Will I survive in Issan?

[tullynagardy]

Alot of great feedback already but I personally would do the compromise option which one or two already mention.

Live in Khon Kaen and head to the village for weekends. Rent is cheap and financially shouldn`t make much difference.

KK is no Bangkok or New York but it feels like a proper city and has a decent offering of food and drink options and the University ensures the town is always lively. Its airport has routes back to CM and Bangkok whilst Udon (even bigger) and even Vientiane are within a couple of hour drive.

Id say doing the above will keep the Mrs happy and your sanity in tact!

Edited March 16, 2014 by tullynagardy

[soihok]

If you never give it a go you will never know.

What have you got to lose?

Edited March 16, 2014 by soihok

[recycler]

You will forever get replies like the one above.

Someone who has regrets.

Troll, troll, rolly old troll

Certainly no regrets, never lived upcountry and never will!

Visiting is more than enough.

[soihok]

...and that one ...don't really see why some are so negative.

[Greg Nixon]

I live in Issan in a little village just a few kilometres from Mukdahan. I am 65 years of age. I own a motor bike which I use occasionally for shopping and errands such as paying utility bills. Most of the people in this village do not speak English but I am slowly learning Thai which the locals like a lot. thai English is often barely English at all. St. Joseph comes out as Senior Sep and the chorus comes out as dah cos. Quite often Thais believe they are speaking English but really they are only pretending.

I am a very versatile person. I enjoy the beauty of the country side but I like the hustle and bustle of the city. I believe Mukdahan has a population of 50,000. I have been both an introvert in my past and an extrovert. I get a lot out of my Internet connection and I watch some English TV from True and Thai from another satellite. I take pleasure in my garden which my Thai wife and I share. We go to a beach on the Mekong River. We go to the family farm in Nong Sung. We go to the food markets a lot.

I have come to believe that Thai women have a lot of family control but I am taking more control of my money. I pay most of the bills but her pay is dedicated to buying property which comes off her government check.

After 2 and 1/2 years here there are some things I do not want to do having experienced them once or twice. My wife is a good Buddhist with decent moral standards.I enjoy the Thai culture and regularly participate in their celebrations, weddings and funerals. When in Rome do as the Romans do. I have some English speaking friends that I see about once a week to chat.

Here is the advice. After 70 years you know yourself. Take what you want by withholding the money and standing your ground. Thai women will always follow the money. You do not have to be nasty about it. Just say this is what I prefer to do with my money.

If you wish to follow her lead then do so. You have to know what you want and like. At 70 years of age you have every right to it.

My Thai wife says in 15 hers she will retire to the family farm near Nong Sung. She wants to plant a garden and live off that. She will likely build small home or live in the family home in Nong Sung. Sounds practical to me and I will likely live in Nong Sung. It is a small village but I know some people there and the people are mostly friendly. My wife has a daughter, a Father, a Sister and a niece. She has a very large extended family which we help from time to time. There is a barber shop, a 7/11 and a small farmers market. Althought i have lived in some large cities i have also worked and lived in small out of the way villages.

[SantiSuk]

Strange that people seem to think that 24 k from a reasonable size town is a "remote" village. Not in this day and age it aint.

[hotrod4098]

I have tried and didn't like it. I am an easy going person but just didn't like the boring life with nothing and nowhere to go on a daily basis. I couldn't even get internet into the house that I built. Every time I went for a short walk the dogs looked as if they where going to attack the strange falang. Villagers always asking for drinks, fags (I don't smoke) or money. I never felt safe walking around as I am an outsider and will always be. Any party nights or shows end in fights between the drunken locals. Daytime was just too boring, a visit to Big C or Tesco was the highlight. Sorry, not ready to lay down and die yet at 62. Stay where you are happy dude.

thats the same as i did...hightlight tesco big c,,,the the truck was full of outlaws for a free feed etc

[hotrod4098]

Absolutely don't move.

My wife did the same thing to me a year ago wanting to move to Buriram. I spend a ton of money upgrading her house and it turned into pure hell. Moved out in 5 months. If you are an ATM then they will love you but if they can't leach money or anything from you on a regular basis they can make your life a living hell.

you and your wife stay together after you quit the village mate?

Actually, yes.

She locked up the house and said we can move there when we get older. Fat chance. Her family made it miserable not her.

