Isaan Motivation?

[swissie]

Assuming you living in the Isaan.
Was your initial motivation to move to the Isaan "to get away from everything". Conciously selecting a corner of the world that was "forgotten by the rest of the world" (not so long ago). As I did quite a long time ago.

OR:

Did you take residence in the Isaan because your GF/Wife had her roots/family somewhere in the Isaan?
If not for that fact, would you have choosen the Isaan as your long-term domicile?

As this is a "Farang"-Forum, honest answers are absolutely welcome and encouraged and will go unpunished.
Just curious.
Cheers.

[1FinickyOne]

Not quite Isaan but rural Central Thailand - - I would have preferred to live by the Gulf but my wife is happiest living in her village. She has a wonderful large family and I have enjoyed living with them. So, it turned out to be a positive for me, helping me learn about language and culture.  

[Damrongsak]

If I move back to Loei, it's because of the wife and relatives.  I've seen a few places in the south that impressed me more, but the current turmoil is something to consider.

 

But we do have a nice little house with a garden and a view.

 

 

If I need anything, the sis-in-law is right across the street:

 

 

Edited July 18, 2019 by Damrongsak

[Thaiwrath]

I bought a bar here, as I had been many times to the tourist areas, and didn't want to run a 'bar fine' bar, but more a 'local' bar, similar to a UK pub. Had nearly 10 great, successful years, but saw the changes slowly creeping in, so sold it for a nice price.

Now, my drinking days are few and far between, but, having lived here for so long, I see no reason to leave. I enjoy the quiet life, and am only a short flight away from holiday destinations, and still have quite a few proper friends in the same town. 

[KiChakayan]

50 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

 

 

I like the way your SIL maintains her front lawn... And if you need anything you just get it from there? And how does your wife feel about this situation? ????

Edited July 19, 2019 by KiChakayan

[Damrongsak]

11 minutes ago, KiChakayan said:

I like the way your SIL maintains her front lawn... And if you need anything you just get it from there? And how does your wife feel about this situation? ????

Wife doesn't mind, nor do I (other than her annoying voice).  Our compound is across the other street on the back side behind a wall. In the very center of the photo, you can see a white car in our compound through the open gate.  My sis-in-law gives me antiques and old knives she collects in her junk recycling business.  Her hubby mows the lawn, waters stuff and helps with other handyman duties.  He has various tools and a crappy welder.  They have a newer Toyota pickup truck now, so transportation isn't a problem.

 

40 year old pic on our wedding day - this SIL is the one on the far left (by the seated guy). A couple others are in the U.S. as we sponsored them to come.  The little girl front center is in the USA and owns a Thai restaurant.  She took over the old house in our compound that we built for their Mom and expanded it.  So she built the new house and gave it to my wife.  Pretty nice folks, all in all.

 

 

Old house:

 

[Damrongsak]

It's nice to go back and visit Loei once every 5 or 10 years.  Walk to the market and around town and my wife's relatives and old high school friends will recognize me around the market.  Give me a ride in a fancy SUV, pull me into an air conditioned shop and give me a cold drink, whatever.  They loved our two luk khrueng sons when they were little. Makes me glad I invited a butt-load of people to our wedding and had a lot of food and western brand-name booze available.  I probably spent $500 US on the wedding - which was about 4 months salary for a Peace Corps Volunteer. 

 

So there's that to be said about a smallish town in Isaan. 

[1FinickyOne]

59 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

Pretty nice folks, all in all.

good for you - congratulations on a long positive relationship w/a nice family

[puchooay]

I came to Issan as a single man in 1998. Met a lovely lady, now my wife, and we are still here together.

 

We moved around Thailand a bit but never really settled anywhere else. 

 

Home is where the heart is.

[Damrongsak]

27 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

good for you - congratulations on a long positive relationship w/a nice family

They like me.  Not sure about my wife.  Mom-in-law treated me very well, especially after I took her away to USA.

Edited July 19, 2019 by Damrongsak

[SteveK]

Isaan is relaxing, cheap and friendly. Can't say that about Bangkok.

[OneMoreFarang]

I visited the village of my gf and the nearby village of her sister and another village of her friend a couple of times.

I don't like it and I can't imagine I will ever live in a village like that.

