What Things Will Make You Leave Samui?

[Mark Wolfe]

Fire away....

[samuibeachcomber]

(1) if my g/f takes all my money.

(2)if all the bar girls go back home cos no tourists.

(3) if it does n't warm up soon.

(4) if you keep posting(only joking)

good morning mw.

[dominator]

Just as soon as I can my property sold.

Weather at the moment is just fine, last nights temp dropped to 23 c, ..manageable.

[samuibeachcomber]

Just as soon as I can my property sold.

Weather at the moment is just fine, last nights temp dropped to 23 c, ..manageable.

really,it felt colder than that.much cooler than last year,maybe the bloods thinning.

[longtom]

Building of a 2nd airport and/or overbuilding of the western part of the island.

[goonerthegooner]

I left after 4 years running a Bar/Rest in Bophut,[2001-2005].

Left after being ripped off so many times by Taxi's,never ending hassle with Timesharetouts,and even the bloody Farangs were trying too scam Thai's and Farangs alike.let alone the over inflated Accountants fees etc,

The whole island runs on GREED.

Best move i ever made was too get on that ferry at Nathon,for the last time ever.

[samuibeachcomber]

I left after 4 years running a Bar/Rest in Bophut,[2001-2005].

Left after being ripped off so many times by Taxi's,never ending hassle with Timesharetouts,and even the bloody Farangs were trying too scam Thai's and Farangs alike.let alone the over inflated Accountants fees etc,

The whole island runs on GREED.

Best move i ever made was too get on that ferry at Nathon,for the last time ever.

and how is hua hin?are you in business there and is that side of your life better in hua hin.I ask cos i think Samui is probably not much different to anywhere else in thailand when it comes to investing money,be it in property or a business,so many pitfalls when dealing with thai beauracracy and thai business people,and in general the farangs that are here in business are just as bad as the thais,obviously not all.IMHO to enjoy life in thailand(without hassles)leave your money off shore,do not invest in thailand in any way,and probably stay single................just buy your female comforts and say good bye the next day,much safer.

[Samuian]

If the sky comes crashing down

if there is no more water...

no beer

no bars

no gals

all concreted over

when MY time has come...

[PoorSucker]

Going on vacation up north.

[samui04]

After 1 month of rain, clouds, winds, frozen temp and one or two days of sunshine i decided that december is rainy season in SAmui, so i need another place for next winter....

Bali seems have same weather, Krabi????

BTW tourists are still around, the FMP kept more of them here longer.

[Birdman]

After 1 month of rain, clouds, winds, frozen temp and one or two days of sunshine i decided that december is rainy season in SAmui, so i need another place for next winter....

Bali seems have same weather, Krabi????

BTW tourists are still around, the FMP kept more of them here longer.

Krabi would be too cold for you, too, in Dec.

Try the Southern Hemisphere. Irian Jaya/Indonesia would be fine for you or Northern Territory/Australia

[MSingh]

No work..

[Rooo]

Uncontrolled loud music all hours,with no regards to anyone.Opening night clubs in the midst of an established residential area.No avenues to complain.But then I'm over 25 so I'm old & decrepit.

[Mark Wolfe]

Reasons that could make me leave Samui:

1. Lack of intellectual/interesting conversation

2. Boredom

3. No challenges

4. The phony relationships between Thai woman and foreign men

[samuibeachcomber]

replying to your fourth point.............then i guess you'd want to leave thailand?

how about savings/investments/cash all wiped out................just credit card left with zero balance.

[Mark Wolfe]

replying to your fourth point.............then i guess you'd want to leave thailand?

how about savings/investments/cash all wiped out................just credit card left with zero balance.

I suppose what I am getting at with all these points is, and maybe I could rephrase the question, "What is it that exists or could develop in your life that would make you leave Samui?"

The phony relationships are a fixture here and to some degree I find them amusing. I also find it good to know what you are in for; I mean, as long as you are aware that relationships here are business transactions, you will be fine. But as the time goes by, it does get sort of old and I get wistful for relationships that are predicated on mutual interest, not how one can "take care" of another. I also see my fair share of men with the line hanging out of their mouths, the other end of which contains the hook, line and sinker, "And I think, 'I could educate you on this, but you'd either not listen or not believe me. So enjoy while you can.'" I find that amusing too, but in the same way we all laugh at someone slipping on a banana peel.

