Village Life

[thaibeachlovers]

Moving to tiny village near Uttaradit as my wife has to look after her mum.

Been there before and the only English speaking person is my wife. While I may be able to learn enough Thai to have a conversation, worried about having enough to do to not be bored out of my mind.

Any others been in that situation, and found something to give meaning to life?

I don't want to spend my time boozing with the locals.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

PS. Due to general state of decrepitude, unable to do things that require much physical activity, though walking is OK.

[IanForbes]

The question is do you have reliable transportation? I've driven around Uttaradidt a few times while getting lost and didn't see much of any interest within walking distance of the main city core. It's a pretty sleepy city. Do you have any hobbies? I suggest taking up a few if you intend to remain any length of time in rural Thailand. I would be lost without my camera, laptop and art supplies.

Sirikut Reservoir is about an hour's ride from Uttaradit and it's quite nice for a visit.

[zzaa09]

I'm always shuttered towards this type that find boredom and irritability in the countryside village life.

Creating something that's really doesn't exist.

[tartempion]

At 6 am alternatively walk my dogs or bicycle for 1 h.

At 7 am I have breakfast and a shower.

At 8 am I read the crap on Thai Visa and other web boards.

At 9 I sit outside on my sofa playing with my ipad2 or reading a book (discovered lots of free downloadable books Gutenberg project) and read more crap on TV...

From there on my day varies, but am not going to bore you: I need to buy food, cook food, or go to a restaurant, watch the rice growing, play with the wife, all fascinating.

Speak English?

For what, with whom?

I speak French, German, Dutch, Thai but spoke enough to people in my younger years to shut up for the next 100 years, no need to listen to more bullshit and lies.

And I don't drink

Never bored.

Edited June 27, 2011 by tartempion

[gregb]

I envy you. I would love to give up the rat race of the big city for a chance to live in the village.

My suggestion? Study permaculture. Get a few rai and start to experiment. There is endless complexity in trying to design an ecosystem. And the end result is that you can become completely self sufficient in food, and take great satisfaction knowing that everything your family eats is all natural in addition to being free of cost. The amount of physical exertion you can tolerate will dictate the yield of your plot.

That's my goal if I can ever get where you are at today. You can spend decades doing it and never run out of new things to learn.

[thaimate]

When i go up country with the wife to visit her mum and brothers (both speak english) i usually spend a day in her sisters shop helping out ,this brings in lots of customers ,then for the next week i usually do what i always do ,climb the walls with boredom

[HeavyDrinker]

Don't live with the in-laws.

Have your own space where you are or at least feel free to do whatever you want and are in total control of your own movements.

One real problem that I hear from people who have made the leap is that they feel like they are over-run by the in-laws even if they are well meaning and can't establish their own routine.

To be honest, in this situation I'd be looking at whether or not it would be easier to move the mother-in-law to you and not vice-versa seeing as you already obviously have reservations about making the move.

Why uproot two people, one of who may struggle to adapt to life in a rural setting, when it would probably be a sight easier to bung the old girl into a charabanc and take her to wherever you are now?

Just a thought.

[Darrel]

........watch the rice growing......

Never bored.

I just lost the will to live.

[HeavyDrinker]

Not wanting to ruffle too many feathers here but I feel that most people who wind up in the sticks, bored out of their trees, do so through their partner's or their partner's family's requirements and not their own.

This may be a time for the OP to put the foot down.

While the rural life suits some and sounds attractive to even more, the reality is often as described here; mind-numbingly boring once the novelty has worn off, or simply too big a cultural obstacle to handle at one leap.

If you are doing this for your partner's 'sake' then my guess is that once the boredom is crushing you and you yearn to head back to more developed parts, then due to the tensions this will create, she won't be your partner for long anyway.

If you think you will struggle then say no. Pay for a nurse to take care of mother-in-law or another relative.

If you make this move for the wrong reasons no good will come of it and you'll be back where you are now in 6 months having wasted a load of cash and time and probably minus your missus.

[EnhancePlus]

Start breeding fighting cocks

[Beetlejuice]

Living in a Thai village community is the same as living among any village community anywhere in the world.

If you like the quite life, keeping yourself to yourself, not going out much and mooching around the local markets, then you should be happy living in a village.

[phutoie2]

I have a fairly simple solution, you stay at home and send the wife off on public tranport.

I put up with visiting the family village (not sure if you could ever call it a village, more like a collection of dwellings in a bamboo forest) .for some years and then out of the blue the wife declares "you not have to come, if not want too"

She now hops on the big bus/small bus/songtaew and is there as quick and cheaper than we went in the pickup.

I now remain behind with all my usual comforts of home- brill.

Oops, just re -read your post and it says moving, not visiting!!- apologies!

Edited June 27, 2011 by phutoie2

[villagefarang]

I hate to say it but HeavyDrinker is probably right. Get out of it if you can but at least express your concerns and say you will commit to no more than a trail period to see if you can adjust. One needs to be pretty self-contained and a self-starter in a village. The fact that you feel the need to ask us what to do is not a good sign.

