Phuket as a full-time home

[thehelmsman]

21 hours ago, timkeen08 said:

Isaan is nowhere near the ocean. Northeast Thailand from the Mekong river inward. Up across from Laos.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
 

That was sarcasm, whosh.....

[Damrongsak]

23 hours ago, simon43 said:

What are the beaches like in Issan?  Do they allow deckchairs, beach towels, food and drink on the beach?

 

Any jetski touts?

We have waterfront property on Banana Beach in Loei.  We leave the chairs up on the deck.

 

 

[NamKangMan]

41 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

We have waterfront property on Banana Beach in Loei.  We leave the chairs up on the deck.

 

 

 

Looks like a typical Issan mosquito farm. 

 

 

[NamKangMan]

 

It's common knowledge that Phuket is the most expensive place in South East Asia to holiday, Singapore aside, and possibly The Maldives.

 

Phuket, whilst offering a variety of prices and standards, in general, is no longer the cheap holiday that it once was, should a reasonable standard of accommodation and hospitality be desired.

 

In true mafia island style, this is what happens when only 12 Thai families own the majority of commercial property on the island.  Add to that their control of land transport here, and they have their greedy hands in your pocket for everything from your hotel room, to the food and beverage you consume, to activities and entertainment.

 

 

 

[fatdrunkandstupid]

4 minutes ago, NamKangMan said:

 

It's common knowledge that Phuket is the most expensive place in South East Asia to holiday, Singapore aside, and possibly The Maldives.

And KL?

[NamKangMan]

14 hours ago, fatdrunkandstupid said:

And KL?

 

Possibly, but my post was primarily focused on holiday destinations offering sun, sea and sand. 

[fatdrunkandstupid]

1 hour ago, NamKangMan said:

 

Possibly, but my post was primarily focused on holiday destinations offering sun, sea and sand. 

KL has sun, the sea is now irrelevant as the beaches on Phuket's west coast are a faecal coliform biohazard, and sand well, that is what is used to bury garbage.

 

 

[LivinginKata]

I had not seen that video .... quite gross ...

[fatdrunkandstupid]

5 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

I had not seen that video .... quite gross ...

You're welcome.

[Psimbo]

21 hours ago, beechbum said:

Yeah, that's probably the reason....

I think it may be more to do with his handle!

[thaibutty]

On 6/4/2017 at 2:23 PM, YaiJung said:

In fact, I would say the street food prices in Phuket are more like 3-4X the price of elsewhere in Thailand.  This is due to the tiny portions served in Phuket.  A 35-40 baht Khao Mun Gai elsewhere is twice as big as a 65-75 baht Phuket version. 

 

Prices aside, one of the deal breakers for me on living in Phuket is the shear inconvenience and utter pain-in-the-ass getting around the island has become.  Everything is very spread out and I find myself driving for hours all over the place just to run simple errands.  Road rage is a real issue, together with the mountainous roads, make for a very dangerous combination.  When I am there, I find myself not wanting to leave the soi/apartment, which is no way to live life. 

 

The locals can be very surly and aggressive, but that is a whole other topic in itself...

 

On the plus side, as others have mentioned, accommodation can be reasonable these days compared to the past. 

Had lunch yesterday at the restaurant next to my office in Chalong. 50 Baht for a phat krapao with fried egg. The day before at a Vegetarian place paid 60 Baht for a plate of rice with 3 toppings. 
Sure is bloody expensive here in Phuket....

As for getting around: I have within 5 minute drive 1large Tesco Lotus, Villa Market, and 5 small convenient stores (7Eleven, Familiy Mart and SuperCheap) and another 3 mom and pop shops. I could even walk there in a few minutes if I wanted to.   

Add another 3 minutes and I am at Makro Rawai. 15 minutes to Central, Big C etc.

Really inconvenient for sure...

[Old Croc]

I see one of the old tro posters has been resurrected, after a hiatus of a couple of years, to take up the anti-Phuket cudgels. Interesting timing.

 

To the OP, if this is a serious query, Phuket is more expensive in some ways than many other parts of Thailand.  If it is of concern for you that a meal here might cost 10 or 20 baht more than in good old Nakon Nowwhere, I suggest you head for the wilds of Isaan for your retirement.

[fatdrunkandstupid]

54 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

To the OP, if this is a serious query, Phuket is more expensive in some ways than many other parts of Thailand.  If it is of concern for you that a meal here might cost 10 or 20 baht more than in good old Nakon Nowwhere, I suggest you head for the wilds of Isaan for your retirement.

Or head to any other location in Thailand other than Phuket.  Lots of places to chose from. There are even spots were the ocean is not a bio hazard.

[fatdrunkandstupid]

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

Interesting timing.

 

Timing is everything.

[NamKangMan]

On 05/06/2017 at 3:31 PM, fatdrunkandstupid said:

KL has sun, the sea is now irrelevant as the beaches on Phuket's west coast are a faecal coliform biohazard, and sand well, that is what is used to bury garbage.

