Living as a Single Farang in the Jungle: From the South to Isan Again – The Great Exodus
It was that time again. Lung addie was once again allowed to prepare for a trip to Isaan. More specifically to the province of Buriram, Chanwat Lahan Sai. This is a trip of about 850 km from his hometown of Chumphon, in the South of Thailand.
With a departure around 7 o'clock in the morning, I usually arrive there in the late afternoon, before dark. That's how Lung addie thought he could fix it this time, but it turned out completely different. Taking into account the coming big exodus from Bangkok to Isaan, he planned the departure for this exodus already on Thursday 28/12 because Friday and Saturday it was predicted to be just miserable on the roads from Bangkok to Isaan.
From Chumphon to Bangkok, as well as in Bangkok itself, nothing looked like it was going to be a super long day. Little traffic and very smoothly through Bangkok. But then it came: once on highway 1, towards Saraburi, the traffic started to swell, and it just kept swelling, until the saturation point was reached and we were already more stationary than we could drive. From Highway 2, towards Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) it got really miserable. The road was not only saturated but even oversaturated. Kilometers of slow traffic and, if it got a little better, it was still limited to 20/25 km/h. This despite the fact that the highway, Korat towards Bangkok, was opened in several places by the traffic police towards Korat. In many places there were 5 lanes and even 6, as the Thais themselves make 3 of 4 lanes by using the hard shoulder as a lane, were available towards Korat.
In the car parks of the large gas stations, it was difficult to find a parking space for a “pisstop”, a coffee or some other inner reinforcement. It was just queuing up and the 7/11 or other stores were doing golden business. A Thai should be able to eat when he goes out. Merging back onto the highway was also a problem because the cars really drove bumper to bumper and it was forcing a hole to be able to merge again. It went so slowly that at one point, in a span of 4 hours I had barely covered 100km…. Could just as well by bike in such a time.
Fortunately, little or no freight traffic on the road. Only a remarkable number of heavy engines, some of which profiled themselves as real kamikaze pilots. Lung addie, an ardent and experienced biker, wouldn't want to be a passenger on the back of someone like that for any money, that's really playing Russian roulette. They act like accomplished skiers at a slalom world championship. Nothing for Lung addie.
Once you left Highway 2, towards Buriram, on Highway 24, the misery was over. Again normal traffic, in the meantime already delayed for 6 hours compared to other times I went that direction. No problem, however, since Lung addie is not bound by an arrival time, the only thing he was looking forward to was: a nice cold beer and then rest, even tomorrow all day: not catching a shot, unless writing an article for the blog, but that works relaxing.
The ultimate goal of the trip is multiple: an entry into the temple of the son of our Mae Ban, a wedding party for her sister's daughter and, last but not least: the further finishing of the electrical installation in her house that is under construction .
Finally: if you really do not need to be in Isaan during this period, then definitely choose another period because I think that more than half of the residents of Bangkok will go to Isaan during that period.
Indeed I experienced the same thing once from Prachuap Kiri Khan back to Isaan, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon I had not yet passed Saraburi, I quickly booked a good hotel online and continued driving the next day, luckily I was in no hurry. But around New Year's Eve and Songkran, traffic can be a nightmare.
Not to mention that most deaths occur during this period.
Wouldn't they have been better off building Bangkok in the Isaan.
File problem solved.
Jan Beute.
After so many years linked to so many beautiful stories, would like to do "den isaan" this year. Like we do with us in the Ardennes or the Vosges or the coast.
We will then drive this from the south, surratthani and plan to do this in mid-January. Is this appropriate in terms of traffic?
We are not in a hurry because we are retired, in principle I don't drive more than 500 km a day.
How long we stay depends on weather, accommodation, sight, nature and local cuisine.
All tips, do's and don't do's are welcome.
Dear Unkelwin,
no problem mid January. Be sure to visit the town of Roi Et. Is a beautiful town and well worth a visit. You shouldn't really be in the really big cities, better such a provincial town.
You should know that most people are out of work in bangkok or pattaya and want to celebrate new year with family!!
