1 hour ago, fredwiggy said:

If you're an Aussie or Canadian but nowhere else as far as I've heard, unless you're a resident in EU

Canadian OAP is peanuts from what I've heard - at least compared to the British OAP.

Aussie one I'm not sure.

1 minute ago, Woke to Sounds said:

Canadian OAP is peanuts from what I've heard - at least compared to the British OAP.

Aussie one I'm not sure.

It might be easier to survive here in Thailand if that's all you'll receive so I guess it's worth it to some who don't care where they live as long as they get by.

15 hours ago, Rockyroad said:

It seems to have nasty defensive expats too.

Curious what you found 'nasty' about my post, since it was just one resident's honest, inoffensive--and non-defensive--description of Pattaya, as he sees it, with a couple of your quotes thrown in, one of them quite nasty. Oh, wait a minute . . . Never mind.

6 hours ago, sidjameson said:

Where did you meet these expats who told you this? Why did you think they were broke?

I've travel Thailand by road, extensively, including many of the villages.

I know a few of them who have moved to Issan. Two ex Phuket, and two ex Pattaya. Three Australians and one Brit. None of them have ever lived in a rural setting in Australia or the UK. Been to a couple of village weddings also.

I've been to farang bought farms in the villages. The money used to buy the farms would have made more money sitting in a bank than what the farm makes, but the Thai girls says it's a good investment, so they buy it for them. They put their life savings into a new house, car, farm etc. The land not in their name, so they have trapped themselves and now completely reliant on the relationship for survival.

I would say many of these guys could not afford the house and farm in Issan for their Thai girl and family, plus living in the south. They had to chose one, and the Thai girl won out, so they moved to Issan.

I've observed their lifestyle, and as I mentioned, it amazes me people work all their life to end up living a reclusive life in a village in Issan. I can only imagine what such a life would have been like, pre internet.

I could go on, but anyone who has been to some of the villages only needs to imagine what it would be like living there full time. What a way to spend the twilight years of your life.

What is your experience / observations of the villages and those living in Issan?

2 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

I've travel Thailand by road, extensively, including many of the villages.

I know a few of them who have moved to Issan. Two ex Phuket, and two ex Pattaya. Three Australians and one Brit. None of them have ever lived in a rural setting in Australia or the UK. Been to a couple of village weddings also.

I've been to farang bought farms in the villages. The money used to buy the farms would have made more money sitting in a bank than what the farm makes, but the Thai girls says it's a good investment, so they buy it for them. They put their life savings into a new house, car, farm etc. The land not in their name, so they have trapped themselves and now completely reliant on the relationship for survival.

I would say many of these guys could not afford the house and farm in Issan for their Thai girl and family, plus living in the south. They had to chose one, and the Thai girl won out, so they moved to Issan.

I've observed their lifestyle, and as I mentioned, it amazes me people work all their life to end up living a reclusive life in a village in Issan. I can only imagine what such a life would have been like, pre internet.

I could go on, but anyone who has been to some of the villages only needs to imagine what it would be like living there full time. What a way to spend the twilight years of your life.

What is your experience / observations of the villages and those living in Issan?

Life is life. Humans lived off the land for 300,000 years so they are returning to their roots.

6 hours ago, Hummin said:

That can be said for every destination in Thailand.

Are you speaking for yourself?

No.

Single and happy, living in Pattaya.

I have nothing I can't leave behind and head straight to the airport, should I want to, or need to. I don't even have the 800k baht in a Thai bank for my visa / extension, which I see as a waste of money.

I rent a nice condo in a good location. I have a good social life. I keep myself in good health through exercise and watching what I eat, but have no problem knocking over a few beers more than is healthy on some occasions, and eating out regularly.

I have leisure activities, such as golf.

I travel the region, mainly to Singapore for the F1, but have ex Thailand friends in Vietnam, and sometime visit them.

I have female company whenever I want. That's a benefit to living in Pattaya.

I am sure my lifestyle is not unique, but why would I, or anyone else, swap it for living in a rural village in Issan? Serious question.

7 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Just one point I don't fully agree with.

Some here have never worked, spent their whole life on welfare.

This is why we have so many whinging, moaners here, they have relocated to Thailand without funds to enjoy their lives, unable to buy a car, unable to enjoy hobbies etc and choosing cheap Chinese battery crappy things to get around

Well, I suppose that is a good point.

Those living on a meager western government pension would not have much of a lifestyle in southern tourist areas in Thailand, but they shouldn't be whinging when they are getting money for nothing, and always have. 🙂

2 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

Isaan conjures up images of rice paddies and the poorest population of Thailand. Some posters share pics of their homes in isaan and it looks so nice. When I first visited the region I fell in love with it, enthralled by the simplicity, this was before smart phones. It was a place to escape civilization. But little by little it wore on me. I made a life for myself there while I worked offshore on rotation. The highlight of my day there was riding MB 20 Km for some wifi and a cold beer.

One day I was sitting out front of house having a beer and I'm watching the scrawny cows being herded home thinking about my life there the day I retired. I decided I wanted better for myself and my kid. Now I live 1 km from the beach, 20 second MB ride to a 7-11, CJ, Lotus fresh,

Pretty much the point I am making.

