Life in Isaan

Post by **Big Boy** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 2:56 am

Wow! What a lot to read. I've eventually got to the end of both stories - excellent guys. Most of it rings very true when compared to my own experiences.

Thank you both

elem · Post by **elem** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 3:02 am

Very interesting reads..thanks!

Post by **stgrhe** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:56 am

It was a great and interesting report Richard but Isaan, or any other rural area for that matter, is not for everyone. I have lived a rural life outside Phitsanalouk and for the past year plus in a suburb to Khon Kaen but Thai style living is not my cup of tea. Hence why I moved to Hua Hin, a place where one can live a mixed-cultural lifestyle just the way I and my wife practice in our marriage. I could never find harmony up there.

Post by **buksida** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:36 am

Excellent stuff there Randy, it does go some way to explain some of Thailand's problems when half the population drinks at 7am, beats their kids, and is verging on total insanity.

Post by **charlesh** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:39 am

A very brave effort and "going native" at 60 is indeed a challenge. I would unfortunately find it a slow death in more ways than one. I find more rapport and cultural understanding with shall we say more worldly Thais. I guess you speak the lingo rather fluently which must help.

Post by **Wanderlust** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 9:51 am

charlesh,
I don't think either richard or Randy speak the lingo, which makes it even more impressive/daunting.

Thanks for the reports guys and reminds me of the short times I spent near Surin; I knew then that I wouldn't be able to live there permanently, mainly because my ability in Thai is poor and that would be very restrictive in many respects. A couple of months at a time would probably be OK with similar amount of time somewhere more westernised and it sounds like that is what richard is going to end up doing. After a while I should think the things that you found amusing or interesting initially would end up becoming irritating and annoying.

One thing I would like to know from both is whether you have managed to have any sort of deeper conversation with anyone there? It would be fascinating to get their take on you for example - I can imagine they might think you are both loons and can't imagine why you would want to live there, while at the same time I am wondering if the villagers aspire to leave for somewhere different themselves?

Post by **richard** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:21 am

WL

Deep conversations are out as many do not want to know but some teenagers who have picked up some English quiz me abot other parts of Thailand and what they had to offer.

I liaised with the local headmaster once and we sat and chatted about the globe to which he hardly new existed. He asked me to give a talk to the school about far flung lands After he produced a globe I tried my best to broaden their knowledge about the world. Lot of blank looks and gaping mouths open. I fear I was banging my head against a brick wall. Too indoctrinated with Isaan teaching but I tried

Lnguage is a real problem. As soon as I spout some Thai the tables turn and they try to teach me the Thai/Lao equivalent

i would never have the patience to be a teacher. I would be assigned to an asylum after a week

Post by **lindosfan1** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 2:17 pm

The best thread for a long time. Any more interesting reads

Post by **BaaBaa.** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 3:31 pm

Cheers for the write up.

I've visited the GFs village near Surin and enjoy it for a week but I think the novelty would wear off after 2-3 weeks.

Great people though and I may visit again in December.

Post by **STEVE G** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 3:45 pm

As far as language problems go, in my partners village they don't even speak Thai, they use a dialect which is closer to Khmer and is spoken by about 20,000 people in two areas, one around Nong Ki and one nearer to Surin.
There are still some older people who don't speak any Thai at all.
I've tried to learn the basics and I now know more of it than Thai, which is still very little.
I know that 'mong na a'tre-at' means crazy as a water buffalo and other useful phrases!

Post by **caller** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 4:00 pm

Fantastic stories - thanks for posting them. I've only stayed at the wifes village for a few nights at a time and I really enjoy it, but it is party time and not the routine - that is what I don't think is for me. But who knows?

Post by **BaaBaa.** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 5:06 pm

STEVE G wrote:As far as language problems go, in my partners village they don't even speak Thai, they use a dialect which is closer to Khmer and is spoken by about 20,000 people in two areas, one around Nong Ki and one nearer to Surin.
There are still some older people who don't speak any Thai at all.

Exactly the same in my GFs village near to Surin.

Post by **Khundon1975** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:38 pm

Richard

Great story about village life, a life many of us on the forum will have no experience of.
You are a brave man to attempt it at 60.

As for the monks smoking all your fags, I can commiserate with you. Before I gave it up, I have been taken to some small (1 monk) temples out in the sticks in Nakhon Sawan by the wife and come away minus my pack of Marlboro Reds.

RC
I hope you weren't still in those kaks, when the wife was killing the unwanted visitor to your nether regions.

The child beating thing seems to be a World wide phenomenon, in the West, parents take their kids to supermarkets to beat them.

Well done guys.

Post by **richard** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:40 pm

KD

Brave I am not

Dumb I reckon

The body is 64, the brain thinks it is 30 and the genitals sometimes think they are 21

So I am a confused man. The brain listens more to the genitals than the body. So I am doomed

Post by **richard** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:43 pm

KD

When in the village look as though you smoke Kung Thip or some evil fags

Hua Hin Forum

Life in Isaan

issan