I love living on the outskirts of a village, 50k from Chiang Rai, but our circumstances are no doubt quite different. If nothing else, you could work on your state of decrepitude. Good luck.

[johnboy3739w]

i couldn't imagine anything more boring....

i went to my ladies village for a week a month or so ago and was bored to death....

couldn't wait to get back to pattaya.................

[bermondburi]

Take up gardening. Things grow really well in Thailand so look on it as the oppurtunity to create your own jungle or whatever.

Car or motorbike is essential.

Learn whatever lingo they speak there.

Go to all the weddings / funerals / becoming a monk things / temple fairs / concerts that you can. You'll meet loads of people and you can practice your obscure local dialect that no one in BKK has a clue what you are talknig about .

Get a gun.

Kill all chickens and dogs on sight.

Get some earplugs. I lived in a village previously and it was the nosiest place I have ever lived. Much quiter in BKK ! seriously.

[dave_boo]

If you're a fishing type there's that...I'm not really mainly because I don't eat fish but I can while away quite some time just casting and reeling in the hook.

A motorbike to go out and explore is nice. If your physical condition allows it nice long rides can be quite calming.

If you want to do something interesting and have the time, following on my last suggestion, go around as far as you can and document all the temples in the area. A GPS and placemarkers, along with photos, on Google Maps is a good way to spend time and help others out.

Training the brain by learning the local language.

While technically illegal, spend some time at the local Wat/school and teach the kids English. Will gain you and yours big face in the community and will fill quite a bit of your time (if not test your patience).

Gardening has been mentioned, but can not be stressed enough.

[billd766]

Quite a few farangs that I know live out in the sticks like me.

Look at the suggestions and explain to your wife that you will try out the life for a time period of your choosing and if it doesn't work out that both of you will have to come to an arrangement.

Find a hobby or 2, get a camera as Ian suggested, consider buying a small motorbike and a cheap GPS and explore the area, get on the internet.

I have no phone line and use a cheap mobile bluetoothed to my laptop and use EDGE through DTAC at 213 baht for 70 hours.

Try a small veg or flower garden or perhaps if water is available try aquaponics and growing your own veg and fish.

I make my own bread, bacon and sausages and I also cook a lot of my own food, a sort of cross between Thai and western food, not because my wife is a bad cook (she used to own a small restaurant) but because I can do the things the way I want them.

Consider getting a dog as you can walk it and get exercise and if the food you cook is not "quite right" the dog will eat your mistakes and you will learn by them.

Find out where you will be living and ask on TV if anybody lives near you and perhaps visit them.

Contrary to several posters I only wish I had enough spare time to be bored. At the moment the weather is not always nice enough for me to ride my motorbike that far as I hate getting wet feet and the rest me doesn't mind.

Try not to let your in-laws run your wife and wander in and out of your house, fridge and beer stocks and you should be fine.

[fritter1970]

The missus comes from a village in Lampung.

She spent a few weeks there this year before and during Songkran.

After Songkran a lot of people return to their cities of employment.

Even the missus went nuts after that. Far too quiet and back to Chiang Mai she comes.

She also said it is impossible to sleep in as the village kicks off at 5am as everyone starts working early on the various farms.

I think that mother should come and live with you.... and if she has other family members in the village offer to pay the 5 baht it costs on a local bus to get to whatever city you are currently living in!

Good luck.....

[mizzi39]

i couldn't imagine anything more boring....

i went to my ladies village for a week a month or so ago and was bored to death....

couldn't wait to get back to pattaya.................

I don't live in a village, but i do live in a more "rural" area of Thailand. Personally, i can take about a day in Pattaya and then can't wait to get out of there. Can't imagine any place in LOS more artificial.

Edited June 27, 2011 by mizzi39

[toffo9]

When i get bored i just play with one of the girlfriends sisters.. she has 3 great fun ...

[wandrinstar]

Just refuse to Go.Its O.K if you get out to work everyday, but i hate a Day Off.Swiss Garden and New York Resturants are friendly.Thats it realy. A Crappy Lotus,nearest thing to 2011 is the Friday Hotell Shopping Plaza..Im off to Fun City when i can. Johnboys about right,you get bored.

[tomallison]

As a retiree I am quite content living in a rural setting. I live with a partner, and we each have our own transport. I would be lost without access to BBC and Internet, I make use of each 2 to 3 hours daily. The rest of the time I read or potter around in the garden. I like the occasional beer at home, mostly at weekend evenings only. We normally go to Town (about 35kms away) once per week for shopping and a eating out. I visit Chiang Mai and sometimes Bangkok every 4 or 5 weeks to change my books and do a little shopping. We have flights up and running again from Town. This makes travelling more convenient and faster of course. We visit Phuket and Pattaya, to see friends, about one time each year.

Nothing exiting, and a quite life, but this suits me.

[Thongkorn]

i know where the poster is coming from, I spent two months living in the Jungles of South Thailand a few years ago. At first it was great , I went to bed when it got dark and got up when it was light ,All the days melted into one .i did not know what day it was or the correct time ,But after a while it got tedious.you can only do so much , i use to go with my Thai friend to work just for some thing to do, he got about 300baht a day, He had to go to work ,I did not that put it in prospective , also Some of the Thai people could speak Little English so i learned a lot, about Thai culture and the way the live.I would like to go back to stay for awhile but i am not certain if i would want to live their along time. Maybe because i am an active person and cannot just sit and watch the world to go by and wait to die , thats only my opinion.

