Bored To Death In The Sticks

[MrsMills]

Thai people are in general. real nice, cool people.

If Thai people were the same as they are portrayed on ThaiVisa, none of us would be here.

[Moonrakers]

Thai people are in general. real nice, cool people.

If Thai people were the same as they are portrayed on ThaiVisa, none of us would be here.

You can't help yourself can you?

A complete change in subject just to say how lovely you think Thai people are!

[MSingh]

Thai people are in general. real nice, cool people.

If Thai people were the same as they are portrayed on ThaiVisa, none of us would be here.

You can't help yourself can you?

A complete change in subject just to say how lovely you think Thai people are!

I would hazard a guess that the lovely Mrs Mills is absolutely pulling one's Chain Mr Moonrakers, as " she " always does..

[ninjat]

Sounds like I'm not the only one who hates the sticks.

But how do you avoid going to the village? Any ideas besides just refusing to go?

I can btw. speak Thai, but you can only talk so much about what you are going to eat...

[MrsMills]

Thai people are in general. real nice, cool people.

If Thai people were the same as they are portrayed on ThaiVisa, none of us would be here.

You can't help yourself can you?

A complete change in subject just to say how lovely you think Thai people are!

Oh dear, another disgruntled Farang that hates Thailand but can't leave, LOL, WAFC!!

[Moonrakers]

Thai people are in general. real nice, cool people.

If Thai people were the same as they are portrayed on ThaiVisa, none of us would be here.

You can't help yourself can you?

A complete change in subject just to say how lovely you think Thai people are!

I would hazard a guess that the lovely Mrs Mills is absolutely pulling one's Chain Mr Moonrakers, as " she " always does..

I see what you mean.

[MrsMills]

Thai people are in general. real nice, cool people.

If Thai people were the same as they are portrayed on ThaiVisa, none of us would be here.

You can't help yourself can you?

A complete change in subject just to say how lovely you think Thai people are!

I would hazard a guess that the lovely Mrs Mills is absolutely pulling one's Chain Mr Moonrakers, as " she " always does..

So you would disagree with me ?

I live here and have done for many years, if I thought it was so bad, guess what ? I'd be gone in a heartbeat.

How about you ?

You talk a lot, you don't actually achieve anything, I achieved more than you because nobody takes you serious, people will at least respect what I am saying, spelling mistakes too.

Right come on, lets see ya. I thought so.

You anonymously slip into the background.

Pathetic, you wanna make an impression, make an impression, don't hide behind an imaginary wall, you'll be found wanting immediately. I hate these weankers

Edited April 12, 2011 by MrsMills

[wolf5370]

Luckily most of my wife's family live in the big city (BKK) - and I live in CM. Its usually them coming up here to visit me. One Grandmother though lives in Lampang, but out in the sticks. She has a lot of land, and lives in a fairly nice traditional wooden house, but lives very basic. Haven't stayed there more than a night for a while, but first time I went to visit we stayed a month. She had done up an out building for us to stay in, decorated, bed, curtains, etc - so hard to bunk out after one night or so. At first was great fun, drinking Lao Kow with the locals and watching them eat snake stew (caught fresh in the rice paddy). After a while it gets really boring. They didn't even seem to talk to eachother much, just sat and passed a single cup filled with the white stuff around.

I found the only book in the house in English (could speak a little mThai then, but could not read it yet) - it was a gay western (from a gay relative that now lives abroad but lived there for a while). As a straight man, it was quite hard reading it (very graphic), but I did. Mrs was in her element taking Yai out everywhere to buy new bits for her etc (she spent most of her young life with her Yai as her Dad was a naval officer and she was at private boarding school - so holidays were spent with her grandparents) - I was basically left alone or dragged around shops (via a 2 hour trip each way to central Lampang on motorcycle taxi and non-airconditioned minibus - this was June 1997 and very hot). We have been dropped off by family on their way back from Cm to BKK, so no car or transport at all. Mossies ate me aive too - and I don;t usually get bitten much. Drove me bananas.

One day some distant relatives (even wifey hardly knew) were coming over and a friend of mine (thai that I used to know from school in the UK) was also passing through on holiday. There were going to be about 15 adulkts. So, I went with the Mrs to the local "shop" - basically three tressle tables outside someone's house (7-11 had reached them yet!). On it were an assortment of fish, veg and rice in buckets. We had rice (I was informed), so wanted some fish (no meat there - but I don't eat it anyway so no worries). The fish were small, about 6 inches long and 1 inch wide, give or take, so I ordered 15. When everyone stopped laughing, we got 5 - that was all they had, for the whole village. Dinner still worked though as the fish was shredded and sticky rice and sauces were laid out - so it was a case of riceballs, spliter of fish and dunk in some spicey sauce - and Kai Jiow oily wok style. That was normal fare for the villagers - unless a snake was caught.

