You experience everything in Thailand (122)
An important aspect for a pleasant stay in Thailand is the living environment. One likes to live in a busy city center, the other in a quiet moo job and another prefers to stay somewhere in the Thai countryside. Walter and his wife chose a house in a dead end street in a small town near Bangkok. So it must be a quiet living environment! Well, calm? Read what blog reader Walter has to say about this below…
Is it a bit quiet there, where you live?
People sometimes ask me: “Walter, is it a bit quiet there, where you live?” My answer: “Well, I live in a cul-de-sac, so that makes a difference.” As everywhere, the street vendors pass by here. Between 6.15 and 6.30 am the first ones are already there. Noodles, vegetables, fruits, meat and fish. Then you have the ice coffee, one with plastic cups and saucers, one with all sorts of brooms and of course also the Icecream Nestlé…
They all have their own music, broadcaster, bell or horn. They pass here every day. Also on Sundays. And like I said, we live in a cul-de-sac. So? Indeed. They pass by again. That way we certainly don't miss them when we want to make a purchase. Now there is also a street behind our house and when the peddlers leave the neighborhood, they often take this street, so that we can hear again (for the third time!!!) what they have to offer.
These scenes remind me of my childhood in Kapellen. Then came the milkman, the crowd and of course 'Soep Van Boon' and oh yes, the pastor now and then. It was not clear to me at the time what he was doing. But that was it.
Then there are the dogs. My neighbor across the street used to have 2 guard dogs. They bark at everything that moves and/or passes by. Recently these puppies have and now there are 6 of them! A free crying concert every day.
A farmer lives behind our house. He also has 2 guard dogs. These animals live in a dog house. Their habitat is determined by the length of their chain. Same scenario here too, they bark at everything and everyone that passes by. When one starts, the other starts too.
Also understandable, he is afraid of losing his job and being thrown out on the street if he doesn't bark. You also have the stray dogs and cats. They take a heavenly pleasure in greeting or laughing at their chained friends. Did you guess the consequences…?
Most of the houses here are inhabited. Unfortunately, some of them are also empty and in disrepair. Dozens of pigeons have settled here. It is therefore a roekoekoe concert all day long. The worst part is that they smear everything with a thick layer of s****t.
There is a grass square about 50 meters from our house. That is used for all purposes. Likewise for parties. With the necessary decibels, everyone in the neighborhood knows that there is something to experience on the square. But that is rare and not too bad. There are also loudspeakers from which messages from the municipality can be heard regularly. Of course at the most unexpected moments.
On Mondays and Thursdays, the garbage truck passes here… between 5 am and 5.30 am. They are then with 3-4 men. They also provide the necessary decibels and… stench.
And as I said, we live in a cul-de-sac… But everything else? For the rest it is quiet here…
Now I can already imagine the reactions here: 'Move anyway !!!' or “Buy earplugs!!” No, dear Thailand bloggers, I will not. My wife found and bought her dream house here. Her parents and brother live a few houses away from here. In short, she is happy here.
And I? I love her and together we love our noisy cul-de-sac…in Sai Noi, Nonthaburi.
Is that last sentence after And I? not the most important?
I wish you much happiness and love in your noisy dead end street.
You say!!! And as I said, we live in a cul-de-sac… But everything else? For the rest it is quiet here…
Until you get bitten by one of those stray dogs, because then the buck is fat, they say with us.
Have been bitten by such a stray dog had to go back to hospital 4 X for injections in both my arms.
But good luck In Sai Noi Nonthaburi !!!
Apart from biting yourself or a family member, we have also noticed that your own dog can also cause damage or be accused of causing damage.
Our sweet dog also bit the neighbour's 2 year old child during a fight with 8 other dogs from the neighbour, who wanted to separate the dogs in all concern.
Consequences multiple bites in the legs and arms of probably all 3 dogs and not just our dog or not even our dog.
Who's to say.
The neighbors wanted to report this to the police, and we proposed to pay the hospital costs and to give a generous compensation for injuries sustained.
