2 minutes ago, sipi said:

If you were to pick my house up in Australia and dump it in Thailand it would be exactly as my house in Thailand. Exactly.

Wow....????

 

5 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Wow....????

 

Not quite.

No idea where that is.

4 minutes ago, sipi said:

Not quite.

No idea where that is.

It's by way of a joke.

 

I forget the GPS co-ordinates for such an activity on TVF..

 

It is semi-rural tho'...

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, sipi said:

Not quite.

 

?

1 minute ago, Salerno said:

 

?

The other one was closer.

2 hours ago, JAFO said:

I prefer semi rural to be honest. 15 to 20 minute trek into the city area is just perfect. Far enough away from traffic and noise but close enough where you have some creature comforts nearby and access to things you might need.

 

Now if this is straight up. Big City versus Country, then Country it is. Easy to visit the big city for the things needed but nice to leave the noise, traffic and the chaos when done.

 

 

Bingo.. 30 mins from city proper.. But 15 mins from the edges and nearest farangy food restaurants etc.. 

Its frogs and crickets at night.. Roosters in the morning (yeah ok the occasional village loudspeakers or karaoke night too) and yet all my western needs catered to. 

My fear is the urban sprawl will overtake me. 

With very rural Thailand the problem is that there is sweet FA to do for your average westerner. But if you can amuse yourself with the simple pleasures in life, such as reading, gardening, cooking, and talking to the neighbours, actually it couldn't possibly be a more relaxing and enjoyable life. If you need go-go bars, western food and people who can speak English, you'd almost certainly be better off in Bangkok.

 

Personally I enjoy fishing, and sitting at a lake in rural Thailand in the hot sun with an ice-bucket of cold beers and a great book is about as good as I ever hoped that life could get for me.

16 minutes ago, GarryP said:

You can only do so much cycling, rowing and fishing. 

And in BKK you can ??     going out to eat,  and  uhhhhhh   thermae ?   I think you're past that,

no?   The ballet ?   hmmmm   

In the country there's fresh air .....oops.    well,  always got our entertainment on TV  ????

3 minutes ago, sipi said:

The other one was closer.

Damn, so not Scomo escaping the heat then 555

1 hour ago, Nyezhov said:

Im very ambivalent. I spent years in Alaska so it was Mountains and scenery. I had no urban throb.

 

Now in Bangkok, I have urban throb. Like major throbbing throbbbbbbb.

 

Next year I may try to do a balance by splitting my time in 3 places to get a bit of everything.

 

But I might spend all summer in Wyoming/Idaho/Montana so may need throb again next winter.

 

I wish I could have a car here. 

What's stopping you?

1 minute ago, Salerno said:

Damn, so not Scomo escaping the heat then 555

Grrrrr...

We won't go there...

We live here about the same as I always have......

Somewhere rural enough to see fields, trees, hear birds & critters.....At a slow pace....

But - close enough to a large area offering entertainment, dining, medical facilities, major shopping & conveniences within an hours drive.....

In the past that included most of the popular toys on tap and places to play.....Not so much now.....We keep a camper & vehicle stored in the US and spend 4-6 months a year RVing there = rarely are we tempted towards the big cities, so, guess that makes us country bumpkins ......

There's a lot of real estate between Bangkok and the rice paddies. Let's hear it for beach living.

I prefer a quiet rural area but near a city with all the good options a city offers (shopping, doctors, hospitals, entertainment, airport, etc.).

14 minutes ago, rumak said:

And in BKK you can ??     going out to eat,  and  uhhhhhh   thermae ?   I think you're past that,

no?   The ballet ?   hmmmm   

In the country there's fresh air .....oops.    well,  always got our entertainment on TV  ????

I am in full time employment in Bangkok. So that takes up 5 days a week. But once I retire up country, I will still need to keep myself occupied so I will need more than cycling, rowing and fishing (the latter I have not done in a few years but will take up again). 

 

I could be bored in the city too once I retire, but there are more options available. I am not into an incessant pub life but do like to socialize once a week or so. I am happy with married life and haven't been to Cowboy in about 15 or 20 years. I watch very little tv and would prefer being active. 

 

I think the bottom line is I am worried about boredom when I retire and that could be worse upcountry (not sure!!).

