Iolare

That storefront that ad61 pictured is my sister-in-law's business, Modern PVC. It's a lot bigger operation that one would suspect from the look of the shophouse. She also owns a few more of those shophouses which are used for warehousing and she has a large storage yard a bit to the south. Anyway, I'm pretty sure they would have what the OP is looking for as they have a huge and diverse inventory, and supply many of the large projects on the island with pipe.

Another way to help locate it is to look for the Pavilion Hotel which is about 14 stories tall, I think, and sits behind Modern PVC on Maluan road.

There's a new marina now being developed west of the Yacht Haven (toward the bridge) that will at first specialize in boat repair. Right now it's a lot of empty land. That would be a good place to put that sailboat.

Sportsman, thanks for relaying that information from the marina. I think the boat is a hazard to navigation and would be an even bigger hazard if the locals who took the warning light decide to come back and salvage the aluminum mast and boom and the stainless steel bimini structure. Then it would be hard to spot, and if it sunk completely, I think it would be just below the surface at high tide. A lot of people (like me) don't use navigation charts and could be unaware of the danger. The marine department should remove it to a hard stand somewhere, and the BKK police department, if they are indeed the owner, could deal with it from there.

I'm up near the Yacht Haven Marina and about a week ago I noticed a sailboat which had been left at anchor at high tide sitting on the bottom at a severe angle when the tide went out. This boat wasn't in the marina, but it was kind of east of it and certainly within view from there. I could see it from my place too, and I thought it would right itself when the tide came back as others in a similar predicament have in the past, but it didn't and seemed to be taking on water instead. I've kept my eye on it and it seems that no one is dealing with it. This morning at high tide I decided to motor over and have a closer look. I don't know if it's abandoned or if the owner simply is unaware of the situation. Here are few photos I took. Im curious to know if anyone knows what's going on with this boat?

I always find it hard to grasp Posts that say Phuket Immigration are unfriendly, 90 day report this morning, arrived at 8am, the very nice guy who sits on the right came out to me at 8.15 we had a nice little chat, he then said "wait there" 2 mins later he came back with my passport all sorted, this office is friendly, I have never been asked for so called tea money!!

If you have an attitude(many people here seem to have, or you show millions of bht in the account you are using for your visa then who can blame the officers for what they try to do, I would do the same!!

I didn't say that I found the officers at the Phuket Immigration unfriendly, I said that I would appreciate it if the Phang Nga office was more friendly. My experiences in the Phuket office have been mostly OK, and the people who handle the 90 day report-ins are friendly. I do seem to have an ongoing problem with the fellow who sits in the second row and handles the annual visa renewals. He seems to take pleasure in finding insignificant issues and making one go fetch new paperwork. Last time, after I had to go to make more photocopies and came back at 11;15am, he said you have to come back after 1:00. Why would he be like that? It's not my attitude or appearance, or anything in question about my bank balance (Kawapower, what's the problem with having "millions" in the account?), or other paperwork, I think it's just because he's got the power and enjoys displaying it. I've had others say the same thing about this fellow, so if I can accomplish my visa business with more friendly people I will do it. Besides that, Phang Nga town is a very nice and scenic place, and I would rather travel up there than down through Phuket Town to handle this business.

I appreciate this report about the Phang Nga Immigration office. I've been going to the Phuket office for about 5 years now, and would like to change to a smaller, less crowded, and more friendly office for the routine visits. I'm spending more time in Phang Nga then in Phuket these days so I should change my address for the 90 day check-ins, anyway.

I also appreciate you giving the address and the phone number for the office, so I could probably find it, but since it's small, could you be more specific about where on the outskirts of town it is located? If you come up highway 4 from Phuket as you reach the outskirts of town it seems there's a lot of government buildings before you get to the big traffic circle south of the downtown area. I suspect that's the vicinity. Is it on that main road?

I'm also curious about the route you would take from where you live. Do you go down to Khlok Kloi and then back up to Phang Nga, or do you go through the mountains on the 4090?

Thanks again

The new PTT super-station on the main road between the Heroine's monument and Thalang on the west side is open 24/7.

False. A week ago it was closed around 9:30/10pm

I drive that stretch frequently at night, usually heading back north after an afternoon and evening of shopping and dining out, so I pass through between 10:30 to 1:00am usually. The Shell closes early, the Caltex station seems to be open until about 10:00 to 10:30pm, and the Esso station on the other side of the roadway advertises 24 hours on their sign but they're not open late. The PTT station has always been open including last week. Once I pulled in at about 15 minutes before midnight and they were closed for 20 minutes as they reset their pumps and did some accounting related meter reading, but they resumed selling at about midnight. I've been impressed by how busy they are at the midnight hour and that shows that the demand is definitely there for late night operations. If they have changed their operating hours I'd be very surprised and disappointed. I usually pass the other stations and go to the PTT even though they are the last possibility at that hour, because I like the place and I want to support them due to their operating hours.

