Thread: Seeking info on rural areas.

Sumday, you could probably find what you are looking for in Chiang Rai province. You could go to the city of Mai Sai for visa runs to Tachilek, Mynmar. Chiang Rai is mostly countryside but has a city with a shopping mall and hyper stores. There is a small community of expats. It wouldn't be so hard to find and rent a small property you can keep your chickens on.

Best suggestion is what someone else stated already, come here and scout around the different areas to find a place suitable.

Your biggest problem is your visa. They only give 15 days visa waver at a time for a land border. Won't be long before immigration will start complaining about frequent border runs.

Having said that, I came in and out of Thailand the same way for years before getting old enough for a retirement visa.

I'm not married to a Thai, either. For me, life is good here.

Originally Posted by crepitas

Think if I was American and wanted to go bush I would think about a fishing camp or..in Florida or Louisiana or someplace..lotsa hogs down there so I hear.

"My dadday married his sister but that didna afek me"

You obviously came here, what is the attraction?

gotta be a troll from TV

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by crepitas

Think if I was American and wanted to go bush I would think about a fishing camp or..in Florida or Louisiana or someplace..lotsa hogs down there so I hear.

"My dadday married his sister but that didna afek me"

You obviously came here, what is the attraction?

555 arrived on my own keel by default....fell in love...never left yada,yada

FYI....That's my 80lb angel in my avatar...of course she has gotten a lot fatter now..probably going on 83.5 lb....

Originally Posted by Necron99

Why not try somewhere like Funchal on Madeira Island...

never go there, it's a shit hole and they hate yankees, specially if they are obese,
trust me i come from there

Originally Posted by crepitas

FYI....That's my 80lb angel in my avatar...of course she has gotten a lot fatter now..probably going on 83.5 lb....

did you also meet her on walking street?

For me my native habitat got boring and a little intrusive.

Same here actually- and add to that weather, thai wife, and cost of living, plus the fact I already knew asia quite well having lived in the region (and travelled it) 12 years, and it seemed like a logical decision at the time. Still does.

Originally Posted by stickmansucks

Quiet in the country side ? Forget it, it's noisy like hell.

But you can find your cheap dream place in North East (ESAAN) and raise all the animals you want.

You can stay here as long as you want with tourist visa (just renew your passport often) or education visa (can pretend to learn online) if you do not want to F and marry a Thai.

And don't believe the monkeys bullshit that you will read in forum, if you want to come, jsut come, no need to think about it until you die first, you are wasting your (good) time.

Got a link for an ED extension of stay for on line learning, never heard of that one. Jim

Not wishing to cast a damper, but ten years from now...would you say the same?

You're hitting age, you may have health issues, the place is not what you thought.

Originally Posted by poorfalang

Originally Posted by crepitas

FYI....That's my 80lb angel in my avatar...of course she has gotten a lot fatter now..probably going on 83.5 lb....

did you also meet her on walking street?

of course..well the Phuket Kata beach equivalent...by also did you mean as well as you??
5555

Originally Posted by crepitas

of course..well the Phuket Kata beach equivalent...by also did you mean as well as you?? 5555

yes, mine was in khon kaen, actually, kosa to be precise, i since then moved to the ladyboy neighbor, more fun more tight and only 75ls as opposed to the 77.3 from the missus. wink wink

you might be one of those unusual birds who can land wherever and get along, but landing solo upcountry will take a very special bird.

Visa being a difficult issue is true. No thai wife, not retirement age, perhaps a you could do an Education visa but I thought govt is starting to clamp down on that. May be a business visa but that would require spending money on lawyers and accounting on a monthly basis. Tourist 30/60/90 day visa seems rather iffy and not all that sure of a long term thing.

Upcountry living in the sticks where you can keep a few animals... extremely unlikely you would find that "advertized" in anything that you could read. More likely you'd need locate a home base and then tour a few weeks in a few different chosen villages, get to know a few locals (really great for you if they could speak english) and have then be 'guides'. Take time in different villages in different provinces, and then if you get your visas squared away, then choose. Without local on the ground support you will not get very far with pantomime and phrase books.

Be aware that the out of the way upcountry village there is limited shopping, limited entertainment, probably lousy internet connection, frequent electric and water outages, be aware of flood prone areas, issan food is not for everyone (oh my did I say that with a straight face), housing is mostly not what you'd be happy with or used to (for the long term) unless you pay a bit extra and have some luck.

Other thing, and it's rather important, is what are you going to DO after the novelty has passed and you've settled in? There will be plenty of hours to pass each day and you're not allowed to work without a WP.

As far as money, if you're set for the long run, good. You'll find most things are on average NOT much if any less expensive that in the ussa. Cars more, falang food more, thai food just a bit cheaper, typical thai housing a bit cheaper but far lower standard and lesser village/town infrastructures.
You can't own firearms, well maybe a local bib will offer you a used 38 sans bullets for 35,000 baht but if you ever had to use it you'd likely be screwed.
I don't think you can own a car/truck on a tourist visa, and I've heard bank accounts are difficult with same visa.

as a former expat, I appreciate your position. I won't say definitively you wouldn't be able to make a move to upcountry thailand but it would be difficult.

You are trying to explain to someone who might know better than you what kind of life he might get upcountry...

^^ Good post. Not sure it will be heeded though.....

Originally Posted by stickmansucks

You are trying to explain to someone who might know better than you what kind of life he might get upcountry...

Glen actually lives up country, so think he has a rough idea of what's what.

Still waiting for your link re ED extenion for on line learning.

I wish you all the best for you future plans . Thailand is not the easiest place to live in the world but would not change my decision for the world.
Visa will be your first stumbling block the Thai immigration make it very difficult for a foreigner to live in Thailand especially if you want to do things by the book they tend to make the rules changeable depending on who you speak to Easier to give those wanting to abide to the law a hard time than chase those who are here months years decades with no visa.
Land ownership will be next problem maybe business as Americans have agreement with Thailand failing that rental get law firm to do rental agreement but as said earlier you may run into problems if you look like you are making money they may well want to take land back and hijack your hard work put in the contract and let it be known you will return the land to its previous state when you depart all fences removed buildings knocked down trees dug up etc
no real need to go into the sticks just find rural province near Bangkok i live in Ratchaburi have houses and a appt building in the town but but have 7 rai in the countryside 10 minutes drive away get best of both worlds. you don't have to give up civilisation to have the country lifestyle