Moving To Samui To Work There

[allane]

I am a longtime resident of Bangkok, but I have never been to Samui.

I may soon be offered a job on Samui. I do not know the exact location of my prospective employer's business, hence the general nature of some of these questions. I would appreciate replies from foreign residents (or former residents) of Samui. If you are a former resident, please tell me how long it has been since you lived there. I would be coming to live there on a Thai salary, so want replies from people with that perspective, not from rich tourists boasting about how they paid "only" so much for something, when they have actually paid 2 or 3 times the rate that would be charged to a local person.

1. International telephone and fax service- is it available in some public centre, perhaps operated by the CAT ? Is it reliable ?

2. I would probably want to live in Nathon, but would not want to be confined there. I presume that there is a songthaew service from Nathon to outlying areas. What hours does the scheduled service operate ? What are the fares to some of the more popular outlyng areas ? Do the drivers attempt or succeed at overcharging foreigners (even those of us who live, or would be living, there) ?

3. Boat services to the mainland - I am aware that there is a night boat to Surat (maybe more than one company ?), as well as the car ferry to Donsak.

- is the night boat safe for a farang ? (i.e to get on the boat and sleep, without waking up and finding that your wallet has been stolen ?)

- if I walk onto the car ferry, is there a songthaew or bus on the Donsak end, that would take me out to the main Surat - Nakhon Sri Thammarat highway.

- is there any direct boat service from Nathon to Chumphon ? (not having to stop or change boats at Gaw Phangnan or Gaw Tao)

4. Shopping - is there any sort of western style shopping centre in Nathon - perhaps a Tesco-Lotus or a Big "C" ?

5. Apartments - Are Thai style, one room with attached bath available in the outlying areas, or do all of the Thai workers live in Nathon, and commute out to their jobs every day, and commute back to Nathon every night ?

6. Public swimming pools - is there a municipal swimming pool in Nathon, or anywhere else on the island ? Might any of the major hotels allow me to swim in their pool on a "walk-in" basis, for 40 - 50 baht per time ?

The jobwhich I may be offered has a relatively low salary, on the basis that Samui is some sort of a tropical paradise, where I would hardly need any money. But after several years in Thailand, I know that the novelty of living in a "tropical paradise" would quickly disappear, especially for someone who is moving there to work. I don't want to accept a job paying no more than what I can earn in Bangkok, if I would have to pay "tourist prices" for everything.

Any additional comments on things which I may not have even thought of would be welcome. If you have a valuable comment which you do not want to post here, you can send me an E-mail at: [email protected] Any comments received will be viewed only by myself, and not forwarded to anyone else.

[sbk]

Koh Samui is more expensive than Bangkok. As is Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao.

Can't answer all your questions as I don't live there but in Koh P, but I do know the tesco is in Chaweng, Nathon isn't necessarily the cheapest place to live, taxi drivers have a two tier price and if you look particularly gullible will definitely rip you off.

Try PM'ing Boo, she lived there for quite a few years. And, it is nice living in a more relaxed atmosphere, I wouldn't last two weeks in Bangkok!

[pyros]

Koh Samui is more expensive than Bangkok. As is Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao.

Can't answer all your questions as I don't live there but in Koh P, but I do know the tesco is in Chaweng, Nathon isn't necessarily the cheapest place to live, taxi drivers have a two tier price and if you look particularly gullible will definitely rip you off.

Try PM'ing Boo, she lived there for quite a few years. And, it is nice living in a more relaxed atmosphere, I wouldn't last two weeks in Bangkok!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I find Samui always less expensive than Bangkok . In BKK as a falang , you always get ripped off bigtime . In Samui , falang pay extre , but not the same amount as in BKK . There is a Tesco on the island , near Chaweng , probably a littlebit more expensive than BKK . If you are living there , why not buy a motorcycle ??? It is cheaper and handier than always songtheaw's or taxi's , during daytime songtheaw's are fine but at night they charge you a large amount . The island itself is only a 55 km roundtrip , so you never have to drive more than 30km . Traffic is a huge difference than BKK, as the living by itself is also . Cannot compare the 2 . Apartments are rare in Samui , houses for rent are plenty and the price is a lot cheaper than BKK ( i see prices there from 20.000 bath/m up for apartment while in Samui the prices for a house depending on area and settlement is around 5000 bath/m up ) . I'd say , you can live a whole lot cheaper in Samui then in BKK , and your quality of life will tenfold ...

