Why is there so much money in the Phayao area?

[thaibeachlovers]

I traveled around quite a bit in the countryside around Phayao over a couple of days, and was struck by how many really expensive houses were being built there, plus loads of shops and ordinary houses being improved. Obviously no shortage of money.

I'm wondering, because it's mainly just rice, and a small amount of rubber. Given the rice pledging scheme fiasco I wouldn't have thought rice was that valuable now, but am I wrong?

Edited November 7, 2017 by thaibeachlovers

[sometimewoodworker]

Possibly enterprising thai ladies with foreign husbands?

[simoh1490]

It's a pleasant town in the mountains that's in a great location, easily accessible to/from Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, there's a university, a decent hospital plus all the daily things a family would need - the lake even means there's tourism but nothing too onerous. I suspect what the OP is seeing is middle/upper-class retirees finding for a relatively inexpensive place to retire in the mountains, Phayao ticks lots of boxes for many.

[ripstanley]

In our small village 13 kms from Phayao there is a new house being built. It will have 5 bedrooms. The owner is a rich Thai  Bangkok banker who married a woman from our village and is approaching retirement age. 

[Just1Voice]

Went to Phayao once for a couple of days on one of my CBR "road trips" a couple of years back.  If I didn't already have a nice house in a good location in Chiang Mai, Phayao would have been a place of definite interest. 

 

[simoh1490]

I imagine the town is heavy with Bangkok money since Chiang Mai is becoming saturated, the traffic here is as bad as Bangkok at times plus property has become expensive, in short it's losing its appeal for many. Chiang Rai is also changing quite rapidly so Phayao is a nice middle ground, low traffic volumes, inexpensive real estate and not too big.

[Just1Voice]

2 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

I imagine the town is heavy with Bangkok money since Chiang Mai is becoming saturated, the traffic here is as bad as Bangkok at times plus property has become expensive, in short it's losing its appeal for many. Chiang Rai is also changing quite rapidly so Phayao is a nice middle ground, low traffic volumes, inexpensive real estate and not too big.

Got to agree with you on Chiang Mai.  This place has exploded over the past ten years.  Where we live, 10 years ago there were 4 nice moo bans within a 3 mile radius, no major shops, and lots of rice paddies.  The paddies are gone.  There are now 8 moo bans.  Major home improvement & paint stores.  New major mall. And everything that goes with all that, including much heavier traffic. 

[ripstanley]

1 hour ago, simoh1490 said:

I imagine the town is heavy with Bangkok money since Chiang Mai is becoming saturated, the traffic here is as bad as Bangkok at times plus property has become expensive, in short it's losing its appeal for many. Chiang Rai is also changing quite rapidly so Phayao is a nice middle ground, low traffic volumes, inexpensive real estate and not too big.

 

It is growing all the time. New road works and they have just added another 2 sets of traffic lights. There are now 7 sets of lights on the highway passing through Phayao.

There is also a new Tops Plaza being built. I think the real estate price is increasing. I like the traffic flow at the moment except at morning peak hour. 

 

[1FinickyOne]

lots of Thai investing out of Bangkok these days and add to that people from Phayao after working overseas or in Bkk are retiring at home... Phayao is pretty nice but I see the same phenomenon throughout much of Thailand.

[Muzarella]

Welcome to Phayao anytime!

[toofarnorth]

About 10 years ago and travelling around with my gf we stumbled upon Phayao and thought of living there . Fed up with all the ferlung coming to Hua Hin and small Thai restaurants disappearing , needed a change but what I do recall about a restaurant we ate in by the road opposite the lake were all the little yellow flies dropping from the lights on to the food.   Moved even futher north , same food no flies.  But a good vibe still at Phayao.

[bazza73]

Not much difference between Chiang Rai and Phayao in terms of restaurants. Chiang Mai has far more variety.

AFAIK Phayao has only one ( military ) 9 hole golf course. It would need more than that to interest me.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, bazza73 said:

Not much difference between Chiang Rai and Phayao in terms of restaurants. Chiang Mai has far more variety.

AFAIK Phayao has only one ( military ) 9 hole golf course. It would need more than that to interest me.

 

Phayao has the lake which makes it far more attractive than Chiang Rai, IMO, but not enough there to make me move if living by myself.

 

Thanks to all that replied. I hadn't considered the Bkk money.

However, it's not just in Phayao, but all the little villages within a couple of hours drive of Phayao city as well, and it's local businesses and local house improvements, not rich people's houses, which are mainly just in the city vicinity.

[bazza73]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Phayao has the lake which makes it far more attractive than Chiang Rai, IMO, but not enough there to make me move if living by myself.

 

Thanks to all that replied. I hadn't considered the Bkk money.

However, it's not just in Phayao, but all the little villages within a couple of hours drive of Phayao city as well, and it's local businesses and local house improvements, not rich people's houses, which are mainly just in the city vicinity.

Chiang Rai is more central to places such as Doi Angkhan, Doi Mae Salong, Phu Chi Fa and Doi Tung. Plus Mae Sai and Chiang Saen. Depends on whether one likes lakes or mountains.

There's plenty of evidence money is flowing into Chiang Rai as well. The bypass to the airport has relieved a lot of the traffic congestion. I see quite a lot of falang tourists when I am there. Probably for the White Temple; however, there are other attractions close by.

Interesting Garden of Hell in Phayao, quite gory.

[superglue]

Years ago this was a drug trafficking area.

[simoh1490]

42 minutes ago, superglue said:

Years ago this was a drug trafficking area.

It almost certainly still is, as is much of the North, especially along the borders. There's a road that runs along the border between Doi Tung and Mai Sai, it sits on top of a ridge with Myanmar on one side and Thailand on the other and is 22 kms long. Start to enter that road and you're met with a heavily armed and fortified military checkpoint who check ID and write your details on their clipboard, you're allowed four hours to get to the other end which is a replica of the point of entry, after four hours they come looking for you - you are checked out of the road just as you were checked in. The road closes at 4 pm and after dark the helo. goes up and the patrols go out, it's like something out of a Vietnam war movie. It's bandit country where drug and people smugglers traverse the border, as you drive along the road you can see where the long grass has been flattened from people walking through it. And it's shown on the maps as a scenic tourist route, ha!

[superglue]

We travel from Fang to CNX.

There are always police checks.

[sceadugenga]

I doubt that anyone up there is going to bother tourists during the day time and it certainly is scenic.

Commonsense should prevail, I made the mistake of coming back from Nong Khai via Loei after dark and was pulled up by a large patrol of police and army in those hills near the Mekong, commanded by an officer who spoke excellent English who questioned me closely and read every document in my visa folder. (I had been to the Thai Embassy in Vientiane).

[my friend I]

21 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Phayao has the lake which makes it far more attractive than Chiang Rai, IMO, but not enough there to make me move if living by myself.

 

Thanks to all that replied. I hadn't considered the Bkk money.

However, it's not just in Phayao, but all the little villages within a couple of hours drive of Phayao city as well, and it's local businesses and local house improvements, not rich people's houses, which are mainly just in the city vicinity.

It's also local people who moved away to make money and now come back to the land they have owned for a long time. The same thing happened in Nan.

[BuddyDean]

I like Phayao.  Great food, better than Chiang Rai.  Used to be a couple of. very late night clubs....Hollywood and BM.  Loads of fun.  50 THB, BYOB...even rhymes.  Too bad they let that Northern Lake Hotel go to absolute krap.  When I started going five years ago; I liked it so much that I didn't tell anyone, and became a Pai tout, lol.  Did see a brawl between teenagers that was a bit scary down by the Lake.  A few places near the Cemetery are way out of bounds.