I lived on Koh Samui Chaweng beach for 6 years back in the 1990's , beachfront bungalow ( nothing fancy ) but only £1.50 a night. Stayed on Koh Tao which back then you had to catch a fishing boat was 50p a night. and a cup of tea 5p. Don't know what it's like but Big Budda beach was one of my favorite places to stay
@@thethairishsun Yea I remember watch a program called lonely planet where they went there and showed how cheap it was , within a month I was there , amazing memories, I also DJ'd in Reggae pub for that time each night
@@thethairishsun Most of the accommodation on chaweng was wood huts BUT there were a sprinkling of 5 star resorts, no MacD , dirt roads everywhere and tons of backpackers
Prices are going insane, because the non-stop TH-camrs advertising come to Koh Samui. Be a digital nomad. Restart your life. Run away from high Western cost of living. The secret is out.... also you forgot to mention the Russians on Koh Samui that are illegally brokering property rentals., thus increasing prices.
@@socialmoravec Them bloody TH-camrs *shakes fist It's not only Russians but yeah I have mentioned the sub-letting in a previous video, too. If you live locally maybe you want to come on some time to share some opinions?
@thethairishsun I lived in Lamai for 3 months June-September. All observations correct. Everything you mentioned is all true. Many reasons why KS is getting flooded. But I'll stick by what I observed.
@@DiscoDrew yeah I've spoke about that in a previous video 😞 Due to begin 2029. I reckon 10 years before it opens but you're right once it's here there will be massive changes to the whole island. The bridge is coming in on the quieter west side so they will start to build there too.
@@genericdeveloper3966 interesting logic.. and if someone disagreed then the question would be ok how wide does the bridge have to be until it’s definitely not an island.. because in theory it could be wide enough to encompass the whole island… Ah to much smoke I think
Interesting!!!! Long term expat here in Chiang Mai. Same thing happening here in CM. The amount of tourists in CM already for Xmas/New Year is totally out of control. The traffic chaos is like BANGKOK. The Chinese have invaded CM buying up whole condo buildings, doubling the rents and only renting them out to Chinese. They are buying up commercial buildings, businesses, arable land, anything they can get their hands on. The precedent is being set with majority of accommodation rents doubling tripling in price. Sale prices are the same. It’s changing the whole CM low cost chill vibe ambiance. Like all the hotspots around the world that are finished, the word is out on CM now and it’s now being loved to its detriment. Every Tom dik and wanka are now coming to CM, bringing with them all their western AND eastern BS….. the glory days of CM are over, and in another 5-10 yrs CM will be just like Bangkok. All the utoobers and bloggers that espouse how good it is are only adding to its death knell. The more the shite hits the fan in the west, prices rising, societies collapsing, millions of people are exiting and resettling in Asia… and Thailand in particular. All over Thailand this western exodus is simply diluting and destroying the wonders of Thailand that we once knew…… Don’t get me wrong, Thailand, CHIANG MAI is home to me, but thinking now it’s time to go. It’s only going to get far far worse………….. PS I first went to Lamai in 1980…. There was ONE PLACE TO STAY ONLY, small bamboo huts built by an Aussie guy and his Thai wife. Food was banana jaffles, rice, fish, black tea and thai Buddha sticks…… it was cheap as chips and a real PARADISE.. I never went back as I found Chiang Mai that same trip….. it’s making me sad watching your video and feeling sad about CM, and Thailand in general….. as it’s MORE PROOF we are witnessing the decline of Thailand as we have known it. ITS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!!!!! Call it the inevitable progress, but the glory days are well and truly coming to an end….. Thailand will end up just like all the other dead end western cities that we all escaped from all those years ago…… Sad as it is, thank you for calling Samui out for what it is….. Thailand circa 2024. Cheers mate……
I first went in the early 90's too, Lamai had the Bauhaus, and 1 or 2 other clubs a bar that rotated. Chaweng had The Reggae club and nowhere near built up as it is today. Lamai was dark not much street lighting. Most of the roads were dirt and flooded on heavy down pours. Those were the days. But tourism and progress happen. Land passed down - bad sons got the beach - good sons got the farmland, which ones are laughing now
Yep - things continue to change in Samui. I remember your broccoli shop tour a while ago - I think you counted 35 shops in one small area. I would prefer to go to a Ma and Pa store than a 7:11. I'm back in Bo Put and Chaweng in April - Enjoy your Christmas.