[taxexile]

1. International telephone and fax service- is it available in some public centre, perhaps operated by the CAT ? Is it reliable ?

widely available , nathon post office if you are in nathon , cheap international phone cards .

2. I would probably want to live in Nathon, but would not want to be confined there. I presume that there is a songthaew service from Nathon to outlying areas. What hours does the scheduled service operate ? What are the fares to some of the more popular outlyng areas ? Do the drivers attempt or succeed at overcharging foreigners (even those of us who live, or would be living, there) ?

songthaews all day and taxis most of the night , expect to pay more than locals , taxi fares very high. best to get your own transport.

3. Boat services to the mainland - I am aware that there is a night boat to Surat (maybe more than one company ?), as well as the car ferry to Donsak.

- is the night boat safe for a farang ? (i.e to get on the boat and sleep, without waking up and finding that your wallet has been stolen ?)

- if I walk onto the car ferry, is there a songthaew or bus on the Donsak end, that would take me out to the main Surat - Nakhon Sri Thammarat highway.

- is there any direct boat service from Nathon to Chumphon ? (not having to stop or change boats at Gaw Phangnan or Gaw Tao)

never used the old night boat , car ferries leave every hour from nathon , you can walk on or get a bus trip to surrat from any of the travel agents in nathon.

there are boats to chumpon and buses or mini vans from there up to hua hin.

4. Shopping - is there any sort of western style shopping centre in Nathon - perhaps a Tesco-Lotus or a Big "C" ?

tescos at chaweng on the ring road ,

5. Apartments - Are Thai style, one room with attached bath available in the outlying areas, or do all of the Thai workers live in Nathon, and commute out to their jobs every day, and commute back to Nathon every night ?

bungalows to rent all over the island and easy to find , thai style from a few thousand all the way up to falang style with pools for a lot more thousand.

6. Public swimming pools - is there a municipal swimming pool in Nathon, or anywhere else on the island ? Might any of the major hotels allow me to swim in their pool on a "walk-in" basis, for 40 - 50 baht per time ?

unfortunately not , i've asked at some hotels and have been refused.

plenty of beaches though , but be careful in the sea.... 8 farang drownings on chaweng beach last week alone !!! and you wont find anything about that in any newspaper !!

The jobwhich I may be offered has a relatively low salary, on the basis that Samui is some sort of a tropical paradise, where I would hardly need any money. But after several years in Thailand, I know that the novelty of living in a "tropical paradise" would quickly disappear, especially for someone who is moving there to work. I don't want to accept a job paying no more than what I can earn in Bangkok, if I would have to pay "tourist prices" for everything.

Any additional comments on things which I may not have even thought of would be welcome.

samui is ok , i dont find it cheaper than bangkok , everything has to be transported on to the island and that puts up prices , falangs are seen as cash cows here by most islanders , and there is certainly an atmosphere of greed in the air , but having said that if you are here for a while then you will soon find the people and places that treat you fairly and with respect.

but the money will disappear just as fast if not faster here as anywhere else in thailand.

the paradise aspect of the place is rapidly disappearing as it gets more developed and the disease that is destroying the coconut palms continues to kill them.

the people here work at their own pace and most things are done sloppily.

its hard to get things done in thailand generally , but here its even harder.

traffic on the ring road between lamai all the way round to maenam is very heavy all day long , as it is in lamai,chawend and bophut and maenam.

off the beaten track it is still something of a paradise , but it's changing fast.

after being here a couple of months i find i miss bangkok a lot , and i have to get off the island , this used to be a "remote" island and i never wanted to leave , now its neither the "remote island", nor the cosmopolitan centre , its neither one thing nor the other , but its trying too hard to become too fashionable , (putting bum sprays in every toilet in a hotel , aloe vera yoghurt on the menu and flowers on the pillow does not suddenly turn it into a holistic spa )

it was better as a simple island , but you cant stop progress.