 

[Damrongsak]

For about a year in 1979/1980 after moving from Loei, we lived in an old wooden house in BKK around Pratunam, in a compound on a dirt soi more or less across from the Indra Hotel. Cheap as chips and the on-site owner was an old hi-so gal, a Khun Ying.  No one messed with her or us in that place.  I think it was 1,000 Baht a month - $50 USD at the time, including cold water and a few light bulbs. Might have been her Father's original house.  The whole soi and compound is now underneath the rear tower of the Palladium World Market/Berkeley Hotel, whatever.  Soi Hatsadin, right by Petchaburi Rd.  The place was called Ban Hatsadin.  It was a quiet little oasis right in the middle of things.

 

Edited July 19, 2019 by Damrongsak

[soalbundy]

Definitely to get away from tourist areas. In Isaan it is quiet and peaceful, no hassle and the people are friendly and accepting.

[owl sees all]

I've been trying to get out of the village house for 10 years, and return to Pattaya. At first it was the wife that was stopping me with her threats and physical assaults. More recently it's been the packs of dogs that congregate outside the house.

 

The garden has been tidied up recently. Got a cat to keep the rats and snakes away. Have a back door in case a buffalo parks it'self by the entrance. 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2019 by owl sees all

[Damrongsak]

32 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Definitely to get away from tourist areas. In Isaan it is quiet and peaceful, no hassle and the people are friendly and accepting.

In our neighborhood about 1 km from the market in Loei town, it is pretty quiet.  Except for the damn all night parties at the monk college Wat just up the street.

 

My wife finally convinced authorities to put cement on our dirt road.  Now we'll have motorbikes blasting up and down all night!

[LM405]

After living in Bangkok for a few years, it was time to get out. I lived for years in the big city back in the states, living in Bangkok was similar. We took the approach to move to the countryside (Isaan) although many Bangkok locals strongly disagreed and said negative things about Isaan. It's been 2 years now and we are very happy. Now, I cannot live anywhere in Isaan as there have been a few provinces that I really disliked but we are very happy in the province we live in now.

[SantiSuk]

When my wife to be announced she was pregnant I took one look at the extended family environment of her family home and realised that the village was the only place to raise a child for at least the first few years of her life - running free and with loads of friends and family around and a chance to become totally grounded in who she is. We built slightly outside the family village to give easy access but not get too inundated with people, chickens, pigs and loudspeakers.

 

For someone who had spent the prior 35 years working and living in Central London (Southwark) this might have been a disaster?!

 

That was 10 years ago. We adopted another girl from within the family two years later, now the first family member to go to university (just as I was nearly 50 years ago).

 

Have been enjoying my first ever family in my 50s/60s. No sign of moving anytime soon from Lower Sisaket. Have a condo in OnNut Bangkok as a pressure relief valve, but don't see the need to use it except for a long weekend every month or two. Have friends of many nationalities who live locally or in our regional city of Ubon Ratchathani where I am the main organiser of a social drinking and 'running' (we mostly walk) group - ie Ubon Hash House Harriers. Great bunch of lads and lasses.

 

Life is good in Isaan!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2019 by SantiSuk

[ThaiBunny]

6 minutes ago, SantiSuk said:

We built slightly outside the family village to give easy access but not get too inundated with people, chickens, pigs and loudspeakers

I notice you don't mention village dogs. Whenever I visit friends (in a village between Sisaket and Surin) I can't walk by myself outside the family compound because of the dogs in the village that are protective of their own areas and wary of strangers. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy my stays there but I like to get out, have a walk around, get some exercise but I feel physically constrained there unless one or two members of the family are prepared to walk with me. I guess it may just be that village. I once stayed just outside Yasothon and didn't notice dogs at all (in the 18 hours in total I was there!)

Edited July 19, 2019 by ThaiBunny

[SantiSuk]

I walk a hell of a lot in our area, both as part of a daily exercise routine (well - every third day 5km plus 1km in the pool every third day plus one day rest) and when scouting for and laying 6km+ trails for the drinking club with a running/walking problem.

 

Yes I agree the dogs are a bit of a pain (whether village general 'soi dogs' or house-kept dogs in virtually every home inside and outside of villages, but not once in twelve years have I been attacked. Even when they run out of a property at you as a pack I've found it quite easy to face them down. I tend to take the friendly approach to begin with and watch to see if they are just there to have a laugh or tell you not to come closer to their territory. But, I'd be prepared to kick the $hit out of one if it got within biting distance - perhaps the pack leaders recognise that from my aggressive response stance that comes on if I feel threatened! Occasionally I'll carry a stick

 

 

 

 

Famous last words!

