Urban living or Rural living, what's your choice?

[tim armstrong]

Charlie and Possum, agree with both of you. Get the best of both worlds. Not many places you can still do that.

[DrTuner]

Just wondering how many rural dwellers work ?

[villagefarang]

Personally, I don’t work. There aren’t many options for working in a rural environment, and looking at the age of guys one sees in my area, I would guess most are retired.

[AYJAYDEE]

Nice!

I've done that stretch in several different cars. My friend's 1965 Pontiac GTO was a LOT of fun! That 389cu" can haul some serious @ss! It was on highway 17 when I realized the limitations of 4-wheel drum brakes...

He still has his GTO fully restored but it has 4-wheel disc brakes now.

The most fun I had on highway 17 was in a 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII LSC.

It was on a Sunday morning an totally empty. I was impressed at the handling around those hair-pin turns at 70MPH!

Other fun cars I drove that stretch in was my friend's 1968 Mercury Park Lane convertible.

My own 1978 Lincoln Mark V, 1987 Chrysler Bebaron convertible an current 1977 Lincoln Town Car.

Another car I'd like to own one day is a 1968 Buick Wildcat convertible. That should be fun on those roads.

I would only see them WITHOUT macdonald

[sipi]

Rural. We are 1 hour South of Bueng Kan, and 4 hours from Udon Thani at the end of a corrugated dirt road. Suits me just fine.

[Water Buffalo]

Rural living wins it for me.

We are 35km out of town in Isaan. Got space, fresh air, greenery, a nice big garden. Short drive to the city, which has almost everything we could want.

Lived in BKK for 5 years. Loved it! Think i may require an annual visit.

Wasn't to impressed with UK city living, but the countryside is nice.

[Aussieroaming]

I live in the city because my wife has an aversion to the bush. She loves the nature of the bush but for her nothing beats the convenience of the city.

[ramrod45]

Seems to me there are two common denominations for most (not all) of people living in the rural areas. One is that they have the funds to build a home, and the other is that most seem to be married and have a family. I live in Chiang Mai, just outside the main city. I wake up to birds singing, in 15 minutes I can be outside the city, and I don't mind the neighbors. But as a single person, I would find rural living to be too mundane a pace of life for me. It seems many in the rural area either have work, enjoy working around the home, or perhaps can sit in the hammock all day. Not that I don't mind that on occasion, but I have no problems living in an urban environment, but not as busy as Bangkok. It's nice to know many people have found their living satisfaction in the villages, and more are probably living in the urban areas. I don't see the city as a plastic, artificial place, rather the city has it's own life, a pace that can be altered as one prefers, and the enjoyment of a more varied population. Fortunately there is a little for everyone, and for me, having a large house (which I would have to rent) means yard work, way too much living space, and long trips to visit a city. Not to mention the lack of hospital services as we grow older. Get a heart attack in the village and you might live to get to the hospital. But an interesting thread, and as I mentioned, the commonalities for rural living seem to be both family (or at least wife) and building a house. Neither of those are in my plans, lol.

[pomchop]

8 km from downtown Chiang Rai....takes me 15 mins or less in car along very scenic road.

After living in BKK and Pattaya and roaming around Thailand I was frankly tired of wallking around in shopping malls, standing in lines for BTS, trying to walk on sidewalks overcrowded with way too many people, and sitting in bars most every night.

Having a house with a big yard, great views, and wonderful walking trails right outside my door is a very attractive "perk" for me now. I can spend hours just puttering around in the yard and messing with all my flowers, fruit trees, etc.

I am perhaps the odd man out living alone in a rural environment but even sleepy little Chiang Rai has plenty of restaurants, bars, shopping etc to fulfill whatever I need....add in some volunteer teaching at the local high school a couple of days a week to give me a sense of worth and a bit of structure (not to mention the entertainment and humor of being around a thousand thai kids all bursting with curiosity and energy) and I am generally a happy camper.

I still do enjoy occasional visits to the cities, and taking off for some travel during the march/april smokeout, but overall I think I am likely happier and healthier with the rural lifestyle.

Edited April 27, 2015 by pomchop

[nidieunimaitre]

If somebody likes city life, why would he want to live in Asia? European cities have so much more to offer in terms of city life.

[AZBill]

I hate big cities. I'll take my small town in PA any day. Traffic in my town is an Amish buggy and a pick-up truck!

[villagefarang]

I have a thread running in the Photography Forum which provides a visual reference for what rural living means to me, if you are interested in photos. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/910876-villagefarangdaily-life-in-thailand-and-what-i-see/

[CharlieH]

Nice photography VF, and pretty much in line with what I see daily. What I prefer to call the "real" Thailand and not the hustle and bustle of the city and well trodden tourist paths that so many "think" is what Thailand is.

Cities etc, for me are an occasional requirement, not a necessity and somewhere I prefer to dip in and out of, and return to the quiet and peaceful "rural" surroundings.

But, as they say "up to you" and one man's food is another's poison etc.

[anotheruser]

Here in Thailand, I much prefer to live downtown Bangkok. I'm a city boy here in Thailand.

Back in the United States, I now prefer to live in the rural areas - particularly the forest up in northern Minnesota along the shores of Lake Superior.

I have lived in big cities (Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco) most of my life. After living in Bangkok, American big cities are just boring, overpriced and unnecessarily rude people.

I really like the outdoors, especially the winter months when there is tons of snow, frozen lakes to go ice fishing, as well as skiing an ride snowmobiles.

I do not like the rural countryside of Thailand because I am terrified of snakes and I hate mosquitoes an all the other tropical bugs that come along with it.

Put me in a high-rise in Bangkok and I'm happy.

The nightlife and city vibe beats anything the US or Europe has to offer.

I loved living up on the north shore. Your feelings are exactly like mine. Here I live smack dab in downtown Bangkok but if i were in the states love the country side. Living in rural Thailand isn't really for me.

Even in very small towns back home it is so easy to get the food I want. When I stay at my place on Laos packing everything in I need is a real hassle and not cheap.

[GuestHouse]

I couldn't wait to head for the bright lights when I was young, growing up in the countryside is great when you are the age you want to play in the woods, build dens and camp fires, go out rabbiting or fishing or camping.

But it gets very claustrophobic when you get into your late teans and realise there's a wide world to see (nevermind constantly ariving home after 'enjoying your youth' only to find the old man already knows where you've been, who you've been with and has a good idea what you've been upto).

So off to the bright lights.

But I make a distinction -city, center of city - never the suburbs.

I've had the good fortune to have lived in a number of the cities that top the leagues of best cities in the world. Always in the center and I've always enjoyed living in these places.

But

When I retire, I shall retire to the county, to contemplate the places I've lived while tending my garden, and probably bees too.

[anotheruser]

If somebody likes city life, why would he want to live in Asia? European cities have so much more to offer in terms of city life.

To each their own. I would rather live in Tokyo than London.