Living in rural Isaan means you will be isolated from any other expats.
There are villages that may only have 1 expat resident or none at all.
Same as where I live, my husband is the only one.
For him, being the only one is a good thing.
He is still admired and the villager’s are fascinated a foreigner would chose to live here amongst the rural Thai people.
With no brand name stores, no air conditioned restaurants, no movie theaters, rural Isaan life is very isolated.
The isolation offers a certain stress-free life of peace and quiet.
There is a lot to get use to in rural Thailand.
Different dialect of the Thai language.
No one speaks English, although school kids love to try their one English phrase on you.
Extreme poverty level.
Stray dogs and cats everywhere.
Farm vehicles everywhere.
Unskilled drivers.
Illegal burnings.
It is a completely different Thailand than any tourist could possibly ever fathom.
Although, it is the cheapest place to live in Thailand.
Not really a lot you can spend money on here.
The solace is, if you own a car, you can get to a city like Khon Kaen in an hour, which has all the modern conveniences you may or may not feel you are missing.
Everyone has a reason for the location they chose to live in Thailand.
Rural Isaan is certainly not for everyone.
If you want a cheap, peaceful life and don’t need any of the western materialisms you got away from when you move here, rural Isaan might be the place for you.
You have to want to integrate and learn to live the same as the locals.
This is the real Thailand.