Pak Chong

[sambai]

I have been spending some time in Pak Chong recently and have considered moving there permanently if I could find a western-standard property.

The reason I like it is mainly because of the mountains and scenery - it's more attractive than around Bangkok.

Does anyone have any experience of living in this area? The thing that puts me off a little, is that there seems to be no expat focus unlike some of the other places I have visited, like Hua Hin and Bangkok. Is this the case?

Also, the properties that I have seen are very poor standard basic Thai-style. The architecture of the buildings and quality of the buildings is terrible, so I'm hoping someone will well me there are properties available (hopefully new ones), built to a better standard, at least approaching that which we expect in the West. I'd just like a smallish bungalow in a rural location really. Thanks.

[rgs2001uk]

The type of properties you seek are available.

This time last year the mrs and I drove up and had a look at just the type of house you refer to,

2 storey 3 bedroom 3 bathroom, western style, large kitchen with granite worktops, large living room and 3 decent sized bedrooms.

The property sat on 100 t/w and was for sale for 2 million baht, with the option to buy further land.

The seller was willing to negotiate for a quick sale, but wasnt going to just give the house away, the house alone would have cost at least 2 million to build, if not more.

The house was advertised here on TV, a lot of properties up that way are sold by word of mouth,

its a matter of hitting the road, having a look round and making yourself known to potential sellers.

Like you we were attracted,

"because of the mountains and scenery.................in a rural location"

The,

"there seems to be no expat focus unlike some of the other places I have visited"

is not a problem for me, in fact its one of the attractions.

Sounds as if you could find what you are looking for down Hua Hin way.

[Nawtier]

Very expensive around here now.

Not sure where that 2 million place on 100tw is, but really, what is the point of moving to the country and mountains to live on something so small.

Anyway, an estate on the road to the park has 150tw with new english kind of style country house for 9 million.

Per rai, land is 2/3 million now.

Also, the lack of farang attractions is what is nice about it.

Edited November 6, 2010 by Nawtier

[sambai]

is not a problem for me, in fact its one of the attractions.

Yes, I understand what you mean.  Actually I do not want to live on a development full of other foreigners, but at the same time I do find it helpful to be able to contact other foreigners when help or advice is needed.

I have lived around Thai people for a few years and they've been so-so but... well... best not say any more!

Incidentally, can you give any information about where those properties were, RGS?  Many thanks.

Edited November 6, 2010 by sambai

[sambai]

Anyway, an estate on the road to the park has 150tw with new english kind of style country house for 9 million.

I know the place you refer to. They look great. But after a few years they'll look quite grotty I expect, like all the other places in such an unforgiving climate.

[GooEng]

hi,

i'm a farang living in pak chong and have been for almost 2 years now and i can confirm the impressions that have been expressed here in other posts.

farang style houses are hard to find unless you are prepared to look up the khao yai road where there are various offerings, but these tend to be developements of buildings which are intended for use as holiday properties (see links below for examples).

http://www.phufahsuay.com/

http://www.phujandha.com/index/

i'm a little surprised to see quoted here that the going rate for land is so high (2/3mill pre rai??).

there is an abundance of poorly developed land around where i live that doesn't seem to be generating enough income to justify those prices - disused golf courses, unfarmed land and land that just seems to be doing nothing....

but as i often find in thailand prices may not follow normal market forces, and a rai of scrub that hasn't been farmed for years and generates nothing may well have a sale value as mentioned - especially when the potential buyer is a farang.

another house that i looked at when i first moved into the area advertised at 1.4million miraculously jumped to 2.5million when i made a serious inquiry!

i'm now renting a slightly dilapidated bungalow with a very large living/dining room and 2 large double bedrooms with bathrooms for 11,000/month. it is typical of the houses in the area and is not very westernised - a heated shower was fitted by the landlady before we moved in and i have stuck an aircon unit in the bedroom we use.

i have inquired about buying this place from the owner but again the asking price was too high - 2.5 million! by my estimate the house needs another million spent on it to upgrade the bathrooms, upgrade the kitchen, redecorate the place and renovate the roof.

on the whole it's a nice place to live though - a nice little town offering all the basic requirements for a decent existance. tesco lotus has a good branch and there are a decent choice of shops in town for other items required. bangkok is also very accessable - under 2 hours to the airport and about 2 hours to town. korat is also about an hour and a half's drive in the other direction and again it offers more in the way of services.

the climate there is a very welcome change from bangkok's clammy heat, with cooler evenings and at this time of year it even gets PROPERLY COLD at night! summer time is still pretty hot though.

the only drawback i have found is that there is a lack of any sort of farang community. some may consider this a bonus and certainly the fact that there isn't a farang bar with bar girls in it is a plus(!), but i have found that i do miss the chance to just hang out and speak english with a few foreigners occassionally. i do see a few guys in tesco lotus from time to time, but there is no "group" so to speak.

