Urban or Rural Thailand?

[villagefarang]

About the time I moved from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, humanity passed that inflection point where more people now live in urban rather than rural environments. My move in the opposite direction somehow struck me as interesting, having grown up amidst the suburban sprawl of my generation, in university towns and after that my adult life having been spent in Bangkok, a heavily populated city even in the seventies. 

 

Even if one excludes the availability of jobs, I can relate to the draw of urban life. It certainly held my attention for quite some time. Something in me changed along the way, however. I am sure age had something to to with it, in addition to getting married in my forties and transitioning from being single and unencumbered, to being more responsible and doing things as a couple.

 

We spent the first ten years of our life together living in the city and traveling much of the year. One of the great things about condo living is the ability to turn the key and leave for long periods of time with little or no worry. Our travels awakened in us, however, a deep almost primal lust for nature, which tainted our view of city living after a while. 

 

As much as I loved city living, it didn’t fill that hole which had gradually developed due to our travels and changing circumstances. I found myself yearning for space, comfort, pets and the things I had possessed in my youth, things condo living did not allow for. So as the rest of the world was moving to the city in ever increasing numbers, we decided to move out. After looking at various options, I closed the book on my thirty years in Bangkok and started a new chapter in my relationship with Thailand by moving to a village 55 km from Chiang Rai.

 

I sometimes wonder if all these people rushing to the promise of the big city, be it Bangkok or elsewhere, might one day want to leave these cities? If they do, where will they go? Will they be able to leave? Those who can’t make a go of city life may return to the family plot, if it hasn’t already been sold, but one suspects that returning to a rural setting will eventually become less of an option.

 

The family farm in Thailand is slowly going the way of family farms in the West. Land homesteaded by grandparents is being divided among offspring and sold off to pay debts. One suspects that it may one day be another group, who have done well in life and have the funds to live a comfortable life in a more natural environment, who end up being the ones who can afford to live out of the city. 

 

Many still see country life as remote, deprived, difficult and mind numbing but it isn’t that for everyone. True, things may move at a different pace but with the absence of other distractions you begin to look at the world differently, feel more deeply and see more color and texture in the world around you. In my youth I enjoyed city life and now as I get older I find myself enjoying rural life. I am guessing that as urbanization becomes more of a necessity for humanity to move forward, there will be more people who will consider country living a luxury they are willing to pay for.

 

I am not trying to sell one lifestyle over another, just contemplating the changes I see around me and wondering what things will look like in the further. If you live in Thailand, do you live in the city or in the country and why? If you dream of moving to Thailand, are your dreams of city life or village life?

[brokenbone]

i have never been happy living in a house,

even when the house is in a city.

not sure why, i dont doubt insects is one contributing factor though, cant stand the buggers.

also house reminds me of my childhood, which i dont want to remember

[ad61]

After 25 years living and working in Phuket, my wife and me moved to her home town, bought a piece of land in the mountain and, after 5 years now, been never be more happy.

Sent from my SM-A710F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Kwasaki]

Up to you as they say.

[sidjameson]

Hi libido pushes people to the city life, reducing libido pulls them to the countryside.

[ThaiAutobahn]

I have been through this, too.  I suggest people keep their city center condo and try upcountry living for awhile, and rent in a place before buying anything.  I like going back and forth between the countryside and the city.  I have lived both upcountry and in the Bangkok city center.

 

Northwestern Thailand was a nice place to be, until smoke from the burning crops arrived, which I have heard happens often.

 

There are lots of natural areas.  There is a lot of variety.  The people are very nice to foreigners.  It is a safe country.

 

There are many good roads, but some roads to avoid or go very slowly on.

 

Most of Thailand is very nice and I think I could live in many places here.  I love the markets of fresh food.  There is good food everywhere.  There are many super store outlets such as Tesco Lotus or Big C.  There is a modern shopping mall in so many small cities now. 

 

There are many good places to hang out with a laptop and reading material, and to explore around at leisure.  However, it is also good to be home somewhere.

[1FinickyOne]

Been living in a country farming village for 20 years... now have a condo in CM drawn here mostly to accompany a niece we have been raising who wants to be in a better school. Her choice. And so, some back and forth for me but though I am content in CM, I probably prefer living in the countryside. Though, even when living in CM, a ride out into the country is easily accomplished. 

 

Big city Bkk is way too congested for me. CM is ok. Village and small city is fine. 

