Building a house in Isaan, for Dummies.

[jizzybloke]

cute munchkin!

[sabang]

It's getting towards homish, although I must say it's not the least bit Isaan.



^ Still stuff in boxes, but that is going to be my puter launch pad over there, if I can get anything to work here in the jungle.



Yeh, that. It encroaches.



They're happy, actually they love it up here. Most species would, but humans are more complicated.

[jizzybloke]

I suffer with gout on occaision and take DICLOFENAC SODIUM 50mg when i feel the tell tale tingle, good stuff if you can get it.

[sabang]

By the time we left, I reckon most of the crap was sorted.



There is nothing wrong with sleeping on a mattress on the floor, but my obsession ultimately paid off. You can't believe how long it took to get a bed base with drawers (we need the bladdy storage space!). Anyway, we got them sorted and delivered about ten days ago, so after we left, and I think it's healthy for the locals to think you're slightly crazy as a farang.



It does seem a bit strange to me that a simple bed base with drawers is so hard to come by here-they are dead easy to come by in the West (and we do normally enjoy much more space than them). Crazy farang got his way in the end- they delivered some stuff from an Index warehouse down south, the salespeople seemed hurt that I would make them truck it up from wherever it came from.

Anyway, goodbye home, next we'll head off towards the village.

[Mathos]

It's a real credit to you sabang, nice informative and well produced thread as well.

Good luck with all you undertake.


Green on the way.

[Mathos]

I am unable to Green you at present.

It will come though.

[Loombucket]

Originally Posted by Mathos

I am unable to Green you at present.

Nor me, great little place you have there. Well done

[sabang]

All the best Musty- don't expect the universe, but our place hasn't crumbled yet, nowhere near. Come to think of it, they even fixed a couple of leaks.



Nice place, but it's pretty Naff to say that about sab2.

[MUSTY]

Thanks Sabang.
I used to live in the leaning tower of pizza, so this will seem like a palace to us.

Hope your gout departs quickly. Had a little read about it on the net. Starts
with the big toe and it appears that you are in for a 7 day hall of misery. Wouldn't wish it on anyone. You could start a mystery thread about feet and
try to paste a pirate face to it. Please don't come back as a pirate, if you get my
drift...
Peg legs are definately not the in thing. Hold on, I have a face for a pirate I could show you.



Doesn't look like you, but soooooo loveable. Hope you appreciate the joke.
Get well.

[terry57]

Bloody brilliant thread.

I wish i was able to live out there but i just need a tad more stimuli.

I envy you guys that love it out there. Good luck to all.

[sabang]

Thanks for the feedback & Gout sympathy all- I'm back to normal now, it was a real pissoff at the time because having hit my bluddy ankle once, it then came back a few days later (which made me delay the trip upcountry) and then, in a classic case of Murphy's, bluddy came back a third time when I was in the car going up to Ubon. You wouldn't believe the clicks and groans that ankle produced over the last few weeks as it recovered from the bastard trauma of triple Gout.

I doubt our taro crop will be worth much in the way of pesos, but it's nice that we eke a bit of cash and food from the place-



It will be harvested in the New Year, so if you're up this way and like taro, fill yer boots- it will be coming out of our ears.

Chooks.



Dogs. All the trappings of village life.



It's market day in Tha Muang, so off we go. First thru some forest, which I'm pleased to say is mostly ours. But the locals are welcome to get mushrooms, insects and whatever else from there too.



Then rice paddies.





The keen eye might have already clocked that during the height of rainy season, large sections of the track are under a few inches of water. No probs to a 4WD Vigo, but every year the locals make a few baht pulling out the Bogged.

My closest farang neighbour, about 2.5km. We're in contact but yet to meet- he works in Singapore, English bloke, and my wife knows his Mrs from school days.



The edge of town.



Tha Muang is not the sort of place where the Press beats a path to your door, it's not even the sort of place they would be able to find. But it has a stake in the annals of history. Mrs ain't entirely sure when, but 1990 give or take a year was the Big Deluge. TM became an island for over one month- supplies had to be delivered by boat to the place. It made the national headlines.

[sabang]

See and be seen, it's market day. The market sort of fringes and penetrates the village Wat.





Everything you need is here, the flies are a free bonus. The pork butcher-











Mrs Santa Claus runs the original village shop, and a stall or two on market day. She's a really nice lady actually, and delights in giving me some weird food to try every time I pop by for a beer.



It's rough n ready, but the beer is cold and her food is edible if you are flexible and trusting.



The Isaan weather is just brilliant this time of year (November) and my means of transportation- a baby chair in a motosai sidecar, Gouty ankle up high, attracts more than it's share of attention. Great fun though. It is de rigeur to be a bit weird as a farang around here, and I do not disappoint.

[sabang]

This part of Isaan is Welly country. If you don't have wellies in rainy season, buy a boat.



The people here probably eat better than us, if nutrition and freshness are your parameters. Everything you need is grown, fished, raised, foraged or hunted locally. So it don't take much money to live here- but that ain't to say the rutted tracks are paved with gold. These are second hand clothes from Korea-







On the way back home. Be it ever so humble, it's full of rustic charm-

[MUSTY]

Love your photos of Tha Muang. Including the sneak peak of your wife with
that, 'I know what you are up to', look in her face.

My wife is salivating over the food photos.

Anyway, this thread deserves a century of posts.

Many thanks to the Sabang collective.

[sabang]

Mrs Santa is such a nice cheery person, I'll regularly pop into her village shop for a beer- but it's right in the centre of the village and a bit grubby to be honest. A brand new shop has sprung up though in the middle of nowhere- all of 1.5 km from the bungalow, and it's a real nice, tranquil place to have a bevvy.
Looking out-



I didn't have this shot taken to show our shopping (the bread was utter shite incidentally), or my second hand 15bht fishing jacket from the market, or the motosai, and certainly not me.



Our first visit here was two days before, and I liked the place- so that very night they went out and bought that stone table and chairs you see behind! Don't let the shadecloth deter you either- once the rice harvest is finished they are putting up a verandah. Now thats service with a smile.

This cutie has a 24/7 smile, and why wouldn't you with nice teeth like that. Sorry boys, married with two.



And of course the motosai is the source of much amusement for the kids.



I'll be spending some quality time here.

[sabang]

Incidentally Musty- the end product is the same- but I notice you went with red brick walls, we used Q-con or superblock. To be honest, I have no idea of the pros and cons of either.

[sunsetter]

missed the market pics somehow,nice, love the sidecar set up

lovely thread

[MUSTY]

Sabang with regards the building blocks. I believe from what I have read that
the Q - block is a superior building material. Insulation properties make it a
better choice in the Thai climate. Great choice Sabang.

[Spikey]

What happened to you guys? You said you were coming to visit! Bring piccys when you do.
Cheers
(Aunty's Husband!)

[sunsetter]

Originally Posted by Spikey

What happened to you guys? You said you were coming to visit! Bring piccys when you do.
Cheers
(Aunty's Husband!)

which auty is that then?

looking good sabang, got me hanging for more again!!