Archive for June, 2010

Why I Chose To Retire in Pak Chong, Thailand

Pak Chong is the biggest district (amphoe) of Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) Province, and is about 250 km North east from Bangkok.

Close to the Khao Yai national park, Pak Chong is in the foothills of a range of mountains separating the Menam Plain from the Khorat Plateau. What this means is that apart from the natural beauty of the area, it is cooler and far more comfortable than the swealtering heat of Bangkok.

There. I have already hit on three reasons why I chose to retire to Pak Chong in Thailand. Let me amplify a little:-

Not Too Far From Bangkok

Although Bangkok has many attractions and can be great fun, it is simply too hot, too busy and too overbearing a place to live. But I don’t like to be ‘out in the sticks’ and far away from western civilisation. By this I mean that as a Westerner I like my western comforts. I could not stand living in the deep country out of touch with city facilities. I like my Tesco Lotus supermarkets, seafood restaurants, department stores and country and western music bars.

A Touch of American Wild West

Pak Chong, though, although away from the bustle of Bangkok is only a 2 hour journey by car. Pak Chong itself is not very westernised. There is only one half-decent hotel, The Landmark Hotel, a couple of bars and a couple of reasonable Thai restaurants. There is no western style restaurant so be prepared to eat Thai food if you visit Pak Chong.

Close to Pak Chong on the Chokchai cattle farm at Nongnamdaeng, though, and adding to it’s charm and reasons to retire there, is the Chokchai Steakhouse. A true American style Steak House serving delicious renowned steaks. This area of the country is true ‘American Cowboy’ country and at Christmas there is a festival in Pak Chong with many American style Country and Western bands, plenty of food and Thai men and women dressed up as cowboys/cowgirls complete with six shooters!

Although Pak Chong does not have any department stores and the nearest Tesco Lotus supermarket used to be about an hour’s drive towards Saraburi, Pak Chong now boasts it’s own Tesco superstore.

Cooler Climate

As I mentioned, because Pak Chong is away from the city-generated heat of Bangkok and being in the foothills of the Khorat Plateau at about 320 m above sea level, it is cooler and much fresher than Bangkok. Unlike Bangkok which is blighted with polluted , murkey and dust-laden skies Pak Chong has clear blue skies and feels far less humid.

Picturesque Hilly Scenery

As you can image, with Pak Chong being the gateway to the country’s largest national park, Khao Yai with it’s breathtaking natural mountaines scenery, the views all around are of unspoilt rolling hills and mountain ranges. I wouldn’t call the countryside around Pak Chong breathtakingly beautiful, that would do a disservice to the truly spectacular parts of Thailand, but it certainly is very pretty and relaxing.

Sizeable Expat Community

Although I said that there was not very much westernised in Pak Chong there are quite a few westerners who live there. Righfully so, Pak Chong is a week end retreat for rich Bangkokians and quite a few residential developments have sprung un in recent years. Westerners are attracted to these developments, propably for the reasons I am giving here, so it will not be difficult for me to build up a circle of western friends.

I should mention that our land, where we intend to build our retirment house, is not on one of these residential developments, but is located between two Thai households alongside the Pakchong Khirirom Resort. The location suits us fine we don’t want to be part of a housing estate and we paid a fraction of the price for the land than we would have to if we bought from one of the developments.

Does A Chanote Give The Address Of Property In Thailand?

This was a question put to me recently by a visitor to the website from the Contact Us page.

I answered the question by email and thought that perhaps other visitors might be interested to know what in formation is given on a Chanote for land in Thailand so I’m posting the question and my answer here for all to see. I have changed to name an email address for privacy, but otherwise the two messages are exactly as the original.

The Original Question From The Contact Us Form:-

On Sat, Jun 5, 2010 at 12:38 AM, Name Edited <removed@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Name Edited <removed@yahoo.com>
Subject: Chanote

Message Body:
I like to know does a chanote give you the location and or address of property being sold? I am working with  a group of land owners in Phangan helping them to sell their property. But the Chanotes are in Thai and the owners do not speak English.

We have many properties to sell. The property is all beach front and we want to sell NOW. You can contact Name Edited at usflimm@yahoo.com or Tel No. removed today.

Best Regards
Name Edited
–
This mail is sent via contact form on Retiring In Thailand http://retiringinthailand.net

The Answer from Myself (Alan Brown):-

from: Alan Brown

to Name Edited <removed@yahoo.com>

date Sat, Jun 5, 2010 at 10:23 AM

subject Name Edited Re: Contact Us from RetiringInThailand.net

Hi Name Edited,

Thank you for your message.

This is the information about the land given on the Chanote in Thailand:-

Province
District
Sub District
Location
Land Number
Area of the Land
Land Number for Neighbouring Plots of Land

Chanote Number
Survey Map Page

Each of the pegs marking the land have a peg number and this is shown on the Chanote and is marked on each peg.

The Chanote does not give the coordinates of the land.

I hope that helps and wish you luck in selling the property.

If you have some good photographs of the property for sale and would like to list the property for sale on my website I may be able to help you to do that.

If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Best Regards

Alan Brown

http://retiringinthailand.net

Please Feel Free To Contact Me With Your Questions

As you can see from the messages above I am available to answer your questions about buying land in Thailand or any other question related to retiring in Thailand. I may not always know the exact answer but will always reply.

To contact me directly please use the Contact Us Form.

More Information About The Chanote Related To Land In Thailand

What You Need To Know About Land Title Deeds Before Buying Land In Thailand

Explained, The Legal  Process Of land Transfer When Buying Land In Thailand

To see the actual Chanote of the land we bought in Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand see the Today We Own The Retirement Land In Thailand article.

That article gives a lot of useful information such as:-

• The Process Of Buying The Retirement Land In Thailand
• How We Paid The Balance Of the Money For The Land Purchase In Thailand (Very Scary, this)
• The Legal Process Of Transferring Land Ownership In Thailand