[Rod the Sod]

Good post. I spent my life avoiding cities. I lived in Northumberland, rural north Essex, North Yorkshire etc. in England before moving to Asia in 1992. Even in Hong Kong I lived in a fishing village on Lantau overlooking mountains and sea. Now aged 62, I live in a Condo in a very quiet Soi 7 at Nana. Actually I quite like it. Great shops within walking distance. No end of choices to eat. Every type of market available and a constantly changing scene to see. Great transport and despite advice to the contrary, I love tootling around on my Vespa. I ponder about a retreat back to the country and I am lucky and have that for 3 months of the year in rural France, holidays see me in nice places for another month or two, and so actually I feel I have a good balance. As I do get older it is comforting to know that I am literally surrounded by good hospitals.

 

I can only speak for myself, but I find comfort in the balance that I have. Sure I hate BKK sometimes, but wherever I chose to live I would hate it sometimes - crop burning in the north etc. I could not live in UK again and in the 27 years since I left it has seemingly become a less attractive place to live by a long way (I have family there and see the impact upon them). 

 

I am glad the OP has found his home in the north and is clearly happy with his choice. Good luck to all in finding their "home". Cheers RtS

[connda]

The The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development folks want to move the vast majority of humans into urban ghettos sustainable cities with residential "smart" cracker-boxes for housing.  They will appeal to the masses, especially the young an impressionable, that urban living is more chic, sophisticated, and convenient.  With the push to turn most people into voracious consumers and cogs in the machine, and most ignorantly falling for the sales pitch, you'll probably see more and more people heading for the already over-crowded, expensive, and polluted cities.  

 

I've lived in both, but in my retirement and pushing old age - the slow lane of rural living is exactly where I want to be.  Cities are within driving  distance, and when I can long longer drive, then the village has everything that I need because I don't need much.  And I'm content.  What else do you need?

 

 

[The Theory]

Living in a rural house is great and makes some wishes come true, but it’s not always possible for everyone to make it happen due to financial shortage or lack of opportunity. 

Perhaps someday. 

Till that day I cross fingers.

 

[Roadman]

We have our main family home here in the west in one of our fastest growing suburbs in our fifth largest city. But it is a large section surrounded by other like properties at half to two acre sections where the city has grown around us. So we have no other homes right against our boundaries. The rating bill is higher but jeez that’s pittance for the life style we have. We have large vegetable gardens and fruit trees right along two boundaries. The main house and upper lawn is secure fenced for the dogs and kids to run and play free. We have an 8 meter high hedge along the street boundary to complete full privacy. It’s paradise living rural in the city and having the best of both worlds. We have an apartment in our biggest city, so the same as a Thai condo, which is for the use of our daughters going through varsity, a weekend change at only a three hour drive away for us and a boarding option for our Thai families uni age children coming here to study. I grew up and worked in the best of the rural world...the full on country environment. Still work there but now in a senior office role but negotiated that at least one day a week I still get out into the hill country. I have the blend for me and our families needs spot on here. The main city apartment is great for a change and to spend time with our daughters but as much as we love our daughters the city / rural family home is where I am most content with life out gardening and pottering around.

Thailand I was struggling for quite a while with decisions for living or sojourns for the four months of our winter we are planning each year in Thailand when I retire in five years. But think I have accepted the answer there now. My wife has a primo property right in the centre of Udon Thani that has new shops and new apartments going up around it. The existing house on the property is old. It’s only a ten minute walk right into the middle of the city which is excellent as I prefer to be walking around for fitness and health. She also has a six rai rural section 40 km to the south east of the city home that elevates up from the edge of a government built dam of twenty years ago. It is also a primo site for building on and developing large gardens and orchards around. I had visions of doing there what I have here in the west on slightly larger scale. There is a problem I see with the rural option. And it’s not age as I have just had a full on health check done scanners and all and live and eat healthy so should be able to do the same as the rest of my paternal line did and live for another thirty odd into the nineties. Problem rather being in Thailand for only four months a year and developing a six rai property to the paradise you want it being able to guarantee an extended family member even living there will look after to what you want. And for a fussy gardening prick like me that’s a big issue and would end bad with extended family. The city option is easier as we will re build a new home and get our neice to rent that for us when we are not there the same as she does for the houses she and her husband buy and westernsie renovate for renting and Airbnb. I struggled with that for the last few years but then accept that the Udon Thani city house option works best for us as we have paradise and what I love most here in Kiwiland to come back to. For Thailand I need to change my perspective back to the things and reasons why I fell in love with the place twenty years ago. And sojourning in a new Thai home for four months okay on a small section with no gardens and orchards and fur balls running around and beautiful daughters just a car drive away does not need to change that. 

