Where to live in KS and why ?!

[Anahech]

We're a family with a 8 yo kid moving for a year this summer. We will soon travel there to start looking for a place to live. We will probably get a 1 month rent first, to get a clearer view on the island.

In the meantime, it is still very helpful to get inhabitants's views on the subject: where to live and why.

Like, I would rather live on the beach but my husband fears it might be too crowded-noisy-unsafe... ?? your feeling ?

I fear going to a secured residence in the hills because I think we won't meet anybody there and might end up at home the 3 of us most of the time if we have to take the car each time we want to go to the beach / shopping or else. In general, how friendly are these residences u the hill ?

Also we don't know how much traffic is an issue - we don't want to spend 30mn every morning to take the kid to school. How easy to drive on the island ? Any part to be avoided by car at peak hours (ie live in Bophut and school in Chaweng or Lamai = nightmare ?)?

I know they are very broad questions, and we don't even know which school the kid will attend, and we will see when on the island but... Your comments and views are welcome :-)

Thank you

[PoorSucker]

Chaweng Noi.

Easy access to beach, shopping and schools.

[samuijimmy]

I would choose the school first as per your other question before! Then go from there and find an area, away from heavy tourist areas, nightclubs etc!

Many areas to choose from, that are not far from amenities such as shopping and beaches... etc ...and the school! Finding a temporary place to start with is a good idea!!

[Birdman]

I would rather live on the beach but my husband fears it might be too crowded-noisy-unsafe... ??

That cannot be, because you can't live there, because there are hotels only. If you like to live on a beach, you have to choose a beach without tourists and this beaches are far away from the schools and not the best beaches compared to the beaches with hotels only.

[Gulfsailor]

I would rather live on the beach but my husband fears it might be too crowded-noisy-unsafe... ??

That cannot be, because you can't live there, because there are hotels only. If you like to live on a beach, you have to choose a beach without tourists and this beaches are far away from the schools and not the best beaches compared to the beaches with hotels only.

Well, that does depend on ones budget. There are quite a few private villas for rent on Bophut and Maenam beach and even some on Chaweng beach.

[samuijimmy]

I would rather live on the beach but my husband fears it might be too crowded-noisy-unsafe... ??

That cannot be, because you can't live there, because there are hotels only. If you like to live on a beach, you have to choose a beach without tourists and this beaches are far away from the schools and not the best beaches compared to the beaches with hotels only.

Surprised you would say that Birdman, even some areas of Maenam have beach areas without hotels, and are quiet after dark ....Ban Por too, but a bit further away from schools! Many people live in quiet and laid back Ban Por! even me now!

My only thought of being close to a beach is in stormy season, it can be very noisy with the surf crashing day and night! I used to hear that when I lived 300 meters or so from the beach in Maenam....

[Birdman]

I would rather live on the beach but my husband fears it might be too crowded-noisy-unsafe... ??

That cannot be, because you can't live there, because there are hotels only. If you like to live on a beach, you have to choose a beach without tourists and this beaches are far away from the schools and not the best beaches compared to the beaches with hotels only.

Well, that does depend on ones budget. There are quite a few private villas for rent on Bophut and Maenam beach and even some on Chaweng beach.

I mean directly in front of the beach, nothing in between. Bophut I would not consider as one of the best beaches on this island. Bang Po also not. Menam yes.

[Gulfsailor]

I would rather live on the beach but my husband fears it might be too crowded-noisy-unsafe... ??

That cannot be, because you can't live there, because there are hotels only. If you like to live on a beach, you have to choose a beach without tourists and this beaches are far away from the schools and not the best beaches compared to the beaches with hotels only.

Well, that does depend on ones budget. There are quite a few private villas for rent on Bophut and Maenam beach and even some on Chaweng beach.

I mean directly in front of the beach, nothing in between. Bophut I would not consider as one of the best beaches on this island. Bang Po also not. Menam yes.

