Which is more fun to live in Pattaya, Jomtien or Naklua?
November 2 2022
Dear readers,
I want to rent a condo in Pattaya, Jomtien or Naklua for a longer period of time. There's plenty of choice so that's not a problem. I do find the choice difficult. Pattaya is more alive, but a condo is more expensive there. I'd love to hear some tips from experts. What made you decide to live in Pattaya, Jomtien or Naklua? What are the advantages/disadvantages?
It would help me a lot.
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Vincent
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I live in Naklua now. Quiet neighborhood but you are so in the center with Bahtbus. Terminal 21 close by with best and cheapest Foodcourt Pier 21. Many Germans but I get on well with them. Nice beach and beach bars.
Try this:
https://www.thabali.org/rent-sale
The building is 100 m from Suvannaphum airport bus station. The Immigration office is 1 km or 15 minutes on foot.
The songtaew pick-ups drive to Jomtien (5 minutes) (including past Soi 5) and to Pattaya (15 minutes, except weekends due to traffic jams). It is the most used songtaew route with waiting times never longer than minutes. At the airport bus station you will find some laundries and also local (legal) taxis and some ATMs. Within walking distance (5-7 minutes) you will find restaurants and bars (straight and gay).
The Foodmart supermarket is 100 m from the bus station.
Another parameter: the building is 30 m from Thapprayaa Road and behind buildings and thus protected from noisy moped maniacs and pick-ups.
The 24-hour security is with cameras and our own staff, not sleeping hired from a company.
The pool is a pool, not a splash pool.
The residents come from a dozen countries and since covid-19 there are no more drunken night owls.
Thais of a higher social level live there: neighbors and domestic quarrels are rare.
The night market at Thepprasit is 1.5 km away and a smaller Thai market on 2nd Jomtien road is 15 minutes away on foot.
On the other side of Thappraya you will find some Thai street food vendors.
Above you will find the aspects you should pay attention to.
PS. I don't rent anything there.
That's right Walter.
I've been living in Thabali since the beginning.. Top location with excellent (own) management.
Dear Vincent,
What you choose is your personal preference and it can be different for everyone. But it's not such a big problem you can move with the songteaws for 10 baht and if you rent for a longer period buying or renting a bicycle or motorcycle is also an option. I myself opted for Jomtien 17 years ago as it was slightly calmer and cleaner seawater. I never regretted it. Perhaps an option to rent for two weeks in each part, then you can make your own judgment. I myself bought condos here because I was not too old then, now I would not buy anymore but rent given my age.
Good luck with your jeeze
Yes I would definitely do it and I did it at the time a period here a period there, everyone has their own preference, my or a personal opinion matters a lot I think .. in the end my choice of time fell on NaKlua from which with 10 baht in Pattaya am, and for possibly another 10 baht in jomtien.
good luck!
ThaBali Condominium Thapprayaa Road
I still forget this: in most condo buildings you are stripped (as a short-term tenant) with the price of water and electricity. These are determined by the management and used to fill the cash of the nittibukhon chut akhaan (the legal association of the owners).
In ThaBali Condominium there is an agreement with the local EGAT electricity company. Electricity prices in Thailand decrease due to a complicated system and the more you use, the lower the bill per kWh.
The ThaBali bill is the lowest I've ever seen because the individual electronic meters do determine your consumption (you can read it in the lobby as a tenant) but are pooled to 1 customer before payment to EGAT. So ThaBali is a kind of business of industrial consumption and very cheap. ThaBali electronically sends an invoice to the owner every month. You can ask the landlord to see it.
Water costs Baht 40 per cubic meter. You also have to be careful because in many buildings the pressure is weak on the higher floors. In ThaBali there are underground bunkers, and pumps that fill the tank on the sixth floor and the tap in all units is under greater pressure than in a normal house.
The TMN TV cable (has the BVN channel I lobbied on cable in Pattaya in the 2000's) is common and included for all owners in their annual maintenance fee. You can clean these pools with a (payable per unit) internet connection from TMN — it's very fast with Wi-Fi in the unit and almost never drops. You must agree this with the owner: how much you have to pay per month. If I remember correctly, a friend paid 7500 Bht per year (installation 3000 Bht). The technician is always on site the same day, but that is rarely necessary.
The TMN cable has five sports channels and dozens of news channels; 4 movie channels and also Bloomberg for the speculators).
