Khao Yai And Pak Chong

[donald36C32C72]

I have taken the plunge and decided city life is not for me

Would be grateful for any advice and tips on moving to the area --have the land already and will be looking for builders ,also what sort of Expat community is there around the area

[stattointhailand]

Donald, I posted this report a few months ago on the golf forum. Although not aimed at someone living in the area, you may be able to glean a little info from it.

Perhaps this report from a recent 3 day trip to the area may help:-

Couple of notes to fill you in.

1) Mission Hills was in great shape, but played very easy (even I got a net 60!!)

2) Sir James was tough ..... bl**dy tough, and destroyed us all. Not for the high handicap golfer, and probably not for anyone over 20. Needed to hit long off the tee (2 x 180 yd carries required), and also a couple 2nd/3rd shots required a 150 yd plus carry (providing you got close with your lay up).

3) Voyage Panorama ..... cheapest of the lot and fairways could do with some attention, but the greens were fantastic ....plenty of problems, but ALL in perfect condition. Very fast (like sh*t off a shovel), but true. If you got the read and speed right you holed it.

Hotel was acceptable (not even any complaints from Ian who is used to staying at the "posh" end of the market). Breakfast was better than most in Thailand, only downside was that the pool was being cleaned and could not be used.

Night porter arranged massage etc;

Packchong was "QUIET" as expected with only the 4 or 5 Karaoke bars (50 girls) in the one Soi.

Thai resturant on day 1 excellent

Nightclub, small, modern, dancers on platforms, big TV in courtyard.

Texas Steakhouse "passable" (I think I'll pass it next time) ..... but to be fair it was OK for a steakhouse in a small town.

Pizza House not bad, but no better than any other pizza place.

Hotel resturant did excellent snacks in a lovelly setting by the stream, but didn't get to have a complete meal there.

Bar opposite small entertainment Soi was reasonable. Plenty of room and a couple of guys playing music.

A - Bar:- Modern bar with big screen TV outside, but very uncomfortable stools around all the tables. Looked like they were geared up for a large influx of people later in the evening if the amount of glasses/towers they had ready was anything to go by !! (possible freelance pick up place !!)

Sport bar:- Looked new, modern, good pool table, MU tv on big screen, draft Leo available.

Reckie complete ...... wouldn't mind going again to play in a small group, but I don't think the area would support a large farang influx, so wouldn't recommend it as a CM venue.

The only farang seen in three days were the guy who ran the sport bar and a couple of his mates, and an Aussie/French backpacking couple who thought 300B far too expensive for a hotel.

If there is a thriving farang community in the area I think they must keep themselves to themselves, but there again you might be able to change all that.

Good luck in your venture

[dclaryjr]

If there is a thriving farang community in the area I think they must keep themselves to themselves, but there again you might be able to change all that.

There will be on more full time resident in 2014...and I'm bringing my clubs!

Donald, I built a house on the Phupimarn resort just outside of PakChong. I haven't actually seen the place with my own eyes but you can see some pictures on my website at davidclary.com. My brother-in-law oversaw the construction (and put his own residence up as collateral) and he was pleased with how it turned out. I'm planning on going for a visit in 2010.

[donald36C32C72]

Thanks statto for that most helpful reply --will start from there

[MrIrrisistable]

We will be moving there in a year or so also. Have the land also.

There is an international school nearby and they have a lot of foreign teachers.

They also have a starbucks nearby, so just hangout there and wait for the foreigners to rock up.

[samran]

We will be moving there in a year or so also. Have the land also.

There is an international school nearby and they have a lot of foreign teachers.

They also have a starbucks nearby, so just hangout there and wait for the foreigners to rock up.

what are land prices going for up there these days?

[MrIrrisistable]

Anything from 200k per rai to 3mil pr. Depends on title, location etc as always.

An example, we looked at 60rai at 200k but the title was the lowest available, the one you are not even supposed to sell, only hand down to family etc. Por Bor Tor 5 from memory

The next was NS3 at 500k.

Next was 1.5 rai in a village area, nice locale and 2.5mil per rai, but then jumped to 3 mil.

Next was 8 rai with the title next below NS3 at 1mil per rai.

A bank repo area was 1.5 per rai on main road.

[samran]

cheers for that.