Yes, I meant beach front. Google beachfront private villa Chaweng for instance. But like I said it depends on ones budget. Most of these very nice places are upwards of 1000usd a night, so long term (yearly) you're still looking at a minimum of 10,000 USD per month.

[churchill]

I would rather live on the beach but my husband fears it might be too crowded-noisy-unsafe... ??

That cannot be, because you can't live there, because there are hotels only. If you like to live on a beach, you have to choose a beach without tourists and this beaches are far away from the schools and not the best beaches compared to the beaches with hotels only.

Surprised you would say that Birdman, even some areas of Maenam have beach areas without hotels, and are quiet after dark ....Ban Por too, but a bit further away from schools! Many people live in quiet and laid back Ban Por! even me now!

My only thought of being close to a beach is in stormy season, it can be very noisy with the surf crashing day and night! I used to hear that when I lived 300 meters or so from the beach in Maenam....

Bang Po nice quiet area ... where ever you are only a few minutes from the beach and restaurants .. but close enough to Chaweng , shops etc ... find a school that has a bus service ...

[Anahech]

Waou, I love this forum, lots to read every time I come

Good to read about living on a beach - from what I saw I had also this feeling that if you want to be on a beach you need to find a remote place (= long travel time to go to schhol), be really rich (which I am not - Swiss have banks and chocolate, I am more on the chocolate side !!)or super lucky But I had not thought about the noise factor when stormy season, this is a very valuabe point to make samuijimmy !

Most of my searchs bring me back to Chaweng noi, so I guess this is a good point !

What about traffic jam ? When google maps tell me that it talkes 30mn to go from (le'ts say) Bophut to Lami, it is what it really takes, or at peak hours it can be 1 hour ?

[Anahech]

I add Ban Po on the list of the places to look at more specifically ;-)

Edited March 8, 2016 by Anahech

[Birdman]

show me just one, Gulfsailor, right on Chaweng Beach, directly at the sandy beach, no hotel villa. The one next to Kulaypan Samui, I would not consider as one.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Birdman

[Birdman]

Waou, I love this forum, lots to read every time I come

Good to read about living on a beach - from what I saw I had also this feeling that if you want to be on a beach you need to find a remote place (= long travel time to go to schhol), be really rich (which I am not - Swiss have banks and chocolate, I am more on the chocolate side !!)or super lucky But I had not thought about the noise factor when stormy season, this is a very valuabe point to make samuijimmy !

Most of my searchs bring me back to Chaweng noi, so I guess this is a good point !

What about traffic jam ? When google maps tell me that it talkes 30mn to go from (le'ts say) Bophut to Lami, it is what it really takes, or at peak hours it can be 1 hour ?

One thing you can skip, would be to worry about the noise factor when storm. I live in front of the sea at a beach on Samui since over 25 years, and I can tell you there is not such a thing.

Much more important would be consideration the possibility of noise from people or things around your place. There can be all sorts of noise disturbances, you don't know yet. Some can be very annoying, if you choose the wrong place. And you can do nothing about that, but moove.

And so is the smoke factor. People are burning things here. If they burn coconuts for instance, to make oil out of that, they burn it all day. And that every day. You can't Yoga in smoke.

[khunPer]

I would rather live on the beach but my husband fears it might be too crowded-noisy-unsafe... ??

That cannot be, because you can't live there, because there are hotels only. If you like to live on a beach, you have to choose a beach without tourists and this beaches are far away from the schools and not the best beaches compared to the beaches with hotels only.

Unfortunately that's not all true – there are villas for rent very close to the beach and even beachfront on various beaches – I know of some even for a modest budget on a centrally and yet quiet beach; but you need to "be there" when that kind of house become available. However, if you have the budget, you can always find one.

Some beaches are quiet or even very quiet, just avoid Chaweng, part of Lamai – and probably also Bang Rak, from where a lot of boats depart, and Bo Phut around Fisherman Village – living beach-side of the Ring Road may be more safe than living land-side.

And to answer as much as I can of OP's questions:

Traffic can be hectic to chaotic on the Ring Road, and some parts are having traffic jam in rush hours. Choose you school first, and then look for accommodation near the school, if you wish to avoid half an hour or up to an hour each way in peak traffic.

