Village Life

[HeavyDrinker]

However, what I would do is, develope orchards, of all types. Grow Mangos. Grow berries and make berry wines. Have a large pond dug and develope it. Get some chickens, pigs and cows. Build a very large garden incorporating the pond. Ride a motor cycle. Labor should be cheap and I would find a couple of good people to help me make my plan happen. Perhaps these paid laborers could be family members. Have a pool built for swimming laps. Plant all kinds of trees.

Dude. the geezer can't really afford to even be inn Thailand let alone do all that....

[sunspun]

I haven't read the rest of the reply's and don't know if this was mentioned but...

you could always start some sort of small business. it keeps you busy, and is a great way to get to know the local villagers and show the family you aren't lazy! growing and selling fruit, coffee, food, or some craft you are good at...

Contrary to popular Farang belief, the family (and whole village) is usually excited to have you stay with them, and if you are open and welcoming, they will be too! It is hard and awkward in the beginning, and I hated - HATED - when I first moved to the village with my husband. But, it's been quite a few years now off and on and his family treats me no different than any of the other in-laws, and I get along great with everyone in the village. Learning to speak with them is definately important. It will keep you from going stir crazy, and the novelty of you as a farang will wear off once they can speak to you and learn you are no different than they are!

And a word to the wise...the family WILL control your life there. It's just how it's done. What mom says goes. But that's not always a bad thing. Know when to put your foot down, but also set aside your pride and learn to deal with the Thai way. We don't always agree with it, but it makes your life a hell of a lot easiern not to fight it. And hey, if it makes your wife happy, and doesn't put you out, why not? She will appreciate your effort with her family..because it is the most important thing in her life.

[MAJIC]

Our Inlaws offered to give us, a very pictuesque 2 Rai of land to build a house on,complete with mature trees and a nice little stream running through it.

Knowing me it would have been a challenge to build the house amongst the trees,and would have been a perfect existence and satisfying for about 3 months once completed,then the boredom,lack of expat company,too much Thai food, no Internet,would set in,and drive me mad,

So before committing yourself to a prolonged visit to the Inlaws Village,make sure you have a good plausable,escape plan formulated,

by the end of day three you will probably need it,unless mind numbing boredom suits you.

Village life is not for everyone,and certainly not stimulating enough,for most Foreigners.

Edited June 28, 2011 by MAJIC

[Kilgore Trout]

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.

Suggest you read the book "Country Mouse, City Mouse;" perhaps you missed this one when you were in kindergarten

The individual, and their respected character, will always find boredom......regardless of situation or locale.

Whenever I see one of your posts the phrase "pseudo-intellectual" comes to mind.....keep at it zzaa zzaa

[gpdjohn]

quote]

Actually, it's not the quiet life that I dislike, just that Pattaya has spoiled me. The thought of never seeing those oh so cute laydees on Walking St again is a bit depressing.

If the village actually had a karaoke bar it wouldn't be so bad, but it's too small even for that!

I just think that if I don't have something constructive to do, I'll get bored, and that might cause a few problems with myself and the beloved, so I'd like to avoid that.

I see more beautiful and friendly "laydees" out here in the little village than I ever did in either BKK or CM. Stunning ones.

[Kananga]

If you have a very small budget it will be very boring.

However, what I would do is, develope orchards, of all types. Grow Mangos. Grow berries and make berry wines. Have a large pond dug and develope it. Get some chickens, pigs and cows. Build a very large garden incorporating the pond. Ride a motor cycle. Labor should be cheap and I would find a couple of good people to help me make my plan happen. Perhaps these paid laborers could be family members. Have a pool built for swimming laps. Plant all kinds of trees.

So the person who cant even afford his own space is supposed to buy cows and hire labor to dig him a swimming pool? And where exactly is he supposed to put this pool anyway? All in all great advice it has to be said.

[OlafStapleton]

Our Inlaws offered to give us, a very pictuesque 2 Rai of land to build a house on,complete with mature trees and a nice little stream running through it.

You sure they not let you build house for them on their land?

[billd766]

If you have a very small budget it will be very boring.

However, what I would do is, develop orchards, of all types. Grow Mangoes. Grow berries and make berry wines. Have a large pond dug and develop it. Get some chickens, pigs and cows. Build a very large garden incorporating the pond. Ride a motor cycle. Labor should be cheap and I would find a couple of good people to help me make my plan happen. Perhaps these paid laborers could be family members. Have a pool built for swimming laps. Plant all kinds of trees.

