Jezz

Here is not such a funny tale.

Stupidity on a scale that defies description. Jim

Oh boy! That's a shocker, Jim. Hope it turns out not as bad as you fear.

Now we wait to see if Jim rises to the occasion and elaborates on his current laid-back lifestyle. To be honest, I wouldn't blame him if he just carries on taking it easy for a while - taking a break from the crowd that, usually well into his threads, end up trying to turn his tales of local life into off-topic and irrelevant drama. At least we know Jim is undaunted by that mob. When you're ready, Jim! In your own time. We patiently await.

Not going into precise square metres, finishes etc, but I did similar job involving restoring an old house on stilts, making a modern 2-bedroom bungalow below with suspended ceiling, fancy lighting, aluminium doors and windows, flyscreens, fitted thai-style kitchen, 2 bathrooms (1 up,1 down) with electric showers, 2 aircons, etc, etc, for 700,000 baht 3 years ago. All electric cable is inside the walls. This was a a fixed price paid to one guy who subcontracted things like electrics to other teams.

A large crowd of holidaymakers from around the world, in casual but smart clothing, gathered outside a new, plush, very expensive restaurant in Bangkok, eagerly awaiting the official opening.

The door opened and the head waiter scanned the assembled would-be diners, a frown lining his forehead. “Sorry, but you lot can't come in. You must have a Thai.”

Thanks for the daydream Jezz.

Cheers.

Thank you for your ideas too!

Well, I sure wouldn't waste time visiting "the remains" of my family, and can see absolutely no point spending money on dead people!!!

Should have said,'remaining family' - not dead remains! Thanks for your point of view.

Just for fun - repeat, just for fun - if you are a resident farang in Isaan, happy to be away from the hustle and bustle of western-style life or the beaches of south Thailand, what would you do if you found yourself with a massive fortune, putting you into the international multimillionaire ranks?

Me? As a guy entering my 'sunset years', I'd visit the remains of my family in the UK, help out financially where needed in their ranks, make sure my Thai family were looked after, then quickly move on to visit places in the world that still hold great fascination for me. Would I eventually return to live in Thailand? That's a tough question for an old-timer because I may have burnt myself out spending the hypothetical fortune! And I guess it depends on whether the wife came along with me or not. Just daydreaming.

Come on, guys. What would you do?

The strange thing is some very minor concrete roads near my place leading only to small villages or temples get repaired more often than important tarmac highways carrying fast-moving traffic.

This isn't about a friend, just a guy I met once or twice who doesn't come this way now. He used to visit his Thai GF occasionally and also went to several other countries to visit GF's there. The Thai girl, living with her Thai husband, who approved of the foreign boyfriend for obvious financial reasons, played a rather clever game with him. She pretended she was unmarried and living with her mother in a very basic village home with no facilities, but in reality she and her husband have a decent home just along the road. The boyfriend used to visit at the mother's home, then pay a lot of money to a Thai chap to drive him and his GF to a motel each night throughout his stay.

What he didn't know was the 'taxi driver' just happened to be the husband! Guess you might say being taken for a proper ride.

3 bedroomed bungalow, 2 bathrooms inside plus toilet outside, inside and outside kitchens = 1.5m.

Perimeter wall plus front gate and back gate = 500k

All done 6 years ago, dread to think what it would cost to do it all today.

It's not what it costs that matters so much as what you get for it. Life satisfaction and peace of mind? Or a state of boredom where all you do is wait for the next farang to call and share a beer with you? You'll find both kinds in Isan (but hopefully on this thread only the first).

And by the way, I like my in-laws too.. Dear old-fashioned things, ten years younger than I am.

Good observation. Going back to the newspaper description of the farang houses (Sturdy walls) Some farangs make their homes like fortresses. Some who do admit it's to keep uninvited guests out. Others go further by stating things like, “It's my life, I don't want all the locals prying around.” I remember visiting a farang some years ago. It took ten minutes waiting after ringing the 'phone on his electronic gate and announcing who I was before he'd called off three or four vicious dogs protecting the large, barren and dusty grounds the other side of a high wall with jagged broken glass embedded on top. The actual meeting consisted of being invited to sit outside with some iced water for refreshment. The conversation was minimal and centred on how proud he was to have such a big house. We never met again - not surprisingly. Also not surprisingly his missus hopped it.

Thankfully many guys with beautiful homes don't hide inside their domain, rather they immerse themselves in a degree of local activity. If you choose to live here, what pleasure can there possibly be in refusing to even try to integrate?

Am I the only Farang that likes my Thai in-laws?

By no means. Mine are great. Perhaps you missed the attempted humour in my remarks about a fence? I get on fine with all the in-laws - in fact most of the villagers too.

best to have an electric fence around to keep the inlaws out.

An electric fence! What a good idea. But they'd only climb over it or crawl under it. Maybe a multi-strand job, 3 metres high. Hmm. No, on second thoughts I don't mind having the place open. It wouldn't be the same keeping the crowd out. They're quite welcome to pop in and out. It's just a part of village life.

I can well believe it, especially if he has used stainelss steel, some of those gates can easily cost 100k, 50k is the norm.

Well I'll just have to put up with chickens defecating on the porch, dogs and cats intruding in the unfenced homestead. Not to mention the occasional elephant and it's rider en route through the village. Then there's a buffalo or two who break their grazing moorings. Maybe a cow now and then.

the total cost of 700,000 baht, divided by 3 years equals 233,000 per year, equals 19,000 per month. I'd have paid more in rent for a place of similar standard otherwise

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this but I just had an email from a friend abroad who claims he's spent more than 700,000 baht on erecting a sturdy wall, plus a gate or two, around a large plot he bought on behalf of his wife for about 3 million baht. Now he's working hard back home to save the money to make the house.

