FLIGHT FROM THE CITY
If you’ve had your fill of urban living, a slew of places close to the capital offer the means to live modestly off the land
There is constant traffic of people moving into and out of Bangkok. Some want to come to the city, while others want to get out. Those seeking to come usually want to study or work here, do business or perhaps just do some shopping. They may see the capital as a testing ground that offers challenges to their abilities. Once in the city, they look for suitable opportunities and hope that their luck comes through for them.
Almost all of them are seeking success, trying to elevate their lives in what can be seen as a vertical society. And it is not only society that has a vertical structure. Bangkok’s huge population, with people crowding for space like ants in a nest, gives a vertical form both to work, with its hierarchies, and even the places where people live — tall, often narrow buildings. Most people do not have a choice in all of this.
Many people are forced to endure this situation because their status in society requires it and, in reaction, there are those who make efforts to leave Bangkok. Some want to go back to the place where they were born, taking along the knowledge and skills that the acquired in the capital to use at home. Others want to live out the remainder of their lives in more restful surroundings, perhaps a tourist destination like Chiang Mai or Hua Hin, using the money that they made in Bangkok.
Still others are nature lovers who want to try their hand a farming and are awaiting a suitable time to make the move. These are all lifestyles that people can choose for themselves.
Retirees in Bangkok are likely to aim for a way of getting away from the city to live closer to nature. They see farming as a desirable way of living, perhaps because they have had enough of confined living surrounded by concrete walls, congested traffic, flooding during the rainy season and intense heat and dust during summer, pollution, very high living expenses, as well as a lack of safety and security for themselves and their property.
Today I would like to make some suggestions for ways to get out of the city and enjoy a life surrounded by nature and society that harmonises with it, a way of living governed by the principles of sufficiency and sustainability.
In choosing a place to live, the first thing to consider is transportation and the distance from Bangkok, which should not be more than 150 kilometres or a drive of no more than two and a half hours. There are many provinces that qualify: Nakhon Nayok, Chachoengsao, Prachin Buri, Ayutthaya, Ang Thong, Samut Songkhram, Samut Sakhon and Phetchaburi, among others. All lie within a convenient radius from Bangkok and are agricultural areas with orchards and fields of rice and other crops.
Locating an available plot of land online is not difficult. A two-rai plot will be enough to build a house and do some farming. Choosing a location not too far from Bangkok will prevent the sense of being cut off from the city with its hospitals, government offices that must be visited from time to time, financial institutions and stores where equipment and household appliances can be bought.
You will need to visit a number of different properties to choose the one most suitable. It should be in an area where there are farms and plenty of vegetation. One very important consideration is the availability of water. The time to visit to find out about this is during the summer when irrigation systems are in use and can be evaluated.
It is also important not to be isolated, but in or near a community where there will be good roads and a reliable water supply from the city or a local temple (most invest in drinking water systems, pumping up water and selling it to generate income). A town nearby will also guarantee that there is electricity available on the property — having new electrical poles put in is very expensive — and that there will also be a community medical facility, postal and delivery services, and maybe public transport.
When setting up the property, different parts of it can allotted to different kinds of crops. There should be an area for fruit trees that will provide long- and short-term income. For the long term, plant types that bear their different fruits on a rotary seasonal basis throughout the year while also providing shade. Bananas fruit all year long, and the leaves and other parts of the plants are useful. Once coconut trees reach bearing age, they provide steady income.
Jackfruit trees produce fruit and provide shade, as do tamarind trees, whose tender leaf shoots can be used to make certain dishes and whose fruit appears all year round. Bamboo sends up shoots during the rainy season while mangos fruit in the summer. Winter brings the fruit of the lamut tree, then come mapraang at the beginning of the summer and lamyai as the weather heats up.
Then there are kitchen garden plants that can be used at home or sold when they are plentiful for quick, short-term income. These include limes, makrood limes, eggplants, lemon grass, chillies, galangal and basil. Others like cha-om and krathin require little care and grow quickly. Kitchen garden plants like these make few demands, but cultivating them and gathering them for use is satisfying and also offers an opportunity for some exercise.
As for animals, the most important is a dog that will be a loyal friend and sound the alarm by barking if it notices anything unusual. Chickens allowed to roam freely will provide eggs, and geese are a good idea because they are a natural enemy of snakes.
Daily activities like buying provisions and taking crops to sell can be done at the talaad
nat, or informal market that can be found in every community. When local farmers have something to sell, they will take it there, so there will always be fresh, safe vegetables for sale at a low price.
If the community is located near a river or another natural body of water, there might also be different kinds of freshly caught fish available. If not, there are guaranteed to be farmed tilapia, which has become a major commercial fish in Thailand that costs less than chicken or pork.
If you have had your fill of city living and want to try something different, there is a lot to be said for informal farming on your own small plot. You will find yourself surrounded by green vegetation rather than by crowds of people and tall buildings, and you will hear birdsongs and clucking chickens instead of car horns.
Summers will be breezier and rain will bring refreshment rather than traffic chaos. You will be enjoying a sustainable lifestyle that will bring relief from the assorted tensions and anxieties of urban living.