If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ. You may have to register before you can post. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
What province / City in Thailand would be your first choice
...Bangkok...first class health and dental facilities, easy public transport (I live next to a bts station), enormous variety of restaurants, comfortable movie theaters, well-stocked malls, and ready and reliable access to a wide variety of streaming channels...been to a) the overrun beaches here (Caribbean shores are nicer), b) the temples (once you've seen what Esfahan and Granada have to offer, even the most grandiose local temples are...modest), c) the nature parks (compared to northwestern Ethiopia around Lake Tana and the Blue Nile Falls or the northern Sahara from the Algeria side, local sites are...disappointing) or d) experienced the culture (sweet simple thieving brown folks topped with grasping, corrupt imported yellow peril glued together by Thainess)...this happens to be the place I washed up, attracted originally by the promise of sin and bright lights, now married to a local and thankful I'm not in Florida...
Had Yai would be right at the bottom of my list, along with Saraburi. Songkhla is bearable, but a nice beach is not enough to call it home. Just not enough there. Plus don't like the southerners as much as northern Thai.
If I were to go back, I reckon it would be to the good old Darkside, Pattaya, Chonburi. Because Lifestyle- you're spoilt for choice there. Bargains abound, too. More Provincial, Surin is a nice town.
I've no idea why anyone would choose Pattaya over Phuket.
...here's some help:
a) greater variety of talent,
b) cheaper talent,
c) more of one's kind: impoverished pensioners looking for cheap nookie,
d) better-connected "travel agents" to assist with "visas"...
I don't like the Thai in Phuket much- mercenary and venal. I do like them in Pattaya, and many other parts of Thailand.
Much easier to socialise with other expats in Patts too. Phuket kinda weird.
Pattaya is much cheaper. I found it very much so. Less ferkin bargaining too.
Getting around in Phuket is a nightmare- unless you have your own transport, which I suppose you would living there.
Frying on a beach is not my style at all, but I'd prefer to do it under the shade of trees in Jomtien, than being hassled by touts in Phuket.
Phuket is a package holiday, Pattaya a Lifestyle.
I much prefer Pattaya. I would not consider living in Phuket, given the many other options. I don't even like holidaying there. Sorry.
Someone who can't get a longstay visa could easily stay there for 30 days then take a 45 minute flight to Penang to spend 30 days, before repeating the process.
Last time I was in Phuket, I wanted to stay well away from the Patong/ Kata scene. So we stayed in Cape Panwa (quite nice), rented a car, and I quite looked forward to finally seeing 'olde historic Phuket towne' - I like that sort of stuff. So after a coupla days seeing the worthy beaches in the south of the island, the Reggae bar (still there, but now a total rip off), and 'expat' Chalong (kinda weird, but ok), we hopped in the trusty chariot and set off. The traffic was a friggin nightmare- so much so, we didn't even get there. From memory, I ended up parking at some faceless mall and we had factory food instead.
Phuket just ain't my scene. Drove over the hill to check out Kata one time- I used to like the Boathouse there. What a godawful nightmare, how could anyone subject themself to that crowded beach? Worse than a ghetto. I didn't even park (virtually impossible to find a spot anyway),
Penang
Yup, if you're an afficionado of colonial architecture like me, why even bother with the 1.5 streets of preserved Phuket town? The designated historic part of Georgetown is a fascinating place to wander around (especially if you don't mind rats)- and you've got one of the great colonial hotels, the E&OE, just outside. Less hassle to get to as well.
Comment