There are a lot of things that foreigners have to get use to, if they are going to survive living in rural Isaan.
DRIVERS
I think the first thing is Isaan has the worst drivers in all of Thailand.
Either turtle slow, or wide open passing on blind curves and expecting on-coming traffic to get out of their way.
Forget turn signals.
Also unlicensed teen motorbike riders are everywhere.
We have narrowly avoided 2 accidents when we were turning right with the signal on and teen motorcyclists passed us on the right.
BURNING
There is no real effective system of picking up trash here.
Rural Isaan people will just burn it in their yard.
Doesn’t matter if it is plastic or just garbage, light it up and burn it in place.
Burning the fields. There isn’t a day that goes buy that people are not burning their fields to get ready for the next crop.
STRAY DOGS
There are stray dogs all over Thailand, however, Isaan seems to have a majority share.
Stray dogs are everywhere.
Many get together and howl in the middle of the night.
Others will chase you on a motorbike.
And others will go through the trash.
FOOD
Rural Isaan food is unlike anything you know about Thai food in Thailand.
Think rats, snakes, frogs, rice field crabs and you will get a quick idea.
Also, the food is at a spice level no foreigner can tolerate.
In our village, there are only open air food stalls.
Have you ever tried eating out in the open when it is 110f?
Also, flies are everywhere. Get use to them.
NO MALLS
The nearest malls and stores carrying anything western may be at least an hour drive from your location.
Better like driving long distances with Thailand’s worst drivers to get anything resembling home.
THAT’S THE WAY THINGS ARE DONE HERE
Rural people grew up doing things a certain way and that is the way it is here.
Zero common sense or reasoning.
The way it has always been and always will be.
Once you understand that, you will not fret as much.
IT’s HOT
It is hot everywhere in Thailand, however in rural Isaan there are NO swimming pools, the ocean or anywhere else to cool off.
Want to jump in a pond that might be full of snakes?
Not thanks.
There are many challenges to living here and learning to live here.
Overtime, it gets easier to live here and understand.
Sooner or later you understand that is the way it is and don’t bother to question it.