I am also puzzled by PoorSucker's reply, "Going on vacation up north." So going on vacation up north is a reason that would make you leave Samui? Or is he being facetious and I am too muddle-headed to realize it?

I agree that losing your financial wherewithal would be crucial (believe me, I know), but I thought many ex-pats here actually worked, or is that just a cover for bumming around with an excuse?

I can think of other things that do not yet exist here for me (and hopefully never do) that would make me leave, like cracking my head open in a bike accident, for instance, but I think these are obvious to all.

"If I chip another tooth on a piece of bone in my pad Thai I'm leaving this place forever!"

[samuibeachcomber]

I know what you mean about money being tied to any relationship here.................but my bet is that there would be exceptions to this rule,and its nice when you find them.I would say that all of us here have been stung(moneywise)to some degree,the important thing is to learn from it and not let it happen again.

Back to "what would make you leave samui" i guess were talking here about something happening here that would make you no longer like living here.I think for me if the development of samui ever got to the stage where it became too crowded with more residents and waves and waves of tourists that left the island unable to cope infrastructure wise,then i would leave.

I retired here and like the mix of villages and quiet beaches,places like fishermans village i have come to enjoy,banrak too,and the ocassional visit to chaweng.lamai i like too but think its too far from where i live to go there for a night out,but i like it cos its very different to chaweng.

[OnTheSnap]

If you want a relationship that's not based on money, find a woman who isn't a bar girl (current or former) and who comes from a financially solvent family and isn't dependent on you for survival- they sure aren't a "dime a dozen" but they're out there.

I see all these dummies pulling one girl after another out of the bars and who are then amazed when things go south and cry the "she only loved me for my money" song (wake up, idiot- she never loved you at all)- this can happen to any rookie, but when it happens again and again to the "veterans"...

[Mark Wolfe]

... but they're out there....

"Out there" pretty much means outside of Samui.

I forgot one on my list:

5. Opportunity cost

(I have several extensive projects involving travel that have been on the back burner for too long. Eventually, I may just conclude that I have to get off my backside and start doing these before I get too decrepit to do them the way I want. I can see Samui possibly being a long-term base, but I can't see this as the final destination in life.)

[OnTheSnap]

... but they're out there....

"Out there" pretty much means outside of Samui.

I think it's up to me to decide what that means.

"Out there" means they're around (even on Samui)- the bars (for the most part) aren't the place to look.

[samuibeachcomber]

is this developing into a bar girl thread?I thought it was about reasons that would make you leave samui.

I think Samui's a great little place and i would not willingly want to leave,onset of poor health,no money left would probably be my only reasons to go,but life is a journey,and nothing is forever,and without knowing it or knowing why circumstances moves us on to a different place and another journey.

[mattias33]

From the looks of it now (might change over years), when my boy reach school-age we are out of here. I have a little higher ambitions for him than to climb coconut trees and from what i´ve seen so far that means that daddy have to give up either the paradise island life or the family. If i made the choice today it would mean that we all leave Samui. But i have a few years left til i have to make the final decision. .

(If my wife ever read thaivisa i would say:consider yourself warned, hahaha)

All joking aside, i have serious concerns on this subject. We been taking care of a boy for a few weeks that goes to school here. He is 9 years old and i can say that the things he know, any 4 year old in my own country know better. Talking about mathematics, sports, practical thinking and so on. On another note he is extremely well behaived and have manners, helps ut with dishes and housecleaning and so on. But the part that i expect schools to teach is just very limited, and if he dont get serious guidness and get placed in a real school within a few years, i honestly dont see much of a future for him except for maybe gardening a resort or becoming a ladyboy. It has been an enormous warningsign for me to see him and his friends play around. I bought a badminton-set for them the other day and non of them can hit the ball. I´ve been helping him out with mathematics, something i also did with my sisters 5-year old daughter this summer in Sweden, and i have to say i am shocked of the difference. Very scary. It might be hard words, and upset some people on the forum, but for me it looks like this place is raising future "tree-climbers" at the very best, and i dont want my son to become one of them. 5 years from now i wouldnt think we live here, for that reason only.