The new PTT super-station on the main road between the Heroine's monument and Thalang on the west side is open 24/7.

Here's another one on Koh Yao Noi. Better beach than Six Senses, and much less expensive.

http://www.theparadise.biz/

I wanted to bump this up again to say that Pagallim's suggestion of the Paradise resort on Koh Yao Noi was the place that my people chose for their "Blue Lagoon" experience, and they were delighted with it. Great setting, view, facilities, transport from the airport and back, and even the weather cooperated. They couldn't be happier, so if you need to recommend a nice Phuket resort experience, you wouldn't go wrong with this place. Thanks Pagallim.

Thank you for all these comments. What about price of houses e.g. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms.?

Thanks again for taking the time to write such help.

I haven’t seen much planned subdivision housing up here and that is, frankly, a large part of the appeal of the place for me, so there isn’t a lot of guidance I can give you about the cost of a typical 3brm 2 bath house. You see everything from bamboo huts that cost next to nothing, to mansions on the beach that cost millions. Most farang-type housing here is one-off, custom built, and there is a lot of information in the housing section of TV about building such a place that you can review for insight about the challenges and costs. I did notice an ad in the Gazette recently for a 3/2 on 4 rai near Kho Kloy for 10MTB.

Getting back to your original question about the advantages and disadvantages, another disadvantage is the quality of the public schools and the cost and distance of private ones. If you have them, or are planning for kids, that’s a factor to consider.

Another issue that other posters have raised is the remoteness/boredom factor, and I know from talking to a few expats that some localities in Phang Nga get to feel remote for full time living. I’m thinking of a fellow I met who lived up in Khao Lak, and also a few guys who moved to Thai Muang to be near the golf course that subsequently closed. But It’s my opinion that if you locate reasonably close to the bridge you can en joy the best of both worlds.

You need to think in terms of time and not distance. The five kilometers or whatever it is from Rawai to Central Festival can take longer than going to the International airport from my place in Phang Nga. So if someone wants to meet me at the Ao Po marina or the Phuket Airpark to give two examples, I figure on around 1/2 hour drive time, Blue Canyon is a little less. The new Thalang shopping center is about 1/2 hour also. Getting into Phuket Town is about 45 minutes depending on time of day, but the further south from Thalang you go, the more traffic is congested (these are not Ferrari times either). As a guy who lived and worked in LA, those times aren’t bothersome to me. What I hate is being gridlocked on Choafa West road and going nowhere; that is too much like Bangkok or LA, and is what I thought I was getting away from.

As for the other amenities of life that people have mentioned here that give quality or spice to living in the south of the island, I can report that you can actually have a beer and find a girl who thinks you’re a “Handsome Man” in several venues north of the Heroine’s Monument; and there are some good restaurants, too, so it’s not the wilderness that some have said, if you consider yourself as having one foot on the mainland and one foot on north Phuket Island.

Now I’ve heard of two people who decided to come up to Phang Nga province to visit the View Point, and that disturbs me a little; not that I can’t appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit behind it’s creation, but because it seems like more of a tourist trap than terrific view point. It’s sort of like going to Minnesota to see the world’s largest ball of twine, instead of the 10,000 lakes.

Just speculating, but I’ll bet the owner of the land realized that his highway frontage will be very valuable in a few years and he needed to do something with it while awaiting the appreciation. He could have planted pineapples I suppose, but chose instead to sell coffee. Nothing wrong with that and more power to him.

But as for view points in Phang Nga, there are many that are superior and some that have truely breathtaking views. When you’re at the Sarasin Bridge, get out of the car and walk on the old bridge and go up the stairs. Look at the Province and note the many hills (I don’t think the view point is one that you’ll notice). If you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle explore a few of them and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what it’s like up here. Or you can take the road that goes east from the 402 and makes it’s way to the Khlong Khian Pier. It’s a beautiful drive in it’s own right and you can find marvelous viewpoints off that road. The views of the Bay and the limestone karst formations are spectacular.

Not sure what Blue Lagoon style means, but some relaxing places could be found on Koh Yao Noi and other islands on Phang Nga bay. I don't have personal experience of these resorts.

"Blue Lagoon" movie with BrookeShields,time to see it,and "BlueLagoon Return" with Milla Jovovich;after seeing both you may indulge in your private dreams about your blue lagoon;which one you would prefer on no-man island? BrookeShields or rather Milla?

this year we will see another remake!No.6,I think.

To experience idea of blue lagoon you do not need any resorts!I see some misunderstanding here.

