Best family area to live in Ubon

[KunMatt]

Due to recent circumstances we are now looking to move to the big smoke (Ubon) for a year or so. We have a 2 and a half year old boy and a 6 month old daughter. We've been currently living in a large remote village 1 hour outside of the city for a few years but the time has come where it is no longer beneficial or good for the kids anymore and they need some stimulation and things to do in a more productive and nurturing environment, i.e. socialising and playing with other expat kids, goings to playschools, living in a safe environment etc.

Which area of Ubon city is more family orientated? We'd like to rent a house with a garden for the kids to play and would like somewhere very spacious. Somewhere were other expat families with kids also reside and hang out would be ideal.

It's either this or we move to Bangkok, Hua Hin or Chiang Mai for a year, but Ubon would be better so we can be closer to our children's grandparents to visit frequently.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, (but I'm not falling for that classic mythical Sappasit Road prank again which obviously doesn't exist! )

[mike123ca]

I have a seven year old son and 4 year old daughter. We live near Pathoompit high school. The the truth be told, I think all my children's playmates or classmates are Thai children. I think you might have challenge looking to find other ex-pat children.

If you find a group,please let me know.

[KunMatt]

I have a seven year old son and 4 year old daughter. We live near Pathoompit high school. The the truth be told, I think all my children's playmates or classmates are Thai children. I think you might have challenge looking to find other ex-pat children.

If you find a group,please let me know.

I was wondering if there are any particular areas where expat families live in Ubon. TBH my son speaks Thai and Isaan aswell as English so just socialising with any children in any groups would be good too. I'm just looking for somewhere family orientated in the city.

Thanks in advance.

[cvs04]

Kham Yai is about the nicest area to raise a family in my opinion, however finding a property for rent is a different matter altogether. I look at land and houses everyday as a job but it's very difficult to find decent rentals here. If I come across any on my travels I'll let you know KunMatt!

[KunMatt]

So....... Ubon city is not a good place for families to live in then??

[KunMatt]

Kham Yai is about the nicest area to raise a family in my opinion, however finding a property for rent is a different matter altogether. I look at land and houses everyday as a job but it's very difficult to find decent rentals here. If I come across any on my travels I'll let you know KunMatt!

Sorry, my last comment wasn't a reply to yours. You just posted at exactly the same time I did! I was posting because 150 views and nobody had replied.

[KunMatt]

Kham Yai is about the nicest area to raise a family in my opinion, however finding a property for rent is a different matter altogether. I look at land and houses everyday as a job but it's very difficult to find decent rentals here. If I come across any on my travels I'll let you know KunMatt!

Thanks very much, I would appreciate that. b

[ubonjoe]

Agree the Kham Yai area is good. Best way to find a house is for your wife visit a few neighborhoods and ask people.

We moved into the city last year from the village where we have a house for the same reason but our kids are older.

We are out in the Kam Yai area but a little further out of town. My wife found a small house for us because we still have the larger one in the village.

[KunMatt]

Agree the Kham Yai area is good. Best way to find a house is for your wife visit a few neighborhoods and ask people.

We moved into the city last year from the village where we have a house for the same reason but our kids are older.

We are out in the Kam Yai area but a little further out of town. My wife found a small house for us because we still have the larger one in the village.

Just for curiosity, what kind of rents are houses in the range of in Kham Yai, or Ubon in general. We are currently on holiday in Bangkok but if we return to Ubon I would want to start renting immediately.

I did check ThaiVisas new Property section but there doesn't seem to be anything to rent or sell anywhere in Ubon!

[Michael Hare]

Dear KunMatt,

I have lived in Ubon since 1994 and raised a family here so I feel I can answer some of questions with some authority though I may be out of touch with some aspects.

1 Ubon is okay to raise family relative to other cities in northeast Thailand.

2 As far as I know there are no expat enclaves in the city. As Mike 123CA said it will be a challenge to find other expat children. Expats are spread all over the city. They buy a house which they can afford. These days these houses tend to be out in the Kham Yai area or around Huai Waay Nong. For myself I have always purchased a house within easy distance of schools. Traffic during peak hours is a nightmare nowadays. I would want a house where I could avoid ever taking my child to school on Chayangkhun Road. Hence my last house is within walking distance of Benchamat High school and these days 3-5 minutes to Central Mall. Great locality, next to a nice lake (for Ubon that is). As far as I know, no expats families live in my area at all which is a little surprising.

3 Finding a rental house with a nice garden will take several months. Houses that rent for say 5,000 baht/month are usually not in good order. Roofs leak, city water trickles in because the landlord most likely will not install a pump and water tank, electricity is weak and so many other problems. Ubon has never been a house rental city unlike say Khon Kaen or Udorn.

To get what you want you may have to pay 10,000 baht/month unfurnished. 20,000 baht/month will get a great place but these sort of houses only come up once or twice every decade.

