How you spend your day in Chiangmai?

[williet98248]

I live I Phuket. I am 73. I get up at 0:600 - 06:15. Spend a couple hours on the computer taking care of correspondence, reading the news feeds. Around 08;30 or 09:00 I exercise in my home gym for an hour or so. Weight training and elliptical trainer. The rest of the day is sometimes spent on my hobbies, which are wood working ,restoring my old car. I maintain the house, the garden, read a lot, ride the bicycle several times a week on 20 -30 km rides. Take the wife shopping when necessary, have a few good friends that I socialize with. I have an avocation that is stimulating and beneficial that takes up several hours a week. Even so I still get a bit bored at times especially this hot and humid time of the year which precludes some out door activities. I don't go to the bars as I don't drink and most people there are just whingeing and bitching about how terrible Thailand and the Thais are anyway. My advice is to get a hobby or two to keep you occupied and your mind sharp. Fishing, a bit of travelling to see new horizons. The wife and I have explored most of southern Thailand by car. Research shows that as we get older we can be susceptible to depression. Physical and mental activity guards against that. In the past I have had a change of lifestyle and scenery about every seven to ten years. Twelve years in Phuket means I am overdue for a change. It will be a move to the wife's farm near Khon Khean in a year or so. Probably to live out my last years. Stay active and fit.

[VillageIdiot]

What is there to do? I'm bored!!!

The predicament you are in is becoming more common as the number of farang residents increases in Chiang Mai.

Those who have been here a long time with family Thais, a meaningful occupation, and a life that doesn't depend on recreation and diversion usually don't get bored very often.

Most of the people who suffer boredom have come here too late in life. Too late to start a family and be anything other than a cash cow for some mercenary woman and her relatives. Too late to gain fluency in the Thai language and functional literacy. The best way to judge the importance of communication skills is to observe the plight of those immigrants in our own countries who are illiterate and unable to speak the language. For all but the casual visitor some level of proficiency in Thai is desirable in town and absolutely necessary in the countryside.

Thailand is no place for naïve and clueless people. In spite of the 'leun mai' façade there is still much of the wild west lawlessness that attracted so many of us in the 1970s.

Enjoy the life here and what is unique about it. If it doesn't suit you, move on. If you miss your nanny state, then go back to it.

[thaiboss]

i just moved from cha- am to chiang rai to my daughter house family.... i am single now.. i am 60 and 25 year here in thailand mostly bangkok so i am in a similar position.... how to spend the time in chiang rai ... morning i do mental training start 05H00 for two hours meditation+ yoga programm .... then coffee breakfast.... overlooking the ricefield ...and mountain ...after that some internet social news ... 10.00 am go WITH scooter on tour ... any where ;;; mountain...river. just drive somewhere .. come back for lunch ..... afternoon one hour internet and a meditation half a hour .. then swimmingpool two hours in a good place - hotel with fitness room .. then back by scooter ..... two time per week go to sexy massage .. have also 4 hours normal thai massage per week here in the house not out door ..no alcool and smoking since three years- bar visit also stopped no more interest in that .....

take a promotion fare to bangkok and stay few days in sukhumvit aera beeragarden looking for special action- with old freelance ....three some etc ....

i must say that i have learned meditation since two years and this keep the mind calm .

and i take not for granted that i have to stay for end of life here in chiang rai .... let it go and keep doors open to every thing ... as budha teach.... no attachment ......

[optad]

Test your expansiveness!

Seriously, challenge yourself by learning something new and preferably something that challenges your conceptions and hopefully, ultimately, misconceptions.

If your are bored, you have stopped being a life long-learner and begun trusting on incidental random experiences to get you by. If so those routines are not sustaining and can be exhausting without meaning to overstate things. .

Get stimulated again by learning and doing [must be both!] something hitherto unthought of and regenerate.

And it will be fun that i can assure you!!

Just my two cents

[vasudev]

once you accept yourself as you are then you can stay wherever you are

[Stevemercer]

I don't think there is much difference whether you retire in your home country, Thailand or anywhere else in the world. Happiness is just a state of mind. It is not a place, a person, a country or material possessions. When you retire you need to find some mental and physical activities to keep you busy. Moving to a new country, or new town, is one way to do this.

