Isaan . . . where The Land of Smiles gets its name from

[Fluke]

1 hour ago, TukTuk said:

You half to laugh at all the posters who think Thailand is such a righteous, lawful country that follows the law.

Legal requirement? This is Thailand, remember? 

My father in law and many in his family never went to school at all.

 

Yes, older people werent forced by law to go to School , I do believe its quite a recent law , within the last 20 years or so . 

  Children are legally required to attend schooling , but yes , some people may break the law or maybe they aren't eligible for school because they werent born in Thailand .

  Schooling for Children born in Thailand is compulsory, it isnt optional .  

Most Parents are quite pleased that their young Children attend School as its basically free and it gets them out the house and away from under their feet during the day 

[Fluke]

1 hour ago, TukTuk said:

You half to laugh at all the posters who think Thailand is such a righteous, lawful country that follows the law.

Legal requirement? This is Thailand, remember? 

My father in law and many in his family never went to school at all.

Brother in law went to 3 grades.

Who enforces that law in rural Thailand? No one. I have never seen even 1 policeman in our village ever.

If you had half a clue about RURAL Isaan you would know many struggle on 200 baht a day from doing manual labor in the fields. Many folks bring their kids along at a very young age to help make some extra money. They are NOT in school. It is probably more important to them to eat and survive.

Do you have any idea how many people in rural Isaan are this poor or do you consider down town Udon Thani Rural Isaan?

The nearest 7/11 is 38km from our village. No stores, no restaurants, nothing. RURAL Thailand. Got it now?

For many families it is quite a challenge just to put food on the table.

Maybe you can never understand being hungry enough to eat rats? 

You should educate yourself before you speak, that way you won't look so foolish.

If you want to see 1000 more photos about this life in Rural Isaan, left me know.

Schools are closed at the moment , maybe thats why the kids arent currently at School ?

 

[Fluke]

3 hours ago, TukTuk said:

 

 

The nearest 7/11 is 38km from our village. No stores, no restaurants, nothing. RURAL Thailand. Got it now?

For many families it is quite a challenge just to put food on the table.

Maybe you can never understand being hungry enough to eat rats? 

You should educate yourself before you speak, that way you won't look so foolish.

 

Arent field rats a local delicacy in Issan ?

I do believe its part of their staple diet .

Well, if distance is a point , I was living in a village where the nearest 7/11 was 60 kilometers away and 10 kilometers to the nearest hourly bus stop , no ATMs , noodle shops sometimes open , running water sometimes per day , no telephone connection and you were considered to be "Middle class" living in a block built house . 

    The poor people were living in bamboo shacks where you can see through the bamboo walls , with no fridges ,no  toilet and no television .

  They dream of living in  house built of blocks and where the wind doesnt got straight through their bamboo built house 

[TukTuk]

4 hours ago, Fluke said:

Schools are closed at the moment , maybe thats why the kids arent currently at School ?

These photos were taking pre-covid when school as in Isaan

Stop trying to disprove the facts that this is indeed a reality.

[TukTuk]

3 hours ago, Fluke said:

Arent field rats a local delicacy in Issan ?

I do believe its part of their staple diet .

Well, if distance is a point , I was living in a village where the nearest 7/11 was 60 kilometers away and 10 kilometers to the nearest hourly bus stop , no ATMs , noodle shops sometimes open , running water sometimes per day , no telephone connection and you were considered to be "Middle class" living in a block built house . 

    The poor people were living in bamboo shacks where you can see through the bamboo walls , with no fridges ,no  toilet and no television .

  They dream of living in  house built of blocks and where the wind doesnt got straight through their bamboo built house 

Who told you rats are a delicacy? And why would they?

The fact being, people eat what ever they can find or go hungry.

There is no such thing as delicacies when you are starving.

Actual first hand experience, versus hearsay, goes a long in knowing exactly how life works.

If you don't have first hand experience, hearsay doesn't really matter.

 

[TukTuk]

5 hours ago, Fluke said:

Yes, older people werent forced by law to go to School , I do believe its quite a recent law , within the last 20 years or so . 

  Children are legally required to attend schooling , but yes , some people may break the law or maybe they aren't eligible for school because they werent born in Thailand .

  Schooling for Children born in Thailand is compulsory, it isnt optional .  

Most Parents are quite pleased that their young Children attend School as its basically free and it gets them out the house and away from under their feet during the day 

Perhaps you should get out civilized Thailand and take a trip to the uncivilized parts of Isaan?

You might find out, there is an opposite truthful answer for everything you heard or think you know?

Life doesn't work the same for the rural, uneducated poor. 

Just surviving becomes a true challenge.

 

[TukTuk]

5 hours ago, RobMuir said:

How did you end up living out there mate? 

They eat field rats because they taste good.

The point being, they eat what ever they can find.

My BIL has gone out several times and cannot even find 1 rat to eat.

There are also no birds, which I thought was odd, until my wife told me they ate them all.

I can tell you for a fact, you will NOT find one fat, overweight Thai in our village anywhere!

Just happens to be where my wife is from.