Personally I have always preferred the peace and quiet, order and cleanliness of Bangkok. It is also much easier to get around than those pesky country lanes. The only good thing about the countryside is it is far away from me.

 

Rooster

 

 

For 30 years I loved Bangkok, especially the first 20 when I was single.  After getting married, we traveled a lot so Bangkok was a great place to travel from.  You could leave the condo unoccupied for months with no problems.

 

For nearly 13 years we have lived more than 50 kms from Chiang Rai.  I seldom stay home more than 3 days without going to town.  There is always something for us to do in Chiang Rai, and we try to fit in an hour or two at the gym, between shopping, food and friends.  

 

I love a few days in Bangkok if we have a reason to go there but I always like returning to our rural setting.  Open space, trails, rivers, lakes, sunrise and sunset, nature and pets are amazing as a foundation but we both need more than watching the grass grow, so we have a lot of activities outside of the village.

 

I have found it all depends on age and whether you're single or not.  If you need constant and easy access to farang companionship, then rural life can be hard.  City people often have more interests and experience making them more interesting to talk with.

Air pollution aside which has really become an issue in the last 18 months. Urban.

 

My preference will change immediately when I'm not working but for islands not upcountry. Bangkok always has been a concrete jungle with no beauty. Still, the mountains have always bored me to tears.

 

2 hours ago, Salerno said:

No worries.

 

Being as quite a stark choice had to go urban; always been a city boy and enjoy clubbing ... but, as I "grow up" must say, enjoyed hanging out up Maha Sarakam way, chilling on ye olde wooden platform without walls etc. with the chickens (scrawny as they are) wandering around. Starting to think I could end up going bush.

I have been living it for 15 years now and I find any excuse that I can not to go to the big cities.

I started a similar topic last year.

 

 

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

 

I like your post but you are in Bangkok and want a car?

That could possibly be the biggest mistake ever no way in BKK.

if I had a car I wouldnt be in BKK

4 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

For 30 years I loved Bangkok, especially the first 20 when I was single.  After getting married, we traveled a lot so Bangkok was a great place to travel from.  You could leave the condo unoccupied for months with no problems.

 

For nearly 13 years we have lived more than 50 kms from Chiang Rai.  I seldom stay home more than 3 days without going to town.  There is always something for us to do in Chiang Rai, and we try to fit in an hour or two at the gym, between shopping, food and friends.  

 

I love a few days in Bangkok if we have a reason to go there but I always like returning to our rural setting.  Open space, trails, rivers, lakes, sunrise and sunset, nature and pets are amazing as a foundation but we both need more than watching the grass grow, so we have a lot of activities outside of the village.

 

I have found it all depends on age and whether you're single or not.

I know you live in a beautiful place and respect your great experience in Thailand. 

 

My post is meant to be taken with a sprinkling of Saxa. But I live in a very quiet part of Bangkok though only 250 meters from the new BTS extension. I went on it this evening with my six year old to pick up our pushbikes that were in for repair. We rode the 2kms back on the new pavements zigzagging through the rush hour walkers. I have been in love with Krung Thep since I was 20 and I am sixty next year. It is a love affair I will never get over though my relationship with the city has moved on from the recklessness of the 80s and 90s to a more sedate appreciation of my hometown today.

 

Rooster

Rural enough for us to live 20 KM North of Ubon with easy access to Medical/Dental Facilities along with shopping. Love traveling throughout Thailand/S.E. Asia with a periodic trip to Europe. My Thai wife and I spend six months here and six months in Orlando Florida RVing around North America. We are Blessed to live our Retirement Dream in our "Golden Years" here in Thailand.   

I found your first post humorous, especially the part about the countryside being far away from you.  I get it because I never could have imagined myself being a county guy back when I lived in Bangkok.  I have simply found that many things in my life have changed over the years.

 

17 minutes ago, Jane Dough said:

Personally I have always preferred the peace and quiet, order and cleanliness of Bangkok. It is also much easier to get around than those pesky country lanes. The only good thing about the countryside is it is far away from me.

 

Rooster

 

7 minutes ago, Jane Dough said:

I know you live in a beautiful place and respect your great experience in Thailand. 