Finding a good house to rent will take you weeks. I entirely agree with cvs04 above. Very very difficult to find.

4 KunMatt you can approach finding a rental property in two ways. First find the school you want your children to go to and then work around the school area to find a house to rent. Or find your house first and the school second. But then you may be home-schooling your children so schools will not be on the list.

Anyway good luck.

[KunMatt]

Dear KunMatt,

I have lived in Ubon since 1994 and raised a family here so I feel I can answer some of questions with some authority though I may be out of touch with some aspects.

1 Ubon is okay to raise family relative to other cities in northeast Thailand.

2 As far as I know there are no expat enclaves in the city. As Mike 123CA said it will be a challenge to find other expat children. Expats are spread all over the city. They buy a house which they can afford. These days these houses tend to be out in the Kham Yai area or around Huai Waay Nong. For myself I have always purchased a house within easy distance of schools. Traffic during peak hours is a nightmare nowadays. I would want a house where I could avoid ever taking my child to school on Chayangkhun Road. Hence my last house is within walking distance of Benchamat High school and these days 3-5 minutes to Central Mall. Great locality, next to a nice lake (for Ubon that is). As far as I know, no expats families live in my area at all which is a little surprising.

3 Finding a rental house with a nice garden will take several months. Houses that rent for say 5,000 baht/month are usually not in good order. Roofs leak, city water trickles in because the landlord most likely will not install a pump and water tank, electricity is weak and so many other problems. Ubon has never been a house rental city unlike say Khon Kaen or Udorn.

To get what you want you may have to pay 10,000 baht/month unfurnished. 20,000 baht/month will get a great place but these sort of houses only come up once or twice every decade.

Finding a good house to rent will take you weeks. I entirely agree with cvs04 above. Very very difficult to find.

4 KunMatt you can approach finding a rental property in two ways. First find the school you want your children to go to and then work around the school area to find a house to rent. Or find your house first and the school second. But then you may be home-schooling your children so schools will not be on the list.

Anyway good luck.

Michael,

Thanks very much for taking the time to write that and all has been taken onboard. We were not looking to stay in Ubon into the schooling years but I was interested in my 2.5 year old son attending a playschool or just somewhere to regularly socialise with other children because living in the village has kind of isolated him and he is not used to being around other friendly kids for a play time. Even just living close to a popular park is what I had in mind at the very least but I do understand that Ubon does not have as many young expat families as say Bangkok so I knew I was wrong to try and compare the two cities.

We are actually in Bangkok right now for a Christmas holiday and I'm now thinking that it would be best to quickly find and rent somewhere here for 1 year as it's the only city I know that is good for kids and my son really enjoys the many children's play centres and playschools. I wish I had some experience of Chiang Mai or Hua Hin so I could make a more informed choice because I expect them also to be very good for a family life but time is of the essence and we need to find somewhere to settle down in the next few weeks.

Thanks again for the advice.

[Mike45]

KunMat

I've just spent a month in Ubon. My 2 1/2 year old had a great deal of fun playing with the other kids at the Tesco play area. I recommend it.

You might also consider signing yours up for pre-school half day classes. It would do him a world of good. There are many in Ubon.

Socializing is always a concern and like you I think my little one doesn't see enough kids.

Sent from my HUAWEI MT1-U06 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[KunMatt]

KunMat

I've just spent a month in Ubon. My 2 1/2 year old had a great deal of fun playing with the other kids at the Tesco play area. I recommend it.

You might also consider signing yours up for pre-school half day classes. It would do him a world of good. There are many in Ubon.

Socializing is always a concern and like you I think my little one doesn't see enough kids.

Sent from my HUAWEI MT1-U06 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Well, in the end we moved to Bangkok. We now live in a family private complex with 8 towers of family apartments, 4 playgrounds, 2 huge swimming pools, 2 football pitches and a basketball court, and at 4pm here it looks like a school playground with all of the kids everywhere. We are also surrounded by schools and playschools and my son has just started a playschool for a few hours a day. In just a few weeks I can see the change in him already as he is much friendlier and sociable with other children, something which would not have happened if we had stuck it out in a remote village.

[Mike45]

Happy to hear you found a nice place to live. Does this mean you are renting now? What are your plans for the house?

Sent from my HUAWEI MT1-U06 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[KunMatt]

Happy to hear you found a nice place to live. Does this mean you are renting now? What are your plans for the house?

Sent from my HUAWEI MT1-U06 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Yeah, we are renting this apartment in Bangkok for at least 1 year. The house I built in Ubon is now sat empty and I guess will be used as a holiday house for us all to go back and visit my partner's family every couple of months. We went back last week for a few days to ship everything to Bangkok and, going back after a spending a month in Bangkok, I don't regret moving away for my kids one bit, the only bad thing is that their grandparents, uncle and aunties etc who they are very close to who will miss them so much, but unfortunately they do not live in a place which is good or safe for my children to grow up in so I am forced to make this harsh large step.