The place where you live.

[grievous]

There has been various discussions on this forum of the best place to live in Udon.
In town or out of town, which is the best housing estate, how much to pay, renting versus buying and so on.
I know these subjects have been covered previously but it would be nice this time if people could post positives and negatives of the decisions they made without people attacking the posts.
You know the usual attacks. and generalisations
You're an idiot if you buy because the thai family will rip you off
It's stupid to buy in an estate because your neighbour will open a motorbike repair shop next door, the security will disappear and a pack of dogs will move in
Why stay in thailand if you are going to live in a western style house? you aren't experiencing the culture


I originally built in Nongbualamphu, we had a lovely plot with views of the mountain ranges. We had a heap of problems trying to get the local builder to repair any defects and as a matter of fact had trouble getting them to turn up when building the house. There were some nice pubs with live music and food was quite good. It was a very relaxing place for a while that become a little boring. I missed not having a gym or cinema or being able to get pizza once and a while. I met a good friend to have a chat with but after he returned to Germany it got more boring. Also as my children were born in Australia and didn't speak thai we had to travel to Udon for school.(we did try a local school beforehand).
As we weren't in a security estate and I would leave home for work there was always a concern of security for my family.
I sold this place to a policeman I believe he's very happy and won lottery twice using his new house number.

The house I have now is in Udon city. It cost me a lot more money and as such has been built with the best materials, great workman ship and we haven't had any problems getting the builder to do minor repairs. All of our neighbours have businesses of some type so I shouldn't have to worry about a repair shop next door.
I love having 24hr security as it makes me comfortable to leave my family to work and that the house is safe when we all aren't home. We also have cable internet and tv which is good for me as even though I love thailand I love to watch Aussie rules footy that we get for 300 baht a month. Our children have safe streets to ride their bikes and now that we have a communal pool they can practise their swimming.
The convenience of living in the city is perfect for us.

[SJP17]

When in Thailand we live in my wifes house in Ban Leuam ,

For me i like the fact its close to the city and several small shops and eateries near by , what i dont like is the not having a garden , no view , the sound of nail guns going from the buisness next door , the layout and the poor build quality, so to be honest the house we have at the moment is not for me , the place Nongbualamphu you mentioned sounds more to my liking location wise , i also like up around ~Nong Khai , but relistically im years away from living full time thailand so ill just make do with the current house.

[Galee]

Where I live now. Romyen estate near the old Big C. Been renting here 5 years and have had enough.
The only pluses I can think of are, mains utilities, internet and reasonably close to town. Plenty of negatives, noisy neighbours, noisy traffic, dust from the road, no privacy, no space, no insulation and not safe for pets. Have lost a cat and two months ago my beloved dog to the speeding traffic.

In January we start to build our new home. Can't wait, really looking forward to it. Expecting loads of headaches but will be worth it in the end. Location is about 5K outside ring road. Looking forward to living in a building that I designed with plenty of space inside and out. Have a few Thai and farang neighbours but mainly very quiet. Have worked on the plot and it's great not to hear any traffic, just the noise of the wind blowing through the trees. Will be getting a couple of nice dogs and go walking across the fields just down the road.

Of course living out of town has it's down sides. No mains water or sewage. Limited internet and the worries of security.

For me, the countryside over the town anytime.

[parrot]

I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all answer. We live 18km outside of Udon, the closest neighbor's residence is over 100m away....he's retired and quiet as a rock. An Italian friend lives only 1km away from us, but along the main highway.....lots of traffic noise and he has a large machinery repair shop next door. He loves his land, hates his neighbor. If you have kids and want them to go to good schools, it's almost a given that you'd want to live in or very near the city. If you need regular doses of native-language banter or falang food or shopping, then you'd want the city.
We have UBC, ADSL (reportedly will be getting fiber optic to the house before year's end), deep well pump but could have piped in water if we wanted, TOT telephone, and stable electricity enough to run all the conveniences of home. We have no curtains on our windows....don't need them and if I want to take an outdoor shower in the buff I can (as long as the maid isn't around). As Galee says, watching a bamboo leaf spin in the wind suspended on a single spider thread or catching a catfish in the back pond or watching a storm approach from 10km away or roaming around the yard with our 3 dogs........I wouldn't trade it for the world.....I certainly couldn't live this way back in the US.
My biggest fear is that at some point in life I may have to give all this up.

[Bronco]

Parrot's correct,to many variables come into play.You have children and the education you desire for them necessitates living in Udon.It sounds like you have picked a nice area and are happy.That's what really matters,that you and your significant other are happy with the life path you've chosen.Good on you.Don't worry about anything other than that.

Now ,as for me,I live in Nongkhai.I wanted to live by the ocean,my wife didn't.She wanted to live by her family,in Bangkok.I didn't.I need to be by the water.We had a friend from our hometown,in Colorado,who had lived in Nongkhai for 4 years.I'd been through Nongkhai in 1973 and 1974 and wasn't impressed with the town but loved the Mekong river.We gave it a go and are still here 2 1/2 years later.We live in a moo-bahn of 49 residences about 5k out of Nongkhai on the highway to Udon.
I used to think about living right on the Mekong but I like the place we live so much I wouldn't move now.It's almost all professional people.Lots of teachers,nurses,cops,judges and lawyers.Everyone is friendly but not overly friendly.It really reminds me of home,in the fact that people mind their own business and just wave in passing,or short conversations as they go past.