Just book a flight ticket a month in advance because during the holidays the ticket prices are 4x more expensive or no longer available at all.
And renting a car or motorcycle on the spot in Isaan is no problem.
In the isaan it is still pleasant!!!
1/3 of the 68 million Thai come from the Isaan. That would mean that (68/3 /2 =) more than 11 million Isaaners would live and work outside the Isaan. Now I do come across figures that Bangkok, with over 2 million Isaaners, is the important place for employment for these 'emigrants'. But that half of Isaan is in Bangkok, Pattaya, etc. is of course not true. It is true that well more than of the government expenditure around the capital. So yes the money can certainly be found in central Thailand and is certainly not distributed fairly.
It should therefore come as no surprise that the Isaan often calls for more autonomy. Or that one feels treated as a third-rate stupid farmer by the elite from BKK. Several Isaaners have told me that the capital should actually move to the north east.
Now I am of course biased myself, but the disadvantaged Isaan has stolen my heart.
Figures and backgrounds:
http://www.thaiworldview.com/lao/isan6.htm
http://time.com/2948172/thailand-isaan-province-identity/
After Googling all evening (from 7 to 11) I cannot find an answer to the question 'What percentage of Isaan residents (this century) work and live outside Isaan for quite some time and where is that?'. Most sites do not go further than 'many Isaaners' and 'mainly Bangkok -60%?-'.
I give up. I came across 2 reports about education in Thailand by chance. So I shared it in the article about the Unesco report on the backlog in education.
In the year 2000, these were the national migration figures per region according to the census:
BKK: 8,26% immigrant and 6,41% emmigrant
Isan: 2,01% immigrant and 3,55% emmigrant
(Migration between regions)
In Bangkok in 2000 about 37% of the migrants came from the Isan. According to another source, that figure is 35% in 2016.
Sources: http://popcensus.nso.go.th/topic.php?cid=9
En
http://service.nso.go.th/nso/web/survey/surpop2-1-5.html
During such a census it is about where you actually live. We know very well that many Thai people do not deregister from their municipality of origin, but with a census this does not play a role. Now this feels a bit on the low side… purely on the gut I would say 10%, at most 20% on a good day. But the majority of Isaaners working outside their region? No, that can't be right.
Flying to Isaan is an option. You have to keep in mind that when the Thai people go to visit their relatives in Isaan for the holidays, they always have half of theirs and drag along with them. That way you will pay more for the extra baggage than what the plane ticket will cost. On most low-cost flights, the ticket prices are only with hand luggage. My car is always really packed with things from the South, don't see me getting on a plane with that.
What are you dragging along from the south?
You can get everything here, don't you see that problem??
Come out yourself from BKK by plane the 28th dec. put my brother on the plane well everything was occupied whole plane full didn't see that the Thais dragged everything??
Of course you don't see the problem when you travel by plane, the luggage is very limited. I myself would only bring the necessary tools to finish the electrical work, but the Thai people mainly bring fruit and vegetables from the South. Not because it cannot be found in Isaan, but simply because they think that certain types of fruit and vegetables from the South are better than those in Isaan. Just like the rice from Isaan is much better than the rice from the South. Just like red and green curry from Chumphon is the best you can find (according to them). They want to offer their family the best from their region and there are differences between the products from the different regions, don't forget that there is already a distance North-South of 1500 and more km and there are also climatic differences that affect the fruits.
Of course, it's not about where the capital is planned or where most people live. Capital cities are usually named because – historically speaking – the largest (economic) activity took place there and/or the head of state, whether or not from a royal family, lived there. In recent decades, sometimes capitals have been completely rebuilt. Even if it were decided that the capital of Thailand should be Ubonthani from now on, that would change little in the fate of the Isan. The Thai government is not a major economic stimulator.
Economists expect that the role of big cities will become much more important in the coming decades than the role of the country: economically, socially, culturally. There is every case for strengthening the position of cities such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Khon Kaen, Udonthani and Ubon in Thailand precisely because of an improvement in the lot of the poor. More autonomy seems nice, but greater independence for now poor areas is not going to help the poor. On the contrary.