[josh71]

1) polluted beaches

2) greed

3)racism

4)ignorance

5)prices

6)too many drunk stupid tourists

7)traffic(better roads just means more high speed accidents)

8)spiritual people moving away(they seem to go for chiang mai,pai or bali these days)

But so far I still love it here : )

[samui04]

David and Victoria Beckham

[Jose]

Immigrant backlash:

Financial/economic crisis -> tourists stop coming -> the local money stops flowing -> possibly resulting in the uglier side of the Thai mob mentality (e.g. red/yellow shirts) targeting all "rich" falangs.

[happylarry]

I have been gone from Samui for eleven months now and having just been back there for two weeks I have zero regrets at leaving.

1) I could not believe how I put up with the roads on Samui for four years, it is a pleasure to drive in Isaan, on the wide and smooth tarmac. But in Samui it seemed like driving on a railway track going over the different levels of concrete and thats the good bits of road.

2) The weather up here is so settled too. Although the rainy season lasts a long time you know it wont rain until 4pm or after, every day. But now that season has finished we have clear blue sky's every single day whereas in Samui I only saw two sunny days in the 2 weeks and 2 days I was there in January.

3) The property up here is probably a third of the price in Samui or less whether renting or buying.

4) Although you still get prices hiked for ferang it is not as bad as Samui and the most noticable thing is you dont get the ferang's here trying to rip you off.

5) The fuel is 3 or 4 baht cheaper as soon as you get off the ferry at Donsac and consequently this has a knock on effect on all other prices.

6) As somebody else said the noise from the escape party and the all night bars that invades the residential areas with no redress because the bib are all in on it.

Do I miss???

1) Beaches, I think you could count the times I went to a beach in a year on one hand.

2) Nightlife, yes I miss some of the night life but we still have some good bars and restaurants in Korat.

I cant think of anything else that Samui has going for it now. I was amazed that even with the recession and no property selling etc that there is even more building going on everywhere, just to be left standing empty.

I know this is always talked about but having lived there (and you do get blind to it all) and then left for a while, to go back and see it with "open eyes" again is unbelievable. Will it ever stop or are they going to make it a concrete island?

As I said no regrets whatsoever.

HL

[lazygourmet]

Left already 2 years ago, not Samui, but Koh Phangan.

Five years of full happiness (2002-2006); really, I mean it!

Then chavs and social security tourists arrived in masses...

And, then, that was time to leave!

[Lix]

replying to your fourth point.............then i guess you'd want to leave thailand?

how about savings/investments/cash all wiped out................just credit card left with zero balance.

I suppose what I am getting at with all these points is, and maybe I could rephrase the question, "What is it that exists or could develop in your life that would make you leave Samui?"

The phony relationships are a fixture here and to some degree I find them amusing. I also find it good to know what you are in for; I mean, as long as you are aware that relationships here are business transactions, you will be fine. But as the time goes by, it does get sort of old and I get wistful for relationships that are predicated on mutual interest, not how one can "take care" of another. I also see my fair share of men with the line hanging out of their mouths, the other end of which contains the hook, line and sinker, "And I think, 'I could educate you on this, but you'd either not listen or not believe me. So enjoy while you can.'" I find that amusing too, but in the same way we all laugh at someone slipping on a banana peel.

I am also puzzled by PoorSucker's reply, "Going on vacation up north." So going on vacation up north is a reason that would make you leave Samui? Or is he being facetious and I am too muddle-headed to realize it?

I agree that losing your financial wherewithal would be crucial (believe me, I know), but I thought many ex-pats here actually worked, or is that just a cover for bumming around with an excuse?

I can think of other things that do not yet exist here for me (and hopefully never do) that would make me leave, like cracking my head open in a bike accident, for instance, but I think these are obvious to all.

"If I chip another tooth on a piece of bone in my pad Thai I'm leaving this place forever!"

I have many friends in samui who are in relationships with Thai ladies and money is not an issue, no more than in a western relationship. Now i will spout my usual generalisation which i stand by but will no doubt get shot down for: If you date an ex bar girl then 7 times out of ten it contains the same risks as employing a consistently offending thief.

If you are 20 years older than your partner, not very attractive, always in a bar with lots of other moaning expats complaining about Thailand, but you have a fair bit of money then more than likely the relationship/marriage could very well be a case of 'matrimonial prostitution'. I.e she is only with you for one thing.

Most of my friends are around 30, and so are their partners, none of my friends are rich but they get by together, love each other, care for each other, share responsibilities and have fun.....