[inthepink]

I think it's a very personal issue. If you're worried about being bored and not really looking forward to moving, there's a good chance that you'll hate it. That doesn't mean that you're deficient in any way or that you are starting out with the wrong attitude, it's just the way you're wired.

I had to move to a place about 20kms or so outside of CM from Bangkok, I thought I would hate it and I do. Finally, after a year and 4 months, I will be moving back to Bangkok shortly and not a moment too soon for me. Some people, on the other hand, would rather cut off their left leg than live in Bangkok.

One of my main issues was that it was not a personal choice so I was irritated from the start, which I'm sure didn't help. I have a car so I'm not stuck here, I like photography, dabbling with drawing / painting and I read a fair bit but for me, living in a rural location in Thailand feels like being put out to pasture and I'm not ready for that yet. Maybe when I'm 60 I will find it more apealing, but that's not a given either. In fact if I went in for village life I think somewhere in Wiltshire or Somerset in the UK would be much better.

I once spent a year living in a very small village in Nakhon Sawan province and my only excitement was running away on my motorbike and visiting the local karaoke bars. Actually, being able to speak reasonable Thai at the time they were quite good fun but not everyboy's cup of tea I'm sure.

I like modern conveniences, supermarkets that sell Western food and a lively nightlife. If you don't need any of those, maybe you can enjoy village life, if you do then you probably won't. There was no braodband service where I lived either, which is a major bummer if you use the Internet a lot.

[Ricardo]

When I get bored, every few months, I grab my old rucksack & hop on the local bus & go off travelling, for a week or so. The North-West is really varied & interesting, I'd recommend Chiang Mai (for the tourist/expat-scene), Mae Hong Son or Pai, or head up past Phayao to Mae Sai & Mae Salong.

I'm pleased to go, and pleased to get home again afterwards, and it needn't cost a fortune.

Being near Uttaradit, there is always the train, too ! Why not check-out P'lok or Sukothai or Ayyuthaya, or catch the overnight-bus to Patters or Bangkok, the point is just to have a complete change from home.

This is your chance to do things which work always meant you had no time for !

And Mrs R equally enjoys a short-break, from me & the family, from time to time. Sauce for the goose, and all that.

[Kwasaki]

I'm always shuttered towards this type that find boredom and irritability in the countryside village life.

Creating something that's really doesn't exist.

Start breeding fighting cocks

Take up gardening. Things grow really well in Thailand so look on it as the oppurtunity to create your own jungle or whatever.

Car or motorbike is essential.

Learn whatever lingo they speak there.

Go to all the weddings / funerals / becoming a monk things / temple fairs / concerts that you can. You'll meet loads of people and you can practice your obscure local dialect that no one in BKK has a clue what you are talknig about .

Get a gun.

Kill all chickens and dogs on sight.

Get some earplugs. I lived in a village previously and it was the nosiest place I have ever lived. Much quiter in BKK ! seriously.

Absolutely classics best laugh today along with nitrogen in tyres.

[jamescollister]

I live in a village and have for some time now. Boredom can be a problem, rainy season is a bitch. Then you just have to sit and read and write crap on the net. The rest of the time if you have some money you can swim, fish, picnic and be a kid again. It's life and can be fun if you want to make it so. Jim

[thaibeachlovers]

Don't live with the in-laws.

Have your own space where you are or at least feel free to do whatever you want and are in total control of your own movements.

One real problem that I hear from people who have made the leap is that they feel like they are over-run by the in-laws even if they are well meaning and can't establish their own routine.

To be honest, in this situation I'd be looking at whether or not it would be easier to move the mother-in-law to you and not vice-versa seeing as you already obviously have reservations about making the move.

Why uproot two people, one of who may struggle to adapt to life in a rural setting, when it would probably be a sight easier to bung the old girl into a charabanc and take her to wherever you are now?

Just a thought.

Thanks but I can't afford my own space, and mum refuses to move anyway. Need to save money, so not against living in the country, just want something to do.

[thaibeachlovers]

I live in a village and have for some time now. Boredom can be a problem, rainy season is a bitch. Then you just have to sit and read and write crap on the net. The rest of the time if you have some money you can swim, fish, picnic and be a kid again. It's life and can be fun if you want to make it so. Jim

Sounds good! Thanks

[thaibeachlovers]

I envy you. I would love to give up the rat race of the big city for a chance to live in the village.

My suggestion? Study permaculture. Get a few rai and start to experiment. There is endless complexity in trying to design an ecosystem. And the end result is that you can become completely self sufficient in food, and take great satisfaction knowing that everything your family eats is all natural in addition to being free of cost. The amount of physical exertion you can tolerate will dictate the yield of your plot.

That's my goal if I can ever get where you are at today. You can spend decades doing it and never run out of new things to learn.

I'd like to garden. They have a big place. Only my decrepitude may restrict how much I can do.