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Why I Liked Udon Thani So Much

The past two years I've either been living down the depths of Bangkok Nana area, the middle of Ho Chi Minh City, or in the Center of Chiang Mai Tae Phae Gate. What do all of these locations have in common? Tourists! Don't get me wrong I love the tourists centers. Always something going on, interesting people, fights, arguments and action! But tourists can be annoying.

For most people they come and stay at these centers as tourists, giving it a "whirl" then moving on. Somehow I've made a life out of it though, living in a tourist destinations can be great but can also be a curse. The main reason I've spent 8 years of my time in SEA at the tourist destinations is because of proximity to the night life. I lived soi 8 shukumvit in Bangkok, Tae Phae gate in Chiang Mai, Soi 10 Pattaya, Bui Vien in Saigon. All these places are close to the night life, restaurants and debauchery that I enjoy.

I've tried to do what other people have done, and that is move out of the city to a bigger better quieter place but I've found myself always driving back into the city and when you need to do so in the middle of summer it sux ass! With the Chinese invasion and Chiang Mai's backpack craze in full throttle though these past 6 months in the city has been less fun, so my recent trip to Udon got me back on the vibe for doing this blog which lets be honest I've not done much for the past few years. Going to a place where there are no tourists and people treat you just like a local has reinvigorated my love for Thailand.

I loved Udon Thani not because it was Amazing, or because it had "so much to do" really i could care less about that stuff. What I loved about Udon Thani was just the basic shit. Food, People Price, Visa's, & Girls!

1. The food.

I hadn't been back to isaan for years and almost forgot how good the food there is! Although I still think the Khon Khaen has the best Som Tam (just down the road from Udon) Udon Thani has some great Papaya Salad and great spots to eat as well, some pretty good cheap western food as well. I think most Thai's would agree, Isaan food just tastes better.

2. The People.

The downfall of living in a tourist center is all the tourists have made the shopkeepers jaded. When you enter a shop in a tourist area of Thailand you can almost feel the tension in the air. Annoyingly for me who speaks the language I'm reminded how much race has an influence about how i'm dealt with. Udon and much of Isaan to be honest I've found to not have same vibe, it was almost as if people just expected me to speak Thai, no weired beggining conversations just treated me like everyone else, isn't that how it should be?

3. The Price

Udon Thani has a huge expat community dare I say the highest concentration of married expats in Thailand? Without all the tourists, without all the Chinese, the old white guy with a hooker bride stand out like a sore thumb. While Stickman claims that the guy walking around with a hooker is no longer, maybe it's just not visible in the crowd of tourists. The price for almost everything in Udon is cheaper than even Digital Gonad heaven Chiang Mai. The hotels are really cheap I found a decent room with large balcony city view for 360 baht! The beer bars mostly serve 60 baht beers. I'd even admit that with little to do, if you were on a budget and wanted to get down get some work done on the cheap but still have a really fun night out now and then then Udon is a good a choice as any.

4. The Border Run

Have you ever done a visa run? Mostly everyone I know who has lived in Thailand for a while has done a border run. Leaving the country to hit up a consulate outside the country to get another visa. Penang, Singapore, Phnom Phenh, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, and then there's Vientiane. Can't say I know anyone who enjoyed this city, for a place where you can enjoy any kind of depravity drugs, hookers, ho's, and pimps, brothels for only 600 baht the place is just dead. Bor Ben Yang and @home just seem so weird compared to anything in Thailand. And this is why I like Udon because you can fly in at night party Udon style get the first minibus across the border do the visa at the consulate and only spend one night in this place wake up late, eat a proper good sandwich (probably the only good thing in Vientiane) then head back. My tip here btw is instead of the minibus split a cab 3 ways just more comfortable and convenient. My point here is if you come to Vientiane for a border run I recommend stopping in Udon Thani and spending less time in Vientiane. With Direct flights and VIP buses from Chiang Mai and Bangkok Udon I predict is going to get on the map very soon.

5. The Girls

Ok so Udon chicks are a mix breed of Thai & Laos most are fairly light skinned. You'll find the girls up here a little heavier chested and slightly rounder figure. Mostly I found that the girls in Udon were all super friendly, but more surprisingly I found the girls in Udon to be a lot easier to approach then elsewhere in the country. Udon girls are not known to be beauties like Chiang Mai but my experience is they have more of a sultry look. You guys be the judge here. I used Thai Cupid to find half the girls I met, the other half at the Nightclubs there. I recommend you put in at least a week or two of prep work before coming on Cupid or Thai Friendly. One of the biggest problems my fellow expats and digital gonads face in Chiang Mai is the girl situation. Those folk would not have the same problem in Udon.


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About Chris

Chris founded LivingThai.org in 2011 and has received over 3 million visitors. He has lived here for over 10 years and speaks reads and writes very good Thai.

15 Responses to Why I Liked Udon Thani So Much

  1. Tony January 5, 2017 at 11:23 pm #

    Thanks Chris. Sound advice I think. Have only spent a brief stay at UT but would like to look around more

    • Chris January 6, 2017 at 4:56 pm #

      I’m going back on the 20th probaby for a month, let me know if your around.

  2. Virtual Recluse January 14, 2017 at 10:23 pm #

    Not a comment re. UT but can’t find any other way to contact you, Chris, I am unable to access some pages despite being a VIP member. Please look into this

    • Chris January 16, 2017 at 3:23 pm #

      Seems odd, which page?

  3. Farang ki kwai February 9, 2017 at 4:09 pm #

    Bro you’re selling people some course on how to make money online and live in Thailand but you’re doing border runs and riding in minibusses and shared taxis?

