How Does A Farang Make Money- Isaan

[Vegemite]

Just a simple question from a lowly carpenter with a small pot of gold and without a rich father. Is a guesthouse feasible in an Isaan village? Any other options?

[Thetyim]

I would say yes.

But location and marketing would be of utmost importance

[Jai Dee]

Just a simple question from a lowly carpenter with a small pot of gold and without a rich father. Is a guesthouse feasible in an Isaan village? Any other options?

A guesthouse/resort would probably only be successful if situated right on or near to a major highway to take advantage of travellers. Most visitors to typical villages (in Isaan or anywhere in Thailand) would usually "bunk up" with friends or relatives.

/Edit - I'm having one of those terrible spelling days

Edited June 27, 2005 by Jai Dee

[chownah]

A guest house in Isaan is certainly feasible but making money with a guesthouse in Isaan is another question entirely. Does anyone here have any stories about how much money some farang has made running a guest house in Isaan? Does anyone here have any stories about some farang that went broke with a guesthouse in Isaan?

And since you describe yourself as a 'lowly carpenter' I will assume that you have no great desire or ability to run a business. If I am correct in this assumption then there probably isn't any way that you can make money in Isaan.

Edited June 27, 2005 by chownah

[Neeranam]

I have been thinking of ways to make some extra money.

In Isaan, things are dirt cheap. It makes sense to try and work for a company abroad, maybe using the internet.

I very much doubt if a farang can make money with a guest house.

Good luck if you try it

[Diggerbasher]

A guesthouse in Isaan would have to be near a transit point like Nong Khai town to get the flow of farang.Otherwise farang stay with the in laws for a few days or more.Out in the wilds you have no chance of making money,who is going to stay and why would they travel to your area unless it has a big cultural attraction.

There's a New Zealand guy in Nong Khai who has decided to give up and his Bigsnake guesthouse in the middle of nowhere is up for sale.Just never got any visitors except for two days of the year.

[Thaicoon]

Only one way of making DECENT MONEY in Essarn, is to buy a b-l-o-o-d-y good printer,

[RamdomChances]

A "falang" bar, resteraunt, you could spin off doing house rentals/sales car moterbike rentles, internet sell "falang" foods ect, It would have to be in a fairly big town with a lot of falangs though.... mabye somewhere like Surin

Actually If there was somewhere like that near me they would probably make a tidy living as people would drive from far around to go there.... mabye. The other option is cows.

[Sir Burr]

Just a simple question from a lowly carpenter

The other option is cows.

Wooden cows?

That wooden work!

Edited June 27, 2005 by Sir Burr

[dereklev]

Just a simple question from a lowly carpenter

The other option is cows.

Wooden cows?

That wooden work!

Very droll Sir Burr, very droll indeed! !

I also do not see how a guesthouse in an Isaan village would work.

Why would anyone want to stay there? ?

[frankafey]

What about a lake side resort? Isn't there a dam being built in the Sisaket area?

[Welsh John]

Lots of farmland.....High oil prices...Fast growing plants... Bio-Fuel.

[bina]

funny u all should mention but was talking witht he guys here along the lines of 'what if...' i.e. what if the kibbutz falls apart etc etc and i will be old with no one to support me... so two guys offerred land to rent, build a small thai style house, and do 'guest house'... i'll drag in all the israelis looking for cheap travel.... wont u all love me then 55555555....

one area near nong khai, the other near udon thani areas....i tell u all what...

u build the house... i'll find the israelis, u give me commission, and u deal with the tourists at your end... i'll deal with the flak when they come back home to gripe and complain (they always always do )...

just when i was getting excited about an idea.... havnt tourists discoverd issan yet?

[Wee Jimmy]

funny u all should mention but was talking witht he guys here along the lines of 'what if...' i.e. what if the kibbutz falls apart etc etc and i will be old with no one to support me... so two guys offerred land to rent, build a small thai style house, and do 'guest house'... i'll drag in all the israelis looking for cheap travel.... wont u all love me then 55555555....

one area near nong khai, the other near udon thani areas....i tell u all what...

u build the house... i'll find the israelis, u give me commission, and u deal with the tourists at your end... i'll  deal with the flak when they come back home to gripe and complain (they always always do )...

just when i was getting excited about an idea.... havnt tourists discoverd issan yet?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I reckon that if you don't have the money or pension to stay here you should not be here. 8 years ago there were only a couple of farang bars in Udon. Harry's', Erwyn's and TG's. Now there are about 20 farang bars. This is because there have been too many farangs coming on holiday and thinking that a bar is the answere to thier financial problems. In Nong Khai there was at the last count, about 26 bars. Again farangs coming to town and thinking they can scratch a living by opening a bar. In most cases it's a shack. Most of these bars whether it be in Udon or Nong Khai are frequented by thier rivals, who take alternate nights off to go and spy on other bars. About 1% of farangs make it with bars. If they are truthful they will admit it. Look at the amount who have packed in and went home,it's too many to remember. Many young guys come here and try to settle with thier "two week" holiday t'luck when they should be back in thier own country paying into a pension for thier retirement years. (The small head rules)

I have said this before and many of the older residents have heard it also. There is only one way to leave Thailand with a small fortune. The answere is to come here with a BIG fortune. If there was a fortune to be made in Thailand it would be made by a Thai.