Renting for a month and looking around is always a good idea, but in my opinion you should come down a week or two first and check, before you even decide for a long stay.

Living up hills, or just back into the land, can be a bit lonely or directly isolated. I had it in consideration, but did not choose it; but I have acquaintances who live up hill and feel exactly that. Also, you don't have local shopping, including otherwise all over 7-eleven and like 24-hours convenient stores, or restaurants of all kind and price-levels for dining out. I am extremely happy to live on beach side and walking distance to almost everything.

Finding a place may not be on Airbnb or the Internet in general, many of the good villas you find from a sign on the house or talking with locals.

Googlemap probably give you some average – or distance based – time calculation for "going" from point-to-point. In real life the distance of say 5-10 kilometers can take from 15 minutes to more than 30 minutes; and in few worst case traffic jams up to an hour.

You mention "noise in stormy season". Well, I've been living beach-side for more than 10 years and the last 5½ years beach front. The monsoon storm is normally 1-2 weeks – however can come more than once – were there are some wind and waves. That's little rough beachfront; but just about 100 meter or less back in the plantation it's not any problem. The howling dogs at night and roosters too early in the morning makes noise all year round – even the jungle-sound of singing frogs can be extremely noisy during nights after rain – but all that you'll get used to, just like the sound of waves, when living near or on the beach; some even love sleeping to the sound of waves and buy CDs with them (I've been recording nature, including waves, and know my client sold them in thousands). Just tropical rain (showers) can be noisy, if not very noisy, depending of your's or your neighbor's roof.

Birdman also gives good advises about living on the beach – and in general in Thailand.

I wish you good luck with you plan for a year at Samui.

[Gulfsailor]

show me just one, Gulfsailor, right on Chaweng Beach, directly at the sandy beach, no hotel villa. The one next to Kulaypan Samui, I would not consider as one.

http://m.villamiasamui.com/home.html

[Birdman]

show me just one, Gulfsailor, right on Chaweng Beach, directly at the sandy beach, no hotel villa. The one next to Kulaypan Samui, I would not consider as one.

http://m.villamiasamui.com/home.html

... is it on Chaweng? (see Koh Matlang in front)

[PoorSucker]

... is it on Chaweng? (see Koh Matlang in front)

From http://m.villamiasamui.com/location.html

"The villa is located on Chaweng beach. 5 minutes drive from the airport.

The villa is the only villa which located on Chaweng beach."

[Mitkof Island]

That would be my question. Koh Samui WHY? The most dangerous roads in Southeast Asia, very high crime rate both Thai and foreigner, a once beautiful island totally trashed. May as well live in Pattaya.

[jasonsamui55]

Pick the school first and then get a house nearby. Traffic mid day and early morning can be a disaster in the ring road. Figure you're going to make at least 2, possibly more trips per day to and from the school. And that's where and how you'll likely meet people too.

[Anahech]

Thank you all for all your comments, I read all of them and was fun to go through all different opinions !

Learned a lot on topics I had not even thought about - ie smoke or noise. Thank you, this is a really nice forum to get insights :-)

I also had several PM and a few comments similar to Mitkof Island's comment --> why Samui ?!

And to be honnest we are at the point where we start to get the "bad" sides of the island (which we know only from a tourists' perspective) and I start also questionning our choice... We have 5-6 months to make up our minds, but I confess that I start doubting !!!

I am also gettin info re Huan Hin and Pattaya now... Still interrested in Thailand, still interested in a place along the sea, but more opened at this point on other destinations...

Thinking about it....

(And it's funny as it is the 1st time in our lives when we could go to so many places for a year or so, just have to decide where, and I start realising that it is hard to decide where to go where you have no other constraint that finding a school for the kid - this is insane )

[Gulfsailor]

Before making up your mind on any location in Thailand you will need to visit it and see how easy you can make a local network. This maybe easier for a male in most locations than a female.

