Living In Cha-Am

[PeteC]

Yeah, I could be wrong but the Mitsu Triton may have coil rear springs? Pete

[Spitfire]

Yeah, agree too, 'dual cab/cab 4' is a good option as they are tough, practical, reasonably priced for what you get and they are option heavy too (ABS/cruise control/LCD DVD and TV players etc). The ones the main Japanese manufacturers are churning out now are good and last forever if taken care of.

If you decide to buy one then I'd go for a raised-up one, bit more of a comfortable ride and the roads in many places are still unfriendly to other lower vehicles. Also prefer the driving position, helps you see past other cars when they are doing something stupid or when confronted with over-grown stuff at junctions.

....albeit not in the same street as the Land Rover.

True, but neither is the price.

I could be wrong but the Mitsu Triton may have coil rear springs?

Yeah, the Mitsu Triton still has leaf springs at the back, I've seen underneath the 2011 model and it's same as the other brands.

Value for money, you can't beat a big 'cab4' from one of the Japanese makers, plus they lose value very slowly to a certain point and then pretty much stop losing value at all.

Sorry, have drifted way off topic.

[migrant]

Had to double check that I wasn't in the motoring thread!!

[PeteC]

Had to double check that I wasn't in the motoring thread!!

If that a yea vote, it makes 8. Pete

[migrant]

Had to double check that I wasn't in the motoring thread!!

If that a yea vote, it makes 8. Pete

yea!!

[Big Boy]

Nobody's commented on Internet in the area yet. Is it much the same as Hua Hin please?

[migrant]

When in Cha Am we stay at the Cha Am beach hotel right on the road across from the beach.

They have a wireless connection that I have used and found to be pretty quick.

I've had to spend a couple hours at a time on it with good speeds and no loss of connection.

Probably not a validation worth much, but thought I'd toss it out!

[hhfarang]

Where's T.I.G.R when you need him. He's a Cha-Am resident and I'm sure he could answer detailed questions BB, especially the internet one.

[margaretcarnes]

BigBoy - in 99 we seriously considered ChaAm as an option after Patters. The beach is better than HH - the locals are friendly - the markets are good - its closer to BigC - and with transport the access to decent hospitals and schools now isn't a problem at all.
The one and only reason we didn't settle there at the time was the lack of farang tourism etc then to sustain a business. I regret that to this day. Go for it

[PeteC]

A question about Immigration. Cha-Am is in a different province than Hua Hin. There is the new rule/law that foreigners are to go to an immigration office within their home province, if there is one. Is there an office in Petchaburi? Pete

[russ]

you use the hua hin office for your visa we have lived in cha am for 6 years allways do our visa and 90 days at hua hin

[Onlychaam]

I've read (on property sites) that there is a Cha-Am hospital. Is it of Farang standard, or does illness mean a visit to one of the larger hospitals, North or South?

Cha-am hospital is of Thai standard. There are clinics in Cha-am, but for something more serious you would need to go to Phetchaburi or HH.

Restaurants - I've often read about the fantastic Cha-Am sea food restaurants. Unfortunately, I'm not a great sea food lover. I'm OK eating Thai food, but occasionally I get a craving for farang food. Are there any farang food restaurants?

Yes, plenty of them, including German, Italian and Scandinavian restaurants. After some time I notice people tend to stick to 2 or 3 places they like. Best pizzas in town are at Happy Pizza, near Okay supermarket.

Buying a home. Is there any area of Cha-Am to be avoided by a farang?

Not that I know of. Popular places for the expats are the hospital road (turn left at Family Mart when coming from main intersection in direction of the beach), and of course all roads close to the beach. You may also want to check more remote areas like Hup Kapong, especially if you have a car.

Schools - my grand daughters will probably be joining us. I'm assuming they have decent 'Thai' schools for all ages in the area. Or would they be better commuting to Hua Hin every day?

No need to commute if you just need a normal Thai school.

I'd be grateful for any advice and guidance that you can give please.

I would advise you to buy a car so that you can enjoy life in Cha-am and benefit from the proximity of Hua Hin for nightlife, hospitals, the occasional visit to Market Village, change of restaurants, visit friends, etc.

Cheers!

[T.I.G.R.]

T.I.G.R. is reading this too H.H......good comments so far. I'm starting to see so many falangs around here it's making me nervous.......now everyone is going to want to move here.

Housing is getting better as we speak. Two or three new developments starting in the past weeks. One near us of 104 small homes is in property development stage; Chan Issara is building some townhouses near Veranda; also several new Thai style developments very near city center either under construction or soon to be.

