Aloha From Maui: Phuket Vs. Samui For Disabled

[Maui John]

Aloha,

My name is John and I live on the island of Maui. In October we will be helping a wheelchair bound friend (legs paralyzed) move to Thailand. She lives on a fixed income and Maui has become too expensive. Here are some questions based upon what I've read in the forum archives:

1) Does Samui have a higher cost of living than Phuket? In researching hotels on both islands, Samui is more expensive with much smaller low season discounts. It also seems that on Samui foreigners pay higher prices than locals. Can someone very familar with both places give us a clear idea of how the cost of living compares?

2) She will be turning 50 before too long and once that occurs, may apply for the retirement visa. Until that time she will need to make visa runs. Traveling can be a challenge in a wheelchair. From which island is it easier to do visa runs? Am I right to say that it's easier from Phuket as she can fly directly to Penang or Ranong? Is it possible to do a visa run in one day from either island? On paper Samui seems more complex for visa runs, is that a correct conclusion?

3) She is fairly independent but will need to hire someone to help her with things like house cleaning, shopping, and some cooking. What is the average daily / monthly costs for such an employee? Are there companies that provide this service?

4) She only has perhaps 5 more years to live as people with spinal cord injuries do not live as long as normal people. She wants to live a quiet and peaceful life and doesn't mind living around locals. She is not interested in bar scenes, but wants to be near the ocean as she is a certified diver. Is it possible to live a peaceful life on either island or are both islands completely lost to the tourism hustle? Are there quiet pockets?

5) She has traveled to Thailand before thus she has some idea what it is like. Is she completely nuts to consider living in Thailand given her disability? Or have you encountered other disabled people who have made the move and are doing ok?

Thank you for any advice or insight you can offer, nothing beats local knowledge.

Aloha Nui Loa,

John

[John 1]

John,

Welcome and I will just give you a few comments as I know them, on Samui for a person in a wheel chair would find it difficult to get around footpaths and access to store's difficult, except for Lotus they have a ramp. Hospitals are ok.

Have you thought about another country like Malaysia visa's are easy and cost of living as good as Thailand, Penang is a nice island good beaches friendly people and user friendly.

[sbk]

I agree with John on this one, I don't think Samui would be very easy to get around in, to be honest, thailand as a whole is not wheelchair friendly. Samui does have good hospitals but visa runs could be difficult unless she was willing to take the expense of flying to Singapore. Also, be aware, that there was posted in the travel section a report of one of the low cost airlines refusing to take wheelchair bound passengers.

There are quiet pockets on both islands, and double pricing abounds everywhere in Thailand, not just the islands.That said, Phuket is probably cheaper for cost of living simply because it is much easier to get supplies in (it has a bridge) and has a much larger population (economies of scale).

As for hired help, well, costs will probably run about the same, either island, depends on how many hours a day and how hard the work would be. Phuket would most likely have a company that would provide these services, no idea about Samui. Costs could around 8000 baht a month, depending on hours and difficulty of work.

I couldn't give you any recommendations about Malaysia, never lived there and have no idea about the visas but it could be worth a look as Thailand does not make the visa situation easy. for the retirement visa 800,000 baht must be deposited in a Thai bank. Check the visas forum for more information.

[Lovesun]

Hi Maui John

I cant speak about Malaysia or Phuket, but I did have a disabled friend come to stay with me in Samui, and It was quite difficult, from the minute she got to the airport! The tourist spots are out of the question for a wheelchair, the main mode of transportation is motorbike, and there are only 3 good ramps on the whole island! Two are at the Tesco, and one is BKK Hospital.

Is it at all possible for your freind to come and visit Samui for a couple of months before she makes any huge desicions for the last few years of her life?

My friend and I spent most of our time sitting on my deck and chatting, which was lovely for a 10 day holiday, but to be realistic, Samui is not a good idea for a wheelchair bound person.

Good Luck!

[jdinasia]

You might want to PM Simon43 and chat him up about Phuket

[ArtfulD]

Im in a wheelchair, spent 2 months earlier this year on Phuket...(visited Krabi for 7 nights and spent 3 nights in Bangkok)....

On the whole I didnt find Phuket any more difficult than back in the UK...going to the main shopping centres like Tesco and Central was easy and just like shopping centres back home, the difficulty came if you wished to wander the streets of Patong, Kamala, Karon etc etc (same same back home)...but for me it wasnt something I even wanted to do, apart from nights out on Bangla which were easy enough. Transport was an issue...tuktuks, bikes etc were not an option, but we rented a car and thus we were ok. I found many places had a ramp (even if a bit steep at times). Visited several smaller bars, restaurants etc down by Rawai, Nai Harn and had no problem with parking and finding nice places on the flat....certainly the quieter the area the easier it was, and more pleasent...you could certainly ignore the likes of Patong etc and live a nice life on the east side of Phuket if you didnt want the hustle and nightlife yet still have many nice places to go. Lots of Nightlife is something I want however.

I did meet two older guys (50s) in Kata who used electric wheelchairs..they were on their own and had a blast buzzing around from Karon, Kata...dont think id be confident enough to go on the roads for major distance tho (they even took their chairs from Kata to Patong and back to avoid any pavement problems).

Like everywhere I go, once Ive spent some time there I find out the places suitable and not suitable and then then just fit my routine around them...get to know some people and find out the lay of the land so to speak.

Im planning on moving over to Thailand within a few months, going to spend a month in and around Pattaya/Jomtien etc to see what thats like too spoken too several people in wheelchairs living/visiting there with various medical conditions, all have similar comments/issues about living there but in general everyone seems to get on ok...

No idea what Maui is like, but for me Thailand was not much worse or better than my trips around UK, Ireland and Spain.

Edited August 17, 2006 by ArtfulD

[Maui John]

Thanks for all of the extremely valuable insight. Only the internet and kind souls can make access to such information so easy.

Phuket seems to be a better choice for her.

On another note, what's the deal with the bombings in southern Thailand? It's only a few hundred miles away from Samui and Phuket. Do you feel it's a safe climate on Samui / Phuket? The news articles sound quite menacing, how does the pulse feel to those who are there?

Mahalo Plenny,

John

[ArtfulD]

I didnt feel any big sense of worry while there...however talking to some bar owners a couple mentioned how its just a matter of time until Bangla is hit...Bali-esque style....

For those current Phuket residents dont go shooting the messenger! Just saying what I was told...personally I think more likely to be hurt in a traffic accident..

[SamuiJens]

On a visa run from Samui there are army road checks that stop all to check-out who and what you're up to, not saying this will stop such things from happening, but nice to see something is being done to TRY to stop such things. And I've always felt safe. since if it happens it happens, and the odds are low.IMHO, since Im not much around tourist-sites, try to avoid them.