Moving From Chiang Mai To Chanthaburi / Trat

[raybona]

Hi, we are a western couple living for over 2 years in Chiang Mai, missing the sea, and planning on moving to Eastern Thailand

After checking out internet, we found out that there is very little info about Chanthaburi or Trat, so we hope that someone lives there who can give us some advise about what to do and where to go.

The plan is : We sell everything here, pack the car and leave. We have 2 small dogs coming with us (problem?)

Do you think we can find a house for rent, long term, (furnished, 2 bed 2 bath, western kitchen, small garden and away from the hustle and bustle in a quiet location) ?

Which of those places have the nicest beaches, and is there a possibility to find western products?

We don't mind living 10-15 Km. away from the beach, and town center.

Any help would be welcome,

Thanks in advance.

PS. We can move as soon as 2 weeks from now.

[JusMe]

You could also consider a bit west of there, in Rayong Province. Mae Phim, Ban Phe, Ban Chang, or even Rayong city itself.

[retiredusn]

Chanthaburi is a great town with all available services, Hospital,shopping ect. the wife and i have lived here 4 years now and love it. Internet runs around 6-7 hundred baht per month and the average rent for a two/three bedroom is around 5 thousand per month. I think you will find some of the best beach's in Thailand very close without the tourist price. I am not sure about available rental houses but it should not take a lot of looking too find one. Good Luck

[raybona]

You could also consider a bit west of there, in Rayong Province. Mae Phim, Ban Phe, Ban Chang, or even Rayong city itself.

Hi Jusme, I've been checking out the places you've mentioned, and i found Ban Phe the most attractive for us.

But i could.'t find any house prices on the net. Ban chang has a lot, but to much for our budget. A decent house there starts from 20.000 and up. That is to much for us.

Do you know if Ban Phe is priced the same, or cheaper?

Thanks

[raybona]

Chanthaburi is a great town with all available services, Hospital,shopping ect. the wife and i have lived here 4 years now and love it. Internet runs around 6-7 hundred baht per month and the average rent for a two/three bedroom is around 5 thousand per month. I think you will find some of the best beach's in Thailand very close without the tourist price. I am not sure about available rental houses but it should not take a lot of looking too find one. Good Luck

Hi Retiredusn, Do you think it would be possible to find a house (furnished) between the city and the beach, let's say for about 8-12.000 ?

Also, have you been in Trat, and if so, how do you compare?

Thanks

[sketcher]

I would'nt recomend Trat over Chantaburi, Trat doesn't really cater well for the western taste and there are far better beaches near Chantaburi. Have a look at Laem Sing and the beaches around there.

[JurgenG]

I've been to Chanthaburi a couple of times, gf family is from there on her father side, and I have a great feeling about the city even if I never stay there long enough to really know much about it.

I think the reason I like the city is its first because all the relatives I met there were outstandingly friendly and welcoming. The city looks very clean compared to other place in Thailand, and also very open to foreign influences, and here I'm definitively not talking about the western bar scene but it seems to be truly a South East Asian city

For people who live there full time and have also been living elsewhere in Thailand, how do you compare Chanthaburi with similar cities in Thailand?

[JusMe]

You could also consider a bit west of there, in Rayong Province. Mae Phim, Ban Phe, Ban Chang, or even Rayong city itself.

Hi Jusme, I've been checking out the places you've mentioned, and i found Ban Phe the most attractive for us.

But i could.'t find any house prices on the net. Ban chang has a lot, but to much for our budget. A decent house there starts from 20.000 and up. That is to much for us.

Do you know if Ban Phe is priced the same, or cheaper?

Thanks

I bought mine here, so whatever I say about rentals is very generalized. I'll be seeing some friends for dinner this evening who might have a better idea.

But depending on exactly where the house is - across the road from the beach, or perhaps a few hundred meters off - I do believe you'd get a house for less than 20k baht. One friend had a rented house just behind Bedrock Guesthouse and he was paying, if I remember correctly, something like 12k per month.

I'll ask this evening and either post or pm you tomorrow.

[retiredusn]

That price range should be no problem to find a house but as stated it will take some looking. If you need some help pm me and I will try to show you some of the area's.....

[JusMe]

I chatted to some friends over dinner tonight, and one two bedroom, two bathroom, furnished house with carport and small garden, all behind a high fence, was 10,000 but went up to 12,000 per month, plus utilities.

That should give you some idea, so you should be able to get a really good place for maybe 12~15k baht.

There might be another house in the area behind Bedrock Guesthouse. Stop by there and ask if Mark knows anything about it, or any others in the area.

I do remember seeing a sign on a big house on a side road from near my place (four km east of Ban Phe town) that said "House for Rent" and I think that would be quite reasonable, too.

There's little "public" advertising of houses, so most of it is asking around. A good place to see some signs with photos, often of vacation houses though, is at Petra's. Her shop is on the main street across from one of the 7-Elevens, with a purple ATM out front. She knows a lot of what's going on, so if she's not too busy it would be a good idea to ask if she knows of something suitable. She carries all the English and many European newspapers, too, as well as breads, salamis, cheeses, etc. It's a short block east of Christie's, a well-known drinking establishment here in Ban Phe.

Let me know if you want any more help, or perhaps directions around some of the houses. Glad to offer information or show you what little I know.

[raybona]

Hi guys, thanks for all the useful information !

Sorry I was late, but internet let me down.