    I make about 200,000 baht a month in passive income, I have a proper visa that doesn’t require border runs and I have my own car. Maybe I should sell a course for even more.

    • Chris February 11, 2017 at 11:24 am #

      I choose where I spend my money nothing wrong with that is there? Based on what you’ve said I have more disposable income but that neither makes me smarter nor better than you.

  4. Nathan Williams March 7, 2017 at 8:57 pm #

    Nice writeup Chris! I’ve been thinking about spending some real time in Isaan for all of these same reasons.

    • Chris March 10, 2017 at 5:04 pm #

      I ended up going back for another 50 days, you would really love the great big parks that have 5min from anywhere in the city. The nightlife IMHO is quite good as well. But for a place you want to get away and sit and get some work done I’d say Udon would be better with less distractions than CM. Also it’s cheaper.

  5. Steve W April 14, 2017 at 9:38 am #

    @Chris met a Udon Thani girl on Thai Cupid last year. We have been chatting for about 10 months and then in February 2017 I flew to Udon Thani to meet her. I Spent 2 months with her and fell in love with her and her family. She has a great Mom and Dad (that are a little older than me) that treated me very well and could see that their daughter and I were very happy with each other. She is 32 (but looks 26), she is farm family girl that speaks pretty good english. She has some college under her belt but never graduated, she works in a department store in Udon’s Central Mall selling cosmetics. She is 22 years younger than me but that does not matter to her or me as we get along great and the sex is unbelievable for the both of us. I plan on going back to see her in July as we both miss each other very much right now. We communicate via Line twice a day but there is nothing like being with each other. I may ask her to marry me in the next 12 months if everything stays this good. I have read so many stories about western guys and Thai bar girls that is why I stayed away from meeting anyone attached to or associated with a bar in Thailand. There are some very nice girls outside of the bars in Thailand and Udon Thani I think has some of the most loving, caring, and good girls there are in Thailand. I look forward to my return to Udon Thani in 77 more days and seeing my Beautiful Brown Issan Lady. This girl at 32 has a body (that she feels is fat at 50Kg) that any Western Woman would kill for and she feels that she is fat and old. I get a kick out of that how most women in Thailand over 30 (not married) feel they are old and washed up. if they only knew how many Western Men would love to have them by their side they would blush for sure. I have to say that on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest rating) I found a 10 in Beauty, Personality, and good old Loyal and Loving to Her Man Thai traits. This Lady washed for me, cooked for me, bathed me, took care of me when I became sick with the stomach virus and just loved and doted on me all the time. She was never on her phone or distracted in anyway the whole 2 months we were together (I knew to lookout for that). I met her friends and they are all people she grew up and went to school with from her village. They were all very nice people and caring just like her and her family. I feel that I found a Keeper in her and time will tell if we will live happily ever after. PS. We have talked about kids and both of us are fine if we never have any. If we do have any that is ok to as they say in Thailand “Mai Pen Rai Krap”. Yes I did start learning the Thai language before I arrived and that helped but I learned so much more when I was there for the 2 months. My girl spoke good English as well as one of her girlfriends (who worked for the Govt in International Relations) but everyone else spoke little to no english so I took it upon myself to communcate with them in Thai and I must say I dod not do too bad. At least I never offended anyone. LOL

    • CHE BOI April 26, 2017 at 8:48 am #

      You’re going to be eaten alive mate, the chance of the relationship above working out is next to zero.

      • Thibault June 25, 2017 at 3:20 pm #

        thats what we all think because he shows weakness and pussy oedestalization, oneitis.
        otoh he made it so the worst risks a re put at bay.
        of course the best course of action is to fuck everything that moves, and butterfly it till death. not everyone is sufficiently nihilistic to live with that, though.
        us redpillers have no hope in women any more, but for the society to collapse less quickly, there is a need for men that believe in monogamy and shit.
        he may even find a woman that is not entirely rotten by midern society antivalues, which will abide to moral standards a bit longer than your average trash brat.
        wish him the best, as obviously its too late to prevent that happening, so he twist a bit our arm, but giving him a chance is the least we can do.

  6. barry collins January 18, 2018 at 10:41 am #

    Sounds like a nice naive guy on his first learning curve…..good luck mate.!

  7. Steve January 23, 2018 at 4:57 am #

    Please read the book “Amazing Thailand” from Brad Walkers, available for example at the airports in Thailand. You can learn a lot from that.
    And read it before you start thinking of building or buying a house in the desert.

  8. Ashby Robertson October 12, 2018 at 4:04 am #

    We have been living outside of Udorn for the last 14+Years. Married into a large Thai family and built the wife(youngest daughter), mother and daughter a large house on the family land. I only visit the tourist traps & BKK when required. The times I have taken the wife to a bar can be counted in one hand, neither of us are drinkers. The youngest son is now a senior in College, the daughter graduated a few years ago, both from Rangsit…

    I’m now the only Farang living in the our village full time. The others have moved on &/or died off. The best thing – ZERO tourist have any interest in our area…

    Living is inexpensive, village market 3x week, train ride into UD is 7-Baht or Mini-buss is 50-Baht. The daughter wants to purchase us a new P/U and the son is buying me a new Motorcycle after he graduates. Thai children are judged socially on now well they take care of their family. So we invested into their education…

    I have been lucky and have a good family…

  9. Elwin May 26, 2019 at 11:09 am #

    Hi Steve W,

    I wish you the best in your relationship with Udon Thani Girl. Please update us how it is working so far?

    Have you proposed? Are you living perm in Thailand now? Hows it going?

    ~Elwin

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