Rural Thailand - never a truer word

One often reads reports online of Western guys spending days and days with the Thai family out in the sticks, and most of their time is spent boozing it up in the morning, recovering in the afternoon, and the resuming again early evening, sleeping it off through the night. There really is no surprise in this because once the initial wonder has worn off, one quickly realises that they have very little in common with the locals. And if you cannot speak not just Thai, but understand the local dialect, you'll be left out after a while. There will always be a million smiles for you, but smiles do not overcome the feelings of boredom, unless you are a true anthropologist.http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/Weekly2006/weekly243.htm

why would they want some great farang buffalo sitting around the house boozing ?.

Unless he was generous.

[Dodger]

I've only really explored the "Rurals" once and certainly no expert, but I don't agree with Stickman's read on this at all.

Most of the people I met and lived with during my 7 week trek were either farmers or those involved with producing hand crafted items such as ceramics, non-precious jewelery, teak wood carvings, bamboo furniture, silk, and wonderfully hand crafted tin (pewter) and bronze products. The one thing they all had in common was that they started their working days early, usually around 6:00 AM, and were shuffling towards their beds around 9:00 PM.

I was never once bored, nor did I find it difficult finding something interesting to do.

I really think the success of a trip like this relies on how much planning the farang does up front, as well as what his overall expectations for the trip are.

During my little adventure, I lived with a family of Thai farmers for an 8 day period. The family operated a fairly large orange grove as their principle crop which is located in a very remote district of the province of Phrae in north-central Thailand. Phrae is surrounded by mountains spewing lush evergreen forests and an abundance of hidden waterfalls which were common backdrops for the numerous ancient Burmese and Thai wats...right out of a story book. According to history (and science), experts agree that the Bronze Age, which is traced back somewhere around 7,000 years BC, began in this region where bronze is still a major commodity for making hand crafted products. Tin, which is still mined in Phuket, is also trucked up to this region where it is cast and hand crafted into some of the most valuable pieces of pewter you can find anywhere on the world market. I had the opportunity to observe a master craftsman making pewter flask, from the making of the crude rubber mold - to the melting and pouring of the tin - to the centuries old technique of hand crafting the finished product.

I was able to hire the services of a local boy (cute as hell), his one eared dog named "Dot" and his old and dilapidated pickup truck for 1,000bt/day. Nothing hard about finding these types of services in the rural area...just spread the word amongst a few folks and you'll have someone sputtering up with a truck in a flash. I spent every day exploring different districts of Phrae, each being unique, but common when it came to the amount of smiles and well wishes I received. I found that observing the Thai's working their tasks in a normal setting was much more rewarding than sitting around at night getting grandma drunk. What the rural Thai people seem to be the most interested in, is someone who is interested in them, and that's were I found the most value in these new friendships.

During my trip, I traveled from the not-so-rural Chiang Mai along a path that took me to Lampun, Lampang, Phrae, Uttaradit, Phitsanulok, Ang Thong, then west to Kanchanaburi (Kwai River), and finally back to Chon Buri, and not a boring moment that I can recall.

I think if a farang visits the rurals with a sense that all he has to do is show up with a backpack filled with 100 Pipers...he's setting himself up for disappointment.

BTW...the boy with the pickup trucks name was Yu and we became much better friends as the week progressed. Actually, by day 2 we were swimming naked together at one of those hidden waterfalls...boring?...nah!

mai pen rai

Stickman is married to an Isaan girl

[PeterUK]

I enjoyed reading your response and it's very much to your credit that you made such good use of your time. Out of curiosity, and with no desire to trip you up, I would just ask if you can say with your hand on your heart that you would love to go back for more rural adventures. The reason I ask is that I also spent time in a young man's village once (near Udon Thani) and enjoyed seeing and exploring a side of Thailand previously unknown to me. But since then I have had no particular urge to return, which to some degree makes me disappointed in myself. Did I not enjoy the experience as much as I like to think? It was certainly stressful, what with my language skills being very limited then and all the new customs and practices to digest. Perhaps it's the fear that I WOULD get bored if I spent too much time there. One has to be honest with oneself. I was brought up in a city, have pretty much always lived in cities, and that's where I feel most comfortable. I hope I would go back if the occasion arose, but the bugger of it is - I can't be sure I would.

I remember a few years ago i too spent time in a village just near Udon Thani,a place called Nong Saeng. Theres always a few boys who will take you back to meet mama and family,usually ladyboy type.
I wasnt particulary keen on rural thailand and i got the feeling not many rural thais are keen on gay people.Not that they showed it,i just got that feeling.

[Dodger]

Hand-over-heart, here's my feelings...

I'm looking forward to experiencing another visit, but won't rough it as much next time. Sleeping on a thin floor mat and having to stumble down a steep set of stairs in the pitch dark to take a piss at night are now placed in the "do it once and forget it" category.

I'll be spending a week in Udorn Thani during Songkran in April for the purpose of meeting Boy Specials family. I've already booked a hotel which offers full services including in-room massage, a four star restaurant and resort style swimming pool...so no roughing it here...LOL

[TrongpaiExpat]

Dodger: What's the name of the Hotel? I was in Udorn Thani last month and stayed at some hotel in town, next to the shopping center. I can't remember the name, it's big and I asked to be taken to someplace nice and was told that this is all there is.

Rooms from 1000b to 3000b. Never went near the pool, cold as hell.

The last night there I noticed that the maid did not replace the face towels, no problem, I though. When we checked out, the rooms was checked and I heard the words in Thai for small towel. I told them they were not replaced yesterday. Suddenly they spoke no English and the BF went into a long explanation, followed by several people from the hotel talking a lot, and I did not catch much of it. After the 4th person came out of the office, and 20 minutes latter, the BF began handing over 200B. I told him no, and he said mai pen rai, lets go. Later he told me they were going to call the police. They did not ask for money, he just forked over what he had in his pocket as a bribe.
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formerly just Trongpai, now Trongpaiexpat

I always stay in the TOON KOON HOTEL and its management are fantastic,how do I know,well the room they gave us i noticed the toilet seat still had shit on it so i complained ,well ends up the big boss came down and he upgraded my room free of charge,still 700 b per night,24 hr reception,great breakfast.

[Dodger]

Trongpai...

It's great to hear from you.

The place where I booked my room is the Napalai Hotel. According to Boy Special the Napalai is in a great (central) location and within walking distance to his grandmothers house.

mai pen rai

I try to get down and rural at least every other trip. Last time was a trip to a village about 30 miles ish east of Nong Khai. I helped out on my friend's folks rice farm. Night time's were spent frog hunting, snake hunting, sitting around with all the (extended) family eating, drinking, listening to the local cuties with guitars playing and singing, dancing. Much better than staying home and watching TV.
My guy's mother insisted I sleep with her son in her bed (which was the biggest in the house), while she slept elsewhere and wouldn't take no for an answer.
All the other locals were great and included me in whatever was going on. It took a bit of getting used to however when all the under 12's would hang around waiting to get a look at 'the Farang'. I was told that other than TV, it would have been the first chance they would have had to see a Farang in the flesh.
Looking forward to the next time.