The couple's house as seen from the front.Joe Green/Thai Girl Gift and Foreigner JoeJoe Green and Gift Prakaew gave up Bangkok city life to live in a seaside town in Central Thailand.The couple spent eight months and $188,000 building their dream home."I could not have a lifestyle like this in Europe or in the United States," Green said.After living in a Bangkok apartment with his fiancée Gift Prakaew for over a year, Joe Green decided it was time for a change of scenery.When Green retired from his job with the US Department of Defense in 2018, he wanted to be in a city — or so he thoughtAfter growing up in Hoboken, New Jersey — 6 miles from Manhattan — Green had always pictured himself in a city.