Practical Questions About Spending A Month In Los

[californiabeachboy]

I have been lurking on this form for a few weeks and found some very useful tips. I am a semi-retired Yankee looking for a place to spend a few months each year, and will be coming over to Thailand in March/April to check things out. I have narrowed my seach down to Jomtien Beach or Phuket (Patong/Kata/Karon). My questions are:

1. I like to run on the beach, and because of the heat, will be doing it as soon as the sun comes up (or earlier). Will I be eaten alive by mosquitos? Should I just cover myself with repellent and hope for the best? How fast can a Thai mosquito fly?

2. I am just leaning to cook and love Thai food. But rather than sign up for a formal cooking class, is it possible to hire someone there to help me to cook a couple of basic Thai meals, either in my apartment or some other place. If so, where would I find that (classifieds?).

3. I am looking for a place to stay by the week with cooking facilities, and a lot of the websites are a bit vague on what the rooms include in the way of cooking facilities. Any recommendations on places to stay for about $300US per week with some cooking facilities and within 5 blocks of the beach?

3. Is it possible to rent a bicycle and ride along Jomtien Beach road, or somewhere in Phuket, and live to tell about it?

4. A touchy issue. I like listening to live music. I hear so much about the aggresive bar girls in Thailand. If I want to just go out and listen to live music for a while, and go home alone, are there many places to do that? I know someone will say I don't have to take them up on it, but I don't want to worry about having to deal with aggressive "vendors". Any recommendations for good live music bars would be welcome.

Thanks to all for your help.

[alant]

hi

my answers to your questions will be brief;

1. no / not that fast

2. yes / try a bar

3. usual search engines

3 again, yes cycling not bad, may be better / cheaper to buy one

4.girls usually get the hint that it isnt going to be tonight, bars happy as long as you are buying beer

now the real reason for the reply

ok you say you fancy a beach but for your activities have you considered inland for example what about chiang mai.

lots of running, flat and mountains

cooking paradise

loads of places to stay in your budget

cycling great, both flat and mountain

music scene good very few bars here have bar girl hassle

cheers

[asanee]

1.no-many people do that just around sunrise in fact.

2.everything is possible in LOS. But most of those classes are not that formal-small groups and always ready to listen to questions/requests. You can always strike a deal with the teacher from a published class. A teacher usually takes a net 300 bt/hr-normal jobs get paid 25-30 bt/hr (think of those cooks). yes thats about 10/1 US$-a little less even. classifieds dont really work here-nor do we have things like craigs-it s just word of mouth and asking around. Start with the doorman of your condo-etc-they all have sisters and nieces etc who can do that or know another friend of friend who can-etc.

3.think twice about that-even the very poor Thai eat outdoors 3-4 times/day. Once you have discovered how cheap, on every streetcorner and multi-available 24 hrs food-ready made for you is-you give up on cooking. It also wont save any baht=cent-eating out at stalls is cheaper as do yourself. It is quite rare for apartmts to have fully installed kitchens-and if they have, it comes at a price. And if they do-its mainly for westerners wanting to make the odd western food every now and then. A basic Thai ''kitchen'' is nothing more as a wok, a sink and some flat tray to cut all food up.

also_ learn the local way-all is done in baht here. 300USD/week=about 10.000 bt-or 40k/month=thats way on the upper top 10-you can rent whole villas with pools for that-a little inland.

3b.foot-pedalled or motosay? the motosay is omni-present.

4.this really varies from place to place. plus that perhaps you wont evebn like the music on many places. Possibly it certianly is-the other expats will be able to tell you where. or try the specific TV-forum branches for those places.

[PhilHarries]

Don't know about Phuket but can reply with respect to Jomtien/Pattaya.

1. Mosquitos shouldn't be a problem early morning, for some reason beyond me they are worse around sunset. The bigger problem might be the katoeys, some of them can run quite fast but you get a head start while they take off their high heels.

2. As others have said, if you want to learn Thai cooking for self advancement reasons try approaching some of the advertised schools, Thais like most Asian people are remarkable flexible where money making is concerned (that statement is made entirely free of innuendo, if you wish to add some then it's up 2 u ).

3. Best option, IMO, is to get to Thailand and then look around.

3. Personally I'd buy one, I had a mountain bike with 20 plus gears a real good piece of kit and it cost circa 20k back in 2000. Bet you could get a better deal than that if you shopped around.

4. There are many venues free from agressive bar girls but even at the places that employ such hustlers they pretty soon get the message, remember to put it over politely and with a smile though, that you are not interested.

[Hobc]

Hi Budddy,

I'm in Naiharn Phuket probably one of the best beaches in Thailand look up Naiharn google photo's

my mates from Byron Bay-Lenox Head been surfing right handers, good body surf and cleanest water

Just around the corner is a great bunch of places with all mod cons, your every need will be fulfilled,

the best thing is it's a village not a commercial hel_l hole like Pattaya or Patong.

I buy my fruit and veg at the corner, grow my own herbs and do as much as i want or as little as I want.

Live music is a bit thin on the ground but you can party really safely and the girls are delightful!!

There is a place where my mates stay called paradise something can't remember exactly but lovely people

aircon, cable and great outdoor cooking & pool, one room bungalows tasteful and well in your budget.

Most everyone hires a motor bike you just need a license $3.50 a day but pushies available same price

All the old expats and their dogs head to the beach 6 oclock when the chooks and dogs start.

The thais wake up with the chooks and go to bed with the chooks so to speak.

Will send an email address when they get it to me, things move slowly unless it involves money!!!

[californiabeachboy]

Thanks to all for the information. It sounds like the things I mentioned can be done.

I will definitely check out the other places mentioned. I am sure many who read this post were thinking "If he isn't interested in bargirls, why is he looking at Jomtien and Phuket?" The reason is that I want to ease into the cultural/geographic changes, so I want to start out in areas that have significant expat populations for at least a few months, and those two places seem to fit the bill (Bangkok just too big).

I will watch out for the katoeys while running - I should be able to spot them as they are gaining on me.

Cheers.