North Or Beaches

[dcas]

I'ts Udon for me and TW sometime this year. Helps that her family is there whom I get along with very well. Chaing Mai has changed to much and is similiar to BKK which I would never consider, too crowded and noisey. I loved Pattaya when I was there but from what I have read in this forum it is also changed to the negative. So it's North for me and the wife hopefully soon this year. We are coming from Melbourne, Florida USA where we've lived for the last 30 years.

[Thaiquila]

Always a personal decision.

I like urban areas so the choices for me were Chiang Mai, and Pattaya (I ruled out Bangkok).

I found the air quality in Chiang Mai to be horrendous and they also have an incredibly high incidence of people with serious respiratory diseases.

Pattaya also often has incredible breezes which are really quite nice.

[rishi]

I've just returned to Chiang Mai after a 5-day trip to Bangkok - the first time in about a year that I've been more than 300 km away from the city moats. I'd almost forget how it was to be in Bangkok. Before I took the trip I believed that Chiang Mai was very polluted and traffic jammed, but I've got used to it - never had felt any physical sensation except the need to cough if I had to wait too long to cross Moonmuang by foot during rushhours. Already the second day in Bangkok I started to have irritated nostrils... Compared to Bangkok the air in Chiang Mai is like at the sea and the traffic jams as a wink of the eye.

[BKK90210]

Beachhhhhhhhhhh………No nature sightings of interest can compare to the beach

Well I love… the unpredictable of the weather station that keeps telling me its in the high 80s today but yesterday was warmer on the beach and they were saying it was in the 70s.

I love… walking along the beach looking for baby clams with multicolored shells in a tide pool. I didn't pick them up of course except to look at the colors but it was fun to watch them roll up and down, left and right with the incoming tide. They looked like tiny little jewels in the sun on the national seashore. Since I've already got nice specimens of the common shells so I'm a lot more selective over what I'm willing to bend down to get.

I love…walking up and down along the beach coz it was easier on my back. I really am going to try to keep the walk short every times…but it's hard because I love shelling and once I start I lose track of time

I love…to feel the sands underneath my feet – it’s like having a free massage…see you can still have a non-sexual relationship with your massager too.

I love…getting up in the morning to see the sun is shining and DAMM..the sea is still flat!

I love…the color of the sea - the shade of this sort of translucent blue in the sun. I can’t imagine enjoying the north with the red sunray setting down behind the green trees beyond – looks like an Italian flag to me!

I love…to catch an early bite of spicy fried squids and a beer at the seaside restaurant myself but of course with my impeccable timing, they were always closed in the early morning - I had to settle for a V8

I love…walking to the pier, it likes an elevated observation deck and it's free.

I love…Afternoon Delight - The hot shower got me going and the breeze dried me afterward

On…and…on….

Beach life definitely is for me!

One of the biggest negative factors of course is I would have to give up the computer time during the day.

Edited January 28, 2006 by BKK90210

[Padkapow Guy]

I have been called a SON OF A BEACH my whole life. So I guess I would have to choose the Beach.

PKG

[Neeranam]

I'd rather live in the north but make frequent trips to the coast. cool.gif

cv

Same as me but North East. I get bored shitless when on the beach for more than a couple of weeks. When good things become 'commonplace' I don't appreciate them. I need variety.

I've been all over Thailand and Khon Kaen seems to be the best for me, although no mountains. I used to think it would be perfect if there were a beach here, but on second thought - it is fine as it is.

The problem with beaches is that there are too many tourists, and why some people go to Pattaya with their families beats me. Pattaya stinks of sex-addicts and desparate young girls becoming addicted to drugs and booze, so they can fool the 'holiday-makers' into thinking they are having a good time, and is the saddest place in a beautiful country. I go to Hua Hin as my best Thai mate owns the Anantasila Resort there. Although we get to stay in a suite with a huge balcony right on the quieter beach, we only go an average of twice a year and stay for a couple of nights. It's nice waking up to see the ocean and be right on the beach, but the sea is usually cloudy and sometimes heaps of jellyfish.

