Hi all,

 

After many years in Pattaya I have finally escaped. Temporarily or not I have no idea as yet.

 

Currently in Patong. Been here a week staying at a guesthouse.

 

Question: Are there any apartments for monthly rental, preferably within walking distance of the beach and JungCeylon, of a sensible size and 20,000 Baht, max, monthly? 

 

I was in the last place in Pattaya for over 7 years but have no real idea yet how long I am likely to be in Patong. Could be month or could be another mass of years.

 

I do miss the Baht busses I must admit. Getting around here in Patong doesn't seem easy without a motor cycle, which I am unlikely to bother with nowadays. 

 

Any suggestions for accommodation?

 

I do like a bit of nightlife, which Patong obviously has, but should I be thinking of trying another area also?

 

I will say that the reason for the move is down to air quality. Sepemberish to Aprilish the air in Pattaya, and all over a large part of the country there can be very bad. It certainly is a lot better down here in Phuket.

 

I do have two air purifiers in Pattaya which help hugely but that doesn't help much when I go outside, and jogging can be a lung damaging pastime when the air is bad.
 

From what I have seen so far, I prefer Pattaya, but I do have to breath so here I am.

 

Certainly, the beach at Patong is far superior though!

 

Simon

 

 

 

20k per month on a lease of at least 3+ months should easily get you a 1bdr apartment or even a 1bdr condo in Patong.

 

Try putting a free wanted post in the phuket property groups on Facebook and see what offers you get.

 

All the west coast towns have pubs that operate year round. However, Patong Is the epicenter that is by far the busiest, and it also has the most variety of nightlife year round. 
 

PM sent

I wouldn’t live in patong. Maybe live in Rawai and just hop on the smart bus when you want to go party. Taxi prices are a joke as you already know.. rent a motorbike don’t feed the corruption.

Have a look at Karon.

Easy to go (10 minutes) Patong, but it nicer place, nice beach. 

Good luck.

Regarding transportation, one of the reasons I decided to stay in Patong long-term is because I didn't want to hassle with driving. Everybody seems to think that a person needs to either ride a motorbike or to use taxis to get around Patong. But I find everything in Patong to be walkable and I use the local buses and Smart Bus to get to other places on the island. It's particularly easy and cheap (30 THB) to take the local bus to Phuket town, and along the way you pass the major shopping in Phuket town: Big C, Makro, Tesco Lotus and Central Phuket. The local bus runs about every 30 minutes, starting from in front of the Patong Merlin hotel, and you can board and deboard anywhere along the route. The Smart Bus charges a flat 170 THB if you pay cash, or fares based upon distance traveled if you use the Rabbit Card. You can buy the Rabbit Card onboard the bus for 300 THB (100 THB fee and 200 THB credit) and top it off at the McDonald's at the back of Jungceylon. The Smart Bus stops at the Bangla Police Box northbound and in front of the Sleep with Me hotel southbound (just south of Jungceylon). The Smart Bus schedule and other information is online at https://phuketsmartbus.com/?lang=en.

 

Hope this helps. Let me know if you'd like any further detail.

I'd suggest you try Patong for a while, as it seems to be what you want, but try not to agree too long a contract for a rental unit (and you won't have a problem finding somewhere) so if you do find it too "in yer face" you can look somewhere else.

 

Karon/Kata/Kamala are all within fairly easy reach of Patong, have some nightlife of their own, albeit rather more subdued, and many would consider them more pleasant places to live with better beaches.

I’m with @madmitch patong is a nightmare to me at least. You can’t go anywhere without someone shouting in your face to buy something.

I lived in Cape Panwa for 6 months...nice chill area and only 10 minutes to Phuket Town

1 hour ago, Card said:

Cant even see Kho Larn some days.

Too much beer? 

Wrong direction? 

Skyscraper build overnight? 

Air humidity? 

From Pat...taya to Pat...ong...

 

Not much of an escape...same but not same, but same...

 

A tourist trap is a tourist trap, whatever its name.

 

To me, Patong/Phuket is much worse than Pattaya...try to find a 10 baht taxi over there, for example...

We rent an ex hotel room in the centre of Chiang Mai when we go there, 6k/m internet/car park space extra, house cleaning weekly.
Good room 25 sq/m king double bed, bathroom w hot water, TV, fridge, A/C

Used to be a hotel but when they cracked down on them a few years ago they had to close the hotel side of the business, but the hotel is still there, we found it was cheaper to rent for 1 month than stay there as a hotel for 1 week.
Although Chiang Mai is not Patong I don't see why rent contracts would be much higher.!