From that perspective I can't imagine ever living in Pattaya with the family. 95% of the western foreigners living there are horny men. Might be great for you to mingle with, but not so much for your wife!

Hua Hin is a retirement home, and so is Chiang Mai. The latter is 1000km away from the ocean, and although Hua Hin is on the ocean one can't compare it to the main beaches on the southern islands.

Then there are several less touristic beach locations which are attractive and affordable, but since these are generally quiet they lack an international school and many western families.

Only two location should be considered by the OP; Samui and Phuket. There is a good reason that these two islands attract so many young western families to live there long term.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Gulfsailor

[samuijimmy]

That would be my question. Koh Samui WHY? The most dangerous roads in Southeast Asia, very high crime rate both Thai and foreigner, a once beautiful island totally trashed. May as well live in Pattaya.

High crime rate?... wow! you are perhaps referring to parts of Chawang? No more crime on most of Samui than anywhere else, from my long experience of living here .... as for the serious traffic accidents ....way over stated in my opinion ...

I suppose now I will be accused of wearing rose tinted glasses again...

Just to add to Gulf Sailors comment above ^.... about "easier for men than woman" .... I know a number of western women that live here alone, and don't have a problem ....

Edited March 9, 2016 by samuijimmy

[ronaldo0]

I own a villa in the south and one in the north of samui. The one in bophut in the north I rent out, it is a 5 minute walk to fishermans village and has 7-11 , family mart , market etc within walking distance. I detest going to the place anytime between 9am and 9pm as the roads are a nightmare between maenam and chaweng especially around midday. But for nightlife and Tesco, big c, airport etc it is handy.

The one in the south I live in and like it so much better. The roads are quieter and better condition, the electric doesn't go off as much . Now there is a makro in the south also, the ferries are in the south , the good seafood restaurants are in the south and not overpriced like the north. I think the Tesco in lamai is better than the one in chaweng ,the beaches are quieter and despite living in a more remote type area in the south I feel much safer sleeping at night and leaving my house unattended .

If you are looking for a place without nightmare traffic look between chaweng noi - lamai- bang por area. Between these areas there are good schools and places to live.

As for living on the beach I wouldn't stay there if you gave me a free villa. With storms and high seas you have flooding , erosion of land, damage to property and upkeep due to saltwater. Plus anyone can really just walk off the beach into your property unless you have a big dog !! No thanks.

[samuijimmy]

Obviously everyone has different opinions and perceptions about the different beach areas and how the roads and traffic are!

One needs to keep in mind that these beaches are several kms long, Maenam and Ban Po/ Por beaches are at least five or more kms... and conditions can vary depending on which section of the beach one is on...

It is usually a lot rougher to the west end of Maenam beach in the "winter" months, as with Ban Por beach.... the east side beaches too have much heavier waves even in the shoulder seasons... ... It depends how exposed they are to the prevailing winds.... One can travel around the island and see everything from very rough to being like a "mill pond", within very short distances even on one end of the beaches to the other.... (sometimes!!!)

The storms a few weeks ago, made a real mess of parts of Maenam and Ban Por beaches, but if one travelled to Lipa Noi or the south end beaches there was no hint of storms... This can vary throughout the year to some extent....

I agree with many things Ronaldo says above... yes the road in the west and south end of the island has far less traffic, but also for fewer people living in the area too...(and it would be a nice area to live for those of us who don't want to live in built up areas)...

I am not sure that I would agree traffic is always bad between 9 am and 9 pm.... There are many times one can drive to Tesco Chawang in the middle of the day without a problem!

I saw yesterday that they are starting to blacktop the new improved section between Nathon and Maenam, working on the area around Ban Tai/ Ban Por..it's been a slow process but should be a great improvement ....

Just to clarify one more thing, there are different types of "resorts" along say, Ban Por beach, there are many that cater to long term stays, rather than the people who come for a week or two.... many of these places can be booked up and hard to find ... Some people even pay a years' rent and only stay say six months... just to insure getting the same quiet place. There are others who live here year round, and others who come several times a year....

