Thinking of moving to Isaan

[SteveK]

Hi guys,

 

I am considering moving to Ubon Ratchathani province hopefully within the next 6 months.

 

My situation:

Have a first class masters degree from a good UK university.

Am 36 years old.

Own a house worth £369k with £220k left on the mortgage.

Have around £25k savings. Also about £8k worth of stuff that I can sell.

Pissed off with current job and have left, pissed off with life in the UK in general.

Have a reasonable grasp of written and spoken Thai (but not really any Isaan).

Have just come back from several weeks staying in Khong Chiam, Pho Sai and Trakan Phuet Phon.

 

My question is, am I in a good enough position to consider the move? I have someone (Thai) who I can stay with for free initially. Income wise I have two options. She has said I can invest in her start-up shop for around 90k Baht which will give me somewhere to stay above the shop and will gets some money for helping out from time to time but obviously I don't think that's legal. Or I can look at teaching English, which shouldn't be a problem, I really enjoy languages, and hold a full clean motorcycle license to save money.

 

With regards to my house in the UK. I don't have family base I can stay at in the UK so if I sell it I am burning my bridges. I could rent it out, and I predict the rental, after deducting agency fees and mortgage will provide another 6k baht per month, with the added benefit that someone is paying my mortgage and I will have somewhere to come back to. But then obviously I won't get the big lump sum from the equity in my house.

 

Does anyone have any advice or questions?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Briggsy]

With over £150,000 in net assets, including £25,000 - £33,000 in liquid assets, your issue is not cash flow.

 

Your issue is what you wish to do with your life, both now and in the long term. If you move to Isaan, which you can, you will find that job opportunities for you are very, very limited. It is teaching unless you are resourceful.

 

You may well get bored, your career will come to a very abrupt halt, your social life will shrink.

 

There are also the visa issues. The easiest way around this is getting a Work Permit as a teacher or getting married.

 

Can it be done? Of course, it can. Many have done it before you.

 

But are you prepared to accept the downside that in 10 years' time, your net worth is £10,000, you have a diminished earnings potential, you are 46 and have 2 young kids.

[SteveK]

I'm bored in the UK, my career bores the hell out of me and most of my good friends have moved away anyway.

 

If I keep my house in the UK and rent it, I will not be penniless in the future.

 

If I just go to Isaan with liquid assets, around £30,000, would you consider that to be viable?

 

I would be considering marriage and a work permit.

[Michael Hare]

Job for you at Ubon Ratchathani University. Interviews next week I believe. Position in the International Affairs section. 

 

Contact them.

 

http://www.english.ubu.ac.th/international-relations-office-staff/

 

 

[Toscano]

I would NOT recommend you to move to Isaan , Ubon Ratchathani is a very out of the way place .  As has been said job prospects are very limited , a work permit is not always easy to get .  For a foreigner life in Isaan can be extremely boring , investing in a girlfriend's shop is likely to be a loss maker and the shops have something and nothing in them .  I have been married 11 years to a beautiful university educated woman , head teacher of an infant school , she had her own home and two adult children away from home , we do now do most of the caring for two granddaughters .  I don't recommend marriage , Thai culture is very different , even if your girl friend kisses and cuddles , it isn't the custom and she may stop in time .  Thai women are only interested in us foreign guys for money and financial security we bring .  I don't think Thai know how to love as we do and they are or become platonic .  If you must marry do not have an Amphur wedding or have a visa in respect of marriage , the paper work is horrendous .  Better to have a village wedding that has no legal strings attached , if things don't work out you can pack your bags and leave , don't buy or build a house .  The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence , but wherever you choose to live everything is pretty much the same .  Keeping you present home should be an absolute must , I think you should stay where you are , be thankful for the job you hate or get another one .  Thai girls and women can be very pretty and alluring , but that is as far as it goes .

[inThailand]

Out of all the big cities, Ubon has to be the most boring and uneventful place for falangs. 