I've seen the big, new, and nice farang built houses in the villages, amongst the shacks. That's where some / all the farang's money went.

Your offshore rotation was your holiday from the village. Your escape. Many have imprisoned themselves in Issan.

The OP conjures up images of miserable expats who are in a bar at 9am everyday, moaning and complaining about all things Thailand, and life in general.

There's a whole lot of different misery in the Issan villages for expats. They don't even have a bar to go to at 9am. They sit on their porch. They don't even have anyone to moan and complain to, as the Thai girl's family don't even speak English. 🙂

2 hours ago, Rockyroad said:

It looks nice for a week.

I'm sure it's all very quaint when the extended Thai family come and give you a wai, but it's all downhill from there. 😂

31 minutes ago, Rockyroad said:

Life is life. Humans lived off the land for 300,000 years so they are returning to their roots.

Just strange that they decide to do it around the age of 67, and chose a village in Issan to do it. 😂

12 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Just strange that they decide to do it around the age of 67, and chose a village in Issan to do it. 😂

Maybe they hate people

18 minutes ago, Rockyroad said:

Maybe they hate people

For sure they end up hating themselves for making such a life changing, possibly life ending, decision.

1 hour ago, KhunHeineken said:

I've travel Thailand by road, extensively, including many of the villages.

I know a few of them who have moved to Issan. Two ex Phuket, and two ex Pattaya. Three Australians and one Brit. None of them have ever lived in a rural setting in Australia or the UK. Been to a couple of village weddings also.

I've been to farang bought farms in the villages. The money used to buy the farms would have made more money sitting in a bank than what the farm makes, but the Thai girls says it's a good investment, so they buy it for them. They put their life savings into a new house, car, farm etc. The land not in their name, so they have trapped themselves and now completely reliant on the relationship for survival.

I would say many of these guys could not afford the house and farm in Issan for their Thai girl and family, plus living in the south. They had to chose one, and the Thai girl won out, so they moved to Issan.

I've observed their lifestyle, and as I mentioned, it amazes me people work all their life to end up living a reclusive life in a village in Issan. I can only imagine what such a life would have been like, pre internet.

I could go on, but anyone who has been to some of the villages only needs to imagine what it would be like living there full time. What a way to spend the twilight years of your life.

What is your experience / observations of the villages and those living in Issan?

I quite surprised myself, having lived most of my adult life near the coast. I went on (at length) on another thread about how I came about to move here - I'm "Isaan Adjacent"- and your description of village life is spot on.

For a lone foreigner it is difficult. There is no doubt. My nearest English speaking friend is a five-hour drive away and I do that twice a year (or birthdays, any excuse for cirrhosis-inducing fun) while others are six or even eight hours away - Chiang Mai and Sakon Nakhon.

No one speaks English here and my life experience and career is so alien to the villagers here that they have no point of reference to remotely understand. The closest I can get is "I used to teach teachers" and "I worked with soldiers and police" . However, I had lived in a developing country with undrinkable tap water, cold showers, and no television when younger and took more anti-malarials than I had cereal for breakfast. I had also been stationed in remote areas for work (admittedly not for months on end), and have had relatives and family friends with farms of various types which I worked during holidays. So the farmers here were a bit surprised that I could fix a chainsaw, drive a tractor, and make an extension cord.
But, now? Over ten years later? Yeah, it gets a bit boring but I don't owe anybody or any institution anything and apart from a car I bought new in 2017 and various electrical appliances, I haven't spent money on anything. I rent.
I could, if I chose, just leave with nothing but a carry-on bag.

But for all the downsides of being a recluse - something my friends for over forty years find odd me doing - has given me a life where I don't have to be any particular thing to anyone any more. The are no expectations of me. I've never been asked for money (apart from donations to the local temple and at weddings and funerals of course) and I have been - as much as possible considering the cultural, language, and lifestyle differences - "accepted".

I have never been overcharged or dual-priced here and I pay the same as locals for medications at the pharmacy and for treatment at the clinic and hospital (I was at the outpatients in April-May when I needed tetanus and rabies treatment) and the cops have called on me twice to help some poor tourist (one was Italian and a couple of years later an Austrian) who has come to grief on the highway and no can understand each other.

The place is quiet - apart from an occasional F-16 tooling about going between Nakhon Sawan and Korat airbases - with birds calling and Asian water monitors walking around wanting to make a meal of the family's chickens. Of course, being on an actual working farm I get the tractors preparing the fields, the men with two-stroke backpacks sowing seed, and then months later, harvesters. Just as typed that last sentence some older brother has decided to start up a brushcutter to cut grass for his cattle.

My PTSD is (generally) under control and my blood pressure is down directly as a result of living far from people. I spend all my day outside in a a covered area I had constructed for me (okay, that's another expense, about 80k baht) which I have power and internet cabling to, ceiling fans, fridge and chairs, under a massive tamarind tree. I read, tool on the internet, watching movies, and television shows.

And occasionally type text walls on ASEAN Now threads.