I've got a bit of land I want to rehabilitate so that keeps me busy. But sometimes my mood darkens and nothing seems to satisfy. As long as the good times outweigh the bad than life is worthwhile. When you get older you can get joy out of small things - a good view, a nice little patch of garden, pets, a quiet walk, a good massage, watching a pretty girl, children playing and so forth. Boring if you are young when you need the big bangs in life.

I think the trick is learning to appreciate these little things in your life, and to be content with your lot in life. You have to find whatever it takes to stay physically and mentally busy. I am happy if I have a good book to read, but have just about exhausted the supply I brought with me from Australia. Maybe I'll have to buy a Kindle.

[1FinickyOne]

I am going to say that at this point in life, if it was a legitimate interest enough to develop into a hobby, you would have attempted it already.

It does sound like you need to get out of the house more - check the list of expat groups and join a couple that might appeal -

Volunteer to help out - even if just going and spending some time chatting with infirm expats in "homes" or hospitals… probably there is not much better to do out there, to make you feel better about yourself, than helping others. If you can find something like this, it will increase the value of all your other hours too… even if just using them to relax.

good luck.

[NoshowJones]

If you ride a motorbike get out of town and explore the countryside, there is lots to see not far from the city. You can even do overnight trips. Cinema is a wet weather option.

No, I'm not a motorbike fan. I love my life so far and want to enjoy my pension some years longer. (There is not even ONE of my biker friends who didn't have any injuries).

Maybe we should meet up and remedy that.

[NoshowJones]

1) get more pet to play with ( breeding siam fighting fish ) etc ... its nice i always like to see the baby fish growing up and give nice colour .

2) go find some friend and play Badminton or ping pong

3) go fishing or prawn fishing

4) buy a camera take picture everywhere , whatever

Your no 3. When I first came here about ten years ago. I bought all the fishing gear, went to a big lake to watch people fishing, there was only one guy and he had six rods set up.

He kept moving from one rod to the next checking his lines, and had a few very small fishes about 4ins long which he had caught in a jar.

That put me off fishing in Thailand, and I still have all the gear which has never been used.

[thaiduncankk]

Quote williet 98248 - I don't go to bars as I don't drink and most people there are just whingeing and bitching about how terrible Thailand and the Thais are anyway - unquote.

I read more about that topic on here than I have ever listened to in bars, and I had one for quite a long time !

Bar chat is more about backstabbing other farangs than Thai bashing.

Glad I got out of it.

Edited September 25, 2015 by thaiduncankk

[itsmylife]

1) get more pet to play with ( breeding siam fighting fish ) etc ... its nice i always like to see the baby fish growing up and give nice colour .

2) go find some friend and play Badminton or ping pong

3) go fishing or prawn fishing

4) buy a camera take picture everywhere , whatever

Your no 3. When I first came here about ten years ago. I bought all the fishing gear, went to a big lake to watch people fishing, there was only one guy and he had six rods set up.

He kept moving from one rod to the next checking his lines, and had a few very small fishes about 4ins long which he had caught in a jar.

That put me off fishing in Thailand, and I still have all the gear which has never been used.

That day i go to the fishing pond at bosiang they always have a good fight.

or you can go to ping river near warorot market for fishing i see some thai always fish there but dunno what they get

Edited September 25, 2015 by itsmylife

[NoshowJones]

1) get more pet to play with ( breeding siam fighting fish ) etc ... its nice i always like to see the baby fish growing up and give nice colour .

2) go find some friend and play Badminton or ping pong

3) go fishing or prawn fishing

4) buy a camera take picture everywhere , whatever

Dear Senior Member,

Any suggestions of where to fish in CM? Appreciated.

Not my cup of tea. but if you start a thread on it you should get some good responses. There used to be a thread about where to buy fishing tackle. I don't remember them but there were quite a few suggestions.

I think there is a fishing forum here on Thaivisa.

[NoshowJones]

1) get more pet to play with ( breeding siam fighting fish ) etc ... its nice i always like to see the baby fish growing up and give nice colour .

