6 hours ago, villagefarang said:

We have finished our hike and we’re about to have some lunch. I have been fasting for the last 48 hours so I am ready to eat something.  More pictures later.

Keep them coming VF. Keep them coming. Stunning! :-)

53 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

So I guess my question for everyone is, “What have you done today, this week or this month to reinvigorate your life here in Thailand,

I have paid over the past year or so the non-insurance coverage emergency surgery costs for a beautiful young Thai girl to recover from an otherwise terminal medical condition. This girl spooks the doctors with her composure -- no complaining, no whining, and almost no crying -- and has more personality than most adults. She is part of my future here in Thailand.

24 minutes ago, HuskerDo said:

Keep them coming VF. Keep them coming. Stunning! ????

I uploaded a couple photos directly from the phone while we were out on the trail.  This evening when we got home and I had a look on the computer, I was shocked to see how big the images are.  I normally resize everything before uploading so I will be more careful about posting from the phone in the future.

 

It was a long tiring day, but beautiful, and the endorphins have really kicked in so I am feeling very mellow tonight.

13 hours ago, villagefarang said:

I like your comparisons and attitude.  I too am partial to the 65 inch curved QLED.  Living upcountry doesn't need to be boring, lonely or deprived.

Things weren't always like that though.  When I first visited the village where I now have a house, in 1992, it had no electricity, a 10km long dirt road leading to it that became near impassable following rain, farming was still done using a buffalo towed plough, and water was obtained from the communal hand pump.  If anyone had told me I would be living there one day I would have laughed. 

In 1995 I changed my job to one with a rotating schedule - 4 weeks working, 4 weeks at home, and we decided to move to the in-laws place so my wife would be near friends and family on the 4 weeks I was away, and I could see what living there was like.  There was electricity by then, but, of course, no internet in those days.  I bought a dirt bike and a mountain bike and spent a lot of time riding the tracks through the fields, passing through small villages, stopping occasionally to buy a drink, and becoming quite a local attraction.  I still take a ride on a (different) mountain bike every evening I'm up there.  After two years of that, we started building a house on a nice piece of land. 

In 2009 I took a year off and, although we did a bit of travelling out of Thailand, spent most of the time in the village.  I then, for some strange reason, accepted the offer of a work assignment in Singapore in 2010, and did three years there followed by two in KL, spending every bit of time off back in my own house in Thailand.  Coming to my senses, I chose not to renew my KL assignment and was offered my current position in Bangkok - three weeks in the office followed by one week off.  I've now had enough of that too and am immensely looking forward to staying up country pretty much full time.

 

I'd also go as far to say that living up country these days - with fibre optic internet, cable TV, smart phones, and availability of different foods, books and gadgets, is far easier than living in Bangkok was back in the early 90s.  

 

 

18 hours ago, Benroon said:

How mods aren't suicidal after trolling through the sheer volume of negativity and doom on here is beyond me !

That's why TV Towers has no balconies.

1 hour ago, ballpoint said:

Things weren't always like that though.  When I first visited the village where I now have a house, in 1992, it had no electricity, a 10km long dirt road leading to it that became near impassable following rain, farming was still done using a buffalo towed plough, and water was obtained from the communal hand pump.  If anyone had told me I would be living there one day I would have laughed. 

In 1995 I changed my job to one with a rotating schedule - 4 weeks working, 4 weeks at home, and we decided to move to the in-laws place so my wife would be near friends and family on the 4 weeks I was away, and I could see what living there was like.  There was electricity by then, but, of course, no internet in those days.  I bought a dirt bike and a mountain bike and spent a lot of time riding the tracks through the fields, passing through small villages, stopping occasionally to buy a drink, and becoming quite a local attraction.  I still take a ride on a (different) mountain bike every evening I'm up there.  After two years of that, we started building a house on a nice piece of land. 

In 2009 I took a year off and, although we did a bit of travelling out of Thailand, spent most of the time in the village.  I then, for some strange reason, accepted the offer of a work assignment in Singapore in 2010, and did three years there followed by two in KL, spending every bit of time off back in my own house in Thailand.  Coming to my senses, I chose not to renew my KL assignment and was offered my current position in Bangkok - three weeks in the office followed by one week off.  I've now had enough of that too and am immensely looking forward to staying up country pretty much full time.

 

I'd also go as far to say that living up country these days - with fibre optic internet, cable TV, smart phones, and availability of different foods, books and gadgets, is far easier than living in Bangkok was back in the early 90s.  

 

 

When I first visited our village around twenty years ago it bore no resemblance to what it is today, so your imagery is very familiar.

 

 

Speaking quite generally, I usually encounter two different types of people who live upcountry.  First there is the hardcore rural individual who generally wants nothing to do with anything city related.  Their comments about city life and city dwellers are almost entirely negative.

 

Then there are the individuals for whom rural living is more of a nature resort.  They can afford all the modern conveniences of the city while being surrounded by nature.  Unfortunately, where I live one group vastly outnumbers the other.

11 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

I usually encounter two different types of people who live upcountry. 

Then there are close encounters of the third kind who mumble "Gotta go -- I left something on the stove" and quickly go elsewhere.

I guess nobody likes food but me but dinner last night was amazing.????

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, villagefarang said:

I guess nobody likes food but me

I guess maybe nobody likes talking about food but you at least not in the Food Forum.

50 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

I guess nobody likes food but me but dinner last night was amazing.????

i too encountered several times amazing dinners... leaving the dinner table hungry.

