Quality of life in Kho Samui

[gearbox]

1 hour ago, Logosone said:

 

For me this thread was merely about checking if Koh Samui ticks all the basics, good internet, french bakeries, massage places, shopping malls. So it looks like that is the case, but people have been very honest about the downsides, expensive (not a dealbreaker for me I didn't find living in Chiang Mai cheaper than where I'm from), travel mafia (not great but I will have scooter and/or car), less choice of restaurants, malls and massage places (the most serious con), expensive flights (not great but not dealbreaker and you can fly to KL, HK, Singapore, China and BK so that's good).

 

Less choice of malls definitely yes, but restaurants - I don't think so. On Tripadvisor pre-covid there were 1200+ restaurants listed on Samui,  and that doesn't include the typical Thai outlets.  The restaurant scene is very cosmopolitan. Of course many of them are closed now.

[khunPer]

56 minutes ago, Logosone said:

I lived a few years between Cuba and Jamaica but it was a very small island and basically I missed civilization, few choices of good facilities and hurricanes were a problem. I do mean a serious problem.

So far hurricanes are not a problem here. The normally annually monsoon season – which we missed last season, or it was just mild – is nothing compared to what happen in the Caribbean, even a few years ago, when we alerted about the worst storm in decades "Pabuk", it was nothing more than a strong monsoon, which you mainly feel when living beachfront, like I do. Before I moved beachfront I lived 80 meter back, and only noticed the monsoon when walking to the beach.

 

Rainy season is mainly during the monsoon season which begins about mid October and lasts until mid January, could be til about 1st February. It's only a few weeks with bad weather, i.e. heavy rain and/or stormy sea, the other weeks can be excellent calm and sunshine; for turists however, we normally advise against November-December, because you don't know in advance which few weeks are bad, and it might just be the two weeks a vacation on a paradise island lasts, and you might not return after such a beachfront holiday.

 

I use to say that we have about 300 days in a year with with good weather, never too cold – it can be freezing cold up north????, I've tried it, and that's why some of us Scandinavians prefer the southern part of Thailand – not too hot. The coldest night I've experience on Samui was 17.9 centigrade, which was said to beat a 100-year old record, and when it's really hot it's between 32 and 34 centigrade. 28 to 30 is almost the all year round temperature.

 

I saw you mentioned Pattaya as another choice, I will just mention that there is a huge difference between Pattaya and Samui.

 

When I first came to Thailand on holiday in 1987 and visited Chiang Mai I had a feeling that here I could live. After I revisited Thailand in 2001, and some friends little against my intentions dragged me down to a small coconut island in the south, I began to consider an early retirement in Thailand. I revisited Chiang Mai in search of the best place to settle, and that time it was November and loy krathong festival; the first was utterly cold, especially at night, the second was a great experience; Chiang Mai moved a bit down the list, also because of the lack of sea. I did also check Phuket area, Hua Hin area and Pattaya, and a couple of places up Isaan. Bangkok was for me out of the question to settle, but a great place to visit for a couple of day. It's really a question of personal preferences and life-style; I could live up rural Isaan, but it would be another kind of life-style than living in a more developed place, and large very developed places are different from a smaller island. Samui just fit best to my selection of possible life-styles, including that I like the party-life.

 

I moved to Samui in 2005 and lived in a rented bungalow for five years. Very affordable and within a few hundred meters walk from a nice beach, a variety of small restaurants with excellent food at affordable prices, convenient stores (like 7-Eleven) and pharmacies, a couple of banks, and also mom & dad groceries, and even 5-star resorts and ditto gourmet restaurants, if that should be the choice of the day. I later built a house by the same beach, and the variety of local stores have since expanded with Mini BigC and Tesco-Express, so a lot of daily shopping can be done without need of transportation.

And transportation, like other have mentioned, need to be considered, especially at some parts of the island. In daytime both song thaew, and the new bus route on the so-called Ring Road, running around the island, is an option (the bus is not running at the moment due to the Covid-situation). A smaller motorbike is cheap to rent, or to buy when planning longer term, but the traffic in Thailand can be difficult, Samui is known to be in the latter category. However a long term car rent can be affordable – I paid 15,000 baht a month in rent for a Suzuki Jeep Caribbean the first couple of years – or just rent for a few days when needed. The car renters gladly deliver a car, and collect it again. And doing the math, the cost of overpriced taxis compared to the costs of having a car parked outside one's home, might be in favor of the taxis, if you don't need to drive a lot; and if you're heading out some nights, you don't need to control what you're drinking to be able to drive home.