2) go find some friend and play Badminton or ping pong

3) go fishing or prawn fishing

4) buy a camera take picture everywhere , whatever

Your no 3. When I first came here about ten years ago. I bought all the fishing gear, went to a big lake to watch people fishing, there was only one guy and he had six rods set up.

He kept moving from one rod to the next checking his lines, and had a few very small fishes about 4ins long which he had caught in a jar.

That put me off fishing in Thailand, and I still have all the gear which has never been used.

That day i go to the fishing pond at bosiang they always have a good fight.

There are plenty of rivers and lakes where I live here up country, but I never see any them being used, apart from what I mentioned.

There must be a good reason for that, maybe people using nets.

There is a big pond in the exercise park that I use, and I always see the fish jumping, but no one ever fishing.

[akentryan]

Gym fills in a couple of hours. I bought a lifetime membership and as I left I said to myself "At 75 years old why the hell are you buying a lifetime membership in anything?" Turned out to be one of my smartest and healthiest moves. Now if I could just find a way to discontinue stopping for a few beers on the way home from the gym. What the heck, the lovely ladies need my patronage.

[peterb17]

Think the OP meant why I am so bored- not what do you do today.

Day to day life is not that exciting- shopping, cooking, gardening, playing with the dog, getting the laundry done - but it's day to day life-and really quite stress free and pleasant.

My strategy is always have something to look forward to-organising a birthday party, couple of trips around the Kingdom with the expats club, wine club dinners, two big parties, inviting friends for dinner , trip to Cambodia then quite soon Tanzania.

There are many things you can do- loads of clubs out there- even take up bridge.

Life does not have to totally exciting all the time and busy all the time- that seems to be something the younger generation needs every minute.

[lathamallika]

hi everyone do what i do ,up at 6am on computer till 9am breakfast then on the bike to the coffee shop where all the expats go near the moat in cm ,come home around noon sleep for 2 hours ,then more computer ect dog walking in the park good exercising for our age group i am 64 ha ha then home again twice a week out on the town to find a companion for the evening a grands worth is ok ,paradise what more do you want ha ha ha try doing that in the uk all on a pension of 55 k a month cant be bad

[uptheos]

Fishing in those parks or boring round treeless ponds, with 100lb BS line and a rod you could club them to death with, is as skilful as shooting ducks in a barrel.

[Absolut]

Fire up some porn and whack one out.

Sure, but what to do with the other 23hrs and 55mins in the day? ?

[circusman]

1) get more pet to play with ( breeding siam fighting fish ) etc ... its nice i always like to see the baby fish growing up and give nice colour .

2) go find some friend and play Badminton or ping pong

3) go fishing or prawn fishing

4) buy a camera take picture everywhere , whatever

Ping pong for an older person ? Don't think so.

[itsmylife]

1) get more pet to play with ( breeding siam fighting fish ) etc ... its nice i always like to see the baby fish growing up and give nice colour .

2) go find some friend and play Badminton or ping pong

3) go fishing or prawn fishing

4) buy a camera take picture everywhere , whatever

Ping pong for an older person ? Don't think so.

HaHa maybe he can find some chinese friend and play mahjong good for brain esp for old man

[jamiesilver]

start a business
Write a blog
start a meetup in your area for other expats with your dilema, meetup.com etc

sell stuff online

start a charity helping something or someone

go stay in a temple for 1 month and find yourself

[Brer Fox]

Doesn't matter where you are you will get bored from time to time. I live in North Vietnam but likewise I get bored from time to time so I have rented a bolt hole in the burbs in BKK in the form of a low cost but nice clean and comfortable older style condo. I use it to stay for two to three weeks at a time every 6 weeks including when I do my 3 monthly Vietnam visa runs. Been doing that for some years. I spend some of my Thai stay time up and around the Isaan area around Udon and Nong Khai visiting friends. The savings I make from low cost-of-living in VN allow me to indulge myself in Thailand. So basically I lead a double life and enjoy both of them. Can't imagine not getting bored living in CM. As a last temporary resort change bars and gf.

