Moving to Thai farm Issaan

[NCC1701A]

5 minutes ago, TSF said:

or fighting for their shot as they pack rape one of the bitches.

[thaibeachlovers]

57 minutes ago, Surelynot said:

He will only need to put in 400,000 for a few months (2 or 3?) each year if he goes for a marriage extension.

Big mistake IMO. Retirement is better option.

[Tagged]

1 hour ago, Surelynot said:

Do not live in a village......I stuck it out for 4 months then came to Bangkok for some peace and quiet.......dogs, kids, tannoy systems, temples, 5 day funeral parties, deafening music, fights, charcoal fires, rubbish fires........otherwise really enjoyable......

I have never enjoyed Bkk more than after been at the country side in Isan, and true, BKK at decent hotels is pure freedom and quiet compare to in the villages. You forgot the village bosses, and are you really unlycky, like me, you got two village bosses, and two temples around you. We moved as far away as we could from people, but village boss knew, and turned the speaker at our direction and turned the volum UP. 

 

However can not complain. Just the bugs I hear right now, and the sunset is really nice out here. 

 

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, 473geo said:

Well here is the thing, during covid lockdowns in the UK it became easy to appreciate life without the everyday noise and pollution of vehicles, aircraft and the like, in a society that has forgotten how to walk. Hence I am very pleased that my arrival in the peaceful setting of Isaan is not too far away covid willing.

 

Enjoy

LOL.

I didn't live in Issan, but in the village I was surprised how noisy it was. The monks with the amplified chanting at 5 am or sometime like that, the talking petrol pump in the morning when people going to work, those noisy small trucks etc. No peace and no quiet.

[Grumpy one]

2 hours ago, Donekys said:

I just moved to the family farm in Isaan after covid closed our business on a tourist island in south Thailand. Been here since May. It's killing me! I am very bored.

No buffalo's to talk sweet to  

[Mister T]

3 minutes ago, Tagged said:

Just the bugs I hear right now, and the sunset is really nice out here. 

Totally with you on that. Looks like you had a hell of a wind over the rice, it will be a bitch to harvest

[Surelynot]

43 minutes ago, TSF said:

Yep, gotta agree with all that. I've spent the past 9 months in TGF's tucked-away little village in rural Korat. In one way it's been good as it's probably one of the safest spots on planet Earth as far as covid goes. But the boredom is terrible. Smoke is also terrible, all locals burn their sh*t including all their plastic waste. Sitting outside in the evening is near impossible because someone in the vicinity will be burning. If there's not something happening like a funeral or a wedding, where the sound system speakers are set up on scaffolding like a Guns N Roses concert, then most people go to bed around 9PM. Then the village belongs to the dogs; they roam the streets in packs howling at the moon, or fighting for their shot as they pack rape one of the bitches. Anyway, I'm getting near the end of my time here. Next week I'll be moving on.

Ha....that brings all the memories flooding back.....give me the chaos of Bangkok anytime.....

[Mavideol]

2 hours ago, maulibels85 said:

I guess I've (and wife - Thai Issan) have decided to move to Thai Isaan and farm and build a house in a handful of years. She has land there given by her father. We met 5 years ago, Married 2.5 years ago, living in USA. I've been to Thailand 4 times, 4 weeks at a time. 2 weeks this coming April.

Looking forward to the farming life of fast-growing stuff, our own chickens/ducks. Selling fish to local shops. Just slap a house down, small pool, live in a peaceful, quiet area, live a different life.

Suspect my career and job will go away next year, wife will keep working for a few years, then make the jump and at least move until I'm 65 then move back for awhile, maybe.

The heat bother me at times, but her lack of ability to garden in the northern climates are an issue. We have looked into SW USA.

The the other issue is the cost of healthcare in USA. Anyhoo, we plan to give it a shot. I'll retire early, she'll work, we'll keep the house for a few years, maybe come back for 6 months, fix it up and sell it.

Thailand has its tradeoffs, as does any SE country or rural area. Looking for a new life and change of pace and different scenery.

I've had many careers, worked in many jobs and many companies/corporations. This would be just a different challenge.

Yes, I will be over 50 (there already).

Ideas? Thought?

Yes, I've saved 401k/IRA, nothing too grand, small pension, house we could cash out prett good. Back up cash plan, if needed.

Wife is a bit younger than I and a great woman and the prize of my life. I can be alone 99% of my time. I can keep busy alone 99% of the time (excluding wife's time).

wishful thinking, keep dream on...... just be careful when waking up to reality

[Surelynot]

4 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

wishful thinking, keep dream on...... just be careful when waking up to reality

I used to stay in bed and pretend to sleep for as long as I could ...until the heat was too much.

