Isaan Trip Report

[NanLaew]

Where they live is not far off a main road so the land is valuable. My wife showed me what they used to own and it was quite impressive or is that depressive? One of my wife's relatives just sold up some land split three ways, one million baht each although this did not stop her from putting her hand out at every opportunity. I saw plenty of johnny walker bottles abandoned in the yard. I don't know if the bottles are piled up in the front of the homes for the purpose of recyling later on or as a status symbol. overall the standard of living is not bad besides the bathroom situation and flies. the women are told what to do and when to do it and the young girls prounce around in tiny shorts and straddle the backs of motorcycles and float around the villiage with their jet black hair, smooth soft skin and piercing eyes and as they pass the young Thai men give them the most genuine smiles you will ever see.

i do not know what village you talking about in isan but for me my family and my friend and all in our village can not accetp this,,, better you choose your next wife more careful and come from a good village and good family then you will see people in isan very different. i'm interest in every bodys thinking on this?

I'm thinking you are way too much into your own "my shit don't stink" world... wherever that is in Isaan. Telling people THAT YOU HAVE NEVER AND PROBABLY WILL NEVER MEET that they probably didn't chose a good marriage partner is just rude.

[travelmann]

Having been ooooop there quite a few times id say the Op sums it up well, never met a lazier bone idle teen impregnating bunch. My wife is from there and works like a Trojan, she says she never wants to go back, she says this is how it is now, but not how it used to be when she was young.

Some do escape most seem to sit on their <deleted> p*ssing their lives away

Easy money gets them a scooter and associated BOOM BOOM stereo which is so "quaint" to hear around the village, id blow them all up, in fact recently whilst building a house down south a car came past with a row blasting out, I held up a make believe gun and shot the driver, the women builders thought it was hilarious and agreed .

The countryside is truly lovely though, if only they had'nt filled it full of pesticides so that all the things my wife caught and ate as a kid were still there.

Im still haunted by the brain dead gormless looks I saw in many of the faces, especially some of the young girls whose only future was to have a kid at 14-15, what a waste.

My wife thinks the same so you can go ahead and say how much Ive generalised.

Her best memory was the road outta there as she left at 14 to educate herself financed by working in real jobs not opening her legs for more "easy money"

[cardholder]

Where they live is not far off a main road so the land is valuable. My wife showed me what they used to own and it was quite impressive or is that depressive? One of my wife's relatives just sold up some land split three ways, one million baht each although this did not stop her from putting her hand out at every opportunity. I saw plenty of johnny walker bottles abandoned in the yard. I don't know if the bottles are piled up in the front of the homes for the purpose of recyling later on or as a status symbol. overall the standard of living is not bad besides the bathroom situation and flies. the women are told what to do and when to do it and the young girls prounce around in tiny shorts and straddle the backs of motorcycles and float around the villiage with their jet black hair, smooth soft skin and piercing eyes and as they pass the young Thai men give them the most genuine smiles you will ever see.

i do not know what village you talking about in isan but for me my family and my friend and all in our village can not accetp this,,, better you choose your next wife more careful and come from a good village and good family then you will see people in isan very different. i'm interest in every bodys thinking on this?

I think you are fortunate to have acquired such rose-tinted glasses.

[citizen33]

We all have a right to our opinions and the OP's account touches on a number of negative things about Isaan that won't be news to TV regulars. For myself though it comes across as a caricature of village life. I built a house in an Isaan village about 10 years ago, lived there and worked in a nearby city for 15 months, and since then have stayed about two months a year, with continuing work connections in the area. True, I don't suppose I would have picked that spot apart from my wife's wishes, but it is quiet, affordable and a convenient commute to a nearby work place.

It is true that the demography of rural Isaan is changing with an awful lot of younger people (of both sexes) moving to work in the big cities and many grandparents looking after grandchildren to compensate for the absent generations. This may contribute to the perception that a lot of people don't do much work, though I wouldn't say that is the case in my village, where several have public sector jobs and many work very hard indeed. Even given the seasonal cycle of agricultural work, there are a lot of farmers doing house buidling work during the quiet times, something that has been encouraged by the building boom in the area.

Regarding houses, yes, some belong to elderly westerners (like myself in a few short years, no doubt). But in my village there are four farang houses and at least twenty modern and well appointed, Thai-owned dwellings. The reason is the very advantageous loans available to civil servants, which can build an impressive house when say the husband is a police officer and the wife a nurse. And yes, as another poster said, almost all these homes have aircon in at least one bedroom - for the Thai occupants.

If you get to know certain government departments in Bangkok you'll find that quite a lot of educated Isaan people have gone on to do rather well. The region has a growing university sector and a lot of demand from local students for higher education courses.

All this being said, I have to confess that the prospect of mingling with a throng of inebriated farmers at an all-day drinking session of the kind common at a local wedding or wake does not appeal, but then a lot of the working villagers would feel the same way.

Edited May 28, 2012 by citizen33