Pressures of living in an Isaan village

[billd766]

Wow, seems like a lot of us have this in common, I'd guess the people out smiling and laughing while you are working are probably deriding you. Doesn't worry me one iota. They are ignorant. The theory being you farang. You obviously a poor man not have big money or you'd pay someone else to do the work. A Thai man wouldn't lower himself to do menial tasks he could afford to pay someone do. For them the height of luxury and their life goal isn't having a lovely garden and comfortable modest home. It is sitting swilling rice whisky laying in a hammock sleeping or watching soapies and never having to work. And while I hate to be negative (although I am in just the mood today) your in laws wont suddenly turn around and appreciate the life and future you have provided their daughter. They will be telling her to Pss you off and find a farang with a more open wallet. It is all about them. They wont be thinking about you or her. I have seen so many blokes come over here or take girls back to Australia. They do all the right things the wife requests.....builds home for the inlaws and other family spongers....provide a car, bikes, modest income.....non repaid loan requests that never stop. Paid at least 500k THB for ridiculous show off weddings and another 500k THB gold. The more you give them the easier they think it is to get in the future so any money you give them will be gambled or drunk away faster and faster and hand out for more. All the while they will see you as an idiot with too much money. Why not share it with them? You farang....endless supply of money fall from sky for you. Not same Thai person never lucky. So that makes it ok to steal and cheat foreigners. A trip to the temple will sort any wrongdoings out.

I know of at least three guys who have been down this road. Good hearted blokes. Never doubted their wives or new family for a minute. Put it all down to a different culture....although the whole time something was nagging at them that this isn't right?

In all cases all the wife ever did was bad mouth the husband behind his back. In all cases the wife was sending money to the inlaws behind the husbands back.

What amazes me with these people is their gimme gimme attitude. I like to turn around and say what have you or are you going to give me. Because that is Thai culture. Blank open mouth stare.

One of my friends here now, living overseas with a Thai girl....(she was a school teacher here)....Does all of the above. The mum and dad in the moo ban openly get around telling everyone the husband is no good. They are telling her all the time just stay in his country long enough to get residency and then I assume benefits and the rights to fleece him in his own country. Find a new man with more money when the time is right. She had the sense to legally marry him in his country but opted for a non registered show marriage in Thailand. So she rapes him for everything he has in his home country and doesn't have to share any of the home etc he has paid for in Thailand should they split up. It sickens me. Thais seem to think they have the right to commit fraud with foreigners. The phrase "attitude of entitlement" sums it up for me. They're even having a baby now. Apparently the in laws don't care whether the kid grows up without a father or the girl is left without a husband. Someone in the village will take care of the "Leuk Krung" (50% farang) baby because farang baby lucky....for a fee of course. She's pressured him into building a house here even though they wont be coming to live for at least another 20 years. Bought the land 1 rai for 400kTHB. I know for a fact the real price was 180k. House will be built with the old man supervising everything of course. My friend will pay 2 or 3 times what it actually costs. Even building the house hasn't brought him any merit. She wanted a big 5 bedroom farang palace where he's opted for a more modest 3 bedroom. Tight <deleted>. Poor buggers a nice bloke too.

I've had my share of dramas with my girl but I haven't invested a lot here nor did I go the way of supporting parents, building homes etc and so glad I didn't. I doubt I would be any less or more respected had I done so. Should the sh#t hit the fan I can walk away with a clear conscience. Don't feel special being farang though fellars. Same thing happens here to Thai blokes have a bit of money...teachers, government workers etc. Greedy inlaws aren't fussy who's handing over the cash.

But it doesn't happen to everyone who lives in a village every time.

[Kenny202]

Very true. Have many lovely people and good families here too. But it happens too often to pretend it doesnt

[uli65]

You have to bear in mind for every moment in your live: you can never bring enough money to this thai people. Its always far to little money and they always need more. another important point: believe just 10% what they telling you. the rest is rubbish.

[billd766]

You have to bear in mind for every moment in your live: you can never bring enough money to this thai people. Its always far to little money and they always need more. another important point: believe just 10% what they telling you. the rest is rubbish.

I would like to believe you but it is not correct in my experience, nor that of at least 20 people that I know of personally. It may have happened to you or someone you know but to generalise as you are doing is meaningless.

However it is your opinion and my experience is my opinion. Who is correct is a matter of conjecture.