The mobile phone that works best there is AIS for which you can buy a ticket – prepaid with your data copied into the passport – and fill it up at an AIS machine. Minimum 20 bht per month. Do this: go to the machine (e.g. BigC North Pattaya) put 20 bht in the machine — you will get 1 month extension; insert your next 20 bht note, you will get the next month; etc. until, for example, you do not have to search for a machine for 6 months.
PS. I am not Dutch or Scottish!
Thabali condo consists of 4 blocks, built in a square shape, with a large swimming pool in the middle and a well-kept garden.
Only 5 floors each, so quite small-scale, a total of 144 units.
Relatively little for sale, because there is always a high demand for rent. Short term rental is not allowed, most are rented per year, or at least 6 months.
I overlooked this: the more souls the merrier, but also noise and people who cannot live at any time without being in “social” contact with others.
I have some experience in Pattaya and there are indeed compulsive “bar talkers” galore. Most of them are unable to realize that the umpteenth “romantic episode” does not interest many people.
This is because the number of units and the layout of the complex or building play a role. If there are too many units, close together, small in size, cheap to rent, you immediately have a critical mass where arguments and noise are guaranteed. The ViewTalay blocks are a textbook example of bad architecture in that area. Do visit the lobby and car park of number 1 also on Thapprayaa Road.
AirBnB and other short-term rental websites have caused a lot of nuisance – also in Dutch and Belgian cities. In Thailand, only a rental for a minimum of 1 month is legal. Otherwise you are a hotel and you must have a license and you will be inspected for fire protection etc.
I recommend renting somewhere for a shorter period first. Then explore the area at your leisure.
Without knowing what you expect from your day, it is difficult for readers to give advice that actually fits.
Central Pattaya: busy and noisy
Jomtien: much quieter, but if you are going to work in Laem Chabang, for example, not an interesting option
Huay Yai: up and coming but quiet and affordable
East Pattaya (Dar Side): 15-20 minutes to the center but relative quiet
Always keep in mind that peace and quiet in and around Pattaya are harder to find than noise and loud music.
My personal preference is for quiet living, and if I need loud music I find it very easy.
Good luck with the search
Hans
This is a good and concise story.
In the first place, it is important how you get to the places where you want to do something “fun”.
For us – well, pensioners and the less mobile – that is a precondition. On the positive side, of course, you no longer have a problem with spending a day on the way to the supermarket: our time no longer has any monetary value.
Been living in Jomtien on the beach for 5 years now and completely perfect, baht bus in front of the door and in 20 minutes in the center of Pattaya or take a bolt taxi for 100 baht then it goes even faster. Center is nice but very busy and indeed a bit more expensive there and less choice.
For the rental price of a condo in Pattaya you can rent a large house with a garden in a city in the Isan. With all amenities such as shops, markets and hospital nearby.
If you want to make a good choice, you first make a list of wishes that your home and living environment must meet. What is an advantage for one is a disadvantage for another. No one can decide for you.
My experience upcountry (after 35 years of working left and right) is that after a while they are waiting with the moped somewhere in the neighborhood until they see your car leave... the rest takes place in a police station where no one speaks a word of English. In a local hospital you only want to come for an examination: I donated money to install an air-conditioning installation in a provincial hospital there at the height of the covid-19 pandemic. I will never forget the harrowing story of my former colleague, hospital director.
For enthusiasts who occasionally want to eat a French cheese or German meats – out of nostalgia – only the proximity of one of the tourist attractions is an option.
It is best to choose the sides – not the center – or in between such as ThaBali where you can enjoy everything after a 10-minute walk or a songtaew 10 Bht ride of 15-20 minutes.
Incidentally, you are right: first think carefully and define "nice" ... if that in Dutch the coffee is ready to go, you better stay at home!
Pratamnak, between Pattaya and Jomtien. Nice quiet living. Rent a scooter and within 10 minutes you are in Pattaya or Jomtien.
Phrathamnak has no songtaew routes, no supermarket and is a calvary for the elderly to get to the main road. There, too, there is no other transport than the perilous moped taxis. Most apartments are priced too high in buildings that are largely empty.
If you really like crowds, bad air, heavy traffic and even more bars, Pattaya is your choice. Otherwise, Jomtien is the place to be. If you make sure you live fairly close to the baht bus route, transportation is easy. The proximity to the bus to the airport is a plus. Pretty quiet, restaurants, not too many bars, supermarket, good bakery, markets, everything is there. This is also where most long-stayers from Europe live.