Agree 100% I suppose, after visiting the country for four or five years with the wife and kids, I thought Phuket would be a great place to live. Then I stayed there for two months and realised I liked it as a place to visit. Because, the long- term residents were almost to a man, unhappy. Sure, limited cohort of maybe a dozen-fifteen men, single, married. But they were also a lot older than me back then, too. I was 47 and they were late 60s early 70s. And I'm a very social guy. I'm not some brooding introvert. So, when the offer to see upcountry Thailand was made in late 2015 - even though I'd been to Kanchanaburi and Ayuthaya - I took it. It was just another post-retirement holiday for ten days. But what I saw in rural Chaiyaphum and here in "The Bowels" of Phetchabun was more like it. Laid back. Quiet. Real. I brought a 30kg suitcase, a backpack, about 60 poorly-pronounced Thai words, and a smart phone. "I can always go back," I thought. I haven't. I have driven all over the North, NE, and NW though. And still occasionally fly to Phuket or Krabi if friends are coming over for a holiday. And, of course the neighbouring countries, Australia, UK, Europe. While here is no means "paradise", and learning Thai is hard, I find it more than adequately comfortable. And if I get bored, my car keys are in my room. By living here with internet access and all that comes with it, the tourist areas of this country, for me, are just that: tourist areas.