[uli65]

billd766, of course you are right. It is my experience but also of many thousands who where &lt;deleted&gt; by thai ladies.

happy night

[bermondburi]

Just this week it has become clear to me that a lot of what you wrote has also happened to me. The villagers are gossiping because I drive a 125cc bike, haven't built a new house or bought a new car in my wife's name (even though we've done up her existing house nicely and she already has a 3 year old car). The gossip has gotten to the parents-in-law who in turn are putting pressure on her. Unfortunately this has put an enormous strain on our relationship to the point that I'm thinking of leaving. I was (we were) very content here up until a week ago. She's now actually sick from all of the stress. I like doing DIY around the house and some gardening. I've turned the place from being a dump into a nice, clean, well cared for home fit for any farang to live in. I understand that they're uneducated and inexperienced, but I'm gutted that we're being ridiculed for being clean diligent, caring and financially careful. I can't understand why the villagers don't spend their time doing something more useful and personally rewarding than simply sitting around all day gossiping. I've never been able to deal with or understand this kind of mentality...

F*©* 'm , just do your own thing. If your wife cares about gossip, more than what you've done for the place, forget about her too!!

[thehelmsman]

You have to bear in mind for every moment in your live: you can never bring enough money to this thai people. Its always far to little money and they always need more. another important point: believe just 10% what they telling you. the rest is rubbish.

I would like to believe you but it is not correct in my experience, nor that of at least 20 people that I know of personally. It may have happened to you or someone you know but to generalise as you are doing is meaningless.

However it is your opinion and my experience is my opinion. Who is correct is a matter of conjecture.

It's pretty depressing reading this thread, but also interesting. Built a house almost 6 yrs ago on 7 rai. in GF's village, we have a baby together. As many have done before me, I was over zealous and jumped in to quickly. Thought living in the sticks would be bad ass. I was a country boy growing up and thought this would be great. I still work and only spend 2 months at a time at home. Having said this, I know when I stop working in a few years there's no way I'm going to spend my years living there full time. I think to myself, I've worked hard all my life and this is how it's going to end. Now, I don't regret spending money on land and house because my baby is growing up in nice house surrounded by people who take wonderful care of her. We'll be relocating close to a beach area and close to good schools.

The people in the village that I have contact with are good people. A few neighbor wives are regulars at the house. Having the neighbors around for meals happens more times than not. The ladies help with prepping the food and the wife does the cooking, the kids are playing, me drinking beer. When I'm there folks know there's a good chance of having a beer or bottle of whiskey with me. But I don't begrudge any of that because good food and drink is a good thing and don't mind wife's friends for coming over. Took awhile to get used to the constant flow of people, now it doesn't faze me. I just go with the flow. Sorry, I don't have any terrible tales of woe but, as good as it maybe I still won't settle for village life later on.

[thehelmsman]

You have to bear in mind for every moment in your live: you can never bring enough money to this thai people. Its always far to little money and they always need more. another important point: believe just 10% what they telling you. the rest is rubbish.

I would like to believe you but it is not correct in my experience, nor that of at least 20 people that I know of personally. It may have happened to you or someone you know but to generalise as you are doing is meaningless.

However it is your opinion and my experience is my opinion. Who is correct is a matter of conjecture.

Double post............

[billd766]

billd766, of course you are right. It is my experience but also of many thousands who where <deleted> by thai ladies.

happy night

But how do you KNOW that there are many thousands of others who had the same problem as you did? By reading the experiences of others on TVF?

OTOH how many times do you read of the successes on TVF?

Very few I suspect, and the reason for that is that there have been quite a few threads about good relationships but they have all been hijacked by the moaners, whingers and whiners so many times that people like me don't bother to open threads like that any more.

The twenty odd that I mentioned are all friends that I have known over many years.

Some of us are Brits, some Americans, German, Australian, a Swiss French guy, a Belgian and a Dane. Some of us were married before and have children from that marriage, some of us have children from our marriages to Thai ladies and a couple have no children.

Some live in Issan or on the other side of the country in small villages which is where I live, some live in BKK and other cities and some live abroad.

Yes we may have been lucky, we made the right choices early on and did a lot of research and thinking before we committed to the relationships, but be sure we all worked damned hard on the marriages and still do.

Have a great weekend.

[Nomyai]

To put all this in CONTEXT we need ages..............................hahahaha!

[fang37]

I backed a winner FINALLY.

11+ years together - never a separation.

Against all the odds eg recently relocated to be close to her parents. In fact, the parents live with us.

She designed & supervised the new mansion. Far more than I would build but all are happy.

There is nothing she wouldn't do to make my life more comfortable (except TV - always Thai).

