Living In A Village - Was It Tolerable For You?

[grandpa-m]

Ciejay and Me have lived in the small village of whang Pho now for 5 1/2 years and love it , I'm the only American around for miles and we live 25 miles from Kanchanaburi where my American brother -in -law and his Thai wife live my Thai wife's sister and we have a Thai brother -in -law and sister -in law that live a few 100 feet or so from us . When we visited here we found this Thai house that had been built 7 years before and the folks had divorced and it had sit vacant for all those years (you know the bad Karma thing ) well we bought it and remodled it and moved in 5 1/2 years ago and I have to say i have never been so happy in my life . I love the village life with all it's smell , noises and customs would not trade it for the world and you can if you like read about it on my blog Retired in Thailand and loving It @ http://malcolmandciejay.blogspot.com, I think you might enjoy it .

One of my first post covers remodeling Grandpa-m Malcolm

[psuvanna]

I live in a small village going on 5 years now, I do not have the problem of being awaken by the speaker at 6;00 AM ,as I am up at 5 in the morning. If I had problems sleeping late (need of more sleep) I would go to bed earlier the night before, thus getting my alloted hours of sleep per night,This a rice growing village, and the whole village is up and working, a that time in the morning. I would not think of asking the village to change their ways to appease me. I chose to live there and not visa-versa. The smoke in the village is something ,I live with as part of the rice growing cycle in my area , two rice crops are grown each year,

I am the only falang in the village and I do not need other falangs so I can make friends! I have more friends than I need with my Thai friends, family and nieghbors.I occassionally see other falangs in Lat Yao and they do not seek any interaction and niether do I.

For food I like Thai food, and my wife has learned to cook Mexican food, So I have no problem in seeking Western food. also I make a lot of my own food, Kim Chee,Mayo,mustard dip for my chicken nuggets my wife buys frozen in Lat Yao, I make my own pizzas, pickled pigs feet, pickles, bacon, and have a ham curing now.

I find that village life is great for me as I do not need other falangs to make me happy. give the Thais a chance and you will find some very good, caring , understanding friends as I have. I do not go to any larger cities with a big expat population, except to Bangkok to get needed visa information from my Embassy and do some shopping for foods not available locally.

My wife has a large garden and grows a lot of our own food, we have all kinds of fruit trees that we get a lot of seasonal fruit ,what we do not have we trade with our family and friends.

I find falangs do not attempt to interact with Thais on a person to person basis, as a result they miss out on the opportunity of making friends with the local Thais, and fulfill thier social needs for friends or to try to change Thais into doing things thier way.

I enjoy my life as it is in my village, just like it is!

Cheers:

I agree with you, why they say they love thailand for right

[khaowong1]

I live in a small village going on 5 years now, I do not have the problem of being awaken by the speaker at 6;00 AM ,as I am up at 5 in the morning. If I had problems sleeping late (need of more sleep) I would go to bed earlier the night before, thus getting my alloted hours of sleep per night,This a rice growing village, and the whole village is up and working, a that time in the morning. I would not think of asking the village to change their ways to appease me. I chose to live there and not visa-versa. The smoke in the village is something ,I live with as part of the rice growing cycle in my area , two rice crops are grown each year,

I am the only falang in the village and I do not need other falangs so I can make friends! I have more friends than I need with my Thai friends, family and nieghbors.I occassionally see other falangs in Lat Yao and they do not seek any interaction and niether do I.

For food I like Thai food, and my wife has learned to cook Mexican food, So I have no problem in seeking Western food. also I make a lot of my own food, Kim Chee,Mayo,mustard dip for my chicken nuggets my wife buys frozen in Lat Yao, I make my own pizzas, pickled pigs feet, pickles, bacon, and have a ham curing now.

I find that village life is great for me as I do not need other falangs to make me happy. give the Thais a chance and you will find some very good, caring , understanding friends as I have. I do not go to any larger cities with a big expat population, except to Bangkok to get needed visa information from my Embassy and do some shopping for foods not available locally.

My wife has a large garden and grows a lot of our own food, we have all kinds of fruit trees that we get a lot of seasonal fruit ,what we do not have we trade with our family and friends.