[BAZZAT]

Try Phimai 50km up from Korat up and coming town, terrific 2 markets fresh food every day and evening, also have a few small bars land and building very reasonable, currently building a second home now on river Moon you can keep Hua Hin,Samui, Pataya, it costs me 50% less to live up here and if we want a week on the crazy side its a 5 hr drive to Hua Hin or Pataya. if you need a builder can recommend

[donald36C32C72]

On land prices we were looking at 1.2 million per rai which seemed to be the dealers pricing ,anything much cheaper seems to be in very large lots---ours i8s just over 5 rai which was what we were looking for ,we have paid a little over half for non chanote land ---my partner of 9 years is pretty happy about it and I know that she would not be keen if she thought it was going to be a problem ,she has pulled me back from the brink before

[donald36C32C72]

Try Phimai 50km up from Korat up and coming town, terrific 2 markets fresh food every day and evening, also have a few small bars land and building very reasonable, currently building a second home now on river Moon you can keep Hua Hin,Samui, Pataya, it costs me 50% less to live up here and if we want a week on the crazy side its a 5 hr drive to Hua Hin or Pataya. if you need a builder can recommend

Hi Bazzat --always appreciate any recommendations the more the better

[chris41]

we saw a house for sale in Pakchong today - there is a village close to PakChong called pimpaka garden home resort with about 40 houses - mosly completed and being lived in by germans and swiss people - the house we saw came with 2 plots of land - each 700 m2 with a 2 storey house on one plot - the owner wanted 5.1m baht for the lot - the resort website is in german http://www.thailand-immobilie.de/index.html . As for PakChong - I've spent a bit of time there as my wife is from a village 10kms away called Botong. Not many falangs in the village but quite a few knocking around in the town. Tesco Lotus and the Italian restaurant make the place a lot better than when I first visited.

[crab]

Interesting to come upon this thread right now, as I am mid-plunge. I move to Pak Chong in three weeks' time. I am renting a simple house at the top of a hill with a fabulous view. But I shall almost certainly buy two rai of land not far from that house, with a view to building when and as I feel able to afford. Fabulous plot with a magical view: 250,000 baht a rai.

Anyone living in the area or thinking about moving there who would like to connect, please PM me.

[EvilDrSomkid]

If there is a thriving farang community in the area I think they must keep themselves to themselves, but there again you might be able to change all that.

There will be on more full time resident in 2014...and I'm bringing my clubs!

Donald, I built a house on the Phupimarn resort just outside of PakChong. I haven't actually seen the place with my own eyes but you can see some pictures on my website at davidclary.com. My brother-in-law oversaw the construction (and put his own residence up as collateral) and he was pleased with how it turned out. I'm planning on going for a visit in 2010.

Any relation to Johnny Lee?

[rono]

pak chong city:

sportbar and pakchong beach bar nearby: run by expats

there use to be a swiss/german run restaurant/bar on the road as well, moslty germans visiting the place and they are not very fond of outsiders

texas saloon: very quiet place

this is what I remember from when I used to live there.

thanarat road to national park:

many guesthouses and good restaurants.

for drinks: a friend of mine has opened a saloon at km5, turn right, he just finished building a stone oven to bake breads and pizza

I am moving to Muaklek and will be in that saloon quite often to see my friends.

[stevehaigh]

i've driven past Pak Chong many times and often wondered if it it would be a nice place to live. What's the climate like there? does it rain much and how is the hot season? its a few hundred meters above sea level, does that help keep it a bit cooler and wetter in the hot season or is it just as bad as Korat?

thanks for the info

[dick turpin]

Well they do call it amazing Thailand, and I am always amazed to hear posters say they have bought property sight unseen or without any real knowledge of the area they are buying into.

Where am I coming from? I live in rented property in khao yai and for the past 18 months have been looking for land to buy. Call me fussy, but I feel it has taken me that amount of time to really get to know the area, luckily I think I have now found my little piece of nirvana (no I am not telling you where).

Information I can pass on.

Make a distinction between pak chong and khao yai. One is a grotty urban sprawl, with some token falang action. The other is set against the backdrop of the beautiful mountains of a national park. This is where you can find many property and golf style resorts, much favoured by bangkokians for their weekend retreats.Here the air is clearer and fresher, and with a temperate year-round climate. The biggest clue to that?