If I get bored, I can book a hotel or a flight, and be in my car, packed, in less than fifteen minutes. Bit longr in the last few years with our neighbours implementing e-visas. Apart from rent, and my share of the power, no one relies on me. I live on very little money as well, as I buy everything pretty much from the local market or picked from the backyard. I don't pay for rice or anything the land produces. That's not being a Cheap Charlie, it's just how things are. When I go to Pattaya, Phuket or CM, obviously I only eat at restaurants. But not Thai ones. Why would I do that when 28 out 30 days I eat locally made or home cooked Thai or Lao meals? I go to Toscana on beach road, or a Mexican place in CM, or that Italian place in the Amari resort in Phuket

One point that you make is very important. Regarding pre-internet or pre smart phones.

I agree that there is no way I could live here without access to the internet. No television, no movies, no VOIP or Messenger/WhatsApp/Line/Signal. And I would have never been able to start learning the language when I decided to move here or continued to do so now.
While I have been here for a little over ten years, my language skills are not up to many others of that "age". The reason - not the excuse - is that I am single. I only speak at the market (which is invariably about what I'm buying, how much the total is, and thank you) and when Beer o Clock comes around when my landlady knocks off work and we talk for about thirty minutes and anyone knows the "just knocked off work" discussion is pretty much the same the world over, regardless the language. Sure, maybe once a fortnight I'll go "down the road" to another of the family's houses on this massive property and have some bbq and lau khao with The Boys and conversation is understood by both sides (mostly) and it's fun.

The rest is spent in English coming out of a speaker.
I didn't think I could do it, but I have maanged so far.
As for the "twilight years". Yeah...I'll see. Unless I get killed on the road (likely) or tree falling on me (also likely) I should be okay - until my hips completely fall apart - for another twenty years. Will I still be here?
Don't know. But at this stage, I'm eleven hours' flying from Austria and nine to Eastern Australia. And I haven't been to all the ASEAN countries yet.

Edited July 12Jul 12 by The Oracle

19 minutes ago, The Oracle said:

I quite surprised myself, having lived most of my adult life near the coast. I went on (at length) on another thread about how I came about to move here - I'm "Isaan Adjacent"- and your description of village life is spot on.

For a lone foreigner it is difficult. There is no doubt. My nearest English speaking friend is a five-hour drive away and I do that twice a year (or birthdays, any excuse for cirrhosis-inducing fun) while others are six or even eight hours away - Chiang Mai and Sakon Nakhon.

No one speaks English here and my life experience and career is so alien to the villagers here that they have no point of reference to remotely understand. The closest I can get is "I used to teach teachers" and "I worked with soldiers and police" . However, I had lived in a developing country with undrinkable tap water, cold showers, and no television when younger and took more anti-malarials than I had cereal for breakfast. I had also been stationed in remote areas for work (admittedly not for months on end), and have had relatives and family friends with farms of various types which I worked during holidays. So the farmers here were a bit surprised that I could fix a chainsaw, drive a tractor, and make an extension cord.
But, now? Over ten years later? Yeah, it gets a bit boring but I don't owe anybody or any institution anything and apart from a car I bought new in 2017 and various electrical appliances, I haven't spent money on anything. I rent.
I could, if I chose, just leave with nothing but a carry-on bag.

But for all the downsides of being a recluse - something my friends for over forty years find odd me doing - has given me a life where I don't have to be any particular thing to anyone any more. The are no expectations of me. I've never been asked for money (apart from donations to the local temple and at weddings and funerals of course) and I have been - as much as possible considering the cultural, language, and lifestyle differences - "accepted".

I have never been overcharged or dual-priced here and I pay the same as locals for medications at the pharmacy and for treatment at the clinic and hospital (I was at the outpatients in April-May when I needed tetanus and rabies treatment) and the cops have called on me twice to help some poor tourist (one was Italian and a couple of years later an Austrian) who has come to grief on the highway and no can understand each other.

The place is quiet - apart from an occasional F-16 tooling about going between Nakhon Sawan and Korat airbases - with birds calling and Asian water monitors walking around wanting to make a meal of the family's chickens. Of course, being on an actual working farm I get the tractors preparing the fields, the men with two-stroke backpacks sowing seed, and then months later, harvesters. Just as typed that last sentence some older brother has decided to start up a brushcutter to cut grass for his cattle.

My PTSD is (generally) under control and my blood pressure is down directly as a result of living far from people. I spend all my day outside in a a covered area I had constructed for me (okay, that's another expense, about 80k baht) which I have power and internet cabling to, ceiling fans, fridge and chairs, under a massive tamarind tree. I read, tool on the internet, watching movies, and television shows.

And occasionally type text walls on ASEAN Now threads.

If I get bored, I can book a hotel or a flight, and be in my car, packed, in less than fifteen minutes. Bit longr in the last few years with our neighbours implementing e-visas. Apart from rent, and my share of the power, no one relies on me. I live on very little money as well, as I buy everything pretty much from the local market or picked from the backyard. I don't pay for rice or anything the land produces. That's not being a Cheap Charlie, it's just how things are. When I go to Pattaya, Phuket or CM, obviously I only eat at restaurants. But not Thai ones. Why would I do that when 28 out 30 days I eat locally made or home cooked Thai or Lao meals? I go to Toscana on beach road, or a Mexican place in CM, or that Italian place in the Amari resort in Phuket

One point that you make is very important. Regarding pre-internet or pre smart phones.