@@marcp108 Hi Marc, that broccoli tour was still at the beginning... There's waaaaaay more now. They are still opening up new ones if you can believe it!
@@thethairishsun its such the Thai way - see a successful business and copy it. Eventually the government will crack down, but I can't imagine pharmacies dispensing it. Hope the rental properties are going well. Cheers
I’ve been living on Samui on and off since 2013. Then you could ride you motorbike without fear of getting run over. We bought a house in Ban Tai in 2018 and the area has been evolving ever since. The infrastructure cannot support this out of control expansion on this island. They can’t even safely manage the disposal of trash properly. Last year we bought land in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Can’t wait to move there and get off this wretched island for good!!
Recently got to Koh Samui to consider living - I found the north west was too quiet for me too - thanks for the informative video - are you saying there are no longer any out of the way places left on the island?
No, not at all. If you want quiet you can go to the west of the island. This video is mainly about the Lamai area. It's still wonderful here. I'm just observing some negative changes.
@ I look forward to more videos man 🙏🏻🙌🏼 - I’m only looking for a studio as I like small and compact with separate kitchen and bathroom - no Brad Pitt pool - no thrills so I’ll be on that this week I’m currently north of airport and just starting out on the place hunt.
The good old days when Thailand was inhabited by pot smoking hippies are long gone. As countries pulled their populace out of poverty incomes have risen enabling others to travel and experience different cultures. Go to any tourist hotspot in the world and you will now experience rising prices and queues a mile long.
Just to add.I have been coming to Samui for 25 years and it hasn't changed that much compared to other places in south east asia.look at cambodia and vietnam.i have seen places change almost over night for the worst.
It's still wonderful here but I can't help but observe the changes. I left Phuket because it was so crowded and over developed. Now I see it happening here.
Wondering if there's likeminded people moving away from these tourist destinations to quieter places like Nakhon so thammarat or Chumpon? Not much English and night spots to have a drink
People want to live there.. it's supply and demand.. I thought you had an investment property there?? So really you are part of the issue.. place will keep growing.. I remember it back in the 90s.. chaweng was lovely.. but, now.. no fecking way!!
Just to put it into comparrison for you, you would be lucky to rent a spare room in someones house in Essex for less than £700 a month, so 24000 Baht a month for a 2/3 bed house on a paradise island isn't so bad, but yes, prices are rising all over Thailand
Hi Paul, yeah compared with the West (I assume) it's still much cheaper. I'm just comparing Samui with itself. Rent on this part of the island has doubled in 2 years and is about 3x compared with somewhere like Hua Hin... My landlady just went up 150% after I moved out... Expats are moving to the west of the island in droves ATM.
It's inevitable really, esp. with Thailand as it's the most popular Asian tropical country to move to for westerners (and rightly so.) And just right for you not to take it personally with your landlady. Business is business. I didn't like though that she had to lie about the brother moving in. But then she was obviously too embarrassed to tell the truth. Anyway, I really thought you had your own house built before. I think I saw a video of it, though I didn't I watched the entire thing.
@@MrBuggchild I rent out 6 months minimum at a time. Haven't had to change tennants ... Yet... But yeah I'll obviously charge the "going rate". As I said towards the end of the video, "it's business" and I don't blame them for asking me to move out, just would've preferred the real reason. I bought here because I knew the rental price was way above the national average.
@@thethairishsun looks like you got into the property market at the right time!!good for you.I'm back in Lamai April for 3 weeks.will be interesting to see the changes.
@@thethairishsun and yes prices have shot up.we stay at the same place every time we come to Lamai and this time I had to question the price they quoted me for next years stay.Just wait,when they show THE WHITE LOTUS on tv the prices will shoot up again!!!!!!