Take a look at the number of vineyards.

Prices in these projects now going at 15,000 per sq wai, but careful though, they tend to become ghost towns during the week. Outside of these land prices now typically tipping two million baht a rai.

There is a small, but thriving family orientated expat community here which very much appreciates the peace and beauty of where they now live.

Oh, and by the way Starbucks has closed.

Edited June 21, 2010 by dick turpin

[bikerlou47]

I have lived in Khao Yai for 5 years..I LOVE IT!

Once in a great while I see a farang...very quiet, peaceful dark at night all the stars are easy to view.

National Park close by and a great ride for my Big Bike.

I have a Thai gf....... I dont think I could live here without her Thai expertise.

I dont golf but I play tennis daily!

BTW

Starbucks closed at the Tesco but is still opened in Outlet Village.

[moe666]

12 years ago the Riverside Restarant was a good place to eat. On occasion seranaded by a sax player who lived across the river from the rest. A friend was a teacher at the International school.

[RossTaylor]

Try Phimai 50km up from Korat up and coming town, terrific 2 markets fresh food every day and evening, also have a few small bars land and building very reasonable, currently building a second home now on river Moon you can keep Hua Hin,Samui, Pataya, it costs me 50% less to live up here and if we want a week on the crazy side its a 5 hr drive to Hua Hin or Pataya. if you need a builder can recommend

Hey... I think I'm moving up your way soon! Getting tired of Phuket after 6 years of hoards of tourists and crazy prices for EVERYTHING! I'm looking for a nice Plot of Land on or near the river and would like to built a home there this year. Any suggestions as to where I might find some land and a good local builder?

[JonTogetArneLivingston]

<br />

<br />Try Phimai 50km up from Korat up and coming town, terrific 2 markets fresh food every day and evening, also have a few small bars land and building very reasonable, currently building a second home now on river Moon you can keep Hua Hin,Samui, Pataya, it costs me 50% less to live up here and if we want a week on the crazy side its a 5 hr drive to Hua Hin or Pataya. if you need a builder can recommend<br />

<br /><br /><br />Hey... I think I'm moving up your way soon! Getting tired of Phuket after 6 years of hoards of tourists and crazy prices for EVERYTHING! I'm looking for a nice Plot of Land on or near the river and would like to built a home there this year. Any suggestions as to where I might find some land and a good local builder?<br />

<br /><br /><br />

any meeting place for foreigners around here?

[dclaryjr]

I posted in 2008 that I would be a resident by 2014. It looks like that time schedule is going to slide, but I have my tickets for a visit in July of this year. Looking forward to it!! It will be nice to finally see the house with my own eyes.

[Frank La Rue]

Family is traveling up to Khao Yai tomorrow basically to visit what is supposed to be a beautiful area, However, we will also keep an eye on developments / housing estates as the area seems to be a hidden gem. Any one who can recommend properties send me a PM.

For you Swiss - whom a I understand want to keep this secret gem to yourselves:

Ich war lange in der Schweiz wohnhaft, habe an der Hochschule St-Gallen (als die Schule noch "Hochschule war und nicht "Universitaet") mein Liszenziat gemacht, mein sohn studiert gerade an die Geneva School Of Dimplomacy und es wuerde Mich freuen wieder unter Scwiezer zu sein when Ich in die Pension gehe und mein Altertum friedlich geniessen moechte.

Rachlette - anyone?

Edited September 25, 2012 by Frank La Rue

[rgs2001uk]

"as the area seems to be a hidden gem"

Well some may call it that, I wouldnt.

IMHO its overated and overpriced, much better areas of Thailand.

Too be honest the only thing it has going for it is its proximity to Bkk.

"Family is traveling up to Khao Yai tomorrow"

Depends what you mean by Khao Yai, which part will they be visiting, to the south in the Prachin Buri/Kabin Buri area?

I dont know what you want, proximity to Bkk or a mountainous area of natural beauty, as I mentioned earlier there are better alternatives, just my personal opinion.

[Frank La Rue]

"as the area seems to be a hidden gem"

Well some may call it that, I wouldnt.

IMHO its overated and overpriced, much better areas of Thailand.

Too be honest the only thing it has going for it is its proximity to Bkk.

