Relocation to Samui

[nami]

Thanks to everyone! You people are very helpful and friendly, I hope I land this job and I can meet nice expats ;-) I was starting to think most of the farangs in Thailand were like the ones in the general forum lol :-P

[bislinder]

rubbish, OP don't be put off by negative comments like this. I've lived on Samui for almost two years now, met some really nice people, in fact some of the best friends I've ever made, haven't got ripped off at all by either Thai or foreigner. Samui is much more friendly than Bangkok. In fact you may notice that the people who live on Samui who post on TV are mostly genuinely helpful and trying to answer with real information, not the "everything in Thailand is awful" crowd.

I'd suggest you choose carefully what part of the island you'd like to live in though. Chaweng is very crowded and touristy, Lamai less so, and the south and west coast very quiet. I believe Maenam and Bang Por are nice too but I don't know that area very well.

Overall costs probably similar to Bangkok except for the taxis. We have Tesco, Big C, Makro and some specialty shops for grocery shopping, good local markets for fish, fruit and veg, some great healthy/vegetarian restaurants, etc.

If you're sending furniture and household things, be aware there's no IKEA here, it's a bit limited in terms of what you can find, so bring whatever you need from Bangkok.

There's a couple of large furniture stores on the ring road from Lamai to Nathon is there not?

[Mole]

Umm.. I would hardly call most of the stuff sold at these places for "furniture".

There's an Index store in Maenam, but they don't seem to stock many of the more expensive stuff which you'll find in BKK. Things that gets on sale campaigns also never seems to make it out here.

Edited August 2, 2013 by Mole

[samuijimmy]

Umm.. I would hardly call most of the stuff sold at these places for "furniture".

There's an Index store in Maenam, but they don't seem to stock many of the more expensive stuff which you'll find in BKK. Things that gets on sale campaigns also never seems to make it out here.

I would tend to agree with this statement by Mole... but there are a couple of places to check out which if I remember have slightly better quality than Index in Maenam, or those Nathon stores.

One is the store just before the big hill headed up to Tesco Chawang, on left, I forget the name! ... the other is just beyond Tesco Chawang, on same side, called the Greenhouse. It has been a while since I have been in either of them.... but might be worth checking out...

Edited August 2, 2013 by samuijimmy

[Traveling Sailor]

There is a Samui Storage & Moving Solutions place, run by a Brit, I think. I have emailed them a couple of times and they are very friendly. You can find them on Google Search.

I am moving to Samui in October and will visit again in September. I found a nice little one-bedroom house, 100 meters from the beach, for 800 baht a month in Maenam. The only problem with it is no hot shower. Hopefully I will be able to work with the owner and get that changed.

All the best to you.

800bt a month is that just for the cold shower how much for the rest of the house.

OOPS! Sorry, I meant 8,000 baht a month.

[samuijimmy]

There is a Samui Storage & Moving Solutions place, run by a Brit, I think. I have emailed them a couple of times and they are very friendly. You can find them on Google Search.

I am moving to Samui in October and will visit again in September. I found a nice little one-bedroom house, 100 meters from the beach, for 800 baht a month in Maenam. The only problem with it is no hot shower. Hopefully I will be able to work with the owner and get that changed.

All the best to you.

800bt a month is that just for the cold shower how much for the rest of the house.

OOPS! Sorry, I meant 8,000 baht a month.

Yes, I think we all fingered that out! We call it a "Big C moment".... around here!!!

[khunPer]

There are quite a number of funiture stores around Samui, almost everything from Index style to both lower and upper. The one at the hill between Big C and Macro has some quite nice furnitures and a fairly large selection. Green House, between Tesco and Bangkok Samui Hospital, sells from a factory in Chain Mai only, and have two lines. “Harvest”, the one in stock, is a trendy design selection in wood (some minor parts in vinyled chipbord), the other line (cannot remember the name) is quite hi-end life-style, all massive wood. The shop at south on Ringroad between Lamai and Nathon has some very hi-end Thai style, which may seem a bit old fashioned for a Westener, however depending of your life style, but definately not the kind of stuff you put into a 8,000 b/m bungalow. Home Pro sells lots of beds and some time, some limited furnitures. Both Tesco and Big C has some (very) limited selection of Index/Ikea-style. Local carpenters can cutom make furnitures, but some of the stuff may not be as nice looking and good quality as factory made. The typical cheap Thai-style furnitures can be found several places around the Ring Road, often looking like very temporary outlets, but they may have usefull stuff at an affordable price. Close to Nathon, after the hill from Bang Por, is a fancy modern Thai designer furniture store with high quality wooden furnitures. Same store can arrange transport of furnitures, when you move from Bkk. I used them to custom clear from abroad and move a 20ft container from Bkk to Samui and offload (take empty container back to Bkk) – very fine service and fair price.