8 minutes ago, Naam said:

i too encountered several times amazing dinners... leaving the dinner table hungry.

Sometimes nouvelle cuisine is just too nouvelle.

7 hours ago, villagefarang said:

I guess nobody likes food but me but dinner last night was amazing.????

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like a 5 star New York City restaurant. Very nice!

7 hours ago, villagefarang said:

I guess nobody likes food but me but dinner last night was amazing.

You must be so bored and so lonely.

 

Re-integrate. Make friends. Socialize. Do something worthwhile with your life. 

 

Posting photos of your meals serves only to reveal how lonely you are.

 

Go out and meet some people. You really do need to get a life.

Very nice pictures, thank you for sharing

10 minutes ago, Pharoticus said:

You must be so bored and so lonely.

 

Re-integrate. Make friends. Socialize. Do something worthwhile with your life. 

 

Posting photos of your meals serves only to reveal how lonely you are.

 

Go out and meet some people. You really do need to get a life.

He's got quite a grand life Pharo. I hope one day you'll have one equally as grand. Your msg was hateful. You seem to be the polar opposite of VF. I wish you well.

Some pies my wife bakes when she has a few days off. I taught her how to make them years ago and she just has improved them.

 

I love my food as well

1 minute ago, totally thaied up said:

Some pies my wife bakes when she has a few days off. I taught her how to make them years ago and she just has improved them.

 

I love my food as well

What are they made of? I think one of them would last me a week. NICE!! Do you deliver? :-)

41 minutes ago, HuskerDo said:

Looks like a 5 star New York City restaurant. Very nice!

The food is indeed amazing but Chef Kong is also one of my favorite people.  We were there from roughly 6pm to 11pm last night and could have talked much longer.  We hadn't seen our friends from New Zealand for several months so it was great catching up on their lives, too, but Chef and I always have expansive wide-ranging conversations.  Great food and great conversation with amazing people qualifies as having a life in my book.????

5 minutes ago, HuskerDo said:

What are they made of? I think one of them would last me a week. NICE!! Do you deliver? ????

My wife's mother was a pastry chef so she makes the pastry. I just showed them how to do the farang filling. We cook enough up for a week or so at a time. I just get fat now... lol...

 

We eat well in the village. Lamb Roast and Salmon that we cook together. You do not need to do without at all...

44 minutes ago, totally thaied up said:

Some pies my wife bakes when she has a few days off. I taught her how to make them years ago and she just has improved them.

 

I love my food as well

Nice and big too! Pies have to be big.

Yes thank you Villagefarang for a nice positive topic with beautiful pictures to boot.

 

Getting tired of reading about negative topics about Thailand and living here so I stopped reading/following them.

 

If we count negative versus positive topics and posts here on ThaiVisa, 75% of the expat population in LOS must have left already, 555. 

1 hour ago, totally thaied up said:

 

 

Lots of awesome photos. What part of Chiang Rai is that?

7 minutes ago, guzzi850m2 said:

Yes thank you Villagefarang for a nice positive topic with beautiful pictures to boot.

 

Getting tired of reading about negative topics about Thailand and living here so I stopped reading/following them.

 

If we count negative versus positive topics and posts here on ThaiVisa, 75% of the expat population in LOS must have left already, 555. 

People living in Pattaya would have a different outlook on life.

47 minutes ago, Concrete said:

People living in Pattaya would have a different outlook on life.

Maybe but I am happy living in fun town.

 

Family man, haven't been on walking street for years.

19 minutes ago, Concrete said:

People living in Pattaya would have a different outlook on life.

Ya think?

16 hours ago, JLCrab said:

16 hours ago, Naam said:

i too encountered several times amazing dinners... leaving the dinner table hungry.

Sometimes nouvelle cuisine is just too nouvelle.

nouvelle cuisine is not only tolerable but its works of art are appreciated provided... one had a hearty and satisfiying three course meal an hour or so before to avoid reactions based on frustration.

 

i will never forget the ending of several hours long negotiations of a triple mil business deal in a Micheline starred restaurant in Munich when a member of "my" party (a Saudi) leaving the restaurant shouted "ya Naam! where can we have a hamburger now?"

 

the host (counterparty) was for days upset and even threatened to drop out of the deal as he was not inclined to have business relations with "camel riders and goat herders who live on huge amounts of mutton and millet garnished with raisins and cinnamon". a culture clash par excellence! 

   

Do you have any connections up in Chiang Rai from before? Wife family or friends? I always wondered how it is to settle in a village, with no connections around, buy a piece of land, and how that is in Thailand. 

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

Do you have any connections up in Chiang Rai from before? Wife family or friends? I always wondered how it is to settle in a village, with no connections around, buy a piece of land, and how that is in Thailand. 

Good question. I'm curious too.

10 hours ago, Concrete said:

Lots of awesome photos. What part of Chiang Rai is that?

We live East of Chiang Rai town in the direction of Chiang Khong and Thoeng.  There is a mountain range which runs roughly South to North and the ridge-line is about 20 km from our house.  From the top of that mountain you can look across anther valley and see Phu Chi Fa on a clear day.  It is that parallel mountain range bordering Laos where we like to go hiking.

 

This photo is taken looking West and down on the valley where I live.  Chiang Rai would be behind those clouds.  We live in a village close to the dark green below those clouds but before the rubber plantation.

 

This photo is taken from the same place looking East toward the range bordering Laos.