 

My post is meant to be taken with a sprinkling of Saxa. But I live in a very quiet part of Bangkok though only 250 meters from the new BTS extension. I went on it this evening with my six year old to pick up our pushbikes that were in for repair. We rode the 2kms back on the new pavements zigzagging through the rush hour walkers. I have been in love with Krung Thep since I was 20 and I am sixty next year. It is a love affair I will never get over though my relationship with the city has moved on from the recklessness of the 80s and 90s to a more sedate appreciation of my hometown today.

 

Rooster

 

22 minutes ago, GarryP said:

think the bottom line is I am worried about boredom when I retire and that could be worse upcountry (not sure!!

I am pretty sure that is the biggest challenge for anyone once they are "retired".   Everyone deals

with it differently, some better than others.   If you are in your wife's village than a lot depends

on the people there as well.   Some places are nicer and friendlier than others... so I wouldn't settle in till I could get a very good feel for the area.

As for activities,  of course it takes time to get into a routine.  Still a big change from going to work and being busy 5 days a week.  Good luck

 

 

 

53 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

What's stopping you?

Im a bad driver and refuse to pay 2-4x market value for a car.

 

11 minutes ago, billd766 said:

I have been living it for 15 years now and I find any excuse that I can not to go to the big cities.

Got a fair few years before I can escape the rat race over here, with the changes over the past few years not sure it will be so easy for me to head over for good but, still looking forward to trying. Most likely would base myself in Bangkok for a while and just head up country now and then to see how I would handle it. Only spent around a week at a time so far so not sure how I'd handle longer.

 

Would have to get a 'western" place, not sure if I could handle this being my kitchen, living room and bedroom for more than a week:

 

But hell of a peaceful view from it:

 

The full on partying has started to get old, hence the road trips past few years and I have enjoyed them so who knows, maybe the rural life could be for me.

 

 

 

 

In the spirit of full disclosure, we  don't stay in Thailand full time, we also spend time in the US every year and visit friends and family in Greece and Italy, but when there we also spend time in a similar environment (close enough to a city but a country environment always) . Perhaps if I spend all my time in rural Thailand I would sing a different tune but I don't think so. 

When we are younger we want to be "where the action is " 

as we get older one becomes comfortable with in their own skin and don't need others as much. One also becomes more knowledgeable and connected with their environment and thus gets more, out of less.

Those older would understand what I am saying. 

 I live five minutes outside the Khon Kaen ring road , a country setting but 15 minutes from the heart of the city or the airport. But we only go to the city for shopping, or a restaurant,and a walk at the night markets, Other than that we mostly stay home or with relatives. , there are barely enough hours in the day to do all the things we want to do or get bored.

Get up, clean house, fix broken things, brake good things, work out for an hr, read, try to learn guitar, , gardening, cook, bake, take a ride some place, annoy wife (most time consuming job)etc etc 

But I understand the youngsters , if I was 20 I am not sure I would want to be in the country. 

     

   

 

 

Horses for courses is what I say, I was born in Fulham, London, 7 of us in a 2 bed Peabody estate flat, bath every Sunday in the kitchen sink, never saw open countryside until I was 10 and we moved to Romford, Eseex.

 

I have visited many Thai families since my intro to Thailand back in 2005 or thereabouts, even back then, with all the wonder of seeing how real people lived, worked & survived I was also struck by the sheer boring mundane routine of it all, everyday the same thing at the same time. I did actually feel sorry for some of them trapped in a rut that they had no hope of escaping, and it's still the same today for many of the older generation.

 

Now I know expats aren't likely to allow themselves to fall into the same trap and even if living in the middle of nowhere they will have cable/satellite TV, access to reading material and all sorts of options to avoid getting bored, I live on the outskirts of Pattaya by choice, I haven't been into town in years (except to visit friends in their houses or condos) I like the peace and quiet available in the area in which I live, I also have access to good restaurants and supermarkets that will cater for my needs within a not very long drive.

 

I visit the outlaws with the Mrs pretty frequently, they are lovely people, no trouble at all, it's a very small family unit unusually, but I have to stay in a resort with hot water, WiFi, TV, swimming pool, bar etc etc, country life long term would do my brain in.

When I first came to live here in Isaan, I was peed off by other peoples dogs and roosters waking me up at all hours.....so I bought my own