How Is Life In The South ?

[ManilaLover]

...and I miss the sea everyday. Most locals here seem to be affraid of the south, but ChiangMai has traffic accidents every 7 minutes (source: friend @ traffic police, and I survived 3 already)

Is it actually dangerous there (lot of bomb topics here !) and how you go along with the muslim community ? Guess they are nicer then Chiang Mai people, better manners, very hospitable etc.

Could you recommend living there and what are prices of houses/shops(rental) etc ?

What is tye best city ? Seen on Google Earth it looks like Pattani has a nice geographical map, with the sea reaching into the heart.

All info welcome !

[Riley'sLife]

CM is, at best, a dusty, polluted, congested and expensive city. Way too hot in the summer, and let’s not even begin to talk about that smoke! That said, the people are friendly and there are many pleasant expats, and the surrounding countryside is beautiful. But, to consider moving to the Deep South and the Three Provinces means you must not only be tired of CM, but tired of living!!

It is a very volatile region and best to keep away. Bombs are the least of the problems. The Separatists kill randomly with beheadings, machete attacks etc. almost daily. Most Muslims are NOT involved in the violence, but that would be of little comfort if you want to live without worry. There are, however, some areas in the south outside the Three Provinces (Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat) worth considering, but the furthest south to look is perhaps Songkhla Province, (where I live in a village).

Hat Yai is the main city with many supermarkets, department stores etc, and that would be a good place to base yourself if you want to have a look around the area. The beach at Songkhla Town is pleasant enough, but nothing like the more usual Farang resorts as it caters to Thais. Prices are lower than CM. A house in my village was just rented for 1,200Baht/month, although you can expect to pay 20,000+ for a modern rental in a gated community.

I think that throughout Thailand you will find the Thais are even more friendly, have even better manners, and are more hospitable where they have less exposure to Farang. – What’s that saying?….Familiarity breeds contempt.

I went cycling this evening and lost count of the number of people smiling, saying “sawatdee crap”, “pai nai?” and even “Hello” and “where you live?” - but that's village life the world over I guess.

Hope that helps a bit.

[nakachalet]

narrathiward together with other most southernly provinces are surely not for most 95% of farangs....

other than songkhla and hatyai, if you like neither....

you could scout around another ancient town in thailand.... which is correctly pronouned as TRUNG, rather than trang which the early dutch tried to listen as closely as they could to the southern thai pronunciation of ตรัง (TRUNG, not trang as erroneously perceived and used til present time, sadly) ....

anyway, trung is very friendly and is about 20 years behind bkk.... it is an ancient city of some 20 years ago....

you can access andaman seashroes within about 30 min driving time....

from there you have access to various diving and scuba activities, and various islands.... they are comparatively very inexpensive....

there are plenty of fresh fruits around.... the local food is excellent and some are even exquisit....

the governor's name is.... GOVERNOR MIGHTY.... he is very personable.... you can walk in and have a chat with him, really....

the local people are very friendly and helpful.... the majority of people are proprietors of rubber plantations and palms farms....

you will be very happy in trung, if you are not the party type.... there are a handful of farangs, with and without families, who have been living in trung for several years....

when you come to visit, send me an email and i'll try to roundup a sort of welcoming gathering for you.... LOL

and it is rather inexpensive to find lodging.... my email is nakachalet at gmail dot com

CM is, at best, a dusty, polluted, congested and expensive city. Way too hot in the summer, and let's not even begin to talk about that smoke! That said, the people are friendly and there are many pleasant expats, and the surrounding countryside is beautiful. But, to consider moving to the Deep South and the Three Provinces means you must not only be tired of CM, but tired of living!!

It is a very volatile region and best to keep away. Bombs are the least of the problems. The Separatists kill randomly with beheadings, machete attacks etc. almost daily. Most Muslims are NOT involved in the violence, but that would be of little comfort if you want to live without worry. There are, however, some areas in the south outside the Three Provinces (Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat) worth considering, but the furthest south to look is perhaps Songkhla Province, (where I live in a village).

Hat Yai is the main city with many supermarkets, department stores etc, and that would be a good place to base yourself if you want to have a look around the area. The beach at Songkhla Town is pleasant enough, but nothing like the more usual Farang resorts as it caters to Thais. Prices are lower than CM. A house in my village was just rented for 1,200Baht/month, although you can expect to pay 20,000+ for a modern rental in a gated community.

I think that throughout Thailand you will find the Thais are even more friendly, have even better manners, and are more hospitable where they have less exposure to Farang. – What's that saying?….Familiarity breeds contempt.

I went cycling this evening and lost count of the number of people smiling, saying "sawatdee crap", "pai nai?" and even "Hello" and "where you live?" - but that's village life the world over I guess.

Hope that helps a bit.

[olsen]

You should try out Nakhon Si Thammarat and Khanom at the mainland oppsite Koh Samui and facing the Gulf of Thailand.

Here we have some of the best beaches in Thailand and very affordable living expenses.

You can get more info here: Khanom Beach

And also read the latest online magazine about the area here:

Khanom Beach Magazine

[samuibeachcomber]

living in southern thailand you will have put up with the humidy,are you ok in a humid climate?Stay away from pattani,yala, and narathiwat,but had yai,sonkla are ok.suratthani,nakhon si thammaret are ok.From another poster,trang sounds interesting and access to the adaman see would be nice too.

[South]

Nakhonsithammarat? - much better places to live in the south .... Phuket, Phangnga, Krabi, Songkhla and to a certain extent Trang and/or Satun. Nakhonsithammarat probably has more fatal road accidents than any other province in the country due to the locals complete selfishness and inability to observe the 'rules' of the road - and the beach resorts in NST are a long long way from being acceptable due partly to the total lack of any kind of infrastructure, totally over-rated. Don't believe all the hype you read on 'glossy' websites or magazines set up as an advertising front. Just ask the people who have lived there, been taken in and have/are returning home a lot wiser and a lot poorer leaving behind just empty overgrown dreams.

[sbk]

Actually, I believe CM has the most fatal road accidents, South.

Trang is lovely but as has been said, you'd better be able to get used to the humidity. Me, I like humidity. Too dry and I feel parched. But for some its quite hard to take.

Southerners are far more blunt and less accommodating than their Northern brethren. They seem less friendly but the fact is they aren't smiling for the sake of a smile. If they smile then generally it means something. Once accepted they are generous and helpful. The food is far spicier than the North, I much prefer Southern food.

I think that its often the case that people get tired or bored of where they are living and set off in search for that perfect Paradise. Sure, some places are nicer than others, but your home is what you make of it.

[VTR1000]

I would have thought Bangkok would have the most road fatalities simply due to the numbers of people there.

Anyway, getting back on topic - best thing to do is come down, explore the area and see for yourself. It's not really a wise move to listen to what others say as we're all different. There is a huge difference between places in say, Chumphon, Phuket and Yala as examples.

To the OP, you don't really say what kind of things you're looking for, so we can't really help you without randomly guessing at what kind of person you are and as the poster above said, "your home is what you make of it."