[Muzarella]

Uhhhhh...very busy....and in Phayao.

I awake every day about 7 AM. My wife is already preparing my breakfast, fried eggs and bananas with green tea. She goes to work, I take my dog for our daily walk, about 3 Km on the nearest park. Back at the house, if not raining, we will walk at the end of our garden to face the lake, get my fishing gear on my small boat, and look for a spot to get my daily catch. Coming back for lunch, I will share my catch with my dog and my neigbords. Most of the times, I get too much and I do not like to froze it. I will plan my cooking, to wait for my wife from work about 1 PM. After lunch and a "siesta" until 3 PM, she will go back to work at her office, and I will open my small restaurant until 8 PM. If the place is not busy, I will spend my time online, on TV, on Facebook, on Skype, or watching a movie.

The routine only changes on weekends, if she is not working. If she is working, probably I will share my day with friends. Most like my fishing and my cooking.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Muzarella

[12DrinkMore]

Fire up some porn and whack one out.

Sure, but what to do with the other 23hrs and 55mins in the day? ?

All done, washed and dusted inside of five minutes?

You need to work on strength and endurance, will a little practice I believe ( ) it should be possible to slap away for at least an hour or longer.

Maybe in the early stages of developing this skillset, it might help to have a handy picture of granny without her dentures?

[sawadee1947]

Fire up some porn and whack one out.

I appreciate this quality answer by a quality expat. Thank you

[sawadee1947]

Uhhhhh...very busy....and in Phayao.

I awake every day about 7 AM. My wife is already preparing my breakfast, fried eggs and bananas with green tea. She goes to work, I take my dog for our daily walk, about 3 Km on the nearest park. Back at the house, if not raining, we will walk at the end of our garden to face the lake, get my fishing gear on my small boat, and look for a spot to get my daily catch. Coming back for lunch, I will share my catch with my dog and my neigbords. Most of the times, I get too much and I do not like to froze it. I will plan my cooking, to wait for my wife from work about 1 PM. After lunch and a "siesta" until 3 PM, she will go back to work at her office, and I will open my small restaurant until 8 PM. If the place is not busy, I will spend my time online, on TV, on Facebook, on Skype, or watching a movie.

The routine only changes on weekends, if she is not working. If she is working, probably I will share my day with friends. Most like my fishing and my cooking.

unfortunateky I don't like bananas with green tea. How do you prepare it? Tea leaves on fried bananas? Does it taste?

And also I don't want to start all that stuff applying for a work permit just to run a small restaurant.

But the idea with fishing is good. Thank you

[12DrinkMore]

Fire up some porn and whack one out.

I appreciate this quality answer by a quality expat. Thank you

You're welcome.

Thanks for the encouragement, I will certainly endeavour to continue providing such helpful tips.

[sawadee1947]

Doesn't matter where you are you will get bored from time to time. I live in North Vietnam but likewise I get bored from time to time so I have rented a bolt hole in the burbs in BKK in the form of a low cost but nice clean and comfortable older style condo. I use it to stay for two to three weeks at a time every 6 weeks including when I do my 3 monthly Vietnam visa runs. Been doing that for some years. I spend some of my Thai stay time up and around the Isaan area around Udon and Nong Khai visiting friends. The savings I make from low cost-of-living in VN allow me to indulge myself in Thailand. So basically I lead a double life and enjoy both of them. Can't imagine not getting bored living in CM. As a last temporary resort change bars and gf.

thank you. Renting somewhere an apartment is a good idea.

[sawadee1947]

start a business

Write a blog

start a meetup in your area for other expats with your dilema, meetup.com etc

sell stuff online

start a charity helping something or someone

go stay in a temple for 1 month and find yourself

Thank you. good ideas

[MaeJoMTB]

I get up at 5am and go road bike cycling.

Usually up to Wat Doi Suthep.

Then at 4pm I go mountain bike cycling.

Usually to that little temple (Wat Doi Thaen) in the mountain behind MaeJo (Huai Cho) reservoir. Never seen anyone else there.

The rest of the day I waste with my family.

Edited September 25, 2015 by MaeJoMTB