Thread: Road Trip Pattaya to Phuket

Originally Posted by hemingway

OK LT you have conviced me. I will jump in the truck today and go take a look at the east side. Any favorite places to hang out?

There are a number of good bars and Restaurants around Maprachan Lake not to mention nice resorts/ hotels where you can get a lovely room for less then 800 baht per night.

Once you get on Siam Country Club Road coming from Sukhumvit Road just follow your nose across the Railway track and you will pass numerous bars and Restaurants until you see the lake on your left (about 8 kms from the Railway track).

A place I like is the Rendezvous which has a separate dining/ bar area and just past there you have 4 small beer bars where you can get a drink and meet some of the locals.

Further around the lake you have the Fisherman's Rest which specializes in Indian food and a number of other beer/ pool bars further around.

Not knowing what you like or dislike I am a bit lost about where else I should send you.

^
Since I can only take in one area at a time, I will start with Rawai and then venture out to the rest of the island. Rawai residents may be a little biased on where they live so I will need to see other areas for myself and talk to their residents for their input.

I do not plan to buy which gives me an option to live anywhere on the island. Is it advisable to have a place locked in just before high season?

Originally Posted by hemingway

Is it advisable to have a place locked in just before high season?

Phuket really sucks during high season, it is choked with hoards of tourists..

You want; laid back, nice islands, fishing, mountains, national park, reasonable sized town with amenities and small expat crowd check out Ranong. Also further south; Satun is a nice area with some beautiful ocean and developing islands, and short drive to Penang.

Ranong is listed as having the highest rainfall in all of Thailand, but that would not stop me from visiting especially if there is fishing involved.

Ranong is one of my favorite spots in Thailand, the rain isn't bad, actually keeps the temps down and the place clean.
I like all the food there, the best roast duck, and Thai Chinese seafood. There's a decent farang restaurant/bar and a cocktail bar run by a Thai biker dude.

I posted some pics a while back.
https://teakdoor.com/southern-thailan...nd-ranong.html

Originally Posted by hemingway

I guess I can post pictures now, so here in the condo in Phuket for 11,000 baht per month. What does everyone think?

The value for money in Thailand blows me away. Jeez that Condo would do me. Looks great.

^
Agree with your there Terry and it is on my short list.

Another cuisine delight, chicken kebab for 60 baht ($2 US). Two of these babies and I was full as a tick. They rivaled any good chicken barritos I have ever had. That is not grease on the paper, but a good hot sauce. It contained all the essential food groups and tasted great with a Singha beer.

Took a trip to the Kawasaki showroom in Pattaya since I am very interested in the ER-6N. They had a black one there which is the color I want and it was priced at 250,000 baht. That is not a bad price for this bike, even though they started out at 225,000 baht a couple of years ago.

My though was to either sell my Vigo or buy one on time once I find a place to plant some roots and have the bike to get around and maybe even do a little touring. The bike is fantastic for touring and it really made me droll and want to put the money down now but it would be better to wait. I was wondering if this is a hard and fast price and would be the same even in Phuket.

Since LT said to take a look at the north side of Pattaya, I drove that direction and probably, a little to far. There was a fishing village that reminded me of Mexico that I went through, so I got out and took a few pictures.

Once I arrived at North Point, I drove around along the beach and found a house steps from this beach that rents for 60,000 baht per month. A little steep for me, but if I was flush, I would probably rent it. It had its own private pool and nice front port that caught the sea breeze.





Continuing on around the point, I found this beach bar next to some expensive hotels and had a shrimp and lemongrass salad.

Thanks for the updates. I look forward to more!

Roger

^^^^

I enjoyed the Sunset View Terrace so much, I booked a week at a nearby hotel to spend some time there. The food is well priced and the beach is much cleaner than Jomtien, where I have been the last several days.

Took a ride over to a Honda dealer and looked at a nice Gray Honda CBR250R. It is not in the same class as the ER-6n, but neither is the price point. The salesperson quoted me 115,000 baht and may, or may not be the going rate in Pattaya. Either way, I will need to sell my Vigo before paying for a bike in cash.

^Food for thought, since you don't have a base yet, and since you already have the truck, you might keep the truck and just get a little 110 Honda wave for local touring and exploring. Its a perfectly adequate motorbike and pretty easy to toss in the back of a truck. And you're only out of pocket 31k baht.
Having the truck as a base would allow you the freedom of not being locked into any long term rentals.
A week/month here, there and motor on to another nifty place. You could cover a lot of territory that way.
The truck/scooter combo is a great exploring rig that doubles as a home.
Down the road you can pick up a lightly used er6n if you settle somewhere.
Living out of a duffel bag on the back of an er6n might get old pretty quick.

^
That thought had crossed my mind and I have already contacted a couple of owners in Phuket of lighly used motorbikes. Your idea is a good one and may be what I wind up doing. The ER-6n has always been a dream of mine and can wait until a later date when I settle.

i had a Honda wave 110, paid 32,000, ( electric start) for it in 2001 and just sold it for 6,000 baht with less than 21,000 kms on it. great bike for Phuket
the new 125 are up around 50,000 now!!!

You could always consider used Kawasaki ER6N, bound to be one popping up in the used ads.
They are pretty much bullet proof bikes. With Kawasaki dealers all over the country getting them serviced would be easy and relatively light on the wallet.

Originally Posted by Phuketrichard

i had a Honda wave 110, paid 32,000, ( electric start) for it in 2001 and just sold it for 6,000 baht with less than 21,000 kms on it. great bike for Phuket
the new 125 are up around 50,000 now!!!

you practically gave that sucker away! The prices of the 110's seem to be going down. The kickstart model was quoted for 31k as few weeks ago.
The 110 is kinda cool being so simple yet its got the tried and true PGM FI and some interesting ceramic technology in the cylinder head for great fuel efficiency. They run really smooth.
I'd get one if I ever had to replace my 100cc Dream. I just spent 4000 baht on it having the frame repaired (it cracked in two!) and the engine decarboned.

It was a very adventurous trip for me. Last time one of my friend told me about road trip from Pattaya to Phuket. It was such a nice trip you can enjoy your vocations like these trips.

There are many places where you can travel between Pattaya and Phuket. There are many eye-catching sites and greenery also. You will get many fantastic pictures of them. You can also search on the net about the places there.