I agree that there is no way I could live here without access to the internet. No television, no movies, no VOIP or Messenger/WhatsApp/Line/Signal. And I would have never been able to start learning the language when I decided to move here or continued to do so now.
While I have been here for a little over ten years, my language skills are not up to many others of that "age". The reason - not the excuse - is that I am single. I only speak at the market (which is invariably about what I'm buying, how much the total is, and thank you) and when Beer o Clock comes around when my landlady knocks off work and we talk for about thirty minutes and anyone knows the "just knocked off work" discussion is pretty much the same the world over, regardless the language. Sure, maybe once a fortnight I'll go "down the road" to another of the family's houses on this massive property and have some bbq and lau khao with The Boys and conversation is understood by both sides (mostly) and it's fun.

The rest is spent in English coming out of a speaker.
I didn't think I could do it, but I have maanged so far.
As for the "twilight years". Yeah...I'll see. Unless I get killed on the road (likely) or tree falling on me (also likely) I should be okay - until my hips completely fall apart - for another twenty years. Will I still be here?
Don't know. But at this stage, I'm eleven hours' flying from Austria and nine to Eastern Australia. And I haven't been to all the ASEAN countries yet.

Interesting and honest post, and thanks for sharing.

I got the impression that the general theme throughout your post was affordability. You mentioned several times the various financial benefits of living in an Issan village. Everyone's financial capacity is different. I can easily afford any of the tourist areas / islands in the southern part of Thailand.

If I had to live in the north, it would be Chiang Mai, but in Chiang Mai, not hundreds of kilometers away from Chiang Mai. However, I would chose Danang - Vietnam over Chiang Mai, so, basically, if I couldn't live in a southern Thailand tourist area, for whatever reason, I would move to Vietnam.

I too, have also worked in some real sh*tholes around the world. Being paid to go there is a lot different to choosing to live there.

I'm a keen hunter. Something a foreigner can't do in Thailand, but it was nothing for me to throw my rifles in the back of the 4WD and head bush in Australia, alone, often living off the land. Australia has an abundance of extremely remote areas. 🙂

Knowing some of the station owners, they would have allowed me to build a shack in the back paddock as accommodation, and I could have chosen this way of life in my own country, but I clearly didn't.

Humans are a social species, that's why solitary confinement is considered a punishment, even from within a prison. Why one would chose it for themselves, especially later in life, amazes me, however, as I mentioned, many are lead by the nose, like a buffalo, by a Thai women. They imprison themselves, inside the village.

It's not the lack of infrastructure for me, it's the lack of social interaction and various leisure activities available for me.

Each to their own, but I didn't work hard all my life to retire in a rural setting just because it's cheap living. I'm here to spend the fruits of my labor over my working life, whilst still leaving something for my kids. Just on this point, it also amazes me how a foreigner's wealth gets redistributed away from their own children's inheritance, to the extended family of a Thai women. Absolutely crazy.

So, could I live in a village in Issan, yes, I could, as I'm no stranger to a lack of amenities. I simply chose not to, and should one day I start a relationship with a Thai girl who starts to pull that c*ap on me, it will be "There's the door. There are plenty of other Thai women that would be happy with the deal that's on the table, and living in comfort in Pattaya."

8 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Interesting and honest post, and thanks for sharing.

I got the impression that the general theme throughout your post was affordability. You mentioned several times the various financial benefits of living in an Issan village. Everyone's financial capacity is different. I can easily afford any of the tourist areas / islands in the southern part of Thailand.

If I had to live in the north, it would be Chiang Mai, but in Chiang Mai, not hundreds of kilometers away from Chiang Mai. However, I would chose Danang - Vietnam over Chiang Mai, so, basically, if I couldn't live in a southern Thailand tourist area, for whatever reason, I would move to Vietnam.

I too, have also worked in some real sh*tholes around the world. Being paid to go there is a lot different to choosing to live there.

I'm a keen hunter. Something a foreigner can't do in Thailand, but it was nothing for me to throw my rifles in the back of the 4WD and head bush in Australia, alone, often living off the land. Australia has an abundance of extremely remote areas. 🙂

Knowing some of the station owners, they would have allowed me to build a shack in the back paddock as accommodation, and I could have chosen this way of life in my own country, but I clearly didn't.

Humans are a social species, that's why solitary confinement is considered a punishment, even from within a prison. Why one would chose it for themselves, especially later in life, amazes me, however, as I mentioned, many are lead by the nose, like a buffalo, by a Thai women. They imprison themselves, inside the village.

It's not the lack of infrastructure for me, it's the lack of social interaction and various leisure activities available for me.

Each to their own, but I didn't work hard all my life to retire in a rural setting just because it's cheap living. I'm here to spend the fruits of my labor over my working life, whilst still leaving something for my kids. Just on this point, it also amazes me how a foreigner's wealth gets redistributed away from their own children's inheritance, to the extended family of a Thai women. Absolutely crazy.