 

Food deliveries don't seem to be a problem, my next door neighbor get almost all the meals delivered, and my girls (girlfriend and daughter) often get food deliveries, seems always to be by motorbike. Myself, I see many meal-delivery motorbikes racing the roads, but I prefers to cook myself.

 

Do check out some different places of interest, test live them for a while, and check different parts of the areas, the might be huge differences just a few miles apart; we are all different and have different preferences...????

Edited May 6, 2021 by khunPer

[khunPer]

34 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

All your pix in this thread have exceptional clarity.

 

What camera do you use for these?

Thanks.
A variety of cameras, some are taken by a so-called "big camera", a Cannon 600D, some are taken with a small Sony pocket-camera, and some are taken with smart phone, the ones here with an Oppo A31 (cannot bring a camera in a super market, but they don't seem to mind photos by a phone)...????

[Logosone]

Also liking the pics here. Thanks for the climate info, really important. I understand Pattaya is very different, and one thing I like about Koh Samui is that it is more expensive, so a certain tourist contingent will avoid it. I love the idea of facilities like Pattaya, and there are nicer parts in Jomtien, but night brawls I can do without. I think Ko Samui is higher on the list, on paper, but it will a case of seeing both places for a long period.

[Tropicalevo]

4 hours ago, Captor said:

And how about the maffia? I have heard some of that.

No worse than anywhere else in Thailand. (Pattaya, Phuket, Bangkok etc)

Just do not start a business that competes with them and you will be fine.

I have lived here and I have run a small business for over 20 years - all good. No threats.

Edited May 6, 2021 by Tropicalevo

[kynikoi]

On 5/5/2021 at 4:30 PM, kiteman9 said:

Getting bored of Chiang Mai means more and likely you will end up bored in Kho Samui. Scientific research reports that individuals who are often bored are also more prone to poor mental health.

 

I love the ocean. Can sit for weeks in a hammock, swim, snorkel, walk.

 

I'm bored in a day in the mountains unless they really are MOUNTAINS. Then it'd take a week. I've visited CM twice in 30 years in Asia because it's so boring.

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, Swimfan said:

I would like to see some data to support the allegations of so called Most Dangerous Place to Ride in Thailand. 

There has been many various statements about that – including a t-shirt that you a some point could be eligible to buy: "I drove on Koh Samui and survived" – but official facts seem difficult to find.

 

I once joined a local group with the goal to improve traffic safety, especially for tourists on motorbike, partly established by some local English language media or journalists, but it unfortunately never ended in anything more than ideas. I believe this diagram originates from members from that group...

 

 

If you calculate the about 2-3 death a month, about a decade ago, which equals around 24-36 a year, and recall Samui's official population by that time was close to 50,000, then it fits with at least 40 per 100,000 population a year. Taking into consideration that some victims unfortunately also died later in hospital (EEC counts), the around 130 death a year per 100,000 population actually fits quite well, i.e. 65 per 50,000.

[kynikoi]

Can anyone compare living on Samui to

 

Koh Tao

Phuket (east side)

Krabi

 

Especially KT we are seriously thinking. Yes, murder island.

[kynikoi]

1 minute ago, khunPer said:

There has been many various statements about that – including a t-shirt that you a some point could be eligible to buy: "I drove on Koh Samui and survived" – but official facts seem difficult to find.

 

I once joined a local group with the goal to improve traffic safety, especially for tourists on motorbike, partly established by some local English language media or journalists, but it unfortunately never ended in anything more than ideas. I believe this diagram originates from members from that group...

 

 

If you calculate the about 2-3 death a month, about a decade ago, which equals around 24-36 a year, and recall Samui's official population by that time was close to 50,000, then it fits with at least 40 per 100,000 population a year. Taking into consideration that some victims unfortunately also died later in hospital (EEC counts), the around 130 death a year per 100,000 population actually fits quite well, i.e. 65 per 50,000.

Wow!!

 

Motorcycles or cars as well? That's insane.

[khunPer]

12 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

No worse than anywhere else in Thailand. (Pattaya, Phuket, Bangkok etc)

Just do not start a business that competes with them and you will be fine.

I have lived here and I have run a small business for over 20 years - all good. No threats.

Otherwise, there is always the old saying that "if you can't beat them, join them"...????????

