Moving BKK to Phuket?

[AntipodeanThai]

Since moving into my condo in BKK there's been ongoing situations with the Agent and Owner.

Nothing strange there I guess.

She requires the rent to be paid in cash, the utilities bills to remain in her name and I reimburse her in cash only again; don't have to Einstein to guess why and whats going on!

The last straw was the TM 30:  

She wouldn't lodge one herself then constantly refused to provide the information needed until I got very forceful with her.

So I lodged the docs when I got them finally,  the next day and "Bingo" copped a fine for late lodgement.

Told her she can pay it back to me! ( in cash!!!)

The outcome is its time to move on. 

 

So thinking of letting BKK go and move to Phuket.

I'd much appreciate your thoughts and advice on spots to live and rentals costs(it's only me).

Criteria being;

I'd like to be near a beach, suggestions on which might be good will be really appreciated

and shops reasonably close by,

as I'm an OAP and not that keen on driving,

and thus doesn't need to be party central type spot,

infact prefer a little quieter; but I'm not a hermit and like to go out to eat and have a glass, most evenings,

1-2 Beds; house or condo, with a bit of a view,  but not in one of those huge condo blocks looking into each other,

Transport might also be a positive,

 

Thank you all very  much for your time, thoughts and input. 

[madmen]

budget?

[LivinginKata]

Mmmm ..... using an agent often can be a problem. Best rent direct from the owner and make sure owner is prepared to register you with Immigration and provide copy owner/house papers.

 

"Transport might also be a positive" - what does that mean to you. Public transport in Phuket is not so good.

 

[AntipodeanThai]

budget say up to circa 20k pm

[ChasingTheSun]

Kamala, Patong, Karon, Kata.

 

Spend a week in each town and then decide which you prefer.

 

20k should get you a nice 1bdr condo in any of those places. Each one offers walking distance to shops and restaurants/pubs and the beach.

 

If you like swimming in a relatively clean beach, then Kamala, Kata, and Karon are best.

 

[phuketrichard]

20,000 in kamala will get u a 2 bedroom semi furnished house
Plenty of local places to eat, shop ( BIg C, Tesco, 7 7/11's), drink and for free u get the call to prayer at 4 am. 

[pagallim]

I'd recommend using one of the Facebook group pages, such as Phuket Rent and Sell Property (https://www.facebook.com/groups/phuketrentsale/).    This gives you a good idea of what's on the market and prices etc.   Transport is a perennial issue on Phuket.   Rawai/Nai Harn is an option to consider as there's a more developed Expat community than some of the other resort towns.

[phuketrichard]

5 hours ago, pagallim said:

I'd recommend using one of the Facebook group pages, such as Phuket Rent and Sell Property (https://www.facebook.com/groups/phuketrentsale/).    This gives you a good idea of what's on the market and prices etc.   Transport is a perennial issue on Phuket.   Rawai/Nai Harn is an option to consider as there's a more developed Expat community than some of the other resort towns.

NO thai will advertise their homes/condos on fb so all you will see is the ones owned by Farangs an they will always ask more

arrive, rent a room, drive around and look,  availability changes daily.

Where as Patong, had a healthy farang community as far back as the early 80's Rawai/Nai harn didn't till the late 90's
Kata is a middle class tourist ghetto, Karon has few homes for rent, lots of condos< Chalong is a nice bet with lots of Yahties as well but the beach is not as nice as other areas.

Where ever u end up ( unless it middle Patong) you will need ur own transport

[losworld]

I like the island and krabi as well. Recommended and in reality not much more than Pattaya or Bangkok for that matter.

[pagallim]

1 hour ago, phuketrichard said:

NO thai will advertise their homes/condos on fb so all you will see is the ones owned by Farangs an they will always ask more

arrive, rent a room, drive around and look,  availability changes daily.

Where as Patong, had a healthy farang community as far back as the early 80's Rawai/Nai harn didn't till the late 90's
Kata is a middle class tourist ghetto, Karon has few homes for rent, lots of condos< Chalong is a nice bet with lots of Yahties as well but the beach is not as nice as other areas.

Where ever u end up ( unless it middle Patong) you will need ur own transport

Actually, many Thais advertise property (though in the main undoubtably agents) on the link I posted, although Thais (as detailed in the OP) are the least likely to help with TM30's etc because of their fear of being chased for tax.

 

Although driving around areas looking for rentals is an option, I think you'll find that most available properties are in the side sois which makes finding them difficult, and living on a main road wouldn't fulfil his 'little quieter' need.

 

I'm guessing that whilst it would be pleasant, proximity to a beach isn't the highest priority otherwise he wouldn't be currently in BKK, so maybe being near the sea is an option.   If that is the case, then Chalong would come into play because of it's shopping and selection of bars/restaurants, with many quiet areas once off the main roads, and particularly because of the impending completion of the Chalong Circle underpass.

[phuketrichard]

Never had any trouble getting my thai landlords to help with copies of id card, taam bien baan an POA forms to allow me to do my tm 30 and in fact I recently have been able to do my own registration online for my tm 30.

 

The reason 99% of thais wont be advertising on a FB page is they dont read/write english and any ones you do see on the fb page are most likely agents and also will be the most expensive choices.

 

Driving down small sois is zero trouble and hardly difficult at all.

[jackdd]

On 4/11/2019 at 1:05 AM, ChasingTheSun said:

Spend a week in each town and then decide which you prefer.

This would be my recommendation as well, it doesn't even have to be a week, at some places you will stay a day or two and you will know if you like it or not.

 

16 hours ago, phuketrichard said:

Where ever u end up ( unless it middle Patong) you will need ur own transport

Agree. Even in the middle of Patong you probably want your own transport to visit the other places at Phuket.

 

10 hours ago, phuketrichard said:

Never had any trouble getting my thai landlords to help with copies of id card, taam bien baan an POA forms to allow me to do my tm 30

This is also my experience, so it's not a general problem.

If you want to be sure to get these documents insist that the owner / agent brings them with him when you are signing the contract.