Good news you stayed together expat888 it can be hard when family get involved.

thats another thing some blokes forget that the village is all about her family so her family are always going to take her side in anything that happens and that cant be good like that having her family telling her she should do this and do that any why isnt her falang paying for this and paying for that

[hotrod4098]

Absolutely don't move.

My wife did the same thing to me a year ago wanting to move to Buriram. I spend a ton of money upgrading her house and it turned into pure hell. Moved out in 5 months. If you are an ATM then they will love you but if they can't leach money or anything from you on a regular basis they can make your life a living hell.

you and your wife stay together after you quit the village mate?

Actually, yes.

She locked up the house and said we can move there when we get older. Fat chance. Her family made it miserable not her.

Good news you stayed together expat888 it can be hard when family get involved.

thats another thing some blokes forget that the village is all about her family so her family are always going to take her side in anything that happens and that cant be good like that having her family telling her she should do this and do that any why isnt her falang paying for this and paying for that

[hotrod4098]

If your wife really cared about you she would discuss this whole matter with you empathetically and the two of you would come to a solution that suited you both. But it appears that she is suffering from the desire to show off to her family and other locals by getting you to build a big house on HER land and in HER name. You will be used increasingly as a doormat.

You'd want and expect her to take your side, you are her flaming HUSBAND. Her mother is not numero uno any more, you are.

Don't go further down the road of investing your hard earned and your golden years in someone who doesn't care about YOU enough. If you cannot persuade her to understand, then hold onto your sponduli, stay in Chiang Mai and enjoy your twilight years without her.

Please think very carefully about the depth of her love for YOU. That's my advice.

i built a house on her parents land..fool on me...lost it..reason being her mama decided to give my wifes

sisters a cut of the land...mama kept the house...the land was devided up between my wife and 3 sisters..

this was ordered by the family...ie her mums brother ,who was in the temple for 4 years,,his wife would see him every day..he was there for being a alcoholic..

he then left the temple..and went home with his wife...he was then called the crazy man...any thing he said ..they had to do as they where scared of him...

he controlled the village...lost count of how much beer he was given by my wife to go away...

village life aint easy

[hotrod4098]

If your wife really cared about you she would discuss this whole matter with you empathetically and the two of you would come to a solution that suited you both. But it appears that she is suffering from the desire to show off to her family and other locals by getting you to build a big house on HER land and in HER name. You will be used increasingly as a doormat.

You'd want and expect her to take your side, you are her flaming HUSBAND. Her mother is not numero uno any more, you are.

Don't go further down the road of investing your hard earned and your golden years in someone who doesn't care about YOU enough. If you cannot persuade her to understand, then hold onto your sponduli, stay in Chiang Mai and enjoy your twilight years without her.

Please think very carefully about the depth of her love for YOU. That's my advice.

This woman has no love for him , she has only love for his money and the security it provides. Her actions and demands are proof enough.

He should let her go and good riddence. You don't go to these villages to live , you go there to die. That's why it's called Gods waiting room. I've seen a few guys stuck in this situation , all have a strange emptyness in their eyes which light up at the mere sight of another farang to talk with. How sad to think you've worked your whole life to end up in a place where nobody genuinely cares what happens to you.

Stay where you're happy OP , you seem like a decent caring guy and i'm sure it wouldn't take long to find a nice CM lady to see out the rest of your days.

[casualbiker]

Get a place in Roi et.. sorted!

[Dakling]

Any chance you can solve the parental problem with money? Likely there are other family members in the village who would jump at a small salary to care for the wife's parents.

[BestBitterPhuket]

I feel for you! Not an easy situation, and I agree with others who says that your wife can go there in the weekends while you stay in the city, unless she is planning for you to work full time as a care taker.

I am in a similar situation myself, even though I don't think I will generate much sympathy in this forum. I actually don't like staying in Thailand. I really like "civilized" Asian countries like Japan, Singapore, Korea and Hong Kong, but I met a thai woman while living in one of them and we had a child (our first) and I decided to follow her when she moved back. We stay in Phuket, which I don't like too much. Too me, Bangkok is the only tolerable (slightly) place in Thailand, but my wife refused it since she don't have family there. That's understandable. After a year here now, I am plotting to move back to either singapore or Hong Kong and become a weekend dad instead.

Edited March 17, 2014 by BestBitterPhuket

[expat888]

Absolutely don't move.