We grow pineapples, mangoes (makes good jam), star fruit (rot off the tree as nobody eats them), farang fruit which are nice, those pear shaped apple that nobody eats, jackfruit, pomeloes, and a few other fruits on 10 rai of land. 5 is rented out up the back growing man saparang and my mother in law who lives with us in a small house of her own grows man saparang on another 2 rai.

We have a fish pond BUT it dries out completely in the dry season and nobody on this side of the road has a borehole as it is hard rock about 1 metre down.

We have chickens and ducks and are looking for geese later in the year.

Pigs are expensive to breed and the return is not that high. Unless you know what you are doing and can be your own vet it can be disastrous as to make money you need a lot of pigs and a fairly large area to keep them. In addition to that pig shit can be hard to get rid off unless you can find someone who will use it as fertiliser plus bagging it and taking it away themselves.

Cows are even more expensive and need a lot more food. If you are close to a milk factory you may consider dairy farming but if you have never done it before it might be cheaper to burn 1,000 baht notes.

There are quite a few threads on pigs, cows etc in the farming forum but if you have never been a farmer before it is very hard work and not always brings a positive return on your investment.

'philliphn' has suggested a swimming pool which may be good exercise for you (as it would for me being 67, fat and unfit) and there are threads about the cost of swimming pools as well.

Living in the village is not always doom and gloom and I personally love it though it isn't for everyone.

I go to the big cities as little as possible and really can't wait to get away but that's me.

[thaibeachlovers]

If you have a very small budget it will be very boring.

However, what I would do is, develope orchards, of all types. Grow Mangos. Grow berries and make berry wines. Have a large pond dug and develope it. Get some chickens, pigs and cows. Build a very large garden incorporating the pond. Ride a motor cycle. Labor should be cheap and I would find a couple of good people to help me make my plan happen. Perhaps these paid laborers could be family members. Have a pool built for swimming laps. Plant all kinds of trees.

Thanks for the suggestions, but I don't think I'll be living there long enough to see projects like that through.

I might only be there for a few months, depending on what happens with her mum, who isn't doing well.

[thaibeachlovers]

OP - you are doing the right thing seeking advice on here. My fiance is from Uttaradit, I have been up to her village there twice before with another trip planned this weekend. I have been all over Thailand over the last 8 years(and the rest of S.E. Asia), lived in the country and the city, and have never been shaken by culture shock until I stayed in Uttaradit with the family.

It was a strange feeling, and I explained it to a friend as having the sudden urge to peel off my own skin and run away as fast as I could. Weird, he said that was his exact feeling when he went to his other half's village (not in Uttaradit). This was not due to any lack of hospitality on their part, or lack of language ability on my part (my Thai is not great, and they speak a Lao dialect, but I can just about get by up there) it was just a phenomenon I was unfamiliar with and was equally potent each time. Perhaps if I could ever have spent more than a day or two I would have got over it, who knows. But I am genuinely sorry to say I am dreading the next trip, as much as I like the family.

Hope you find some good advice on here. My ideas would be (sorry if they are repeats):

Get mobile, by whatever means necessary.

Find fishing buddies, and learn about the preparation and cooking of whatever you can catch there.

Take a set of boules or darts or anything that is easy and 'pleasant' to do in the heat and easy to teach others.

Get a daily routine together which might include simple yoga/stretching and meditation.

Look for other ex-pats up there and organise a weekly/fortnightly/monthly poker/movie night or something.

Stock up in Pattaya, up there they only have one Tesco Lotus, and it's probably MILES away from where you will be (everything seems miles away from everything else up there)

< My fiance is saying 'grow fish, fruit and chickens!' >

If all else fails, start drinking!

Good luck!

Loved your reply. It's one that I'll remember a long time!

[thaibeachlovers]

Update:

Have been in the village nearly 2 weeks. Had I not been serious with my wife, I think I'd have gone back to Pattaya a week ago, but couldn't bear to live without her.

Didn't realise just how much I'd miss English language tv, especially news.

Actually, finding something to do isn't a problem, it's the sense of isolation that is the worst. NO ONE apart from my wife speaks English. Everyone basically ignores me ( who ever said that country people are especially friendly? ). Also, there are a lot of family problems with the 2 young nephews that just don't behave very well ( my wife has had enough, so things are probably going to get pretty rough soon ).