 

 

 

 

 

So, Phuket tourists pay top dollar to sun bake on a pile of rubbish, whilst looking out at a big sewer.  Sounds about right.

[fatdrunkandstupid]

10 hours ago, thaibutty said:

 I could even walk there in a few minutes if I wanted to.   

Provided you were comfortable with being a pedestrian on some of the most dangerous roads on the planet.

 

[LivinginKata]

49 minutes ago, fatdrunkandstupid said:

Provided you were comfortable with being a pedestrian on some of the most dangerous roads on the planet.

 

Rubbish ... and I have experienced much more dangerous roads on the planet and I expect there are much worse than I  have seen.

[fatdrunkandstupid]

41 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

Rubbish ... and I have experienced much more dangerous roads on the planet and I expect there are much worse than I  have seen.

Oh.  You must of been to Libya.  It is the only other place with a higher fatality rate.

[KarenBravo]

9 hours ago, fatdrunkandstupid said:

Oh.  You must of been to Libya.  It is the only other place with a higher fatality rate.

How can you compare countries accident stats to individual roads?

Slightly disingenuous, eh?

 

Driving habits and individual roads are two completely different things.

In the 1980's, one of the most dangerous roads in the world was in Canada; the road from Vancouver to Whistler (now been made safe), yet, their accident statistics as a country was very good.

[thaibutty]

11 hours ago, fatdrunkandstupid said:

Provided you were comfortable with being a pedestrian on some of the most dangerous roads on the planet.

 

Very comfortable in being a pedestrian on most of the roads around where I live.

 

I run frequently around these roads. There is more to Phuket than the large highways you know.

 

Besides that. I've even cycled on the highway to the  airport on numerous occasions and never felt unsafe. Just stay on the far left and you are fine. 

 

It does get dangerous when you drive too fast with too much alcohol and not anticipating the stupid moves of other participants on the road. 

 

One of these 3 factors account for 95% of all road accidents in Thailand. 
Mostly a combination of the 3. 

[madmax2]

Last time we spent a few days at Kho Samui most tourist type things we purchased were dearer than Phuket, drinks restaurants etc

Everything gets there by ferry which would account for the higher prices, but higher they are than Phuket and its a very similar holiday destination

 

 

[KarenBravo]

3 minutes ago, thaibutty said:

One of these 3 factors account for 95% of all road accidents in Thailand. 
Mostly a combination of the 3. 

I agree, but, in my opinion, another killer for motorbikes is incorrect tyre pressures.

Have never seen any mechanic ever use a tyre pressure gauge. That's why as soon as I get home, I check the pressures in the tyres.

Just had a set of new tyres put on the bike. Usually, these mechanics pump in around 60 psi when it should be around 30 to 40 psi.

This time was a record. The back tyre went off the scale and the scale ends at 120 psi.

What's worse are the motorbikes where they don't bother to add air until it becomes an obvious problem. I estimate that there are a lot of scooters with between 10 and 20 psi in their tyres.

[NamKangMan]

11 hours ago, LivinginKata said:

Rubbish ... and I have experienced much more dangerous roads on the planet and I expect there are much worse than I  have seen.

 

The data in this link is from 2013, but it clearly shows Thailand's disgraceful road death statistics. Worse than many African nations.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

 

This article is from 2015.  It clearly states Phuket Province is the worst province in Thailand for road fatality.

 

http://www.thephuketnews.com/it-official-phuket-worst-in-thailand-for-road-accidents-53869.php

 

I think you will find there is a lot of truth to what the member has posted.  This "Phuket myth" is not a myth at all.

 

The last I heard, Thailand was fourth for road death in the world, with Phuket Province still being the worst Province in Thailand. 

 

That effectively makes Phuket's roads the most dangerous in the world. 

[NamKangMan]

18 minutes ago, thaibutty said:

Very comfortable in being a pedestrian on most of the roads around where I live.

 

I run frequently around these roads. There is more to Phuket than the large highways you know.

 

Besides that. I've even cycled on the highway to the  airport on numerous occasions and never felt unsafe. Just stay on the far left and you are fine. 

 

It does get dangerous when you drive too fast with too much alcohol and not anticipating the stupid moves of other participants on the road. 

 

One of these 3 factors account for 95% of all road accidents in Thailand. 
Mostly a combination of the 3. 

 

"Very comfortable in being a pedestrian on most of the roads around where I live." - I think the member was being sarcastic, suggesting one must always be a pedestrian, and never ride / drive here due to Phuket's dangerous roads. 

 

 

[thaibutty]

20 minutes ago, NamKangMan said:

 

The data in this link is from 2013, but it clearly shows Thailand's disgraceful road death statistics. Worse than many African nations.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

 

This article is from 2015.  It clearly states Phuket Province is the worst province in Thailand for road fatality.