Edited March 4, 2019 by Roadman
PS. Bored right now as I am sitting around being the support person for my wife who has just undergone major surgery for the better.

[Naam]

On 3/3/2019 at 6:13 PM, brokenbone said:

i have never been happy living in a house

just the thought of living in a condo makes me

[villagefarang]

While I understand preferring one location over another at different times in ones life, I don’t understand the need to denigrate different likes.

[CharlieH]

As they saying goes, "each to his own", no one is more right or wrong than anyone else, personal choice and preference.

Circumstances and finances also play apart in what choices people may have.

[ballpoint]

I've pretty much put forward all my views in the country living thread.  I'm currently spending my last month as an employed expat in Bangkok, and, (un)like the UK, will be making my own Brexit (Ballpoint's Retirement Exit) on March 29th.  And no, there will be no extension or second referendum.  I'm leaving.  We have two condos in Bangkok, bought using my housing allowance over the years - we have a long term tenant in one and we live in the other when I'm working.  We will be keeping both of them, and not renting out the one currently lived in, as we will still be passing through Bangkok for trips abroad, and will spend a week or so there every so often.  Although I am greatly looking forward to going back to spending most of my time in the country, I don't see the point in throwing the baby out with the bath water by cutting all ties with the big city.  Having said that, however, there are far fewer reasons to spend time there shopping and lifestyle wise than there were around 10 years ago, as there is very little Western food that I can't either buy directly at one of the local Tops / Big C / Tesco supermarkets, or a bit further away in the Mall in Korat; my Kindle negates the need to buy up a stack of books in Bangkok anymore (and provides far, far more options.  Similarly, online music downloading does the same for what used to be done with CDs); I see no difference in the speed of the fibre optic internet connection in the village with that in my Bangkok condo, so I am able to peruse YouTube, get my mind sucked out on ThaiVisa, read the papers from my home country, and purchase online, from the comfort of my own upcountry chair, anything I particularly want, but can't get in Thailand - which hasn't been a whole lot lately.  And I got totally bored of the Bangkok bar scene many years ago.  Give me a night in, or trip to a restaurant, with my family, or a visit to a friends house any day.  Life is what you make of it, and it seems to me that there is far more material to do that in the country.

[swissie]

A pre-requisite of living happily in Rural-Thailand is a good wife and an "intact" Thai family.
Can not recommend for a Farang to live in the sticks on his own.
I did it for almost 5 years. Can be quite boring (no family around where there is "always something going on".)
Also: A Farang not wanting no local female Beauty to become a live-in companion is not quite understood by the villagers.
(At that time, I had my reasons wanting it that way). Anyway, such a Farang is soon considered "a strange bird".
Despite fairly good Thai language skills, an invisable barrier remained in place between the Farang and the locals.
- Not to say that I had a miserable time but after almost 5 years I decided to pull up stakes and head back for the Tourist Hubs.
So again, good wife & good family seems to be a pre-requisite for rural living. NOTE: I said GOOD wife and GOOD family.

[villagefarang]

I agree with your wife assertion but maybe not the family part.  As much as I love my home, I somehow doubt I could remain here without my loving wife and her companionship.  As for family, we keep our interaction with what is left of her family to a minimum and they really don’t add anything to the quality of our lives.

 

A single farang male is always going to raise eyebrows and questions in polite society and I imagine even more so in a rural environment.  I dealt with that issue for twenty years in Bangkok and then when I did get married people had to rethink their beliefs about me.  The fact we eloped and didn’t do the big wedding confounded them as much as my being single for so long had.????

[VincentRJ]

21 hours ago, The Theory said:

Living in a rural house is great and makes some wishes come true, but it’s not always possible for everyone to make it happen due to financial shortage or lack of opportunity. 

Perhaps someday. 

Till that day I cross fingers.

 

Your post seems a bit contradictory. Could you explain in more detail?
Surely, living in the countryside, off the tourist beaten track and away from the big cities, is much more economical and cheaper.

 

I'm Australian and have been considering moving to Thailand in my retirement for a long time. I have an emotional attachment to the country because I first visited Thailand in 1962 and spent 10 months in Bangkok, teaching English both privately and in a Commercial College. I was very impressed by the friendliness and apparent happiness of the locals, including those who were very poor, financially.

 

During the past 12 years or so, I've visited Thailand as a tourist on numerous occasions because of these past emotional attachments, and have considered locations such as Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son as possibly ideal for a low-cost retirement where I could learn the Thai language and reduce the effects of dementia which inevitably occurs as one gets older if one doesn't exercise one's mind.