The explosion of TH-cam vloggers since covid hasn`t helped. Lets see how all their you can live here on $xxxx (insert a small amount) goes over the next few years.
Hi ,you think it's sad i came to live in Thailand in 1997 ,done ko sumui in 1995 ,150 baht a night bungalow on the beach fan only in them days ,its amazing how utubers have ruined & ruining the country.
So leave Thailand move to another country that nobody goes and the put it in video. Then people show up and the complain. Wash rinse repeat. Put the camera down and just live your life
![ค้าง (STILL) - GEMINI [ OFFICIAL MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ftxx3hk5vkU/mqdefault.jpg)
I lived on Koh Samui Chaweng beach for 6 years back in the 1990's , beachfront bungalow ( nothing fancy ) but only £1.50 a night. Stayed on Koh Tao which back then you had to catch a fishing boat was 50p a night. and a cup of tea 5p. Don't know what it's like but Big Budda beach was one of my favorite places to stay
@@SteveJones-gz4vd wow that's a different time! You were one of the original visitors then!
@@thethairishsun Yea I remember watch a program called lonely planet where they went there and showed how cheap it was , within a month I was there , amazing memories, I also DJ'd in Reggae pub for that time each night
@@thethairishsun Most of the accommodation on chaweng was wood huts BUT there were a sprinkling of 5 star resorts, no MacD , dirt roads everywhere and tons of backpackers
Prices are going insane, because the non-stop TH-camrs advertising come to Koh Samui. Be a digital nomad. Restart your life. Run away from high Western cost of living. The secret is out.... also you forgot to mention the Russians on Koh Samui that are illegally brokering property rentals., thus increasing prices.
@@socialmoravec Them bloody TH-camrs *shakes fist
It's not only Russians but yeah I have mentioned the sub-letting in a previous video, too.
If you live locally maybe you want to come on some time to share some opinions?
@thethairishsun I lived in Lamai for 3 months June-September. All observations correct. Everything you mentioned is all true. Many reasons why KS is getting flooded. But I'll stick by what I observed.
😂👍
Come to Vietnam!
The tourist ,don't wanna be near tourists , Irish logic
The Government has been discussing building a bridge from the Mainland to Sumui. If you think it’s bad now, wait until that happens.
True
@@DiscoDrew yeah I've spoke about that in a previous video 😞 Due to begin 2029. I reckon 10 years before it opens but you're right once it's here there will be massive changes to the whole island. The bridge is coming in on the quieter west side so they will start to build there too.
If you have a bridge to an island, it might as well not be called an island.
@@genericdeveloper3966 interesting logic.. and if someone disagreed then the question would be ok how wide does the bridge have to be until it’s definitely not an island.. because in theory it could be wide enough to encompass the whole island…
Ah to much smoke I think
Stopped going there in 2003 due to tons of building and tourists.
Interested to know where you've picked to replace it?
Koh Chang is still quiet most of the year.
