There are no indoor restaurants where we live.
There is nothing you could really call a restaurant, as opposed to a local food shop.
We have to travel 40+km in one direction to get to a Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Another 60km we can get to the city of Khon Kaen, which has the Central Mall full of restaurants.
Khon Kaen traffic can be horrific at times, so if you really need to get out to eat, you are faced with a choice to fight the traffic.
Or Chumpae, which has a Lotus’s with Pizza Company, KFC, MK, Swensen’s and one other.
There are just days when you want to go out to a clean, air-conditioned place with great food.
Sorry, but that is not happening in rural Isaan.
The best food and environment you might get is in your own kitchen.
Local’s are accustomed to eating at all the local food shops.
The food is good in places, although hygiene is not.
You learn to sacrifice and live with what you have available or drive a long way.
When in the US, you are spoiled with restaurants, many, many, many.
But in rural Isaan, getting to a real restaurant can be quite a time consuming challenge just to get there.
When you are use to eating in your village for 40 thb per meal and go to a restaurant in the mall which could cost 1,000 thb, you have to really ask yourself if it is worth it?
One of the great challenges of living in rural Isaan, is finding a variety of things to eat, to keep yourself happy.
It is not easy and you learn to live with it.
You have to because there are no other choices.