It has been 7 months since we moved from Chiang Mai to live 3 km outside the rural Mekong River town of That Phanom, Thailand. Living here is a tranquil, slow life, laid back experience and a lifestyle change from our previous 10 years in the large, cosmopolitan city of Chiang Mai. Not to mention, the over all lifestyle change from residing in Sydney, Australia prior to our move to Thailand. My earlier post of May 24 provided more detail on our new environment.

Perhaps it is about growing older, but for me, I no longer need the fast pace & commercial focus of life in large population centers. I love the evening sunsets on display from our property, the quiet country atmosphere (& broken occasionally by a Temple event). Ace also enjoys our peacful lifestyle.

It has been 6 months since construction on our new home began, on 17 April 2024. In that period of time our house has come along very nicely. We are both pleased that it is now down to the final stages of completing the house with work being mainly related to decor finishes – such as painting, tiling, flooring – along with completing plumbing & electricity infrastructure hookups. We are anticipating completion by end November & December 2024 occupancy – with luck. The house build is documented with a bi-weekly update series on my website (menu links) & on my YouTube channel – Retired Tranquil in Thailand 

Aside from being involved in our house build, we are also keep occupied with gardening to be done around our temporary accommodation, there are movies & books to keep one entertained, monitoring the news and social media, walking the pets & other normal daily activities. Not to mention getting out to explore a variety of cafe’s & restaurants.

All in all, we are happy with our move, found the places we need for day to day items & have settled into our country life. Having come from a different background & life circumstances (Canada & Australia) than most of the local rural Isaan people, I often ponder their basic way of living & thinking. Their way can offer some interesting perspectives on life, it is generally uncomplicated & it can offer occasional challenges.

However, coping with change & adjustment is something I have done over the many years. My various job related relocations across Canada, the move to Australia & job changes there, along with retirement to Thailand has provided a good grounding in dealing with change. Living & working in some remote & lower income parts of Canada also allows me to more easily adapt to our new location & surrounding environment.

A medical episode a few months ago requiring emergency urological surgery has resulted in life with ongoing side effects & it has taken “a lot of wind out my sails”. I find myself with less energy than I previously had. Perhaps it is only a hiccup along the way, or the often hot Isaan climate – or maybe just a sign of final retirement & perhaps – aging?

Exploring the Region

For more variety, day outings and greater commercial offerings there are larger cities near us that are 1 hour or less away:

Trips to Nakhon Phanom are made for specialist medical appointments, Thai Immigration requirement, shopping & visits to Ace’s mother. It offers some great views across the Mekong river to Loas with their backdrop of limestone mountains. There are always a few nice picture offerings on sunny days.

This is also the town where Thai Immigration is located & looks after the area where we live. I have to do my 90 day reports and annual visa renewal with this office. So we make a few trips a year here for this obligation along with the opportunity to enjoy restaurants and shopping. A few scenes from the town which does offer fantastic views to the mountains in Laos behind the Mekong river.

Mukdahan has been our main destination for Homepro & home shopping. It has a bridge across the Mekong river to Savanaket, Laos where there is a casino & a popular spot for foreigners to go to the Thai Consulate for visa updates. (not something that I require). It has some nice eateries.

In Sakon Nakhon is also a good place for our home decor needs. This is mainly an agriculture area it is also the beef raising capital of Isaan. Some nice food offerings can be found here as well.

Unfortunately, exploring of the region has been limited to these adjacent larger cities to find items for our new home at larger homewares & lifestyle stores, to enjoy shopping variety & food offerings at larger regional Robinsons Shopping centers.

We did enjoy an earlier trip to Khon Khan (separate post) for a short R&R break for my birthday. It was a most enjoyable get away & lovely hotel. Lot’s of furniture browsing & great food. We haven’t explored the rest of the Province or larger Isaan regions beyond these local trips but once the house is finished and we have completed some landscaping & fencing, it is hoped we can get out & travel father afield.

Out & About – Enjoying Food

In no particular order here are a few pictures of places that we have enjoyed for food & treats on our various outings – it offers you a flavor of what is on offer in our area of Thailand.

Kaeng Kabao – on the Mekong River, part way between Mukdahan & That Phanom. A park on the river with a large restaurant and this neat coffee shop.

Sweet Factory That Phanom – a nice, clean coffee shop with food & sweets. Occasional visit when the mood arises or we are looking to chill from house building supervision. This was from a visit during the green season & opposite to the town park.

Farm Hug Sakhon Nakhon – on a trip to explore house needs, paint color options & other items we included a lunch break. This is an agriculture area & is known for it beef production. We have purchased some rib eye steaks here and enjoyed them (although we don’t eat much beef these days). This place is a bit of a farm/petting spot with some good food.

Japanese – often on a Saturday or Sunday night in our quaint, little town we go for Japanese for dinner & a stroll of the weekend market street & enjoy a soft serve ice cream.

Best Beef Nakhon Phanom – When on a day trip to Nakhon Phanom for chores, Thai Immigration or Uro Dr. follow up, we often enjoy lunch – sometime with Aces mom, at this nice restaurant. There are many western items on the menu as well as Thai food. Burgers/fish & chips are yummy.

Garnett Coffee & Nakhon Phanom – A really nice, modern coffee shop with views of the Mekong River along with some of the street scenery of town. The clock tower is a reminder of the Vietnam war – a memorial to the town. It was also a large US air force base for operations in to Laos & Vietnam during the war.

Mekong Riverside That Phanom – there are many restaurants situated along the banks of Mekong River in our small town. Ace to took his mother to one on Mothers Day & we occasionally go out for evening dinner to enjoy the open air & river views. Never short of a feed.

Mukdahan Eats – as we have often taken day trips here for house building related things we have found 3 restaurants that we particularly enjoy. Two Vietnamese & one Thai on the Mekong. Great food & delicious flavors at these eatery’s.

We are looking forward to the house being finished allowing us to move in. So there you have it – our “Life in rural Isaan” may not be for everyone. If a person needs to be entertained, have entertainment facilities & social connections with other westerners then this lifestyle probably would not work.

It works for me as I am very comfortable ‘enjoying my own company’. I always have been content with me, also happy to be around others if the circumstances allow, but it does not bother me to spend time with myself, together with Ace & the pets. Here is a good quote that I believe sums this up well.

Cheers, until next time – from our new home.