I would say though, that if I lived there, it would be copeable as I would have learned the local dialect and made friends and found local haunts and got an MC etc, but a for month "holiday" it was hell.

[wolf5370]

Thai people are in general. real nice, cool people.

If Thai people were the same as they are portrayed on ThaiVisa, none of us would be here.

You can't help yourself can you?

A complete change in subject just to say how lovely you think Thai people are!

As opposed to people changing the subject to rake over last year's political news.

[wolf5370]

Thai people are in general. real nice, cool people.

If Thai people were the same as they are portrayed on ThaiVisa, none of us would be here.

You can't help yourself can you?

A complete change in subject just to say how lovely you think Thai people are!

I would hazard a guess that the lovely Mrs Mills is absolutely pulling one's Chain Mr Moonrakers, as " she " always does..

So you would disagree with me ?

I live here and have done for many years, if I thought it was so bad, guess what ? I'd be gone in a heartbeat.

How about you ?

You talk a lot, you don't actually achieve anything, I achieved more than you because nobody takes you serious, people will at least respect what I am saying, spelling mistakes too.

Right come on, lets see ya. I thought so.

You anonymously slip into the background.

Pathetic, you wanna make an impression, make an impression, don't hide behind an imaginary wall, you'll be found wanting immediately. I hate these weankers

I think I found that spelling mistake

[IanForbes]

but any how: take care of the local dogs, look at peoples' gardens clean up the yard of grandma and grandpa (im dying to do that next time when we get to go), teach the kids to make pancakes over a charcoal and wood fire (camping style), make pita bread (same way), i dunno, id probably be bored in a city cause u need more money to go anywhere or do anything in a city. out in the sticks, there's always stuff to do that doesnt cost anything more then a smile and make some conversation...

bina

Good post, Bina. It mostly has to do with prior planning and knowing what to expect. It comes as a big shock when you discover there is no electricity or internet when you were expecting it. It certainly helps if you can speak the local language, but if you can't then anything more than a day can be very trying. I'm a hunter of big game animals in North America. To be a good hunter requires patience and a lot of waiting. It helps to know how to keep your mind active while doing nothing. I'm fortunate that I'm a writer and an artist. It doesn't take much to keep me amused. I almost always have a camera and I never run out of subjects to photograph.

And, like Bina says, if you look around you can ALWAYS find something helpful to do: fix a fence, clean up garbage, dig a garden or just play with the local kids.

[jazzbo]

Yes ... All it takes is a tripod and a camera with a 30-second shutter timer and you TOO can be your own favorite subject.

[thequietman]

are you nuts, there are loads of things to do in the sticks.

at 5:30 a.m. you get to listen to 10 mins of load music and then a message lasting 10 seconds from the village boss.

then when you try to cook breakfast, you get to throw the trip switch up and down in frustration because the power is off again. its calm, theres no wind or rain but if a gecko farts, its off.

when you are eating your dry rice with green stuff, you get to listen to a cockerel who crows continuously every 2 minutes for the rest of his life.

later in the morning, listen to the modified motorbike exhausts that sound like a harley is coming, whizz past your house all morning.

later in the afternoon get yourself a beer remembering to close the main gate to your home and the gate into the patio area. then watch as thai men try to scale the gates, making their way to you to help you drink your beer. all the time smiling. see the look on their litle smiley faces as you tell them to........get the f### out of my home.

spend 20-30 minutes in the later fternoon trying to tell some guy that you dont want to buy his crap. if that doesnt work, get wifey and let her spend another 20 mins trying to tell him the same.

later in the evening when you are getting your buzz of the beer, go the shop and stock up for the nite. when you get to the shop, take a mirror with you and look at your puzzled face as you see that all shope closed at 5 p.m and everyones gone to bed.

dont tell me theres nothin to do in the sticks !

[IanForbes]

Yes ... All it takes is a tripod and a camera with a 30-second shutter timer and you TOO can be your own favorite subject.

