Best Place to live in Thailand that has beaches?

[jimmjam]

Looking for some ideas, i get bored of isaan easily, so i usually take the family and go live somewhere else for while.

Last year it was Hua Hin, it was ok i just hated the weekend traffic. I used my car once while i was there.

Im looking for something perminent this time. 

Dont want to do islands, would prefer to stay on the mainland.

I heard someone on here mention bang saray?

Is it liveable there?

Would need to be near schools, malls, etc....

[Kwasaki]

Why don't you go see for yourself who knows what you like. 

[scubascuba3]

You want us to recommend Pattaya i can tell.

 

Currently the worse time to be in Thailand, you can't do anything, might as well stay in isaan

[male expat]

Bang Saray or Saree is good, but cheap was yesterday.

[Kadilo]

Pattaya..........oh sorry you said beaches.

[jimmjam]

Note to self...

Dont ask for advice on this forum.????‍♂️

[Kadilo]

3 minutes ago, jimmjam said:

Note to self...

Dont ask for advice on this forum.????‍♂️

Similar questions have been asked before and a variety of answers have come up depending on your age and outlook. 
Ruling out the Islands limits your choices  

[jimmjam]

1 minute ago, Kadilo said:

Similar questions have been asked before and a variety of answers have come up depending on your age and outlook. 
Ruling out the Islands limits your choices  

I will have a search. Cheers.

[Mike Teavee]

14 minutes ago, jimmjam said:

Note to self...

Dont ask for advice on this forum.????‍♂️

If you sort of "Liked" Hua Hin, but didn't quite "gel" with the place then why not try Cha-Am?

 

Close enough to Hua Hin if you want to pop in, but far enough away if you don't

 

I also quite like Bang Saen which is the closest beach resort place to Bangkok (if that's important to you for airports etc...) 

 

Recently back from a 3 week exploratory tour looking at places to live by the sea & my personal & very limited findings were...

1. I didn't get on with Jomtien, ok for a holiday, I just couldn't see myself living there
2. I loved Koh Samed but Internet searches bring up zero places to rent there & can well imagine I'd be bored after a few weeks
3. Pretty neutral about Koh Samui, certainly everything you could want/need there, but a bit more on the expensive side & felt more geared to tourists (NB I only stayed in Lamai & Chaweng,  it's a lot bigger Island than I got to see) 

Personally my next trips (When I've no idea) will be to check out mid-country... Udon Thani, Khon Kaen etc... as not living near the beach/sea is not a deal breaker for me (though I would prefer it if I could), as long as I can get to one in a few hours

 

[jimmjam]

3 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

If you sort of "Liked" Hua Hin, but didn't quite "gel" with the place then why not try Cha-Am?

 

Close enough to Hua Hin if you want to pop in, but far enough away if you don't

 

I also quite like Bang Saen which is the closest beach resort place to Bangkok (if that's important to you for airports etc...) 

 

Recently back from a 3 week exploratory tour looking at places to live by the sea & my personal & very limited findings were...

1. I didn't get on with Jomtien, ok for a holiday, I just couldn't see myself living there
2. I loved Koh Samed but Internet searches bring up zero places to rent there & can well imagine I'd be bored after a few weeks
3. Pretty neutral about Koh Samui, certainly everything you could want/need there, but a bit more on the expensive side & felt more geared to tourists (NB I only stayed in Lamai & Chaweng,  it's a lot bigger Island than I got to see) 

Personally my next trips (When I've no idea) will be to check out mid-country... Udon Thani, Khon Kaen etc... as not living near the beach/sea is not a deal breaker for me (though I would prefer it if I could), as long as I can get to one in a few hours

 

Will have a look at bang saen.

Cheers.

[champers]

2 minutes ago, jimmjam said:

Will have a look at bang saen.

Cheers.

The weekend traffic in Bang Saen is very heavy in normal times. This seemed to be an issue for you in Hua Hin.

[Sametboy2019]

Barely a decent mainland beach in Thailand that the water is clean enough to swim.

Hua Hin or Cha am south of BKK or if you are looking east of BKK then the water isn't clean enough to after Rayong and both places ain't that clean.

[chickenslegs]

8 hours ago, jimmjam said:

I heard someone on here mention bang saray?

Is it liveable there?

Setting aside all the temporary problems everywhere ...

