Retired Tranquil in Thailand – May 24

Hello everyone – its been two months since we left Chiang Mai and settled into our new – That Phanom retirement life – in NE Thailand. While I have been posting routinely on the website about our house (RAce Cottage) build & have a webpage on beginning our new life here, I thought that I share a bit more about life activities & interactions living in a small village, on the outskirts of That Phanom. Some content has been previously been posted on Facebook, but for those who don’t follow Facebook this is a update on our rural life over the past two months.

Around Town

That Phanom (the district & town) is named after Wat Phra That Phanom, the most important Buddhist temple in the region. The district is divided into 12 sub-districts & 142 villages with about 80,000 people in total. That Phanom town itself has about 12,000 people. We live in a “Mu Ban or village”, named Khok Sawang – about 2.5 km from the town center.

The town is a far cry from living and working in cities such as Toronto, Sydney, & Chiang Mai. I grew up in a small Ontario town & worked in many very small towns/villages in my Police career – so small town life is not a cultural shock to me. Ace spent time in this area in his early years so he is also comfortable with our new found relaxed, rural lifestyle. We moved here with our eyes wide open to a totally different lifestyle & know we would not have access to modern facilities and services that are in a big city.

While the town is mainly a rural farming community with modest incomes, most things (goods and services) are all available here – it is just about finding them or travelling to neighboring larger cities such as Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan or Sakhon Nakon to access them – when one has a desire. It creates a day outing, a lunch opportunity & sightsee that we enjoy. We also take more advantage of ordering items by mail with Lazada.

Town outlook in pictures

I also created a “driving around town” video of this little town (as it was too hot to do otherwise) and uploaded it to YouTube – you are welcome to check the town out here.

The weather here has generally been hot and dry over the past two months. During April it was really hot (hottest month of the year usually) with temps around 42/43 degrees. Now in May the daytime temps are around 32 degrees and nights are 27 – very pleasant. We don’t experience the air pollution that we did in Chiang Mai – which is a benefit. The rainy season is meant to start soon – last night it rained most of the night, which was wonderful, as everything is so dry.

Our temporary house

It is a pleasant enough place to live while the new house gets completed. An older, typical Thai style rural home in this part of Isaan. It was build Ace’s mother as a place to visit her 12 Rai property. She only every stayed occasionally. It is solid with all the facilities needed. We were fortunate to have some renovations done to the main living area to separate it from the rest of the house, to allow for an air con unit and some fresh paint. It is all livable but we do experience some normal Thai house living situations in the rest of the house (open air, gets hot & local insect visitors). It has a large upstairs that we have used to store many of our possessions that we moved from Chiang Mai.

Our Rural Location

The property is in a rural location with quiet roads passing by & the neighbors are well spread out. Our outlook is to a wild banana forest that is pretty well left to its own devices. Aces mother occasionally collects ripe bananas to sell. When the grass gets to high she hires a local farmer to come into to cut it back. Since we arrived some of the area around the house have been trimmed and some plants installed. Ace has a nursery underway for some plants that we will move to our house property once finished. He has a hedge nursery of 150 hedge plans on the go and an assortment of other items – even an Olive tree & Silver Birch trees. We have a short path that leads through the bananas to visit our new home build site.

Local Temples & Activities

We have two temples within about 1/2 km from our house. Our neighbor across the street & his wife help out at one temple daily & keep us informed of activities. We have been to this temple on a few occasions; once for a money tree special day & once related to our house ceremony.

The other temple recently hosted the local version of the popular Isaan Rocket Festival (Bun Bang Fai) – The festival is to encourage the timely arrival of rain crucial to the rice crop. Thais launch home-made rockets into the sky to start the rice planting season in May. Ace dropped into the temple to see what was going on, but was a bit early, so it was really quiet – I stayed home in my recovery mode. Later in the day the music was cranked to maximum for dancing & entertainment as the rockets were launched. Thankfully by 9 pm the festival concluded & one could sleep – in peace.

Shopping, food & supplies

There are a few mom & pop shops close by where you can find basic essentials, such as ice, milk, staples & other day to day needs. There is a Mini Big C & 7/11 about 2 km away where most house hold & essential food supplies can be found.

We are lucky to have a Lotus’s Shopping Mall in town for grocery shopping & other basic needs. Thee are also a few low cost goods (20 baht} shop with many items that are handy for the house.

There is a city center open air style Thai market everyday along with city center shops that include a lot of rural farming products, some banks, lots of pharmacies, gold shops & an Isuzu dealer (to service our truck). As well a twice a week Thai/Laos market takes place for all the vegetables, fruit and other produce & other goods you might require on the banks to the Mekong River. Beside the Thai vendors those from Laos cross the river with their products – on a day pass from Thai Immigration.

Nightly there is a food market in the town center where one can pick up cooked food for dinner. On Saturday & Sunday there is also a small walking street in town near the famous Temple that takes place, usually with entertainment and has food & other goods for sale. We at times visit to take a stroll & pick up dinner when we are lazy to cook. It has a reasonable offering of Thai food. There is a great Kebab seller & fresh salad lady are favorites. The guy in the picture is selling grilled pork neck with dipping sauce.

Thai Immigration

Since arriving here the joys of the Immigration requirements must be dealt with in Nakhon Phanom, about 50 km away. I have visited them twice – once to obtain my TM 30 (register by residence address) & then to complete my first 90 day report, since obtaining my new retirement visa. Hopefully I can do it online next time?

The Immigration office is much smaller than Chiang Mai & not busy at all, The staff seemed very friendly and helpful. They have pre-check area where staff help to complete necessary forms & check documents. Then you are sent inside to see an Immigration Officer (4 counters) for the process. Both visits I was one of only about 3 people there at the same time & it only took a few minutes for the processing. They have been helpful with explaining their rules as well – which can be different from office to office.

