Just how poor is Surin ?

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What is your experience, knowledge or general feeling on the subject ?

www.thaiworldview.com/lao/isan6.htm

Did the information above come as a surprise to you ?
Do you agree or disagree ?

Did it assist you in understanding the economic dynamics of where we're residing ?

"Show me the money, honey..."boobs2 "Say what ?"
 
Utter bull shit. You should of seen what the wife dropped in HomePro today.Crazy1

Putting that aside there are a lot of new modern style Thai house being built around us with out farang money. Then again I can sure show you some issan castles in the area.
 
The article was a bit superficial but nonetheless substantially correct. The folks that live in the villages are basically poor and live off the land. Most have no money in the banks and even less in their pockets. They are constantly in debt. The children go off to the Big Mango or Chonburi to seek employment in the canning or food industries, clothing and electrical factories or the automotive industries. They send a part of their pay home each month to support their parents. Then they meet someone, get married, have children and leave their children at home with the grand parents whilst they go back to industrial areas for work. And when they are too old to work they return to the villages to live off the land and their children repeat the cycle and follow in the parents footsteps. Of course, the young and attractive girls may seek a different type of employment and work in the catering industry - catering to the relatively rich Farangs that seek their good looks and slender bodies. That's a pretty accurate assessment of the way of life in Isaan I do believe.
 
nomad97 said:
The article was a bit superficial but nonetheless substantially correct. The folks that live in the villages are basically poor and live off the land. Most have no money in the banks and even less in their pockets. They are constantly in debt. The children go off to the Big Mango or Chonburi to seek employment in the canning or food industries, clothing and electrical factories or the automotive industries. They send a part of their pay home each month to support their parents. Then they meet someone, get married, have children and leave their children at home with the grand parents whilst they go back to industrial areas for work. And when they are too old to work they return to the villages to live off the land and their children repeat the cycle and follow in the parents footsteps. Of course, the young and attractive girls may seek a different type of employment and work in the catering industry - catering to the relatively rich Farangs that seek their good looks and slender bodies. That's a pretty accurate assessment of the way of life in Isaan I do believe.
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In a nutshell I would say...... and the hamster wheel goes round and round.
 
Certainly sympathetic to Isaan farmers but accurate I believe. I wonder why Surin city is so much more expensive than Sisaket city
 
The article gives the impression that everybody in Isan is a farmer. Yes, the farmers tend to be poor for all the reasons given. But that doesn't mean they're not happy, which is surely far more important than being rich.

Then there are the urban centres, booming Surin (which seems to spend all its money on traffic lights) and the quieter delights of Buriram and Sisaket. They are also Isan.
 
isanbirder said:
The article gives the impression that everybody in Isan is a farmer. Yes, the farmers tend to be poor for all the reasons given. But that doesn't mean they're not happy, which is surely far more important than being rich.

Then there are the urban centres, booming Surin (which seems to spend all its money on traffic lights) and the quieter delights of Buriram and Sisaket. They are also Isan.
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There have been a few new traffic lights springing up in Buriram recently IB.
 
There have been a few new Lamborghini"s, Porsche"s, Range Rover"s, Ducati"s & MV Agusta"s springing up in Sisaket recently and I have no idea how or why but suspect they are not farmers or the orange Mafia.
 
An accurate assessment and it is the way I now see it, i remember when they worked communely together and all got along. That's changed and most are becoming very dirty and drunkeness is a major problem in most villages.
 
As the old song goes:

SHE WAS POOR, BUT SHE WAS HONEST (aka IT'S THE SAME THE WHOLE WORLD OVER)

(Traditional - English Music Hall) Billy Bennett - 1930

She was poor, but she was honest
Though she came from 'umble stock
And an honest heart was beating
Underneath her tattered frock

'Eedless of 'er Mother's warning
Up to London she 'ad gone
Yearning for the bright lights gleaming
'Eedless of temp-ta-shy-on

But the rich man saw her beauty
She knew not his base design
And he took her to a hotel
And bought her a small port wine

Then the rich man took 'er ridin'
Wrecker of poor women's souls
But the Devil was the chauffeur
As she rode in his Royce Rolls

In the rich man's arms she fluttered
Like a bird with a broken wing
But he loved 'er and he left 'er
Now she hasn't got no ring

It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Ain't it all a bloomin' shame?

Time has flown, outcast and helpless
In the street she stands and says
While the snowflakes fall around 'er
"Won't you buy my bootlaces?"

See him riding in a carriage
Past the gutter where she stands
He has made a stylish marriage
While she wrings her ringless hands

See him there at the theatre
In the front row with the best
While the girl that he has ruined
Entertains a sordid guest

See 'er on the bridge at midnight
She says "Farewell, blighted love"
There's a scream, a splash......Good 'eavens!
What is she a-doing of?

So they dragged 'er from the river
Water from 'er clothes they wrung
They all thought that she was drownded
But the corpse got up and sung

It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Ain't it all a bloomin' shame?

Written in 1930, the relatively clean version, but maybe relevant to what we are discussing today.
 
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I found the article to be fairly accurate in the description of the greater populates.

As GL states there is local building of the economy but how much of this is driven by severe and crushing debt.