If I want to go to the river,which I do,I just drive down and sit at one of the shaded pavilions by Ta Sadet and watch the river and world go by(with my fresh carrot juice).I absolutely love Nongkhai and do not want to say too many good things about it as I don't want it to change(even though change is inevitable).

[grievous]

I've always likes Nongkhai too, Bronco, and would've been happy to live there. I could sit and watch the Mekhong for hours.

[FrazeeDK]

we live about 4km outside the ring road and over a kilometer off the main road (rte 22)

plus's:
- location, location..
- very quiet, nearest neighbor is about 75 meters down the road.. temple behind us, a church in front of us, fields and forest on either side.
- Mains power is good, stable and rarely goes off (occassionally during a lightning storm for 10 minutes or less)
- City water has been reliable and is quite clean.. I don't know if I could bring myself to drink it but some neighbors say they do.
- 3BB ADSL so have a solid 6mb down/512 up interet which is more than adequate to surf the web and SKYPE family.
- Home Cable TV, we ve had it on the property for over 7 years and pay annually. While not the best selection, it is adequate and the wife only watches Ch 7 so it keeps her happy.
- village park with exercise machines a 5 minute walk from the house.. the path around the pond is about 1km. We go daily.
- Neighbors at the park and the temple are friendly but not too bothersome..
- large fresh market less than 1km from the house.

Negatives:
- relative isolation of the house leads to security worries when we're out and about.
- build quality on the house; in restrospect (yeah hindsight is indeed 20/20) I should have been more discerning in picking the contractor..
- neighborhood is growing with at least 50 houses built in the last 3 years.. This leads to difficulties in getting out to the main road.
- construction and "fill-ins" on land in the neigborhood have been done with zero though of wear all the rain water will go.. Mostly if fills up the roads and some low-lying houses... Not smart!!
- higher volumes of traffic on the smaller roads are beatin them up badly with of course next to no proper maintenance to fix them.
- 7 rai for sale beside us at inflated prices (about 1,200,00 a rai).. Leaves us up in the air depending upon who buys it and what they build there.. A horror would be large noisy maintenance shops or a 50 bungalow "Ban Jutsun" with folks peering across our fence...

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[royrover]

i live 80 km north east of udon in the sticks,which i love, somedays i will not see anyone for hours , but if you like your weston comfort this is not the place for you,but we are having to move back to udon for my daughter to attend a good school

[Tracechain]

I live a stone’s throw from Parrot. Man, I hope we don't have a 'buff' siting! I ditto his thoughts on living out here in Hooterville. The biggest problem I have is the uncontrolled burning of various things. Other than that, every day is a holiday, every meal a feast.

[udonthani]

We live some 12 km out of Udorn, and 4km from Nong Samrong, it is really countryside, very quiet, except for the f...ng dog and the chicken around us , why should all dogs bark when they hear one distant dog . We have a stable electricity (hmm once a month it's down ) we have city water, nice neighbours, but my wife is concerned about beeing alone in the house, despite we have barb wire on our fence and security locks on all doors, house is a typical Thai house cement down tree up. We have a very fine 1. floor, but when will thai carpenters learn to make ladders? . the max distance betw. the steps should be from 18cm to max 22 cm and certainly not 25 cm. overall quality is below eu standarts, but I love to do things and use my hands. We have a local market every friday (if not raining) and we have Nong Samrong 4 km away, I am very happy here and would not change to anything else.

[Jello]

Outside of whether you want to be close to or far away from town, NEIGHBORS are what make or break a good place to live. Everything else you can come up with a fix/change/workaround to solve. I've lived in a rice village way out of town, a village close to town and in town.
Surprisingly my current in-town rental has been the quietest of the three because of the neighbors. Their quiet, they go to work everyday, but their not too friendly.
The village outside of town was a bit noisy as many had home businesses. Everyone was very friendly and I didn't
worry about the house when I went out because there were neighbors around it all day
Living in the mother-in-laws rice farm village was the most noisy place I've lived. People getting up before dawn shouting and making noise, and frequent all night drunken parties.People way too close and friendly, dropping by and walking into the house uninvited and always asking too many questions so they can go gossip to the other neighbors.

Other than that, home is where you make it.

[akwoodworker]

We live in chiang peng while in Thailand and I like it a lot. My wife's parents have many friends stop by. It is right across from the temple so it can be noisy. We have some land out of town where I will start building a house this winter, much quieter there. Here in Alaska we live out of town where maybe 10 cars drive by in a day so it is very quiet. My wife has come to love the silence so when we are in the village it drives her nuts. I am going to do some farming this year and ride my bicycle on the quiet country roads.

[Alchai]

We live (not full time yet) 16km's out east from Udon in a medium sized village off the main road to Nong Harn. The location is not my choice but my wife's home village. We built a house here for a few years back that is nearly complete apart from the garden and my dream swimmimg pool. I think the place is nice with rice fields around and the only drawback is unwanted noise from trucks on the main road especially during the sugar cane harvesting. On the street outside the house that leads to other villages in the sticks there is also quite a deal of traffic during the day and evening. We have a 20 minute drive into Udon which I think is perfect distance so all in all I like the place and only miss the opportunity for a good internet service and a swimming pool but who knows, in a few years maybe I will have both