 

[puchooay]

5 minutes ago, Toscano said:

I would NOT recommend you to move to Isaan , Ubon Ratchathani is a very out of the way place .  As has been said job prospects are very limited , a work permit is not always easy to get .  For a foreigner life in Isaan can be extremely boring , investing in a girlfriend's shop is likely to be a loss maker and the shops have something and nothing in them .  I have been married 11 years to a beautiful university educated woman , head teacher of an infant school , she had her own home and two adult children away from home , we do now do most of the caring for two granddaughters .  I don't recommend marriage , Thai culture is very different , even if your girl friend kisses and cuddles , it isn't the custom and she may stop in time .  Thai women are only interested in us foreign guys for money and financial security we bring .  I don't think Thai know how to love as we do and they are or become platonic .  If you must marry do not have an Amphur wedding or have a visa in respect of marriage , the paper work is horrendous .  Better to have a village wedding that has no legal strings attached , if things don't work out you can pack your bags and leave , don't buy or build a house .  The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence , but wherever you choose to live everything is pretty much the same .  Keeping you present home should be an absolute must , I think you should stay where you are , be thankful for the job you hate or get another one .  Thai girls and women can be very pretty and alluring , but that is as far as it goes .

To the OP. I wouldn't take much notice of the post I have quoted here.

 

Doom and gloom and a bit off the mark.

 

As an example, saying job oppotunites in Ubon are limited just shows how little he knows.

[petertucker48]

3 minutes ago, puchooay said:

I would NOT recommend you to move to Isaan , Ubon Ratchathani is a very out of the way place .  As has been said job prospects are very limited , a work permit is not always easy to get .  For a foreigner life in Isaan can be extremely boring , investing in a girlfriend's shop is likely to be a loss maker and the shops have something and nothing in them .  I have been married 11 years to a beautiful university educated woman , head teacher of an infant school , she had her own home and two adult children away from home , we do now do most of the caring for two granddaughters .  I don't recommend marriage , Thai culture is very different , even if your girl friend kisses and cuddles , it isn't the custom and she may stop in time .  Thai women are only interested in us foreign guys for money and financial security we bring .  I don't think Thai know how to love as we do and they are or become platonic .  If you must marry do not have an Amphur wedding or have a visa in respect of marriage , the paper work is horrendous .  Better to have a village wedding that has no legal strings attached , if things don't work out you can pack your bags and leave , don't buy or build a house .  The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence , but wherever you choose to live everything is pretty much the same .  Keeping you present home should be an absolute must , I think you should stay where you are , be thankful for the job you hate or get another one .  Thai girls and women can be very pretty and alluring , but that is as far as it goes .

After 10 years experience even living in Cha Am with one great Issan girl I agree very much.

Make sure you keep a house (rented out) in the UK not necessarily the present one just somewhere to return to.

[SteveK]

Hi guys, thanks for your replies. My other, probably more sensible option is to keep everything ticking over in the UK and visit for 3-4 weeks then make a decision. I did love the place but can see how it may become boring. But then the UK is boring too.

[JHolmesJr]

you think UK is boring and ubon ratchathani is exciting…i think someone needs a good shagging.

[Ryder88]

57 minutes ago, Toscano said:

I would NOT recommend you to move to Isaan , Ubon Ratchathani is a very out of the way place .  As has been said job prospects are very limited , a work permit is not always easy to get .  For a foreigner life in Isaan can be extremely boring , investing in a girlfriend's shop is likely to be a loss maker and the shops have something and nothing in them .  I have been married 11 years to a beautiful university educated woman , head teacher of an infant school , she had her own home and two adult children away from home , we do now do most of the caring for two granddaughters .  I don't recommend marriage , Thai culture is very different , even if your girl friend kisses and cuddles , it isn't the custom and she may stop in time .  Thai women are only interested in us foreign guys for money and financial security we bring .  I don't think Thai know how to love as we do and they are or become platonic .  If you must marry do not have an Amphur wedding or have a visa in respect of marriage , the paper work is horrendous .  Better to have a village wedding that has no legal strings attached , if things don't work out you can pack your bags and leave , don't buy or build a house .  The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence , but wherever you choose to live everything is pretty much the same .  Keeping you present home should be an absolute must , I think you should stay where you are , be thankful for the job you hate or get another one .  Thai girls and women can be very pretty and alluring , but that is as far as it goes .

the most honest accurate description about thai women i';ve read here on this site or anywhere else

[stubuzz]

The experiences you have coming here on holiday will be completely different to the ones you will have living/working here.  It will be fun for a year or two and then...

[lopburi3]

Be careful - what you get is not always what it seems at first glance.

 

[Goanna]

Might I suggest that you take six months off, as a trial. See how you go. You will learn about the area, the people, and the lady. It will definately be different to what you are used to. I enjoy it, but it many wouldn't.

[The Deerhunter]

3 hours ago, pr9spk said:

I'm bored in the UK, my career bores the hell out of me and most of my good friends have moved away anyway.