It’s like any place , it’s always just a matter of time before the dynamics change
@@Invinity888 yeah, just seems so fast here though. Cheers for tuning in 👍
worked in samui at 2008 and 2009 , there were already too much people , cant imagine now , now only isaan , peace
Interesting!!!! Long term expat here in Chiang Mai. Same thing happening here in CM. The amount of tourists in CM already for Xmas/New Year is totally out of control. The traffic chaos is like BANGKOK. The Chinese have invaded CM buying up whole condo buildings, doubling the rents and only renting them out to Chinese. They are buying up commercial buildings, businesses, arable land, anything they can get their hands on. The precedent is being set with majority of accommodation rents doubling tripling in price. Sale prices are the same. It’s changing the whole CM low cost chill vibe ambiance. Like all the hotspots around the world that are finished, the word is out on CM now and it’s now being loved to its detriment. Every Tom dik and wanka are now coming to CM, bringing with them all their western AND eastern BS….. the glory days of CM are over, and in another 5-10 yrs CM will be just like Bangkok. All the utoobers and bloggers that espouse how good it is are only adding to its death knell. The more the shite hits the fan in the west, prices rising, societies collapsing, millions of people are exiting and resettling in Asia… and Thailand in particular. All over Thailand this western exodus is simply diluting and destroying the wonders of Thailand that we once knew…… Don’t get me wrong, Thailand, CHIANG MAI is home to me, but thinking now it’s time to go. It’s only going to get far far worse………….. PS I first went to Lamai in 1980…. There was ONE PLACE TO STAY ONLY, small bamboo huts built by an Aussie guy and his Thai wife. Food was banana jaffles, rice, fish, black tea and thai Buddha sticks…… it was cheap as chips and a real PARADISE.. I never went back as I found Chiang Mai that same trip….. it’s making me sad watching your video and feeling sad about CM, and Thailand in general….. as it’s MORE PROOF we are witnessing the decline of Thailand as we have known it. ITS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!!!!! Call it the inevitable progress, but the glory days are well and truly coming to an end….. Thailand will end up just like all the other dead end western cities that we all escaped from all those years ago…… Sad as it is, thank you for calling Samui out for what it is….. Thailand circa 2024.
Cheers mate……
I first went in the early 90's too, Lamai had the Bauhaus, and 1 or 2 other clubs a bar that rotated. Chaweng had The Reggae club and nowhere near built up as it is today. Lamai was dark not much street lighting. Most of the roads were dirt and flooded on heavy down pours. Those were the days. But tourism and progress happen. Land passed down - bad sons got the beach - good sons got the farmland, which ones are laughing now
@@ianmcnamee1652 yeah it's funny to think the beach land was almost worthless until all the foreigners came!
I remember the Bauhaus 😂
Yep - things continue to change in Samui. I remember your broccoli shop tour a while ago - I think you counted 35 shops in one small area. I would prefer to go to a Ma and Pa store than a 7:11. I'm back in Bo Put and Chaweng in April - Enjoy your Christmas.
@@marcp108 Hi Marc, that broccoli tour was still at the beginning... There's waaaaaay more now. They are still opening up new ones if you can believe it!
@@thethairishsun its such the Thai way - see a successful business and copy it. Eventually the government will crack down, but I can't imagine pharmacies dispensing it. Hope the rental properties are going well. Cheers
It's ironic that you are complaining about this when you are part of the problem. If you think it's bad, imagine how the locals feel.
been there during covid, it was great. its a tourist hell now, i will never come back..
I’ve been living on Samui on and off since 2013. Then you could ride you motorbike without fear of getting run over. We bought a house in Ban Tai in 2018 and the area has been evolving ever since. The infrastructure cannot support this out of control expansion on this island. They can’t even safely manage the disposal of trash properly. Last year we bought land in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Can’t wait to move there and get off this wretched island for good!!
the only people who walk in Thailand are farangs, the roads were not designed for pedestrians.
@@diveinnjim true the Thais never walk
Recently got to Koh Samui to consider living - I found the north west was too quiet for me too - thanks for the informative video - are you saying there are no longer any out of the way places left on the island?
No, not at all. If you want quiet you can go to the west of the island. This video is mainly about the Lamai area. It's still wonderful here. I'm just observing some negative changes.
@ I look forward to more videos man 🙏🏻🙌🏼 - I’m only looking for a studio as I like small and compact with separate kitchen and bathroom - no Brad Pitt pool - no thrills so I’ll be on that this week I’m currently north of airport and just starting out on the place hunt.
The good old days when Thailand was inhabited by pot smoking hippies are long gone. As countries pulled their populace out of poverty incomes have risen enabling others to travel and experience different cultures. Go to any tourist hotspot in the world and you will now experience rising prices and queues a mile long.
I spent a few month on KP this year. It is totally ruined by wall builders and "remote workers",
Just to add.I have been coming to Samui for 25 years and it hasn't changed that much compared to other places in south east asia.look at cambodia and vietnam.i have seen places change almost over night for the worst.
Went there first almost 20 years ago. I agree .
Sumui is unrecognisable from 25 years ago!
