Best area to live in Chanthaburi ?

[james.d]

Hello All,

 

Wife and I were planning to escape from BKK for a couple of midweek nights to Chanthaburi but now leaning to Chao Lao beach in particular after finding this thread.

I have checked the accommodations on tripadvisor etc but could anyone with personal experience please advise on where to stay in Chao Lao or narrow down the options in that area.

Ideally on the beach, we prefer quiet and calm. Homely accommodation would be perfect.

I shall be driving our car if this has any bearing on locations.

 

Looking forward to sampling the seafood and fruits the area seems famous for.

Many thanks,

James.d

Edited September 4, 2017 by james.d

[oldhippy]

In Chao Lao we always stay at this place.

Walking distance to 7 11.

Next door to Tosang Beach Resort, that has an excellent not too expensive kitchen.

For 1500 you have a unit right on the sand, with sea view from your bed - air con & fridge.

Same unit, no sea view 1000.

500 extra on saturday night.

free wifi

pic2: the units

pic3: view from bed

pic4: Tosang Beach Resort, next door

 

If you spend a night in the city of Chanthaburi, KP Grand is a beautifull old style hotel near Robinsons. Book by phone for 1250 incl breakfast. Big rooms, bath, wifi, friendly staff.

 

 

[james.d]

26 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

In Chao Lao we always stay at this place.

Walking distance to 7 11.

Next door to Tosang Beach Resort, that has an excellent not too expensive kitchen.

For 1500 you have a unit right on the sand, with sea view from your bed - air con & fridge.

Same unit, no sea view 1000.

500 extra on saturday night.

free wifi

pic2: the units

pic3: view from bed

pic4: Tosang Beach Resort, next door

 

If you spend a night in the city of Chanthaburi, KP Grand is a beautifull old style hotel near Robinsons. Book by phone for 1250 incl breakfast. Big rooms, bath, wifi, friendly staff.

 

 

looks perfect as to what we are looking for..thank you so much for your time to give feedback.

[oldhippy]

10 minutes ago, james.d said:

looks perfect as to what we are looking for..thank you so much for your time to give feedback.

Outside under the big tree there are tables and electric power points, usefull if you wish to make coffee or a small meal - I never found a decent place for breakfast.

The only "non resort" aircon restaurant is opposite the 7 11 - cheap & good.

Also there is a small market (afternoons) and some shops. And don't forget to buy your REAL sea salt on the road leading in!

Tosang Beach Hotel is on the booking sites, has swimming pool, and has some nice units at the beach too - but much more expensive.

 

 

[bbpbbp]

1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

In Chao Lao we always stay at this place.

Walking distance to 7 11.

Next door to Tosang Beach Resort, that has an excellent not too expensive kitchen.

For 1500 you have a unit right on the sand, with sea view from your bed - air con & fridge.

Same unit, no sea view 1000.

500 extra on saturday night.

free wifi

pic2: the units

pic3: view from bed

pic4: Tosang Beach Resort, next door

 

If you spend a night in the city of Chanthaburi, KP Grand is a beautifull old style hotel near Robinsons. Book by phone for 1250 incl breakfast. Big rooms, bath, wifi, friendly staff.

 

 

 

Not bad but expensive for the area.

Just like KP grand hotel, overpriced shitthollee, maybe brand new hotel a lot better and cheaper for 1000 thb.

Many brand new bungalows on 500 thb at this beach, maybe hundred places, not right on the beach though.

 

 

[oldhippy]

6 minutes ago, bbpbbp said:

 

Not bad but expensive for the area.

Just like KP grand hotel, overpriced shitthollee, maybe brand new hotel a lot better and cheaper for 1000 thb.

Many brand new bungalows on 500 thb at this beach, maybe hundred places, not right on the beach though.

 

 

There are brand new bungalows for 600 yes, but as you say not right on the beach.

To be able to look at the sea from your bed / porch is IMHO worth the extra money.

 

Why do you say KP is an overpriced shytehole?

Very big rooms with view, bath, clean, quiet, wifi, good breakfast with real coffee, pleasant staff.

Pleasant & big lobby.

Old but renovated, and beautifull old style dining room.

Beer is overpriced yes, 150 for big bottle, and cocktails are not good - but the night view from the 17 floor comes free with your drink.

 

Before we always stayed at nearby Rachan Residence, but since a year or so they only rent long term.

Which hotels would you recommend?

 

[markeewan]

On 9/4/2017 at 3:14 PM, oldhippy said:

In Chao Lao we always stay at this place.

Walking distance to 7 11.

Next door to Tosang Beach Resort, that has an excellent not too expensive kitchen.

For 1500 you have a unit right on the sand, with sea view from your bed - air con & fridge.

Same unit, no sea view 1000.

500 extra on saturday night.

free wifi

pic2: the units

pic3: view from bed

pic4: Tosang Beach Resort, next door

 

If you spend a night in the city of Chanthaburi, KP Grand is a beautifull old style hotel near Robinsons. Book by phone for 1250 incl breakfast. Big rooms, bath, wifi, friendly staff.

 

 

I couldn't see the address of this place so booked the hotel next door for New Year. The prices for anywhere on the tourist route are phenomenal, $300-$500 per night, so I'm happy to pay $300 for four nights at the Chao Lao Tosang Beach resort, which had good reviews. 

 

The other option was the Sand Dunes Chao Lao which also had good reviews, but I followed your advice after seeing your post. Somewhere quiet with a nice beach will do me fine and I have a car, so getting around won't be a problem.