Language is tough. I could speak elementary Thai prior to relocation BUT they cannot understand me & vice versa.

Wife acts as interpreter as very few locals speak English.

To assist post #280, I am 67 & wife is 36yo.

[Nomyai]

I backed a winner FINALLY.

11+ years together - never a separation.

Against all the odds eg recently relocated to be close to her parents. In fact, the parents live with us.

She designed & supervised the new mansion. Far more than I would build but all are happy.

There is nothing she wouldn't do to make my life more comfortable (except TV - always Thai).

Language is tough. I could speak elementary Thai prior to relocation BUT they cannot understand me & vice versa.

Wife acts as interpreter as very few locals speak English.

To assist post #280, I am 67 & wife is 36yo.

Thanks . very much appreciated. @ the beginning you were 56 n girl was 25..............hahaha.

Also need to put in context. Place where you met. And if on 1st introduction girl was a number.

[inzman]

To assist post #280, I am 67 & wife is 36yo.

Says it all!

[fang37]

To assist post #280, I am 67 & wife is 36yo.

Says it all!

Says what?

[billd766]

To put all this in CONTEXT we need ages..............................hahahaha!

Why?

Would you say that a father is too old at 55 and the mother was 40 when the child was born?

That was my parents age when I was born in 1944 in the UK and nobody thought that was wrong.

I was 60 when my Thai son was born and my wife was 39 and nobody around here thinks anything of it.

So what IS YOUR problem Nomyai with the age differences?

It is not the first or the second post you have made saying that it is not right and IIRC you never even said if you were married or had children when I asked you in your other threads.

[thaiduncankk]

In most of these relationships, I think you will find it is the farang that is insecure.

Back home, married long time, never lifted a finger in the house, so cannot cook, cannot wash his own clothes, cannot clean dishes, the list goes on.

Eventually, for whatever reason, the relationship ends in divorce, so he comes out here, finds the best sex he has had since his first year of his farang marriage, and thinks he has won the lottery.

Goes back home, sells up, moves over here, rents a place, but then realizes he cannot take care of himself.

Easy to find a far younger female who says 'I take care you', then because of his insecurity and not being able to do day to day tasks, the seeds are sewn.

House gets bought, then the 4 door pick up and anything else she can persuade him to spend his hard earned money on that will be of monetary value once he is out of the way.

All this going on whilst she talks everyday, in front of him, to her friends and family, in her strongest regional dialect, saying 'I not love him, but he take care me !'

He will tell his new found farang mates that he is the happiest he has ever been in all his life, so in love, but the reality of it all is that the whole thing was a sham from day one, but he is in too deep as all resources he brought over have vanished in paying for the house, car etc......

[kaorop]

From what I've seen it'll send you loopy.

The only way imo is if you have REAL mates, ones with similar interests and outlook and obviously nearly impossible to find in the backwaters

of ban fookknowswhereburi.

[fang37]

True re friends - to a degree

When I lived in CNX, I had many acquaintances.

TRUE friends?

[Kenny202]

In most of these relationships, I think you will find it is the farang that is insecure.

Back home, married long time, never lifted a finger in the house, so cannot cook, cannot wash his own clothes, cannot clean dishes, the list goes on.

Eventually, for whatever reason, the relationship ends in divorce, so he comes out here, finds the best sex he has had since his first year of his farang marriage, and thinks he has won the lottery.

Goes back home, sells up, moves over here, rents a place, but then realizes he cannot take care of himself.

Easy to find a far younger female who says 'I take care you', then because of his insecurity and not being able to do day to day tasks, the seeds are sewn.

House gets bought, then the 4 door pick up and anything else she can persuade him to spend his hard earned money on that will be of monetary value once he is out of the way.

All this going on whilst she talks everyday, in front of him, to her friends and family, in her strongest regional dialect, saying 'I not love him, but he take care me !'

He will tell his new found farang mates that he is the happiest he has ever been in all his life, so in love, but the reality of it all is that the whole thing was a sham from day one, but he is in too deep as all resources he brought over have vanished in paying for the house, car etc......

What you describe is of course worst case scenario and does happen frequently but you do realise many Thai / Thai relationships are based on this same practical "mutual needs" basis and not what we call love. I see it here everywhere. Not too many husbands and wife could be considered to be "in love". In fact the concept or word love here (isaan), for at most people over 30 isn't foremost in their brain. It's what can you do for me. She does his part and he does his....The only difference with farang is we have a lot more financial recourses and we put ourselves in a position where it's beneficial for the girl to flick her farang mate. She has the house, car, business etc in her name and you're out of cash. Why does she need you nagging her everyday about taking care of her family anymore? For a poor Isaan girl living in a Thai village with kids and a poor man she doesn't have a lot of choice but stay with him, unless she is still tidy enough to hawk her fork at Pattaya.