[monkeycountry]

I certainly don't agree with Monkeycountry's statement.... especially that Thai's not understanding about internet etc etc....every Thai I know does...

Many houses around Maenam under 10,000 baht... My house is pretty decent one large bedroom, living room, kitchen bathroom and walled garden and 300 metres from beach and 100 metres to Ring Road, very quiet with only two close neigbouring houses... ...also has hot water, asking price was 8000 b a month including water and electric ... on long term I got that down to 7000 baht a month...without much effort.... other houses in area same sort of prices... with long term expats...not tourists

I could use the slowish internet included, but choose to have my own line.... same with satellite, I use my own.

One generally only find these places by either driving around, or word of mouth... they are not advertised....(usually) ...

It was a figure of speech, but to clarify, yes everyone knows what the internet is. However, many, especially elderly local thais, have no idea how to use it though, and would not know how to advertise their house online.

[crazykopite]

There is a Samui Storage & Moving Solutions place, run by a Brit, I think. I have emailed them a couple of times and they are very friendly. You can find them on Google Search.

I am moving to Samui in October and will visit again in September. I found a nice little one-bedroom house, 100 meters from the beach, for 800 baht a month in Maenam. The only problem with it is no hot shower. Hopefully I will be able to work with the owner and get that changed.

All the best to you.

800 baht per month no chance even a thai would have to pay more than that are you sure your not mistaken with a dog kennel I live in Maenam no way can you get a place for 800 per month even a tin shed is more !!!!!!!!

[PoorSucker]

800 baht per month no chance even a thai would have to pay more than that are you sure your not mistaken with a dog kennel I live in Maenam no way can you get a place for 800 per month even a tin shed is more !!!!!!!!

The poster already corrected his typo to 8000 baht

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/657412-relocation-to-samui/?p=6675146

[pokerspiv]

I would also recommend to Nami that he consider Phuket. It does not share the disadvantages of travel that Samui does (Phuket has a causeway to the mainland and a proper international airport accepting low cost carriers) and has just as many nice beaches as Samui.

[Tropicalevo]

I would also recommend to Nami that he consider Phuket. It does not share the disadvantages of travel that Samui does (Phuket has a causeway to the mainland and a proper international airport accepting low cost carriers) and has just as many nice beaches as Samui.

I suspect that you have something against Samui.

I know that it is not perfect, but it is bluddy dammmm good.

The poster asked for advice about relocating to Samui, not "where is a good place to live?"

Personally, I would recommend the Seychelles for the best beaches, but hey. Who cares?

Back on topic. Samui is not as cheap as most other parts of Thailand, and as pokerspiv points out, travel to and from here is either time consuming or expensive.

But it is worth it.

[nami]

Pokers, thanks for the suggestion. But Phuket and Pattaya are the only 2 places I would never move to. I respect the people who like, but it is completely the opposite of what I like ;-)

Tropicalevo, I don't know if he hates Samui or just loves Phuket. At first I thought it was a joke/troll :-D

I would also recommend to Nami that he consider Phuket. It does not share the disadvantages of travel that Samui does (Phuket has a causeway to the mainland and a proper international airport accepting low cost carriers) and has just as many nice beaches as Samui.

I suspect that you have something against Samui.

I know that it is not perfect, but it is bluddy dammmm good.

The poster asked for advice about relocating to Samui, not "where is a good place to live?"

Personally, I would recommend the Seychelles for the best beaches, but hey. Who cares?

Back on topic. Samui is not as cheap as most other parts of Thailand, and as pokerspiv points out, travel to and from here is either time consuming or expensive.

But it is worth it.

[pokerspiv]

I would also recommend to Nami that he consider Phuket. It does not share the disadvantages of travel that Samui does (Phuket has a causeway to the mainland and a proper international airport accepting low cost carriers) and has just as many nice beaches as Samui.

I suspect that you have something against Samui.

I know that it is not perfect, but it is bluddy dammmm good.

The poster asked for advice about relocating to Samui, not "where is a good place to live?"

Personally, I would recommend the Seychelles for the best beaches, but hey. Who cares?

Back on topic. Samui is not as cheap as most other parts of Thailand, and as pokerspiv points out, travel to and from here is either time consuming or expensive.

But it is worth it.

What a ridiculous thing to say, I have lived in Samui for years and certainly don't have anything against it.

I'm just saying that if the if the OP's primary motivation to move is to escape busy Bangkok and be near the beach, then Phuket is worth considering too.

Pokers, thanks for the suggestion. But Phuket and Pattaya are the only 2 places I would never move to.

In that case I hope you aren't expecting Samui to be too much different than Phuket, because it isn't. There's more to Phuket than Bangla Road, just like there is more to Samui than Chaweng Beach Road. There are nicer and quieter places on both Islands.

Edited August 13, 2013 by pokerspiv