I find falangs do not attempt to interact with Thais on a person to person basis, as a result they miss out on the opportunity of making friends with the local Thais, and fulfill thier social needs for friends or to try to change Thais into doing things thier way.

I enjoy my life as it is in my village, just like it is!

Cheers:

Kikoman, I think you are right on here. Why should we farangs think just because we're farangs and superior, that the village has to change it's life style to suit us. that's bull.. I lived in a village for three years and had no problems.. I got up before the loud speakers came on, ignored the burning trash and vegatation fires and basically got along well with everyone in the village.. I was the only farang there of about 500 thai's.. I'm not really fond of Thai food, but managed to find some I liked. The Thai's are not too fond of farang food, so we were even.. anyway to put

a finish to this story, if you find you can't get along without all the complaining, move back to the city..

[Thongkorn]

I stayed with a Thai family for three months in 07, and two months in 08,It was just outside Rannong,A place called kappa. I use to sleep on the floor with just a matterss, I used a mosquito nett,around it. The doors did not fit so anything could crawl under the door, and did, from snakes to frogs, toads to insects.The roof was not sealed.The Too kers would run up the walls then over the top and into the building which they did quite often to get out of the rain, The most common thing was spiders they would be on the outside of the mossie net when i woke up in the morning about 5am, They where as big as dinner plates.I washed and showed in cold water from the stream checking to see that no leaches were hiding. My friend who is about 70 use to go to work in the Jungle. I would sweep around the building, clearing the dead leaves, and i would burn them with old coconut cases, it acted as a mossie deterrent. the main reason was so i could see any nasty insects or snakes crawling about around the house. After that i would take the two cows to the area that had been selected for that day, I lost track of time, i did not know what time it was or day , and i did not care,The villagers would look in disbelief that a falang was working , they all think that falang has big money and do not work, I got quite friendly with most of them and found them good honest people.If i had the money , just enough to live there comfortably i would, it taught me a lot like a reboot of the meaning of life and it put things into proportion and prospetive, So was it tolerable, Yes it was a pleasure, and i hope i was tolerable to the Villagers, I went back this year for just a week to see some friends, Every one knew me and had not forgotten the ting tong falang, thats the real Thailand , land of smiles.

[Farang0tang]

I remember your original post. Probably stayed in my head because we also live in the same part of Thailand, have a house a few Km's north of Sa Kaeo. However, I am still working overseas and visit our village every couple of months, with the aim to take early retirement in a year or two, and settle down permanently to "village life".

When I read your original post I thought, "oh my god, thats going to be me!" So, I am very happy for you that things seem like they have turned around. I also like your idea of spending 50-50 between village and farang resort, thats something I might want to do when the time comes.

The longest village stay I've managed on one stretch is about 1 month. Then I am eager to depart, if only to catch some proper farang food at the airport on the way out!

Which brings me to one final point - I would certainly appreciate it if you are able to give me directions to that little resort with the English breakfasts which you mention. By my calculations that would only be around 30-40 km drive for me to indulge in a decent cheeseburger! Bonus!

(7-11 hotdogs could be history!)

Cheers, and good luck.

[Pakboong]

There are many people in the world that think that hitting themselves in the head with a hammer feels good.

[jhwest]

First of all apologies Kikoman and Editor

I accidentally posted on to your topic and very new to this email stuff .

Well anyway yes I have lived in a village, about 30 drive away from Kanchanaburi and live with my charming Thai wife, and have been here since October 2008 and find Thai village life very, very acceptable indeed and very relaxing indeed.

I love the Thai people in the village and the Thai food which is so delicious and I think of the Thais as very genuine and friendly people. I honestly have not had any problem whatsoever and I just love the way I seem to have adapted to this wonderful lifestyle.

In addition I like to get involved with the local community in one way and another and although I have alot of difficulty with the Thai language, it does not cause too much of a barrier.

In addition originally coming from a very very congested London in the UK I find Thai village life so very relaxing indeed and so very very pleasant indeed. I am not anti any Nationality, and I know one can not put anyone in the same bracket, but I also enjoy living in a true Thai experience and it is nice not to have too many British people here.

I am not anti British though, but there are some anywhere who are undesireables, but this is the same everywhere.

