Advice on renting a flat or a house in Koh Samui

[RyanLondonUK]

Hello Everyone,

 

I am expecting to be in Koh Samui early February or late January. I am looking to rent a one bed room or ideally a 2 bed room flat or house. It doesn't need to be super luxury or right on the beach or anything like that. It does need internet or we need to be able to get internet as I would be working. I can't use shared accommodation as I will be with my wife and 9 year old daughter. I may stay anywhere from 3 months to 9 months. I am at the early stage of my research, but I don't have that much time left. I have looked at the obvious tourist sites like AirBnB, and I found I could get a 2 bed etc. I was thinking I may do AirBnB for the first month, and once I am there work on finding a cheaper rental. I wanted to find out what would I be looking to pay a month for a 1 bed or 2 bed in Koh Samui? People always ask me whats my budget. I want to pay the going rates not tourist rates if I can help it. I am open to suggestions and ideas on alternative ways of finding better value accommodation. Any advice welcome. Thank you.

 

Ryan

[halloween]

My landlord has a partly furnished house with one double size bedroom in Lamai, reasonably close to beach and shops/bars for B10,000(?)/m, assuming rates haven't increased. PM for more detail.

[RyanLondonUK]

7 minutes ago, halloween said:

My landlord has a partly furnished house with one double size bedroom in Lamai, reasonably close to beach and shops/bars for B10,000(?)/m, assuming rates haven't increased. PM for more detail.

 

Hi, I would interested in finding out more about this. I will PM you. If anyone else has any connections, I would be grateful. I am not too fussed if its near a beach or not. As long as its relatively peaceful and has the usual stuff, then I would be okay with it. It can be even away from the tourist places, I don't mind. So I can be flexible as long as its not shared, and I can get descent internet speeds.Thanks.

 

Thanks.

Edited October 9, 2016 by RyanLondonUK

[khunPer]

Sounds like a reasonable idea to find the first moth accommodation through AirBnb, as January/February is high season.

 

Often the best offers for bungalow or house for rent – I think there are not that many flats available, as Koh Samui is mainly bungalows, but some apartment blocks has been build recently – you will often find by going around the island and look and ask; they are not always advertised on Internet. What's in my opinion also is very important for you – especially when bringing family – is the area, and distance to shopping and other activities.

Have you thought about transportation, and do you need school for your 9-year old daughter..?

 

"Going rates" can variate a lot depending of area and how new, the house is. You can find reasonable accommodation from around 10,000 baht and up; but a fair 2-bed partly furnished aircon bungalow in a central location will rather be in the range of 15,000 bath and up. Especially negotiating rent in high season, may make the going prices a little higher, however agreeing a long term rent, like 6 to 9 month, and also prepayment, can often give you a discount.

 

Many areas have ADSL Internet connection only, some central areas however has fiber. You can have wireless through 3G or 4G, but that may be more expensive than cable. Internet can be periodical unstable, and that may not only have to do with local connections, but can be servers at the mainland (typically in Surat Thani), or traffic to/from abroad (talk from experience). Quite a number of rentals includes WiFi – which can be shared with other renters – however, many wired connections are also shared, i.e. there can for example be up to 10 users on "your" affordable 7+Mbit subscription, typically costing from 599 baht a month and up, depending on speed.

 

Feel free to ask questions. Wish you good luck...

[samuijimmy]

I pretty much agree with Khun Per, (I usually do!) 

Except with internet provider, I find 3 bb stable, very very rarely a problem if there is they fix it fast ....

Generally if you use your own line, I think most providers require a one year in advance... (3bb give an 8% discount)... I would determine if you need, the connection you get with a house, it may be fine. 

 

There are a few apartments around ... some near Tesco Chawang and some in Ban Rak area, but as far as I know they are one bedroom. 

[RyanLondonUK]

@khunPer , thanks for the advice. You rent estimates are roughly what I am finding. Although on AirBnB I a finding about £100 more on average. But I kind of expected that, as they are dealing with the short term tourists plus they have to factor in AirBnB charges.

 

@samuijimmy , I do have questions on internet. 

 

Whats the broadband speeds like? I have read that fiber in Thailand is about 19 Mmps. Thats the speed of normal UK broadband (I assume). So if fiber is 19, then I assume normal broadband is much lower?

[samuijimmy]

2 hours ago, RyanLondonUK said:

@khunPer , thanks for the advice. You rent estimates are roughly what I am finding. Although on AirBnB I a finding about £100 more on average. But I kind of expected that, as they are dealing with the short term tourists plus they have to factor in AirBnB charges.

 

@samuijimmy , I do have questions on internet. 

 

Whats the broadband speeds like? I have read that fiber in Thailand is about 19 Mmps. Thats the speed of normal UK broadband (I assume). So if fiber is 19, then I assume normal broadband is much lower?

 

This may help, you may need google translate on some, but it does give the option for English at top.

 

http://www.3bb.co.th/3bb/?t=2ecde5f7e77dc3eefd1027071130a3729767c23701f67bb48243f1f613b790cb

 

I use the 900 baht package ASDL line which includes the modem and wifi which is good for about 30  or so feet. depends on concrete walls blocking signal.  I think it is 15mbps ....No problem for using with IPTV telly and uploading / downloading on computer. That could depend on usage in the area you are in, but I've never had problems. It's not over built in my area! 

When I see reports on Sky news etc, I think our internet here is any bit as good as UK services (BT etc) ... I know we have members here that use the 600 baht service with no problem, also members who have fibre, not sure  that it's needed in most cases. 

 

Once you choose the package, you cannot change during length of  contract  (1 year)  There is a small charge for ASDL line over a certain distance,  Fibre line  is more. Apartments may restrict you from installing your own line.... Houses usually not so much of a problem. 

