Thinking of moving to Isaan

[SteveK 6,800]

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 17,912]

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 6,800]

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 459]

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 902]

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 2,739]

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

 

[puchooay 1,356]

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 85]

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 6,800]

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 10,965]

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

[Ryder88 44]

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 1,058]

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 8,618]

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

 

[Goanna 545]

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 3,966]

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