Thoughts On Ubon

[donsaiyuan]

I have a girlfriend with roots in Ubon, my idea is to simply scram from Phuket before high season kicks in because i'm not tied to it's economy, and feel that cheaper digs and more mellow times await elsewhere.

I have a great spot in Phuket, but after years on and off, it's certainly time for a welcome change.

This question isn't about weighing risk regarding girlfriend stuff, it's a question about Ubon itself, living there, rents, what kind of place can one get compared to Phuket or Bangkok prices.

A. Housing: Can you rent a furnished home for about 8K a month in the city or on it's outskirts? You can in Rawai/Phuket but you'll be pushing the envelope of quality, safety, and continuity, or be surrounded by farang retirees with their own ideas about what constitutes daily life.

B. Transport: How about reliable transport, how much to pick up a second hand motorbike or a truck (second hand used toyota between 1980-2000)?

C. Small Business: Could the place use another expat-based business serving up eggs & potatoes, pancakes and ham in the mornings? (My chick rules at cooking)

D. Telephony/ Internet: What's the DSL or Broadband, if any? Does CAT CDMA or other firm/service cover the area?

Phuket seems caught between two polarities, retaining what's left of it's "Thai" identity and somehow staying economically and environmentally sustainable.

NoT having a local business or dependency on income from here has been a great thing. Just eyeing Ubon with a lot of seriousness. Proximity to Korat, Laos, Cambodia, Nam, all make sense for the long haul. I'm quite adept at living with minimal resources, so what's the scoop with Ubon the city and Ubon the region for long or short term living?

I know and teach Thai, have an internet business, local girlfriend willing to ditch Phuket give or take some circumstantial haggling/bargaining. Her 11 year old finishes primary or secondary school, possibly good idea to have him there vs. on the Loa border in a more run-down academic environment.

Edited August 9, 2009 by donsaiyuan

[Lite Beer]

Moved to Isaan

[bergen]

I have a girlfriend with roots in Ubon, my idea is to simply scram from Phuket before high season kicks in because i'm not tied to it's economy, and feel that cheaper digs and more mellow times await elsewhere.

I have a great spot in Phuket, but after years on and off, it's certainly time for a welcome change.

This question isn't about weighing risk regarding girlfriend stuff, it's a question about Ubon itself, living there, rents, what kind of place can one get compared to Phuket or Bangkok prices.

A. Housing: Can you rent a furnished home for about 8K a month in the city or on it's outskirts? You can in Rawai/Phuket but you'll be pushing the envelope of quality, safety, and continuity, or be surrounded by farang retirees with their own ideas about what constitutes daily life.

B. Transport: How about reliable transport, how much to pick up a second hand motorbike or a truck (second hand used toyota between 1980-2000)?

C. Small Business: Could the place use another expat-based business serving up eggs & potatoes, pancakes and ham in the mornings? (My chick rules at cooking)

D. Telephony/ Internet: What's the DSL or Broadband, if any? Does CAT CDMA or other firm/service cover the area?

Phuket seems caught between two polarities, retaining what's left of it's "Thai" identity and somehow staying economically and environmentally sustainable.

NoT having a local business or dependency on income from here has been a great thing. Just eyeing Ubon with a lot of seriousness. Proximity to Korat, Laos, Cambodia, Nam, all make sense for the long haul. I'm quite adept at living with minimal resources, so what's the scoop with Ubon the city and Ubon the region for long or short term living?

I know and teach Thai, have an internet business, local girlfriend willing to ditch Phuket give or take some circumstantial haggling/bargaining. Her 11 year old finishes primary or secondary school, possibly good idea to have him there vs. on the Loa border in a more run-down academic environment.

Ubon can provide everything you've asked for!

A. House for rent in city (central) can easily be found for 8 k a month or less.

B. Lots of places selling 2. hand cars.

C. Yes please

D. Various providers

Good possibilities of teaching, and many international schools.

The city and region is laid back, but growing.

More info can be found on http://www.weloveubon.com

You are very welcome if you decide to make the change!

[UbonTaz]

Donsaiyuan,

Welcome to Ubon. Can always use another member in the community.

Being able to rent a nice furnished house within the city limits or the growing surrounding outskirts for 8K or less is most certainly doable. The biggest challenge would be driving around finding the place.

Many shops the sell used cars and pickups but not sure of the price and if they are competitive and reasonable or not.

As far as opening a business. Peppers Bakery and Cafe recently opened featuring breakfasts. Other than that many Thai shops offer western style breakfasts. Other expat enterprises here are Wrong Way Cafe, drinks, Thai and western food, open 2pm - midnight Monday - Saturday. N-Joy Pub open late morning and evenings. Spagos opening soon Italian cuisine. And an internet cafe.

Not sure if Ubon can support another you'd have to test the market.

You can find more info on Ubon at http://www.weloveubon.com

[phibunmike]

Hi Donsaiyuan,

I would suggest coming up to Ubon for a couple of weeks to see how you like it, and explore the various issues for yourself. I don't suppose many of us who live here would want to move to Phuket - nothing wrong with it, but different places suit different people. You might love Ubon as we do, or you might find it a little too "remote" - you certainly wouldn't have to worry about your neighbourhood being filled with retired farangs!

You will certainly find people here who would be willing to offer you advice and maybe show you around a bit.