The only part of the article I did not agree with is where the writer states " Some areas even have not seen a drop of rain for years " .This happens in Australia and desertification sets in. There is no evidence of this at 15 deg North. GL does have a habit of steeling some of the rain though, due to a rain shadow of the Dagrek range.
But this is not extreme.
 
Rice said:
I found the article to be fairly accurate in the description of the greater populates.

As GL states there is local building of the economy but how much of this is driven by severe and crushing debt.

The only part of the article I did not agree with is where the writer states " Some areas even have not seen a drop of rain for years " .This happens in Australia and desertification sets in. There is no evidence of this at 15 deg North. GL does have a habit of steeling some of the rain though, due to a rain shadow of the Dagrek range.
But this is not extreme.
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Still building that ski slope.boobs2
 
Surin said:
An accurate assessment and it is the way I now see it, i remember when they worked communely together and all got along. That's changed and most are becoming very dirty and drunkeness is a major problem in most villages.
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I don't agree. Certainly in my village people do seem to get on well, and they're certainly not very dirty. I admit, some of the villagers do get pretty pissed (hopefully, we sell them the liquor), but there are rarely any major problems.

And I suspect Buriram villages, in our case half-Thai, half-Khmer, are much the same as Surin villages.

One thing which may actually have made a difference to the community spirit is the widespread use of combine harvesters. In the old days (not so old, as I remember it, and I came here in 2008), the harvest was a communal affair. Twelve or fifteen people would gather to harvest one man's rice.... and then the next day, a different group, but including some of the first lot, would harvest another man's rice. A rice harvest was a very sociable affair, and the whole village got involved.
 
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isanbirder said:
I don't agree. Certainly in my village people do seem to get on well, and they're certainly not very dirty. I admit, some of the villagers do get pretty pissed (hopefully, we sell them the liquor), but there are rarely any major problems.

And I suspect Buriram villages, in our case half-Thai, half-Khmer, are much the same as Surin villages.

One thing which may actually have made a difference to the community spirit is the widespread use of combine harvesters. In the old days (not so old, as I remember it, and I came here in 2008), the harvest was a communal affair. Twelve or fifteen people would gather to harvest one man's rice.... and then the next day, a different group, but including some of the first lot, would harvest another man's rice. A rice harvest was a very sociable affair, and the whole village got involved.
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Yep Budgie...You'd once again be correct and I'd be wrong/misinformed again. They aren't drunk here, they're tired from overwork and gambling. The fighting is most likely them practicing Tai Chi.

I posted a side of which I've witnessed over almost 20 years of being associated with Ban Nadee and I'll tell you now..they're drunken bums, horrible to each other, the women don't stop gossiping and causing trouble amongst each other and they are now thieving what's not nailed down. This has flowed on to the younger bums now and they are heading down the same path...with mummy's consent and support.
 
Surin said:
Yep Budgie...You'd once again be correct and I'd be wrong/misinformed again. They aren't drunk here, they're tired from overwork and gambling. The fighting is most likely them practicing Tai Chi.

I posted a side of which I've witnessed over almost 20 years of being associated with Ban Nadee and I'll tell you now..they're drunken bums, horrible to each other, the women don't stop gossiping and causing trouble amongst each other and they are now thieving what's not nailed down. This has flowed on to the younger bums now and they are heading down the same path...with mummy's consent and support.
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Your village may be like that; I wouldn't doubt you.

Mine isn't.
 
Surin said:
Yep Budgie...You'd once again be correct and I'd be wrong/misinformed again. They aren't drunk here, they're tired from overwork and gambling. The fighting is most likely them practicing Tai Chi.

I posted a side of which I've witnessed over almost 20 years of being associated with Ban Nadee and I'll tell you now..they're drunken bums, horrible to each other, the women don't stop gossiping and causing trouble amongst each other and they are now thieving what's not nailed down. This has flowed on to the younger bums now and they are heading down the same path...with mummy's consent and support.
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I fear that this is a more typical reflection of an Isaan village, rather than the Utopic hamlet that IB describes.
 
CO-CO said:
I fear that this is a more typical reflection of an Isaan village, rather than the Utopic hamlet that IB describes.
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Yes, Surin's description of our neck of the woods (jungle?) is on the money. I also live in Tambon Nadee (albeit a different village) and, while I can sometimes last a week or more without wishing to strangle somebody, it is not Utopia. Maybe we should all move up to isanbirder's area.
 
AussieBill said:
Yes, Surin's description of our neck of the woods (jungle?) is on the money. I also live in Tambon Nadee (albeit a different village) and, while I can sometimes last a week or more without wishing to strangle somebody, it is not Utopia. Maybe we should all move up to isanbirder's area.
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You[FONT=&quot]’[/FONT]d have to contend with IB[FONT=&quot]’s flashing stalker if you did Bill.[/FONT] Pattaya preferable boobs2

Fortunately my village - Kokma - which has it[FONT=&quot]’s fair share of drunks, gamblers[/FONT] (less now since the army intervened directly) and lazy bums, has not gone beyond contol, and the women although gossipy do so in a nice way. Still pleasant but not utopia.
 
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