Yes as long as I can be friendly, be happy, be friendly and just be who I am then I lead a most fulfilling life indeed and ofcourse the 2 Granddaughters, well trully amazing and also the children as a whole, so very wonderful indeed.

In addition as long as sometimes go to other places, then I am fine with it and very, very pleasant to return to the village and I know it would not be too other peoples tastes, but that is a matter of choice.

Yes what an amazing experience indeed.

[richieudon]

First of all apologies Kikoman and Editor

I accidentally posted on to your topic and very new to this email stuff .

Well anyway yes I have lived in a village, about 30 drive away from Kanchanaburi and live with my charming Thai wife, and have been here since October 2008 and find Thai village life very, very acceptable indeed and very relaxing indeed.

I love the Thai people in the village and the Thai food which is so delicious and I think of the Thais as very genuine and friendly people. I honestly have not had any problem whatsoever and I just love the way I seem to have adapted to this wonderful lifestyle.

In addition I like to get involved with the local community in one way and another and although I have alot of difficulty with the Thai language, it does not cause too much of a barrier.

In addition originally coming from a very very congested London in the UK I find Thai village life so very relaxing indeed and so very very pleasant indeed. I am not anti any Nationality, and I know one can not put anyone in the same bracket, but I also enjoy living in a true Thai experience and it is nice not to have too many British people here.

I am not anti British though, but there are some anywhere who are undesireables, but this is the same everywhere.

Yes as long as I can be friendly, be happy, be friendly and just be who I am then I lead a most fulfilling life indeed and ofcourse the 2 Granddaughters, well trully amazing and also the children as a whole, so very wonderful indeed.

In addition as long as sometimes go to other places, then I am fine with it and very, very pleasant to return to the village and I know it would not be too other peoples tastes, but that is a matter of choice.

Yes what an amazing experience indeed.

Are you by any chance Indian??

I say this because of the many times you use the words "indeed"

[dmax]

initially i loved villiage life after i had my fill of pattaya, bkk and phuket. first month was great , i loved getting up in the morning walking a couple kilo,s to the town and buying some fruit etc. but afetr a while i began to get very bored, everyone was asleep by 8 pm and i would sit on the balcony alone with a few beer but that was everynight then i began having a few beer just to get to sleep. what really annoyed me was the chickens and roosters waking me up at 2,3,4,5,am in morning ,maybe 20 roosters around my area, then the guy from the local ampur suddenly blasts out a song from the loud speakers just outside my door at 5 am when he does this i sometimes jump out of my skin with fright lol. i love the fact that everyone is friendly and the wifes family all take care of my baby girl etc but i didnt like the drunks coming around at night asking me to buy them lao kaow usually i would buy a half bottle for some of my wifes dads friends and him but it began to get a right pain in the arse. its it was hard for me to get into some kind of fitness routine, i jogged a few days and some days went fishing but over all i found it boring and i couldnt adapt well in the end, i built a lovely house in isaan and i will go back so hopefully next time i go up to stay i will have my internet in, my own bed, the interior of my house furnished and my garden finished , and hopefully next time i can commit myself to do some mauy thai boxing or some kind of fitness regime.

but i would say to anyone dont knock it untill u go up and try living there, it suits some but not others. u need a certain amount of " jai yen yen " ADVISE- get yourself a few pairs of earplugs before you venture up

Edited January 21, 2010 by dmax

[nasajsc]

I live in a small village going on 5 years now, I do not have the problem of being awaken by the speaker at 6;00 AM ,as I am up at 5 in the morning. If I had problems sleeping late (need of more sleep) I would go to bed earlier the night before, thus getting my alloted hours of sleep per night,This a rice growing village, and the whole village is up and working, a that time in the morning. I would not think of asking the village to change their ways to appease me. I chose to live there and not visa-versa. The smoke in the village is something ,I live with as part of the rice growing cycle in my area , two rice crops are grown each year,

I am the only falang in the village and I do not need other falangs so I can make friends! I have more friends than I need with my Thai friends, family and nieghbors.I occassionally see other falangs in Lat Yao and they do not seek any interaction and niether do I.

For food I like Thai food, and my wife has learned to cook Mexican food, So I have no problem in seeking Western food. also I make a lot of my own food, Kim Chee,Mayo,mustard dip for my chicken nuggets my wife buys frozen in Lat Yao, I make my own pizzas, pickled pigs feet, pickles, bacon, and have a ham curing now.