My wife did the same thing to me a year ago wanting to move to Buriram. I spend a ton of money upgrading her house and it turned into pure hell. Moved out in 5 months. If you are an ATM then they will love you but if they can't leach money or anything from you on a regular basis they can make your life a living hell.

you and your wife stay together after you quit the village mate?

Actually, yes.

She locked up the house and said we can move there when we get older. Fat chance. Her family made it miserable not her.

Good news you stayed together expat888 it can be hard when family get involved.

thats another thing some blokes forget that the village is all about her family so her family are always going to take her side in anything that happens and that cant be good like that having her family telling her she should do this and do that any why isnt her falang paying for this and paying for that

I get this a lot no matter where we live: people always asking to borrow money, give them beer, food, etc. The family was relentless and ferocious hammering the wife every morning and evening in all out verbal fights. We had to report them to the police saying we felt our lives were threatened which the police cooperated and the police had a meeting with them and told them to back off or start paying money. If that didn't work they would go to jail.

[steelepulse]

OP, who is older, you or the parents? Seems to me the Mrs. should be taking care of you as the number one priority and arrange for someone to help out her parents, if they even need help.

[JohnDodd]

Well the OP got plenty of advise and suggestions from all hands, mostly not in favour of living in the village, which is understandable as life baan nork ain't easy. I'm 70 next year and been living in a village 25 klicks from nearest Amphur for 20 yrs. and without my fishing pond, and 2 rye veg plot, probably would have gone stir crazy by now. I think the OP would not like village life, even the ability to speak reasonable Thai means nothing as Thai's have very little interest in Farangs, other than a feigned superficial interest, the constant noise from farm animals, who by the way all live in the villages not in the fields. The moronic teenagers on their motocy, the music and public anouncement,s, the flies and other wee beastie's are abundant, and of course the heat, I have no A.C. but can tolerate the 43/45c temps in April/may in Isaan (Mahasarakarm), but I doubt the OP can. So my suggestion would be to pick an alternative solution. I hope it all works out.

[Anon999]

A lot of rubbish has been written above. Nobody can tell you whether you will be happy in a small village or not. I am, that's for sure, but I have a loving wife and a very nice, hard working family around me, TV, internet, and at 66 years I am still building stuff and being busy. It has nothing to do with watching rice grow and talking to chickens, maybe it has something to do with thinking about rice cultivation (we will be buying a rice harvester and storing and selling rice) and thinking about chicken breeding.

Up to you and only you, but I think you know already that you don't want to go. If your wife leaves you behind, then maybe good riddance, but that's none of my business.

All very well until you need a hospital or dentist urgently and it's the rainy season too boot.

Well we don't know how far it is to the next hospital, do we? It would take me 25 minutes tops, probably the same as for many people that live in a town and have to drive across it.

For me and I live on the outskirts to the West, all of 5 minutes to the government hospital unless it's 'rush hour' then still less that 10 minutes. The City hospital is roughly in the centre and can be reached from any direction in the same time by car or ambulance.

Edited March 17, 2014 by Anon999

[losworld]

Yeah if you are a city type of guy it might be tough. I like to get out and about and do things. walk and have a lok around and meet some people and have a yarn. I dont mean bars and stuff every day.

I went out to the girlfriends village for 10 days and it was one of the most boring things I have done in Thailand.

No one spoke English and I dont speak thai much so that was that. internet was not much good and really there was nothing to do at all. Crap toilet, had to sit on the ground to eat, hot. you think it muight be quiet out there but noise all the time.

The girlfriend suggested later that we should build a house and live there near her family. I laughed so much it hurt my stomach. I felt bad I luaghed at her but it was funny she could even ask me. I pay most of the bills so we'll be staying the places I like,

I know some people like the village and maybe they were country boys or something but if you are used to the city life it is as boring as watching paint dry. You are 70 mate and you must know by now what type of life you want.

As I said in an earlier post I am nearly 70 and I have lived and worked in cities, towns and villages in 38 countries across the world. I was born a townie in England many years ago.

You appear to be a man of closed eyes and ears and not willing to move out of YOUR comfort zone.

I pay ALL of the bills from my Thai wife, son and the family who live with us but I don't make a big song and dance about it.

I speak very little Thai as I am partly deaf but that doesn't stop me trying and the people I talk to around either do their best to understand me, perhaps try to find someone who can speak English whilst I try to do the same. By and large country people are more polite and nicer than city people as they have more time.

