Moving to Kanchanaburi - Advice needed

[martinjakobsen]

Hi guys,

I am concidering moving to Kanchanaburi with my wife and baby daughter in May or June. I have tried to find a house for rent online, but the selection is pretty limited, and I am sure it would be better to go and see for myself and find a house "manually". I am interested in knowing about hospital standards in the city and furthermore about what areas to stay in. We are planning to live a quiet, relaxed life and enjoy the beautiful natural scenery as often as we can.

We have lived in Thailand for 7 years, and we both speak Thai pretty much fluent. Getting by will not be a problem, but are there certain things about Kanchanaburi that stands out compared to other Thai cities? How is the Internet speed? Do you have a Big C or tesco etc.? How about Immigration police in terms of 90-day reporting? All the tips and advice that you can give me will be greatly appreciated!

I hope to hear from you and look forward to become a part of the community

Best regards, Martin

[Happy Grumpy]

All the tips and advice that you can give me will be greatly appreciated!

Visit there for at least one day before moving your family to live there.

[martinjakobsen]

I have been there twice, and I liked it.

[tonray]

http://corporate.bigc.co.th/en/stores/bigc/big-c-kanchanaburi/

http://www.kanchanaburi-info.com/en/index.html

[shagorillaHotel]

""I hope to hear from you and look forward to become a part of the community""

no that aint going to happen

[martinjakobsen]

""I hope to hear from you and look forward to become a part of the community"" no that aint going to happen

Would you please care to explain your comment? What is not going to happen? Me becoming a part of the community? Or hearing from people with advice?

[uptheos]

I never found Kanchanaburi to be the friendliest place in Thailand.

Been there a couple of times and had a good look around the area

for a couple of weeks at a time to get a feel of the place.

Some people might like it, but it's certainly not for me.

[cdnvic]

Specific advice and personal experiences would be more helpful than cynical remarks.

[Muggi1968]

Ups:

Hot dry weather.

Hospitals are fine but I not yet been able to find a private hospital in Gaan that accept social sequiety.

Cheap living.

I have 10 MBit Internet and have mo problem streaming video (But you will need ups).

C/tesco/homepro and all that money can buy

riwer kwai festival

Immigration is nice and helpfull, but I have newer got the online TM47 to work.
BKK is only 110 Baht (2 Hours) away with bus.

Nature.
Dentists are half price BKK.

Air smell much better than in BKK
Not many farrangs

Downs:

Level of education varies a lot so be careful where you settle down

Bad service, unless you look like a rich tourist.

traffic.

corruption.
Banking can be a challenge, so I use bank in BKK.

No taxies (Only motorcycles and pickup trucks)

Job opportunities are limited.

Not many farrangs

Many areas have own dialect of Thai language so people from BKK tell me that Thais from Gaan are difficulty to understand.

I am not trying to scare you away but since gaan have many tourists, they will consider you an ATM machine.
Most common question thais give me is: How much money do you give your wife

[Muggi1968]

""I hope to hear from you and look forward to become a part of the community"" no that aint going to happen

Sad but true. All foreigners here are considered Tourists and ATM machines.

(Life is what you make it )

[KC 71]

Find a place near the river if you can

[fredob43]

Have been on several occasions great to visit. But as others have said it's a tourist town with all the problems cons that that can bring.

There are lots of places much better in Thailand than Kan to settle down in if you want to live the quiet/good life.

But you will have to travel about to find them. You could of cause ask for suggestions about same.

[tonray]

Thai wife or another expat ? It seemed from your OP that you stated both pretty much fluent in Thai which leads me to believe expat wife. So then the question is why choose kanchanaburi ? Work related ?

[martinjakobsen]

Thanks for all your comments so far!

My wife is Lao. We have lived in Thailand for 7 years. My daughter is 1 year and 2 months old, so she will not start school anytime soon.

We have lived in Chiang Mai and Hua Hin before, so the tourist town doesn't worry me. I have found that you can make it whatever you want regardless of tourism and other factors. Especially if you speak the language and use your brain

We are looking for a nice and quiet life. And as far as I remember, one is able to get that - but just not at the river promenada with hordes of tourist families stampeding the area, naturally.