I actually love the place, large extended family in same village, but then again, I don't have to scrounge for rats to eat.

 

[TukTuk]

5 hours ago, Andrew Reeve said:

Warning to all 

Quote deleted
Pictures deleted as there was no personal comment

Read the forum rules and guidelines

Rule 8. Members are not to insert more than two relevant image files – pictures or videos, per post. Moderators may use their discretion and DELETE any image files that do not comply or are deemed offensive as per Forum Guidelines.

Rule 6. All text and posted content, must align to the topic and/or the first post under that topic. Post must be accompanied by a personal comment & link (URL) to any source for verification.

It is hard to tell a story with only 2 photos?

Why is this a rule?

Because of disk space?

[TukTuk]

6 hours ago, Chaimai said:

I don't see much rice being cut by hand these days.

What do think the photo is showing exactly?

Our entire village, all the rice and sugar cane are cut by hand.

Maybe not in downtown Udon Thai?

Have you ever traveled in rural Isaan to towns that are 40 to 50 km from the nearest 7/11?

Apparently not or you would see this everyday.

Think anyone can afford a tractor or automated farm machinery making 200 baht a day?

You appear to only know the part of Thailand you live in

I know the part I lived in.

 

 

[billybob]

This is well worth a watch when the BBC take a group of young Brits to see if they can hack it in the rice fields of  Issan. Backbreaking work not far removed from slavery in some respects. 

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by billybob

[Marc26]

36 minutes ago, TukTuk said:

The point being, they eat what ever they can find.

My BIL has gone out several times and cannot even find 1 rat to eat.

There are also no birds, which I thought was odd, until my wife told me they ate them all.

I can tell you for a fact, you will NOT find one fat, overweight Thai in our village anywhere!

Just happens to be where my wife is from.

I actually love the place, large extended family in same village, but then again, I don't have to scrounge for rats to eat.

Sitting in a park in Toronto and there is a bunch of squirrels running around

My wife asks what they are called, I tell her

 

Me-"You don't have squirrels in Thailand"

Her-"Yes, we do"

Me-"I've never seen any"

Her, big mischiveous grin on her face-"Because we eat them all" 5555

[Fluke]

56 minutes ago, TukTuk said:

These photos were taking pre-covid when school as in Isaan

Stop trying to disprove the facts that this is indeed a reality.

Where are all the adults and the  older people ?

Is the young girl the only person in the village that is able to work the fields ?

Or is she just the weakest and the youngest and that is why she has to work ?

Where is her Father , Uncles and Brothers  ? 

No one else to work ?

[Faraday]

Perhaps someone is more Thai than Thai people.

Certainly appears that way.

[gummy]

57 minutes ago, Faraday said:

Perhaps someone is more Thai than Thai people.

Certainly appears that way.

Spot on their @Faraday, maybe pally with the wrong person perhaps

[RobMuir]

5 hours ago, TukTuk said:

There is no such thing as delicacies when you are starving.

So there are people starving in rural Issan? 

Give the Red Cross and Unicef a call to get down there. What are you waiting for? Nothing sadder than seeing children starve.

With all that land there you would think they could grow some food to feed themselves like other rural Thais.

Have you seen any inbreeding?

[RobMuir]

5 hours ago, TukTuk said:

Think anyone can afford a tractor or automated farm machinery making 200 baht a day?

Most issaners in other areas don't own a tractor themselves to cut the rice, they just rent one for the day. It makes sense economically, costing about the same as paying workers to do it.

But if they have nothing better to do they may as well cut it by hand I suppose. 

Maybe you could buy a second hand tractor for your wife's family to use and also rent out for some additional income. 

[NCC1701A]

5 hours ago, TukTuk said:

It is hard to tell a story with only 2 photos?

Why is this a rule?

Because of disk space?

i think i read something to do with mobile devices and too many images. 

[RobMuir]

5 hours ago, TukTuk said:

The point being, they eat what ever they can find.

My BIL has gone out several times and cannot even find 1 rat to eat.

There are also no birds, which I thought was odd, until my wife told me they ate them all.

I can tell you for a fact, you will NOT find one fat, overweight Thai in our village anywhere!

Just happens to be where my wife is from.

I actually love the place, large extended family in same village, but then again, I don't have to scrounge for rats to eat.

Yes sure, very few fatties in rural Issan generally. They mostly eat healthier fresh food and are physically active. Compare that to Urban areas like Bangkok and Chonburi where the norm is a little bit overweight and many are morbidly obese.

Where did you meet your wife? I am assuming not in her home town. Did she manage to get an education? There are programs and sponsorships available for poor kids that show promise, but this is only available to a few per school.

[Lowseasonlover]

14 minutes ago, RobMuir said:

Bangkok and Chonburi where the norm is a little bit overweight and many are morbidly obese.

 

You should come to Phuket and go in 7/11 early in the mornings and see the kids buying junk, they are huge

[RobMuir]

8 minutes ago, Lowseasonlover said:

You should come to Phuket and go in 7/11 early in the mornings and see the kids buying junk, they are huge

Yeah I have seen it. They set up food carts out the front of school at home time. Sugary drinks and snacks, deep fried stuff etc. Nothing healthy or nutritional. 

