What Do You Guys Do Up North ?

[skylar]

I noticed recently that TAT placed Ubon on its list of major destinations on its website. Also, the Australian Government has been placing its employees in Ubon recently... is there an official Ubon initiative going on?

[phibunmike]

I noticed recently that TAT placed Ubon on its list of major destinations on its website. Also, the Australian Government has been placing its employees in Ubon recently... is there an official Ubon initiative going on?

- and what do the Australian gvt. employees do when they get here ? What department are they from ?

[skylar]

I noticed recently that TAT placed Ubon on its list of major destinations on its website. Also, the Australian Government has been placing its employees in Ubon recently... is there an official Ubon initiative going on?

- and what do the Australian gvt. employees do when they get here ? What department are they from ?

Don't know, I saw it on some government website about positions being filled there and other parts of Issan for last year and this year... so that is why I am wondering. Something worthwhile for the good of the region, I'd imagine...

[Martin]

Did any more come of that Australian Government project?

As to doing things up North, I cannot think of anything worthwhile that one CAN'T do up here.

We even have an inland sea (or two or three, maybe, from what I see on the map).

For myself, I am doing a retiree's MA at Khon Kaen University.

I would be interested to hear from anyone whose Thai wife is with him in the West and who plans to retire to the wife's girlhood village about what they think they may do in retirement here.

[chownah]

I've already retired to my wife's girlhood village and I'm a farmer.

Chownah

[TBWG]

I have been thinking of moving away from Pattaya. My Reason being it is cheaper to buy land and a house up there. But what would i do with my time and how would i keep the family off my back.

What do you guys do ?. Is their a farang scene or do you end up becoming reclusive.

cheers.

Hi Justsignedin

Despite picture which I point out is posed I seem to be busy each day always something to do ... but out of choice not necessity

TBWG

[jps55]

I have been thinking of moving away from Pattaya. My Reason being it is cheaper to buy land and a house up there. But what would i do with my time and how would i keep the family off my back.

What do you guys do ?. Is their a farang scene or do you end up becoming reclusive.

cheers.

please look my blog about isaan and sung sang, then you understand

[ray23]

Simple answer most of us do what we want when we want. How to you keep the family off your back, simple don't move to thier village Issan is a big place.

Thier a lot of places wehre you can find most of what you find in Pattaya, Udon being just on a smaller scale, no problem finding farrrangs the problem after you adjust becomes avoiding them LOL

If get real bored remember the road goes both ways and yuo can visit the old stomping grounds anytiem you want to.

PMost of my time is tied up with bowling, bike touring and Thai Lessons. You make out of waht yuo want. But if partying is what you really want then your better off to stay right where yuo are, nothing here compares to that.

[glenbat]

Cant really tell you what I do up north just yet, as I'm not fortunate enough to be there.... But I plan to fill my days with the following:

Wake up when I can no longer sleep

Laze around all day, maybe go for a walk if I'm feeling energetic

Go to bed when I'm tired

And I am so looking forward to it you have no idea!

[glenbat]

Weekends are usually a movie downtown, a treat at KFC, some shopping, and church with some American friends to keep in touch with the West. Some weekends I just get on a bus (or take my motorcycle) and hit the road with my camera and diary. I love camping, finding remote temple ruins, hiking, and exploring little villages and getting to know the locals. My friends and family back home eagerly wait for my on-line blog which recounts my life and adventures here.

I've been here for over three years, and have never had so much fun in all my previous life. (which included banking, an export business, and world-wide travel).

I went from a fast urban American environment, making USD$60K+ annually, to an Isan university town, making USD$8K a year.* All my needs are cared for, and most of my wants. In the USA I saved less than 10% of my monthly salary. Here, I save 60% of it. I discovered that being rich is not about what you have; it's about what you don't need.

I find in Isan a rich culture, a convenient base for travel to surrounding Thailand and other countries, and a wonderfully fulfilling life in the academic arena--working with bright, energetic and appreciative young Thai adults.

I so much agree with previous posters---life ANYWHERE is what you make it. It's only as exciting as your interests and *willingness to take risks.

Toptuan I think thats probably the best post I've ever read. Good on ya

[phibunmike]

I was VERY interested in a fish pond. That sounds well and good EXCEPT you have to find someone who knows what he is doing to build a pond. There are several quite deep ponds in the area that simply don't hold water. The soil has to have a high clay content. Sandy and rocky ground won't work.

We have a decent sized fish pond (about 20m x 30m) in the garden; we stocked it wih Pla Nin and Pla-something-else. Another smaller pond has cat fish (separate because they would eat the babies of the others).