So, could I live in a village in Issan, yes, I could, as I'm no stranger to a lack of amenities. I simply chose not to, and should one day I start a relationship with a Thai girl who starts to pull that c*ap on me, it will be "There's the door. There are plenty of other Thai women that would be happy with the deal that's on the table, and living in comfort in Pattaya."

The money is something a lot of people pick up on. Sure, I live on sweet FA but that's because there's nothing for me to spend money on anymore.

When I got here it was a little too rustic. A kitchen without shelving, no sink just a tub, and a the gas hob on a tripod made from reo, welded by one of the brothers. Soon fixed that up so I could cook, too. In comfort.
And none of it was asked for, I asked if I could modernise the kitchen ever so slightly (it's outside as is the way here) and it was accepted for what it was. Same with televisions. And I built a computer for the then Grade 7 / Mor 1 girl. I already had a powerful laptop with me. Then, as the laptop aged, I built myself something that could probably be used to run NASA and gave my laptop to the girl.
WIth AC units, three TVs, two fridges (the one that was here when I got here was more likely to give you legionnaire's disease than cool your food, and one a couple of years later for out the back) and all the other stuff that brings a house into the 20th century, never mind the 21st.
But, in the end, after years of buying things I deemed necessary, and accepted with grace, there's nothing left to buy except for when something cacks itself.
And probably a new car in 2028.
The other thing which is important for where I live: they have a lot of land. And all the men (brothers and BiL and their offspring) work (except the eldest son ~37 y.o of one of the sisters who Became One with a tree at 60 kph in 2016, his LHS is paralysed but even so he gets around on a motorbike with a sidecar carting tools and whatnot for other family members) one of the sisters works the cucumber fields, one - whose daughter is severely disabled - works locally bundling up shallots, one sells fruit & veg at the market, my landlady sells fried snacks at the market and runs the banana plantation, one of the BiL and his son are multi-skilled labourers and built my backyard sala. One brother worked in construction in Cha Am but returned during COVID, another works in a factory, another has land 45km away. But they all down tools when the fields require preparation. Three tractors, two dozen staff and them level out and seed hundreds upon hundreds of acres for rice. The extended family also plants cassava, tobacco, and corn.
One of the BiL (the one withe the disabled daughter) harvests our rice which "apparently" is the best type of rice you can plant. While they get in some blokes with rice harvesters to do the rice which is sold to some government-run or government-accredited firm or co-op which is "the normal rice" whatever that means.
You'd expect these people to have cars and big houses and remote controlled gates. Nup. No cars except a cousin has a Ranger Wildtrak. The houses were made by the family members as they left the original (now deceased) parent's house. Which was torn down after my landlady had this one built for them while she was working in Hong Kong and Shenzen for Philips.

One of the houses is 60% corrugated iron. But, without exception they have MASSIVE televisions and a PSI terrestrial satellite dishes on the roof. They must be loaded but they don't spend money. One didn't even have a fridge until last year - they're 67. None of them have airconditioners except us (thanks to me after my first full Hot in 2017)

The one thing they've bought? Apparently two tractors (plus those used by contractors) wasn't enough. So one of them trotted (well, I actually drove him) to the Iseki dealer (not Kubota or Yanmar - they have one of each) and he bought a tractor and drove it home. He paid cash.
They don't do holidays. Their meals are, well, meals. Their phones - with the exception of children under, say, 35 are all cheap no-name phones. The sister that lives in Bangkok is an exception. Her father in law imports well-known brands of alcohol from USA and Canada. HEr husband - educated in the US - works in a fibreglass manufacture plant for Disney and she works in a beauty salon: they have Apple phones and tablets. As does the daughter of this house.

The old folks around here still work into their eighties. Or basically until they can't any more. Then they help bring up their grand children. Or great-gret grandchildren.

But this extended family? Family of eight. Must have millions stored away. Not all them need to work; my landlady definitely doesn't need to considering she's the largest landowner of the lot (she bought some of her siblings' share when she was overseas) but it's what they do.

"Why do you work, if you do not have to?"
"I work otherwise people will think I'm lazy"

And that, in rural Thailand, is that.

And for me? Pricewise except for some ludicrous pool villa in Hua Hin or Kamala, I could easily live in any tourist place like CM, or suburban Pattaya. I choose to stay here and travel. My ten-year passport took less than five years to fill. Now, with e-visas, that's not the case with its replacement. But, yeah, I go on road trips. And fly to other places.
I would like to have a travel companion platonic or otherwise as I miss out on many experiences as I'm only thinking about myslf and my own ideas and completely mis out on others.

Anway, here's my sala (6m x 4m with a 1m overhang al around; two ceiling fans and the roof has insulated layer. The other photo is just a lazy shot out the back of the sala across about 5% of the land. House in the distance has a cassava plantation next to it.

Edited July 12Jul 12 by The Oracle
Expand, proofread, and add photos.

4 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

No.

Single and happy, living in Pattaya.

I have nothing I can't leave behind and head straight to the airport, should I want to, or need to. I don't even have the 800k baht in a Thai bank for my visa / extension, which I see as a waste of money.