From the varied subjects covered in The New York Times article, it seems the bit about farang homes caught the most interest. Pursuing that further, I've been musing over the property options available to farangs with Thai partners. Surely factors like age, working abroad or retired in Thailand should influence things like when, what and where should I buy? For myself, I didn't settle in Thailand until I was into my 60's. My choices were limited by lack of wealth and age. I rely 100% on a very modest pension which, sometimes worryingly, is battered into the ground by exchange rates - like right now. I made the choice to modernise my wife's family home, which formerly was a wooden stilt house. The total cost to build a modern home below the old house, to include air con, fully equipped modern kitchen, 5 bedrooms, (3 up, 2 down) 2 bathrooms & toilets with electric showers, (1 up, 1 down) spacious lounge with suspended ceiling and various lighting options, all the furniture, electrical items etc. 700,000 baht. (3 years ago) MIL & FIL live upstairs with their own entrance and, fortunately, are completely non-intrusive, quiet and help when required with the 2 school-age kids. Not everyone's ideal but a very workable solution for me.

On a light-hearted note, the total cost of 700,000 baht, divided by 3 years equals 233,000 per year, equals 19,000 per month. I'd have paid more in rent for a place of similar standard otherwise. So if there's a future problem, or my time comes up, I call that a win, win situation. If you spend millions on your dream home here, it's still not your land. (Some exceptions like condos of course)

But each to their own.

i have to drive through four different villages from mine before finding another house built with sturdy walls and a red-tiled roof.

In my area there's been a surge over the past couple of years of Thais building /buying big new Thai-style homes that line main roads into town. There are also lots of new complete estates/communities, covering many rai, of economical but smart new Thai housing. No doubt there are a few built with sturdy walls and a red-tiled roof by farangs dotted around somewhere.

There are villages in Isaan that are almost entirely comprising foreign houses, where the whole village is almost entirely houses purchased by foreigners for their Thai ladies.

I have seen these deserted villages, comprising foreign houses. Example: Ban Chan 20km west of Yasothon. More than 40 villas purchased by foreigners for their Thai ladies. Falangs gone, Thai men sitting in front of these villas happily drinking beer all day.

Maybe the farangs have just gone home to work - all 40 of them. And the Thai men are just looking after the properties until the owners (wives then) return. No? Oh well, just a thought.

But you cant compare with UK because here we have no rights on benefits an finance ourselves.

As I understand it there are some nasty shocks in store regarding benefits for UK citizens returning home just to grab some National Health benefits. Free hospital treatment, for one, now only appies to the most urgent and extreme cases if you've lived abroad a long time.

Going back to the op. I have seen a survey that states that over 90% of Isaan ladies married to foreigners live overseas. For the most part they are happy. They can get jobs, whereas their foreign husbands in Thailand can not unless they are in an executive position or buy a business or farm. The survey did not ask how much money they remitted each month back to their families in Thailand. Some return to Thailand on a yearly basis, others every five years or so, some never.

Thanks, Michael. Very informative.

Quite right, the same in the UK where the foreigners do not even try to integrate but expect all the housing/health benefits etc.

I do believe that this is changing and there is an English test now.....

Wouldn't it be fun to have to pass a Thai test to get long stay visas?

And if us UK ex-pats returned home we'd be second fiddle to these people. I couldn't survive back there.

Yeah well im 37 and so is my wife, not that it matters alot, just giving you a scope of things and she is happy here in Oz although we both miss the farm and our house alot.

Glad you are both happy, and I understand why you can miss things back in Thailand. Good luck to both of you. I lived in Oz ,(Perth) years ago before you were born. Loved it.

I appreciate most of your posts Semper but whats with everyone assuming Issan families are rife with blugers?

My wife has 2 brothers, 1 is a chef at Novotel in BKK and the other has a shop in CM.

As for our house in Issan, its for our daughter.

In my family everyone works hard. Some in-laws work abroad, labouring hard to support their families back home. Others work in offices and factories in Bangkok. The youngest nephew-in-law, still at school, is already preparing for a career in the army. M.I.L., F.I.L, S.I.L. and my wife take care of the farm. Me? I'm getting on a bit and just help out by driving the pick-up either around the farmland, on domestic trips and sometimes further afield.

BTW, I really started this topic out of curiosity regarding whether or not Isaan girls living abroad with their partners were actually, genuinely happy to do so, as I said at post #13 after realising the title I used for the thread could have been better. Nevertheless, some interesting responses.

Whist idly surfing the net I came across this article about Isaan in The New York Times from 2010, so I guess some of the info is out of date. Here are a few snips. I'll post the link at the bottom.

... an expanding population of nearly 11,000 foreign husbands in the region, drawn by the low cost of living, slow pace of life and the exotic reputation of Thai women.

“Thai women are a lot like women in America were 50 years ago.”

It is easy to spot the foreigners’ homes, with their sturdy walls and red-tiled roofs, an archipelago of affluence among the smaller, poorer houses of their new neighbors and in-laws.

“There are villages in Isaan that are almost entirely comprising foreign houses, where the whole village is almost entirely houses purchased by foreigners for their Thai ladies,”

“A clash of expectations strains many marriages, and more than half end in divorce,” said Prayoon Thavon, manager of international services at Panyavejinter Hospital in Udon Thani.

“When you get married in Thailand you are marrying the whole family, the whole village,” Mr. Prayoon said. “Often the lady expects that, but the man doesn’t understand.”

There seems to be less concern about differences in age, with many bridegrooms in their 50s or 60s or even 70s.

Source: http://www.nytimes.c...wanted=all&_r=0