Welcome to Ubon.

Cheers,

Mike

[donsaiyuan]

wow, very cool, i'm excited. i've made a habit of moving to new and fascinating places, and thriving, with a hundredth of the info you kind folks have provided. thanks ever so much. i look forward to spending some time there and getting things sorted. i'm glad to see Det mentioned in one of the private messages, it's right between Buntharik (my gal's home) and Ubon itself.

[bergen]

wow, very cool, i'm excited. i've made a habit of moving to new and fascinating places, and thriving, with a hundredth of the info you kind folks have provided. thanks ever so much. i look forward to spending some time there and getting things sorted. i'm glad to see Det mentioned in one of the private messages, it's right between Buntharik (my gal's home) and Ubon itself.

Det Udom is also half way between Ubon city and Nam Yun, which is close to where I'm located.

(13 km west of N Y on rd. 2248)

Edited August 9, 2009 by bergen

[thaimite]

wow, very cool, i'm excited. i've made a habit of moving to new and fascinating places, and thriving, with a hundredth of the info you kind folks have provided. thanks ever so much. i look forward to spending some time there and getting things sorted. i'm glad to see Det mentioned in one of the private messages, it's right between Buntharik (my gal's home) and Ubon itself.

I'm from Det Udom, and we have a great little expat community here, and I am sure that all of us in Ubon and the surrounding area would love another member in our ever growing numbers.

[donsaiyuan]

yeah, my girl told me this morning in her own way she was ready to follow suit with my general plan, so yeah, thinking of going up and scouting out some housing... later in time my girl can cook excellent farang and isaan food, and I can give workshops about linux, php/mysql programming, internet commerce, thai language. i'm an artist/photographer as well, i'll probably have a lot more free time to make paintings...

i proposed that if she (my gal) did open a small ultra-humble hole-in-the-wall mini-cafe in the future, she dedicate 1 night a week to different farang food. monday night special: chicken cordon bleu/potatoes/veggies, and for the vegetarians, sauteed tofu with curry rice & lentil dal. for the thai girlfriends, somtam w/moo ba. some kind of integrated cuisine with low budget in mind. i'm looking forward to pasta night myself, still teaching her the different sauces yielded from native ingredients. if she can make it a regular thing, where both isaan and farang food were around with consistency, it's probably a nice option for folks to meet and hang out... i'm a great cook as well, but am more than happy to have my gal learn herself about it and how to keep it fun...

I guess i'll have to rent a truck or something to really get around effectively house hunting. whenever we do it on the motorbike, we sort of run out of steam after 3-4 houses. maybe some aircon in a rented truck would be much better. it's always down to finding the nice owners with something good, supportive of our family equation, etc.

[jay-uk]

Don, Welcome To Ubon.

I'm not a permanent fixture like some of the guys who have commented here but I have a holiday home in Tambon Kamyai and come back every 12/24 months for a break. I always miss Ubon and the people I have met are great so no doubt you and your GF will settle in well. Everything you have mentioned is accessible but you will have to do some leg work and look around to find a suitable home and shop for rent. The city is expanding fast so a little restaurant should do well if you look after your customers and maintain quality then you'll do even better. I found in the past some restauarants (thai owned) could cook you a good meal on a Monday and forget how they cooked it by Friday, so if you returned for something you liked such as a steak it was not how your taste buds remembered. However, things are picking up and more farangs are there now to make sure the quality remains good.

http://www.weloveubon.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubon_Ratchathani_Province

http://guideubon.com/

http://peppersbakery.com/

http://www.wrongwayhome.com/

http://www.suanloongdaengfarmstay.com/

http://isaanstyle.blogspot.com/

http://memock.wordpress.com/

Enjoy your time up in Isaan and get reading the above sites as there is a wealth of information from people living locally.

Jay

Edited August 10, 2009 by jay-uk

[bergen]

yeah, my girl told me this morning in her own way she was ready to follow suit with my general plan, so yeah, thinking of going up and scouting out some housing... later in time my girl can cook excellent farang and isaan food, and I can give workshops about linux, php/mysql programming, internet commerce, thai language. i'm an artist/photographer as well, i'll probably have a lot more free time to make paintings...

i proposed that if she (my gal) did open a small ultra-humble hole-in-the-wall mini-cafe in the future, she dedicate 1 night a week to different farang food. monday night special: chicken cordon bleu/potatoes/veggies, and for the vegetarians, sauteed tofu with curry rice & lentil dal. for the thai girlfriends, somtam w/moo ba. some kind of integrated cuisine with low budget in mind. i'm looking forward to pasta night myself, still teaching her the different sauces yielded from native ingredients. if she can make it a regular thing, where both isaan and farang food were around with consistency, it's probably a nice option for folks to meet and hang out... i'm a great cook as well, but am more than happy to have my gal learn herself about it and how to keep it fun...

I guess i'll have to rent a truck or something to really get around effectively house hunting. whenever we do it on the motorbike, we sort of run out of steam after 3-4 houses. maybe some aircon in a rented truck would be much better. it's always down to finding the nice owners with something good, supportive of our family equation, etc.

A friend of mine rented a 2 storey house in central Ubon just a few weeks ago.

Monthly rent is 6000.- baht.

If you're interested - let us know when you're coming and if possible we can meet up and give you some start help.