I rent a nice condo in a good location. I have a good social life. I keep myself in good health through exercise and watching what I eat, but have no problem knocking over a few beers more than is healthy on some occasions, and eating out regularly.

I have leisure activities, such as golf.

I travel the region, mainly to Singapore for the F1, but have ex Thailand friends in Vietnam, and sometime visit them.

I have female company whenever I want. That's a benefit to living in Pattaya.

I am sure my lifestyle is not unique, but why would I, or anyone else, swap it for living in a rural village in Issan? Serious question.

I have to agree with you about those who have few options and are not self-driven. They will struggle in Isaan or Pattaya. Neither place can make a miserable life better; it depends on the type of person you are.

Relationships and socialising can be difficult for some people, and I hear you. If you have no idea what farming or physical work is, do not like to work, or do not wake up in the morning feeling you have a purpose, then it is not easy to fit in either place.

I have met both categories in the “paradises,” in Isaan and in other places around Thailand. Happiness does not come by itself.

6 minutes ago, Hummin said:

I have to agree with you about those who have few options and are not self-driven. They will struggle in Isaan or Pattaya. Neither place can make a miserable life better; it depends on the type of person you are.

Relationships and socialising can be difficult for some people, and I hear you. If you have no idea what farming or physical work is, do not like to work, or do not wake up in the morning feeling you have a purpose, then it is not easy to fit in either place.

I have met both categories in the “paradises,” in Isaan and in other places around Thailand. Happiness does not come by itself.

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.

4 minutes ago, The Oracle said:

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.

TravelGuides & Travelogues

It is simple: you need a purpose and a plan to get around a bit, so you do not become stuck. Having a few healthy habits helps too.

14 hours ago, sidjameson said:

Where did you meet these expats who told you this? Why did you think they were broke?

Miserableville.

5 hours ago, Hummin said:

I have to agree with you about those who have few options and are not self-driven. They will struggle in Isaan or Pattaya. Neither place can make a miserable life better; it depends on the type of person you are.

Relationships and socialising can be difficult for some people, and I hear you. If you have no idea what farming or physical work is, do not like to work, or do not wake up in the morning feeling you have a purpose, then it is not easy to fit in either place.

I have met both categories in the “paradises,” in Isaan and in other places around Thailand. Happiness does not come by itself.

Isn't the whole idea of retiring being in a position that you no longer work, and replace work with free time and leisure activities?

If you move to a village in Issan, in my opinion, not only is that a step down in lifestyle, but to move to a village in Issan, and still have to work in agriculture, then one has really messed up.

10 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Isn't the whole idea of retiring being in a position that you no longer work, and replace work with free time and leisure activities?

If you move to a village in Issan, in my opinion, not only is that a step down in lifestyle, but to move to a village in Issan, and still have to work in agriculture, then one has really messed up.

Your life, your experiences. My life, my habits, my purpose, and my journey. Even if I tried to explain it, I do not think you would understand, mainly because your idea of a good life is very different from mine.

What you describe does not sound especially attractive to me, based on my own life experiences and needs.

3 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Your life, your experiences. My life, my habits, my purpose, and my journey. Even if I tried to explain it, I do not think you would understand, mainly because your idea of a good life is very different from mine.

What you describe does not sound especially attractive to me, based on my own life experiences and needs.

Everyone's different, and each to their own.

My point being, if they were honest, 99.9% of the expats living in a village in Issan would say they had never aspired to living in a rural village in Issan in their retirement. Yet, they ended up there on a one way ticket.

With stats like that, it can not be by choice, but rather they succumed to undue influence from a Thai girl, and made poor decisions, and ended up living in a location, and with a lifestyle, they never desired, and no longer can change.

5 hours ago, The Oracle said:

The money is something a lot of people pick up on. Sure, I live on sweet FA but that's because there's nothing for me to spend money on anymore.

When I got here it was a little too rustic. A kitchen without shelving, no sink just a tub, and a the gas hob on a tripod made from reo, welded by one of the brothers. Soon fixed that up so I could cook, too. In comfort.
And none of it was asked for, I asked if I could modernise the kitchen ever so slightly (it's outside as is the way here) and it was accepted for what it was. Same with televisions. And I built a computer for the then Grade 7 / Mor 1 girl. I already had a powerful laptop with me. Then, as the laptop aged, I built myself something that could probably be used to run NASA and gave my laptop to the girl.
WIth AC units, three TVs, two fridges (the one that was here when I got here was more likely to give you legionnaire's disease than cool your food, and one a couple of years later for out the back) and all the other stuff that brings a house into the 20th century, never mind the 21st.
But, in the end, after years of buying things I deemed necessary, and accepted with grace, there's nothing left to buy except for when something cacks itself.
And probably a new car in 2028.
The other thing which is important for where I live: they have a lot of land. And all the men (brothers and BiL and their offspring) work (except the eldest son ~37 y.o of one of the sisters who Became One with a tree at 60 kph in 2016, his LHS is paralysed but even so he gets around on a motorbike with a sidecar carting tools and whatnot for other family members) one of the sisters works the cucumber fields, one - whose daughter is severely disabled - works locally bundling up shallots, one sells fruit & veg at the market, my landlady sells fried snacks at the market and runs the banana plantation, one of the BiL and his son are multi-skilled labourers and built my backyard sala. One brother worked in construction in Cha Am but returned during COVID, another works in a factory, another has land 45km away. But they all down tools when the fields require preparation. Three tractors, two dozen staff and them level out and seed hundreds upon hundreds of acres for rice. The extended family also plants cassava, tobacco, and corn.
One of the BiL (the one withe the disabled daughter) harvests our rice which "apparently" is the best type of rice you can plant. While they get in some blokes with rice harvesters to do the rice which is sold to some government-run or government-accredited firm or co-op which is "the normal rice" whatever that means.
You'd expect these people to have cars and big houses and remote controlled gates. Nup. No cars except a cousin has a Ranger Wildtrak. The houses were made by the family members as they left the original (now deceased) parent's house. Which was torn down after my landlady had this one built for them while she was working in Hong Kong and Shenzen for Philips.