[Savage]

I have to say that i'd prefer to live anywhere away fro the beach unless it was somewhere like Chantaburi. I find the Thai's to be much friendlier in the North , North East & central areas.

[mittheimp]

If you live away from the beach area then its a holiday to go and visit it, maybe too much of a good thing becomes boring. Chaing Mai would be a good place to live, 40 times smaller than Bangkok but still modern with every western convenience you might need also near beautiful countryside and a lot cheaper than other parts of Thailand. The beaches are only 1hour and 7000 Baht away!

[Blue Unicorn]

Chiang Mai anyday. When I lived in Thailand the one thing I quickly realised is that the beach areas were becoming more and more spoilt and the people it attracts are some of the scummiest in the country. Phuket to me is a dump, as too is Pattaya. Full of low quality people, Thai's with bad attitudes and too expensive. If you want the beaches, Hua Hin is much nicer as it doen't attract the Euro trash from the UK, like Phuket and Pattaya etc. Chiang Mai has a great climate, much cleaner air than Bangkok, interesting culture and its much cheaper. Yep ! Chiang Mai gets my vote. Its where I want to retire.

Edited January 29, 2006 by Blue Unicorn

[Neeranam]

Phuket to me is a dump, as too is Pattaya. Full of low quality people, Thai's with bad attitudes and too expensive. If you want the beaches, Hua Hin is much nicer as it doen't attract the Euro trash from the UK, like Phuket and Pattaya etc.

Actually, I found that a lot of high quality Thai people go to Pattaya, not counting the poor girls of course who go to sell themselves. I won't say what I think of the majority of the farang, but Hua Hin has a better qulaity by far.

[Thaiquila]

I am sorry because I like Chiang Mai too, but objectively Chiang Mai has remarkably unhealthy air, especially during the months when you can hardly see the mountains from the city.

[Dragonman]

Chiang Mai anyday. When I lived in Thailand the one thing I quickly realised is that the beach areas were becoming more and more spoilt and the people it attracts are some of the scummiest in the country. Phuket to me is a dump, as too is Pattaya. Full of low quality people, Thai's with bad attitudes and too expensive. If you want the beaches, Hua Hin is much nicer as it doen't attract the Euro trash from the UK, like Phuket and Pattaya etc. Chiang Mai has a great climate, much cleaner air than Bangkok, interesting culture and its much cheaper. Yep ! Chiang Mai gets my vote. Its where I want to retire.

Why do people only think of a few tourist areas when talking of beaches in Thailand? Actually Thailand has quite an extensive coastline that is pretty bare of farangs.

[Neeranam]

Don't spill the beans! Keep it quiet.

[Rinrada]

If you live away from the beach area then its a holiday to go and visit it, maybe too much of a good thing becomes boring. Chaing Mai would be a good place to live, 40 times smaller than Bangkok but still modern with every western convenience you might need also near beautiful countryside and a lot cheaper than other parts of Thailand. The beaches are only 1hour and 7000 Baht away!

From C.M...1000bt @ single on Nok Air,100 Bt on airport Bus to Ekki,90 Bt on inter city to Patti and 5 bt on a "Son Tail" to Beach Road...Total= 1,195 bt and roughly what... 3 hours ..mountains to sand....cant be bad

[Patex]

...Why do people only think of a few tourist areas when talking of beaches in Thailand? Actually Thailand has quite an extensive coastline that is pretty bare of farangs.

S... up!

[Rinrada]

Last Time I went to Bang......"nowhere" I didnt even see another white face ...not in the Restaurants,Bars,Beaches,Guest Houses/Hotels...no where......agree...

[LaoPo]

...Why do people only think of a few tourist areas when talking of beaches in Thailand? Actually Thailand has quite an extensive coastline that is pretty bare of farangs.

S... up!

I did s_-t up when I first came to Phuket and Patong was like a virgin....SO...where is the secret now, huh? .....well, never mind...if YOU don' tell me, I won't either

LaoPo