That is true, Jazzbo, but it's much more difficult to get good action shots by yourself. Besides, once you have a bunch of similar pictures showing the same territory then it gets boring and repetitious. However, it DOES show that you were actually THERE and took the picture. It all depends on what you need to sell a story to a magazine or newspaper. The magazines like to see evidence of what the writer is talking about. That is hard to do when you are travelling alone. That is why magazines often show pictures of one area wheile trying to make the reader believe they are somewhere else. I know hundreds of examples of that. Of course, now we are going off topic. The magazines I write for seldom publish simple scenic shots. They prefer people in their photos.

Last New Years we had a party with friends way out in the sticks behind Lamphun. There was no internet and not telephone coverage. We had to make do on our own and we had a great time. We stayed in tents on friend's property and woke up soaked with dew each morning and a few scorpions wanting to come in out of the cold.

While wandering around in the Thai village I got invited to join the local celebration and parade.

I even found a few fish in a local pond.

Life is just what you make it.

[MiG16]

Take some books to read

Teach local kids (and adults?) English conver. Help the kids with their school assignments?

Teach them how to make some easy farang food?

Play basketball / football with the kids?

Make them basketball hoop if they haven't got any?

Go jogging in the mornings

Teach the family basic accounting? Profit loss calculations and such....

Share recycling tips with them?

Learn how to cook local food?

Language exchange?

[GM1955]

I can't understand how so many Farangs that married HISO girls live in a backwoods village in Isaan.

Its like saying that men that married into hi society USA went to live in the wilderness of Georgia and met Banjo playing kids whose family members wanted them to squeal like a pig .

It just ain't gonna happen !

LOL.

[dumball]

It is quite simple really , my wife and I agreed that we would not interfere with each others religious or cultural way of life , nor would we expect the other to participate in each others religious ceremonies etc . The reason being that we had married each other for the person we were as apposed to the person we could change each other into , we only changed aspects of this to become compatible , we met somewhere in the space between us caused by these differences .

Six years together and only the normal couples disagreements have arisen , today my wife left to go to her village to be with many family members , some she had not seen in a long time , I was left with prepared foods and all that I may require for her time away .

The problems many have are due to not having arrived at a respectable compatibility that both can live comfortably with or not trying to understand the others point of view from THEIR perspective .

It takes to to tango , do not step on each others feet .

[guzzi850m2]

My wife also comes from Sisaket area and in her village they speak mostly Cambodian. When we pack the car in Pattaya before leaving I always check that my laptop/dongle/camera & books are loaded, I don't care about the rest.

I stress to my wife that 5 days is maximum I want to be away, so that is 2 days in the car and 3 days up there, I can live with that.

Yes the village chief's speakers goes off at app0530 in the morning, but the ducks and chicks have already been awake at roughly 0500 and so have I, LOL , so when the speakers goes off I am already sitting outside with a cup of tee and first fag of the day.

I enjoy the car driving up/down where we are driving though the beautiful Khao Rai national park, but for some reason we always seems have a shorter trip when homeward bound

[SteeleJoe]

It is quite simple really , my wife and I agreed that we would not interfere with each others religious or cultural way of life , nor would we expect the other to participate in each others religious ceremonies etc . The reason being that we had married each other for the person we were as apposed to the person we could change each other into , we only changed aspects of this to become compatible , we met somewhere in the space between us caused by these differences .

Six years together and only the normal couples disagreements have arisen , today my wife left to go to her village to be with many family members , some she had not seen in a long time , I was left with prepared foods and all that I may require for her time away .

The problems many have are due to not having arrived at a respectable compatibility that both can live comfortably with or not trying to understand the others point of view from THEIR perspective .

It takes to to tango , do not step on each others feet .

That's pretty much the way I see it and the way we work it here (though I don't have any religious stuff for her to ignore and I think I can try to understand her point of view and her mine -- but I;m OK with the fact that one or both of us won't succeed.)

So I too have a few days alone at home with loads of tasty previously prepared food stocked up in the fridge...

[jazzbo]

Re: Posts #s 72 & 74:

Jazzbo (George Burns): 25 word comment

IanF (Gracie Allen): 204 word reply plus 5 pictures

George B: "Say 'Goodnight', Gracie."

Gracie A: "Goodnight, Gracie"

[MrRed]

Take some books to read

Teach local kids (and adults?) English conver. Help the kids with their school assignments?

Teach them how to make some easy farang food?

Play basketball / football with the kids?

Make them basketball hoop if they haven't got any?

Go jogging in the mornings

Teach the family basic accounting? Profit loss calculations and such....

Share recycling tips with them?

Learn how to cook local food?

Language exchange?

I like your suggestions Mig^ LOL

The best way to not get bored is to get drunk every day the same as most of the men living their do.. other than that,go to the farm and work at your land and water skills,or teh garden with your pigs and chickens and ducks and fruit and vegatables,it actually helps you sleep at night.

