Post: #1

I’m in Udon Thani right now, so I decided to throw together a quick data sheet in case anyone is interested.

Udon Thani, a city of several hundred thousand, lies in the Isaan region of northern Thailand. If you’ve ever been to Bangkok you’ve probably met ladies from Isaan. The city has all the amenities of modern life; hospitals, shopping centers, restaurants and bars. There is a concentration of (mostly older) westerners/falangs near Central Plaza mall. In this area you’ll find the typical girlie bars and restaurants catering to western tastes and desires.

If you’re under 40, I’d give it a miss. If you’re over 40 I’d still give it a miss unless you want a simple life with a simple, younger lady. The reason I decided to visit is because I have an acquaintance, who is an impressive 60ish guy, who lives here very happily with his young, attractive wife and their small child. I won’t go into detail about them specifically. He has the means to travel a lot and I think that enables him to accept the many limitations of Isaan life.

If you like asian women you’ll find many attractive and willing potential partners. The average IQ in Thailand is low 90s. I’m guessing it’s slightly lower in Isaan.

If you don’t speak Thai, you’ll want to get up to speed on that if you’re going to live here. Even in the falang area it’s hard to find ladies who speak passable english.

There’s a good selection of Thai and European cuisines available, especially Italian, for some reason.

I really like wine. Thailand imposes something like a 400% tax on imported wine. In Bangkok you can get decent wine in a nice restaurant for around 250 baht per glass. Not cheap, but in line with what you would pay in the states. Up here I guess it’s too financially risky to try to have a decent wine list so you end up paying 150 baht for horse piss, and 300 baht for slightly better horse piss.

Probably the biggest reason Isaan won’t be on my list of places to retire is the low quality of the expat community (my friend excluded). Old falang alcoholics sit at bars, drinking and staring vacantly into space. I guess it’s a product of the low effort required to score an attractive lady. I imagine it would be very difficult to establish a circle of intellectually stimulating friends.

I’ll be here for a couple more days if anyone wants specific intel while I’m in the area. I'm headed to Chiang Rai next, then possibly Hua Hin.

Post: #2

Thanks for the info. Always good to hear about different parts of Thailand. Udon Thani sounds exactly as I would have imagined it..

Post: #3

I spent 2 weeks there a couple of years back. Initially planned to stay for a month but ended up checking out early because I was bored, and headed to Bangkok.

Pretty much all the westerners there are older expats. Agree with op not to bother regardless if you are over/under 40

Post: #4

All those small cities in Thailand intrigue me. I've matched with decent girls on tinder in many of them. Some still keep in touch on IG. But when it came time to meet they were too busy, shy, can I bring a friend bullshit. The only girls ready to meet up when you roll through for a few days are the fatties. Maybe a few exceptions here and there. But usually even cold approaches went radio silent or made excuses to back out of dates.

Is there any city in northern Thailand or isan where it’s easy to roll through and get decent young girls without being an entrenched local?

I’ll probably do a countrywide Thailand tour next year. I’m wondering if I’m just better off starting with a month in Bangkok. Then taking the best girl with me?

Post: #5

Isaan girls #1 in all of Thailand for their looks, feminine nature and ability to take very good care of their man.

If you grew up chasing frogs for a feed, then you are going to worship the cock of the old falang that will take you to MBK for dinner.

Post: #6

Chiangmai seemed to have decent supply of girls used to foreigners rolling through. But nothing really above a seven from online. I still keep in touch with a few girls from Surin and Ubon.

Has anyone here tried traveling around the north of Thailand for a few months with a girl from Bangkok? Was it better having her along? Did you kick yourself at losing opportunities in each city to bang young locals?

Post: #7

I was there a few years ago.

My thoughts on Udon:

Nightlife: There's one central plaza where a ton of old western expats go during the weekends and get their chicks. Forget what it's called but it's literally shop after shop after shop of P4P. Udon is a big P4P hub. Not my style, so wasn't digging it.