 

If I keep my house in the UK and rent it, I will not be penniless in the future.

 

If I just go to Isaan with liquid assets, around £30,000, would you consider that to be viable?

 

I would be considering marriage and a work permit.

In the short term I would strongly recommend not burning your bridges.  If you get off the property ladder back home,  (yes and it is a ladder, only going up.......) you may never get back on if you have a change of heart.  I was lucky to rent my home to an ex employee who I trusted and we still have a tiny crash pad (basement granny-flat) with down sized possessions list to stay in on visits home.  You never know how well these things can turn out.  I'm 4 years in now but still not selling up at home.  It is appreciating faster than I could spend the money here anyway so as I have other income it is the best for me.  As another poster suggested, consider selling and buying something more rentable if your current home is not an easy renter (difficult to maintain), but burning bridges is what ruins the entire life of a lot of expats. They decide they have no life here and cannot afford to go home and start again. A fate worse than the only option!!!!   Totally agree with Goanna and the other 3-4 posts directly above!!!   But 3 or 4 weeks is NOT NOT NOT enough!!!!!!!!  You need 6 months at least to get a real feel for it.   Everyone says living here is different from a holiday and it is so true.   

Edited August 12, 2017 by The Deerhunter

[coconuthead]

I've been visiting the UK for the past 16 years and I've never seen it so depressing as this last year......totally understand you wanting to leave it.

 

that said I wouldn't sell that house and I wouldn't waste 90k on someone's business either. 

[Guitar God]

Find a good property manager, keep your house in the U.K.  

Your best chance of finding emoloyment here is teaching at a university. 

 

Move here for for a while and see how you like it. 

 

I've been here in Ubon for three years and I've never been bored. In fact I'd almost like to move to a smaller town because the traffic here is getting annoying. 

 

Either I'm the luckiest farang in Thailand or these guys who are always dissing Thai women are meeting their women in bars or something. My experience has been the opposite. I have a loving wife who not only doesn't ask for any money but she buys me things, takes me out to dinner and movies, drinks, couples massage and she pays for it. 

 

If if you like it here, no sense wasting time being miserable in the U.K.  I left Amsterdam 4 years ago after living there for almost 20 years and I've got no regrets. 

[MadMuhammad]

36 minutes ago, Ryder88 said:

the most honest accurate description about thai women i';ve read here on this site or anywhere else

I couldn't disagree more. If this becomes the case for you or anyone else you haven't chosen wisely and/or it's a relationship of convenience.

The problem I consistently see is that most guys just hook up with the first girl that they sleep ad plays the role they want. It's a western trait to hang on to 'their' girl whether they've got a serious connection or not. 

Add to that the cultural differences and misunderstandings of language and upbringing and it's commonly a recipe for disaster.

In my opinion most non thai guys need to 1. Meet the right girl in the first place, not just the one who plays the role and 2. Take their time to get to know her and learn about what makes her tick. Not just go all in in the first week. And 3. Don't date/marry a girl you first met over a financial transaction.

[MadMuhammad]

8 minutes ago, Guitar God said:

Find a good property manager, keep your house in the U.K.  

Your best chance of finding emoloyment here is teaching at a university. 

 

Move here for for a while and see how you like it. 

 

I've been here in Ubon for three years and I've never been bored. In fact I'd almost like to move to a smaller town because the traffic here is getting annoying. 

 

Either I'm the luckiest farang in Thailand or these guys who are always dissing Thai women are meeting their women in bars or something. My experience has been the opposite. I have a loving wife who not only doesn't ask for any money but she buys me things, takes me out to dinner and movies, drinks, couples massage and she pays for it. 

 

If if you like it here, no sense wasting time being miserable in the U.K.  I left Amsterdam 4 years ago after living there for almost 20 years and I've got no regrets. 

Absolutely! There's some great girls out there (you & I have obviously chosen wisely.)

And I whole heartedly agree in not wasting your time. If your unhappy do something about it. 

My personal experience at 39 is to sell up, relocate and just make it work. If you got the want and the guts to make the move you'll make it work. 

Changing jobs, breaking up, moving cities, whatever, always seems extremely difficult to impossible until we're thrust right into the middle of it. Ever lost your job, been broke, had something horrible happen? We always make it work, it's what we as humans do.

[catman20]

3 hours ago, pr9spk said:

I'm bored in the UK, my career bores the hell out of me and most of my good friends have moved away anyway.