Edited November 13, 2010 by joe ekkamai

[crab]

An utterly beautiful morning today in Pak Chong, after a pleasantly chilly night. Windy, transmuting to breezy. A faint haze. The light soft over the green valley to the distant hills beyond the highway. I've been living here a little over a year and I never tire of the view from my terrace.

I argue with nothing that Joe ekkamai says above. One thing I have observed here is that most of the farangs I see in Tesco or around seem to strive to avoid contact at all costs. Perhaps it's just the effect I have on people, but I don't think so. A glance and a friendly smile is more often than not met with averted eyes. Its as if farangs come here specifically to avoid contact with other farangs. A Thai friend who lives, and has businesses, here assures me that there are a good 1,000 farangs in Pak Chong and she wants to establish some sort of club - like a very slimmed down version of the Pattaya expat clubs - for both farangs and English-speaking Thais. I'm not sure how far this will go.

Land at 750,000 baht a rai has to have chanote or be very special. Outside the town centre almost all the land is porbrodor 5, registered with the puyaibaan and the obrador. Thaksin started the process to convert these titles step by step to full chanote and the Democrat government officially supports the intention. But it is a long, slow process and nobody - including lawyers with whom I have consulted - seems greatly concerned. Typical prices for the sort of land where one might wish to build outside town centre run between 250,000 and 500,000 a rai. Some of it is very beautiful, with spectacular views.

I rent a little 2-storey house on top of a hill about 7 kilometres from town centre. Rent for a farang is 8,000 baht a month. The slightly smaller house across the road was rented to a Thai friend for 2,000 baht; a farang would probably be expected to pay 4,000.

And yes, if you like peace and quiet, it's a very pleasant place to live. And only 2 hours drive from the stews of Sukhumvit Road in case you get antsy.

[starrdog]

I've been living in the Norng Sarai area of Pak Chong for a little over 3 years now. We have a farang style house that suffered massive flood damage last month. Want to buy it?

[Nawtier]

hi,

i'm a farang living in pak chong and have been for almost 2 years now and i can confirm the impressions that have been expressed here in other posts.

farang style houses are hard to find unless you are prepared to look up the khao yai road where there are various offerings, but these tend to be developements of buildings which are intended for use as holiday properties (see links below for examples).

http://www.phufahsuay.com/

http://www.phujandha.com/index/

i'm a little surprised to see quoted here that the going rate for land is so high (2/3mill pre rai??).

there is an abundance of poorly developed land around where i live that doesn't seem to be generating enough income to justify those prices - disused golf courses, unfarmed land and land that just seems to be doing nothing....

but as i often find in thailand prices may not follow normal market forces, and a rai of scrub that hasn't been farmed for years and generates nothing may well have a sale value as mentioned - especially when the potential buyer is a farang.

another house that i looked at when i first moved into the area advertised at 1.4million miraculously jumped to 2.5million when i made a serious inquiry!

the only drawback i have found is that there is a lack of any sort of farang community. some may consider this a bonus and certainly the fact that there isn't a farang bar with bar girls in it is a plus(!), but i have found that i do miss the chance to just hang out and speak english with a few foreigners occassionally. i do see a few guys in tesco lotus from time to time, but there is no "group" so to speak.

The prices quoted for land are in what is known as the 'Golden triangle'...that is an area between Mauk Lek, Juldis resort and Kirrimiya around abouts. Land here is expensive and this is not land being quoted to Farang....the Thai's know full well these prices and are paying it to an extent, although it has slowed a lot recently and not so much being sold.

A lot of wealthy Thias are buying up land for holiday homes around here, many already have.

Some land on the main road to the park is between 3 and 7million per rai.

We have asome land here, we have not built on it yet, we rent a house currently. The retarded owner will not sell for a reasonable price and has had it on the market for a couple of years. it is 2 rai and he wants 7 million and the land has no title....i could go on, but I shall not.