[Khun Jean]

I would be vary careful of accepting a job that says Samui is cheap and you are on a "tropical paradise". It is just a way of getting cheap labour force, as they know some foreigners will almost work for free to have a possibility to stay in Thailand. Koh Samui is NOT cheap and it is NOT a tropical paradise. For tourist who are here a few days to a few weeks it still looks like it, but believe me if you live here it is just a normal place.

I live here now almost a year but find it more expensive for food, housing. It is a lot cheaper in other ways because there is not much to do to spend money on. Going to a cinema, forget it. Visit a nice restaurant, where?? Chaweng?? Overpriced?? Good Quality?? only a little few.

I live on a beach but it starts to irritate me to have to clean it every day because the local fisherman especially throw everything in the sea, even their household garbage.

Koh Samui is losing its Thai "tropical paradise" feeling very quick. Big trucks who are by the way the fastest moving vehicles on the road start 06:00 in the morning. They have no dampner in the exhaust so they can drive even a little faster. Slowly the island will be one big block of concrete, with potted plants. This is thinking negatively but if you see at what rate it changes. Hopefully some nice parts of the island, like the south will remain like it is, but every native seems to think tocash in on the ever increasing tourist numbers, and start building bungalows etc.. Slowly destroying the reason tourist come here in the first place.

That said it is still possible to find that secluded beach, clear water etc.. But it is increasingly difficult.

I have been to only a few islands in Thailand, and the island that was really clean and has that "tropical paradise feeling" was Koh Tau although it can be very busy at some times. I suspect because the many diving schools and businesses there realize that keeping it clean is the most important.

[limbos]

Allane,

Your Thai wages, are they below or over 10.000Baht?

Most stuff is said already, you can find cheap eateries here on Samui, but you gotta find out where they are. Farang style food is more expensive, what's new here.

You don't have to be that carefull in the ocean, the undertow currents are seasonal (right now!) and very localised most of the times and concentrated on the Chaweng beaches. Choengmon, Maenam, Bophud don't have them.

The sentiment expressed by Taxexile and Khun Jean are starting to sound familiar, Samui is changing rapidly and it can't keep up with the infrastructure, so overcrowded roads with dangerous drivers.

Too much development without anybody seemingly controlling what's going on and what effects it may have short- and long term on the environment.

Other than that it's great here!

[flying_solo]

i to will be moing to samui shortly. so any info given here is greatly appreciated. where is the best place to look for housing as far as a lower cost and being clean? what to expect the average cost to live in samui each month? electricity? water? yes i understand this can change from very low to very expensive depending on the persons lifestyle. just looking for the average person. are there places to play basketball? pick up games or leagues? what does a motor bike cost new? any places to buy used? thank you..

[pyros]

i to will be moing to samui shortly. so any info given here is greatly appreciated. where is the best place to look for housing as far as a lower cost and being clean? what to expect the average cost to live in samui each month? electricity? water? yes i understand this can change from very low to very expensive depending on the persons lifestyle. just looking for the average person. are there places to play basketball? pick up games or leagues? what does a motor bike cost new? any places to buy used? thank you..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

House , decend house will set you back between 3000 to 10000 bath a month . This can be with or without elec and water . Otherwise , depending on use of airco , take 2000 bath a month for the elec ( can be lower but if you use aircon all the time , can be higher ) . Basketball ??? Never saw it on the island , just don't know . Motorbike , from 33000 up . Can find 2nd hand even in the shop ( Nathon / Honda dealer certainly has 2nd hand bikes but i think every motorbike shop has them ) . As far as maintainance , let's say 100 bath every 1000 km ( usually less ) .

The pricing of the house is really hard , these are just normal good houses but it depends on the location .