I might have some more questions before we leave Chiang Mai, so I'll let you know.

Cheers,

Ray & Jane

[Atmos]

spend some time looking . . . we have just spent 10 days from Rayong down to Chanthaburi along the coast.

Just our personal opinions but we liked it more the further south we got. Depends what you want in life, we weren't keen on the Rayong/Ban Phe stretch, only spent 3 days there mind you so hardly 'expert opinion'.

We'd done a similar trip from Trat up to Chanthaburi before, and that time thought Chao Lao (31km from Chanthaburi via Tha Mai), was a nice place. It was our final stop on this trip, we actually extended our stay. Beautiful beaches, good water clarity, safe for children to swim and learn to snorkel off shallow-water reefs. A 10km+ cycle-only lane on the main road appealed - as we're both keen snorkelers, road cyclists these were things that appealed.

If you're swimmers, something we noted on both trips was that the water is better at Chao Lao than Laem Sing, the flow from the C'buri river must drift south, water noticeably cloudy in comparison last week, and in May could be described as filthy brown we couldn't swim there.

We're heading back for Xmas, these things take time but seriously looking at settling in the area. Best wishes for your change of lifestyle.

couple of pics of Chao Lao. If you do go there, recommend a visit to the little aquarium at the north end of the beach. Amazingly, it is free entry.

[Bedrockguesthouse]

I chatted to some friends over dinner tonight, and one two bedroom, two bathroom, furnished house with carport and small garden, all behind a high fence, was 10,000 but went up to 12,000 per month, plus utilities.

That should give you some idea, so you should be able to get a really good place for maybe 12~15k baht.

There might be another house in the area behind Bedrock Guesthouse. Stop by there and ask if Mark knows anything about it, or any others in the area.

I do remember seeing a sign on a big house on a side road from near my place (four km east of Ban Phe town) that said "House for Rent" and I think that would be quite reasonable, too.

There's little "public" advertising of houses, so most of it is asking around. A good place to see some signs with photos, often of vacation houses though, is at Petra's. Her shop is on the main street across from one of the 7-Elevens, with a purple ATM out front. She knows a lot of what's going on, so if she's not too busy it would be a good idea to ask if she knows of something suitable. She carries all the English and many European newspapers, too, as well as breads, salamis, cheeses, etc. It's a short block east of Christie's, a well-known drinking establishment here in Ban Phe.

Let me know if you want any more help, or perhaps directions around some of the houses. Glad to offer information or show you what little I know.

There is a house that will become available behind our guesthouse late december if the OP was interested. I think the rental will be 12k per month

cheers Mark

[raybona]

I chatted to some friends over dinner tonight, and one two bedroom, two bathroom, furnished house with carport and small garden, all behind a high fence, was 10,000 but went up to 12,000 per month, plus utilities.

That should give you some idea, so you should be able to get a really good place for maybe 12~15k baht.

There might be another house in the area behind Bedrock Guesthouse. Stop by there and ask if Mark knows anything about it, or any others in the area.

I do remember seeing a sign on a big house on a side road from near my place (four km east of Ban Phe town) that said "House for Rent" and I think that would be quite reasonable, too.

There's little "public" advertising of houses, so most of it is asking around. A good place to see some signs with photos, often of vacation houses though, is at Petra's. Her shop is on the main street across from one of the 7-Elevens, with a purple ATM out front. She knows a lot of what's going on, so if she's not too busy it would be a good idea to ask if she knows of something suitable. She carries all the English and many European newspapers, too, as well as breads, salamis, cheeses, etc. It's a short block east of Christie's, a well-known drinking establishment here in Ban Phe.

Let me know if you want any more help, or perhaps directions around some of the houses. Glad to offer information or show you what little I know.

There is a house that will become available behind our guesthouse late december if the OP was interested. I think the rental will be 12k per month

cheers Mark

Hi, do you know if there are any pictures of the house available? Also we would prefer a bungalow type of house, everything on 1 floor, because my wife has a backproblem, so she can't handle stairs very well.

Thanks a lot.

Ray

[JusMe]

I'm not sure, although I think I know which house Mark refers to. I don't have pictures at all, but all the houses there are one story bungalows, everything on one floor.

[raybona]

I'm not sure, although I think I know which house Mark refers to. I don't have pictures at all, but all the houses there are one story bungalows, everything on one floor.

Thanks a lot Jusme, I'm sorry I forgot to mention that it had to be a single story house, but anyway it turns out to be OK.

We'll try to arrive there around mid- January, depending on the stuff we can sell here!

Let you know,

Ray

[steve73]

Hi, I'm in Rayong about 10km inland from Ban Phe.

If you keep away from the Farang targeted villages, there are plenty of 2/3 bedroomed bungalows for rent from about 2-3000 per month, but you really need to be here to look around and talk to the locals. May be a bit isolated for you though if neither of you speak the lingo.

[mangopudding]

Hi, I'm in Rayong about 10km inland from Ban Phe.

If you keep away from the Farang targeted villages, there are plenty of 2/3 bedroomed bungalows for rent from about 2-3000 per month, but you really need to be here to look around and talk to the locals. May be a bit isolated for you though if neither of you speak the lingo.

If 2/3 bedrooms are that cheap, are 4/5 bedrooms available at all at under 10000 baht? And do these homes offer privacy from Thais that may wish to engage in unofficial farang studies?