In Tesco they used to have a starbucks and that was a nice place to meet some other farang if you were in the mood and I had met a few in there myself. It closed however and they do still have the one over the road in the outlet village, but it is not so easy to get to. The coffee in Black Canyon sucks.

I presume you live in town then and we are at the park entrance area, so a 30 minute drive. But there is a nice coffee shop nearby us here if you want to pop out for a chat sometime.

[Nawtier]

I've been living in the Norng Sarai area of Pak Chong for a little over 3 years now. We have a farang style house that suffered massive flood damage last month. Want to buy it?

You should not have built so close to the river or so low then perhaps......got any pics of the flood and damage ??

We ate at the restaurant just past the Bangkok hospital on the left the other night, imagine they must have been somewhat underwater there as well.

Luckily where we are, the catchment area is so short that nowhere in the immdeiate area flooded...down stream yes, but not right here as it simply cannot get enough to flood.

[Nawtier]

An utterly beautiful morning today in Pak Chong, after a pleasantly chilly night. Windy, transmuting to breezy. A faint haze. The light soft over the green valley to the distant hills beyond the highway. I've been living here a little over a year and I never tire of the view from my terrace.

I argue with nothing that Joe ekkamai says above. One thing I have observed here is that most of the farangs I see in Tesco or around seem to strive to avoid contact at all costs. Perhaps it's just the effect I have on people, but I don't think so. A glance and a friendly smile is more often than not met with averted eyes. Its as if farangs come here specifically to avoid contact with other farangs. A Thai friend who lives, and has businesses, here assures me that there are a good 1,000 farangs in Pak Chong and she wants to establish some sort of club - like a very slimmed down version of the Pattaya expat clubs - for both farangs and English-speaking Thais. I'm not sure how far this will go.

Land at 750,000 baht a rai has to have chanote or be very special. Outside the town centre almost all the land is porbrodor 5, registered with the puyaibaan and the obrador. Thaksin started the process to convert these titles step by step to full chanote and the Democrat government officially supports the intention. But it is a long, slow process and nobody - including lawyers with whom I have consulted - seems greatly concerned. Typical prices for the sort of land where one might wish to build outside town centre run between 250,000 and 500,000 a rai. Some of it is very beautiful, with spectacular views.

I rent a little 2-storey house on top of a hill about 7 kilometres from town centre. Rent for a farang is 8,000 baht a month. The slightly smaller house across the road was rented to a Thai friend for 2,000 baht; a farang would probably be expected to pay 4,000.

And yes, if you like peace and quiet, it's a very pleasant place to live. And only 2 hours drive from the stews of Sukhumvit Road in case you get antsy.

I have to agree about the lifestyle here, it is wonderful. I walk outside around our balcony at 8ish at night and the stars are out and the valley is in darkness and so dead quiet.

I also agree that a lot of farang you see in town do tend to ignore....I have only made eye contact with a few and only a couple have ever smiled or nodded back. One the other day gave me a nasty look, but think it was because I was perving at his girlfriend moreso.....

I would doubt 1000 in the area, but you never know I guess.

As for your land prices.....you must be talking the Northern side of the highway, cos no way you can find land around where we are for that low anymore......actually you can, but you need to buy a large parcel of 100 to 200 rais and that is still a large chunk of change you need upfront. We found 150 rai recently at 500k per rai.....but anything that is decent is around 2 million now.

And also your comment re land only outside town being PBT title, that is way off, plenty of land around with titles from NS3 to full Chanotes, also as mentioned though plenty around with no titles. I found the perfect block for what I wanted, the kind with a spectaculer setting, the kind of place I would settle and live the rest of my life on....8 rai and 1 million per rai, but no title.

Anyway, feel free to contact if you out our way for a coffee at our local coffee shop on the main road near the park entrance.

[crab]

As for your land prices.....you must be talking the Northern side of the highway, cos no way you can find land around where we are for that low anymore......

You are, of course, absolutely right. I so rarely venture down the Khao Yai road that I seem to have completely forgotten about it. Another world. With its own charms.

[starrdog]

You should not have built so close to the river or so low then perhaps......got any pics of the flood and damage ??

We ate at the restaurant just past the Bangkok hospital on the left the other night, imagine they must have been somewhat underwater there as well.

Now you tell me! The house is right on the river, but sits about 20 meters above it. The builders said there hadn't been a flood in 20 years. Oh well... all the low wood is now out and being replaced with tile, concrete, aluminum and glass. We're close to the hospital you mention.