There are also 2 nightclubs that were poppin when I went. Was surprised all around at the amount of young people that showed up there

Other than that, the city literally has nothing going on. Lots of restaurants, bazaars, a mall, etc. and everything is really cheap (even for Thai prices) but got bored within a day. No daygaming opportunities because not a lot of people walking around outside. But it has all the amenities for one to live comfortably, so if you are looking to retire/live in an incredibly remote, quiet, and cheap place then you could check this place out (although there's way other better places in Asia out there) then sure, try this place out. Saw no tourists.

Post: #8

Is it even cheaper than Chiang Mai? I just retired on a small gov't pension in my late 40's just looking for someplace cheap and warm with pleasant people to retire to.

Quote: Probably the biggest reason Isaan won’t be on my list of places to retire is the low quality of the expat community (my friend excluded). Old falang alcoholics sit at bars, drinking and staring vacantly into space.

I'm obsessed with martial arts, which thailand is extremely rich in, this protect me from becoming one of those zombies. I did a scouting expedtion for about 4 months in Phuket. I had a blast, but I ran into the following negatives -

A- One of the most expensive place in Thailand, I don't want to live at the limit of my pension, I want to bank money every month to be prepared for the inevitable surprises age brings.

B - My field was absolutely saturated - My credentials are very good (in MMA, boxing and grappling not Muay Thai), but there are over 40 martial arts camps on that Island, often with top shelf retired UFC vets coaching. I did end up getting a job, and my students had a lot of competition success while I was there, but I had limited hours and no official work permit. I still had to do the VISA dance and deal with a lot of instability.

For a little more background - a lot of traditional Thai Camps are bringing in Western MMA guys so they can make money off more Westerners doing martial arts vacations. The business model in Phuket was so cheap to start and fun to do, it was endlessly replicated till they got 40 camps going on one island (the saturation I described earlier). All you need is one American wrestler, one Brazilian jiujitsu expert, and you're surrounded by so many elite Muay Thai coaches, you're half way to an elite program just opening up the doors, in an area that notoriously fun.

Love martial arts, would love to make that my retirement gig.

Post: #9

(10-02-2018 01:25 PM)DarkTriad Wrote:  Is it even cheaper than Chiang Mai? I just retired on a small gov't pension in my late 40's just looking for someplace cheap and warm with pleasant people to retire to.

Quote: Probably the biggest reason Isaan won’t be on my list of places to retire is the low quality of the expat community (my friend excluded). Old falang alcoholics sit at bars, drinking and staring vacantly into space.

I'm obsessed with martial arts, which thailand is extremely rich in, this protect me from becoming one of those zombies. I did a scouting expedtion for about 4 months in Phuket. I had a blast, but I ran into the following negatives -

A- One of the most expensive place in Thailand, I don't want to live at the limit of my pension, I want to bank money every month to be prepared for the inevitable surprises age brings.

B - My field was absolutely saturated - My credentials are very good (in MMA, boxing and grappling not Muay Thai), but there are over 40 martial arts camps on that Island, often with top shelf retired UFC vets coaching. I did end up getting a job, and my students had a lot of competition success while I was there, but I had limited hours and no official work permit. I still had to do the VISA dance and deal with a lot of instability.

For a little more background - a lot of traditional Thai Camps are bringing in Western MMA guys so they can make money off more Westerners doing martial arts vacations. The business model in Phuket was so cheap to start and fun to do, it was endlessly replicated till they got 40 camps going on one island (the saturation I described earlier). All you need is one American wrestler, one Brazilian jiujitsu expert, and you're surrounded by so many elite Muay Thai coaches, you're half way to an elite program just opening up the doors, in an area that notoriously fun.

Love martial arts, would love to make that my retirement gig.

I would never recommend anyone to live in Udon Thani. There's literally nothing going on in the city and it's completely dead at all times. It's cheap - but there are so many other places in Thailand that have much more going on. Yes, it has all the basics to live, but I got bored with Udon Thani is less than a day - I have no idea how anyone would ever want to live here. Find another place in Thailand that is better.

Post: #10

Thanks for the advice. It had always sounded interesting to me, and there were so many pretty girls coming down from Isaan, I thought it might be a good idea to meet them at the source before they got corrupted in the big city.