One of the houses is 60% corrugated iron. But, without exception they have MASSIVE televisions and a PSI terrestrial satellite dishes on the roof. They must be loaded but they don't spend money. One didn't even have a fridge until last year - they're 67. None of them have airconditioners except us (thanks to me after my first full Hot in 2017)

The one thing they've bought? Apparently two tractors (plus those used by contractors) wasn't enough. So one of them trotted (well, I actually drove him) to the Iseki dealer (not Kubota or Yanmar - they have one of each) and he bought a tractor and drove it home. He paid cash.
They don't do holidays. Their meals are, well, meals. Their phones - with the exception of children under, say, 35 are all cheap no-name phones. The sister that lives in Bangkok is an exception. Her father in law imports well-known brands of alcohol from USA and Canada. HEr husband - educated in the US - works in a fibreglass manufacture plant for Disney and she works in a beauty salon: they have Apple phones and tablets. As does the daughter of this house.

The old folks around here still work into their eighties. Or basically until they can't any more. Then they help bring up their grand children. Or great-gret grandchildren.

But this extended family? Family of eight. Must have millions stored away. Not all them need to work; my landlady definitely doesn't need to considering she's the largest landowner of the lot (she bought some of her siblings' share when she was overseas) but it's what they do.

"Why do you work, if you do not have to?"
"I work otherwise people will think I'm lazy"

And that, in rural Thailand, is that.

And for me? Pricewise except for some ludicrous pool villa in Hua Hin or Kamala, I could easily live in any tourist place like CM, or suburban Pattaya. I choose to stay here and travel. My ten-year passport took less than five years to fill. Now, with e-visas, that's not the case with its replacement. But, yeah, I go on road trips. And fly to other places.
I would like to have a travel companion platonic or otherwise as I miss out on many experiences as I'm only thinking about myslf and my own ideas and completely mis out on others.

Anway, here's my sala (6m x 4m with a 1m overhang al around; two ceiling fans and the roof has insulated layer. The other photo is just a lazy shot out the back of the sala across about 5% of the land. House in the distance has a cassava plantation next to it.

Interesting post.

The one thing I absolute hate about the villages is the mosquitos. Relentless, annoying, and potentially disease spreading.

Can I ask you a serious question?

That is, say you won the lottery, example, $1 million USD, or equivalent, would you still live where you live? Serious question.

Edited July 12Jul 12 by KhunHeineken

7 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Everyone's different, and each to their own.

My point being, if they were honest, 99.9% of the expats living in a village in Issan would say they had never aspired to living in a rural village in Issan in their retirement. Yet, they ended up there on a one way ticket.

With stats like that, it can not be by choice, but rather they succumed to undue influence from a Thai girl, and made poor decisions, and ended up living in a location, and with a lifestyle, they never desired, and no longer can change.

GeographicReference

I react more to your understanding of the life some people have or do not have than anything else. We certainly agree on what would be a miserable life: being stuck somewhere in Thailand with few options or resources.

9 minutes ago, Hummin said:

I react more to your understanding of the life some people have or do not have than anything else.

It's not difficult. It's the reason the OP started this thread.

10 minutes ago, Hummin said:

We certainly agree on what would be a miserable life: being stuck somewhere in Thailand with few options or resources.

What's interesting is the circumstances that lead up to these miserable expats being in the position / location that they find themselves. Common denominator seems to be a Thai women. No surprise there.

6 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

It's not difficult. It's the reason the OP started this thread.

What's interesting is the circumstances that lead up to these miserable expats being in the position / location that they find themselves. Common denominator seems to be a Thai women. No surprise there.

ExpatriateCommunities

I think I know why some men end up where they are, and I wouldn’t blame the women.

11 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Interesting post.

The one thing I absolute hate about the villages is the mosquitos. Relentless, annoying, and potentially disease spreading.

Can I ask you a serious question?

That is, say you won the lottery, example, $1 million USD, or equivalent, would you still live where you live? Serious question.

If I really wanted to throw money around, I'd get a more powerful car as the one I have (I b ought it new in late 2017) is a slug and when I travel E or NE, as I have to go across or along two mountains ranges. South, West, and NW are fine. The Almera does about 50-55 mpg when I drive to Chon Buri.

