Falangs Invade Udon Thani

[KHONDAHM]

I waited a while to say this, but daym there are a heckuva lot more falangs around than when I lived here in 2006. I mean, it's a relative population EXPLOSION.

I recall my first visit to the wife's village in 2004. We spent some time in Udon and days would pass before I'd see another foreigner. In 2006, I'd see maybe 1 per day. Now their friggin' EVERYWHERE. No, I'm serious. I have gone Samloring down some very remote backroads and encountered foreigners even there. The old Lotus and downtown area are teaming with them. And the thing that REALLY struck me is that I barely get a second glance; compared to 2004-6 when people would literally stop and gawk at me and my family were out shopping. I'm lovin' it. I feel anonymous (finally!). I've also encountered a few guys like me who are all living in the area. This town really is developing.
and it can be seen everywhere. Who knows...if enough come and settle down over the next few years, perhaps there will finally be a school with a real English program...

[rickfarang]

I say we put them all on a ship and send them back to where they came from!

[parrot]

aye aye matey

[Astana]

I say we put them all on a ship and send them back to where they came from!

Excluding the crew who would you start with?

[nkstan]

And these are falangs with these suggestions?This is such a selfless and sharing community,give yourselves a hand!

[patriot]

I say we put them all on a ship and send them back to where they came from!

Can't mate, the river is unnavigable; dried out.

[Texpat]

Couldn't live in Udon. Too many falang nutjobs.
Maybe, in 30 years, their sphere of influence will extend to me -- I can always explore euthanasia.

[Tilokarat]

And these are falangs with these suggestions?This is such a selfless and sharing community,give yourselves a hand!

Yes, it makes one wonder about the mindset of some farangs, doesn't it?

[pompui]

I waited a while to say this, but daym there are a heckuva lot more falangs around than when I lived here in 2006. I mean, it's a relative population EXPLOSION.

And some of them are 'balloon chasers' following the lead from some members on this forum

[Prenders88]

I wonder what the Thai's think about the Farang invasion.
Since 1998 I've noticed attitudes have hardened.

More are moving here because you can get everything you want in Udon, where before you had to live in Bangkok, or on the Eastern Seaboard places like Pattaya. Housing is much cheaper,and you get a lot of bang for your buck.

[KHONDAHM]

IMHO, what I am witnessing is the phenomena I previously suggested was happening in another thread last year. Basically two things:

1. Expats from other cities are feeling priced out of or crowded in other cities.
2. Retirees are discovering the really can't retire in their home country and are making the move to Thailand.

I think thevelocity of the population explosion will increase as the baby boomer generation retires in greater numbers each year. That along with the worsening global economic problems which are especially acute in the USA where senior citizens often need 2 jobs to make ends meet (not sure what it's like on the ground in Europe) will push more foreigners to Udon.

I think the trend is that newbies first go to the sin cities, meet a lass and go settle and/or newbies go to the sin cities making them overcrowded and "not like before" which prompts long-term expats to pack up and move to (literally) greener pastures.

In that thread, in which I was posting prior to my return, I suggested that may be the motivation for a lot of the new development: new immigration facilities, new foriegner catering retail outlets, improved transportation services and facilities to get to Udon, etc., etc. I am convinced from what I have observed so far that my hypothesis was correct.

I also expect to see a lot more catering to the Chinese in the coming years as the bride shortage brought about by their decades of 1 couple 1 child policy and the preference for sons really starts to hit them hard. We're talking a huge shortage on the order of ~24 million more guys of marriage age than there are available wives. They are going to get them from somewhere, and with their increasing prosperity, they have the means to look aggressively beyond just the bordering countries.

Here's a clue: Don Bosco does not have an English program, but they do have a Chinese program...

Chinese Bride shortage
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... index.html

[jimboLV]

KD, as a recent retiree to Udon, category 2 above, I think you are spot on with your analysis. Having lived in, and been a part of, the explosive growth in some areas of the US, I see signs of such growth in Udon, and probably other areas of Thailand. Such growth has mixed blessings, however. I remember moving into a new housing development on the outskirts of Denver in the early seventies. A friend from work, a long time resident, came to visit, looked out wistfully at the sea of new houses, and said "You know, when we were kids we used to ride our bikes out to this very spot and hunt snakes. There was nothing here but desert." I'm sure the very house I'm living in now (Lake Garden City) used to be a hunting ground for Thai kids, hunting whatever it is that Thai kids hunt. Life goes on.

As far as China goes, I agree with you totally, and have felt that way for the past 15 years when I traveled throughout China. All i can say is that if I am still around when my baby daughter starts to school, I am going to make sure she learns Chinese, as well as English and the local jargon.

[Tilokarat]

IMHO, what I am witnessing is the phenomena I previously suggested was happening in another thread last year. Basically two things:

1. Expats from other cities are feeling priced out of or crowded in other cities.
2. Retirees are discovering the really can't retire in their home country and are making the move to Thailand.

I think thevelocity of the population explosion will increase as the baby boomer generation retires in greater numbers each year. That along with the worsening global economic problems which are especially acute in the USA where senior citizens often need 2 jobs to make ends meet (not sure what it's like on the ground in Europe) will push more foreigners to Udon.

I think the trend is that newbies first go to the sin cities, meet a lass and go settle and/or newbies go to the sin cities making them overcrowded and "not like before" which prompts long-term expats to pack up and move to (literally) greener pastures.

In that thread, in which I was posting prior to my return, I suggested that may be the motivation for a lot of the new development: new immigration facilities, new foriegner catering retail outlets, improved transportation services and facilities to get to Udon, etc., etc. I am convinced from what I have observed so far that my hypothesis was correct.

I also expect to see a lot more catering to the Chinese in the coming years as the bride shortage brought about by their decades of 1 couple 1 child policy and the preference for sons really starts to hit them hard. We're talking a huge shortage on the order of ~24 million more guys of marriage age than there are available wives. They are going to get them from somewhere, and with their increasing prosperity, they have the means to look aggressively beyond just the bordering countries.

Here's a clue: Don Bosco does not have an English program, but they do have a Chinese program...

Chinese Bride shortage
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... index.html

As mentioned by someone, maybe me, on another thread a year or so ago, the Chinese already have a strong presence in Udonthani, northern Thailand, Laos and Burma. In that thread was quoted an announcement by the Chinese Embassy in Thailand that there were going to set up free Mandarin lessons for the locals, somewhere over 200 schools, or maybe it was 150.

Look at those tour buses pulling up to the Chinese hotels in Chiang Mai (i.e. Diamond River [Nam Phet]), and you will see that they are filled with tourists from China. Mind you, not all of them all looking for brides. A few former students told me that in China, Thailand is famous for ladyboys, and the Chinese come to check investigate this attraction.

Chinese investment projects in communications and hydroelectric dams are forging ahead in Burma, Laos and Thailand. With the projects come male Chinese. Of course they will be attracted to Thai females. Weren't you (not you in particular Khon Dahm, but the readers in general)?

[thrilled]

I hope it doesn't get like chiang mai,just to many farangs.It makes the prices higher.If it does im headed to khonkaen.

[Tilokarat]

I hope it doesn't get like chiang mai,just to many farangs.It makes the prices higher.If it does im headed to khonkaen.

Oh no, well there goes the neighbourhood in Khon Kaen as I cross that one off the list.

I hope no-one is going to Nakhon Phanom.