I bet there is a bit of slagging about this. Be truthful before you reply.

[bina]

well since i'm female, and we dont have pension plans on kibbutz, and i dont like bars, and i have no money, etc etc etc... i was toying with ideas.... i've already told meadish i can do the 4a.m. milkings..i have hands on experience

then there's the idea of a goat farm...... never mind... when the time comes, if it does, then i'll have to look i guess... or else live like a poor issaan farmer, i'll have to practice chewing betel leaves w/o teeth

why would somebody spy on someone elses' bar, its not like hi tec espionage?!

[Wee Jimmy]

well since i'm female, and we dont have pension plans on kibbutz, and i dont like bars, and i have no money, etc etc etc... i was toying with ideas.... i've already told meadish i can do the 4a.m. milkings..i have hands on experience

then there's the idea of a goat farm...... never mind... when the time comes, if it does, then i'll have to look i guess... or else live like a poor issaan farmer, i'll have to practice chewing betel leaves w/o teeth 

why would somebody spy on someone elses' bar, its not like hi tec espionage?!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Bina,

You could make a pension plan. All the females I worked with had one but thats another story. Maybe if I were still young I would do as the younger generation is doing.

However, there is a goat farm about 1 klm from where I stay which does not make money. Infact they were giving goats away to farangs a month or so back. The feeding is too costly if you want to do it properly. Have you ever seen a Thai eat Goat? I have got to admit that the guy who was breeding them has not got a lot of ground for them to graze on. It's just a hobby for him. I tried to make money with ducks and again the feeding was to costly and the ducks were not laying so I had no returns. My wife went to feed them one morning and 70% were dead with a virus, the rest I disposed of. Regard to the spying in the bars:- It could be that they are out seeing the amount of customers other bars have compared to thier own amount of clientel. I have actually seen this and we all talk about it.

By the way, a lot of these poor Isaan farmers are not so poor as you and I think.

Best of luck on whichever adventure you try.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Just a simple question from a lowly carpenter with a small pot of gold and without a rich father. Is a guesthouse feasible in an Isaan village? Any other options?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nobody has mentioned the ownership issues.

[Wee Jimmy]

Just a simple question from a lowly carpenter with a small pot of gold and without a rich father. Is a guesthouse feasible in an Isaan village? Any other options?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nobody has mentioned the ownership issues.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry about that but I think it would be too lengthy a subect, we know the results of that....... We know who wins!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

and nothing has changed since you arrived in the LOS has it ?

[aletta]

Bina,i saw some large goat herds around the North Bangkok area roaming freely along the verges of roads ,probably catering to the muslims in the city.A goat farm could possibly also work in the far South.If you set up in Isaan you would have high costs to reach your market.

[chownah]

Bina,

The irrigation canal that runs by my property has the problem of weeds growing in it and along its edges. Could I tether a couple of goats along the canal so they would eat this vegetation? Would they more or less eat it all? Farmers do sometimes tehter cows along the canal but they don't eat most of whats there. I've heard that goats are not finnicky eaters. What do you think?

Chownah

[Neeranam]

Only one way of making DECENT MONEY in Essarn, is to buy a b-l-o-o-d-y good printer,

Very true, unfortunately.

Does anyone know of any farang that has made a fortune in Isaan?

I can't think of anyone, apart from my mother-in-law(Thai).

She has a kindergarten and night club ABS(not the same place) and other things going on in Khon Kaen

[Vegemite]

A guest house in Isaan is certainly feasible but making money with a guesthouse in Isaan is another question entirely.  Does anyone here have any stories about how much money some farang has made running a guest house in Isaan?  Does anyone here have any stories about some farang that went broke with a guesthouse in Isaan?

And since you describe yourself as a 'lowly carpenter' I will assume that you have no great desire or ability to run a business.  If I am correct in this assumption then there probably isn't any way that you can make money in Isaan.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

******** Have been self employed for years ********

[aletta]

I hear the Bigsnake guesthouse is up for sale,been touted around the banks in the area.

[Vegemite]

A "falang" bar, resteraunt, you could spin off doing house rentals/sales car moterbike rentles, internet  sell "falang" foods ect, It would have to be in a fairly big town with a lot of falangs though.... mabye somewhere like Surin  

Actually If there was somewhere like that near me they would probably make a tidy living as people would drive  from far around to go there.... mabye.  The other option is cows.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

**** What a great idea. Surin you say. Hmmmmm. *****

[RamdomChances]

Only one way of making DECENT MONEY in Essarn, is to buy a b-l-o-o-d-y good printer,

Very true, unfortunately.

Does anyone know of any farang that has made a fortune in Isaan?

I can't think of anyone, apart from my mother-in-law(Thai).