Of course we also visited the boy in the hospital, where he had been admitted.
Nice and honest description of how things are in real Thailand. Good luck and success!
for the stray dogs there are very handy devices in circulation in the form of a thicker flashlight, only 10 cm long, the dogs (and cats) disappear after a moment of shining in amazement with an emergency run !!
for me it is very useful on the beach against the stray dogs, works with a frequency that we do not know how to perceive.
A dazer
There are indeed devices for sale that emit a high-frequency sound that may scare off a well-intentioned Thai dog on the beach, looking for food and friendly tourists.
Only the thai soi dogs who protect their house and street don't care much.
Some of these hardy dogs run for nothing and no one.
I've already tried everything.
From sticks to throwing tasty snacks.
i have seen thai monks in our village throwing fireworks to drive them away.
I have also been bitten twice and had to get injections in hospital.
With monkeys I wouldn't even use the device at all.
They can become aggressive very quickly and work in groups.
I also experienced that there.
Nice message Walter,
Always nice to hear how a “countryman” fares in a foreign country.
Real life is what it's all about after all.
I also personally find it very nice that you mention the street name, it only indicates the cordiality of people even more.
If I was in the area I would definitely pop in and while enjoying a nice "bakkie" nice and weak old hoes in Dutch.
Greetings and good luck from Krommenie,
Gerard.
Some have a great life, which is undeniable and some have to adapt quite a bit and face unexpected events.
The point is, I think, that the average Dutch or Flemish person is used to a different life, different circumstances and is not aware of the pitfalls.
The space, the detached house, the garden, the casual life, the many animals, are positive things that also appeal to me..
Of course there are also the not so positive things.
Sometimes no water for days, sometimes no electricity, always having to meet the conditions of residence, the dangerous traffic, the absence of English speaking hospital staff, lack of acquaintances who speak Dutch, boredom, and some very hot months.
Furthermore, Thai people are family people and in many cases other family members come to live with you.
Often the woman's parents and children.
No problems expected from the parents.
In addition to the cute Thai young children, I have also noticed that there are also children who refuse to go to school, older youth who use narcotics and who steal and we have a murder convict in our circle of acquaintances. He has been in detention for 3 years.
He went on a rampage in Bangkok.
All in all: both positive and negative experiences.
Hence my advice: remain flexible so that you always have choices to move or return to the Netherlands.
Yet simple.
You pretty much sum it up in your first sentence.
And that actually applies to every country where someone emigrates to…
There are a lot of happy people in Thailand and they hardly dare to respond because the black glasses wearers immediately accuse them of wearing pink glasses if they dare to post anything positive.
However, it is precisely those black spectacle wearers who have usually come here with the largest pink spectacles….
And those who now live happily here have usually arrived here with colorless and realistic glasses.
Do you really think that because someone dares to say that he is happy here, that person cannot distinguish the positives from the negatives?
Well…. Fill that in yourself black glasses wearers…
It's not because I'm responding to your comment that it's directed at you personally, Khun Moo.
But it does bother me that those black glasses wearers who think they think that if someone says something positive, they should immediately be classified as pink glasses wearers
I know many happy people in Thailand, with or without a partner, and during conversations we talk about things that we think are negative.
Why not?
Of course those black glasses wearers usually don't know those lucky people either, because they usually also avoid the places where black glasses wearers congregate. 😉
Ronnie,
It would be best if the black eyeglass wearers clump together and don't mingle with the lucky ones.
You see that in every country.
Also in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The fact remains that both groups do exist and may have little contact with each other.
It would be desirable for black spectacle wearers to prepare themselves better in advance for a long-term stay in Thailand and to enjoy Thailand more as a result.
Over the past 42 years I have met both the lucky ones who never dream of returning to cold Europe, as well as the depressed farangs.
Stayed mainly between the Swedish wealthy pensioners in recent years.
Only positive experiences in that group.
In Isaan I met less positive pensioners.
I think the big difference is the financial capacity of the person in question.