I have never been around a community in Thailand, that I was not welcome to join. That statement is useless to me and probably says more about the author than the community possibilities in Kanchanaburi. Save all the falang-man/ATM trivia for the birds. This thread is about factual advice on living in Kanchanaburi - not someones overall cultural challenges or lack of adjustment skills.

A special thanks to @Muggi1968 for a pretty thorough list of pros and cons. Please keep 'em coming

Thanks again to all!

[martinjakobsen]

Thai wife or another expat ? It seemed from your OP that you stated both pretty much fluent in Thai which leads me to believe expat wife. So then the question is why choose kanchanaburi ? Work related ?

Thanks for asking She comes from Laos. We are choosing Kanchanaburi because of the easy access to Bangkok, the nature and climate - and to have a fresh start as a family where good hospitals are not too far away. I have income from Denmark and do not need to work anymore. I have been there twice and I liked the area. I am sure there are some places around the city, that are more quiet and those are the places we will try to find vacant houses in.

[martinjakobsen]

Specific advice and personal experiences would be more helpful than cynical remarks.

I agree, thank you

[martinjakobsen]

I never found Kanchanaburi to be the friendliest place in Thailand.

Been there a couple of times and had a good look around the area

for a couple of weeks at a time to get a feel of the place.

Some people might like it, but it's certainly not for me.

Thanks for your comment. Can you specify it a bit more? I would love to hear more about why it is not the place for you. Thx

[tonray]

Thai wife or another expat ? It seemed from your OP that you stated both pretty much fluent in Thai which leads me to believe expat wife. So then the question is why choose kanchanaburi ? Work related ?

Thanks for asking She comes from Laos. We are choosing Kanchanaburi because of the easy access to Bangkok, the nature and climate - and to have a fresh start as a family where good hospitals are not too far away. I have income from Denmark and do not need to work anymore. I have been there twice and I liked the area. I am sure there are some places around the city, that are more quiet and those are the places we will try to find vacant houses in.

In the same general direction but a bit south is Ratchaburi, which I always found very refreshing. If you have not been there perhaps someplace you might want to check out. Has many of the features you are looking for. In any event, good luck with your house search.

[BLACKJACK2]

Don't believe Kanchanaburi is any less friendly than anywhere else in Thailand. I lived in the city 5yrs and enjoyed it. You could go to stay for a couple of days and ask around the bars about accommodation. Hospitals are ok by thai standards, personnally prefer the big one opposite Tesco but i'm sure other people will have there own preference, if you've lived in thailand you know what to expect. If you have some transport i would choose staying Saiyok side, if your driving that way you could call in to one of the gated communities. Just before you get to Memorial hospital turn left into Pruksakarn, at the small roundabout there's a shop on the left you could ask at or drive around to see if there are rental signs out. You have the hosptal next door, Big C over the road, easy access out to the countryside and back to Bangkok around the ring road.

[swissie]

There are dozen's of mid-sized towns located near major rivers in Thailand. If you have seen one, you have seen them all.

What differentiates "Kancha" from all the rest is: There is a "Farang-Mile".(Mae Nam Kwae Rd). Something that other "mid-sized-towns" along a river usually don't have.

On the "Farang-Mile" one can find plenty of Farangs, that have come to the conclusion that Sukhumvit Rd in BKK is just too expensive in the long run.

Surely, OP has done some research beforehand and has chosen "Kancha" as the best of 2 worlds as many others have before.

Cheers.

[martinjakobsen]

There are dozen's of mid-sized towns located near major rivers in Thailand. If you have seen one, you have seen them all.

What differentiates "Kancha" from all the rest is: There is a "Farang-Mile".(Mae Nam Kwae Rd). Something that other "mid-sized-towns" along a river usually don't have.

On the "Farang-Mile" one can find plenty of Farangs, that have come to the conclusion that Sukhumvit Rd in BKK is just too expensive in the long run.

Surely, OP has done some research beforehand and has chosen "Kancha" as the best of 2 worlds as many others have before.

Cheers.

I just sat here for 10 minutes thinking about what to reply. And then it hit me; "Swissie" is probably just mad and discontent with his or her life in Thailand. And I accept that. It has nothing to do with me. But some people just don't have the same skills or chances to navigate aroung this country as others. And it must be a pretty big pill to swallow. I, for one, would feel like shit, having to live a life like that... It is what it is... Yet I do feel sorry for people like this...