Edited July 19, 2019 by SantiSuk

[SunsetT]

7 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

They like me.  Not sure about my wife.  Mom-in-law treated me very well, especially after I took her away to USA.

How did she find her way back?   ????

[Nemises]

Nothing for farang to see in Isaan. It not good here. Stay away. Go to Bangkok or Pattaya or Patong...please.

[Odysseus123]

Ah..Isaan-how I miss it..

 

 

[Rookiescot]

Bought a house in Bangkok. Realised upon my retirement that I couldn't live long term in Bangkok.

Wife had family in Issan so we moved there. Bought another nice house. Life was good.

Wife decided to go completely off the rails so I left her.

Still live in Issan. I like it here.  

[jastheace]

7 hours ago, SantiSuk said:

When my wife to be announced she was pregnant I took one look at the extended family environment of her family home and realised that the village was the only place to raise a child for at least the first few years of her life - running free and with loads of friends and family around and a chance to become totally grounded in who she is. We built slightly outside the family village to give easy access but not get too inundated with people, chickens, pigs and loudspeakers.

 

For someone who had spent the prior 35 years working and living in Central London (Southwark) this might have been a disaster?!

 

That was 10 years ago. We adopted another girl from within the family two years later, now the first family member to go to university (just as I was nearly 50 years ago).

 

Have been enjoying my first ever family in my 50s/60s. No sign of moving anytime soon from Lower Sisaket. Have a condo in OnNut Bangkok as a pressure relief valve, but don't see the need to use it except for a long weekend every month or two. Have friends of many nationalities who live locally or in our regional city of Ubon Ratchathani where I am the main organiser of a social drinking and 'running' (we mostly walk) group - ie Ubon Hash House Harriers. Great bunch of lads and lasses.

 

Life is good in Isaan!

 

 

 

 

 

 

what happened to 'bob a job' the founding member of Ubon HHH ?

great times then ! imagine still are !

[Damrongsak]

4 hours ago, SunsetT said:

How did she find her way back?   ????

I meant I took my wife away.  ????

[swissie]

18 hours ago, kenk24 said:

Not quite Isaan but rural Central Thailand - - I would have preferred to live by the Gulf but my wife is happiest living in her village. She has a wonderful large family and I have enjoyed living with them. So, it turned out to be a positive for me, helping me learn about language and culture.  

Kenk, surely you kow that "Central Thailand" has very little to do with the rest of N/E Thailand. The Bread (Rice) basket of Thailand. No impoverished agricultural "masses" originating from the "Isaan".

Having taken (geographically) root within the "Rice-Belt" of central Thailand, you will soon find out that there is very little "cultural- similarities" between "Central-Thailand residents" and N/E residents. They don't even speak the same language.

Generally, Farangs are finding Thai-Females originating from the N/E far more attracive than females originating from "the Rice belt" of Thailand. There must be a reason for that.

 

To elaborate any further would remove us farther from the Topic.

Cheers.

 

 

 

[swissie]

So far the posts would indicate that it is not the Isaan (per se) that attracts Farangs, but rather a "good solid family life". Something like "My home/family are my castle" and where the "Castle" is located is not really the deciding factor.
This automatically begs the question: Would Farangs still remain in the Isaan in case of a "Family-Breakup"?
Would you pull up stakes or stay?

[DJ54]

 I like here after years of big city here relaxing and comical ...

Got here via the wife most the adults in family good ro me

 

[swissie]

13 hours ago, ThaiBunny said:

I notice you don't mention village dogs. Whenever I visit friends (in a village between Sisaket and Surin) I can't walk by myself outside the family compound because of the dogs in the village that are protective of their own areas and wary of strangers. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy my stays there but I like to get out, have a walk around, get some exercise but I feel physically constrained there unless one or two members of the family are prepared to walk with me. I guess it may just be that village. I once stayed just outside Yasothon and didn't notice dogs at all (in the 18 hours in total I was there!)

I was told that by distributing liberal amounts of quality German Sausages will pacify the wildest bunch of street dogs. Only problem is, they may follow you home and never leave.