Live in Chaweng or Lamai

[KingKongOfThailand]

13 minutes ago, notmyself said:

Helpful bunch on here but questions such as yours are really tough to answer. Additional information would help such as how many times have you been here and do you speak any Thai. My Thai is not great but it is very good with regard to numbers and by that I mean financial transactions. If I negotiate in Thai then there is no question I will get a far better deal and also knowledge of just how things work help.  

Very helpful, much appreciated too! I have never been to Thailand before and my Thai is non existent. From the comments so far it seems Lamai wins it hands down. I like the comparisons of the 2 places, actually I think if I choose wisely in Chaweng, think the southern part perhaps Chaweng Noi I can't go wrong with either. So which part of Lamai should I live? I don't mind living 5 minutes scooter drive away from the beach at all. I actually like to cook  myself too, so I am more concerned with a good supermarket nearby haha. 

 

Lamai has the Thaiboxing on Saturday evenings, the market on Sunday, it's generally more laid back and still has a decent beach. The bars are overall more laid back, slightly cheaper and there is plentiful of cheap local eats? I am almost sold guys!

 

One thing I did not mention and that was I really like boxing/mma. The gym I go to now has several punching bags and I pay 800 baht a month. It's not an mma gym but just a regular gym that has weights and stuff but they have just added the bags. Do they have gyms with bags over in Lamai? I know they have muay thai gyms but the research I did I came to the conclusion that they are super expensive to join. They were quoting something like 5000 baht a month, which I thought was way too much considering everything else in Thailand is much cheaper in comparison.

[KingKongOfThailand]

Would really appreciate her help Notmyself. I'll give her a nice tip if she finds me something decent for a good price!

[wump]

There is boxing gym in Lamai, just check on Google Maps. It's on the same soi as the biggest bar area there. The biggest bar area is actually not the one next to the Saturday Night boxing ring with the bars around but the one that's got the Billabong bar.

Overall, with Soi Reggae Pub in Chaweng being nearly deserted and the (very few) bars in Soi Green Mango in Chaweng being mostly either boring or a ripoff, you'd have a better selection of girls and laid-back bars in Lamai.

 

Chaweng would only win for its discos if that is your thing.

Edited May 6, 2017 by wump

[KingKongOfThailand]

13 minutes ago, Bigdogfarang said:

I feel I should speak out in favour of chaweng given I have lived in both and definitely prefer chaweng especially as you are in your late 20s bare in mind most posters on here are 60 plus - lamai is full of German beer bars no nightclubs or anything you could call a nightclub the sea is not sheltered like at chaweng and I find too rough for swimming - I take the points about noise and overcrowding in chaweng - but live in the hills / by the lake or where I do in north chaweng rents are reasonable if you don't live right on beach road. - if you are in late 20s you want to be near chaweng not lamai in my opinion - beat course of action spend a week in both as other posters have suggested and see which you prefer 

That's a really good point you make about the age of the people who respond.

[notmyself]

Number of gyms around local and by that I mean within 5 minutes but no idea of the cost. Plenty of places to eat and if you like real Thai rather than that <word> they serve to the tourists then 40-50 Baht for a good meal. Disco (lol) closed down last summer but plenty of bars around staffed with people who actually embody the vibe insofar that they are very laid back.

[wump]

But but but I'm only 32 and hate Chaweng but love Lamai. Lots of young people there. Most around 30, but of course the longstayers are much older than that on average. In Chaweng you wouldn't find the old farts in bars as they are mostly packed with obnoxious 18-20 year olds just looking to get totally wasted. And no offence, but you can tell miles away who of them is American.

 

I wouldn't stay in Chaweng Noi as there is nothing to do there expect for swimming and you'd need to ride your bike quite far to get anywhere decent for eating/drinking/shopping.

Edited May 6, 2017 by wump

[KingKongOfThailand]

8 minutes ago, wump said:

But but but I'm only 32 and hate Chaweng but love Lamai. Lots of young people there. Most around 30, but of course the longstayers are much older than that on average. In Chaweng you wouldn't find the old farts in bars as they are mostly packed with obnoxious 18-20 year olds just looking to get totally wasted. And no offence, but you can tell miles away who of them is American.

 

I wouldn't stay in Chaweng Noi as there is nothing to do there expect for swimming and you'd need to ride your bike quite far to get anywhere decent for eating/drinking/shopping.