Other than that play pk deang or rummy for 2/3 days endless and tehn sleep and do it again.

Having children is a good way to relieve the bordom too.

I was a fence once in Sa Kaeo province,loads of gold and chanoots that was always interesting.

Open a shop....i did that too ,,,,believe me that is not boring.....i used to water down the lao and laugh when they complained i short measured them and tehn they would want tick so i had two books the drunks book and the sober book.....

Fishing is great Cycling too...

Most of all the best thing is always expect something to happen it always does and is one of the nice pleasures of the village life.

[mstribling]

^ apparently drinking is quite popular as well.

Seriously. Just pick any activity and add fire.

[MiG16]

MrRed has some good ideas too

If u are gonna be there for weeks the shop idea could work well

Buy lots of every day supplies to sell. Set up shop. Assign a little space for kids to sit and do homework, where u offer to help them with English assignments. Or more formal lessons. That will bring u customers when parents come by to get the kids. And of course u get to help them and keep yourself occupied. Winners all round

[jonny48]

It is quite simple really , my wife and I agreed that we would not interfere with each others religious or cultural way of life , nor would we expect the other to participate in each others religious ceremonies etc . The reason being that we had married each other for the person we were as apposed to the person we could change each other into , we only changed aspects of this to become compatible , we met somewhere in the space between us caused by these differences .

Six years together and only the normal couples disagreements have arisen , today my wife left to go to her village to be with many family members , some she had not seen in a long time , I was left with prepared foods and all that I may require for her time away .

The problems many have are due to not having arrived at a respectable compatibility that both can live comfortably with or not trying to understand the others point of view from THEIR perspective .

It takes to to tango , do not step on each others feet .

make you right. i have been with my issan wife 13 years, we have lived in england for 6 of them years now in ubon( muang) she knows i dont like her village ,so she go,s on her own

[zzaa09]

It is quite simple really , my wife and I agreed that we would not interfere with each others religious or cultural way of life , nor would we expect the other to participate in each others religious ceremonies etc . The reason being that we had married each other for the person we were as apposed to the person we could change each other into , we only changed aspects of this to become compatible , we met somewhere in the space between us caused by these differences .

Six years together and only the normal couples disagreements have arisen , today my wife left to go to her village to be with many family members , some she had not seen in a long time , I was left with prepared foods and all that I may require for her time away .

The problems many have are due to not having arrived at a respectable compatibility that both can live comfortably with or not trying to understand the others point of view from THEIR perspective .

It takes to to tango , do not step on each others feet .

Sounds exceedingly social on your part.

[jazzbo]

For DB @ # 77 Yes ... whatever works for you and the wife but it sounds more like a UN Security Council Resolution

[dmax]

do not make the same mistake as me and build a house, yes i get bored to tears and it drives me to the drink , you need a hobby and some friends up there no doubt about it.

[dumball]

zzaa09 , It is nothing to do with being social , why does a person go any place he knows that he will not feel uncomfortable for a plethora of reasons ? My wifes family , even though we get along well with each other , are not my family , we do not even speak each others language other than her sister whom we sent to school to learn English to her advantage .

During occasions such as religious rites celebrations , I am and look completely out of place and feel like a spare penis at a wedding , I attend weddings and birthdays which I can feel comfortable with , but the rest means nothing to me and my wife appreciates this , bless her little cotton socks .

Please do not get on about learning the language , I gave up on that score many others have ..

[coolhandjoe]

I don't see how the villagers can do it.

They do. And usually very well. Content and happy.

Ignorance is bliss

[bdenner]

Has all to do with your demeanor, what you want out of life and upbringing. OK I’m 18Km from a larger town of some 45000 population with 3 Farang bars and 80Km out of Udon Thani. Close enough to be handy, far enough away for some solitude. I’ve enjoyed more than 10 years here and in no way bored.

A little farming and gardening, a few hours every morning on the PC checking on and adjusting my financial position and reading online news bulletins as well as persuing a hobby I do writing xml code. Into town every 2nd day or so for a few beers during the afternoon with the many Farang friends I have made from the outlying areas.

Prior to arriving in BKK (work related trip for 2 weeks that dragged on for 3 years) I had a hobby farm in Aust. enjoying the piece and quite of rural life so adaptation to the rice paddies of Thailand was easy.

BUT from experience it’s definitely not for everyone, seen many hasty departures!

Edited April 13, 2011 by bdenner