On 5/27/2023 at 7:40 AM, chalawaan said:

We left CM for reasons not related to pollution

True, the place might be worth considering if not for the horrendous pm2.5 air pollution that inundates the place 6 months of the year. ???????? 

I've lived in a few parts of Isaan and a couple of words sums most of them up - too far.

 

I guess if you're staying put its not so bad but I travel quite often and those long journeys to Bangkok are just too much.  Buriram and Yasothon bored me to death.  Yes you can always find the odd 'farang bar' but those places make this farang bah!  Sitting in a bar all day, swilling beer and talking rubbish is not my idea of a better life - though so many choose to do just that.

 

Pak Chong/Khao Yai on the other hand, is just a couple of hours away from Bangkok and I'm still discovering new nightlife and places to visit even now.

 

Someone said 'dry and dusty' - add flat and boring and that sums up much of Isaan for me. Each to his own I guess.

 

 

6 hours ago, Hummin said:

It is a decent life ????

 

How woulld you know? 

I know most expats are not farmers. Staring at grass is no way to live we are just not wired that way. Maybe your different 

4 minutes ago, whereyougo said:

I know most expats are not farmers. Staring at grass is no way to live we are just not wired that way. Maybe your different 

It depends what you like. I prefer a bit of city, variety in food. Some different culture.

On 5/28/2023 at 2:56 AM, jerrymahoney said:

I have lived at or near both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans California (Pt. Reyes) and Florida (Melbourne).

 

I don't need to be near (as some insist on calling it ) the Thai Ocean.

 

A minimum 25 meter salt water pool does it for me.

Same here a 25m pool would be great but difficult to find or am I missing something? Either looking for a private 25m pool or a comunal pool where I have an additional smaller private pool. Also i do not manage to find rentable real estate outside the expats areas such as Hua Hin, Pattaya, etc.

The people who do well in rural life here are (duh) people who really enjoy farming and solar panel-studying. Like everything else, you can have that on the cheap here compared to back home. Moving to the country for a partner usually doesn't work out. Didn't they make this movie one million times?

 

I just left a dozen years of living in The Blue Ridge Mountains; a more spectacular scenery and user- friendly country life experience.

 

Ultimately, I was bored. I meditated in the forest, improved the land, and took care of my wife. All in, not enough for me. I moved to Nimman. I felt like I had been released from a grave, like in Kill Bill.

 

If 70 means the beginning my last so-called good decade, let me spend somewhere with a few sushi bars. At this point, a little nature goes a long way.

9 hours ago, whereyougo said:

I know most expats are not farmers. Staring at grass is no way to live we are just not wired that way. Maybe your different 

Trust me, I could not live there 24/7 365 days a year, but as long I get contrasts in my life, living in Isaan is a great contrast to rest of my life for now. My plan is from  70 - 70+ sitting on a nice balcony 10 floors up or higher with seaview. Sunrise or sunset, time will show, still 15 years or so to go

9 hours ago, stat said:

Same here a 25m pool would be great but difficult to find or am I missing something? Either looking for a private 25m pool or a comunal pool where I have an additional smaller private pool. Also i do not manage to find rentable real estate outside the expats areas such as Hua Hin, Pattaya, etc.

This is one of the 2 pools (same company) I used in Khon Kaen for 10+ years. Now I live in a mooban with a 25m salt water pool that -- at least in the mornings starting 6 AM -- is almost like my private pool.

On 5/28/2023 at 12:43 AM, Will B Good said:

I live here and it is without doubt the a***e end of nowhere.

 

No point in driving anywhere.....everywhere is virtually identical......green as far as the eye can see and roads lined by ramshackle sheds.

 

No bars, no decent shops, no restaurants, no entertainment....other than banal music played at deafening volumes........I am developing my exit plans.........got to get out for my own sanity.

the most truthful post on Issan yet!!

Isaans a lot different in the rainy season, lush and green like Bali. When the cool season starts and they start cutting the rice it gets pretty baron and brown. 

23 hours ago, Andycoops said:

I have lived in Isaan for more than 10 years and am very content here.

I enjoy forays to places like Udon, Pattaya to catch up with friends.

 

I occasionally go to nearest Makro and Robinson's.

 

I use Lazada Villa to deliver any farang food items I fancy but make my own version of Thai cuisine.

 

But most of my time is spent within the village or immediate surroundings.

 

Most important to develop some linguistic skills and to have hobbies to use your time up during the day.

 

 

Have you got any dogs ? 

On 5/28/2023 at 9:11 AM, chalawaan said:

I was amazed that the French colonist concepts like good bakery, and good coffee, persist almost 70 years on, and the old architecture is still there too.