That is just an extra to their breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have seen quite a few young kids with rotten teeth also, sucking away on sugary drinks. 

[KaptainRob]

We lived in the village for 3 months, mainly to rewire & replumb the house.  I also helped with our family rice harvest.  Mae had cut virtually all by hand and had hired help for the threshing & bagging.  The boys drank whisky during breaks, starting at dawn.

Now well into her 80's, Mae still plants several rai by hand, also weeds it (no chemicals), but now hires a harvester when available.  

[TukTuk]

11 hours ago, RobMuir said:

Yes sure, very few fatties in rural Issan generally. They mostly eat healthier fresh food and are physically active. Compare that to Urban areas like Bangkok and Chonburi where the norm is a little bit overweight and many are morbidly obese.

Where did you meet your wife? I am assuming not in her home town. Did she manage to get an education? There are programs and sponsorships available for poor kids that show promise, but this is only available to a few per school.

I was driving from Rangsit to the Northern Laos Border in my truck. Turned off to find some food and got lost. Stopped to take some photos of those working in the fields. A group of women were finishing work for the day and they approached and asked for ride to their village. The all piled in the back of my truck. She was one of them. Still have the photo of her that first day in her village house. Fast forward, she is now a US citizen, still attending US College herself for nursing. 

Even today the village people are still poor as ever, doing manual labor in the farms. 

[TukTuk]

10 hours ago, KaptainRob said:

We lived in the village for 3 months, mainly to rewire & replumb the house.  I also helped with our family rice harvest.  Mae had cut virtually all by hand and had hired help for the threshing & bagging.  The boys drank whisky during breaks, starting at dawn.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wCnSAfZyY2hUfzptA-di_RREwAo8UFozx5T4b82fIPq9s4vN-91LwkcadbYoB2rqnk24xW0wSBZGKEucz0wiuXIu6v2lqeX_CVvYg6Uwn67MDEyKy7AZuLglSTLy0wfdVVWvvc2VG42BYSZMKhgYzKN7P9r8oCK8kTF1910_WTmaqxjfawyKcJKyF6hv__sB6Yv3sxUhqScxgpWomzipxu-HMMlWR0I1yJZ61H-ApLiQKrcY-K74_r2ug4-4XnZHwm6OrbPqqI0rPiqjfwCMrnb0K78uUpC4mu_EiCIrfTZxunjB80ricmAeQ7DbMUWm8npe9m1FCbNMeVr6cF_9RodLoC5jqSpv35oKrMhJdr2THSKQrbEbTp3i4stwUS7WJn04KOyA1JO4PHYZIR2CbhkkysoavLhPGrnIw1e7qFROYXKGqyu0FAH1_pkH5wEdmDd05q427FVvKop1d7kkHXcljThXxiLj1zNnn26knYj5NIf8QntXVtePt2IjHew1nwXTqwUuYuR8041TmDTt-ZyTMaEwYRwsI_eGpWHPtdjSfv6hipoYucILts1TL5hBbEH8bMYNR372Zj4O9t8PFgkfFSGtlIYnfOn2CWGnClYh74XK72zqFW74UDQr-krVDFdwHO5iHfXOMLWs5iuecT_Z-XNZXNXwG2p7hJotvoP2M8N-OT9ZkMXZPyMihZciVpHSOsIwxJlbg4PUDIRP9K49=w1024-h768-no?authuser=0

Now well into her 80's, Mae still plants several rai by hand, also weeds it (no chemicals), but now hires a harvester when available.  

Nice photo, brings the story to life.

[JamesR]

19 hours ago, TukTuk said:

The point being, they eat what ever they can find.

My BIL has gone out several times and cannot even find 1 rat to eat.

There are also no birds, which I thought was odd, until my wife told me they ate them all.

I can tell you for a fact, you will NOT find one fat, overweight Thai in our village anywhere!

Just happens to be where my wife is from.

I actually love the place, large extended family in same village, but then again, I don't have to scrounge for rats to eat.

They live there as they have no other choice and as usual the most uneducated have the most kids thus making themselves poorer, the richer educated Thai have two kids.

The Thais from other regions would not want to do work and live as the people you are describing are living, the rest of Thailand looks down on the people you are talking about as they are uneducated, have little drive to get out of poverty over the generations and have too many kids.

What I can not understand and what many educated Thais can not understand is how a Westerner can decide to marry women from such regions as they are uneducated so once the initial physical 'wow' has gone what do you talk to them about, how can you discuss and explain complex situations with them?

None of what I have written is meant to be nasty in any sense, it is what I have been told by the Thais I have known for the last forty years and based on what I have seen over the many accumulated years of going to Thailand.

[JamesR]

13 hours ago, Lowseasonlover said:

You should come to Phuket and go in 7/11 early in the mornings and see the kids buying junk, they are huge

Most school kids are not fat in Phuket as I have seen over the last 30+ years.

Now Rayong that is quite the opposite, there are many fat people, mostly kids and women.