Long time not see, but... going on.

Long time not see Frans @ Phatsamon, everything OK? Still in the building process?

Yep, don't worry, we are still going on, are not finished yet, and enjoy more and more the way of life at our place using the parts that are finished (over 90%).  

So just a short up-date.

As we told in our last blog (June 24, 2026) we take relaxed steps forward and take more and more breaks in between. 

We are in the rainy season now with a combination of high temperatures and high humidity. Lots of work to do in the garden. 

We brought a 2,5 weeks visit to The Netherlands, took another two weeks break afterwards to do all kind of other things and to deal with a small problem on my leg, got a new animal and work only a couple of hours a day. Just to keep in action, to stay strong and flexible ;). 

So, we made a little bit of progress with the Carport & Cathouse. The first picture is of yesterday afternoon. Preparing for tiling now. So our attention is on finishing this place and creating the big outside walking area/playground/cage for them.  

We hope our five cat's can live at their new place before end of the year. 

Five cats? Indeed. Starting July 22nd, 2026, the very young lady kitten Boinki joined the group. Our dogs are really interested in this new 'baby-snack' so she need to get used to our place and we need to be very careful. Great we have the doghouse she can use during the night. During daytime she is already joining the other four at my mother in law's house.  

After our visit to The Netherlands we decided to give more priority to surround our land (all together around 55 x 160 m2) with a good not too high fence. We are more and more in the mood to create our own free and happy place with our dogs and cats and can start with creating the forest, pond and island, we intend to make. 

We are fortunate to have the possibility to live this way and got this wonderful land of Phatsamon her parents. Now we want to use the nature, energy and freedom at our place as much as possible. For the dogs, cat's, and who knows in the future some other animals (we are thinking of some (2) water buffalo's) a nice and safe place where they will not disturb others. For us more and more the idea of being free of disturbances in the big world around we cannot change and only disturbs happy living with negative energy. And indeed, that's also a mindset. 

It's not to show people are not welcome to visit us or our place. Not at all, we like to meet friends and have face-to-face contacts. Our labyrinth, for instance, is open on a daily base to walk free. So it is with bicycle guests that want to stay one night (friends on a bicycle) or other friends who want to visit. 

It's just a matter of making an appointment and we are happy to meet-up. 

We hope we can arrange that fence and new gate somewhere in the beginning of next year. Have to save some money again first. 

Frans & Phatsamon

email:   pyramidhousethailand@gmail.com

Relaxed next steps, ramp, carport/cathouse, maintenance week.

Every day a couple of ours work in the morning and afternoon. In between a nap. Sunday's time for a break and going out for late lunch or 'dad's cooking'. My mother in law, most of the times, enjoys the Sunday's Western food.  

Nice to have something to do without any stress. 

Slowly the end of the construction process we intended to do is in sight. New ideas arise and need some more time in our brains to develop. It will come.

Sitting still, looking around, the whole day being on the mobile or computer, follow the 'social' media, hanging in front of the tv, only eating and drinking beer, for me, are not the things I look forward to. They give me the idea I am counting the days and waiting till the end. So, let's keep moving.  

So, the last month we worked to build a ramp to the entrance of our house and went on with the carport/catroom.

Temperatures, although a tiny little bit lower, still feel very high (today 44 degrees C 'feeling temperature' again. The rainy season very slowly started and humidity levels are extremely high. Let's face it, we live in the middle of the rice-fields. The bamboo ceiling of our veranda already shows nature/humidity is taking over. 

Yesterday we stopped for a short while our construction work and introduces/started with a kind of 'Maintenance week'. The more you create, the more maintenance and cleaning is needed too. Phatsamon started again to take care of the garden in the mornings. Sometimes she get's some help of a neighbor cow or water buffalo (maybe future new animals).

Beginning July we get some guests (family/friends) for around two weeks. We will show them around Surin. So, actually for us also a kind of short holiday. 

A picture impression of the last developments:

veranda ceiling mold

On the way for Sunday late lunch

Frans & Phatsamon

email:   pyramidhousethailand@gmail.com

Slowly more retirering after fourteen years

It's been a while to do an update about how we are doing at our place.  

The beginning of the rainy season just started. The every year returning flying thousands of termites show it. And, now, I am writing this blog because... it's raining. 

Temperatures technically dropped. On the other hand humidity is very high now, so it still feels very hot and as soon as we start working we start sweating even more. 

My, European, body tells me I have to slow down and finally I start to obey to that call/request. Let's face it, although still feeling very young, I am getting older.

The last months I only worked a bit in the morning and a bit in the afternoon. Taking more time to do and organize some other things as well, have some fun (and karaoke) with friends, organized a family party, and appreciating my nap with our four 'girls' in the airconditioned room on a daily base. 

All together around three hours a day I am doing construction work. And still, looking back to this 'slowly more retiring', we booked enough results. Again, we are not in a rush. It's ready when it's ready but it will never be ready at all because every time we get some new thoughts to create. 

So, great, it keeps the body and mind without any stress happy and healthy. 

Today I am fourteen years in Thailand. After all an early great opportunity. A good decision, great new experiences and 180 degrees change of lifestyle. Worked instead as Director of a safety-region in The Netherlands, as a teacher and coach at a wellness resort in Chiang Mai. Succeeded many courses in life- & talent coaching, meditation, yoga and tantra. And last but not least, already for six years now creating great new sustainable things at the place were we, my Thai wife and me with our animals at the countryside live*. (*: see note at the end of this blog)

Nobody can take these happy and healthy years, still in good condition, from me/us anymore. And indeed, many people still think you have to work 'till the end' to get the best/highest pension. But, my experience now, that's not true.

Now I think, in the circumstances I was in at the end of my career, maybe I would not even have made it till 'the end'. And if, what would be my physical and mental health to start to live a life in Thailand this way? 

So, no full work pension and no full Dutch government pension because I left The Netherlands many years before my so called retirement age. So what? 

It brought me wonderful years and a great place to live that we build together by our own hands. Not much savings, we live and enjoy NOW, and no debts at all. 

This morning I said again that I am very thankful I got all these years this way already. 

So, what did we achieve the last period?

# Replaced the roof of the control-room (Electricity and pumphouse)

# finished the bamboo ceiling of our veranda

# received trucks of sand and installed the pavement and front stairs around the house

Incl. a rainwatergutter to protect
the catroom and cage (to build)
 from draining

# Finally after weeks got the Q-Con building blogs for the cat house delivered 

# Enjoyed, the animals, friends around us, and after work... a beer with ice

Our ricefield starts to grow after the first rain

A couple of Kingfishers taking care of their
nest inside the walkway of our ricefield

Visit with Phatsamon a karaoke bar
in Prasat with friends

70th birthday celebration
of our friend Arnold in Buriram

Note*: Interested to get an impression so far about the place we live? A German contact nearby, by coincidence visited us with his wife and dog and made a YouTube video of his visit to us. If you want to see only the part about how we are living here just start at the time 6.20.

Frans & Phatsamon

email:   pyramidhousethailand@gmail.com