@@DiscoDrewSamui maybe.I’m talking about Lamai!
TBH Phuket is a dive, I am enjoying my Year living in Lamai Koh Samui
It's still wonderful here but I can't help but observe the changes. I left Phuket because it was so crowded and over developed. Now I see it happening here.
@@thethairishsun I hear you Mate, development is not a great thing in many cases, Bali is an example of that and imo a disaster, overpriced everything
Who are you kidding ,Ireland is like islamabad , at least the people on samui dont want to change it , just enjoy it
Wondering if there's likeminded people moving away from these tourist destinations to quieter places like Nakhon so thammarat or Chumpon? Not much English and night spots to have a drink
Tourists going to tourist areas who'd of thought things would change!
Keep the locals on their arse eh chasing the same few quid!
looks like paradise to me ?
Yeah, it's not bad 😃
People want to live there.. it's supply and demand.. I thought you had an investment property there?? So really you are part of the issue.. place will keep growing.. I remember it back in the 90s.. chaweng was lovely.. but, now.. no fecking way!!
Just to put it into comparrison for you, you would be lucky to rent a spare room in someones house in Essex for less than £700 a month, so 24000 Baht a month for a 2/3 bed house on a paradise island isn't so bad, but yes, prices are rising all over Thailand
Hi Paul, yeah compared with the West (I assume) it's still much cheaper. I'm just comparing Samui with itself. Rent on this part of the island has doubled in 2 years and is about 3x compared with somewhere like Hua Hin... My landlady just went up 150% after I moved out... Expats are moving to the west of the island in droves ATM.
What we need is another plandemic to bring everything back to normal 😂. 2019-2021 was the best time on Samui ever.
@@DDD-yi2ze we were lucky 😊 ... I was locked out most of 2020 but my 2021 was delightful.
Time to go home then buddy🙏
Over tourism happening around the world...Spain good example....
It's inevitable really, esp. with Thailand as it's the most popular Asian tropical country to move to for westerners (and rightly so.)
And just right for you not to take it personally with your landlady. Business is business. I didn't like though that she had to lie about the brother moving in. But then she was obviously too embarrassed to tell the truth.
Anyway, I really thought you had your own house built before. I think I saw a video of it, though I didn't I watched the entire thing.
So let me ask you a question!! Have you put up the price on your rental property?
@@MrBuggchild I rent out 6 months minimum at a time. Haven't had to change tennants ... Yet... But yeah I'll obviously charge the "going rate". As I said towards the end of the video, "it's business" and I don't blame them for asking me to move out, just would've preferred the real reason. I bought here because I knew the rental price was way above the national average.
@@thethairishsun looks like you got into the property market at the right time!!good for you.I'm back in Lamai April for 3 weeks.will be interesting to see the changes.
@@thethairishsun and yes prices have shot up.we stay at the same place every time we come to Lamai and this time I had to question the price they quoted me for next years stay.Just wait,when they show THE WHITE LOTUS on tv the prices will shoot up again!!!!!!
The explosion of TH-cam vloggers since covid hasn`t helped. Lets see how all their you can live here on $xxxx (insert a small amount) goes over the next few years.
Hi ,you think it's sad i came to live in Thailand in 1997 ,done ko sumui in 1995 ,150 baht a night bungalow on the beach fan only in them days ,its amazing how utubers have ruined & ruining the country.
TH-cam is responsible? Interesting.
Why have TH-camrs ruined Thailand exactly? Please explain your reasoning for this ridiculous statement.
Liked from A fellow Irishman นะ..
Island prices for the Island monkeys. I prefer Jomtien....
I'm predicting a explosion of construction on KP.
So leave Thailand move to another country that nobody goes and the put it in video. Then people show up and the complain. Wash rinse repeat. Put the camera down and just live your life
Unfortunately buddy, its people like yourself who are part of the problem, remote workers who want to escape the rat race. You can't halt progress.
@@billybunter55 I'm not a remote worker. I work for a Thai business and have to be there in person every day. For me, Expats aren't the problem.
Move to Khanom