 

Bang Saray is a 20 minute drive into Pattaya, with all the shopping/restaurants/entertainment you could wish for. Also, two great water parks, Nong Nooch gardens and other touristy type places nearby.

 

The village (well, small town now) has plenty of shops, bars, a reasonably nice beach (not pristine as the real estate ads would promise). Within a few minutes drive there is now a Homepro, Boonthavorn, Big C, Makro etc as well as the usual 7-11s, mini Lotus and mini Big C everywhere. Strangely, no bank branches - a drive to Ban Amphur or Sattahip (10-15 minutes) to get to one.

 

It still retains some of the traditional Thai atmosphere and there are some really nice markets, seafood restaurants, bars, and restaurants to be found (in normal times).

 

However (again, in normal times), the hordes from Bangkok invade the place every weekend, particularly on holiday weekends, making it pretty crowded near the beach.

 

But, if you live here and are retired, you can enjoy the comparative quiet of the midweek.

 

Schools - well I know there are a few government schools in and around the village, but I have no idea about the quality. My 8-yr-old attends Maryvit Sattahip (Catholic school), which is a 15 min drive away, and I am very happy with the standard there. I do know a few (well off) people who send their kids to International schools, but they need to travel quite some distance each day - maybe 40 mins each way to Regents School in Banglamung.

 

Plenty of places to rent, so you could spend some time to get to know the area before making a commitment.

 

I've been hereabouts for 15 years and don't have any plans to move away.

 

 

Edited April 6, 2020 by chickenslegs
Spilling mistooks

[Roy Baht]

Songkhla. No doubt. Check this vid out:

 

[CNXexpat]

Bang Saray, Sattahip and all the cities/towns around. Relaxed life but you are also in the cities of Rayong and Pattaya very quick for shopping, dining, cinema, etc. We plan to relocate to Huay Yai. Half an hour drive to the next beach.

[daveAustin]

1 hour ago, jimmjam said:

Note to self...

Dont ask for advice on this forum.????‍♂️

You did sort of ask for it, Mr jimmjam... the whole place is a shower of sh*** at the mo.

However, Prachuap Khiri Khan is nice and also near to Hua Hin, but perhaps a bit quiet. Bang Saray does look quite nice, then there's Rayong. Songkhla is dead and beach not great. Have a good look around once this thing has died down.

[mistral53]

You do realize that your priorities will change over time? We live in HH for several years now, but only during the first two years did we venture to the beach. The beach is like the swimming pool - if you don't have it, you want it - if you have it, it becomes irrelevant, except for the occasional visitors that can be dropped at the beach to keep them occupied for an afternoon.....

[baansgr]

10 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

Setting aside all the temporary problems everywhere ...

 

Bang Saray is a 20 minute drive into Pattaya, with all the shopping/restaurants/entertainment you could wish for. Also, two great water parks, Nong Nooch gardens and other touristy type places nearby.

 

The village (well, small town now) has plenty of shops, bars, a reasonably nice beach (not pristine as the real estate ads would promise). Within a few minutes drive there is now a Homepro, Boonthavorn, Big C, Makro etc as well as the usual 7-11s, mini Lotus and mini Big C everywhere. Strangely, no bank branches - a drive to Ban Amphur or Sattahip (10-15 minutes) to get to one.

 

It still retains some of the traditional Thai atmosphere and there are some really nice markets, seafood restaurants, bars, and restaurants to be found (in normal times).

 

However (again, in normal times), the hordes from Bangkok invade the place every weekend, particularly on holiday weekends, making it pretty crowded near the beach.

 

But, if you live here and are retired, you can enjoy the comparative quiet of the midweek.

 

Schools - well I know there are a few government schools in and around the village, but I have no idea about the quality. My 8-yr-old attends Maryvit Sattahip (Catholic school), which is a 15 min drive away, and I am very happy with the standard there. I do know a few (well off) people who send their kids to International schools, but they need to travel quite some distance each day - maybe 40 mins each way to Regents School in Banglamung.

 

Plenty of places to rent, so you could spend some time to get to know the area before making a commitment.

 

I've been hereabouts for 15 years and don't have any plans to move away.