 

If I keep my house in the UK and rent it, I will not be penniless in the future.

 

If I just go to Isaan with liquid assets, around £30,000, would you consider that to be viable?

 

I would be considering marriage and a work permit.

ok i get where your coming from, your first priority must be taking care of YOU and YOUR future. keep the house thats a must. dont get married look on you tube my thai bride and dont believe that your one different she might be but you dont want to bet YOUR future on it. good luck mate.

[transam]

There is most stuff you may be looking for in Ubon except a beach and hookers on display...But there is a lake beach...The plus is Trans (myself) is renown in the area for his angels voice to captivate you and yours...

 

On a more serious note you can PM me as l have lived in Ubon town for many years...

[puchooay]

I came here at 28.

 

Now thinking that I probably left it late. Lol.

 

Love it here. I live in Buriram which is even smaller and quieter than Ubon.

 

Never looked back. Visited UK once since I have been here, 19 years, and can't imagine ever wanting to return to live there.

 

 

Edited August 12, 2017 by puchooay

[Dene16]

First and foremost do not let your house go

I don't believe you will only get 6k a month from the property but a lot will depend on your mortgage.

If you were to change it to a repayment only your mortgage payment would be approx £400

your rent would be around £1200+  leaving £800 minus management fees

This would change considerably if you had a repayment mortgage but you are 36 years old

I do this on a property of a much lesser value but much smaller debt and provides 25k a month ( i do not have a management company though) 

Think what that 220k would be worth in 25 years time (about 2 years wages) 

I had a friend who worked as a teacher (about your age with wife and child) in khon kaen He was happy but needed help, with air fares to come to uk on holiday, from parents 

Once here his wife decided she liked it so they decided to stay so that they would be better off ( but he had his parents very big house to stay in)

You just need to keep your options open here in the UK

A classmate from school spent 20 years going back and forth from Asia until finally returning to the UK as a teacher with his wife and children

Rent the house and use 7k of your savings to spend 6 months here and see what happens nothing lost but a great experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lucky mike]

Quite often the grass is greener on the other side it is normally caused by the shit you go through!

[maxtwo]

I would sell the existing property and buy two cheap ones to rent out as all the income from them would be yours .If you rent the existing property most will go on the mortgage.

[bwpage3]

Isaan dialogue is not the same and you won't understand one word of anything anyone says. Isaan women are devoted to their families and will always side with them. Many homes will Not Even have The Basics, Like Air Con, you Will Need To Survive. Isaan Is Super Boring And an Educated Person Would Go Out Of His Mind. The Best Advice In the World Is To Have An Iron Clad Backup Plan. Teachers Income Does Not Afford A Quality Life Only Survival. The fact She is Talking To You ABout Investing In Her Business is Gigantic Red Flag. 

[transam]

5 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

Isaan dialogue is not the same and you won't understand one word of anything anyone says. Isaan women are devoted to their families and will always side with them. Many homes will Not Even have The Basics, Like Air Con, you Will Need To Survive. Isaan Is Super Boring And an Educated Person Would Go Out Of His Mind. The Best Advice In the World Is To Have An Iron Clad Backup Plan. Teachers Income Does Not Afford A Quality Life Only Survival. The fact She is Talking To You ABout Investing In Her Business is Gigantic Red Flag. 

Rollox...................

[Dene16]

12 minutes ago, maxtwo said:

 

I would sell the existing property and buy two cheap ones to rent out as all the income from them would be yours

 

2 properties for 150K ? 

You obviously don't live in the UK plus the new rules that came into place 3 months ago regarding owning more than one property.

 

 

 

[VBF]

13 minutes ago, Dene16 said:

2 properties for 150K ? 

You obviously don't live in the UK plus the new rules that came into place 3 months ago regarding owning more than one property.

 

 

 

Not entirely true - it depends where in UK you live. A mate of mine lives near Durham so i searched and found this 1 Bed flat in Durham. 

I pretty much searched at random but you get the idea - it could make a good rental property and at that price 2 properties would be £110K.

Also, if one is serious, there are legal ways to own several properties - company formation for example.

 

Having said all that, it's complex, requires the help of reliable legal people and may or may not be cost-effective. Still a possible method of offering the OP, a young man, the opportunity he desires.

Edited August 12, 2017 by VBF

[maxtwo]

You can still buy terraced house for £80.000 in Sheffield I have ten.