If you live in Patong than you will not need a bike for going out partying and eating anyway. But for anything else you will need a motorbike. I would not consider it a nightmare to live in Patong at all, probably a lot better than the rest of the island if you like to party with thai hookers.

i think if you wanted to live here without driving a motorbike, patong might be the best place in phuket to stay, but you're probably choosing the wrong place if you're not comfortable hiring paying $30+ everytime you want to join in a community activity or see another part of the island. the few people i've know who don't drive motorbikes while here have been my friends, and rely on friends and girlfriends to get them around, with the one exception of a guy who just hired a full time driver/assistant

but odds are you should be looking into BKK/CM/Pattaya instead if you aren't comfortable on a motorbike. the community in phuket is one of the biggest reasons to stay here.

So what exactly do you guys do when you go out and drink? You still drive your motorbikes home plastered? Or end up paying the local taxi mafia crazy amounts to haul you home?

If you want to go out and get plastered often and don't want to own a bike then Pattaya is probably the best place because you can get around the whole place just using the Songthaews and can find reasonable cheap accommodation that is within walking distance of most of the stuff you want to do (e.g. beach,restaurant, bars etc).

we got drivers we know that charge less than the taxi mafia

but yea some ppl drive home drunk

What documents I need to open bank account?
Which bank is the best?

Hi,

I've read through decent bit of the thread but still have couple of question, because it seems married people with kids are non-existent in this thread.
What would be the place location to live for a 6months with family?Don't care about nigh life obv. but would love to have everything I need close by(restaurants, shops, banks etc.).Should be low crime area.
I was thinking about Rawai and Kathu but honestly its a pretty random guess.
How is internet over there?Is it stable and reliable?

passport, an address in thailand, thai persons name/phone number

green bank.

banks and restaurants are everywhere, dont worry about those

if you need bigger shopping centers nearby then somewhere near the central festival in phuket town might suit you. north chalong and east kathu are near this area too.

if you need a decent beach nearby you might want to look a bit more south in the chalong/rawai/nai harn area though you are never really far from a beach anywhere.

i assume you would rent/buy a car to move around?

Not entirely.....

How old are your kid(s)? How are they gonna be spending these 6 months?

Kathu is in the middle of the island, meaning no beach, and not many tourists (for better or worse).
The best shopping options you find in either Patong or Phuket town, but no matter where you live, you are never more than 30 minutes away from that.
Personally I wouldnt want to live in either of these towns.
All the other towns do have a lot of mini-marts, pharmacies, shops with random clothing and random tourist-crap, restaurants etc.

Regarding internet, no complaints (have improved a lot over the last 3-4 years).

I wouldn't will this be a big issue?Thats why I'd want everything to be close by and they have taxis there right?

My kid is almost 2 years old, so thats how he is going to spend his time, would be great to have playgrounds around but the scenery plus a decent backyard should do the trick aswell.
And just to be clear that by shopping I mean grocerys and other everyday stuff, I wouldn't want to live in a crowded area/big city.So would the southern are suite me better?
And if there are taxis how are they and are they cheap?

nothing in phuket is within walking distance, there are no proper sidewalks and taxis are super expensive especially on short distances.

you could rent a bike but i wouldnt want to drive one with a 2 year old. thats why i assumed you would rent a car as i cant see you living here for 6 months without one...

What u mean thai person name/phone number?
What kind of person should be?
Can be my friend`s girlfriend? Can we open 2 accounts when we go with her?


Green bank u think about Kasikorn Bank?

can
can
yes

Either one of the southern towns, like Chalong or Rawai, or north of Patong, like Kamala or Surin. I dont really know anything about the towns in the south, but grocerys and everyday stuff you can get in all the towns.

Would you need a daycare for your kid, or keep him at home?

The biggest 2+2 community is in the south, but having a family (especially kid), and not interested in nightlife, that may not be that important to you as others.

I guess your choice should be dependent on what else you would want to do here?

I use one of the bamboo chairs on the motorbike for the kid, and just drive really slow. I definitely didnt like it at first, but now it seems "normal".

Either way, you will need some sort of transportation to get around. you could use taxi & tuktuk all the time, but they are rather expensive, and not nearly as flexible as having your own wheels.

If you want to live in a non-crowded area you are going to have to get used to the idea of riding a motorbike or driving a car. One of the things about non-crowded areas is that they can't support extensive public transportation networks.

The same thing goes anywhere else in the world too, which is why every normal person has a car.

Lol Phuket sounds terrible.

Pattaya <3

yeah public transpo in phuket is a complete joke

if i didnt want to drive a bike here i would say it is pretty terrible too

with bike it is awesome

every place has their pros and cons

BKK airport rail link is fantastic. Clean, efficient, modern, cheap, on time, can't say enough good things about it. Getting there from the train station (or vice-versa) is ****ing torture. Just get a cab, if not to the airport, at least to the BTS station (I think Saphon Thai). Otherwise you go down into the MRT system, go 2 stops and change over to the BTS. Get on BTS, go 2 stops, change trains at Siam, go 2 more and get off. It's confusing and more importantly, some places lack escalators or elevators so you're stuck hauling your luggage up and down long flights of stairs. **** that.

I took the regular train to the airport that runs parallel to the new one and it was fine. I think i had one station change.

lol @ being so weak you need an escalator or an elavator to get up a flight of stairs with your suitcase.

I lived in Phuket for like 9 months without a bike. It depends on the area you live in and how much social stuff you wanna be involved in, it definitely would have been an advantage to have one at times but if i was out drinking id get a taxi, any short trips I could take by bike taxi and everything else i needed was walking distance.

No one ever mentions it, but Phuket Town is a great place to live. Theres very little tourist/tout stuff, lots of nice restaurants, normal clubs etc.

I don't get the airport link hype for people travelling international. You have to get to the link somewhere with a cab (or God forbid with connecting link..), you then have drag your bags through the fk station and buy a ticket and and then drag your ***** bags on a packed train like a tosser, when you can instead sit in an aircon cab door to door, takes 20 min longer or whatever (im going to spend 12h on flight so what do i care) and pay like 500b. I just don't get the hype.

+1 and 500b is like the worst case...usually its 3-400

It's good if you have only one piece of hand luggage and nothing else, but **** using it if you have a full size suitcase

It's faster than a cab. 17 minutes to downtown. Airport cab rides can take forever depending on time of day and whatever Sim City-type problems Bangkok is having at the moment. I'd probably just take a cab for the airport depending on how tired I am and how much stuff I have. You have to find a cab anyway when you get into town or try to navigate the BTS with a bunch of luggage.

Apologies in advance for the noob question, but trying to find out what to do with the upcoming legislation in Denmark.

Those of you who have Thai address on your poker accounts, which deposit and cashout options do you have?
I´m mostly interested in Partypoker and Stars, and whether Moneybookers is still available, but all info is welcome.