You say the toilet was crap, you had to sit on the ground to eat, poor internet and nothing for you to do.

Did it not occur to you to go and buy a chair or two? The toilet was crap, perhaps it was all they could afford and what they have been used to for generations. It was probably hot because unlike you they may not have the money for aie conditioning. Poor internet is not their problem and you ought to take that up with your internet suppliers.

You come across to me as a spoiled brat who keeps saying me,me, me all the time. I feel sorry for your girlfriend who took you to see her family and I also suspect that her family were too polite to show their feeling about you.

Meanwhile have a good life.

See how happy they are in Isaan. They can snap any time lol.

[losworld]

Well the OP got plenty of advise and suggestions from all hands, mostly not in favour of living in the village, which is understandable as life baan nork ain't easy. I'm 70 next year and been living in a village 25 klicks from nearest Amphur for 20 yrs. and without my fishing pond, and 2 rye veg plot, probably would have gone stir crazy by now. I think the OP would not like village life, even the ability to speak reasonable Thai means nothing as Thai's have very little interest in Farangs, other than a feigned superficial interest, the constant noise from farm animals, who by the way all live in the villages not in the fields. The moronic teenagers on their motocy, the music and public anouncement,s, the flies and other wee beastie's are abundant, and of course the heat, I have no A.C. but can tolerate the 43/45c temps in April/may in Isaan (Mahasarakarm), but I doubt the OP can. So my suggestion would be to pick an alternative solution. I hope it all works out.

Very insightful post and yes Thais have very little interest in Farangs and the superficial novelty atm factor quickly wears off as farang populations increase in an area. I don't really believe rural Isaan Thais are any friendlier than most any other area of Thailand.

[klikster]

You chose to marry a Thai female and live in Thailand so therefore you must follow and accept the Thai culture. She only has one set of parents and it's her duty in Thai culture to take care of them and if you choose not to follow her to Issan, it puts both of you in an awkward situation in culture and in respect. Once you married your wife, her parents become your parents. The village will not see the respect which you must have to care for family forever. This is something which you should of thought of when marring her. Yes you will survive, you survived moving and living in Chiang Mai. You must not allow your wife to ''loose face'' in Roi Et and you must not allow yourself to become the ''bad farang'' and be labeled jai dum. Your wife loved and accepted you and you must love and accept her fully. You will be pleasantly surprised with the results. You married the village and her culture when you married your wife. Have an open mind and it will be filled with great rewards. Issan is wonderful. No other place on earth I would rather be other than Bangkok. Good luck my friend.

IMHO, so much wrong in this post it boggles my mind!

[losworld]

To the OP if your wife stays in RE that with her and visit the families during weekend.

I have been to Roi Et and it is a nice place.

Actually as far as Thai towns go Roi Et looks pretty good. Best bet stay in CM othewise go to Roi Et.

[SlyAnimal]

@ OP

Which district are you moving to?

I also live in RoiEt, although am quite a bit younger than you.

25km isn't far to travel to RoiEt when you want to visit. That's about 15-20mins in the car, when you were in your home country, you'd probably travel that far, or further, every day just to goto work.

RoiEt is a nice province, and in the city there are plenty of shopping malls etc (Tesco Lotus / Big C + Robinsons is coming next year, farang restaurants, and lots of nice places to chill out and relax). I think you'll probably like RoiEt city better than Chiang Mai. There are less farang, but almost all of the farang you see are expats, rather than tourists, and RoiEt has more expats than many of the other provincial capitals I've been to.

Also if 25km is a bit far, you'll probably have one of the amphur towns within 5-10km of you, maybe even closer (Your wife's family might even live in the amphur town?).

I live in an amphur town, and find that it's great. You'll find that the amphur towns have most of the day to day amenity stores you might want, not everything most of the basics. Also there will be a few farang guys around the town, who you can have a chat with now and then, as well as quite a few nice restaurants, the restaurants won't speak English, but should have good food at reasonable prices, and will likely make you feel really special because they don't see farang very often.

If you're out in a village, the villages vary. I've never lived in one, but from what I've seen when visiting friends etc, the locals vary from really happy to see you, to really happy to fleece you.