Whoever thinks Happy Pizza is good has never been close to a good pizza, sorry. We still go down to HH for pizza.......we've grown fond of the big white hotel on the north end of the beach, a little place just on the southern corner of the beach road where it dead ends, and Veranda, Marriott Courtyard, Grand Pacific all meet my needs for falang food. I don't much like Thai food so can't comment on that except my wife loves one the little noodle shops just north of the Beach Garden. Sorry I don't get the names for you better but approaching 67 on June 3 and I'm lucky I can still remember my own name!

We go to the new Bangkok Hospital, and the new Hua Hin Hospital would do nicely if it were an emergency or nothing too serious.....my wife has the Gold Card which is something you could consider the Hua Hin hospital for with the kids and your Thai partner. All you pay for is medicine.

We also go to one of the local clinics for the more mundane stuff......a guy near the afore mentioned wet market, which we agree is one of the best. It is only a year or two old and not nearly as smelly as most.....covered and clean. Across the street from it is Tesco, two 7-11's, and another smaller market I can't think of the name. The O.K. market has mostly western food and will keep you in good stead in between visits to Villa Market....we go to that one once a month and blow about 3K on food for picky me. The Boss goes to a couple of the always plentiful day markets for veggies and stuff for the monks, and gets her meats and other dry goods at the wet market or O.K.

The bar area by the bus stop is pretty much it for entertainment I hear, but we neither drink nor carouse any more so can't be much help there. My entertainment is strictly golf and for than Cha Am is the perfect location.....fifteen minutes to half an hour will cover most every course here that's worth playing.....abut 45 minutes south to Banyon and the new Sea Pines course.

TOT is the local phone carrier, office is downtown.....we have pretty good DSL service here for 590 a month plus 100 for the telephone line.

We go to HH for immigration but in "downtown Cha Am" you have a great small post office, police station, tessaban, railroad station and lots of Thai food where most of the vendors set up and serve at night. Also a post office, lots of 7-11's and souvenier shops on the beach, as well as many restaurants not mentioned so far in the thread.

On Wednesday nights there is a big local market with food, clothes, tools, furniture, more food, etc. etc.
right across from the railroad station. This seems to be a weekly event for tons of falangs who gather in one location for food and beer and visiting.....I would guess is you're European and like your beer that wouldn't be an event to miss.

One last comment I would make is a Pickup Truck might be handy, but we much prefer our Ford Escape which offers the same safety along with a much more comfortable ride....Fortuners are gas hogs but bigger than ours and very comfortable. We've got a couple of friends with Izuzus, Nissans and Mitsubishi as well....but I've never discussed gas consumption or reliability with them. This is our fourth Ford S.U.V. and never had a problem with them yet. You might try a guy in Bangkok called Andy for lightly uses falang vehicles at good prices.....can't remember the exact name of his website but Google should find it for you.

We have our own little golf driving range on the beach road but the owner told us yesterday they're tearing it down in May as part of a pretty big residential development on the north side of the beach road......don't know anything about it yet except the land was purchased (a really big piece of land) and they are already doing a lot of clearing and filling.

Gotta go now......hope this has helped somebody.

[Onlychaam]

Whoever thinks Happy Pizza is good has never been close to a good pizza, sorry.

Sure we speak about the same place? I know it's all a question of taste, but all of my friends (mostly French!) like it a lot.

Across the street from it is Tesco, two 7-11's, and another smaller market I can't think of the name.

Must be CJ.

[T.I.G.R.]

I think the pizza place has to be the same one.....only one in that area. We went there a couple of weeks ago and the taste is more or less o.k. but the topping was a little piece of thin ham cut into squares, no cheeze at all. Compared to the pizzas we're used to eating, even at California Pizza or Pizza Hut it's a not very good.......Good pizza restaurants "where we came from" , sorry for that comparison but you need lots of Mozzerella, a thick sauce and plenty of toppings for a really good pizza.

And yes, it is the C.J. market, just came back from there.

The hotel on the beach I mentioned is the Mathavalai.....great menu for Thai, European and even Japanese. The have a mixed grill that comes with steak, pork, chicken, sausage, potato and vegetable with the best thick red sauce I've had anywhere. Good prices too.

Actually after thinking about it I don't think I gave enough credit to the beach road's restaurants. They have a couple of good Swiss restaurants we tried, a new S&P, and close to it a beautiful new boutique restaurant....I think it's called the Raza. We haven't eaten there but are looking forward to it one of these days for a birthday treat or something.

And of course let's not forget the fishing pier where there are plenty of seafood restaurants.....I left them out because I'm not very fond of the way Thai people cook fish, so I generally only go when I can't get out of it, but there are a lot of them if you prefer seafood. My wife says I'm a big sissy because I like my fish cleaned and gutted with the head, fins and tail left to the seagulls. A big waste of good food according to her.