Living in Thailand as a Swiss parent alleviates significant maternal pressures due to different cultural dynamics and living circumstances.
Moving away from the confines of her Swiss hometown in Basel, Sandy Cacchione found love on a diving island in Thailand—all while on a personal vacation. Her partner, embarking on a global journey, was there for his Divemaster training. A whirlwind relationship ensued, leading to a union between them and a shared love for diving.
Deciding to settledown and start a family, Sandy and her husband chose picturesque Koh Samui, an island offering the perfect blend of serene island life and modern amenities, complete with a cinema, shopping center, international airport, hospitals, and schools.
Family and community in Koh Samui looked markedly different from Switzerland. Sandy's daughter attends a Montessori-inspired school modeling the English curriculum, fostering a less pressurized environment than her peers in Switzerland, where school hours were tighter and children had even earlier start times.
On the subject of after-school activities, Thailand lacked the structure present in Switzerland, with parks, playgrounds, and busier social scenes for children. To address this, Sandy attempted to juggle arranging playdates and meeting families for shared experiences despite the challenges of navigating the island.
One apparent advantage of Koh Samui life was the reduced pressure on parents to fit into the "Instagram mom" mold, compared to the more status-conscious social media culture and parenting expectations in Switzerland.
Sandy's adaptability and newfound freedom in Koh Samui offered more opportunities for travel and exploration, visiting destinations like Japan and Hawaii with her family. This uptick in wanderlust brought on by their island life contrasted with the conventional Swiss lifestyle, which might have stymied such adventures.
Reflecting her Muslim identity, Sandy took necessary precautions for swimming and privacy while enjoying her newfound Thai home, donning a burkini and setting up a pop-up tent when necessary.
Overall, Sandy Cacchione's experience illustrates a contrast between the structured and family-oriented Swiss lifestyle and the more relaxed and travel-oriented island life of Koh Samui, Thailand. For her, this lifestyle shift has provided new opportunities for family and personal growth.
In her new home on Koh Samui, Sandy expanded her family's interests beyond diving, exploring hobbies in the realms of home-and-garden through the idyllic surroundings, and education-and-self-development through the Montessori-inspired school her daughter attended. Other aspects of the island's lifestyle offered a stark contrast to her Swiss upbringing, such as less structured after-school activities and a reduced pressure to conform to societal expectations, providing Sandy with a unique otherness in her new environment.