The fish are delicious, we don't sell them, just share them with the family - who also help taking care of them.

The only problem now is that, as they are getting larger, my wife says it is not good to kill them...

Cheers,

Mike

[ray23]

Cant really tell you what I do up north just yet, as I'm not fortunate enough to be there.... But I plan to fill my days with the following:

Wake up when I can no longer sleep

Laze around all day, maybe go for a walk if I'm feeling energetic

Go to bed when I'm tired

And I am so looking forward to it you have no idea!

Well good luck same plan I have doesn't seem to work out that way I do nothing and don't have enough time to finish it. LOL

[glenbat]

Well good luck same plan I have doesn't seem to work out that way I do nothing and don't have enough time to finish it. LOL

I can actually imagine that.. weird though it may seem I dont think there'll be enough hours in the day to do nothing too

If you need a hand, if things get too much be sure to let me know ok? I'll hapily come and laze around all day on your behalf while you get your bits done lol

[dukkha]

I may be wrong but that symbol has its origins in Hinduism, when I saw a guy wearing one, immediately thought of the swastika but think you will find it is not so...will stand corrected on that point however...Bali is where I first saw it and was told its origins Dukkha

Then, I found out, none of them has ever heard of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.

I gave up when I found out that none of them has ever heard of Microsoft.

I enquired about Adolf Hitler in my ex gf's village, never heard of him!...one of the kids was playing football in the street with a swastika logo on his t-shirt

[phibunmike]

I may be wrong but that symbol has its origins in Hinduism, when I saw a guy wearing one, immediately thought of the swastika but think you will find it is not so...will stand corrected on that point however...Bali is where I first saw it and was told its origins Dukkha

Then, I found out, none of them has ever heard of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.

I gave up when I found out that none of them has ever heard of Microsoft.

I enquired about Adolf Hitler in my ex gf's village, never heard of him!...one of the kids was playing football in the street with a swastika logo on his t-shirt

Correct, and it is called the swastika even then. For example, there is a school in Singapore called the "Red Swastika School", and I have a seen a charity with "swastika" in its name.

I think you will find the arms go the other way, if you know what I mean

[Thaddeus]

Cant really tell you what I do up north just yet, as I'm not fortunate enough to be there.... But I plan to fill my days with the following:

Wake up when I can no longer sleep

Laze around all day, maybe go for a walk if I'm feeling energetic

Go to bed when I'm tired

And I am so looking forward to it you have no idea!

Well good luck same plan I have doesn't seem to work out that way I do nothing and don't have enough time to finish it. LOL

How true.

There is an old saying....... "the work expands to fill the day" ...... the LOS version is "the work expands to 110% of the available time"

Take for example, laundry..... that particular task falls to me. If I leave it for a day or two it is a full time job (don't use the word job Thad, no WP).... today I thought I would get on top of it and only had two loads to do, the last one is still hanging out, has been for hours, I'll sort it in the morning

[Martin]

There is a conspiracy to make us talk ourselves into being over-busy.

There should be a ban on all words that have more than half the urgency conveyed in the word "Manana".

[ray23]

Cant really tell you what I do up north just yet, as I'm not fortunate enough to be there.... But I plan to fill my days with the following:

Wake up when I can no longer sleep

Laze around all day, maybe go for a walk if I'm feeling energetic

Go to bed when I'm tired

And I am so looking forward to it you have no idea!

Well good luck same plan I have doesn't seem to work out that way I do nothing and don't have enough time to finish it. LOL

How true.

There is an old saying....... "the work expands to fill the day" ...... the LOS version is "the work expands to 110% of the available time"

Take for example, laundry..... that particular task falls to me. If I leave it for a day or two it is a full time job (don't use the word job Thad, no WP).... today I thought I would get on top of it and only had two loads to do, the last one is still hanging out, has been for hours, I'll sort it in the morning

How true we hired a full time housekeeper for those aspects. I think what I need to do is hire a village guy full time to do my nothing, then I will have arrived at the image of Issan life and still be happy being me. LOL

[Thaddeus]

I think what I need to do is hire a village guy full time to do my nothing, then I will have arrived at the image of Issan life and still be happy being me. LOL

Hmmmm ...... hadn't thought of that one.

Hire someone to do my nothing for me, that way he will be the one doing nothing, and I won't feel guilty because I'm paying him to do it.

That just may work.

[dumspero]

Great read! Even had the sumo poster for a diversion from the informative posts.

I'm one of the ones still working on moving full time to Thailand. Am considering moving to Isaan, not the little village in Mahasarakham where my better half is from, but maybe something a little closer to Korat and the mountain area there. Do wonder though whether it wouldn't be easy, for me anyway, to slide into too many Changs too often.