 

 

A few points, I wish people would stop saying Bang Saray is 20 minutes to Pattaya, its not...unless you leave at 5am, green lights all the way and break the speed limit..its at least a 40 minute daytime drive in a car to Central Festival. The charm went a long time ago...it was wonderful until the likes of Sea Saran and all the other developers started building shoebox condos...how many now..20. The beach has all but gone and made way for parking..befor was great to sit on a mat and order food.The seafood restaurants that at best are only mediocre now are charging double to only a few years ago. How many 7/11s now...5?...CJ, lotus, big c...its ruined the place. What once was a wonderful fishing village is no more than Pattaya dark side with a bit of a view. One track pony town full of redneck pattaya rejects, its ruined....no bank, nothing...anything you want to do involves going to Sattahip or Pattaya such as Internet, water, electric companies. Go for a day..OK but live there...The op could look at Jomtien, vibrant nightlife, banks, immigration office, easy access to Pattaya..baht bus route, beach, foreign food supermarkets...yes and due to infrastructure easier to get around than Bang Saray.. Ample houses at 10k up in quite areas and yet one minute from everything..schools abound, either government or private within 5 minutes..

[Langsuan Man]

Yeah,  the developers used the loop hole in the law that limited condos to be no higher than 12 stories X number of meters from the beach by putting their parking lot in front of the monster condo, to satisfy the distance requirement.  There is no consideration in this country on the spirit of the law, but just how you can get around it as written

 

And there are still many vacant beach view lots that are just waiting for the same treatment.  Bang Sarey will soon mirror the sprawl that is Jomtien,  that you can see from the Bang Saray beach on a clear night 

[baansgr]

6 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

Yeah,  the developers used the loop hole in the law that limited condos to be no higher than 12 stories X number of meters from the beach by putting their parking lot in front of the monster condo, to satisfy the distance requirement.  There is no consideration in this country on the spirit of the law, but just how you can get around it as written

 

And there are still many vacant beach view lots that are just waiting for the same treatment.  Bang Sarey will soon mirror the sprawl that is Jomtien,  that you can see from the Bang Saray beach on a clear night 

It's actually 8 stories...and Delmare only got permission for 33 floors as they built the road and one of the directors of Porchland was on the Chonburi planning committee....but Jomtien has facilities and infrastructure

[Langsuan Man]

3 minutes ago, baansgr said:

It's actually 8 stories...and Delmare only got permission for 33 floors as they built the road and one of the directors of Porchland was on the Chonburi planning committee....but Jomtien has facilities and infrastructure

Corruption is corruption by any name and what happened once is sure to happen again , they built the road not out of altruism but because they had to get to their building site and could not encroach on adjacent lots.

 

And this happened years after the controversy from building a condo in Jomtien that blocked everyone's view of the water, which hastened the 12 or 8 story regulation in the first place

[Jip99]

53 minutes ago, baansgr said:

A few points, I wish people would stop saying Bang Saray is 20 minutes to Pattaya, its not...unless you leave at 5am, green lights all the way and break the speed limit..its at least a 40 minute daytime drive in a car to Central Festival. The charm went a long time ago...it was wonderful until the likes of Sea Saran and all the other developers started building shoebox condos...how many now..20. The beach has all but gone and made way for parking..befor was great to sit on a mat and order food.The seafood restaurants that at best are only mediocre now are charging double to only a few years ago. How many 7/11s now...5?...CJ, lotus, big c...its ruined the place. What once was a wonderful fishing village is no more than Pattaya dark side with a bit of a view. One track pony town full of redneck pattaya rejects, its ruined....no bank, nothing...anything you want to do involves going to Sattahip or Pattaya such as Internet, water, electric companies. Go for a day..OK but live there...The op could look at Jomtien, vibrant nightlife, banks, immigration office, easy access to Pattaya..baht bus route, beach, foreign food supermarkets...yes and due to infrastructure easier to get around than Bang Saray.. Ample houses at 10k up in quite areas and yet one minute from everything..schools abound, either government or private within 5 minutes..

 

 

Jomtien is not a patch on the relative quality of life in Bang Saray................. unless you enjoy being swamped by Russians. It is becoming more western dominated than Hua Hin.

 

Rarely is there a need to venture into Pattaya; if your need is greater then live there, or Jomtien which is a lot closer. I agree about the traffic, especiaally at weekendss, but I wouldn't take my car out then whether I lived in Bang Saray, Jomtien or Pattaya itself. 30 mins on my motocy to Friendship or Siamsburys or my regular massage shop.