It must have been amazing back in the day run by France, a best kept secret!

I love French Indochina for that. Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia so much better than Thailand for bakery and wine.

 

Hard to like after 3 months? 3 weeks was enough for me. On the border of Buriram and Surin provinces. Below was the highlight of the day. Dry, dusty and hot as hell. 30 minutes to the nearest gas station, coffee shop or 7-11. Even longer to get to a bar. No thanks.

 

For some the "sense of community" is synonimious with her family and friends treat the house as their own. The other thing is where I was living most appeared to be poor and that's not fun. I live in an industrial area now, folks have good paying jobs, drive nice cars. Much better than the boys sitting around drinking Lao Khao kind of environment.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, soi3eddie said:

I love French Indochina for that. Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia so much better than Thailand for bakery and wine.

 

Well Nong Khai is next to Laos, so maybe the best option.

14 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

For some the "sense of community" is synonimious with her family and friends treat the house as their own.

Oh, don't get me going on that one - family too. In and out without knocking, taking my tools without asking!!  Thankfully I don't have to put up with that anymore, I'm divorced.

 

When in Thailand I still live in Isaan but only just so I get the best of both worlds and I have mountains instead of endless miles of flatness.

3 hours ago, Hummin said:

My plan is from  70 - 70+ sitting on a nice balcony 10 floors up or higher with seaview.

Make sure there's no land between you and the sea - ask the residents of View Talay 1 if you don't know what I mean.

3 hours ago, Hummin said:

My plan is from  70 - 70+ sitting on a nice balcony 10 floors up or higher with seaview.

You can’t avoid Thailand by living on a high balcony near the sea. Your going to get something that interferes, either some development or the thai people themselves.

3 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Make sure there's no land between you and the sea - ask the residents of View Talay 1 if you don't know what I mean.

15 years, Thailand might not be an option anymore, 

3 hours ago, JimTripper said:

You can’t avoid Thailand by living on a high balcony near the sea. Your going to get something that interferes, either some development or the thai people themselves.

https://youtu.be/KuStsFW4EmQ

On 5/28/2023 at 10:43 AM, dingdongrb said:

Melbourne is nice as I traveled a lot to Satellite Beach for work.

I go there regularly, my sister lives in Hollyrood street, a 3 minute walk from a great beach. No comparison between there and Isaan.

8 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I go there regularly, my sister lives in Hollyrood street, a 3 minute walk from a great beach. No comparison between there and Isaan.

Melbourne is expensive with bad weather.

Just now, bignok said:

Melbourne is expensive with bad weather.

Isarn is cheap with bad weather. 

14 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I go there regularly, my sister lives in Hollyrood street, a 3 minute walk from a great beach. No comparison between there and Isaan.

Reminds me of an old joke. 'Australia will be OK when they finish building it'. I'm sure people believed that life in Australia revolved around corrugated roofs, Castlemaine XXXX and fighting!

2 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

Reminds me of an old joke. 'Australia will be OK when they finish building it'. I'm sure people believed that life in Australia revolved around corrugated roofs, Castlemaine XXXX and fighting!

Not sure what you mean, I like Hampton, never seen any fighting, or drunks. 

13 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Isarn is cheap with bad weather. 

Hot as. Some nice women though.

Just now, bignok said:

Hot as. Some nice women though.

After 18 years there, I loved looking at the women elsewhere, ones with long legs and light skin. 

49 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

After 18 years there, I loved looking at the women elsewhere, ones with long legs and light skin. 

OK but there is one nearby large 7-11 in particular where before I go in there -- even still with the  COVID masks -- I have to say to myself:

 

Now Mahoney. Behave yourself!

57 minutes ago, bignok said:

Hot as. Some nice women though.

After living a few years and travelling in Isaan and also rest of Thailand, Thailand become more or like any country, there is many beauties in the main areas, but In Isaan, I cant say those left behind there, stand outs as the most beautiful women or even average. T

 

If I was searching the most beautiful women, Thailand or Asia would not be the place, but Thailand is my home for now, and my Thai wife is a decent woman and also a great wife. She will get older to, so as any relationship, we need something more than just beauty to connect us. 

5 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

When in Thailand I still live in Isaan but only just so I get the best of both worlds and I have mountains instead of endless miles of flatness.

Yes indeed. I lived in the western extremities of Khon Kaen Province near Chumphae and Phu Wiang. Between the two were the mountains of the Phu Wiang National Park. Also in the region was the Ubonrat Lake (reservoir and dam) which had lakeside resorts including Pattaya 2. Photos of Phu Wiang National Park and Ubonrat Lake.