British content creator Emily Srichala marked 12 years in Thailand today, October 22, with a Thai-language Facebook post saying the country had stopped being a place she lived and had become home.
Srichala, who has around 670,000 Facebook followers and close to a million on TikTok, said she moved from England at 19 and never expected the country to shape her.
She wrote that she had learned Thai, taken on Thai customs and fallen for the small things that make the country what it is, and that its people mattered most.
She said people often ask how she adapted so closely to Thai culture, and that it began with keeping an open mind. She credited local markets and street food, travelling the country, speaking Thai and meeting people from different backgrounds.
Reflecting on how the country had shaped her identity, she wrote:
“I may have been born and raised British, but Thailand has had a huge influence on who I am today. One of the things I’m most grateful for is being able to share the Thailand I know and love with people around the world.”
She lived on Koh Phi Phi and then Phuket, where she taught English and later managed a restaurant. Her partner is a Thai tattoo artist, and the couple moved to Bangkok around 2020.
Her best-known work is a run of Thai-language videos filmed at markets and street stalls. She reportedly switched to Thai after a viewer suggested it.
By October 2024, she was established enough for Thaiger readers to vote her ninth in a poll of the top 10 travel influencers in Thailand.
In February 2025, she sought Thai viewers’ opinions after being told she had been reported over a Buddha tattoo on her arm. A Thai lawyer said the following day that the tattoo broke no Thai law.
In September 2025, she criticised the BBC series The Dark Side of Paradise, saying it showed only the worst of the country and could put visitors off.
She ended her post by saying Thailand was no longer simply somewhere she had chosen to live, but had become part of her life and her heart.
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