What would make me return to samui??.Hmmmm if all the sexpats and horrid drunken elderly perverts that thai people and foreign people despise left the island.

[game4shame]

the bars (especially lamai) are generally run-down and depressing. some of them could do with a serious makeover. the newer bars look good but usually have very few customers.

also, the repetitive nightlife (again, especially lamai) - you can almost set your watch by some of the banter that goes on. the 'go fusion?' question makes me want to vomit.

[Mark Wolfe]

Happylarry, you list the poor road conditions as a reason for leaving Samui. While the roads leave much to be desired, surely that can't really be such an emotional issue as to make you actually give up the island life. I mean they aren't that bad.*

You also bemoan the weather in Samui vs Korat. Another eyebrow raiser for me. It hasn't rained here in almost a month -- pretty stable weather if you ask me. The rest of the year isn't exactly a daily guessing game, either. And what the heck, it rains everywhere. You happened to come when it was raining -- don't generalize the entire year from your last two-week visit.

Next you speak of the prices of property being lower in Issan. Uh, sure. Issan is the hardscrabble part of the country. Unless you are strapped financially, is the cost of rent really that important, given that if you live away from the beach in Samui you can find very affordable accommodation (out in the coconut trees)?

Your comment on two-tier pricing for foreigners and Westerners ripping you off...I don't really see anything there. I'm not even sure what situation would have two-tier pricing that would make any difference. I can rent a motorbike for 150 a day, whereas a Thai can get the same bike for 120? Is this what you mean, and what contributed to driving you out of Samui? I see it both ways -- from my perspective and from that of the Thais, but in the end, who cares? All in all it sums up to pocket change for the likes of you and me.

The same for the three or four baht difference in fuel prices. I guess if your household budget is tight as a drum this might be meaningful, but here again, over the long haul it doesn't make much difference.

(I'll give you an example. My electricity should be 3.5 baht per unit; the landlord charges double that. I could get copies of the actual bill, present it to her, create ill-will and live with me "being in the right," but at the end of the month I pay about 500 baht more than I should. The landlord is wrong to do this, but is it worth making a fuss over? hel_l, it's the cost of two beers and two ladies' drinks.)

Finally, as for the noise of some local watering holes...sure, I'd be upset about that too, but would probably think about moving to one of the many locations on the island that are not near such establishments.

I don't know exactly where you are now, and I have never lived anywhere in or near Korat, but driving through there didn't make me think, "Gee whiz, I oughta move out here." It seemed to me to have all the things that Samui had without any coastline (and less the tourists). But to each his own.

Lix:

What would make me return to samui??.Hmmmm if all the sexpats and horrid drunken elderly perverts that thai people and foreign people despise left the island.

I think the question was what would make you leave, but I can reverse engineer your comment and conclude that you left because too many older folks were enjoying the availability of Thai rent-a-girl activities. I am not sure what perverted things were going on in your neck of the woods, but I don't see that here in 130+ girlie bars Lamai. People get drunk, sure, and there is a certain lasciviousness around (not that the bargirls encourage this or anything...), but only once in the last three years did I see anything that I considered out of bounds morally here. Moreover, the activities surrounding the bars is commonplace in Phuket, Bangkok and of course Pattaya, to name a few. So this is something that pervades, unless, of course, you live out in stickville (but all this stuff goes on anyway, just in an all-Thai setting. Check out your local karaoke....

Game4shame:

the bars (especially lamai) are generally run-down and depressing. some of them could do with a serious makeover.

True, but isn't the seediness part of the attraction?

...also, the repetitive nightlife (again, especially lamai) ...makes me want to vomit.

Now this I will agree with. All four of my points in my earlier post touch on this.

I guess what I am saying, for my part, is that *the shoddy roads are part of the backdrop here. Prices are a little higher than on the mainland because this is a resort island (duh...), and the weather is the weather (I love it when it rains like a MF!).

And the bar scene is something that is endemic to Thailand; it's just the way it is.

I do get the subtext here, though; and that is: some don't like living on an island (pretty though it may be) that is basically not a reflection of the "true Thailand." Samui IS a big theme park. Living here isn't for everyone, for sure.

But leaving because of the roads, the weather and the slightly elevated cost? Seems to me like leaving because the 7-Elevens don't carry Dr. Pepper.