Family Songkran

Ace has relatives in town so we, along with his mother, were invited to attend a family Songkran (Thai New Year) dinner on Saturday, 15 April 2023, that had traditional water pouring on the hands of older people, a huge feast & the obligatory karaoke (that we did not do). He has 3 cousins – a policeman, a teacher & a local business guy. Many of the relatives and wives are involved in teaching. One also has an English language school and she spent 5 years in Sydney learning English and working – she was interesting to chat with. It was an enjoyable evening.

Ajan Ace

Our neighbors daughter is an ICU nurse at the local hospital. She has an English boyfriend (acquaintance) & is trying to learn English sufficient to pass a proficiency test that would allow her to go to England to nurse. While she has online classes, on her day off once a week she comes over and Ace spends time with her on practicing her language skills and practical applications. She can read very well, but needs practice with the spoken word.

Medical Drama

Checked out the local medical scene on Saturday 21 April by testing the That Phanom Hospital “emergency” facilities on the weekend, including the ambulance service & 1 am surgery at Nakhon Phanom Hospital, 50 km away.

Suffice to say, the suprapubic bladder aspiration, an un-scenic ambulance journey and the operating theater cystoscopy by a urology surgeon (trained in Chiang Mai) was not a joyful Saturday night. Home around 5 am. Praise to Ace for the support & to all medical staff involved – caring & professional. Now a 2 week rest & recovery period.

After 2 weeks the catheter has been removed and recovery is still a work in progress. Urologist advised that a stricture (caused by previous prostate cancer surgery) had closed over the urethra. He had opened it up again but said when I visit in 3 months time he will assess if further intervention is needed. This is a pain -!! & bothersome.

I have also found a general medicine/orthopedic doctor in town who speaks English & seems reasonable to consult on any medical issue in the first instance. I saw him to deal with tendinitis issues.

Furry Babies

The dogs have settled into their new dwelling and enjoy the country open yard to romp around. They usually get morning walks on the property with an afternoon journey along the country roads. There are dogs around from other homes but that hasn’t been any problem when walking around. Izzy is not very friendly and goes off her head when seeing other dogs or dogs pass by our front gate. Crazy Pomeranian.

Lucas(our cat) is very old now and doesn’t move far. He is unsteady on his feet but seems to enjoy the house – no stairs to climb and he likes the warmest parts of the house. He has had a few seizures again, but eats well, so just keeps going.

Out & about

Given my medical episode in April & ongoing recovery challenges since, we have not wondered too far or started exploring the region far from home.

Balloon Festival – Nahkon Phanom held their “First Balloon Festival” by the river. It was an excuse for us to go out to see the event and have a dinner, so why not. Lots of people out to see the sights and take selfies. It was an enjoyable evening strolling with nice breezes by the river..

Mekong River Lunch

Just this past Sunday, Ace & I along with his mother & her housekeeper, enjoyed Mekong River scenery over a Thai food lunch at Kaeng Ka Bao, about 18 km from our place. A popular area of rapids that flow over rocky cataracts. The water was a bit high in the Mekong River so the the rapids were subdued. A nice Thai food feast for all. The seats were very hard & I was a bit uncomfortable – unfortunately.

Food & Drinks Around Town

The area is not over saturated with unique and must visit places like there was in Chiang Mai. This a modest farming community so in terms of restaurants there are many open air Thai spots around town and down by the river – many are reasonable to eat at, but it can be hot, particularly during the day, unless it is for a later evening meal. For airconditioned restaurants these are fairly limited but we have found a few & visit them occasionally, when cooking isn’t something we wish to do:

Japanese, – new spot in town with both a sit down area & a self select from a go-around server. They have a nice Japanese curry chicken that I enjoy along Katsu Don that Ace likes.

That Phanom Pizza/pasta, – owner had a place in Pattaya before Covid. He has returned home and does great pizza, pasta, salad and bruschetta.

Sisters – Western/Thai – a clean spot that seams popular with a big menu of both western & Thai food. They have amazing mashed potatoes & nice ice cream sundaes beside many other delicious dishes.

Vietnamese (Daothong + others), – aside from regular food options from this country I really enjoy the Vietnamese breakfast offerings that are available at many places around town, such as the following picture – pan fried egg & Vietnamese bun.

Quan Quan (western style)

There are a number of coffee shops around town that we have discovered to enjoy treats. Given this town receives a large number of tourist visitors because of the famous Buddhist temple it seems to have a reasonable infrastructure of places to eat, drink & enjoy treats. We enjoy a few such as:

P Cafe & Home Bakery,

Naco Specialty Coffee,

Sweet Factory – a nice coffee shop across from the town park with cakes, drinks and does some nice simple lunch dishes.

Baby Mood Burgers – an American themed 70’s dinner serving various burgers, fries and milkshakes. A stroll down memory lane for me.

We from time to time enjoy Amazon coffee or cold drinks as well as our local Dairy Queen for ice cream treats, on occasion.

For the modern experience we occasionally visit Robinson Shopping Center & the other specialty suppliers (such as Makro, Homepro, Globalhouse, Thaiwatsadu, etc) in Mukdahan (45 km) or Sakon Nakhon (70 km). We have been there a few times each to shop at Tops Supermarket & enjoy a lunch treat. These places offer a few more options to choose from. Nakhon Phanom (50 km) is our other option for the likes of Big C & Lotus’s Shopping Center, Makro (for dog food) Mega Home & Global House. We have all the places we need for life requirements.

Thanks a lot for checking out our new environment in That Phanom & what our new retirement life is like. Hopefully the health improves soon; so until next time – Cheers