One of the best statements I have heard about Thailand is "Thais are opportunists. Make sure you don't present them with opportunities"

[billd766]

In most of these relationships, I think you will find it is the farang that is insecure.

Back home, married long time, never lifted a finger in the house, so cannot cook, cannot wash his own clothes, cannot clean dishes, the list goes on.

Eventually, for whatever reason, the relationship ends in divorce, so he comes out here, finds the best sex he has had since his first year of his farang marriage, and thinks he has won the lottery.

Goes back home, sells up, moves over here, rents a place, but then realizes he cannot take care of himself.

Easy to find a far younger female who says 'I take care you', then because of his insecurity and not being able to do day to day tasks, the seeds are sewn.

House gets bought, then the 4 door pick up and anything else she can persuade him to spend his hard earned money on that will be of monetary value once he is out of the way.

All this going on whilst she talks everyday, in front of him, to her friends and family, in her strongest regional dialect, saying 'I not love him, but he take care me !'

He will tell his new found farang mates that he is the happiest he has ever been in all his life, so in love, but the reality of it all is that the whole thing was a sham from day one, but he is in too deep as all resources he brought over have vanished in paying for the house, car etc......

What a load of rubbish.

Back home I was in the military when I married for the first time. I was fully domesticated and could cook, clean, do the washing up, the laundry and the ironing not only for myself but also for my wife and son. I also worked on my own cars, brewed my own beer, did bbqs etc.

When I retired from the military after a while I became an expat, lived and worked in 30 countries and looked after myself.

When I remarried (I asked her to marry me 7 years after we met and 2 years after the divorce) and we came here to live I decided to by a car and she chose what was the most practical for us which was a 4 door 4x4 pickup. She already had some land and a house and in 2003 I gave her the money to buy the house and get on with building it now.

I didn't always have new found farang mated but old mates from before as well.

The reality of my life is that I have known my current wife for 22 years, married for 16 of them, have a 12 year old son.

The other reality is that you ought to change barstools and bars because you churn out the same old story as many others do and after a while it gets boring.

Were you married and divorced in your home country, married and divorced in Thialand too? Been ripped off along the way in both countries?

If so perhaps it is you that is the problem.

If not I apologise but I hate all of the generalisers on this forum who denigrate Thais on this forum. If they don't like it, why are they still here moaning about it?

[fang37]

You can live together for 20 years.

It is only when she packs your bags do you understand reality.

[thaiduncankk]

In most of these relationships, I think you will find it is the farang that is insecure.

Back home, married long time, never lifted a finger in the house, so cannot cook, cannot wash his own clothes, cannot clean dishes, the list goes on.

Eventually, for whatever reason, the relationship ends in divorce, so he comes out here, finds the best sex he has had since his first year of his farang marriage, and thinks he has won the lottery.

Goes back home, sells up, moves over here, rents a place, but then realizes he cannot take care of himself.

Easy to find a far younger female who says 'I take care you', then because of his insecurity and not being able to do day to day tasks, the seeds are sewn.

House gets bought, then the 4 door pick up and anything else she can persuade him to spend his hard earned money on that will be of monetary value once he is out of the way.

All this going on whilst she talks everyday, in front of him, to her friends and family, in her strongest regional dialect, saying 'I not love him, but he take care me !'

He will tell his new found farang mates that he is the happiest he has ever been in all his life, so in love, but the reality of it all is that the whole thing was a sham from day one, but he is in too deep as all resources he brought over have vanished in paying for the house, car etc......

What a load of rubbish.

Back home I was in the military when I married for the first time. I was fully domesticated and could cook, clean, do the washing up, the laundry and the ironing not only for myself but also for my wife and son. I also worked on my own cars, brewed my own beer, did bbqs etc.

When I retired from the military after a while I became an expat, lived and worked in 30 countries and looked after myself.

When I remarried (I asked her to marry me 7 years after we met and 2 years after the divorce) and we came here to live I decided to by a car and she chose what was the most practical for us which was a 4 door 4x4 pickup. She already had some land and a house and in 2003 I gave her the money to buy the house and get on with building it now.

I didn't always have new found farang mated but old mates from before as well.

The reality of my life is that I have known my current wife for 22 years, married for 16 of them, have a 12 year old son.

