I think this will be recurring theme, so we’ll just go ahead and make this part one.
I really hate ants. I don’t like them in America, either, but they aren’t nearly as bad. There are two types of ants in Thailand, and I dislike both of them more than any American ant I’ve come in contact with.
The first is a small, reddish-brown ant. They come in swarms, and they like pretty much everything. Any food you eat, any sweet-smelling product you use, they’re there. For instance, being in our hotel room just a few days, ants have found: hair gel, toothpaste/toothbrush/toothpaste residue, soap, lotion, a small bit of peanut butter left on a knife (approximately .1 cm), a glass that had juice in it but was washed out, and hand sanitizer. I promise you, they are everywhere. And I hate them.
The only other type of ant I’ve seen in Thailand we haven’t encountered–yet. They are just huge. Huge, scary ants.
Anyway, I think they will always plague us here. Even more than mosquitoes, really, and the six bites I already have during cold season, when the “mosquitoes aren’t out” apparently. Ants, though, will likely be the biggest enemy–of our kitchen, our bathroom, maybe even the whole house. I can’t believe how fast they find the smallest crumb or the tiniest drop of lotion. It’s scary, really.