[owl sees all]

Go for it. What you got to lose; apart from everything.

 

Your time in Isaan is dependent upon three major things IMO:

 

The wife.

How much money you can count on

Your health.

 

Give it a go. As long as the wife's on-side.

[BritManToo]

16 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Give it a go. As long as the wife's on-side.

He's already said she doesn't like gardening, but still wants to live on a farm.

That doesn't seem very promising to me.

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, maulibels85 said:

Looking forward to the farming life of fast-growing stuff, our own chickens/ducks. Selling fish to local shops

Do you expect to make any money with farming?

Don't!

[kingofthemountain]

3 hours ago, maulibels85 said:

This would be just a different challenge.

Yes, I will be over 50 (there already).

Ideas? Thought?

Living in a small village in rural Thailand when you are 50 years old

is a kind of social suicide. You have probably some reasons to

want to dying in boredom, i have done it myself during 5 years before

to give up and decided to return to the life in a coastal city.

As you say it's a challenge and an experience, but be prepared to lose more

than you could win in the process.

My personal advice, don't do it !

Good luck

[1FinickyOne]

3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

just don't think in absolutes. 

absolutely correct.

[EVENKEEL]

Will your new home be next to her family? If so they will be walking around your house like it's theres. If you want to stop it do it fast.

 

Is her mother and father still married? In true Thai fashion, if they're old and can't work you'll be helping them out for sure.

 

Does her brother and sisters have good jobs or are they 7 rai rice farmers who take a side job when offered? 

 

Does her mother and father live in a decent house? You think you can get away with building a nice house and they live in a shanty.

[1FinickyOne]

39 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

He's already said she doesn't like gardening, but still wants to live on a farm.

Funny how people complain about cities being too dirty... then want to move to a farm. 

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, Robin said:

I have been in Phayao village for 15 yrs now, and these warnings:-

1.  Everything you bring into Thailand you will have to leave in Thailand if you decide the life is not for you.

2.  Unless you are fluent in Thai, speaking and reading/writing you will be totally dependant on your wife, for all negotiation with local businesses.

3.  If you are building a house, everything costs more and takes longer than you expect, or the Thai workmen tell you.

4.  Do not expect anything to be done to US standards.  Thai workmen are cheaper than US for the reason that you only get what you pay for, if you are lucky.  You might have been an expert in your field in US, but any Thai will think that he knows more than you.

5.  Fish, or any other farming is organised for the benefit of the big Agro. businesses, CP or others, and you cannot change or fight that.

There is a reason that most Thai farmers are referred to as "poor Thai farmers"

6.  Never lend money to any Thai unless you are prepared to not be paid back.  As a farang, they will think that you can afford not to be repaid.

I would agree with all of your points, except #1.

I can withdraw all my cash from my Thai bank accounts, and convert it to another currency which I can take out of Thailand.

Or I can let the bank convert it for another currency, then transfer it overseas.

Or simply buy gold here, and sell it in my home country.

Re point #6, my Thai GF occasionally asks me if she can borrow 1000 baht. We look at each other, then both laugh.

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL.

I didn't live in Issan, but in the village I was surprised how noisy it was. The monks with the amplified chanting at 5 am or sometime like that, the talking petrol pump in the morning when people going to work, those noisy small trucks etc. No peace and no quiet.

Thai roosters have no time sense, they are crowing at 2 am. I'm used to it.

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, Mister T said:

Totally with you on that. Looks like you had a hell of a wind over the rice, it will be a bitch to harvest

Not at all, it provides employment for the village women as the mechanical harvesters can't pick it up. They either get 200 baht/day to harvest by hand, or they have the option of gleaning the rice for free. Seems like it's a 50:50 split in my GF's village.

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, Robin said:

I have been in Phayao village for 15 yrs now, and these warnings:-

1.  Everything you bring into Thailand you will have to leave in Thailand if you decide the life is not for you.

2.  Unless you are fluent in Thai, speaking and reading/writing you will be totally dependant on your wife, for all negotiation with local businesses.

3.  If you are building a house, everything costs more and takes longer than you expect, or the Thai workmen tell you.

4.  Do not expect anything to be done to US standards.  Thai workmen are cheaper than US for the reason that you only get what you pay for, if you are lucky.  You might have been an expert in your field in US, but any Thai will think that he knows more than you.

5.  Fish, or any other farming is organised for the benefit of the big Agro. businesses, CP or others, and you cannot change or fight that.

There is a reason that most Thai farmers are referred to as "poor Thai farmers"

6.  Never lend money to any Thai unless you are prepared to not be paid back.  As a farang, they will think that you can afford not to be repaid.

#2 - fluent is a rare accomplishment - I am fluid conversationally and my reading/writing is extremely minimal... I get along fine anywhere without my wife's presence... 

