I Finally Found the Best Place to Live in Thailand

[Bobsuruncle]

I Finally Found the Best Place to Live in Thailand

 

I’ve lived in Thailand since Nov. 2007 in several different locations. The first place was Koh Samui a very beautiful island back then. I got my feet wet there pertaining to bar girls via a friend, Marty who had lived there forever and had it mastered. I lived there for a few years in different parts of the island but gradually got frustrated with the constant increase in traffic congestion and started exploring other places.

I had another friend who lived up in Sattahip. So, I was introduced to Pattaya and rented a place near the beach road. That was quite an experience and I learned a bit more about Thai women, but it just wasn’t really the lifestyle that I wanted. Fun, but not 24/7.

Next I headed to Phuket and landed around Chalong. Many things to do there and that’s when I borrowed a few water bikes from a friend of mine and spent some time getting my exercise out on the water. It was a great time that I spent there until one day all of a sudden it seemed like there were 100,000 more people on the roads. Driving anywhere became an exhausting challenge. It got to the point that I didn’t want to leave the house unless I absolutely had to because of all the crazy drivers.

Next I tried a place called Ban Tha Khun near Ratchaprapha Dam in Surat Thani province. Cheo Lan Lake was created by the Dam and there are many resorts out on the lake where you can rent a raft house and hang out in beautiful surroundings. It was a very interesting place but if I wanted any things from a big store, I had to travel about 70 km one way into Surat Thani to get it. And if I wanted to fly anywhere, I had to catch a flight to Bangkok first from Surat which was a small airport with few flights at the time.

I next tried out the Chumphon area. I found a house to rent not too far from the beach and life was good for a short while. One problem I found there was that there wasn’t an immigration office at that time. You either had to wait for them to visit town every so often or you had to make a trip to Ranong. It’s probably changed and there’s an office by now. I did like the fact that I could play in the ocean again there but there seemed to be an abundance of sand fleas that kind of offset the fun. But it wasn’t really either one of those things that caused the next move, it was that I had found a good woman a few years back and we decided to get married and build a house up in a small village in Nakhon Phanom Province.

So off we went, at least for a while anyway. My wife has the greatest close-knit family and they all accepted me in. The villagers were all friendly to me and at first, I settled into the idea that this would be the last move. But after 4 years I ran out of things to occupy my time and started missing the ocean. We had taken a trip to Bali and upon our return I decided to try to find a rental house near the beach on the northern tip of Phuket which doesn’t have the large number of drivers that are seen further south on the island.

So that’s when I found the best place for me. I couldn’t find a reasonably priced rental in that Phuket area but soon stumbled upon a piece of land right around 1.4 Rai just north of there near Tha Yu. There’s a bridge at the northern tip of Phuket island called Sarasin Bridge which connects Phuket to mainland Thailand. The land we bought is about 17 km north east of the bridge. This region is like a peninsula where if you go east about 9 km you can access Phangnga Bay and if you go 14 km west you can access a pier on the Andaman sea. So, when the monsoons are stirring up the Andaman sea, I just take the water bike to Phangnga bay where the water is much calmer.

We built our house there and moved in March of 2016 and life has been very good. The property was loaded with mature fruit trees when we bought it and even with the clearing for the house it still has a dozen mangosteen producers and several Satah trees and bananas and papayas as well as a mango and 2 Durian trees that we planted as well as a great garden space.  The weather is much nicer than it was up in Nakhon Phanom. We hardly ever need to turn on the a/c here whereas up north we needed it in order to sleep at night. We’re only 12 to 15 min from Khok Kloi which has 5 of the major banks, several car dealerships, petrol stations and a small Tesco Lotus and Super Cheap store. We’re 34 to 38 min from Phuket International airport (as there’s very little traffic going there from the north) and they’re even talking about another airport which will be located about 38 min north of us. Immigration office is in Phangnga about 30 min east of us and is never crowded. My 90-day reports are a total of about 5 min and while there we do a little shopping at the Big C. Whenever people come to visit us who want to go see James Bond island, we just have to drive about 9 km over to where our favorite long-tail boat driver is located on the bay and he takes us all out to several islands for a very reasonable fee. There is Samet Nang She about 15 km away with spectacular views and on the Andaman sea side have gone out to see the Similan islands. Our favorite beach is about 20 km north where we can set up our hammocks between the iron wood trees and I can take the water bike out fishing around some rocky islands and catch small fish for dinner every time.