Drawing the line with the family is easily said and tough to do in my opinion. My last time around (a 15 year deal with a woman from pak glang), it was the common story of me drawing a line, the in-laws crossing it and then me promptly, firmly, politely and unsuccessfully drawing another line... To me, it's just tough when one works in the West and makes a relative fortune and the in-laws basically have nothing in comparison. Suppose once one is down to a retirement income it's easier to get the "firm" part right, though--I hope so.

Cheers.

[Thaddeus]

Do wonder though whether it wouldn't be easy, for me anyway, to slide into too many Changs too often.

It's a very easy trap to fall into, I did.

When I first moved here, it was the start of silly season. Hardly a day went by when someone wasn't having a party, a wedding, a funeral or a young lad off to the Wat for the 15 day 'holiday'

All the parties either start very early or are round the clock drinking and eating, I have loads of photographs from the period but my memory has some very large gaps. After a few months I realised that if I kept it up, I was heading for a motorcy accident or liver failure and now, drinking during the day is a complete no-no and drinking in the evening is in moderation.

Unfortunately, for them, some ex-pats have yet to learn this lesson.

[ray23]

The photo is from Saturday riding on the Korat platue, one guy is from Britan another from France and three Americans. Absolutley beautiful country.

The booze that can be a huge problem, but this area is really no different then living anywhere else. It is really up to you to find the things you enjoy. The fun is the search, once you've done that you will busier then you can possibly imagine. When I first came here I was single also I was out in the night life and drink some them, now it is very rare. But that was what I wanted. as they say around here UP To You.

Family can't offer much help on that a we don't live close to them, so that may be the answer. From what I've seen that can be very difficult on you and your wife.

I've only visited Korat a few times but it certainly doesn't resemble a sleepy village. So ther shoud be lots of acitivites there, huge mall that has bowling, I have seen Muay Thai boxing there. I know there are motorcycle groups that ride out of there. Great way to tour the country side and enjoy other peoples company. But that is another one of those things that I enjoy not everyone does and I certainly never drink when I ride. Having to much fun to cut it short. Of course in one from or another I ride eveyday, not much time for bars LOL

Edited February 12, 2007 by ray23

[glenbat]

ray

I'll be following your posts I'm hoping to make the move out to LOS sometime over the next couple of years and am a keen biker too, havent visited Isaan yet but have strangely already fallen in love with the place

May get to Isaan somewhere later this year for a few weeks to see what its like, and am thinking of seeing some parts of it by bike

I too will be coming over as a single person so its good to know theres some nightlife and drinking places, but also thousands of rai of undisturbed countryside too

Looking forward to the simple life already...

[dumspero]

ray- great photo and input, thanks.

[Martin]

For those of us "Up North" in the villages, I believe that it is in our own interests to be that extra bit careful to behave quite decorously. For me, that means NO drinking beer etc in public.

I found that Thais have an image of farangs as being quite 'low' men, with the proviso that 'good' farangs do exist, but are few and far between. So I worked hard at such things as always wearing trousers, socks and shoes in public (no shorts, bare feet, or sandals), and sticking to nam pao or Sprite or Coke in public.

After about five years, I found it was paying off in the that I bcame viewed favourably by the local "higher ups" and invited to sit with them at official ceremonies. That sounds to be a very minor thing, but it is noticed big way, as a 'stamp of approval'. (And my wife gets told:"Your husband not same as farang, more same as 'high' Thai".)

This is a hierarchical society, and (although it 'goes against the grain' of so much that we were led to believe was fundamental in the egalitarian societies in which we were brought up) we cannot sensibly hold out against the hierarchical mindset without ending up unaccepted.

[dumspero]

Martin- Interesting. The problem with that for me is I want to enjoy all the 'low' farang things: wearing t-shirt, shorts and zories; drinking beer when I want, etc.

Sure, we each have to find our own way as long as we're not hurting anyone else, but I can't see restricting myself to that extent to societal expectations. A large part of the reason I left the US is I didn't care to conform to expectations about dress, etc.

Today I'm headed to a wedding and sure, I'll wear pants, socks, shoes and even a tie, but the majority of the time I'd rather be associated with 'low' people over 'high' people, regardless of where they come from. Maybe like a lot of people from my country or even more broadly the West, I'm kind of a reverse-snob? Anyway, it works for me.

[turnpike]

Martin- Interesting. The problem with that for me is I want to enjoy all the 'low' farang things: wearing t-shirt, shorts and zories; drinking beer when I want, etc.

