George, do you know what 'woke' means? You're the AN posterboy for wokeness 555
I just spent 8 months at Dusit Grand Park. My room was 27m2 with a kitchen and a washing machine on the poolside patio. I walked out of my room and jumped into the pool whenever I felt like it. Rent was 10k/month. Tons of great looking Russian women lounging around the pool- sorry - you're gay so that doesn't mean much to you but it's a bonus for the rest of us. At night the area is bustling with young Russian families; the debauched Pattaya lifestyle nowhere in sight, yet one could access it if the urge took them.
It's 400m (I measured it) to Rompho and there are Thai food stalls outside the gate under a covered area that sell delicious khrapao for 50 baht. I probably passed you a few times on my motorbike. There isn't much room for pedestrians on that stretch of road.
None of what I've described would be an ideal place for many people, but I loved it. Wake up early, go for a swim, then breakfast and a long motorbike ride. To me, ownership of my time and good weather are 99 percent of the retirement equation. No need to get up to an alarm clock and put on the mask many of us wear in our daily lives. Everything else is gravy.
All of that said, motorbike trips up to Isaan and the north added a lot of joy when the daily routine got to be too routine. Isaan is a great region, it's easy to understand why many men choose to live there.