The things that are worrisome is the lack of medical and dental facilities nearby. There is a hospital in the next ( larger ) village, but my wife had to wait over 7 hours to be seen about a minor complaint. For a dentist, it's a 3 hour bus ride to Uttaradit.

Compared to Pattaya, life is inconvenient-

nowhere to go at night ( bed at 10pm!!!! ), so my wife never gets dressed up anymore- shame as she looks really good when she does.

No convenience shops 24/7.

No good English language book shops.

Once you've seen the paddy fields and the temple, nothing else much to see nearby.

No fast food shops.

No walkable markets. Everything is a 10 minute m'bike ride away.

No supermarkets, and the local shops don't stock anything I want to do cooking.

Only one IT Cafe 10 minutes away ( on the plus side, it only charges 10 bht/ hr ).

The mossies are numerous ( an understatement ). One can kill dozens in an evening with one of those mossie bats.

No one ever said that the country side is so dam_n NOISY. It starts before dawn with the amplified monk chanting that goes on for ages, all the village cocks crowing, people filling up at the speaking petrol pump, dogs barking and fighting, unmuffled tractors bang banging down the road to the fields, trucks speeding through the village and the village headlady on the loudspeakers giving out info or something. Doesn't quieten down till about 10 am, but it's usually pretty quiet after that.

One bright spot is that there is a nearby restaurant that looks over the paddy fields, and it's drop dead romantic there as the sun sets over the hills. Cheap too.

So, time will tell how it works out. I'm either going to start enjoying it, or go to bed and stay there!

[bermondburi]

Update:

Have been in the village nearly 2 weeks. Had I not been serious with my wife, I think I'd have gone back to Pattaya a week ago, but couldn't bear to live without her.

Didn't realise just how much I'd miss English language tv, especially news.

Actually, finding something to do isn't a problem, it's the sense of isolation that is the worst. NO ONE apart from my wife speaks English. Everyone basically ignores me ( who ever said that country people are especially friendly? ). Also, there are a lot of family problems with the 2 young nephews that just don't behave very well ( my wife has had enough, so things are probably going to get pretty rough soon ).

The things that are worrisome is the lack of medical and dental facilities nearby. There is a hospital in the next ( larger ) village, but my wife had to wait over 7 hours to be seen about a minor complaint. For a dentist, it's a 3 hour bus ride to Uttaradit.

Compared to Pattaya, life is inconvenient-

nowhere to go at night ( bed at 10pm!!!! ), so my wife never gets dressed up anymore- shame as she looks really good when she does.

No convenience shops 24/7.

No good English language book shops.

Once you've seen the paddy fields and the temple, nothing else much to see nearby.

No fast food shops.

No walkable markets. Everything is a 10 minute m'bike ride away.

No supermarkets, and the local shops don't stock anything I want to do cooking.

Only one IT Cafe 10 minutes away ( on the plus side, it only charges 10 bht/ hr ).

The mossies are numerous ( an understatement ). One can kill dozens in an evening with one of those mossie bats.

No one ever said that the country side is so dam_n NOISY. It starts before dawn with the amplified monk chanting that goes on for ages, all the village cocks crowing, people filling up at the speaking petrol pump, dogs barking and fighting, unmuffled tractors bang banging down the road to the fields, trucks speeding through the village and the village headlady on the loudspeakers giving out info or something. Doesn't quieten down till about 10 am, but it's usually pretty quiet after that.

One bright spot is that there is a nearby restaurant that looks over the paddy fields, and it's drop dead romantic there as the sun sets over the hills. Cheap too.

So, time will tell how it works out. I'm either going to start enjoying it, or go to bed and stay there!

got to laugh about the noise thing. I did say in a previous post that the village was the noisiest place I've ever lived in . We moved to BANGKOK for some peace and quiet after two years.

[Thaddeus]

No one ever said that the country side is so dam_n NOISY. It starts before dawn with the amplified monk chanting that goes on for ages, all the village cocks crowing, people filling up at the speaking petrol pump, dogs barking and fighting, unmuffled tractors bang banging down the road to the fields, trucks speeding through the village and the village headlady on the loudspeakers giving out info or something. Doesn't quieten down till about 10 am, but it's usually pretty quiet after that.

Yep, when you have been here a while you do automatically zone it out, it does take a while tho'

I can sleep through most of it these days, it's most annoying when I'm outside enjoying a morning coffee in peace and some hawker in a pick-up with a speaker system the The Who would have been proud of shatters it completely.

[MikeandDow]

What is the village name ?????????????????