Helps if you have a Thai national to negotiate for/with you.

Some people would only want to live in Patong, and I can understand that some need to be in the middle of the action. There are many quieter places on the island, but seeing as you don't want to get a bike you might start to feel isolated after a while. 20k a month gives you many options. Airbnb alone has >300 options starting at 9k a month. Craigslist has a 650m² 2-bedroom penthouse for 13500 a month!

33 minutes ago, millymoopoo said:

We rent an ex hotel room in the centre of Chiang Mai when we go there, 6k/m internet/car park space extra, house cleaning weekly.
Good room 25 sq/m king double bed, bathroom w hot water, TV, fridge, A/C

Used to be a hotel but when they cracked down on them a few years ago they had to close the hotel side of the business, but the hotel is still there, we found it was cheaper to rent for 1 month than stay there as a hotel for 1 week.
Although Chiang Mai is not Patong I don't see why rent contracts would be much higher.!

Helps if you have a Thai national to negotiate for/with you.

Helps if you live in Phuket or at least Thailand too. Yeah both places are very similar!????

Phuket is MUCH more seasonal than other areas of Thailand so you can negotiate much better rental contracts in low season. The reason is the whether - there are high seas in off season so tourists can't swim at the beach easily and diving is limited to local areas. There is almost no tourism during low season. 

 

What I don't like in Phuket is that everyone is treated as a tourist and scam prices get frustrating. Elsewhere in Thailand long-stay expats that can speak some Thai seem to be treated with a little more respect than tourists. It seemed to me that in Phuket everyone foreign is seen as a deep pocket to milk.  I spent a couple of years there in various locations.  It's just a little better outside of Patong.

OP here.

 

As I originally said, the "escape" (after very many years) was in search of cleaner air. No other reason.

 

I love living in Pattaya, which was why I chose to come take a look at Patong as part of the escape plan, thinking it may be kind of similar but with breathable air as well for more of the year.

 

It did seem very "in yer face" at first but the more I stay here the more I seem to be ignored by the people who were causing it.

 

A lot of them seem to recognise me now and just leave me alone. as they know perfectly well I will just ignore them if they try to sell me anything. 

 

Still enough do it to be a bit irritating at times but it seems to get less every day (or maybe I am just getting used to it!)

 

Still undecided if I will stay here. The advice to try other parts of the island seems very sound so we will see, though I am starting to work out how to make Patong work for me very acceptably I must say.

 

Air certainly a lot better down here at this time of the year than anywhere in Pattaya etc.

 

For those of you who say "so what". Read up on the effects of air pollution. It is truly scary.

 

Strokes, lung disease, heart attacks, dementia, asthma, bronchitis, erectile dysfunction and many, many more. Even depression and psychosis.

 

The effects on children's development is also scary.

 

Can't remember if I am allowed to post links but if so, from yesterday,  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7802017/Air-pollution-making-NHS-winter-crisis-worse-175-doctors-warn.html

 

If not a mod will remove it for me no doubt

 

Re: that link. Bearing in mind the air in the UK is far better than the likes of Pattaya I dread to think how many people are suffering in Pattaya (Or will be in due course)

 

Check the two attached images out. Both from today.

 

Bear in mind, there is NO safe air pollution level, so it's a case of choosing the lesser of the evils.

 

Rather like smoking cigarettes. If you smoke 10 a day you may die of something else before they kill you. If you smoke 40 a day they may well kill you (or ruin your health) before anything else does.

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

Went to Samui just once. Around 1995. Was lovely then.

 

Stayed in a little wooden hut (with thatched roof I think) a stones throw, literally, from the sea. The only hut there. Just on its own by the sea.

 

80 Baht a night (or may have been 40)

 

View from outside the hut attached. No idea what part of the island it was on.

 

Was there with a lovely girl from Buriram who later became my wife (and even later became my ex wife)

 

We rode around the island on a 100cc bike which seemed like a little toy after the 1100 and 1000's I was always riding in Pattaya in those days.

 

Simon.

 

 

Off topic posts and replies have been removed. 

Leaving Pattaya for Phuket ! 5555+

we must have found a champion here ????

 

 

On 12/23/2019 at 4:34 PM, gamesgplayemail said:

Leaving Pattaya for Phuket ! 5555+

we must have found a champion here ????

 

 

There is definitely no better place than Phuket OVERALL in Thailand.

