New area...?

[Randy Cornhole]

I was thinking of decamping from Hua Hin to a new area. Mrs Cornhole comes from Surin so perhaps looking for somewhere north east of Bangkok to make the journey shorter when we head up there.

Im not worried about a big bar scene. Just somewhere with a few shops and a few ferrang to chat to.
A beach would be nice.

Pattaya is not on the list!

Anyone have any ideas...?

[Big Boy]

Are you sure you mean North East of Bangkok if you're looking for a beach?

[caller]

Korat would be an obvious half-way house. Check out Koratfarang.com. Ex-pats are scattered all over the place as are the bars. Its cheap as well. SF's from up that way, so could advise more.

No beaches though - well not by the sea in any case.

Phi Mai's a nice historic small town, with a few ex-pats and watering holes.

[Spitfire]

Yeah, Korat would be about halfway from Surin to Hua Hin. Big city, pretty much the same size as Chiang Mai, big Mall/Tesco/Big C etc, got everything except a beach and, as Caller says, it's still reasonably priced for everything. Driving to BBK is about 2 and a half to 3 hours, driving down to HH is about 6 hours perhaps.

There's a bus service from the main station that goes to Hua Hin and pretty much everywhere else for that matter. The local forum can be a bit of a mess though, fairly unmoderated. Nightlife is spread out, doesn't really have a specific area but has plenty of good restaurants and bars.

Hotel prices/renting accommodation fees are also good compared to other places of similar size.

Property prices are still good and not silly like near the beach. Plenty of choice for schools etc for kids to go to.

Not really a tourist destination yet but more and more foreigners are turning up there to live as the exodus from the beaches in the last few years can be noticed in places in the northeast, for sure, much cheaper to live there and lots of the women are only too happy to move nearer their home areas.

Only downer is no beach really. Best thing to do Randy is take some time out and spend a couple of weeks in some possible places and have a good look around to see if you can get on with it.

If you like spicy food or genuine Thai street vendor food then Korat is a good place to sample, lots of small and large Thai food/goods markets.

Korat, I suppose, is a large Thai city that's not got tourists, Thai or foreign, in mind at all and is not advertised as such.

However, everywhere has it's pros and cons.

[Korkenzieher]

I liked Udon Thani very much when I spent some time there in 2008. Would certainly have no problems moving there, though my motivation for considering it at that time - erm, shall we say 'disappeared' suddenly?

[PeteC]

If you really want a beach and Pattaya is out, you have little choice except somewhere in Rayong Province where I am. Chanthaburi is also a possibility but you have to be careful where you live there as they get floods coming down out of the mountains that are not reported on too much. Very rural is Klaeng and anywhere between Rayong City and Chanthaburi City. You should start doing searches on 'Rayong' and you'll find a lot about beaches, bars, shopping etc. You're within an hour of Pattaya also which makes things convenient for shopping from time to time. Pete

[PeteC]

You have a few others choices I forgot about, nearer to Bangkok and actually more convenient to the northeast then Rayong is. Do some searches for 'Bang Sen Chonburi', and 'Sriracha Chonburi'. Pete

[STEVE G]

To be honest, Surin City is actually the best night life I've found so far in Issan.
If you're not interested in nightlife, anywhere will do!

[Randy Cornhole]

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into the suggestions. Not to worried about being near Hua Hin as looking to make a break and live nearer Surin (which would be the obvious option i suppose) Just fancy a swim every now and again hence the beach request.

I'll speak to mrs Cornhole and see what she says...

[kendo]

In January I am having a week in Hua Hin and then flying from Bangers to Buriram (the nearest air port to Surin) Nokair 1666 baht 45 minuite flight time, I will let you know how it go's.
Kendo.

[kendo]

I forgot Randy there is kind of a beach, the Kap Choeng beach it's a reservoir that was a present from the Japanese government.
It has a man made sandy beach on one side and all the usuall restaurant and beach shacks but after the wet season the water level is to high to see the beach bit.
I have had plenty of chilled out afternoons there.
The location is on 214 Prasat to Chong Chom border crossing from your wifes village i would estimate 1 hour and 15 minuites.
Kendo.

[Randy Cornhole]

Thanks for the info kendo. A man made beach sounds cool...

[Khundon1975]

Thanks for the info kendo. A man made beach sounds cool...

And no jelly fish.

[caller]

That was what I was making reference to in my post about 'beaches.' One I went to was near Phi Mai and was excellent. Food stalls, stuff for kids etc. All that was missing was the horizen and waves!

[STEVE G]

I've been to a couple of those man-made beachs on reservoirs out towards Cambodia and they're a good day out with plenty of restaurants and boat trips and that sort of thing.
I've got some pictures somewhere and I'll post them if I can find them.