I'm pretty sure it was the setting of the original movie that prompted the reference. It seems like they are going to book either the Six Senses Resort that Oilinki suggested, or The Paradise that Pagallim recommended. I think they'll decide and book it by Monday. I appreciate all the good suggestions.

Thanks for your excellent suggestions Oilinki. Those two island resorts might fit the bill. I was thinking of the Hot Springs resort on the north end of Natai beach, or maybe the Mariott at Mai Kow or the Indego Pearl at Nai Yang, but none of them made me think of a blue lagoon. The Natai beach one does have a nice klong that they have built a bridge over to get to the main beach. I think all the resorts have spa services hopefully including yoga instruction.

I've got some people coming to visit toward the end of this month and they e-mailed this request:

"We were thinking that it may be good to go to a spa or yoga retreat right after we arrive to get over jet lag and rest a bit before we come to visit you. We are craving a not too touristy coastal experience. Something with the blue lagoon-like look that Thailand seems so famous for. Do you have any recommendations?"

Anyone know of a resort that would fit this request? It would be on Phuket Island or in Phang Nga. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Once you start getting further from the border cities of Texas such as El Paso, Brownsville, Nuevo Laredo etc, the Mexican food really takes on a whole different taste. That is not to say California, New Mexico or and Arizona don't have some nice Mexican places.

You can imagine being half way around the world and trying to get some good authentic Mexican. Very difficult unless you know how to cook it yourself. .

I am Mexican and cook Mexican food often here. U are free to try some if u like.

porfavor!

porfavor que ?

I'm from Los Angeles and really miss Mexican food--from street tacos to gourmet places like La Serenata De Gribaldi. Seems like there are at least a few people here who would be willing to pay to try your Mexican cuisine if you organized a dinner party.

You would think that they'd hustle to get back online. Their internet readers are probably checking out the alternative local news sources, which is probably not good for their business in the long run.

I've been denied access today also.

Tuesday is Valentine's day, and it really snuck up on me this year. I'm looking for ideas of where to go for dinner. I thought about Rick N Roll music cafe, but I went to the web site and didn't see any special promotion, and couldn't even tell if it's open. No way to contact the cafe that I could see on the website.

One of the outdoor restaurants on the beach at Nai Yang I think has some live entertainment, so that's a possibility. Anyone have other suggestions?

I built my house with Q-con blocks, but I decided to use double walls on the perimeter with air space between. Cost is always a consideration, but it wasn't my first consideration because construction is cheap here compared to where I came from (California). I wanted a comfortable house and I got it.

The hollow cavity walls allowed for the pipe and electricity runs to be easily installed and not imbedded in concrete. I didn't want any posts to be exposed on the walls, and the double wall construction accomplished that too. Also the wide window sills look good im my opinion and the light is more diffused coming into the house.

I paid attention to site orientation and landscaping, installed a lot of windows for cross ventilation and used high ceilings and large eaves. Ceilings were carefully insulated and the attic has good ventilation. All major rooms have wndows on either two or three sides (which makes for a complicated foot-print and roof design). I installed A/C, but aside from the initiial testing of it, I never have to use it. So the extra cost of construction will possibly be made up over time with the lower electricity bills. In any case I'm happy with the result using the Q-con blocks.

I have to put in a good word for the Mitsubishi Triton. I bought a 4 wheel drive 4 door model in 2007 and have had no problems with it. It has great power and decent economy. You either like the styling or you don't (I do), but in my experience you could't ask for a more reliable vehicle. I like this diesel well enough to have considered the practicality of installing it in a boat.

I was just at the Makro grocery store in Phuket and couldn't find coconut oil. Do you have to go to a health supplement store to find it? Is it priced similarly to the common cooking oils or is it more expensive?

I can recommend Khun Toy of TTT Furniture who did the kitchen in my house. His crew were clean and professional and the Job came in on time and on budget (which wasn't always the case with other sub-contractors). I'll attach a couple of photos of his work. Feel free to PM me if you want contact details.

I was referring to the tank less ones as well, about 6000b plus fitting and tank.

I had a friend who was handy with his hands, and he was constantly battling the bloody thing. I had decided if I went that route, I would personnely import one.

You maybe able to use it on a decent flow to fill or recycle a well insulated tank once a day, as an assist to solar.

I wish I had imported a couple of them too rather than buying units that I suspected from the beginning were inferior, but I was concerned about delays, expense, and complications. The proper units have 3/4" inlets and outlets, but one critical disadvantage in the OP's situation is that the heaters require electrical power for ignition. The Thai units use two D batteries for the spark.

I bought two LPG tankless, on demand water heaters from Home Pro and they both failed within the first year. In America I had bought natural gas and LPG tankless units made in the US and japan for my home and rental properties and they were all trouble free. The Thai build unit is not comparable at all. I would suggest that you explore the solar alternative.