[Tropicalevo]

5 hours ago, fdsa said:

the beloved international airport on Koh Samui is not a government one but a privately owned by Bangkok Airways and the monopoly allows them to pump up the prices.

The prices are high because it is an International airport that is privately funded. No government subsidies.

In all of the many years that I have lived here, there have always been other airlines flying to Koh Samui.

Originally just Firefly and then over the years many more - including Thai Airways until they went 'code share' with BA in 2018..

Pre-Covid (remember those days) there were at least 8 or 9 different airlines that had scheduled flights that 'touched down' on Samui. Even Tibet Airlines had a daily flight here.

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, Jeffr2 said:

The worst drivers on samui are the vans hauling tourists around. Or ones making deliveries. Insane drivers.

Not many tourist vans in business at the moment.

But Food Panda 'Evel Knievels' - they are like a plague of pink rats scurrying around the island at high speeds.

[lavender19]

It's an ideal life for an early to bed non drinker at the moment

[khunPer]

1 minute ago, kynikoi said:

Wow!!

 

Motorcycles or cars as well? That's insane.

Total I presume, I've unfortunately seen a number of dead car victims.

 

 

[Logosone]

I've had 3 accidents in 9 months in Chiang Mai, none my fault, so I assume insane driving anywhere in Thailand.

[khunPer]

4 minutes ago, Logosone said:

I've had 3 accidents in 9 months in Chiang Mai, none my fault, so I assume insane driving anywhere in Thailand.

I miss that ???? emoji.

 

I've been driving on Samui for 15+ years, one speedy Thais taking over in a narrow road once damage my side mirror. I tried to follow him to take his number, but he was too fast...????

My girlfriend however had an accident, a lady at Makro's parking area looked the other way and drove slowly into the car.

I presume we have been lucky, we're driving in average 9,000 kilometers a year on this small island, that equals 170 times around the island every year on the Ring Road. But we have had a number of close miss, including avoiding some presumably drunk drivers, especially at night, even a fast one that was getting onto the wrong lane, the lane coming straight towards me...????

 

He must have forgot the official Thai road safety campaign "drunk drive slowly" (not my photo, borrowed from the news)...

 

[Mario666]

5 hours ago, Deli said:

Samui is a great place and had it all. The only downer is: whenever you wanna go somewhere else, you need to ferry or fly.

 

True....But what better place to curb Covid???...if they do it right?

[fdsa]

59 minutes ago, kynikoi said:

Can anyone compare living on Samui to

 

Koh Tao

Phuket (east side)

Krabi

Koh Tao - apart from diving and snorkeling there is nothing to do there.

Krabi - wonderful scenery, beautiful city (both Krabi town and Ao Nang). I moved from Krabi after living half a year there because - again, nothing to do.

Phuket east side - dirty beaches and sea; west side - a bit cleaner beaches and sea.

 

for long stay I'd choose between Phuket and Samui.

[Mario666]

9 minutes ago, fdsa said:

Koh Tao - apart from diving and snorkeling there is nothing to do there.

Krabi - wonderful scenery, beautiful city (both Krabi town and Ao Nang). I moved from Krabi after living half a year there because - again, nothing to do.

Phuket east side - dirty beaches and sea; west side - a bit cleaner beaches and sea.

 

for long stay I'd choose between Phuket and Samui.

 

Koh Tao...Too small and infrastructure sucks....Maybe 2 days if you like diving?

 

Krabi ....Not been yet, wanna go but only for a few days (maybe weekend).....Seen plenty of Vids on YouTube...Ao Nang just looks like very small "Beach Strip"......Railay Beach (Day Trip)!

 

Phuket .....Stayed in  Kamala, Patong, Kata, Karon and Rawai....All good for different reasons!

 

All I can say is I have lived on Samui for 11 years!...Suits me as a "Hub" for travel.

 

I know that Bangkok Airways was a "Rip" before Covid but <deleted>!.....100 Quid each way to BKK???

 

Each to their own! 

 

[khunPer]

4 hours ago, kynikoi said:

Can anyone compare living on Samui to

 

Koh Tao

Phuket (east side)

Krabi

 

Especially KT we are seriously thinking. Yes, murder island.

I cannot talk about Krabi, but in my modest view Koh Tao and neighboring Koh Nangyuan are great for a trip, but if you are not a passionate diver, I think you'll get as bored there after a while as the prisoners once was, when Tao was a prison island; but the prisoners said that the sunrises and sunsets were great to look at...????