How would you ever know about my reasons for concidering living in Kanchanaburi? Other than the ones I spoke of here? Your comments are presumptuous and I wholeheartedly wish for you to get well soon. I actually love people like you. Weak-minded individuals with a lack of experience and talent citing the next guys dilemma. Like kindergarten retards. Cute

I really like you. You are cute. Like, really... Thanks for making us all smarter by joining the thread here!

[KC 71]

Always the optomistic one you are !

[KC 71]

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[phka]

my input for what it's worth i been in kan a few years

good things:

buses to bkk at least every 30 mins

vip bus to chang mai

vip bus to nong kai/udon thani

vip bus to pattaya

the river in the centeral part of kan town is very picturess

nice scenery mountains ect

has bigc, tesco lotus, makro, thai watsudu, homepro.

lots of temples if your into that

not so good things

hot, dry, dusty,

people tend to be unfriendly more xenophobic than other parts of Thailand and shop staff discourteous

has a puritanical feel about the place,( some might prefer) so good you are a married man

people here seem to have a low ability compared with other parts of Thailand

good that you can speak Thai in the few years i been here i never met anyone that can or maybe wants to speak english

many ex pats living here are french sorry for the insult french people haha

[shagorillaHotel]

we note that you are so successful at integrating into thai community that you have a laos wife.

look admit you got it wrong and look elsewhere than kan and region.

[Kan Win]

Hi Martin.

Welcome to Kan "The Land of Peace and Love".

Been living here for 14 years, visited Kan many time before that and yes it would be a place for you and your family to stay and chill out.

BLACKJACK2 mentioned the areas that have some houses for rent so have a look there first.

We also have a Robinson Shopping Mall (Tops) on the outer ring road .

All in all everything you need is in Kan together with the

the beautiful natural scenery

Views of Kan as I have seen them

http://www.pbase.com/win13/muang_kan

and Maps

http://www.pbase.com/win13/maps

Hope this helps you.

Win

[fredob43]

Have just remembered about my last trip there. Yes I was a tourist had been to the river festival.

Had dined at one of the restaurants on the river food ok and prices not to over the top for a good view.

On the way back to the hotel I fancied a night cap. Said to my friend a Thai man I'll treat you to a coffee and a short. Went into a bar/restaurant nothing special, and ordered 2 coffees and 2 large Sang Som the only shots they had. All arrived and was perfectly ok till I got the bill try 880bt.

Lets say a well over the top price of 100bt a peace how did they get to 880 beats me. I asked for the menu to check and low and behold not one available.

Have never been back since Kan now has the added notoriety of the only place I have been fleeced in the 25 years I have lived in Thailand.

Maybe the land of peace and love has different connotations to the locals.

[martinjakobsen]

we note that you are so successful at integrating into thai community that you have a laos wife. look admit you got it wrong and look elsewhere than kan and region.

Haha! You really got me there, buddy... I bet you are a real genius. handsome as Hell, and succesful as f"#k! Get well soon, buddy

Go be a pest somewhere else, little, angry fellow. You are not contributing at all.

[grumpyoldman]

Can only put my 5 satangs worth in as a tourist but I liked it there.

Compared to hot and smoggy Bangkok, Kanchanaburi was much cooler, breezy, very fresh air.

I saw some houses on the river that did not look occupied, the thought of some cold drinks and a fishing line (as I saw locals with nets pulling out big fish), looked like a great thing, bit of noise from the speedboats and the party cruiser, but not over the top noisy.

As Kan Win mentions town has everything you need. Best of luck with the move !

[happy Joe]

we note that you are so successful at integrating into thai community that you have a laos wife. look admit you got it wrong and look elsewhere than kan and region.

Haha! You really got me there, buddy... I bet you are a real genius. handsome as Hell, and succesful as f"#k! Get well soon, buddy

Go be a pest somewhere else, little, angry fellow. You are not contributing at all.

Should be a little masochistic to help your problem "buddy". You are imbued with your person and you ask you judge interventions to meet you.

While doing all by yourself to settle down in that hole in the world's ass that is Kan