. It looks a little too real to be ironic, in my opinion – you should have gone more over the top.

  13. Ubon Traveller on May 4th, 2009 1.17 pm

    Tracey, I want to thank you. Publishing a magazine like Acclimate is a wonderful idea. My sister has been a trailing wife before and I know the difficulty she went through to rebuild a life again in an unknown territory. More women from other places should come up with a magazine like this.

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