Presumably someone who wants to live in a big city will not enjoy living in the Thai countryside and vice versa.
Agree.
A person's financial condition is very important.
It is sometimes said that money does not make you happy, but that is usually also said by the wealthy.
And they may be right, but it must be damn easy I think…
You will also rarely find those black glasses wearers among the wealthy. Simply because they can live where and as they want and do not have to calculate.
Just look at a Moo Baan where a large part of those Skandinaven live. Neatly maintained streets and gardens, no overflowing rubbish bins or litter to be found, no street dogs, no noise pollution, utilities that rarely fail, etc… that alone makes life a lot happier for many.
You are more likely to find the black eyeglass wearers in the group who did not see the financial expectations and subsequent life they had planned for themselves come true.
Perhaps no realistic expectations were set for themselves during the planning, insofar as that planning was already there.
Perhaps because of this, they do not live where they would like to live now and they do not live life the way they would like to live it. Life can be fun in a village if you visit it for a week, but having to spend day in and day out of your life is not for everyone. Hardly any communication with other people, getting bored, electricity going out, no water, etc… Added to that some paranoid behavior that makes them constantly thinking about how to secure their money, because their Thai partner might go on a day walk with everything.
And the picture is complete…
I am certainly not high net worth, rather middle class and can afford the ordinary things I like without having to turn around or count every Baht.
I live in a village a few km from Kanchanaburi, where I can get just about anything I want.
Have pleasant neighbors with whom we have good contact almost daily and who do not impose themselves.
Basically the quiet life, together with my wife as I envisioned it when I settled here almost 30 years ago.
Am I happy here? Yes, there are things that (often) annoy me, but also things that make me happy.
But if I put everything together I can say that I am happy.
And the day I feel that this is no longer the case I will also draw my conclusion.
Dear Ronnie,
everything, from the first to the last sentence, of what you write in this comment is totally in line with how I feel about it. My own situation is pretty similar to yours. And yes, in our weekly 'Sunday mail' we sometimes talk about things that we would rather not see, but these are practically mainly about the behavior of the whingers.
My house is also next to a cul-de-sac, rather a 500-meter sand path in the middle of the countryside, now only accessible with a 4×4 during the rainy season, there is always noise here too, if it is not the fanatical tree cutters then it is the stray dogs in the night, actually it's not the stray dogs but more my own (guard) dogs that go on a rampage, yes and they sleep casually outside under my bedroom window, that's right!, the many peddlers don't bother me either who live a few hundred meters back, by the way I also hear the music here, it is rather the immensely strong bass, which easily reach up to 20 km away,…. dear Walter a place without noise here in Thailand, I think it's like looking for a needle in a haystack to find it, my opinion.
We live in a moo job, one loves it and the other hates it
I/we enjoy it every day.
Our moo course is quite big, 500+ houses and still quite quiet.
All working people, who are away during the day and enjoy the TV in the evening.
We actually only have contact with the neighbors in our street. These are 6 houses, 3 of which are inhabited. The other 3 are holiday homes of wealthier Chinese who come occasionally. Not bothered either.
Walter, thank you. Nice humor and perspective on things. I can totally imagine how happy you are there.
Dear AJ Edward, we found that needle. We live in a wooded area and the first neighbors are only about 300 meters away. When night falls it is usually dead quiet here. And also during the day there is little noise. There is a village festival a few times a year, but that is 2-3 km away. And of course nature: frogs, insects, birds and our dogs. But those dogs hardly ever bark at night, fortunately there is no reason for that.
Nice story and well told. So recognizable. I also live in Nonthaburi by the way. The only comment I have: it should be 'Soup Van Boom', not Boon 555
In Thailand you have to rent everything and don't want to buy anything. In Thailand you must be able to turn your cart at all times. Pack your suitcase and go. No Possessions. No obligations no ties. In Thailand you have to spend your money and not to save money. In Thailand you have to go to have fun.
Fred
Unfortunately, I also share that opinion.
Renting is very cheap and gives you options to move to another place if desired.