With the house which you'll live in, you can renovate it or do it up a bit, so that it's really nice. There's a Global house & Home Pro in RoiEt, both of which have lots of western style furniture/appliances etc which you might want. Makro also has a lot of western food ingredients which you can buy in bulk, so you could cook your own western style meals if you want, although of course if you pop into the amphur town, or RoiEt city, there will be plenty of good Thai restaurants, and a few farang restaurants too.

Don't worry about how some of the posters say that the locals only speak Isaan. That's what they prefer, but most will speak in Thai with you if you speak clearly to them. Although in groups they'll generally speak in Isaan regardless.

You'll definitely need a hobby of some sort, you've said you might build a house, that's a good start. You'll likely need more to keep you occupied as well though, otherwise you'll simply get bored. Although most of the things which you might want to do, you likely can, it just takes a little bit more effort to organise than if you were in Chiang Mai.

[SantiSuk]

You chose to marry a Thai female and live in Thailand so therefore you must follow and accept the Thai culture. She only has one set of parents and it's her duty in Thai culture to take care of them and if you choose not to follow her to Issan, it puts both of you in an awkward situation in culture and in respect. Once you married your wife, her parents become your parents. The village will not see the respect which you must have to care for family forever. This is something which you should of thought of when marring her. Yes you will survive, you survived moving and living in Chiang Mai. You must not allow your wife to ''loose face'' in Roi Et and you must not allow yourself to become the ''bad farang'' and be labeled jai dum. Your wife loved and accepted you and you must love and accept her fully. You will be pleasantly surprised with the results. You married the village and her culture when you married your wife. Have an open mind and it will be filled with great rewards. Issan is wonderful. No other place on earth I would rather be other than Bangkok. Good luck my friend.

IMHO, so much wrong in this post it boggles my mind!

+1. Not very observant of what Issaanites are actually doing themselves, just bought the fable!

There's a very broad range of types in yer average village and decades of working out-of-state makes them much more cosmopolitan (sort of) than painted.

[spidermike007]

Unless you enjoy watching rice grow and talking to chickens, don't do it.

You're 70 years old man. Do what makes you happy -- you've earned it. Why would you put yourself through the torment of living in a Thai village? It's not going to fun for you. Spend your golden years in a place that you want to live in -- not where some Thai woman wants to live.

Again, you have 70 years on this planet. You've earned the right to do what makes YOU happy.

There is alot of truth in this comment. It really depends on what you need. Some people are not cut out for village life. For me the biggest issue would be the noise (I hate roosters, dogs that yap incessantly, etc), the really poor internet, and the lack of stimulation. I would only do it because I wanted to do it. Not because my wife was ready for village life. If I was not into it, I would either divorce her, or separate for awhile. Or she could live in the village, and it would stay in town. If you speak little Thai, the lack of stimulation and good company alone could make this a very unhappy experience. I was just on my girlfriends village for four days. It is hellaciously boring for me. Not a place I would want to live. But, that is just me.

[transam]

I do know a few blokes who have built lovely places out in the sticks for "her" to take care and be near the extended family. After a few months they sat back and thought

"<deleted> am I doing sitting here" .

They totally regret it, are fed up with the extended family always poking there nose in to everything, which after a while really plays on their nerves. True.

[riclag]

Sorry # 6 no disrepect for your way of life or your comments you are entitled to your opinion,But it seems your life style is a complete opposte of the Op's in the respect of he's a city dweller and your a country boy and the OP is looking for comments and advise on how this might affect "his life stlyle". How does the OP react to change and can they easly adapt to new routines .IMOP

I can't help you about Roi Et but I can on the rest. I will be 70 in May and I live 6 km from the big village in a moo ban in Khampaeng Phet province backing on to the Mae Wong national park. I have lived out here for 10 years and rarely see a farang week in or week out. If you have an internet connection Skype is almost as good. The big village has a 7/11 and a bank and I go to Khampaeng Phet once a month for a bulk shop at BigC and Makro.

My MIL lives in a small house on the site and speaks absolutely no English at all, my wifes English is fair but from next week she and a couple of friends are starting a small restaurant 6 km away so I wion't see that much of her during the day. We have a 9 year old son whoseEnglish is coming on fine but during school term he goes to school in KPP plus a 17 year old nephew who has a job at the national park and is about 50% as intelligent as a tree but not as much use.