[Nawtier]

You should not have built so close to the river or so low then perhaps......got any pics of the flood and damage ??

We ate at the restaurant just past the Bangkok hospital on the left the other night, imagine they must have been somewhat underwater there as well.

Now you tell me! The house is right on the river, but sits about 20 meters above it. The builders said there hadn't been a flood in 20 years. Oh well... all the low wood is now out and being replaced with tile, concrete, aluminum and glass. We're close to the hospital you mention.

Must be near the Nannam restaurant then ??

Not the new house right at the bridge is it ?

[starrdog]

Must be near the Nannam restaurant then ??

Not the new house right at the bridge is it ?

What I meant by "close by" is that it's about a 10 minute walk from the house to the hospital. I'm on the other side of the main road from the hospital in a place called Phuthara Village.

[klikster]

Typical prices for the sort of land where one might wish to build outside town centre run between 250,000 and 500,000 a rai. Some of it is very beautiful, with spectacular views.

As for your land prices.....you must be talking the Northern side of the highway, cos no way you can find land around where we are for that low anymore......<snip>.....but anything that is decent is around 2 million now.

Can someone explain the differences between the 2 areas referenced (north of highway and south of highway?). What comprises should a potential buyer expect .. to save 1.5 m on a building site?

[Nawtier]

South of the highway is where the national is and all the nice mountains, quite a few activities and lots of restaurants. The views in this area are very nice and the mountains, most anyway are covered in old growth trees, or at least bigger trees.

North of the highway is flatter, less mountains and the tree coverage is almost always regrowth, so short plain coverage of the hills.

South is the trendy and yuppy area where the rich folk from Bkk are buying, simple as that.

[starrdog]

Now you tell me! The house is right on the river, but sits about 20 meters above it. The builders said there hadn't been a flood in 20 years. Oh well... all the low wood is now out and being replaced with tile, concrete, aluminum and glass. We're close to the hospital you mention.

20 meters? I can't believe I typed that! I meant I'm 20 feet above the river (about 7 meters). I think I need to start drinking coffee again...

[klikster]

South of the highway is where the national is and all the nice mountains, quite a few activities and lots of restaurants. The views in this area are very nice and the mountains, most anyway are covered in old growth trees, or at least bigger trees.

North of the highway is flatter, less mountains and the tree coverage is almost always regrowth, so short plain coverage of the hills.

South is the trendy and yuppy area where the rich folk from Bkk are buying, simple as that.

Thanks, Nawtier.

How does the "livability" of the 2 areas compare. Quiet? Traffic? Shopping (have a car)? Local wet market? DSL broadband internet? Etc? How far from the restaurants on the south side? I'm not interested in bars .. nor am I hiso.

Although I might want to visit some of the restaurants on the south side. How much of a drive?

[Nawtier]

Thanks, Nawtier.

How does the "livability" of the 2 areas compare. Quiet? Traffic? Shopping (have a car)? Local wet market? DSL broadband internet? Etc? How far from the restaurants on the south side? I'm not interested in bars .. nor am I hiso.

Although I might want to visit some of the restaurants on the south side. How much of a drive?

I prefer the south side cos I like the quiet and the mountains. North side you can find deserted spots also if you want, just not the mountains around you.

Traffic is no problem, except the odd weekend when the tourists are in town.

Tesco in town, wet market in town, roadside markets along the road most nights somewhere.

Internet is available in the area, but we do not have it cos it is not available in our road.

Restaurants are everywhere...closest one to us is 2 minutes away, then all the way into town which is 25 minutes from where we live.

[jfchandler]

If I could ask a quick side question, since some of the folks in this thread obviously live in the area...

My Thai wife has some vacation time over the Christmas period, and likes to go wine tasting (drinking ) around Khao Yai.... I was thinking of arranging a couple days stay up there, and getting us out of BKK for a few days...

But I haven't heard much of how things are going post the floods, and whether the hotel and winery areas were much affected, and how they're faring now... PB, Juldis, Gran Monte, Palio, Lam Ta Khong, Chok Chai, etc...

Can anyone local give me some idea of whether the local conditions would be suitable for such a trip, or best to wait a while.... Thanks much....

[Nawtier]

Hardly affected by floods at all in those areas you mentioned....business as usual.

Some riverside places were flooded further down stream and in town, but not around here.

[jfchandler]

Thanks much for the info and update... Glad to hear those areas (at least) escaped unscathed.... My wife will be happy too...