 

http://www.thephuketnews.com/it-official-phuket-worst-in-thailand-for-road-accidents-53869.php

 

I think you will find there is a lot of truth to what the member has posted.  This "Phuket myth" is not a myth at all.

 

The last I heard, Thailand was fourth for road death in the world, with Phuket Province still being the worst Province in Thailand. 

 

That effectively makes Phuket's roads the most dangerous in the world. 

 

I would not disagree that Phuket is a dangerous place to drive. I almost daily see accidents when driving around. 

 

The questions is how dangerous it is for yourself.

 

In my first 2 years in Phuket, which was 2004 and 2005 I had several accidents on my motorbike and they were all related to being drunk, too fast, inexperienced and just not careful enough. 

 

In the 12 years since mid 2005 I had not one accident. 

 

This is mostly because I hardly ever drive when I had a few drinks (unfortunately cant say that I never DUI during these years) I drive much slower and I know how to read the traffic much better. 

Also, I avoid any possibly dangerous situations both in the car and on the motorbike. Once you`ve been driving here for a while you know what to expect and act accordingly. 

 

 

[NamKangMan]

6 minutes ago, thaibutty said:

 

I would not disagree that Phuket is a dangerous place to drive. I almost daily see accidents when driving around. 

 

The questions is how dangerous it is for yourself.

 

In my first 2 years in Phuket, which was 2004 and 2005 I had several accidents on my motorbike and they were all related to being drunk, too fast, inexperienced and just not careful enough. 

 

In the 12 years since mid 2005 I had not one accident. 

 

This is mostly because I hardly ever drive when I had a few drinks (unfortunately cant say that I never DUI during these years) I drive much slower and I know how to read the traffic much better. 

Also, I avoid any possibly dangerous situations both in the car and on the motorbike. Once you`ve been driving here for a while you know what to expect and act accordingly. 

 

 

 

"In my first 2 years in Phuket, which was 2004 and 2005 I had several accidents on my motorbike and they were all related to being drunk, too fast, inexperienced and just not careful enough." - and what protects you and other road users, now, from other people who are in their "first 2 years in Phuket?"  

 

 

[thaibutty]

1 minute ago, NamKangMan said:

 

"In my first 2 years in Phuket, which was 2004 and 2005 I had several accidents on my motorbike and they were all related to being drunk, too fast, inexperienced and just not careful enough." - and what protects you and other road users now from other people who are in their "first 2 years in Phuket?"  

 

 

 

As much as I would like the police to be more strict and the driving education and test! to be more thorough we have to deal with the realities. 

 

Therefore, you have to look out for yourself to protect yourself. 

 

Its the only way. 

btw, my accidents in my first 2 years did not cause any harm to anyone except myself.

[Old Croc]

There's no argument that Thailand has some of the most dangerous roads in the world. However, I'm convinced Phuket is not the most deadly province. Figures are based on deaths per 100,000 people, and the population figures used for Phuket are based on an old census.

It doesn't take into account several million tourism arrivals, expats, migrant workers from other countries nor Thais who seek work here, but don't change their place of registration. At any given time the number of people actually on the Island is way in excess of official figures, thus skewing the death statistics.

In summary, you have no more chance of becoming a road statistic on Phuket than in many other provinces in this dangerous country.

If you stay off motorbikes, or at least wear a helmet at all times, you should be able to greatly reduce  the risks. See some attached stats from a WHO report using figures from 2012.

 

 

http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2015/country_profiles/Thailand.pdf

[fatdrunkandstupid]

2 hours ago, NamKangMan said:

 

The data in this link is from 2013, but it clearly shows Thailand's disgraceful road death statistics. Worse than many African nations.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

 

This article is from 2015.  It clearly states Phuket Province is the worst province in Thailand for road fatality.

 

http://www.thephuketnews.com/it-official-phuket-worst-in-thailand-for-road-accidents-53869.php

 

I think you will find there is a lot of truth to what the member has posted.  This "Phuket myth" is not a myth at all.

 

The last I heard, Thailand was fourth for road death in the world, with Phuket Province still being the worst Province in Thailand. 

 

That effectively makes Phuket's roads the most dangerous in the world. 

Thanks Nam Kang Man for taking the time to provide the links.  I couldn't be bothered.  Those of us who live here in Phuket know how dangerous the roads are.  Perhaps the boiled frogs that cocoon themselves from the outside world, sending their wives on errands out into the carnage, have an unrealistic perception.

 

But for those of us out on Phuket's roads daily, we know the score.  A few years back I saw three people actually killed in three separate accidents on the same day.

 

Make no mistake.  If you are using a road in Phuket, you are risking your life.

[fatdrunkandstupid]

56 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

 

If you stay off motorbikes, or at least wear a helmet at all times, you should be able to greatly reduce  the risks.

 

Yes...one is a fool to ride a motorbike on Phuket when there are so many cheap and easily accessed public transport options.

 

And why doesn't everyone just buy a car?  They are so cheap here, and parking in Phuket is a doddle.