She has a kindergarten and night club ABS(not the same place) and other things going on in Khon Kaen

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My wife showed me an article in a Thai news paper, a long time ago about some german (I think) guy who had a 500 head dairy farm there (which would make him one of the biggest in Thailand after Chok Chai (3000 head)). He must be doing pretty good, I recon with 500 head he could be pulling in half a million bhat a month easy (profit).

Although he actually opened with a big herd so he was probably not short of money to start with.

[bina]

"pension plan": READ MY LIPS i live on a kibbutz, i dont get a salary, i am not allowed to work and pocket the money, and we are considered independants if we leave, therefore do not receive unemployment, etc.... we are land rich, money poor but the land is not ours to sell...

issaan farmers may be also (some), land rich money poor.... but more and more are selling up land for money which gets spent and then they have: nothing although out ward appearanes may be that they do have more than you think (big car fancy house and gold doesnt mean wealth in the bank!); i'd rather have a flock of healthy chickens /ducks etc for my own use

chownah and alletta... most goats do eat stuff cows and other grazers dont eat, and utilize what they do eat much more efficiently; u need more then one; they like to be in herds (two to five) w/or w/o male (dont need male all year, just for breeding); male goats up to 7-8 months are very good eating; females after giving birth can be milked up to a year if u dont breed again : enough for a family to make their own yoghurt, paneer, etc...

goats do roam more than cows etc so have to tether at least one or have someone keep an eye on them (hand raise and /or make one a pet , she stays close to 'home' and you, and others follow her lead...also, a goat left alone means a goat on the bbq of someone else fairly quickly (at least here in the mid. east)

i definately woudnt make goats a business in n.east thailand; i see from here that the amount of work to amount of milk/cheese makes prices very high. and meat, shipping etc definately a problem, also i suspect that most goat meat eaters probably raise there own (how much goat meat appears in restaraunts in the south?).. but definately for sustainable living i'd go for it

frankly i wouldnt look for a 'get rich' scheme but a 'stay alive subsistence level scheme'; my (long distance) partner is uneducated issaan farmer type with some land so unless someone has a really good idea for making money to live off of, my idea of ever living in thailand may not ever happen unless my teenage children do like old fashioned thai young adults do and go at to work and support me........

as RC says: the guy with big bucks is the one that started with big bucks and could afford to go big.... and get bigger

why is it so difficult to do B&B in issaan: i thought that people want ot see the 'real' rural ethnic thailand, live with the natives etc...??? surely someone who is, say, swedish, can advert in internet in home country for 'homestay' in rural thailand, etcs and make extra money from it?? i'm not talking rolling in the money, but 'additional cash' type thing ... like the clientel that is not looking for sauna, bar and jacuzzi but the more adventurous crowd that want to 'eat live and feel' the way things were... its the big thing here now: every other used to be farmer is doing a few 'a' frames, wife is cooking home cooked country farm fresh eggs etc... and city types pay a ton to feel 'rural'....

[dereklev]

A "falang" bar, resteraunt, you could spin off doing house rentals/sales car moterbike rentles, internet  sell "falang" foods ect, It would have to be in a fairly big town with a lot of falangs though.... mabye somewhere like Surin  

Actually If there was somewhere like that near me they would probably make a tidy living as people would drive  from far around to go there.... mabye.  The other option is cows.

**** What a great idea. Surin you say. Hmmmmm. *****

I guess that Lampard10 is incommunicado right now.....

I am sure he will have something to say soon.....

[RamdomChances]

chownah and alletta... most goats do eat stuff cows and other grazers dont eat, and utilize what they do eat much more efficiently

My cows eat anything, and the "thai" style Brahman/Sahiwal crosses are even better, I do agree on the efficency bit though.... although turning say 30kg of "food" into 20 kg of milk a day is'nt bad.

i definately woudnt make goats a business in n.east thailand; i see from here that the amount of work to amount of milk/cheese makes prices very high. and meat, shipping etc definately a problem, also i suspect that most goat meat eaters probably raise there own (how much goat meat appears in restaraunts in the south?).. but definately for sustainable living i'd go for it

If you do goats in Thailand forget about the milk/cheese unless its for personal use. Its the meat you want, there are 2 goat farms fairly near me, I was talking to the owner of one a few weeks ago, he was really happy with it. You dont have to worry about "shipping" as apparently "agents" come and but direct from the farm...all for consumption down south. With your knowlage of animals you would have a good head start here. It just comes down to the quantities you need to make a decent living. I know some chicken farms that only make 2-3 bhat a head on chickens (every 45 days) but if you have 100,000 of them its not bad, we used to deliver to a farm that had 150,000!!

why is it so difficult to do B&B in issaan

I think its viable as an "add on" to a buissiness, just for a bit of extra cash, but I dont think you would get the quantity of visitors to make a viable living from it. Thought about doing a "home/farmstay" thing myself a few times, but its not very high up on my priorities

[Diggerbasher]

I hear Chok Chai gets a shed load of visitors.Is that because of the size of the place?