The other reality is that you ought to change barstools and bars because you churn out the same old story as many others do and after a while it gets boring.

Were you married and divorced in your home country, married and divorced in Thialand too? Been ripped off along the way in both countries?

If so perhaps it is you that is the problem.

If not I apologise but I hate all of the generalisers on this forum who denigrate Thais on this forum. If they don't like it, why are they still here moaning about it?

I did not say it was applicable to you.

I have more experience than most with these people, not by sitting on bar stools but owning the stools !

Luckily I got out after 10 years, now happily retired, and enjoy my freedom.

Yours may be a success, but a high percentage certainly are not.

[slipperylobster]

We got plenty of flak from the family and neighbors. I often find that my wife's older sister makes fun of us. Five years, and no property..no house....no business. I make over 100,000 baht a month, and we rent. Her sister wants her to find a new falang and leave me. I suppose she thinks that if we owned a house, that she would benefit from it. Perhaps get a loan from my wife based on equity in the property. There is no other reason why she would push it so hard.

My idea is to get my wife back to the states...where we jointly own property. Good enough for my wife...but her family wants us to buy their property. Something they got free, when their parents passed away. Problem is, every single family member is losing their property and vehicles to credit collectors/banks. (They all pawned their ownership papers for cash, years ago).

My idea is to put up with it. Better that, then try to buy ourselves into a "face saving" purchase (that I don't need or want). So we are the "low so's" and I am the farang kee nok....etc. Property in the states is the way to go...and 10 years marriage (5 years in the USA)...and the wife can qualify for social security benefits when my time is up.

Same people that laugh at us now....borrowed money from my wife (before she met me). Her brother asked her to take out a loan from a money lender, as he had debts that were getting him in deep trouble. He never paid the money back....and the chinese lender went to court. Not one member of her family stood up for her... and she lost 18 rai. (inherited). Damn if those people will put her in the same situation...just as quick.

[FAAAT Geeza]

All my Thai neighbors hate me because I yell at them in Thai when having to clean up their dogs' mess after their dogs leave such mess in front of our gate where I have to either clean it up or step in it when opening/closing our gate while they stand there watching me clean it up.

Suits me just fine.

vinegar is the answer. sprinkle it about.dogs wont be back. renew when rain dilutes it too much

[slipperylobster]

In most of these relationships, I think you will find it is the farang that is insecure.

Back home, married long time, never lifted a finger in the house, so cannot cook, cannot wash his own clothes, cannot clean dishes, the list goes on.

Eventually, for whatever reason, the relationship ends in divorce, so he comes out here, finds the best sex he has had since his first year of his farang marriage, and thinks he has won the lottery.

Goes back home, sells up, moves over here, rents a place, but then realizes he cannot take care of himself.

Easy to find a far younger female who says 'I take care you', then because of his insecurity and not being able to do day to day tasks, the seeds are sewn.

House gets bought, then the 4 door pick up and anything else she can persuade him to spend his hard earned money on that will be of monetary value once he is out of the way.

All this going on whilst she talks everyday, in front of him, to her friends and family, in her strongest regional dialect, saying 'I not love him, but he take care me !'

He will tell his new found farang mates that he is the happiest he has ever been in all his life, so in love, but the reality of it all is that the whole thing was a sham from day one, but he is in too deep as all resources he brought over have vanished in paying for the house, car etc......

What a load of rubbish.

Back home I was in the military when I married for the first time. I was fully domesticated and could cook, clean, do the washing up, the laundry and the ironing not only for myself but also for my wife and son. I also worked on my own cars, brewed my own beer, did bbqs etc.

When I retired from the military after a while I became an expat, lived and worked in 30 countries and looked after myself.

When I remarried (I asked her to marry me 7 years after we met and 2 years after the divorce) and we came here to live I decided to by a car and she chose what was the most practical for us which was a 4 door 4x4 pickup. She already had some land and a house and in 2003 I gave her the money to buy the house and get on with building it now.

I didn't always have new found farang mated but old mates from before as well.

The reality of my life is that I have known my current wife for 22 years, married for 16 of them, have a 12 year old son.

The other reality is that you ought to change barstools and bars because you churn out the same old story as many others do and after a while it gets boring.

Were you married and divorced in your home country, married and divorced in Thialand too? Been ripped off along the way in both countries?

If so perhaps it is you that is the problem.

If not I apologise but I hate all of the generalisers on this forum who denigrate Thais on this forum. If they don't like it, why are they still here moaning about it?