But your question? Yes. I'd probably stay here. But probably not continuing to rent this half a house but build a small, two-bedroom villa elsewhere on the property. There are pockets of five rai here and seven rai there that are just bush. And I'd build another sala (bahn lom) but configure it better - learn from the mistakes of this one.

I have been travelling overseas two- three times a year now for the best decade so I'm slowing down for a while. Having said that, with a lazy $750k loose in my bank account (post car and house build) I would use premium airlines to travel the long distances. It took me 11 hours to get to Vienna last year flying Austrian Airlines, but 33 hours to get back from Gatwick due to stops in Ankara and Mumbai as I used a Go-to-Gate booking which put me on Indigo and the stopovers were horrendous with overbooked flights and changing terminals. And, lets be fair, rushing to a gate to see if you can get checked in or have to stay in the Turkish airport for at least another six hours until the next flight - if that's not full - isn't something I'd want to do again.

So, yes. I'd stay here. Do some sort of deal with TLL,
Build that small house and sala.
Buy a new car - nothing ostentatious and small enough to traverse the narrow sois of Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and elswhere, but powerful enough so I don't have to thrash its guts out to go up into Nam Nao national park or over the range in Chaiyaphum. Probably a Honda HRV hybrid.
And once all that's done, do a couple of European trips; a month of travel in Africa, go to Australia and New Zealand, Canada. I have friends in Panama I'd like to visit but even though I don't need to penny-pinch much even now, the prices from Bangkok to there is pretty steep but with that 750k I wouldn't care.
The ex and I would stay in mostly 4 and 5 star places, but often some dogy s hole because of its location. Five star resorts if taking the kids (which are in their thirties now) due to breakfast buffets they could strip-mine, pool bars for us, and lifeguards on the beaches.
Now, when I travel I stay in three-star, even two-star places because to be blunt I'm never there except to park the car and to sleep. I don't know how many hotels I've stayed in over the last, say, fifteen years but it'd have to be well over 100. One trip to Pattaya during The Plague (my friend was retiring) and the whole place was dead, I stayed in four different hotels over the course of the week to sort of "spread the love" as it were. I don't know where you live but when I was there end of 2020, you didn't even have to look to cross Beach or Second road as there was no traffic. At all. And the travel time I managed to shave off 15 minutes due to not having to weave around inconsiderate, probably unlicenced anuses behind the wheels of overloaded, smoke-spewing Isuzu pickups older than the myopic grandfathers driving them thirty kilometres below the speed limit in the outside lane. (That, and my car has the overtaking ability of a disability scooter on its last 2%)

I like it here. My friends like to visit here but couldn't live here. In the same way I like to visit my friends in places like CM and Pattaya but I couldn't live there.

I don't think much of Central Pattaya anyway but the access to a range of ethnic foods is great, I hardly know Bangkok at all. Been four times for about two days each time and booked hotels near what I wanted to see and walked around. Naklua, Jomtiem, and Bang Saray seem nice but I couldn't live in a condo, I'd go stir crazy.
That's what I like about here. So much space. So much privacy - in a country where everybody knows who's up who within minutes of it happening. No road noise (except on the days immediate to and ending Songkran where to noise from the highway 1.5 km away as the crow flies is chokka block. No smog. And, except for this past season when the AQI got to 132, don't get any burn off smoke.

But I'll take a million bucks any time and waste it on increasing comfort, and travelling.

Oh! Yes. Mosquitoes suck a.. A man comes around once a year and gives each house a fogging of what, I assume is DEET (it's not pyrethrum, this stuff is chemical) and the house goes through four coils a day during between May and October. This sala (from that photo on the back of aspect, there is a 100m x 20m dam which has frogs, fish, eels and snakes and monitors in it. Not much larvae survives in that. Plenty of puddles here, especially with me being about 10 metres from a rice field.
Apparently we don't get malaria mosquitoes here, only the ones that carry zika and dengue. Considering pretty much no-one around ere is gong to get pregnant Zika isn't an issue. Dengue is what worries me, though but, hey! You can only do so much.

Edited July 13Jul 13 by The Oracle
Mozzies!

16 hours ago, Hummin said:

I think I know why some men end up where they are, and I wouldn’t blame the women.

Are you suggesting Thai women play no rule in the financial demise of many foreign men here?

1 minute ago, KhunHeineken said:

Are you suggesting Thai women play no rule in the financial demise of many foreign men here?

TravelGuides & Travelogues

No, of course they can play a role. Professionals certainly do, and women have their own agenda one way or another. For different reasons, they can and sometimes will turn on you.

I am only saying that men also carry responsibility for themselves. They should know where they come from, where they arrive, and what risks they are taking.

14 minutes ago, Hummin said:

No, of course they can play a role. Professionals certainly do, and women have their own agenda one way or another. For different reasons, they can and sometimes will turn on you.

I am only saying that men also carry responsibility for themselves. They should know where they come from, where they arrive, and what risks they are taking.

So, it goes back to the decades long debate. Do you blame the scamming Thai women, or their foreign victims?