 

Big C and Makro at Sattahip are 15 mins away and it is useful having Utapao airport half an hour away.

 

They haven't spoilt Bang Saray for me yet, but I can see that it will not be too many years before they do.

[baansgr]

28 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

Jomtien is not a patch on the relative quality of life in Bang Saray................. unless you enjoy being swamped by Russians. It is becoming more western dominated than Hua Hin.

 

Rarely is there a need to venture into Pattaya; if your need is greater then live there, or Jomtien which is a lot closer. I agree about the traffic, especiaally at weekendss, but I wouldn't take my car out then whether I lived in Bang Saray, Jomtien or Pattaya itself. 30 mins on my motocy to Friendship or Siamsburys or my regular massage shop.

 

Big C and Makro at Sattahip are 15 mins away and it is useful having Utapao airport half an hour away.

 

They haven't spoilt Bang Saray for me yet, but I can see that it will not be too many years before they do.

Quality of live in Bang Saray....that made me chuckle...each to their own but it really could be a nakon nowhere anywhere in Thailand...and face it...most people live on the dark side or all the way up 332...which in itself again could be Issan or anywhere.... 

[churchill]

If you like the quiet ... Mountains , Sea views , quiet beaches even in high season, good food then Koh Samui is the place , but of course an Island .. so maybe not for you .

 

You can be very secluded and quiet but still be close to all facilities when you need them 

 

You have to choose the right spot but plenty of areas to choose outside the tourist areas .

Edited April 7, 2020 by churchill
Because I wanted to

[aonangkrabi]

I live in Ao Nang, Krabi. I used to like it but is has become too crowded and the sea is dirty. I would suggest nearby Khlong Muang with wonderful sea views and a very clean beach and sea. Shopping can be done in Krabi Town and Ao Nang. There is an international school in Khao Klom, tambon Nong Thale.

[Silencer]

22 hours ago, churchill said:

If you like the quiet ... Mountains , Sea views , quiet beaches even in high season, good food then Koh Samui is the place , but of course an Island .. so maybe not for you .

 

You can be very secluded and quiet but still be close to all facilities when you need them 

 

You have to choose the right spot but plenty of areas to choose outside the tourist areas .

I decided on Samui...at least for 5 years, then I'll reevaluate. I'm located in a very secluded part of the island 15-20 minutes south of Lamai. I travel internationally 5-6 times a year and usually take the flights out of Surat Thani airport (after taking the car ferry + transfer bus, 3 hours) then Swampy but Samui has an airport with more expensive flights as well. So, getting around Thailand or the world not that hard. Life very relaxed here, go into Lamai for Makro and Chaweng for Big C/Tesco...and either for a fun night out. Otherwise, the solitude, quiet and empty beach, no tourists, and laid back lifestyle in the south of the island suits me and the missus just fine. Really depends what your priorities are.

[newnative]

   Greater Pattaya.  Plenty of variety as to places to live--both in and out of town.  Lots of housing estates in all price ranges.  Up to you whether you want to live close to Pattaya or farther out but either way you have great shopping choices, entertainment, lots of restaurants, and good hospitals--including a new one being finished in Jomtien.  

[sandyf]

On 4/6/2020 at 10:16 PM, jimmjam said:

Will have a look at bang saen.

Cheers.

That would be my suggestion. i have lived in the area for about 12 years and having seen a fair bit of Thailand would say it is one of the better locations. It is well placed with Bangkok and the airport within a couple of hours.

Unlike Hua Hin the town is very easy to get about with or without a vehicle. There is a baht cab service that runs between Chonburi and Bang Sean beach,and also one along to Sri Ratcha. The hospital is part of the university, right in the centre and on the taxi route. They have recently opened a new building, it's where I go and very clean and efficient. Fairly large mall virtually across the road and there are a variety of shopping centres not far away in Chonburi.

Being a beach resort it is fairly popular with people from Bangkok but only really gets busy at holiday weekend and when there is some event on, such as the Bang Saen Grand Prix. The beach stretches for about 3km and visitors tend to stick to the centre section, quiet areas can always be found at each end and it wouldn't take long to find the roads that bypass the busy parts.

Good luck.

[Stevemercer]

If you want beaches that are decent swimming (clean sand, clean water, a few waves) then the Andaman coast is where you should be looking.

 

 

[geisha]

Chumphon has nice beaches.