These places do not usually include "room service" and renters may need to provide some of their own utensils or even some furniture. "Villas" cost a lot more and are more likely to have just about everything one needs plus ambianance... but you pay for it too!

It's the same with one or two bedroom houses, some are basically furnished some are not.... Some have kitchens, some don't.... although the Thai's are starting to learn the "farang" needs or wants a kitchen!!!

Edited March 10, 2016 by samuijimmy

[B166ER]

...."way over stated in my opinion" , that is INDEED your opinion! Those that don't wear rose tinted glasses know better of the road situation here on Samui. Shockingly, mortifyingly bad and that's just on any given Sunday....

[evadgib]

...."way over stated in my opinion" , that is INDEED your opinion! Those that don't wear rose tinted glasses know better of the road situation here on Samui. Shockingly, mortifyingly bad and that's just on any given Sunday....

As this thread was started by a parent it is fair to assume that they will prefer 4 wheels to two therefore the opinion you're slating should perhaps be looked at again.

[khunPer]

Can only say, that I came to Samui about 15 years ago and thought of staying; just like many did before me.

But before deciding anything I carefully checked a number of other places in Thailand – including Hua Hin, Pattya and Phuket – and found that Samui was it. It's a number of many factors, both plusses and minusses, that makes this island up to being such a nice spot, and I am still today extremely happy with my choice after 10 years of permanent stay at Samui with my now 10½-year old daughter, she's attending a local EP-school. I stay in Maenam in the North, but know many of the areas on the island, and each has their benefits and beauty, depending of what you you are looking for – as everywhere in the World, it's a question of balance and personal feeling/opinion.

The best advise I can give is, to come and check – it sounds like OP has not been that much around Thailand – both Samui and other potential locations, before beginning to plan a move out for a year or more...

[samuijimmy]

...."way over stated in my opinion" , that is INDEED your opinion! Those that don't wear rose tinted glasses know better of the road situation here on Samui. Shockingly, mortifyingly bad and that's just on any given Sunday....

As this thread was started by a parent it is fair to assume that they will prefer 4 wheels to two therefore the opinion you're slating should perhaps be looked at again.

I wonder which bar B166ER gets his miss-information? ...... or reads too much on TV from members who just like to bash Samui, most of whom don't even live here or have never been here!

Obviously the sainer members from Samui all seem to agree on most of the positive things .... (which out way the non positive things....nowhere is 100 % perfect! )

Edited March 10, 2016 by samuijimmy

[notmyself]

I know they are very broad questions, and we don't even know which school the kid will attend, and we will see when on the island but... Your comments and views are welcome :-)

If you care about your child then never ever send them to any school in Thailand, never mind Samui. Each to their own I guess.

[Anahech]

Dear All,

Thank you for all comments - I read them carefully :-)

We're still interested in Samui since it meets most of our criteria, including;

• A place where you feel like you're on holidays - with sea :-)
• which remains alive when tourists are gone
• Clinic/hospital on site
• English speaking school available
• Enough things to do for us not to get too bored (including various courses ie languages, yoga, cooking or so)
• Less expensive than europe

We do understand it is not perfect, and I will be careful on specific aspects, ie road dangers.

We are not specialists of Thailand, been there twice only (bangkok, east, north and koh samui) but had the chance to travel around the world (70-80 countries on all continents) and feel good with spending a year in Koh Samui.

We also know that we are fortunate: if we realise it was a mistake, we can move to another place, in Thailand or elsewhere ! And we only plan to come for 10 months, which is no big deal....

Regarding the fact that many would be reluctant to have a kid at school there, don't forget that my kid is 8 and is going to spend 10 months at school there, I honestly don't think it will ruin her life !! And if she was to improve English and nothing else, we would be happy with that. We're not pushing for her to end up in Berkeley or Harvard, if we manage to get a happy and balanced girl able to think and act wisely, we're happy parents.

Once again, thank you for all feedbacks – of course very different views but lots of specific comments that will help us avoid some mistakes !