#4 - I am sure everyone knows that they are in Thailand and there is no reason to expect USA standards... do people come here and think they are in USA? 

#6 - my family knows the difference between a gift and a loan. when they ask for a loan, they pay it back. my family are poor farmers but honorable people. That can happen. Your experience might be different. Actually, it is the farang who rarely pay me back... 

[kingofthemountain]

9 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Thai roosters have no time sense, they are crowing at 2 am. I'm used to it.

Honestly you can't never be used to it

it's really a PITA, particularly when the roosters (And the dogs) are at only few meters

from your room and your house is ''thai style'' without real windows 

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, kingofthemountain said:

Honestly you can't never be used to it

it's really a PITA, particularly when the roosters (And the dogs) are at only few meters

from your room and your house is ''thai style'' without real windows 

Doesn't worry me, maybe my meds are better than yours.

[kingofthemountain]

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

Doesn't worry me, maybe my meds are better than yours.

Doesn't worry me anymore

i have escaped from the hell hole 2 years ago already

i never take any meds, especially for sleeping

[olfu]

You should know yourself what you prefer.

Its easy to plan but money problems always take over.

You never marry woman--you rent her and she always has upper hand.

Even GF cost arm and leg. 

I stay in US because its cheaper than Thailand.

[Lacessit]

1 minute ago, kingofthemountain said:

Doesn't worry me anymore

i have escaped from the hell hole 2 years ago already

i never take any meds, especially for sleeping

I'll take a Codiphen ( drowsy antihistamine ) once or twice a week if I feel like I need a good night's sleep. Non-addictive, negligible side effects, at least for me.

When you are my age, you realize a little chemical assistance won't hurt, as long as it is used judiciously.

[Mutt Daeng]

As others have already indicated, ISAAN village life is not for everone. My advice would be to try it for at least 3 months before making a serious financial commitment. Living in ISAAN suits me just fine, with a modest house on a small piece of land, with coconut, banana, mango, lamyai, guava and jackfruit trees and room for my dogs to run about, much better than the shoebox house with a postage stamp sized garden that I had in the UK. It is definitely "life in the slow lane" but that suits me just fine, being the opposite of my previous life, where I was a slave of the clock and mobile phone. When I first came here 11 years ago, I got tired of other peoples roosters waking me up every morning, so I bought my own roosters and barking dogs. 

[bwpage3]

You have to admire all the posts that begin with "I plan on moving in 5 years" as if nothing will ever change?

 

Who knows what Thailand will be in 5 years or how they will manage to come out of the financial mess they are in due to the pandemic?

 

Any one want to guess on the baht rate 5 years from now?

 

In Isaan, they speak a different dialect of Thai. 

 

If you can manage NEVER speaking with anyone but your wife the rest of your life, you will be just fine.

 

As far as farming? Back-breaking work with no return ever. The system is set up so all the millers and middle men make the money while the farmers barely survive.

 

Try farming when it is 110f outside and there is no water to be found.

[Golden Triangle]

There are so many truths here, I hope the OP has taken the advice in the spirit in which it was given.

 

It is so easy to look at it ( living in Issan) from the outside and think that it's idyllic.

 

I live in Pattaya but have many friends living the 'easy' life in Issan, no such thing exists.

 

If I were the OP I would take the advice of many on here, rent somewhere close to your desired location, in a small village or even down a back lane somewhere and try to replicate as closely as possible your new life, I'm pretty sure you'll be in for some very big and unexpected experiences,  not all of them pleasant.

 

My other halfs family grow fruit in the middle of Nackon Nowhere just outside Chantaburi, I go there fairly frequently but an hour or so of *buggar all to do* ie: TV, internet, books or papers drive me potty, I can't wait to get back to the relative sanity of the resort we stay in. 

 

But I wish the OP all the luck in the world & truly hope you fulfil all your dreams

 

** My health prevents too much exertion, yep I'm a lazy so & so ????????

 

 

[Andy from Kent]

5 hours ago, Phoenix Rising said:

A large private garden where you can grow "interesting" grass might help.

 

He didn't mention he's looking for "free" room and board.

[473geo]

6 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL.

I didn't live in Issan, but in the village I was surprised how noisy it was. The monks with the amplified chanting at 5 am or sometime like that, the talking petrol pump in the morning when people going to work, those noisy small trucks etc. No peace and no quiet.

No problem with monks chanting at 5 am we are up anyway ???? I find the chanting quite relaxing while I have some breakfast and coffee. Sure the occasional funeral do or wedding party, but over all, unless one is totally bereft of intelligent thought, it is not too difficult to find an acceptably quiet corner of Thailand