I’m somewhat of an introvert and love all the privacy that we have at our place. Our land is surrounded by much larger properties and we’re at the end of a dead-end road so hardly anyone comes driving up. And once a week we drive into Thalang on Phuket island to do big store shopping at Tesco Lotus and Macro across the street. It takes about 40 to 45 min to get there from the house depending on traffic. So, we have lots of privacy of a small-town village area and yet many of the big city conveniences without having to live there. I love this place.

Now you might wonder why I’m giving out my secret location. In the past I would never want to ruin my quiet location by telling others and having too many other people find out about it and then move here and possibly change the way of life. But it’s time for me to leave Thailand and we’re putting our house up for sale, so I won’t worry about how many people find out about this area. Nothing lasts forever.

It’s the best place that I’ve found for me in Thailand.

Where is your best place?

Cheers,

Richard

 

[ezzra]

Free and easy
That's my style
Howdy-do me?
Watch me smile

But fare-the-well me
After a while
'Cause I gotta roam
And any place I hang my hat is home

Sweetenin' water
Cherry wine
Thank you kindly
Suits me fine

Kansas city even Carolina
That's my honeycomb
'Cause any place I hang my hat is home
Birds roostin' in a tree

Pick up and go
And the goin' proves
That's how it oughta to be
Pick up too when the spirit moves me

Cross the river
'Round the bend
Howdy stranger?
So long friend!

There's a voice in the lonesome wind
Keeps a whispering roam
I'm going where a welcome mat is
No matter where that is

'Cause any place I hang my hat is home

[trd]

It sounds perfect. You have all the advantages of easy access to Phuket but without the disadvantages of traffic etc. I'm hoping to have the same advantages when I move from Phuket to build our house on the 2 rai of land I have outside a village about 40 kilometers from Udon Thani city. I'll be in a peaceful countryside location but with easy access to the city for shopping. The only thing I'm sure I'll miss will be the ocean.

[Colabamumbai]

Waiting to see where you move next. 

[alfalfa19]

sounds wonderful

[rumak]

and what is the PRIMARY reason that you are leaving? 

[neeray]

 "But it’s time for me to leave Thailand and we’re putting our house up for sale".

 

I'm sure you'll find a taker right here on TVF. You certainly wrote a great story leading up to the punch line. I was so curious to get to the final chapter.

Enjoy your next venture.

[balo]

You forgot to mention that Phuket island is a ripoff place for tourists and expats and taxi mafia everywhere. Restaurant prices are double of Pattaya etc etc etc.  

It's the last place in Thailand I would relocate to. 

[LomSak27]

Great advert, but one of Phuket’s problems is you have scads of Phuket refugees that lived their once, now living all over Thailand. There are always a couple whether up here in CM or Nakhorn Nowhere, that lost spondulixs on some sad forlorn condo or house.

 

2 minutes ago, neeray said:

"But it’s time for me to leave Thailand and we’re putting our house up for sale".

I'm sure you'll find a taker right here on TVF. You certainly wrote a great story leading up to the punch line. I was so curious to get to the final chapter.

Kerchunk  

[Jack Mountain]

Great sales pitch but after realizing that it gave me a bummer. I was already packing ...

[worgeordie]

Advertorial,you read it,only to find  out he's looking for a buyer. 

regards Worgeordie

[shaurene]

12 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Advertorial,you read it,only to find  out he's looking for a buyer. 

regards Worgeordie

So, what's your asked Ng price.

[inThailand]

1 hour ago, neeray said:

 "But it’s time for me to leave Thailand and we’re putting our house up for sale".

 

I'm sure you'll find a taker right here on TVF. You certainly wrote a great story leading up to the punch line. I was so curious to get to the final chapter.

Enjoy your next venture.

Yup, just another story which really is an ad to sell his unsellable property. 