 

Hope that helps

[RyanLondonUK]

@samuijimmy, thanks. Whats the 3G/4G like with Mifi type of device? I think the speeds you have quoted are going to more than enough for me. If I got 5Mbps consistently, I would be okay with that.

 

I know I am going off topic, a little, but do things like Netflix and NowTV (the Sky owned on demand service) work  anywhere? I assume they would if you have pay account, right? I know BBC iPlayer doesn't, but I assumed its only because of license fees and stuff. Anyone know? Because I would have to have something like Netflix or NowTV on my daughters laptop, just keep her occupied in the early day, while we settle in.

 

One other thing, Apple TV should just work right? Its just a plug and play box and its tiny. 

 

P.S. Please don't have a go at me for these silly questions, wait till you have kids (if you don't), specially spoilt brats who used to UK luxuries. Part of going there is to get her to some of the "real" world. Joking aside, it would be good to know.

[PoorSucker]

Do not know about Apple, but Kodi works fine on my 3bb 100/10 fiber optic line.

 

The line is my Thai wife name so I didn't have to pay year in advance.

 

As for renting a flat here....

There are some but cost more than a beach bungalow..

[muzmurray]

On 10/9/2016 at 6:51 PM, RyanLondonUK said:

we need to be able to get internet as I would be working.

 

Illegally presumably.  :-)

 

On 10/9/2016 at 6:51 PM, RyanLondonUK said:

I want to pay the going rates not tourist rates

 

Why? You will for all intents and purposes be a tourist.

[samuijimmy]

Many people rent houses at "non tourist prices",  it's a question of looking around for them... The problem with some of them they may not have all things one would need, i.e Utensils, sheets, internet etc...

 

For longer stay it might be worth it to buy the things you need.... there are many people who stay here six months (usually each year) that do that. 

 

Not sure about Apple TV I know one member here uses it, or used too,  we'll see if he adds info.. 

 

Two bedroom places are usually much harder to find, at a reasonable price.

[phetphet]

7 hours ago, RyanLondonUK said:

@samuijimmy, thanks. Whats the 3G/4G like with Mifi type of device? I think the speeds you have quoted are going to more than enough for me. If I got 5Mbps consistently, I would be okay with that.

 

I know I am going off topic, a little, but do things like Netflix and NowTV (the Sky owned on demand service) work  anywhere? I assume they would if you have pay account, right? I know BBC iPlayer doesn't, but I assumed its only because of license fees and stuff. Anyone know? Because I would have to have something like Netflix or NowTV on my daughters laptop, just keep her occupied in the early day, while we settle in.

 

One other thing, Apple TV should just work right? Its just a plug and play box and its tiny. 

 

P.S. Please don't have a go at me for these silly questions, wait till you have kids (if you don't), specially spoilt brats who used to UK luxuries. Part of going there is to get her to some of the "real" world. Joking aside, it would be good to know.

There is Netflix Thailand. Apple TV works well. iptv service also good. Not sure about Now TV, but Amazon TV won't work. 

One thing to bear in mind streaming from outside Thailand can be very slow. BBC iPlayer via VPN, I cannot stream, only download and watch later.

3BB fibre gets decent reports. I have 3BB VDSL, and it's crap for anything from outside Thailand. Even my Apple TV struggles sometimes. I never had that problem on their slower ADSL package. I think they throttle the bandwidth from outside Thailand.

4G patchy coverage, but not too bad. I suppose you could have a 4G SIM from one provider in your phone, and another from a different provider in a MiFi to give wider coverage if desperate. Most cafes, bars and restaurants offer free wifi nowadays. The Thais do love their smartphones, and Facebook.

[RyanLondonUK]

9 hours ago, muzmurray said:

@muzmurray , I am a law abiding citizen in the UK, vote and pay my taxes. 

 

Quote

Illegally presumably.  :-)

 

 

Why? You will for all intents and purposes be a tourist.

 

@muzmurray , I do not want to break any laws. I am not coming to Thailand just to break some laws and be rebel. If I can do things within the law I always will. I am not looking to drunk every night and sleep with pro's. I travel a bit, in theory if we go by the rulebook, I am pretty sure every time I go to a country for a week with my family, and take my laptop with me (which i always do), and respond to work emails, I am breaking the law in most countries probably. So if we go by that we are all breaking a lot of laws everyday. I am not looking to setup shop in any country, or take local jobs. Its a job I already have. I have an office in London with a high street presence, so I will have someone working there. So if its illegal to respond to my colleagues emails, and to take calls from him for info, and it probably is, then yes, you got it, I am breaking the law.

 

@phetphet ,  thank you so much. This is very helpful, more than you realise with kids. :)

[phetphet]

Sign up for a VPN service and you should be able to at least download stuff from BBC iPlayer app.

 

Depending on your internet service here, there are also the ITV and 4OD apps.

 

AIS, DTAC, and TRUE are the three main phone service providers. All offer 4G and various monthly internet packages. You can check their websites. They have english options.

TRUE also offer TrueVisions satellite tv with English (American) and Thai Channels.

e.g. I can watch F1 and some Premiership matches live. Bearing in mind the six hour time difference to UK. A couple of movie channels, (a bit repetitive), and some popular American tv series, such as The Voice, Quantico, Elementary... there is kiddies stuff too. 

IPTV is an excellent alternative.

 

Internet service providers are 3BB, TRUE, AIS, CAT, and TOT. There may be others, but those are the ones I know. 3BB is the one I use. Fibre optic broadband is available offering higher speeds. Whether they are true to the advertised speeds is another matter. 

 

A couple of cinemas showing the latest films. So it's not all bad.

 

Your kids will probably want to play in the swimming pool or go to the beach anyway. 

 

HTH