I find that village life is great for me as I do not need other falangs to make me happy. give the Thais a chance and you will find some very good, caring , understanding friends as I have. I do not go to any larger cities with a big expat population, except to Bangkok to get needed visa information from my Embassy and do some shopping for foods not available locally.

My wife has a large garden and grows a lot of our own food, we have all kinds of fruit trees that we get a lot of seasonal fruit ,what we do not have we trade with our family and friends.

I find falangs do not attempt to interact with Thais on a person to person basis, as a result they miss out on the opportunity of making friends with the local Thais, and fulfill thier social needs for friends or to try to change Thais into doing things thier way.

I enjoy my life as it is in my village, just like it is!

Cheers:

sounds like you have integrated really well into thai society, good on you mate.

Edited January 21, 2010 by nasajsc

[jhwest]

First of all apologies Kikoman and Editor

I accidentally posted on to your topic and very new to this email stuff .

Well anyway yes I have lived in a village, about 30 drive away from Kanchanaburi and live with my charming Thai wife, and have been here since October 2008 and find Thai village life very, very acceptable indeed and very relaxing indeed.

I love the Thai people in the village and the Thai food which is so delicious and I think of the Thais as very genuine and friendly people. I honestly have not had any problem whatsoever and I just love the way I seem to have adapted to this wonderful lifestyle.

In addition I like to get involved with the local community in one way and another and although I have alot of difficulty with the Thai language, it does not cause too much of a barrier.

In addition originally coming from a very very congested London in the UK I find Thai village life so very relaxing indeed and so very very pleasant indeed. I am not anti any Nationality, and I know one can not put anyone in the same bracket, but I also enjoy living in a true Thai experience and it is nice not to have too many British people here.

I am not anti British though, but there are some anywhere who are undesireables, but this is the same everywhere. No I am not In Indian, but English and where do I use the word indeed lol

Yes as long as I can be friendly, be happy, be friendly and just be who I am then I lead a most fulfilling life indeed and ofcourse the 2 Granddaughters, well trully amazing and also the children as a whole, so very wonderful indeed.

In addition as long as sometimes go to other places, then I am fine with it and very, very pleasant to return to the village and I know it would not be too other peoples tastes, but that is a matter of choice.

Yes what an amazing experience indeed.

Are you by any chance Indian??

I say this because of the many times you use the words "indeed"

[Lopburi99]

I remember your original post. Probably stayed in my head because we also live in the same part of Thailand, have a house a few Km's north of Sa Kaeo. However, I am still working overseas and visit our village every couple of months, with the aim to take early retirement in a year or two, and settle down permanently to "village life".

When I read your original post I thought, "oh my god, thats going to be me!" So, I am very happy for you that things seem like they have turned around. I also like your idea of spending 50-50 between village and farang resort, thats something I might want to do when the time comes.

The longest village stay I've managed on one stretch is about 1 month. Then I am eager to depart, if only to catch some proper farang food at the airport on the way out!

Which brings me to one final point - I would certainly appreciate it if you are able to give me directions to that little resort with the English breakfasts which you mention. By my calculations that would only be around 30-40 km drive for me to indulge in a decent cheeseburger! Bonus!

(7-11 hotdogs could be history!)

Cheers, and good luck.

Hi The little resort and restaurant is called SiiSan Resort and is located on hwy 317 about 5 km N of Wang Nam Yen. It is on the right side as you are driving south, and not difficult to miss but they do have a decent somewhat colorful sign. The resort (about 10 bungalows/pool/conference room and restaurant) is set back from the road down a narrow entranceway so you can't see any bungalows from the main road (317). In fact, there is a very old large barn-like looking building at the road near the sign which detracts from noticing the sign. Oh, one more thing. Driving south SiiSan Resort is just a short bit beyond a little bridge which spans the highway. There are several similar bridges, but at least passing over a little bridge will cue you to look more closely on the right for the sign. Tell the owner, Steve, Don sent you and says hello. Enjoy! It will be worth the drive!

[Kf6vci]

What about freely roaming chicken and cocks making a racket before the public announcements?

How about broadband?

These fires are a real PITA!

Chris