 

Off-the-beaten-track locations appeal to me because the mass of Chinese tourism in popular locations is totally off-putting. I also have a natural love of nature. Congested cities are often just horrible.

 

For me, there are only two major obstacles to my retirement in Thailand. My lack of a private health insurance cover, and the negative health impacts of the regular pollution that occurs during certain months of every year in most places in Thailand. I value my health very much. In Australia, I rarely visit a doctor because I'm relatively healthy for my age. When I do, perhaps to get an eye test which is required every year after the age of 75 in order to drive a car, or because I have an itchy ear, or some other trivial condition, I never have to pay anything for the consultation. I just pay a discounted price for any prescribed medication.

 

Of course, if I were to develop a serious medical condition whilst retired in Thailand, I could most probably travel back to Australia and receive free medical attention, provided I was in a sufficiently fit condition to travel. But I might not be fit to travel, and the general, long-term effect of the air pollution might contribute to illness and shorten my life. That's what puts me off and is causing great indecision. The 800,000 baht deposit is not an issue.

[Naam]

51 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

A single farang male is always going to raise eyebrows and questions in polite society and I imagine even more so in a rural environment.

please enlighten me why and also define "polite society".

[villagefarang]

23 minutes ago, Naam said:

please enlighten me why and also define "polite society".

On a very basic level the idea of polite society refers to people who are polite, respectful and adhere more closely to the ideal norms of a given society, as opposed to those more colorful individuals who inhabit the fringes of society and forsake the norms.  You can get away with a lot more in the red light districts, for example.

 

My being single for twenty years in Bangkok seemed to bother some people and caused them to ask endless questions.  I was quite good at keeping my nightlife and daytime life separate which led people to make erroneous assumptions which I was happy enough to leave unchallenged because explaining would have been too cumbersome.

 

Thais have a tendency to be quite traditional and if you are attractive and single they feel compelled to come up with an explanation for what they see as abnormal behavior.  Some of those possible explanations are not particularly flattering.

[Naam]

5 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

Thais have a tendency to be quite traditional and if you are attractive and single they feel compelled to come up with an explanation for what they see as abnormal behavior.  Some of those possible explanations are not particularly flattering.

thanks for the explanation. i'm not exposed to Thai polite society which surely would comment my abnormal life style unflattering.

[villagefarang]

15 minutes ago, Naam said:

thanks for the explanation. i'm not exposed to Thai polite society which surely would comment my abnormal life style unflattering.

Indeed most foreigners are only exposed to a very small segment of Thai society who make their living from foreigners. 

 

I just assumed you are wealthy and married to a non-Thai which would not be seen as abnormal. ????

Edited March 5, 2019 by villagefarang

[The Theory]

1 hour ago, VincentRJ said:

Your post seems a bit contradictory. Could you explain in more detail?
Surely, living in the countryside, off the tourist beaten track and away from the big cities, is much more economical and cheaper.

 

I'm Australian and have been considering moving to Thailand in my retirement for a long time. I have an emotional attachment to the country because I first visited Thailand in 1962 and spent 10 months in Bangkok, teaching English both privately and in a Commercial College. I was very impressed by the friendliness and apparent happiness of the locals, including those who were very poor, financially.

 

During the past 12 years or so, I've visited Thailand as a tourist on numerous occasions because of these past emotional attachments, and have considered locations such as Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son as possibly ideal for a low-cost retirement where I could learn the Thai language and reduce the effects of dementia which inevitably occurs as one gets older if one doesn't exercise one's mind.

 

Off-the-beaten-track locations appeal to me because the mass of Chinese tourism in popular locations is totally off-putting. I also have a natural love of nature. Congested cities are often just horrible.

 

For me, there are only two major obstacles to my retirement in Thailand. My lack of a private health insurance cover, and the negative health impacts of the regular pollution that occurs during certain months of every year in most places in Thailand. I value my health very much. In Australia, I rarely visit a doctor because I'm relatively healthy for my age. When I do, perhaps to get an eye test which is required every year after the age of 75 in order to drive a car, or because I have an itchy ear, or some other trivial condition, I never have to pay anything for the consultation. I just pay a discounted price for any prescribed medication.

 

Of course, if I were to develop a serious medical condition whilst retired in Thailand, I could most probably travel back to Australia and receive free medical attention, provided I was in a sufficiently fit condition to travel. But I might not be fit to travel, and the general, long-term effect of the air pollution might contribute to illness and shorten my life. That's what puts me off and is causing great indecision. The 800,000 baht deposit is not an issue.

Perhaps living in rural is not a great idea for those who have any health condition since a preferred hospital is needed to be not far away from where they live. 