 

Tao miss infrastructure and is really living on a small island without the benefits of shopping; however some people prefers that life-style, but too me I might get what we in Danish call "økuller", Google translate don't come up with a usable translation, it should be something like "island crazy", but the Danish noun "kuller"' is actually a technical term that describes a brain disease in horses which, among other things, results in restlessness and tantrums....????

 

Phuket is larger and more developed than Samui, and have some very nice areas. I was seriously looking at Phuket before I settled on Samui, but the few places I found of real interest was out of my financial range, and those affordable by a the sea was on the wrong side of the island, and with no beach.

 

A major difference between Phuket and Samui in my view is that on Phuket you mainly live in towns, and cross a busy road to get to a public beach. On Samui you live by or on the beaches. Also, whem there begins to be taller buildings or towers the paradise island magic disappears, no matter how many benefits a town might offer.

 

I found that Samui is offering the right balance between paradise island and developed town, with all the necessary benefits from shopping and nightlife to hospitals and schools, and I can still live in a coconut palm village.

 

But we all are so different in expectations and preferences, the only way to really know. is to visit and try out each place...????

[Jeffr2]

13 hours ago, Logosone said:

I've had 3 accidents in 9 months in Chiang Mai, none my fault, so I assume insane driving anywhere in Thailand.

I don't drive my scooter into down town Pattaya.  I'd hate to think of how many friends I know who were banged up, or no longer with us, due to scooters.  Many.  But that's true all over Thailand.  It is perhaps the most dangerous place in the world to ride a scooter.

 

We were on the ferry and I had a beer in the car.  So I drank it on the way over.  Put it in the cup holder, a large Leo.  My only beer up until that point.  Went to our hotel and the next day went out shopping.  There was a police check point at the main intersection in Bophut.  I stopped.  Beer can still in the cup holder, in plain view.  The cop looked at it, looked at us, and waved us on.  This was 10am. 

 

https://www.samuitimes.com/staying-safe-roads-koh-samui/

Quote

The roads in Samui are out of control. There is absolutely no traffic enforcement of any kind. It results in up to 30 road deaths per month, on Samui alone. Most are on bike. The police and the government absolutely refuse to do anything to improve the situation. There is no policing of speed limits or drink driving rules and there are only a hand full of checkpoints on the odd day here and there to enforce helmet use.

 

[Tropicalevo]

3 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

Beer can still in the cup holder, in plain view.  The cop looked at it, looked at us, and waved us on.  This was 10am. 

 

https://www.samuitimes.com/staying-safe-roads-koh-samui/

Quote

The roads in Samui are out of control. There is absolutely no traffic enforcement of any kind. It results in up to 30 road deaths per month, on Samui alone. Most are on bike. The police and the government absolutely refuse to do anything to improve the situation. There is no policing of speed limits or drink driving rules and there are only a hand full of checkpoints on the odd day here and there to enforce helmet use.

 

That is a pretty old article. (2013)

Those numbers were certainly true back then but they are meaningless now.

It was about that time that the police/local government stopped the reporting of traffic deaths as the numbers were so bad.

As khunPer wrote in a previous article - the reported numbers were only those that died at the roadside. The real number was higher but back then there would probably be a couple of million tourists a year coming to the island.

We could all tell tales about the number of times that we have seen new 'bike riders' having their first accident with in 400 meters of the rental shop.

The number or road deaths on Samui now would be minimal (although one is too many).

 

I loved the story about the Leo and the police check.  ????

 

Edited May 7, 2021 by Tropicalevo

[khunPer]

4 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

https://www.samuitimes.com/staying-safe-roads-koh-samui/

Quote

The roads in Samui are out of control. There is absolutely no traffic enforcement of any kind. It results in up to 30 road deaths per month, on Samui alone. Most are on bike. The police and the government absolutely refuse to do anything to improve the situation. There is no policing of speed limits or drink driving rules and there are only a hand full of checkpoints on the odd day here and there to enforce helmet use.

 

Those 30, and some even say 70, road deaths a month, is unfortunately undocumentated speculation. The 30 to 70 figure might originate from the road-safety group, which the editor of Samui Times were a member of (I was also in the group), when she still stayed in Thailand. 30 x 12 would give 360 per year of a 50,000 to 65,000 registered population, which would equal between 550 to 720 death a year per 100,000 population.

 

However the number of average deaths per month might be higher than the official stats, please see my earlier post above and graph...

