Views of a New and Infrequent Poster

Bronco wrote:(Some text removed.)
These are a few questions I hope everyone will chime in on if you feel comfortable.
1)Any regrets for living here instead of your home country(assuming everything was equal)?
2)Aside from your family relationships,what would attract you to live here(Udon/Nong Khai)?

My only regret is that I didn't discover this country before I did. And I will be eternally grateful to the guy that shook me and slapped me and convinced me to go beyond package holidays to Spain.

Question 2 is tougher as it was usually a woman that brought me back. Even if I take my little lady out of the equation would I still be in Udon? God yes! I just love the place man simple as that!

My only regret about living here is the Education system related to my stepdaughter.If I understood more ,early on,I would have made a stronger effort to get her out of Thailand for her education and future career oppotunities!

Attraction is simple!The pace of life,wheather and low expenses!A very easy retirement!

1)Any regrets for living here instead of your home country(assuming everything was equal)?

None at all. I'm from the UK.

2)Aside from your family relationships,what would attract you to live here(Udon/Nong Khai)?

I was forced to look for somewhere cheap to live (after 7 years in Bangkok) and as the missus comes from Udon, it seemed the right place to go to. Been here a couple of months now, and no regrets yet.

agree with stan, education is sad. right now, st mary's is holding it's own, but they piss me off a lot. too much bs and pomp and ceremony. she'll be fine for few more years. what i worry about is around 8th grade, when they can't think of anythink else to teach her, and start getting repetitive, then i'll simply take you out and teach her myself. can't see wasting 4 more years for no benefit. she'll learn more by watching nature channels and educational tv. by then they may have some more. she has learned my english by watching movies with me than the school could ever teach her. history is a mute subject here, what they do teach usually isn't even the truth or whitewashed. science is iffy already. i'm amazed at some of the things teachers have told her. i tell her to pass her test, but she know more than some teachers already.

but sadly, she can't correct them.

sorry, to busy talking about myself to answer questions. school is a nagging issue though. so far, they get a -C- average, thai is good, math is very good, with my help, but the rest is, mediocre at best.

udon is much better than usa, main reason is your big ticket expenses of housing (relative), taxes, utilities and labor cost, for anything that needs repair, auto being the obvious one coming to mind. usa shop, 50 bucks on hour to look. here, way too cheap. daily everyday cost of living, i don't find that much different, food, gas, entertainment, beer/depending where you indulge yourself. but eating out is much cheaper, again, labor, and the amount of competition. even the western food venues have to stay within a fair price, which is hard for them sometimes, but the few surviving have an excellent product and customer following.

i was fortunate enought to get out and about before the little one started school, then still lucky enough to be out 3 months a year if wanting, but that is starting to get old on me, and after so many years, appreciate udon so much more, except when i'm there, go figure, but in reality, it is still my living preference, with some reservations, but not enough or can't actually afford that 20th floor 100 sq meter condo at the beach yet. so udon will have to do. hopefully, it will mature well, with present growth, or i'll simply move back to rice paddy land, but close enough to shop in all the new venues we seem to be graced or will be graced with. though i hope nobody is holding their breathe for the Central, i think someone missed a big opportunity to make a lot of money. now they stuck with the future eyesoar of udon, can't see it doing nothing but going down hill, which is fine, as i rarely even go to that area any more.

only regret, WTF was i thinking, actually got married when i first got here

but got a purpose out of life, so no complaints. probably saved myself for my self gratifying immature, vice ridden, smile chasing addictive lifestyle wow, almost sounds like i matured after 50 years stop, i'm killing me i'm still an arse, and with any luck, won't change. someone has to entertain

Again good post Bronco. I think the reply's you have received have been honest and forthright. Now for a bit of the other side of this subject of living in Udorn area.

First I will assume that you are married to a Thai that has been in your home country for many years.

If the above is true, it will be a hard adjustment for her as well as you. Things are not the same as when you are on vacation. When on vacation you are most likely moving around quite a bit and visiting relatives and places. While living in the Udorn area you will need something to do with your time. If your hobbies transfer then you have it made. If your hobbies do not transfer you will either have to adopt new ones or you will be bored stiff. Still using the assumption above, the wife will also have to transfer her hobbies also. My wife's hobbies were gardening and grand kids. The gardening kind of transferred as it is difficult to rent a place with much yard and we did not want to buy. Her hobbies of grand kids did not transfer.

Also your wife will be used to a much different infrastructure system than you will find in the Udorn area. I sure she will adapt as my wife did, however I can say it was not appreciated. Going back to washing dishes in cold water after 30 plus years of using hot (and understanding the reason) was not high on her list. She either boiled the water or took dishes to shower to wash. I am sure they are improving but washing machines are a joke or super expensive. Sure I know you can hire domestic help, but not what she had in mind. Finding a proper stove/oven will be a chore. I am not saying one can not go back with a wife that has been in falang land for a long time but remember as you go through your adjustment, it is just as big for her. Even language can be a challenge.

Now I am not blaming my wife for us not staying in Thailand. It was a joint decision as my hobbies did not transfer and I was not to keen on starting the ones I felt like were on offer to me.

Will it work for you and your wife. Only you can answer that. There are some couples that the above scenario (wife went to falang land for long time) that have come back and done great and love it. IMHO that is a minority. Most all of the falang that I knew came as single folks and stayed.

Again will it work for you and your wife. Sorry I cannot answer that.

have fun

well in answer to your questins as I assum that is why you posted such an interesting post in the first place, may i say there are many posts on this site that will in fact answer those questions,, briefly i live here because I like it and I want to, there are many many places in the world I could live but i will not for an equal number of reasons, but here for some reason one feels at peace although there are times when the Thai attitude makes you spit bullets.
Each to their own but here is good no matter what people say, not too far north nor south but just about right and Udon was designed with soem degree of intelligence no major highway through the centre, so that is another plus .