Moving from Minburi to Rayong
In just over two weeks time I will be moving with my family to Rayong. I’m so looking forward to living beside the beach, but it will be sad to leave our home here in Minburi. This move to the coast was all my idea, and my wife initially felt reluctant – although she feels far more positive about our relocation now that we have found what appears to be a reasonable school for my son. I do have selfish motives for wanting to move to Rayong, but the reality is that there is no reason for us to remain in Minburi, and Timmy was going to be changing school anyway.
http://bfnionizers.com/product/mt4500-series-esd-2-layer-work-surface-rubber After 10 Years My Wife Has Finally Agreed to Live Beside the Sea
I grew up beside the sea (hard not to when you live in Ireland), so I sort of feel that this is my natural habitat. Thailand has some of the finest beaches in the world, but I’ve always resided well away from the sea since moving here in 2001. I did suggest to my wife years ago that we move to the coast, but she wasn’t the least bit interested in this idea. We ended up living in her village for five years, and the nearest beach from there was 560km (350 miles) away. Since my son was born five years ago though, we have moved two times, and each move has brought us closer to the coast.
When Oa is in a cynical mood (which thankfully isn’t too often), she does suspect that I’ve been deliberately orchestrating this move to the beach for years. This is not true, but I have to admit that it does kind of look that way. It as if I’ve been using our changes in location in the same way as Everest climbers use base camps. Our first base camp was Lopburi which cut our distance from the coast in half to 251km. The next base camp was here in Minburi which is just 89km from the coast. It is like I’ve been waiting for Oa to acclimatise to each new move before making the next push towards the beach. Now after three years living in Minburi, we are finally ready to move to the summit. The truth is that I’ve not been intentionally planning this move to the beach at all – I’m not that clever – it just worked out that way.
buy Misoprostol without prescription Moving to Rayong
I’ve been to Rayong many times, and there is nowhere else in Thailand that I’d rather set up home. We are going to be living in the Ban Phe area which is a nice location because there are so many superb beaches nearby. We will also be half an hour by boat away from my favorite Thai island – Koh Samet. It will be so nice to be able to walk along the beach in the evening, and I think that it will be a great place for Timmy to grow up.
We plan to stay in Rayong for at least the next sixteen years – Oa would only agree to the move if we could make that type of commitment, and I know she is right. It is not fair to keep moving Timmy around, and I do want him to grow up feeling settled with strong friendships. My parents were always moving house when I was young, and I changed school 8 times – I don’t want that for my son. Moving Timmy now is unlikely to be too much of a big deal because he is only at the beginning of his education, but it will be much tougher on him if we have to move again later. So as well as feeling excited about this move I also feel a bit of trepidation. The longest I’ve lived in the one place in adulthood is five years, and I usually get itchy feet after about two years. Committing to Rayong for sixteen years is a big deal for me, but that is what we need to try to do for the sake of my son.
Good morning(or evenining in your case).
I enjoy reading your blogs from time to time. I too am married to a Thai wife and am planning on moving to LOS in the next year or so. My wife is from Nachorn Pathon just southwest of Bangkok. We will probably live in her small city (But I really love the sea!).
What sort of advice would you give to a new expat to Thailand? BTW, I am from small town in Ohio, working for a Super-large Corporation with huge amounts of stress.
Thank you and look forward to your reply.
Hi Jim, nice to hear from you. It sounds like you have some exciting times ahead of you with the move. I suppose the the mistake that I’ve seen most people (including me) who move to Thailand make is that they stay in holiday mode for too long. It is just too easy to go wild, but this can easily turn a dream move to Thailand into a nightmare – especially if alcohol is involved. I also think getting a good grasp of the language is important.
Congratulations! You must really be anticipating the change of atmosphere, fresh air, and ocean breeze! I also love the sea…but of course I have been land locked most of my life and haven’t lived near one. I’m sure I would love it though.
When I was last in BKK (this past January), I remember thinking how horrible traffic was. Its the oldest cliche in the world to say traffic there is terrible, but for some reason it really struck me as being almost unbearable. I don’t think I could ever live there again without losing my mind.
I’d be curious to know of your experiences with relocation, finding a new place there, the nuts and bolts of it, etc. Any move is a huge transition, but I imagine doing it in Thailand as an expat must have its unique challenges.
Jim – I definitely agree with making a concerted effort to learn the language. Good luck!
Hi Tan, I won’t miss the Bangkok traffic at all. We live about 30 km from the center of Bangkok, but the traffic is so bad that it is usually faster for me to drive to Pattaya.
My wife is taking charge of the move, and she has been great at organizing everything. We are nearly packed already. I will probably add a few posts on here about the experience – it is sure to take up much of my attention, and it will be a good test for my recent experience of inner calm most of the time 🙂
I can totally see why Oa could suspect that you’ve been slowly but surely inching your way towards the seaside 😉 Great advice too that you’ve given Jim…couldn’t agree more. 16 years does seem like a long time, but believe me, it flys by too quick. Enjoy your sea change.
Hi Snap, nice to hear from you again. I’m sure that 16 years will fly by – it’s a bit scary because I’ll be nearly 60!!!
Thank you Paul, Tan and Snap for your insight. I definately will be learning the language as much as possible. As for being in “Holiday Mode”, I will be doing several projects to keep me busy. My wife’s family has some established business ventures that I will be participating in and I would also like to teach English part-time, as well. All in all, it will feel like a holiday compared to the daily life we have here in cold Ohio!
It sounds like you have a busy schedule ahead of you Jim.
okay caught up now
again
best of luck
Hi Paul,
I wrote earlier about moving to Thailand with my Thai wife. Well, that time has come (finally!). I am trying to decide which visa to use, whether a retirement or marriage visa. My wife also just became a US citizen too. I have been doing some research and I keep going back and forth on this issue.
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Jim
I’m not sure Jim. As far as I know, the retirement visa is more expensive but easier to get.