Sure, we each have to find our own way as long as we're not hurting anyone else, but I can't see restricting myself to that extent to societal expectations. A large part of the reason I left the US is I didn't care to conform to expectations about dress, etc.

Today I'm headed to a wedding and sure, I'll wear pants, socks, shoes and even a tie, but the majority of the time I'd rather be associated with 'low' people over 'high' people, regardless of where they come from. Maybe like a lot of people from my country or even more broadly the West, I'm kind of a reverse-snob? Anyway, it works for me.

in 100% agreement with you on that one.

well said.

[Martin]

I agree that, just after the end of WWII, there was a huge wave of 'reverse snobbery'. It became less strong, but still remained significant and has affected all of us who have had our formative years in the West in the period since.

I can remember those heady days in the UK after WWII, when the grip of hierarchy was felt to have been banished and was never going to be allowed to return.

However, SE Asia had other priorities.

For instance, Thailand had, first, to keep the former colonists from re-trying their machinations.

(There was a lot of truth in the 'allegation' that Mountbatten, who was heading up the South East Asia Command, thought that SEAC stood for Save England's Asian Colonies).

In the Thai situation, on the basis of "It is no time to pay attention to improving the theory of swamp drainage, when you are up to your waist in alligators", societal re-organisation never got a look-in.

My 'take' on western egalitarianism versus eastern hierarchy is "not better, not worse, just different" and, for each, I tend to say "It is like the curate's egg: good in parts".

To go into which parts are good, and which aren't, would take us off topic, though, I feel.

[turnpike]

I agree that, just after the end of WWII, there was a huge wave of 'reverse snobbery'. It became less strong, but still remained significant and has affected all of us who have had our formative years in the West in the period since.

I can remember those heady days in the UK after WWII, when the grip of hierarchy was felt to have been banished and was never going to be allowed to return.

However, SE Asia had other priorities.

For instance, Thailand had, first, to keep the former colonists from re-trying their machinations.

(There was a lot of truth in the 'allegation' that Mountbatten, who was heading up the South East Asia Command, thought that SEAC stood for Save England's Asian Colonies).

In the Thai situation, on the basis of "It is no time to pay attention to improving the theory of swamp drainage, when you are up to your waist in alligators", societal re-organisation never got a look-in.

My 'take' on western egalitarianism versus eastern hierarchy is "not better, not worse, just different" and, for each, I tend to say "It is like the curate's egg: good in parts".

To go into which parts are good, and which aren't, would take us off topic, though, I feel.

sorry, never got my masters in history, actually caught up to dad in grade 3 and we both quit.

i thought the question was whether it was okay to drink beer in thailand....

sorry, just a colonist speaking....maximum 3 syllables, and that's pushing it.... i'm done now...

[jocsum]

For those of us "Up North" in the villages, I believe that it is in our own interests to be that extra bit careful to behave quite decorously. For me, that means NO drinking beer etc in public.

I found that Thais have an image of farangs as being quite 'low' men, with the proviso that 'good' farangs do exist, but are few and far between. So I worked hard at such things as always wearing trousers, socks and shoes in public (no shorts, bare feet, or sandals), and sticking to nam pao or Sprite or Coke in public.

After about five years, I found it was paying off in the that I bcame viewed favourably by the local "higher ups" and invited to sit with them at official ceremonies. That sounds to be a very minor thing, but it is noticed big way, as a 'stamp of approval'. (And my wife gets told:"Your husband not same as farang, more same as 'high' Thai".)

This is a hierarchical society, and (although it 'goes against the grain' of so much that we were led to believe was fundamental in the egalitarian societies in which we were brought up) we cannot sensibly hold out against the hierarchical mindset without ending up unaccepted.

I have been living in my wife's village, 68 Km west of KKC, for 12 years now. I work overseas and get home about once every month or so for a month or so. I wear sandals and shorts, but make sure they are clean and pressed. The village elders have always invited me to sit with them on certain ceremonies. Families have asked me to sit with them when discussing marriages. There are a few farangs living in the village, and we get together when I get home. I enjoy my wife's family and kids. After working in some of the countries I have worked, it's nice to relax and let these wonderful people help me do things around the house. I like to sometimes help them when they are doing things. I believe that if you want to have a good time, enjoy them with everyone. There is an old saying, what goes around, comes around.

When I can afford it, I like to buy things for the villager school, whiteboards, different balls for sports, even helped buy computers once. I help students from nearby villages with computer skills, and have held english lessons in my house. There are so many things a person can do, even in a small village. I don't miss the late night staggering from Soi Cowboy or the drinking binges of my youth, but they sure were fun at the time.