Our house in Ao Nang (Krabi) for 15 thousand - two bedrooms, greenery, toad
We settled in, it's time to traditionally write a review of our housing. At the moment we live in the province of Krabi (this is not an island, but the mainland, if anyone else knows) in the resort village of Ao Nang. To be honest, we are not yet very enthusiastic about this place, and we do not understand why longsters and winterers come here in large quantities. Here the sea is so-so, and you can't live within walking distance from it, and there are a lot of people, like in any resort. But I'm sure this is our subjective perception, and, of course, you can live here. In general, we liked Koh Samui much more due to a combination of factors, but we wanted to see a new place, and also we would soon fly to Russia, and it is much easier and cheaper to do this from here, because Phuket is nearby, from where charters fly, so nothing no regrets.
For information: if you are renting a house, then read my post-instruction on booking How to book a house in Thailand - 5 ways. I also remind you that we have personally collected catalog of houses in Krabi, where more than 70 houses with a map and a photo. Housing for a short period, while you are looking for a house, you can buy it through RoomGuru, this is the most convenient service).
The content of the article
Our home in Ao Nang
I spent 2-3 full days looking somewhere, reviewing many options. Although, as a result, we moved into the house that I saw on the first day (thanks, Pavel Gorbokon for help). I can say that in March the season is not over yet, so there are a lot of vacant houses, but far from the sea, at least two-bed rooms, one-bed rooms were also within walking distance. Thus, if you go to Ao Nang in March, you don't have to bathe, you will find accommodation anyway. We are very picky now, and we were not satisfied with the lack of greenery on the territory, then the small area, then the level drops inside the house, then the terrace was very dangerous.
I also looked at villas with good technology, furniture, normal layouts, but they were 3-4 times more expensive at once, which is too much for Thailand, and for our budget too. So it seems that I am ready to pay 5-10 thousand baht more for better amenities, but no, there are very few such houses and they are occupied for a long time. Unfortunately, in Thailand there are very few «intermediate» housing, or thaistyle for 10-15 thousand, or expensive and huge villas for 40-60 thousand.
If you are traveling to Thailand for the first time, then I recommend booking a house or apartment in advance. This is done only through a realtor. Yes, they do not deal with the cheapest housing and take a commission, but this allows you to avoid unnecessary hassle in an unfamiliar country. Believe me, independent searches on the spot are difficult and not worth it. You are going to rest.
Send me a request to advise a trusted realtor, whom I myself trust. And then recently there have been a lot of scammers.
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Interior
We rented a two-bedroom house, because our grandmother is with us and we definitely need a second bedroom. There is a condo in every bedroom (there is no living room), there are ceiling fans everywhere (a very convenient thing), mosquito nets on the windows, there is, in principle, enough furniture (as many as 3 tables), but there is only one mattress. There is a washing machine in the bathroom, which is rare in rented houses, apparently someone lived here for a long time and bought it for themselves. The house is large, the main area is occupied by a spacious living room, which allows our little boy to crawl into freedom. The living room is combined with a more or less equipped kitchen: there is a small refrigerator and a gas stove with an oven. But I would prefer a normal refrigerator instead of an oven, because after every trip to the supermarket starts «tetris», trying to fit all the products on two small shelves.
Large living room with kitchen
Kitchen nook
The refrigerator for a family is very small
One bedroom with mattress and wardrobe
The second bedroom is almost empty
There is a washing machine in the bathroom
Typical bathroom with instantaneous water heater
The family is pretty home :)
The router is in the next house and periodically falls off
After moving in, we bought a mattress, a rack, another table with chairs, a water bottle, moved furniture and scattered toys around the rooms. The house took on a habitable look :) And because of the spans on the terrace, we had to weave a spider web and stir up bamboo beams.
Inhabited living room after rearrangement
Super highchair, lightweight and compact, always with us
Bamboo frame and rope spider web
On the other hand, I managed to get by with a rope
Our house is located in a quiet place, and although the road is 100 meters away, we cannot hear it at all, apparently because several buildings are fencing us off from it. The area around is green and pleasing to the eye. Really, I saw houses with sun-scorched earth or gravel around, and not a tree around, the horror is just.
View of the greenery from the terrace
Around the green area
Our home in Ao Nang in Krabi
Toad
We got the house with a toad ... The guys who lived here told me where it came from, but I forgot, they almost brought it from Samui. I only remember that they tried to relocate her, but she came back. The first couple of days she was not visible, either she missed the previous owners, or we were very noisy, but now she came back again.
Toad lives in a box from an HDD on a shoe shelf
Price
We pay 15,000 baht per month for a house, which is about 17,000 rubles due to the fall of the ruble in 2014. Plus electricity and water separately. For such conditions and area, the price is pretty good. It is 4-5 km to the sea, and you have to move there by transport.
Compared to Koh Samui, I can say that in Ao Nang prices are slightly lower for housing, but it is not entirely correct to compare them, because there are a lot of housing on Koh Samui within walking distance of the sea, and this increases the price, as you know, so houses on Koh Samui seem to be more expensive ... In general, it seemed to me that the choice of houses on Koh Samui is much wider, in fact, as well as beaches (6 beaches versus 3, if we are talking about the main ones).
Transport rental
By the way, we decided to rent a car again, like on Koh Samui, only here we could not find anything budgetary, and I rented a Toyota Vios manual for 16,000 baht / month from a large Avis distributor, it was they who offered me the cheapest option, even cheaper than the well-known many Mr Kord and Bee. I do not exclude that you can find even more budgetary, because I did not spend so much time searching. Sometime later I will write about renting a car in more detail. In the meantime, I'll get used to the manual box ... It's somehow completely unusual that it is on the other side, and for some reason I got lazy here on the machines.
Rented pepelats for 16 thousand
And most of them ride bikes or even tuk-tuks. We may also try the bike before leaving (there will be a gap in the week, when we give the car back). I rode it here, the traffic is quite calm, the roads are simple.
Video
P.S. Other houses, and ours in particular (card + contacts), look in catalog of houses in Krabi. Specially made for the convenience of all winterers :)