If you read get loads of books or a Kindle reader, write your life story if only for yourself, learn to cook, exercise a little every day, use the internet to learn at least 2 new things a day. I do all this and I sometimes wish I had more time. Find a friend and there are a lot of us about, read the Isaan forum on TV here http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/32-isaan-forum/

Leave all the stress and hassle of city life behind and take life easy as it comes.

Country life is great. I only go to cities when I really HAVE to.

Good luck and remember you know you can do it.

[billd766]

Yeah if you are a city type of guy it might be tough. I like to get out and about and do things. walk and have a lok around and meet some people and have a yarn. I dont mean bars and stuff every day.

I went out to the girlfriends village for 10 days and it was one of the most boring things I have done in Thailand.

No one spoke English and I dont speak thai much so that was that. internet was not much good and really there was nothing to do at all. Crap toilet, had to sit on the ground to eat, hot. you think it muight be quiet out there but noise all the time.

The girlfriend suggested later that we should build a house and live there near her family. I laughed so much it hurt my stomach. I felt bad I luaghed at her but it was funny she could even ask me. I pay most of the bills so we'll be staying the places I like,

I know some people like the village and maybe they were country boys or something but if you are used to the city life it is as boring as watching paint dry. You are 70 mate and you must know by now what type of life you want.

As I said in an earlier post I am nearly 70 and I have lived and worked in cities, towns and villages in 38 countries across the world. I was born a townie in England many years ago.

You appear to be a man of closed eyes and ears and not willing to move out of YOUR comfort zone.

I pay ALL of the bills from my Thai wife, son and the family who live with us but I don't make a big song and dance about it.

I speak very little Thai as I am partly deaf but that doesn't stop me trying and the people I talk to around either do their best to understand me, perhaps try to find someone who can speak English whilst I try to do the same. By and large country people are more polite and nicer than city people as they have more time.

You say the toilet was crap, you had to sit on the ground to eat, poor internet and nothing for you to do.

Did it not occur to you to go and buy a chair or two? The toilet was crap, perhaps it was all they could afford and what they have been used to for generations. It was probably hot because unlike you they may not have the money for aie conditioning. Poor internet is not their problem and you ought to take that up with your internet suppliers.

You come across to me as a spoiled brat who keeps saying me,me, me all the time. I feel sorry for your girlfriend who took you to see her family and I also suspect that her family were too polite to show their feeling about you.

Meanwhile have a good life.

See how happy they are in Isaan. They can snap any time lol.

Do we know each other or have we met somewhere?

I don't even live in Issan but on the other side of the country in Khampaeng Phet province.

[billd766]

Sorry # 6 no disrepect for your way of life or your comments you are entitled to your opinion,But it seems your life style is a complete opposte of the Op's in the respect of he's a city dweller and your a country boy and the OP is looking for comments and advise on how this might affect "his life stlyle". How does the OP react to change and can they easly adapt to new routines .IMOP

I can't help you about Roi Et but I can on the rest. I will be 70 in May and I live 6 km from the big village in a moo ban in Khampaeng Phet province backing on to the Mae Wong national park. I have lived out here for 10 years and rarely see a farang week in or week out. If you have an internet connection Skype is almost as good. The big village has a 7/11 and a bank and I go to Khampaeng Phet once a month for a bulk shop at BigC and Makro.

My MIL lives in a small house on the site and speaks absolutely no English at all, my wifes English is fair but from next week she and a couple of friends are starting a small restaurant 6 km away so I wion't see that much of her during the day. We have a 9 year old son whoseEnglish is coming on fine but during school term he goes to school in KPP plus a 17 year old nephew who has a job at the national park and is about 50% as intelligent as a tree but not as much use.

If you read get loads of books or a Kindle reader, write your life story if only for yourself, learn to cook, exercise a little every day, use the internet to learn at least 2 new things a day. I do all this and I sometimes wish I had more time. Find a friend and there are a lot of us about, read the Isaan forum on TV here http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/32-isaan-forum/

Leave all the stress and hassle of city life behind and take life easy as it comes.

Country life is great. I only go to cities when I really HAVE to.

Good luck and remember you know you can do it.

No offence taken. I was a city boy for some 60 years before I changed and TBH it was the best thing I did.

[nong2]

Maybe there's a possibility somewhere in between for the OP: get a condo in CM or BKK and built a house in RE. If the going gets tough in RE, go to the big city for a while and vice versa. Maybe the answer lies not in or/or but in and/and.