a question about living in korat

[Barry of thailand]

You actually confirmed my point Larry so thanks for that.

Most Thais don't have "nice houses and cars and businesses". I don't doubt that you have Thai friends who are wealthy for Thai standards as do I however I don't consider those people to be the average Thai living in Korat. Just look at what the average salary in Isaan is for Thai people and that would bring the whole story a lot closer to the situation which I described. I don't really care about "social circles", I have rich friends, poor friends, gay friends, straight friends, its all the same to me. But it does allow me to see some very major differences and get an accurate view of the overall situation. And the average Joe here in Isaan is scimping. You try taking care of your bills, wife and kids on 200-300 THB a day or even 400 THB a day. It doesn't leave much money to go out clubbing and dining out in fancy restaurants.

I am not talking about the top 1% or even the top 10% of the population but the population in general. Its like if I state that most Thai people have never traveled to Europe and then you reply that you have some wealthy Thai friends with a nice house, car or their own businesses who have traveled to Europe. Great for them but it doesn't change the fact that most Thai's haven't been to Europe and are unable to afford to do so.

Then what your saying is the Average Thai in Korat does not go to movies etc. Take a look at the Mall, and in my opinion, what you see is the average Thai in Korat.
Barry

[ajaxied]

I think you are seriously mistaken Barry. I never said that an average Thai would never go to a movie, you came up with that all by yourself. I was talking about clubbing and eating out in fancy restaurants.

And if you think the folks shopping at the Mall are the average Thais then you definitely have a very big misconception about the type of people that live in the area. Go to Big C supermarket or your local market and then perhaps you will find people shopping that are closer to the average Thai. You seem to be completely oblivious about what is going on around you. This is a poor country, some may call it a third world country, and you think average folks living off a couple of hundreds baht a day are happily shopping at the mall, going to the movies etc. They have other things to worry about.

[Barry of thailand]

Ask the people that work at your Uni what they do on the weekend? Sure when you work every day you wouldn't be going out every night when you have to be at work the next day, but on the weekend I'm sure they go to the movies etc. What I was originally talking about is why we do not have Bowling in Korat Versus Udon, or KHon Kaen. The main reason is because it was not supported by Thai people, because the establishments where they were closed too early. Thai people like to bowl on the weekends late at night, and early for leagues. Same with the English language movies. It was tried, and the foreign community in Korat did not come out and support it, so consequently we don't have them. This is what I'm talking about. Otherwise I can care less what time people come home, or go to sleep. The village life is not for me, or most people I know. Thai and Foreign.
Barry

[Mr Potter]

Yes they work week-ends. Didnt you know?  Do you have any idea how much Thai teachers earn.?
Factory workers, nurses, shop workers or waitresses.? How much it costs to send kids to school and Uni.?
You would be surprised. Something tells me you have spent some time in either Udon or Pattaya where
farang money rules. Korat has simple,hard working people who simply cant afford such luxury. Unless of course theyre married to us  

[happylarry]

I know I said I wouldnt post again but I cant resist.
Mr Potter what is this fixation you have with Pattaya....you have made 5 posts and in 4 of them you mention Pattaya...why?
I have spent some time in Samui before I came here, just in case you want start quoting that in every post as well. lol

By the way do we know each other? If you know where my wife works and studys.
HL 

[Mr Potter]

Hl. from what youve said in previous posts I think its fair to say I work at the same place. Dont think we have met
On this topic I am in full agreement with Ajaxied. The average Korat Thai person has very little disposable
income to spend on  dining out. This is not Bangkok, Udon or that place where all the whingebags come
from.

[happylarry]

hahaha  ok mate, I suggest that both your good self and ajaxied carry on thinking that and I'll carry on believing what I see with my own eyes and we will all die happy. What do you say?
Over and out.
HL 

[ajaxied]

hahaha  ok mate, I suggest that both your good self and ajaxied carry on thinking that and I'll carry on believing what I see with my own eyes and we will all die happy. What do you say?
Over and out.
HL 

Perhaps a visit to a optometrist would be in order

[Pompui]

Er..... guys....... read the op and then read what you've all written over the last two pages

[Korat-DK]

Er..... guys....... read the op and then read what you've all written over the last two pages

YEP, and maybe that is what makes reading posts on KF, amusing or boring, depending of the viewer/reader 

[Charles]

Yes Pompui i agree, it has been interesting read for me at work being i don't do a whole lot, but the question was about living in Korat, not what time eveyone went to sleep,, or how late they stayed up,,but keep it coming i am bored for reading material,, thanks

[Korat-DK]

And more interesting "fact":
<42 posts untill further
OP= 1  , wondering why 

[Suzy]

wow, this was a very interesting thread. i didn't set my notifications correctly so just got to read it all in one go. 

and it does give a lot of insight into korat. for one, i didn't realize that it was such an early city. but if it's any consolation, after living in bangkok for nearly 5 years, where many local thai restaurants stay open till about 11 p.m. (but rarely later, unless you count late night spots), we rarely go out late night.  i guess it's nice to have the option but then again, bkk has something like 60x the population, depending on who you ask.

i also didn't realize that joho was sort of a city in itself. i thought it was more of a big suburb.

anyway, i really appreciate hearing all of this.

[Mr Potter]

Glad you found it interesting Suzy after Pompui comments.Thais dont like late nights and Restaurants
close at 11pm. Shock Horror.  even in Bangkok.
Actually I have access to many reports. It shouldnt be too hard to find out the average salary in Issan.
What would you guess Bangkoks to be.??  What would you expect to find in Issan.

[Suzy]

in the US we don't really like late nights either for some reason. restaurants where i'm from, which is a big university city on the east coast, pretty much close by 11, and bars by 2 a.m. tho in new york city people eat later and definitely europeans like to eat later.  the last time i had to wait until 10 p.m. to eat dinner i was starving. lol.

my research shows the average salary in isaan is about 4,000 baht per month (for full time workers and not counting folks who work off the land in a more informal way), a lot lower than the average in bkk. i am looking at figures that are a few years old though. if you have more recent numbers would love to see them!

i have spent some time in isan, though not as much as i would like to, and i'm still a little surprised when i look at the numbers. also surprised that bkk folks seem to think they define the country. but won't get into that, esp. with everything scheduled to go on this weekend!