4 hours ago, sipi said:

Give me the village anytime.

Me too something between the 2, ma & pop shop available & 7-11, Big C not far suits me fine.

I like both, so I stay two weeks in Chiang Mai and one week in my GF's village surrounded by rice fields.

14 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I like both, so I stay two weeks in Chiang Mai and one week in my GF's village surrounded by rice fields.

I also like both, so I bought a house 12Km from the moat in CM, and surrounded by rice paddy, buffalo and mountains.

 

2 hours ago, SteveK said:

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.

All sounds good but the fisihing? When river fishing in  OZ ,catching a big fat carp means throwing it over your shoulder into the bush. Only asians can eat that muddy tasting <deleted> cause its cheap

Rural as long as it is quiet.

Unfortunately not a lot of it is.

46 minutes ago, GarryP said:

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!!).

I think boredom can be an issue everywhere, but you need to consider the activities you enjoy doing and divide them into categories according to where they are best done.  Of course, not everyone will share the same interests, but, for me they are:

 

• Those that could be done equally as well in a city or in the country - reading, swimming, keeping up to date with the news and world events, watching movies, TV programs and documentaries, or just wasting time on the computer through games and internet surfing.
• Those that could be done in either place, but are more enjoyable in the country - cycling and walking for fitness and pleasure, riding my motorcycles, and even just driving my car on a nice quiet road.
• Those that can only be done in the country - kayaking along a river, dirt biking, pottering about in the tractor shed or out on the farm, and working in my garden.

Others may add things best, or only able to be, done in the city, which might include socialising, night clubbing, being a member of a sewing circle/darts/pool/bowling/football/rugby team, but for me the country wins that contest.

 

Everyone is different, but I never really cared for hanging out in a bar or restaurant with a bunch of other people with whom I just happen to share the same skin colour, or was born in the same geographical region, and I no longer get enjoyment from night clubbing or go-go bars, so the city holds few attractions.  And, the occasional ones it does have can be satisfied by jumping in the car and driving to Bangkok for a few days.  I do still have a condo there from my work days, and am not planning on giving it up, but it serves more as a town holiday home, and a place to park the car and spend a night or two when making an overseas trip, than a main residence.  Having grown up on a farm probably helps sway things towards the country too.  In todays interconnected world, with high speed fibre optics in even the smallest villages, I can access and download, or order online, everything I need, and more than enough of what I don't need, but think I want.  I can sit out on my upstairs verandah, with a view of fan palms, mango, avocado, pomelo, jasmine, tamarind and banana trees, looking down on the swimming pool, and read the papers from home, or London, or New York, listen to the latest music, or any oldies I fancy, buy the latest books and have them instantly delivered to my Kindle, or just lie back in the old colonial Burmese club chair I bought years ago and breath in whatever blossoms are in season, along with the clean air.

 

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I also like both, so I bought a house 12Km from the moat in CM, and surrounded by rice paddy, buffalo and mountains.

 

ermmm thats pretty clearly your neighbours house..just sayin

4 hours ago, CharlieH said:

who the hell wants secondhand burgers when you have a steak at home...55555

That Thai steak can be a bit chewy!

????

If you are single, Bangkok can still be enjoyable ( pollution not withstanding ) but if you are married then the boonies are pretty chill.

 

One thing I notice about people discussing Bangkok is that if it has no BTS or underground link it is already the boonies. As if Bangkok is the area between Silom and Sukhumvit ?? Bangkok is a huge city and very diverse. It is not centered on Nana Plaza etc. The suburbs can be very interesting if you live there off the tourist traps.

Yeah, the choices should be more like:

 

1. Rural

2. Semi-rural

3. Beach resort (Pattaya, Phuket, Koh Samui)

4. Semi-urban

5. Urban

 

4 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Rural Thailand for me, hate it when I have to visit the Bangkok or similar and cant wait to get out of there.

The rural quiet is pure escapism far from the pressures and hectic pace of the big cities. Its like "stop the world I'm getting off" when I arrive back in the small village to my home surrounded by nothing but open fields and a Mountain range on the horizon.....aaahhhhh..bliss. A lifestyle I could never ever have achieved in the home country, thank you Thailand.

Yeah but then you remain on the computer for more than a days life of lifetime and this can be achieved anywhere. Can you really enjoy anything outside? Or is it staring through the window then running back to the monitor? Doesn't add up. No disrespect. 

35 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I also like both, so I bought a house 12Km from the moat in CM, and surrounded by rice paddy, buffalo and mountains.

 

Nice! 

Like all 3. 1. Bangkok urban is different from CM urban. I love my home and love to go to stay in BKK for a few days as well every month.

 

So I will probably buy a small house next year in northern out of CM area next year to have a few rai and a house to veg at. got a house in CM and all already.. Used to stay in Fang area years ago and I miss the Fang area so much with the scenery and motorcycle rides and smallness. No computer inhibiting my free. 

10 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

Yeah but then you remain on the computer for more than a days life of lifetime and this can be achieved anywhere. Can you really enjoy anything outside? Or is it staring through the window then running back to the monitor? Doesn't add up. No disrespect. 