Good one mate, thanks for the pointers. Think I'm favoring Lamai too and I haven't even been to Samui yet. I have read about the obnoxious 18-21 yrd olds from other people too and they usually stay in Chaweng. I don't care for (overpriced) nightclubs any more, been there done that. Once in blue moon it's fine, I guess. It's not something I'm planning my holiday around. 

 

So now it just comes down to choosing an area in Lamai. Any pointers? I have seen some apartments/studios that I think should be suitable for me. Not looking for anything special at all. I know that basic studio can be had for 5000 baht a month, do these include a small kitchen? If not how much should I expect to pay for place with kitchen. 

 

I'd like to probably cook most of breakfasts and then some of my other meals at home but for the most part I guess eating out for 50 baht a time should still be within my budget.

[wump]

Your best bet is to book a hotel on booking.com or Agoda for 3 days, rent a bike, check out the main area (the "one-way" road) on the first days to get a feel for the place and on the second and third day have a look at some apartments. It's not that many so you won't be overwhelmed by the choice.

[notmyself]

2 minutes ago, wump said:

Your best bet is to book a hotel on booking.com or Agoda for 3 days, rent a bike, check out the main area (the "one-way" road) on the first days to get a feel for the place and on the second and third day have a look at some apartments. It's not that many so you won't be overwhelmed by the choice.

 

True enough but it depends on length of stay with regard to a visa so you don't want to have a 3 month contract when only staying 2.5 months. Get what is known as a townhouse for 3-3.5k if people know you.

[wump]

You can stay 97 days on a tourist visa with 2 extensions (30/7 days) if you don't want to lose any days out of your three months. There is a new immigration building about 25 minutes from Lamai on the quite picturesque route through the jungle towards Maenam where you can do your extensions. An extra week is plenty to find a room.

Edited May 6, 2017 by wump

[notmyself]

6 minutes ago, wump said:

You can stay 97 days on a tourist visa with 2 extensions (30/7 days) if you don't want to lose any days out of your three months. There is a new immigration building about 25 minutes from Lamai on the quite picturesque route through the jungle towards Maenam. An extra week is plenty to find a room.

 

You can't get a 7 day on an extension and I'm not sure if the 7 day even exists any more and you only actually get 89 as it includes the day you arrive.

[wump]

The 7-day-extension is actually a "denial of extension" to give you time to leave Thailand. They still do these in all immigration offices. They essentially work like a normal extension though. 

 

You can get these if you are already on an extension. Just be aware that you have to go to get them on your last day of your permission to stay as the 7 days count from the day you apply for the extension.

Edited May 6, 2017 by wump

[notmyself]

4 minutes ago, wump said:

The 7-day-extension is actually a "denial of extension" to give you time to leave Thailand. They still do these in all immigration offices. They essentially work like a normal extension though. 

 

You can get these if you are already on an extension. Just be aware that you have to go to get them on your last day of your permission to stay as the 7 days count from the day you apply for the extension.

 

I know what it is and am pretty sure you can't do it but will ask in the visa section.

[wump]

There has been a thread about them from some guy regularly using them as he usually stays a couple of days longer than the original stamp. I think it might have been some sort of fly-in-fly-out thing. Probably like 2-3 months ago. Just use the search function.

 

Edit: I have done these ones twice while already on an extension so I can guarantee first hand that they are possible. The last one I did was around New Years.

Edited May 6, 2017 by wump

[notmyself]

3 minutes ago, wump said:

There has been a thread about them from some guy regularly using them as he usually stays a couple of days longer than the original stamp. I think it might have been some sort of fly-in-fly-out thing. Probably like 2-3 months ago. Just use the search function.

 

I've asked anyway....

 

 

[wump]

This sums it up pretty nice. You can usually trust ubonjoe.

[notmyself]

13 minutes ago, wump said:

This sums it up pretty nice. You can usually trust ubonjoe.

Interesting. Would be nice to come in on a visa exempt then just do a boarder run just to activate the 60+30

 

[edit]

 

What do I care as I've been living on these <expletive> tourist visas since '99. It was my birthday on Wednesday (happy birthday Johnno) and turned 50! <expletive. all this <expletive> because I'm going non 'o'

 

 

Edited May 6, 2017 by notmyself

[wump]

Mhh? This has nothing to do with the 7 days and is actually not possible if the IO sees your visa. You cannot choose not to use your visa.

[PoorSucker]

Your best bet is to book a hotel on booking.com or Agoda for 3 days, rent a bike, check out the main area (the "one-way" road) on the first days to get a feel for the place and on the second and third day have a look at some apartments. It's not that many so you won't be overwhelmed by the choice.

