Moving to the Moo Ban - Permanently????

[El Gibbon]

^
Can't remember the name and too lazy to go back and look it up. But it was harmless to humans and feeds spiders and cockroaches.

Thanks for the compliments.

E. G.

[Happyman]

E.G.

My birds eat those whip scorpions in an instant if one is daft enough to wander into the aviary ! - I don't think they sting though .

P.S.
So back into Palladium land
I'm in the process of doing the opposite and "Going Bush" so I can have more room for a bigger aviary !!!

[good2bhappy]

Just read this thread from start to end.
Interesting journey into true Thailand.
Food for thought indeed.
One of the best threads I've ever read

[jhc]

I'm being told that 10,000 (+?) will be required to get her into the HS she wants to attend.

I can't complain really, its part of the same system where she attends now and hopefully will lead into the attached Uni.

I figure any investment in a private school education is the ONE thing I can do to help her have a life, rather than cutting rubber or heading for Bangers.
E. G.

Interesting way of how they run school system there. I would think you/ms. being mentor(s) to her and have her browse/digging through Internet, she would expand her knowledge/understanding of the real world better than those private schools. Does she have good english skills to begin with?

I did send my kids to private school (in USA) and until when they are almost done with middle school, we switched to home schooling and both kids really like homeschooling a lot. (They are now 16 and 15.).

[El Gibbon]

^ Interestingly her English skills have improved remarkably over the term in High School. Must have a decent teacher. Her computer skills are nill and she really doesn't seem interested. That will change for sure in a few months.

E. G.

[jhc]

Great to hear that her English skills are improving, it is going to be asset for her in the future! I agree that being interested is best motivation for learning! My girls are fully hooked into cyberspace!

E. G., let you know I really really enjoy your thread here, I am only half-way (page 10) in this thread.

Let you know my family (myself, my wife and two girls age 16 & 15) are planning to move to Chanthaburi area this coming Jan 2009 for a year. I learned lot of things from this thread and gives me a great idea of what living in those areas is like. Your description of the way of life reminds me of remote locations in Costa Rica which I have been there for about 2 months. So it won't be kind of cultural shock for us (communication with locals will be quite a challenge!)

We just need decent rental house (similar to yours), broadband Internet (which I believe it will be DSL and it needs to be 4 km or less from phone node (aka wire center)), satellite TV, and plenty of fruits then we will be happy.

I think we might want to add some A/C window units (for hot humid days) and hot water heater for shower.

What I understand is that average house rental range from 2,500 to 5,000 bahts/month. I am curious what are average monthly costs for electricity, water,
Internet and satellite TV? (Need to work on my budget!) What about average cost for renting/leasing decent car?

Don't want to ask too many questions at once Many thanks!

[El Gibbon]

^ooops
Just saw this new item. As the thread has been moved into another area than Living in Thailand I tend to ignore it.. Thought it was pretty much dead. For some reason I decided to re-read it today... lots of good memories, both living there and posting about it.

To answer a couple of questions, rentals in Chantaburi town will run you from 5 10 K baht. Electric bills for our house were in the 900 B range, water was 20 B.

In Chantaburi Town you'll probably get all your housing costs mentioned for 15 K baht or less.

As for leasing or renting a car it is not really feasible here. Buying a used car is very costly, expect to pay close to new pricing for cars less than 5 years old.

Chantaburi has sufficient transportation options that if your careful selecting the housing area you really don't need to worry. Lots of songtaews etc.

E. G.

[panama hat]

Try Silapornville . . . about 5 minutes from the mall . . .

[BillH52]

Great thread! Have followed it for quite some time; first time to comment.

BillH

[BarnacleBill]

Thanks, EG, for a great and wonderful window into "living in Thailand". I've just finished reading it. My wife, who is Thai, and I are in the process of retiring to Thailand, we (she) already owns a house in Lamlukka with an extensive family around us and we visit annually. I am looking forward to living there permanently, and you have given me the confidence to do so.

[nundadevil]

mate love your stories.can you please tell me the name of village you lived in,and how far is it from chantaburi.many thanks

[El Gibbon]

The village name was Angkrilee or something similar. South of Makham on the back road to Trat. Deep in rubber/mangosteen/dragon fruit country...

Take the road to Makham and follow the signs to Trat, its the first village of any size. The house we lived in was 15 km from the center of Chantaburi.

E. G.

[nundadevil]

The village name was Angkrilee or something similar. South of Makham on the back road to Trat. Deep in rubber/mangosteen/dragon fruit country...

Take the road to Makham and follow the signs to Trat, its the first village of any size. The house we lived in was 15 km from the center of Chantaburi.