[quandow]

What's good for you would be the LAST option I would ever choose (owning a home in Phuket). I rent a large two-bedroom condo in Na Jomtien overlooking the Gulf of Thailand on the 26th floor of a really nice building. Perfect for me, and many people would say "Never for me." My favorite saying learned in Thailand - Up to you.

[madmen]

Ok you may as well tell us how much your selling for. Great ad though very well presented

[transam]

If you're leaving it there is something wrong with it....????

[gearbox]

1 minute ago, inThailand said:

Yup, just another story which really is an ad to sell his unsellable property. 

IMO if you buy or build a property here which is marketable only to farangs, prepare to be yours forever... I see in Samui RE listing printouts in the agencies which are barely readable, being exposed to sunlight for eternity ????

 

[Bobsuruncle]

2 hours ago, Colabamumbai said:

Waiting to see where you move next. 

America

[Bobsuruncle]

2 hours ago, rumak said:

and what is the PRIMARY reason that you are leaving? 

I've had enough of foreign governments and immigration officials trying to rule my life. It's time to move on to somewhere less restrictive.

[Bobsuruncle]

55 minutes ago, Jack Mountain said:

Great sales pitch but after realizing that it gave me a bummer. I was already packing ...

Sorry for the bummer.

[Bobsuruncle]

39 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Advertorial,you read it,only to find  out he's looking for a buyer. 

regards Worgeordie

Mostly true.

[Bobsuruncle]

26 minutes ago, shaurene said:

So, what's your asked Ng price.

2.9 million baht

[Bobsuruncle]

26 minutes ago, inThailand said:

Yup, just another story which really is an ad to sell his unsellable property. 

Mostly true.

[Bobsuruncle]

27 minutes ago, quandow said:

What's good for you would be the LAST option I would ever choose (owning a home in Phuket). I rent a large two-bedroom condo in Na Jomtien overlooking the Gulf of Thailand on the 26th floor of a really nice building. Perfect for me, and many people would say "Never for me." My favorite saying learned in Thailand - Up to you.

I agree, everyone is a bit different with their likes and dislikes.

Actually this is Phangnga and not Phuket, but it is country as opposed to city life and many enjoy the city life. Sounds like your view is a lot better than mine though.

[Bobsuruncle]

31 minutes ago, madmen said:

Ok you may as well tell us how much your selling for. Great ad though very well presented

2.9 million baht.

[sirineou]

Sorry not to read the whole OP, way too many words and only two pictures .

It seems to me that you had found the best place once before when you moved near your in laws until you got bored four years later, so what makes you think this is the best place and you will not get bored there after a while.  

Is there such a thing as the best place? or is something the best until it is not?

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, balo said:

You forgot to mention that Phuket island is a ripoff place for tourists and expats and taxi mafia everywhere. Restaurant prices are double of Pattaya etc etc etc.  

It's the last place in Thailand I would relocate to. 

Beat me to it. Anyplace near Phuket is not the perfect place for me.

If I win lotto, I'm moving to Plaas on Than Sadet. Wonderful sea views, great vibe, quiet, wonderful scenery and can't be built out because it's a national park.

Mind you, if I was young I'd hate it as nothing to do except enjoy the ambience, but I'm old and ambience is as good as it gets for me now.

[Bobsuruncle]

29 minutes ago, transam said:

If you're leaving it there is something wrong with it....????

Actually there is another reason. The property is perfect for me. It's the country of Thailand with it's rules and laws that has finally caused this change. I've come to an age where I would like to have less government officials probing into my daily life and a little bit more freedom.

[Bobsuruncle]

33 minutes ago, gearbox said:

IMO if you buy or build a property here which is marketable only to farangs, prepare to be yours forever... I see in Samui RE listing printouts in the agencies which are barely readable, being exposed to sunlight for eternity ????

 

I agree

[thaibeachlovers]

7 minutes ago, Bobsuruncle said:

Actually there is another reason. The property is perfect for me. It's the country of Thailand with it's rules and laws that has finally caused this change. I've come to an age where I would like to have less government officials probing into my daily life and a little bit more freedom.

Perhaps Phuket is different, but I never had government officials probing my daily life in all my years in LOS.