Do not rent a bike unless you have a proper MC driving licence and five years riding experience, Samui roads are dangerous.

Where I live in southern Chaweng you can easily get a room within your budget. Songtheaws (pick up busses) goes to central Chaweng and Lamai every five minutes, same time to travel either way.

 

 

[wump]

Everybody rents a bike on Samui as taxis are either non-existent or a mega-ripoff. An automatic bike is not too hard to handle and a couple of rides around the block will suffice for practice. Certainly no 5 years of experience needed, riding a bike is not climbing Everest... even 10 year olds drive their motorbikes to school over here. You also won't need a licence as there is usually no checks. Just be aware that technically your travel insurance won't cover you for anything bigger than 50cc if you don't have a licence (I have never seen any bikes under 100cc over here ), but they usually don't check as the hospitals won't write a big "MOTO ACCIDENT" on their bill as they want their money too.

 

You know why people are dying? Not because they don't have driving experience or a license. They die because they get absolutely smashed on vodka buckets at the beach parties and then go on speeding on the winding hill road between Chaweng and Lamai. If you just stay in town and don't get too drunk if riding between beaches you'll be fine. Just use common sense.

Edited May 6, 2017 by wump

[notmyself]

3 minutes ago, PoorSucker said:

Do not rent a bike unless you have a proper MC driving licence and five years riding experience, Samui roads claim lives every day from first time drivers.

Sent from my Lenovo TB3-710F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

Wise words and Jim did mention it to some degree. Roads over here are as dangerous as <word people think has magical properties>  so you are actually better off not being on them. 2nd highest road deaths in the world but then they use a very strange way to calculate it as far as I know. From what I know if you gat smashed by an incident but live longer than 2-3 day then die it is not considered a road death.

[wump]

So is there any statistics on how people are actually dying in Lamai? If he stays within the main area and doesn't have to cross that highway all the time (that's why I advised against living beyond the highway towards the hills) I think his chances of dying are pretty slim. Traffic in the main area is rather slow. You would have to drive crappy yourself to die there while on the highway there is a pretty good chance some pisshead will mow you over, especially after 10pm.

Edited May 6, 2017 by wump

[notmyself]

8 minutes ago, wump said:

You know why people are dying? Not because they don't have driving experience or a license. They die because they get absolutely smashed on vodka buckets at the beach parties and then go on speeding on the winding hill road between Chaweng and Lamai. If you just stay in town and don't get too drunk if riding between beaches you'll be fine. Just use common sense.

 

It's true enough. Lost count of how many friends I've lost here over the years with some just due to old age and the rest on a bike. Were they drunk at the time? No idea. Chance they would have been? Very likely.

[notmyself]

4 minutes ago, wump said:

So is there any statistics on how people are actually dying in Lamai? If he stays within the main area and doesn't have to cross that highway all the time (that's why I advised against living beyond the highway towards the hills) I think his chances of dying are pretty slim. Traffic in the main area is rather slow. You would have to drive crappy yourself there to die while on the highway there is a pretty good chance some pisshead will mow you over, especially after 10pm.

 

Just turn left and wing it from there.

 

 

[KingKongOfThailand]

I'm a careful driver and I don't drink and drive. Of course you never know what kind of idiots are driving while you are out and about. I've got a good bit of experience driving scooters but haven't driven one in a while but I'm sure I'l get the hang of it once I start driving again. 

 

What are those town houses that go for 3000 baht a month? Any pics, info you are willing to share?

[wump]

Won't be too nice for that price and certainly won't have air. In addition it will be very far from the action and the beach. 3000 Baht is like a big night on the piss so why cheap out on the accommodation? Better pay your 9000 and get something decent.

[KingKongOfThailand]

How much would this place cost if I go out looking while I'm there?

 

https://www.flipkey.com/lamai-beach-condo-rentals/p979068/

[notmyself]

1 minute ago, KingKongOfThailand said:

How much would this place cost if I go out looking while I'm there?

 

https://www.flipkey.com/lamai-beach-condo-rentals/p979068/

lol. Add a zero to the end

 

[KingKongOfThailand]

8 minutes ago, wump said:

Won't be too nice for that price and certainly won't have air. In addition it will be very far from the action and the beach. 3000 Baht is like a big night on the piss so why cheap out on the accommodation? Better pay your 9000 and get something decent.

Notmyself suggested it in an earlier post.

[KingKongOfThailand]

Just now, notmyself said:

lol. Add a zero to the end

 

3000 baht a month?