[Darrel]

Didn't realise just how much I'd miss English language tv, especially news.

Satellite would solve that problem.

For the rest I dont think there is a solution.

[Shotime]

I thought I had posted here before, but I couldn't find it.

In any case, learn how to play "village" rummy. There's always a game at someones home. Whether you like gambling or not, you can meet a lot of 40ish year old women. Do what the villagers do. Eat, sleep, fukc, watch TV, fish, sweat, etc.

[TenDreams]

I just got back from my few days in Uttaradit...could write a LONG report on that one!

If you will be there for a while and haven't already, check out a village/town(?) called Laplae, and a nice restaurant there called Mon Laplae - really beautiful and good food. Also nice new guesthouse there, just 450 a night.

As for the village life....another suggestion- by an air rifle and shoot, cook, share and eat anything that moves! That seemed to be the done thing.

[F1fanatic]

I just got back from my few days in Uttaradit...could write a LONG report on that one!

If you will be there for a while and haven't already, check out a village/town(?) called Laplae, and a nice restaurant there called Mon Laplae - really beautiful and good food. Also nice new guesthouse there, just 450 a night.

As for the village life....another suggestion- by an air rifle and shoot, cook, share and eat anything that moves! That seemed to be the done thing.

Yes, that's probably why so much wild-life is pretty much extinct.

[Darrel]

In any case, learn how to play "village" rummy. There's always a game at someones home. Whether you like gambling or not, you can meet a lot of 40ish year old women. Do what the villagers do. Eat, sleep, fukc, watch TV, fish, sweat, etc.

So you're suggesting that I could move to the sticks, start gambling and drinking heavily, and sleep with a load of sweaty old trouts?

Do I slit my own throat before or after?

[Shotime]

After or whatever suits you.

Funny.

I'm not suggesting anything, though. The OP was asking for advice. I spent a month (which seemed like a year) in a small village about a 3 hour ride from Bangkok. There were no restaurants or anything else except for a Temple. Nobody spoke English (except for the woman I was living with), and I could never learn to speak Thai. Unfortunately.

I was surrounded by her family, and they wanted to take me to visit another English speaking whatever. So it wasn't like they were inhospitable. If I didn't have the capability to leave, I guess I would have.....

I'm not sure 40 is an "old trout," but anyone under 40 looks 20 to me. I wasn't quite ready to slit my throat, but I couldn't last there being a city-rat my whole life.

I never said anything about drinking, but you're right. It's not everybody, but it is most definitely a pastime for some. You may want to suggest that to the OP.

[David006]

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

seconded Jim.

...and all those books you never had time to read especially now it's raining so much.

...I am actually learning about that boring Geography and History that I never paid attention to at school..amazing and interesting stuff.

Also do a lot of gardening and ..f..g weeding....she instructs I weed...

...to the poster who makes sausages...what do you use for skins,how do you grind the meat, recipes...love to be able to make Boer Vors?? ( yup can see some of the responses already)

...Gotta go and stick my bread in the toaster oven now, then try and fix the seven things that "broke" this week...lol

[phutoie2]

I just got back from my few days in Uttaradit...could write a LONG report on that one!

If you will be there for a while and haven't already, check out a village/town(?) called Laplae, and a nice restaurant there called Mon Laplae - really beautiful and good food. Also nice new guesthouse there, just 450 a night.

As for the village life....another suggestion- by an air rifle and shoot, cook, share and eat anything that moves! That seemed to be the done thing.

Yes, that's probably why so much wild-life is pretty much extinct.

Take up cutting down trees too!, that's what the locals do here, lovely mature trees hacked down for selling charcoal.

Don't see much replanting either.

[TenDreams]

Sorry,should have taken the extra few seconds to add whatever emoticon is used to make it clear that the air rifle comment was a JOKE...i thought it was obvious enough...

[92302]

Grow vegetables or become one.

[thaibeachlovers]

Didn't realise just how much I'd miss English language tv, especially news.

Satellite would solve that problem.

For the rest I dont think there is a solution.

As I hope we won't be staying more than 4 or 5 months, I'm reluctant to invest a lot in something only of use to myself. However, if the current plan A doesn't work out, and I end up staying here indefinitely, I think that a satellite system will become a necessity. In the meantime, I brought some very boring books that will occupy some time to read, and there's always gardening if the rain allows. Otherwise, I've a few thousand photos to edit and hopefully upload some of to the gallery.

Thanks for all the contributions.