 

[tlandtday]

8 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Those 30, and some even say 70, road deaths a month, is unfortunately undocumentated speculation. The 30 to 70 figure might originate from the road-safety group, which the editor of Samui Times were a member of (I was also in the group), when she still stayed in Thailand. 30 x 12 would give 360 per year of a 50,000 to 65,000 registered population, which would equal between 550 to 720 death a year per 100,000 population.

 

However the number of average deaths per month might be higher than the official stats, please see my earlier post above and graph...

 

 

I recall talking to a gentleman who lived on Koh Chang for over a decade and he told be that there is a road death every day on Koh Chang you just don't hear about it.  Take it for what it is worth.

[khunPer]

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

That is a pretty old article. (2013)

Those numbers were certainly true back then but they are meaningless now.

It was about that time that the police/local government stopped the reporting of traffic deaths as the numbers were so bad.

As khunPer wrote in a previous article - the reported numbers were only those that died at the roadside. The real number was higher but back then there would probably be a couple of million tourists a year coming to the island.

We could all tell tales about the number of times that we have seen new 'bike riders' having their first accident with in 400 meters of the rental shop.

The number or road deaths on Samui now would be minimal (although one is too many).

 

I loved the story about the Leo and the police check.  ????

 

There's a huge difference between a traffic accident, and traffic accident that cause death.

 

Many tourists have traffic accidents, often smaller ones resulting in so-called "Samui tattoo", i.e. skin abrasions, most of those small accidents might never see a police report. Only relative few tourists actually got killed in traffic accidents, but of course some did, and some might unfortunately still do.

 

Official stats says that 41 percent of tourist deaths (I don't know if expats are included) are caused by drowning accidents, whilst traffic death counts for 22 percent, health counts for 16 percent, and other causes 21 percent (including 7 percent suicide). In 2016 228 tourists died and 540 were injured. 22 percent of 228 is 50, i.e. 4 per month, but as that is figures for the whole nation the number would be much lower for Samui; tourist traffic deaths would never add up from 2-3 deaths a month to 30 deaths a month (I am not allowed to share my source links in this forum).

[khunPer]

11 minutes ago, tlandtday said:

 

I recall talking to a gentleman who lived on Koh Chang for over a decade and he told be that there is a road death every day on Koh Chang you just don't hear about it.  Take it for what it is worth.

And folks on Samui says that there are several road deaths a day, but it's not reported in the media – also take that for what it's worth – but some days yes, there are several traffic deaths (I've seen the bodies myself), but they won't count as average.

[TimBKK]

Any recommended FB groups for general happenings in Samui, and for long term rentals? ????

 

 

[Jeffr2]

2 hours ago, TimBKK said:

Any recommended FB groups for general happenings in Samui, and for long term rentals? ????

 

 

Poke around Facebook doing some searches. I am out now. But when we were on samui last year, there were several active groups. Got some great information from them.

 

AirBnB is good for long term rentals. But I'd track them down and go in person. Much better prices that way.

[huberthammer]

Been living in Samui for almost 5 years and never regretted it. Looked at other places before and during my stay here and always happily returned back to the little island.

 

Each place has negative points, in Samui it is clearly transport where both Taxis and flights are very expensive.

 

Grab is still very expensive compared to other Thai cities but at least you know what to expect compared to ridiculous expectations of flagged down taxis. However, Grab cars can be difficult to find. 

 

While flights are very expensive it also keeps some of the "undesirables" away that Phuket and Pattaya normally get with the very cheap direct charter flights.

 

I remember that before moving here I had concerns about the limited availability of special tools/hardware but with online shopping and efficient delivery options available this really have been completely mitigated. 

 

In summary, it is a great place to live and I really struggle to come up with something that I miss here.

 

 

  

[Tropicalevo]

On 5/7/2021 at 4:53 PM, Jeffr2 said:

AirBnB is good for long term rentals. But I'd track them down and go in person. Much better prices that way.

 

That statement is very true but there are other reasons for booking through AirBnb.

 

Conflict between parties and security of the booking.

 

Some owners that I deal with do not want direct bookings. If there is a conflict - AirBnb will mediate. Even though AirBnb side with the renter at least 80 - 90% of the time, some owners prefer this way.

 

Regarding security of the booking, again, one guest made a direct booking (last minute) and before the owner could block it, due to time zone differences, another guest booked the villa via AirBnb.

 

Quite a few people these days are booking through AirBnb for a 'trial' period and then extending direct with the owner.