My life style or what I enjoy could be very different than others. I need to have a house with a big yard to use it for my hobbies and enjoy of whatever is left from my life. 

 

[ballpoint]

43 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

My being single for twenty years in Bangkok seemed to bother some people and caused them to ask endless questions.

I was single for 3 years in Singapore and 3 in Bangkok, aged from 20 - 26, which really seemed to irritate the wives of work colleagues and acquaintances, but not in the way you're inferring (though some may have been doing so behind my back).  I think married women see an eligible single guy as a cross between an affront to womanhood and a challenge, and were continually inviting me to their houses and out to restaurants, where they happened to bring along single female friends and relatives, and pushed, in none too subtle ways at times, for a beautiful relationship to start.  I must confess that it wasn't entirely unwelcome on my side, and I got to meet a lot of girls that I wouldn't have otherwise, which is why I advise young guys starting in a new place to make friends with married male co-workers, knowing that as soon as their wives find out about him the matchmaking will start.  (And yes, I did first meet my wife through Thai friends, but it was more through she being part of a group who we would join after work regularly, than any concerted effort on anyone else's part).

[ballpoint]

2 minutes ago, The Theory said:

Perhaps living in rural is not a great idea for those who have any health condition since a preferred hospital is needed to be not far away from where they live. 

My life style or what I enjoy could be very different than others. I need to have a house with a big yard to use it for my hobbies and enjoy of whatever is left from my life. 

 

Exactly.  Everyone's choice is made for their own reasons, and we can explain why we made that choice, but will have a hard job of convincing anyone else to do the same thing unless they have similar reasons - which is why it's more than a little ridiculous to make assumptions and generalisations on people who choose to live somewhere you wouldn't want to.  I get bored very quickly when away from my own house, with all the activities I like doing.  When I lived in condos in various places for work, I had my indoor interests with me, and was able to do communal outdoor activities, which kept things bearable, but I still spent every single day of every vacation in my real house in rural Thailand, or travelling to and from there.  Like you, I want my own space for the things that interest me.  I want to be able to grow things in a proper garden, take apart motorbikes and other machinery in my own workshop or just on my own driveway, and spread the bits out without having to worry about doing so in a shared condo carpark, and walk outside without having to step aside for other people least I bump into them - without "taking big steps and little 'uns" as a Yorkshire farmer in one of the James Herriot books described perambulation in the city.  (I don't know why I particularly remember that line, which I must have read well over 30 years ago, but it struck me as an apt one).  And, when my motorbikes aren't in pieces, I want to be able to jump on one and effortlessly disappear over the horizon, rather than frustratingly disappear into the smog while fighting the traffic.

[GarryP]

16 hours ago, ballpoint said:

I've pretty much put forward all my views in the country living thread.  I'm currently spending my last month as an employed expat in Bangkok, and, (un)like the UK, will be making my own Brexit (Ballpoint's Retirement Exit) on March 29th.  And no, there will be no extension or second referendum.  I'm leaving.  We have two condos in Bangkok, bought using my housing allowance over the years - we have a long term tenant in one and we live in the other when I'm working.  We will be keeping both of them, and not renting out the one currently lived in, as we will still be passing through Bangkok for trips abroad, and will spend a week or so there every so often.  Although I am greatly looking forward to going back to spending most of my time in the country, I don't see the point in throwing the baby out with the bath water by cutting all ties with the big city.  Having said that, however, there are far fewer reasons to spend time there shopping and lifestyle wise than there were around 10 years ago, as there is very little Western food that I can't either buy directly at one of the local Tops / Big C / Tesco supermarkets, or a bit further away in the Mall in Korat; my Kindle negates the need to buy up a stack of books in Bangkok anymore (and provides far, far more options.  Similarly, online music downloading does the same for what used to be done with CDs); I see no difference in the speed of the fibre optic internet connection in the village with that in my Bangkok condo, so I am able to peruse YouTube, get my mind sucked out on ThaiVisa, read the papers from my home country, and purchase online, from the comfort of my own upcountry chair, anything I particularly want, but can't get in Thailand - which hasn't been a whole lot lately.  And I got totally bored of the Bangkok bar scene many years ago.  Give me a night in, or trip to a restaurant, with my family, or a visit to a friends house any day.  Life is what you make of it, and it seems to me that there is far more material to do that in the country.

Thank you very much. You touched on an issue that had not crossed my mind for when I retire and spend most of my retirement in the sticks - sourcing reading material as I am an avid reader. Of course Kindle is the answer. Thanks again.