"Family is traveling up to Khao Yai tomorrow"

Depends what you mean by Khao Yai, which part will they be visiting, to the south in the Prachin Buri/Kabin Buri area?

I dont know what you want, proximity to Bkk or a mountainous area of natural beauty, as I mentioned earlier there are better alternatives, just my personal opinion.

"Family" means me, my wife & son plus sister in law and her daughter, our niece . We plan to stay in Chalet Hill in order to visit the Khao Yai mational park and surrounding area. I am just checking the area on internet as we speak. I am no connoseur at all but l like swiss Racheltte.

Which much better parts of Thailand are you thinking of? I am open for learning.

What appeals to me is the wheather i.e. not always hot (yeah, yeah, I then should go back to Switzerland or my home country - however that is not a parameter for other reasons, or I can check if they serve racklette on Iceland).

In the meantime I like to live in LOS and as we go on learning, we learn that there actually are temperature differences in Asia also.

The 2nd thing is that there are some westerners around to have a conversation with occasionally.

I already live in Bangkok when I am in Thailand and I know that the traffic is a negative and few areas in BKK are estetically beautiful to me, so it is a consideration to find somewhere else,

I picked up that there is an international school in Khao Yai, which is an asset. So being the case, the must be other parents with kids in need of an international school, so maybe quite international area?

Edited September 25, 2012 by Frank La Rue

[rgs2001uk]

Frank ^^^^^^

Ok didnt know an international school was required.

Pethcabun is one area worthy of further investigation,

http://little-oil.blogspot.com/2010/02/little-switzerland-of-thailand.html

Another area is Soi Dao in Chanthaburi province.

[hedonist44]

I've never heard anything good said about the international school (St. James) up there. I've been told numerous times that the problem kids attending the St. James in BKK are simply moved up there by their parents. You should really look into this alot more.

As far as Expats up there, yes there are quite a few, but a lot of them live in Bangkok and have homes in the greater Pak Chong area they use as weekend/holiday retreats. They go there to get away from the big city and the people in it, so as a general rule don't go out to socialize and looking for people to befriend. There is however a large German presence that are very out going and most speak some English. They can be found at various drinking spots around the city if that's what your into.

The whole area around Muek Lek, Pak Chong, Khao Loi has gone to crap the past few years in my opinion with coffee shops, food huts and house development going nuts. Road signs are on every corner advertising something or other and trying to get around up there on big holidays is a nightmare.

I would far prefer to buy land and build on the opposite side of the highway to the North and East of Pak Chong as the property is a lot cheaper and not so over built and commercialized.....yet!

I have recently heard of two schools in Pak Chong that are supposed to be very good. They are not international standard but they have some strict guidelines for admittance that I'll be checking out this year as I plan to move from Chiang Mai to there myself after this school year is done.

[Frank La Rue]

Now back from Khao Yai /Pakchong. My wife's brother lives in Saraburi with his wife so we started out with a lunch there together. Afterwords he took us via the back roads through Khao Yai. We visited a wine yard and eventually ended up at Paolo - the italian village. On a side note - we alos visited Toscana village the day after, which is all very beautiful but too far out for me. According to the sales office it is habited mainly by Thais from Bangkok. The house prices starts at 21 Mio Baht, including land. There are condo's from 8.5 Mio Baht, so clearly targeting an upmarket clientelle.

We ended up staying in Pakchong Landmark hotel as Challet Hill did not get back to us when we emailed tnem to book 2 rooms. The Pakchong Landmark was so - so, but for sleep and a simple breakfast it did the job.

We ate in the evening in a restaurant not far from the international school, called The Smokehouse. My Brother-in-law had heard about it from a friend but never eaten. It is rather pricey, 290 baht for a pasta dish and 890 Baht for a filet steak. It was quite well visited, mayb 2/3 full. As far as I could see there was one other farang in the restaurant with what seemed to be a thai family, a little bit like my own situation. The rest seemded to be Thai couples or families. The ponit to make is that there must be quite a few people in the area with money, as such a pricey restaurant seems to be doing well there. The meal for 6 grown ups and my little son costed me 4100 Baht, including my filet steak and 2 glases of wine, no deserts.

