JC, we are here at the Mut Mee in Nong Khai, and just rented a bike from mr Noi he remembers you and said he has got many people from Your RU-vid video. said to say hi and said because I am family I didnt need to give a passport or deposit. Later in the day my husband wanted a shoe repair but the guy was not there so he saw Mr Moi and he said I got glue and glued my husband's sneakers for him free. We love the Mut mee the ambience is great and the food is unreal. We signed a partition as the local govt want to open up the river walk to vehicles. How awful? Hope it doesn't happen. we spent three weeks in Chiang Mai the old city in a guest house called CM blue run by two French guys. It was great!!! We are here for a week and are looking for Mr Chicken tonight. Thanks for all your great advice and help we love you xxxx
Thanks for that. I stayed for 3 months at the Pikul Apartments - very nice. Mutt Mee is a lovely spot too.I am not sure about the security guy's comment about late at night on the riverside. I never saw a hint of trouble. There is a huge Tesco/Lotus a km or so out on the Udon Road. But remember it isn't Pattaya; quiet, peaceful but lots of nice people. Patrick
Oh wow! I can't wait to move to Nong Khai where I can spend the rest of my days lounging by the beautiful Mekong river, drinking A&W root beer and eating all the pizza I want.
Thanks for the interesting video. Just to clarify, Wattana hospital is the private and thus more expensive hospital. The government hospital is much cheaper, but with long queues. For more serious problems one is obliged to go to Udon Thani (56Kms away). Also the Rimkhong promenade area is very safe at night and often busier after dark, when its cooler. A number of restaurants use the Rimkhong promenade as an extended terrace/seating area.
Phu rua is a perfect place to stay when the Thai weather is very hot. A good comparison of nightly Temperatures, Udon thanii 30°....Phu rua 17°... perfect for sleeping at night
A very comprehensive video - providing information that rippers want and that retirecheap is all about. So, how do you think the prices compare to say Cha am or Chiang mai - it seems a little more expensive - not sure... Anyway, prices aside the accommodation and food and lifestyle is very alluring. Thanks for your hard work.
***** Yes. The keyword there is "western" not Thai. So of course imported products would cost more. That shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. The nice thing is if you have a craving for something and are willing to pay for it, you can find and purchase it.
I've just had a thought about some of my earlier comments about different prices for foreigners. I wonder if the owner would say, "We charge them more because they are bigger pains in the ass"!
Thanks for such a comprehensive report. I also recommend the Pantawee Resort, which is a few hundred meters upstream from the Friendship Bridge. I was fortunate to be traveling with Thais when I was there. Did you find it difficult to find English speakers working in the businesses or were they pretty common? Bicycling is a big topic of interest there and they have mapped tours for cyclists to visit local places of interest.
i enjoy your videos very much most enlightening ,im greek american but live in greece now . i have been to thai 5 times krabi ,phi phi. ko larn. pattaya -jomtien, i want to ask i think of staying permenantly and was thinking bying condo in jomtien but looking in your videos i might reconsider not too and stay diffrent places . thank you youre good heart man
Curious to know,,,is there a burning season as far as pollution and are there any boat rentals for the river in the low water season? Looks nice there and good video!
thanks for the tour!👍 but the lights didn't work in the bathroom? how clean was it in there? esp. the toilet & the shower. and you said something about the shower curtain *being* there. do they not commonly not have them in hotels?? @ the 12:58 timestamp.
Hi JC, Still working my way thru all of your videos again very informative videos about Phayao and Nong Khai. They are on my list of places to visit and consider as retirement spots. I was talking to a friend recently about a place called " SURIN"! have you been there yet or have any info about Surin? Would appreciate your expert advice/knowledge. Thanks again for posting.
Yes I have been there. Surin is a very small town near the Cambodian border. Famous for the elephant festival every year. A quiet place with friendly people. At the end of the Nong Khai series you will see a short clip on the market there at the border between Surin and Cambodia..