[markeewan]

On 9/4/2017 at 3:14 PM, oldhippy said:

In Chao Lao we always stay at this place.

Walking distance to 7 11.

Next door to Tosang Beach Resort, that has an excellent not too expensive kitchen.

For 1500 you have a unit right on the sand, with sea view from your bed - air con & fridge.

Same unit, no sea view 1000.

500 extra on saturday night.

free wifi

pic2: the units

pic3: view from bed

pic4: Tosang Beach Resort, next door

 

If you spend a night in the city of Chanthaburi, KP Grand is a beautifull old style hotel near Robinsons. Book by phone for 1250 incl breakfast. Big rooms, bath, wifi, friendly staff.

 

 

I took your recommendation for this beach and stayed in early January for four nights at the Chao Lao Tosang Beach Hotel for 1900 baht/night including breakfast.

When I got there I realised that your post was referring to the place next door.

 

The beach was free of rubbish and the water was clear.  Most of the time we just spent lazing under the shady trees on the hotel property, but on a couple of days we headed out to explore.

 

One day we went to Kung Krabaen Royal Development only a couple of kilometres away, heading West. This is a boardwalk through the mangroves, taking you out to overlook Kung Krabaen bay. Whilst we were there, we found a guy renting out kayaks at 50 baht each for an hour and we spent the time going through the canals that are cut into the mangroves.

 

Turning right out of the development you can end up back at the foreshore where the coaches park for the scout camp. There is a nice little aquarium (or fish museum in Thai) that is free to go around. Payment is by donation to help cover the cost of the electricity. Talk about a cheap day out.

 

The second trip out was in the other direction and we went over the new bridge that crosses the estuary at Pak Nam Kaem. The place was literally deserted, but is probably busy at the weekend as there is a large carpark there.

 

Driving further we ended up  at Hat Ao Yang. There is a very small cove here and small beach and there were a couple of European families snorkelling. I imagine there must be a guest house close by as they did not have  a car.

 

It would just be perfect for a getaway holiday. There were also 6 or 7 food sellers there waiting to sell stuff. Probably the place is packed with Thais on the weekend, but in the week it is so quiet.

 

On the way back we went to look at the beach near Wat Ao Moo, but it turned out it was probably the deepwater side of the headland and just had fishing boats  etc. so nothing of real interest.

 

This is my first trip to this area, as I always imagined that it was a coastline of mangroves and mud flats, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

 

We had a thoroughly enjoyable time and I would definitely go back there again to explore some more.

 

 

[gaff]

I am looking for a house to rent there, any idea ? Even driving around it's very hard to find any place.

 

 

[Tarteso]

I am looking for a house to rent there, any idea ? Even driving around it's very hard to find any place.
 
 

Hi gaff! My advice is make a trip to Chao lao beach (best place to live in Chantha... IMO).
Easy to rent a room with aircon, explore the place and take your time for find the right house for u.

I was been living there about 3 years... magic and very quiet place.

[kuma]

Have to agree with lots said on this thread (bbpbbp aside)

 

Travelled here for years, rented in Chan city last year for a month for a better sense. Spent a few years looking for land we liked, and have found it, now working thru the buy/not buy.

 

To help with the above, took three days to search Chan city for a place to rent. Found an exceptional 2 bed 2 bath 2 storey w all the amenities you would want - for an amazing price.

 

Moving now, signed for a year and will get a real sense of the town. We love it every time we are there and there is so much to see and do - some having been mentioned above.

 

If looking for a place I feel you need to get there and hit the ground looking

[grkt]

On 7/6/2018 at 10:28 PM, kuma said:

Have to agree with lots said on this thread (bbpbbp aside)

 

Travelled here for years, rented in Chan city last year for a month for a better sense. Spent a few years looking for land we liked, and have found it, now working thru the buy/not buy.

 

To help with the above, took three days to search Chan city for a place to rent. Found an exceptional 2 bed 2 bath 2 storey w all the amenities you would want - for an amazing price.

 

Moving now, signed for a year and will get a real sense of the town. We love it every time we are there and there is so much to see and do - some having been mentioned above.

 

If looking for a place I feel you need to get there and hit the ground looking

 

 

How long you need to get a feel of the place ? 10 years ?!

 

And I do not believe that you found a good priced rent. They do not exist there.

 

 

 

[kuma]

As long as I like I suppose, whatever that may be. I'm not in any rush

 

For accommodation, the gf found a number of places online, primarily on FB I believe. The place we were lucky enough to get is under 6k THB/month and is as described in my original post. After a lifetime of living in many places around the world- I will say (guardedly, its only been a month) that this may end up being the best value place I have rented anywhere on earth, normalizing for inflation, cost of living etc.

 

This province is the gem (pun intended) of Thailand and those who don't know that's fine - we would not want it to change much from what it is. Everything is available here - just takes some work ?...

 

Love the fact it is a complex winding narrow alley'ed place built along a snaking river - as that is what I grew up in elsewhere. So much available to do and see here in Chan, if you enjoy Thailand and Thai living.

 

If the expat focused hotspots are more to your liking, then you are in the majority. If not, and Chan frustrates you, there are ~75/76 other provinces and two SAA's to look at.

[davidst01]

On 7/7/2018 at 11:50 PM, grkt said:

 

 

How long you need to get a feel of the place ? 10 years ?!

 

And I do not believe that you found a good priced rent. They do not exist there.

 

 

 

I would have to respectfully disagree with you. We have friends there who recently rented a building for incredibly cheap rent. It needed some renos but a real bargain. They said newly built buildings are expensive