 

He is making the right move if he desires a place with decent/excellent beaches, clean air, beautiful scenery, and easy access to all the amenities.

18 hours ago, ChasingTheSun said:

There is definitely no better place than Phuket OVERALL in Thailand.

 

He is making the right move if he desires a place with decent/excellent beaches, clean air, beautiful scenery, and easy access to all the amenities.

 

Another champion...

 

 

1 hour ago, gamesgplayemail said:

 

Another champion...

 

 

Thanks :))

I am gonna be on the ground in a good week from now to do research, want to relocate the family to Phuket too.
So far the rental prices seem to be similar as Chiang Mai and Pattaya, eating mostly from home will not add too much costs as well + we own bikes already.

 

Wonder if the OP is still there by now? Or did you gave up on it?

Rented a house in Rawai for 11 years @ 12,000thb a month, so OP your price range is definitely do-able. Definitely could walk to nightlife, had a bike but walking to Nai Harn only a couple miles.

 

Often thought the apartments and such set a road back off Rawai Beach might be a nice place to live. Especially if you can get a deck with an ocean view. Can walk to all the bars on the Rawai speedway, tons of restaurants.

 

Wouldn't recommend swimming in the sea at Patong beach, sometimes looking down on the beach you can see the first 100 meters is brown trout water.

10 hours ago, grumpyoldman said:

Rented a house in Rawai for 11 years @ 12,000thb a month, so OP your price range is definitely do-able. Definitely could walk to nightlife, had a bike but walking to Nai Harn only a couple miles.

 

Often thought the apartments and such set a road back off Rawai Beach might be a nice place to live. Especially if you can get a deck with an ocean view. Can walk to all the bars on the Rawai speedway, tons of restaurants.

 

Wouldn't recommend swimming in the sea at Patong beach, sometimes looking down on the beach you can see the first 100 meters is brown trout water.

Nice to see you posting again GOM.

On 1/4/2020 at 3:44 PM, tabarin said:

I am gonna be on the ground in a good week from now to do research, want to relocate the family to Phuket too.
So far the rental prices seem to be similar as Chiang Mai and Pattaya, eating mostly from home will not add too much costs as well + we own bikes already.

 

Wonder if the OP is still there by now? Or did you gave up on it?

Yes, OP still here.

 

Apart from the silly priced taxi's (oh for Baht busses!) I really can't find a lot to whinge about down here of any note. 

 

Even then, as an earlier poster pointed out, there is various public transport around the island (albeit nowhere near as convenient as Baht busses). 

 

Having said that though, I seem to be able to walk to anywhere I generally want to go within about 10 minutes here in Patong.

 

What public transport there is seems cheap enough to get to various places outside of here. I took the public bus from Patong beach to the HUGE Central mall a couple of days back. 30 Baht.  Not exactly sure how far that was but a good few miles and it carries on into Phuket Town (still only 30 Baht)

 

I cannot remember ever seeing a mall with so many free public seating areas. Nice soft comfy ones too some of them.

 

I believe there are also busses between the various beaches.

 

There is a lot of good info and sensible advice from previous posters, so do read all. 

 

Plenty of motor cycles to rent here if you are ok with them which then pretty much cancels out my  whinge about taxi costs.

 

The beaches down here make anything Pattaya has to offer look very sad.

 

Long term accommodation can be had at a perfectly acceptable rate all year round. Hotels at the moment are not cheap but look to drop a lot in low season.

 

Prices, overall, at Patong are a bit higher than Pattaya I think but nothing to worry too much about. If you want to live at a reasonable price here it is easy enough.

 

The touts, originally annoying, seem to have pretty much given up on me now and either totally ignore me or just give me a smile if our eyes ever meet.

 

Other parts of the island are certainly far quieter (and maybe cheaper?) than here so do read the sound advice posted by others earlier. 

 

It’s a large island (Thailands biggest and connected by a road bridge to the mainland) so there is probably something for everyone somewhere here.

 

Of course, there is an airport for easy access to elsewhere.

 

With the huge difference in air quality between here and Pattaya, there would have to be armed gangs roaming the streets here looking to kill me before I moved back there outside of the Mayish to Septish clearer air season. 

 

Unless anyone particularly wants an incurable lung or heart etc disease I would say move down far south to one area or another, at the very least in the Septish to Aprilish death season in Pattaya.

 

Not just Pattaya, anywhere as far south as a way past Chumphon is likely to be bad.

 

The difference at the moment in the air between here and Pattaya etc is staggering.

 

Simon