E. G.

thanks for the info mate

[zipperz]

SiR E.G... thats a British Title.. the man of the rounds.(LEO)
Like Sir Arthur and the nights of many bugs on the table.
As I was once a farmer and heard the sounds of constant rain, it made
madness a little closer.. The floods, the winds, the (nice neighbours)
For my Fortieth Birthday, after all our Goa, Samui, Phan gan stories, we whizzed up a cracker for Harry M Millers Simmental breed of cattle..
We Placed the 20,000 watt speakers facing the mountain and let the amphitheater rip.
The next morning, in the house, the call came from the next door neighbor, really delighted.. his Bull had so enjoyed the trance and techno that he (Colin The Bull)came over every cow. I really thought he was going to have me up for murdering his prized bull, but he brought a system and sticks it in the cattle crush to get the juices hot..His wife likes it also.. He is 82 and she is 80..
So.. that was a really nice bit of a thread.. I will miss your BiL
Cheers and shine on..zipper
Thats another thread..

[JCauto]

While the Ms. was off in Bangers for a funeral I did a wander about the property. I enjoy these as I always seem to notice something slightly different than I've seen in the past.

We have three ponds/swamps on the property, one is used for watering the "orchard" and the other two are basically unused. Surprisingly we don't have a mosquito problem, the locals say the water is too deep for breeding. BWDIK

In the pond furthest from the house I noted this weed. The pond is basically almost dry and is overgrown with this weed. The flower is truly extravagant.



Never ceases to amaze me what we can find in our own backyard. Just takes some quiet time and looking for details.

E. G.

This flower is also quite delicious. It's one of the ingredients used to dip into the "teuk kreuang" fish compote that my Cambodian wife makes.

[Ricky2000]

Wow; Have just finished reading all the posts and dissapointed it has finished. What a great read....thanks

[ozall]

Great Thread E G, Any chances of posting your bread recipes or starting an EG Recipe thread if you get the time. Me the missus & outlaws love your pea soup; especially when sharing a bottle of two of the local nectar.
Have a good one - Mid North Moobaner.

[upupandaway]

I thurley enjoyed your story and was sorry too see it end so soon all though it was a very successful ending. It kind of got me thinking. We have been to Chantaburiand I found it a very peaceful setting.

I see you continued on. Good deal I will get back to the saga.

[Thai Dan]

Hi E. G.
Been reading your posts from the beginning this fine morning and enjoying the narrative of what is our lives. Different (wife, son and I live in Roi Et) but the same in so many ways. In fact while reading your posts I finally came to my personal conclusion about why the life here is so appealing: A man needs a project. When you come to the place we are at here in Thailand you find your best mate, build and maintain a family as best you can, find a place to live that suits you, and voila, you have a project that never ends. What could be better? Works for me!

Edit: I posted the above before I had read to the end of July '07. Took an unexpected turn at that point and then to the move to Bkk. Life! Go figure. We did the Mooban for as long as necessary and there are many good memories and we enjoy a good/similar standing in the village and surrounding area. Moving into the "city" has been a positive thing for all of us though, boy in a good private school, things for my wife and I to do together all the time, living standard way up and FOOD! E. G.: Let me know where you post next or how to "follow" on this site and I'll do so. You put into words many of the things that many of us can only witness. Thanks for sharing and best of luck to you.

[Marmite the Dog]

^ EG is in Isaan now, enjoying life in another moobaan with great neighbours.

[panama hat]

Met up with EG and his lovely missus once many years ago - a very nice man, great conversationalist

[Marmite the Dog]

great conversationalist

Yeah, he does go on a bit when he's had one or two.

[biff]

Very good thread El Gibbon, interesting to read about other peoples adventures.
Thank you.

Cheers
Biff

[bronwen]

Wow - this is a fantastic thread. Very witty, insightful and well-written. I read it from page 1-15 in one sitting. Such a shame Ed is no longer living in Chanthaburi - actually it is only there in the mountains that it is so wet...we have a place there in Kung Wiman close to the sea and are there every weekend. Funny that he's now gone to live in Isaan...my husband comes from Ubon and he says Chanthaburi is like Isaan was in the old days in terms of nature and wildlife. Unfortunately they cut down most of the trees. Case in point, during the "sadao" (neem) tree season in February, his Isaan relatives take the flowers from our place back home for a treat. They hardly have any of those trees there any more.

[panama hat]

He's in Isaan now?

Good grief - I thought he had found his home in Chanthaburi . . . but then, we left as well.

One of the nicer places in Thailand, that's for sure