That honour book system is a great idea, it could save you a lot on tips, because if you are like me I feel guilty if I do not tip. That means you only tip once when you settle your account
On the subject of the difference in wealth between Thais and foreigners, particularly in Isaan, the UK's Channel 4 had an "Unreported World" program last night (25th April, possibly available online) on little kids fighting in Muay Thai bouts. It was quite depressing. Whole villages were involved in the betting, one kid was being dangerously sweated to try and make weight, and the voiceover said that in the region a lot of people were making only £1,000 ($1,600) a year. Puts it all in perspective. It was interesting to see just how non-judgmental the program makers were. Channel 4 is usually pretty keen to point fingers and condemn people, but you could see that they knew that there were no easy answers. [Isaan did look spectacular].
hi jc, missed the last few videos, love them, anyway your videos reach thousands, but I thought I'd let you know that officially the "cat is out of the bag", in the march issue of playboy they have a short but nice 1 page write up on chiang mai as being the latest and greatest hot spot
Well I think Playboy is way behind the eight ball. Chiang Mai was that 10 years ago and maybe even 5, but there are better, latest and greatest in my opinion! Unless they like overcrowding, and over taxed infrastructure causing shortages and traffic jams. Thank goodness there's always an option!
hi JC, love and watch (and dream) of Thailand and your videos, you have opened our eyes to the options and places to live there, where do you live ? and why there ?, I suspect CM is your home base and you branch out from there, I think if and when I get there, that's probably what I would do, if I do pull the trigger to move there, i'll sign up for your guidance,suggestion,recommendation, site.
Hey Bill. The saying "variety is the spice of life" certainly applies to me. I really don't have the need to settle down in one place so usually I just have a place to store my things and I keep moving around so I can show you all more options!
Can you imagine the look on a Thai Persons face if we put Two prices up at a gym in the west. (locals price) ( Thai price). I'm guessing it would really piss them off. Its greedy & perfetic.
plesaregreatyumyum - Look at it this way for a Thai that has a modest income they have to make things affordable. The Local price for Foreigners is more but still Very reasonable considering the difference in relative income. If you want better prices marry a Thai or befriend a Thai and let them negotiate prices for the two of you..
14wordsforlife I already have. In BKK, we made a reservation for a Hotel in BKK. On arrival, we were given a 500 bht increase for the room on the basis I'm a Farang. I was later told by a Friend at a Thai Company who use Bangkok Hotels for Foreign Colleagues, that they often get asked if the room is for a farang. And guess what the price does!! Alot of Thai people also think this behavior is greedy & morally wrong.
This kind of stuff happens in China as well. My Chinese fiancée would actually have me stand outside the hotel as she negotiated for a room, or had me stand aside as she flagged down a cab. They see foreigners as a bigger cookie jar.
snarbywrx While this behavior is based on the perception that foreigners are rich and can afford it, a good part of the blame for this is some foreigners ( NOT ALL ) walk around and act like they are superior to the locals by waving around a lot of Money :(
the gym is a big ripoff - one day for foreigner 200.- but for thais just 50.- one year for foreigners 5000.- for thais just 2000.- DON'T GO TO SUCH PLACES !! DON'T PAY SUCH PRICES !!
The Thais should stamp down on that. There's nothing more likely to drive away tourists and long-term residents than the suspicion that you are being ripped off. The Moroccans (it seemed to me years ago) couldn't grasp that they needed a rule which said, "Nobody can approach a tourist who is browsing". Each of them thought, "If I hassle this particular tourist I increase my chances of them buying something". This, of course, is true, but if everyone does it the total number of tourists collapses and they all become poor. They needed a regime. The West understands regimes - regimes make us rich. Other countries need to get on the regime team, or they will remain poor. If Putin understood the importance of regimes, rules and the law, Russia would be rich. But if the Russians understood the value of regimes they wouldn't have Putin. My pal, in Bangkok for the last eight months, says that all countries have corruption but in Thailand it seems to be a way of life. Quite depressing. He now says, "It's got to be EU".
Hi XoXmanBKK I'm sure you know this has been going on for years. Falangs have been protesting by not going to or using these places for a long time and it still goes on. If a person is going to be in Thailand for as long as a year they should have a Thai drivers licence and when shown when paying at these places they are normally charged the Thai price. If not then they should not pay and leave. I can understand how you feel but when I see how some tourist spend money, like it grows on trees, I can understand why Thais feel falangs are very, very rich and they try to charge more.
***** I enjoy Tat Ton. I guess having paid high prices for parking and admission at places in the US, I didn't mind the $7.00 for a day on the ledge overlooking the waterfall. It is a great place to take a dip and cool off. Our home is about 20km away from there. I see that you have ties to Isaan. We need to compare notes one of these days. BTW...I have been subscribed to your page for quite a while.