For comparison we had quite a delicious meal the day after at a thai roadside restaurant not far from there, between clio resort and Paolo, for 340 baht for 5 of us, That excluded any beer or wine but ice water. Obviously the latter is a simple out-door setting, whilst The Smokehouse have set it self up with a posh building, a boutique shop for wines and a decorated restaurant with live band.

We drove along the main road (not the motorway) from Landmark hotel to the night market area just to take a look. and Pakchong seems to have everything you need to stay in the area.

My personal take on it is that I would not stay amongst the hills next to Khao Yai national park as I like to have a bit of view.

As mentioned by someone else here the thing to do may be to find a piece of land in the Pakchong valley itself on the north - eastern side of Pakchong and build.

Looking at the thai internet sites for real estate there seems to be very few houses for sale in the area already built with the exception of som resorts inside of Khao Yai.

Interestingly, I read a trip report from a familiy who had stayed in one of the resorts behind Pakchong in the hill on the north eastern side, and they were complaining about the cold at night and how the blankets were far from enough. Sounds like my kind of climate.

We drove past St. Stephens International School several times on the way between Paolo and the main inter section Saraburi - Nakon Ratchasima /Pakchong Kao Yai.

We did not visit.

I noted that another poster reffered to s "St. James International School". Is that another one or is there just a mix up with the name?

We will go back and take another look around to get a further feel for the area. The first impression is positive

Edited September 29, 2012 by Frank La Rue

[hedonist44]

Now back from Khao Yai /Pakchong. My wife's brother lives in Saraburi with his wife so we started out with a lunch there together. Afterwords he took us via the back roads through Khao Yai. We visited a wine yard and eventually ended up at Paolo - the italian village. On a side note - we alos visited Toscana village the day after, which is all very beautiful but too far out for me. According to the sales office it is habited mainly by Thais from Bangkok. The house prices starts at 21 Mio Baht, including land. There are condo's from 8.5 Mio Baht, so clearly targeting an upmarket clientelle.

We ended up staying in Pakchong Landmark hotel as Challet Hill did not get back to us when we emailed tnem to book 2 rooms. The Pakchong Landmark was so - so, but for sleep and a simple breakfast it did the job.

We ate in the evening in a restaurant not far from the international school, called The Smokehouse. My Brother-in-law had heard about it from a friend but never eaten. It is rather pricey, 290 baht for a pasta dish and 890 Baht for a filet steak. It was quite well visited, mayb 2/3 full. As far as I could see there was one other farang in the restaurant with what seemed to be a thai family, a little bit like my own situation. The rest seemded to be Thai couples or families. The ponit to make is that there must be quite a few people in the area with money, as such a pricey restaurant seems to be doing well there. The meal for 6 grown ups and my little son costed me 4100 Baht, including my filet steak and 2 glases of wine, no deserts.

For comparison we had quite a delicious meal the day after at a thai roadside restaurant not far from there, between clio resort and Paolo, for 340 baht for 5 of us, That excluded any beer or wine but ice water. Obviously the latter is a simple out-door setting, whilst The Smokehouse have set it self up with a posh building, a boutique shop for wines and a decorated restaurant with live band.

We drove along the main road (not the motorway) from Landmark hotel to the night market area just to take a look. and Pakchong seems to have everything you need to stay in the area.

My personal take on it is that I would not stay amongst the hills next to Khao Yai national park as I like to have a bit of view.

As mentioned by someone else here the thing to do may be to find a piece of land in the Pakchong valley itself on the north - eastern side of Pakchong and build.

Looking at the thai internet sites for real estate there seems to be very few houses for sale in the area already built with the exception of som resorts inside of Khao Yai.

Interestingly, I read a trip report from a familiy who had stayed in one of the resorts behind Pakchong in the hill on the north eastern side, and they were complaining about the cold at night and how the blankets were far from enough. Sounds like my kind of climate.

We drove past St. Stephens International School several times on the way between Paolo and the main inter section Saraburi - Nakon Ratchasima /Pakchong Kao Yai.

We did not visit.

I noted that another poster reffered to s "St. James International School". Is that another one or is there just a mix up with the name?

We will go back and take another look around to get a further feel for the area. The first impression is positive

Your quite right, my mistake. It is in fact St. Stephen's International School. I make that mistake often for some reason...

[Frank La Rue]

Useful link:

http://khaoyaiproperty.com