Interesting and honest post, and thanks for sharing. I got the impression that the general theme throughout your post was affordability. You mentioned several times the various financial benefits of living in an Issan village. Everyone's financial capacity is different. I can easily afford any of the tourist areas / islands in the southern part of Thailand. If I had to live in the north, it would be Chiang Mai, but in Chiang Mai, not hundreds of kilometers away from Chiang Mai. However, I would chose Danang - Vietnam over Chiang Mai, so, basically, if I couldn't live in a southern Thailand tourist area, for whatever reason, I would move to Vietnam. I too, have also worked in some real sh*tholes around the world. Being paid to go there is a lot different to choosing to live there. I'm a keen hunter. Something a foreigner can't do in Thailand, but it was nothing for me to throw my rifles in the back of the 4WD and head bush in Australia, alone, often living off the land. Australia has an abundance of extremely remote areas. 🙂 Knowing some of the station owners, they would have allowed me to build a shack in the back paddock as accommodation, and I could have chosen this way of life in my own country, but I clearly didn't. Humans are a social species, that's why solitary confinement is considered a punishment, even from within a prison. Why one would chose it for themselves, especially later in life, amazes me, however, as I mentioned, many are lead by the nose, like a buffalo, by a Thai women. They imprison themselves, inside the village. It's not the lack of infrastructure for me, it's the lack of social interaction and various leisure activities available for me. Each to their own, but I didn't work hard all my life to retire in a rural setting just because it's cheap living. I'm here to spend the fruits of my labor over my working life, whilst still leaving something for my kids. Just on this point, it also amazes me how a foreigner's wealth gets redistributed away from their own children's inheritance, to the extended family of a Thai women. Absolutely crazy. So, could I live in a village in Issan, yes, I could, as I'm no stranger to a lack of amenities. I simply chose not to, and should one day I start a relationship with a Thai girl who starts to pull that c*ap on me, it will be "There's the door. There are plenty of other Thai women that would be happy with the deal that's on the table, and living in comfort in Pattaya."
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