[thaibeachlovers]

I just got back from my few days in Uttaradit...could write a LONG report on that one!

If you will be there for a while and haven't already, check out a village/town(?) called Laplae, and a nice restaurant there called Mon Laplae - really beautiful and good food. Also nice new guesthouse there, just 450 a night.

As for the village life....another suggestion- by an air rifle and shoot, cook, share and eat anything that moves! That seemed to be the done thing.

Checked out Lap Lae. You had it easy- only a little way to Uttaradit. I'm a 3 hour bus ride in the sticks.

If anyone gets lost ( only reason to be there I can think of, unless married to a local ) and ends up in Fak Tha, north east of Uttaradit, there is a lovely little restaurant about 5 minutes north by the paddy fields. Had dinner there last night ( the only excuse there is here for herself to dress up ), and it was jaw droppingly beautiful as the sun set over the hills. Only 100 bht for dinner for two. Good food too.

I was thinking, as I looked out over the ricepaddy, that I could have been looking at the same scene 200 years ago ( apparently that is when the area was settled by Lao immigrants ). There was nothing to see that was modern.

[billd766]

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

seconded Jim.

...and all those books you never had time to read especially now it's raining so much.

...I am actually learning about that boring Geography and History that I never paid attention to at school..amazing and interesting stuff.

Also do a lot of gardening and ..f..g weeding....she instructs I weed...

...to the poster who makes sausages...what do you use for skins,how do you grind the meat, recipes...love to be able to make Boer Vors?? ( yup can see some of the responses already)

...Gotta go and stick my bread in the toaster oven now, then try and fix the seven things that "broke" this week...lol

'Twas I that wrote about sausages.

When I was working in NZ I bought a George Foreman meat grinder and sausage maker something like these

http://shop.ebay.com.au/sis.html?_nkw=MEAT+MINCER+SAUSAGE+MAKER+GEORGE+FOREMAN+700W+MOTOR

and it works well. The sausage skins I got from a guy who has since gone back to the UK I think but if you look up western foods on TV and search for sausage making you should get a fair few hits on how to make sausages and where to get the skins from.

Verasu in Wireless road Bangkok has this

http://www.verasu.com/product_detail.php?pid=493

and I am sure that a big store like Central, Powerbuy or perhaps Makro will have something similar.

I usually print out the webpage with a picture which helps a lot as my Thai is not that good.

If you would like to pay for my ticket I am willing to pop over to NZ on your behalf.

Cheers

and I am sure that

[Thongkorn]

Grow vegetables or become one.

Goodie can i be a couch potato,

The simple thing is you have to have interests, after a while, the time slips into day and night , The days just roll by.

[thaibeachlovers]

Grow vegetables or become one.

Goodie can i be a couch potato,

The simple thing is you have to have interests, after a while, the time slips into day and night , The days just roll by.

I'd have to be a "bed" potato as they don't have couches in my wife's house.

If I hadn't brought my own table and chair I'd be in trouble, as they sit on the floor.

[David006]

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

seconded Jim.

...and all those books you never had time to read especially now it's raining so much.

...I am actually learning about that boring Geography and History that I never paid attention to at school..amazing and interesting stuff.

Also do a lot of gardening and ..f..g weeding....she instructs I weed...

...to the poster who makes sausages...what do you use for skins,how do you grind the meat, recipes...love to be able to make Boer Vors?? ( yup can see some of the responses already)

...Gotta go and stick my bread in the toaster oven now, then try and fix the seven things that "broke" this week...lol

'Twas I that wrote about sausages.

When I was working in NZ I bought a George Foreman meat grinder and sausage maker something like these

http://shop.ebay.com.au/sis.html?_nkw=MEAT+MINCER+SAUSAGE+MAKER+GEORGE+FOREMAN+700W+MOTOR

and it works well. The sausage skins I got from a guy who has since gone back to the UK I think but if you look up western foods on TV and search for sausage making you should get a fair few hits on how to make sausages and where to get the skins from.

Verasu in Wireless road Bangkok has this

http://www.verasu.com/product_detail.php?pid=493

and I am sure that a big store like Central, Powerbuy or perhaps Makro will have something similar.

I usually print out the webpage with a picture which helps a lot as my Thai is not that good.

If you would like to pay for my ticket I am willing to pop over to NZ on your behalf.

Cheers

and I am sure that

no worries think air transport to NZ may be ot of my pay scale..yeees...but thanks for the info..

thx

david