The reason that the Farang buys something there is often not his decision but that of the wife who wants to have possessions there.
My wife always calls me the sponsor.
For the more wealthy who can afford a house in Thailand in addition to their house in the Netherlands, and who are not short on cash, buying may be a better solution.
you can decorate the house and garden as you want and still lose your house for one reason or another, too bad but no problem.
well Moo,
Your wife must mean that cynically, because when you really are a sponsor, you buy a house.
Moreover, you can enjoy it for the years that are left to you.
Renting is indeed cheap, but the rent for a little house, the quality of life of which you have to compare with the EU, is also expensive.
Moreover, you can build/buy to your taste.
Because only then do you invest in your wife's future.
PEAR,
I have already had 2 houses built for the family and our new house has been hijacked by 2 family members who refuse to move.
Just broke down the door with the announcement that they also have to live.
Furthermore, I support the entire family, uncles, aunts, children incl. great-grandchildren, some since 1984.
My wife has never had to work in the Netherlands and can transfer her full state pension to Thailand.
I also took out a lifelong death pension in the Netherlands for my wife.
In my opinion sufficiently invested in the future of my wife and I think there is little cynicism.
The Thai itself often has statements with hard confrontational conclusions that do not wrap around.
Everyone must decide for themselves whether they should put money into a house and land in Thailand given the risks that must be weighed against the benefits.
As noted before, if one can afford it no problem.
If there is no way back, I would advise against it.
All those decibels don't matter to the average Thai. They sleep through everything! No idea how they do that. A dog, a rooster, a horn, a door, I'm wide awake right away.
Hotels in Bangkok are often a little hell for me. Slamming doors late at night, noisy cleaning ladies early in the morning, road workers in the middle of the night, sigh…
Speaking of noise and all kinds of things, my Thai ex has only been awakened by noise once during our stays in Bangkok. Two bombs in the middle of the night during the demonstrations at the end of 2008. The first one also woke me up, the second one almost knocked me out of bed! My ex said it was a bomb and a minute later she was back asleep! It happened a few blocks away. Fortunately no one was injured.
We also live in a dead end street in a big moo lane. Bang Yitho in Thanyaburi, Pathum Thani. And it's great. Everything comes along so we don't really have to leave to buy, 7-11 delivers everything no matter how big or how small. The garbage collection also comes here twice a week. No problems with dogs and/or pigeons, but occasionally with burning fields. I get my beer and water two streets away from someone who has a shop at home. Support local eh
Everything is nearby and if we don't know, one of the neighbors will.
Overall delicious
A good story for alternative tourists who always talk about the REAL Thailand. The kind of tourists who don't want to count Pattaya and or Phuket as the REAL Thailand.
I'm curious if they spend their holidays in such a piece of REAL Thailand if they would still be just as enthusiastic about their so-called REAL Thailand.
Hi Fred,
The contrasts in experience between, for example, Phuket / Pattaya with other non-tourist areas are great.
According to a 2010 census, 21,1% of residents on phuket are foreigners.
Of course there is also the tourist stream, who do not live there but celebrate their holidays.
The dishes are adapted to western, russian, chinese, korean preferences.
Thai people also eat more often at home with family and cook themselves.
All this is of course much less common in places where few tourists come and only a stray Westerner lives.
There is no restaurant in our village in Isaan, but fortunately a 7 / 11 has been available for several years.
On certain days there is also a lady who sells sate.
On some days I sometimes see a white person cycling past, whom we immediately ask to stop for a chat.
Often 1 or 2 Westerners also live in the surrounding villages.
A supermarket is 12 km away.
Some Western products are for sale here, such as potatoes, apples and bread.
Even a mac donald adapted to Thai standards, so the spicy chicken is for those with a strong stomach.
For me, the choice of the entire range is limited to fries with a salad, a hamburger and a cup of cola.
I can imagine that a Westerner who has been living in Isaan for several years, with his simple lifestyle, does not really consider the tourist areas such as Phuket and Pattaya as Thai anymore.