I did not say it was applicable to you.

I have more experience than most with these people, not by sitting on bar stools but owning the stools !

Luckily I got out after 10 years, now happily retired, and enjoy my freedom.

Yours may be a success, but a high percentage certainly are not.

Agreed. There are a few that succeed and are happy. I am one of them as well. However, for every one success, I have seen a dozen failures....

Sometimes the marriages don't even make it past a year. House, car...gone, farang leaves.

[fang37]

It seems that this is a high $$$ poker game.

Take a seat, Sir.

[DLang]

I don't consider the OP to be specific to Isaan.

But to Thailand (at least) and also the Philippines.

It is called 'Crab in a bucket syndrome'.

If one is trying to escape, the others will get together to pull them back down.

[Kenny202]

We got plenty of flak from the family and neighbors. I often find that my wife's older sister makes fun of us. Five years, and no property..no house....no business. I make over 100,000 baht a month, and we rent. Her sister wants her to find a new falang and leave me. I suppose she thinks that if we owned a house, that she would benefit from it. Perhaps get a loan from my wife based on equity in the property. There is no other reason why she would push it so hard.

My idea is to get my wife back to the states...where we jointly own property. Good enough for my wife...but her family wants us to buy their property. Something they got free, when their parents passed away. Problem is, every single family member is losing their property and vehicles to credit collectors/banks. (They all pawned their ownership papers for cash, years ago).

My idea is to put up with it. Better that, then try to buy ourselves into a "face saving" purchase (that I don't need or want). So we are the "low so's" and I am the farang kee nok....etc. Property in the states is the way to go...and 10 years marriage (5 years in the USA)...and the wife can qualify for social security benefits when my time is up.

Same people that laugh at us now....borrowed money from my wife (before she met me). Her brother asked her to take out a loan from a money lender, as he had debts that were getting him in deep trouble. He never paid the money back....and the chinese lender went to court. Not one member of her family stood up for her... and she lost 18 rai. (inherited). Damn if those people will put her in the same situation...just as quick.

Thats how these people work. They probably don't have a pot to pss in and they're calling others kie neow and kie nok. Ask them why do you need to loan them money or give them anything? What are they going to do for you. They wont have an answer just that stupid grin that shows you they know the game is up. Its emotional blackmail, the same sort that an eight year old kid would use on you back home....and we wouldn't tolerate for a minute. How do so many of us fall for it here? I gotta a mate in Patts. Big corporate guy in another life. Super successful...good bloke too, real old school. No bodies fool. Yet over here he has an old girl wrong side of 45. Probably left school at 10. Not even a warm personality. Bar girl little or no future without him. He could have the pick of the litter but puts up with her. Chases after her when she packs her bags. She has the tantrums and dramas and controlling and she has him wrapped around his little finger. He's even aware of it. Only I run a close second in stupidity. Must be magic pussy.

We even had the monk putting the blowtorch on my missus last week. The monk told her I should pay to finish the temple (around $20k US). She asked him why I would do that? I am not a buddhist and not even religious in my own country. Then he said I will gain much merit and have a lucky future, get big money. She told him I have enough money and am happy with what I have. Isn't that what the Buddha teaches? Starting to run out of answers. Then she told him I would rather help out the local kids who are less fortunate than others? Isn't that more important than a building. In the end he begrudgingly agreed haha. Most of them are con men.

As for the wife's sister nagging your wife to give you the flick. There may be another dimension to that you haven't considered. She's jealous of her sister and would like to see nothing more than you split together. You can read some of these people like a book if you open your eyes. This isn't the culture of Thailand it is greedy uneducated people (not the majority) who are obviously a lot more smarter than us farangs at a primitive level anyway.

[Kenny202]

All my Thai neighbors hate me because I yell at them in Thai when having to clean up their dogs' mess after their dogs leave such mess in front of our gate where I have to either clean it up or step in it when opening/closing our gate while they stand there watching me clean it up.

Suits me just fine.

vinegar is the answer. sprinkle it about.dogs wont be back. renew when rain dilutes it too much

How did JL's aversion to dog sht and this old post get dredged up?

[Kenny202]

I don't consider the OP to be specific to Isaan.

But to Thailand (at least) and also the Philippines.

It is called 'Crab in a bucket syndrome'.

If one is trying to escape, the others will get together to pull them back down.

That is gold. Im off to teach "crab in a bucket syndrome" to my missus as a metaphor for her family whom are constantly trying to pull her back in the bucket.

I might get some visuals made up and do a presentation :-)