Dunno about where CharlieH lives, but outside Chiang Mai it's too polluted to risk leaving the house at the moment, and probably won't be safe for another 2-3 months.

1 hour ago, villagefarang said:

 I have simply found that many things in my life have changed over the years.

Indeed, I feel content to live with "now" rather than chase the impossible dream 

Reminds me off the song:-

He's an old hippie
And he don't know what to do
Should he hang on to the old
Should he grab on to the new
He's an old hippie............

I find it interesting that quite a few country lovers on this thread have to add, "but we live quite near to such and such a city so we can always pop in and...."

 

They are clearly in complete denial and can't wait to get their urban fix. 

 

There is an honesty to city folk that one rarely finds in the countryside. 

 

Rooster ????

2 minutes ago, Jane Dough said:

I find it interesting that quite a few country lovers on this thread have to add, "but we live quite near to such and such a city so we can always pop in and...."

 

They are clearly in complete denial and can't wait to get their urban fix. 

 

There is an honesty to city folk that one rarely finds in the countryside. 

 

Rooster ????

In the old days I made do with fancy hotel lobbies and views from high-rise buildings but now I need to be surrounded by nature on a daily basis.  I would rather live in the country and visit the city, than live in the city and visit the country.  See, we can be honest too.????

Looks like I need one more post to get one more dot.????

'On an Island' could have been a third option as several posters enjoy doing just that ????

 

 

1 minute ago, villagefarang said:

Looks like I need one more post to get one more dot.????

For post number neung meun you should post another picture of where you live. Show the curmudgeons on the thread what losers we all are that have made our lives in Thailand....

 

Rooster

Why on earth would anyone live in the country?

 

I mean you get those village criers on loudspeakers playing country music, telling you who donated to the temple at top volume around 6.50 am. That alone makes it impossible to live in the countryside.

 

A total lack of amenities, no french baguette, Jamon Serrano or decent olive oil? It's bad enough in a Thai city to find halfway well stocked supermarkets, in the countryside it would be impossible.

 

Not to mention insects, snakes and spiders. 

 

I suspect the best masseuses are also in the city. The best restaurants. The best leisure offerings. Why would you go to the mindnumbing boredom of the countryside?

22 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Dunno about where CharlieH lives, but outside Chiang Mai it's too polluted to risk leaving the house at the moment, and probably won't be safe for another 2-3 months.

Yeah. Today here was too much. Is time for a mask. Nice we have the government going to tackle this though!

There should be a neither option

19 minutes ago, Jane Dough said:

I find it interesting that quite a few country lovers on this thread have to add, "but we live quite near to such and such a city so we can always pop in and...."

 

They are clearly in complete denial and can't wait to get their urban fix. 

 

There is an honesty to city folk that one rarely finds in the countryside. 

 

Rooster ????

I live next to a huge rice field and in a no security small housing community in CM. But it is not country side utopia but not bad as am next to open land everywhere. On the outskirts but the world is closing in and the need to buy a second property up north a few hours away is needed, but only an investment for the family after I die, but at least I have best of all three. Bangkok, CM and outer from here. . 

6 minutes ago, Logosone said:

Why on earth would anyone live in the country?

 

I mean you get those village criers on loudspeakers playing country music, telling you who donated to the temple at top volume around 6.50 am. That alone makes it impossible to live in the countryside.

 

A total lack of amenities, no french baguette, Jamon Serrano or decent olive oil? It's bad enough in a Thai city to find halfway well stocked supermarkets, in the countryside it would be impossible.

 

Not to mention insects, snakes and spiders. 

 

I suspect the best masseuses are also in the city. The best restaurants. The best leisure offerings. Why would you go to the mindnumbing boredom of the countryside?

I currently live in the city. Love snakes, insects and arachnids. Don't eat French bread or use olive oil. Never heard of Jamon Serrano (sounds like a detective series). Food is not my thing. I eat to live, not the other way round. Having said that, I am worried that I will be bored upcountry when I retire.

Being surrounded by inbred hillbillies with big wing nut ears in the villages is a big turn off especially those that are drunk all day. Deliverance with Burt reynolds is about as close as I want to get

16 minutes ago, evadgib said:

'On an Island' could have been a third option as several posters enjoy doing just that ????

 

 

If I change my name to Gilligan then ok. 

18 minutes ago, Jane Dough said:

For post number neung meun you should post another picture of where you live. Show the curmudgeons on the thread what losers we all are that have made our lives in Thailand....

 

Rooster

Time to finally take another hit of acid after umpteen years then I will understand your post. 

2 hours ago, Salerno said:

 

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.

 

 

 

 

After we had built the house (I was still working offshore) I noticed that we had no kitchen, but the small house we had built for the in laws had a kitchen. It is still the same today but easy to live with. The only drawback was that it is Thai sized and thus lower than my height and painful at times. The sloped roof is lower and hurts my head when I forget.

8 minutes ago, madmen said:

Being surrounded by inbred hillbillies with big wing nut ears in the villages is a big turn off especially those that are drunk all day. Deliverance with Burt reynolds is about as close as I want to get

I resent that!