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Help! JamesA. -Jambaya (Kata View) Apartment?

Help! JamesA. -Jambaya (Kata View) Apartment?

Old Apr 22nd, 2004, 11:47 AM
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Help! JamesA. -Jambaya (Kata View) Apartment?

Hi James A.,
You recommended Jambaya Apartment (which I think later became known as Kata View Apartment) as a self-catering unit in the Kata/Karon area sometime last fall. I believe you had friends that once stayed there? Our family of 4 is planning a trip to Phuket in Dec.2004 and I wanted to book this apartment but it seems to have "disappeared". I believe it has been SOLD. Can you recommend another condo or apartment in the Kata/Karon area that is in a similar price range? Thanks very much! I have learned so much about Phuket from reading your posts over the past year.

Suggestions from other Fodorites would also be appreciated!
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Old Apr 22nd, 2004, 04:45 PM
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Unfortunately there are not as many self catering places in Thailand as hoped for, there is limited demand as most people eat out as it is almost certainly cheaper than buying in food and cooking, though it is always nice to have cooking facilities with a family, you might try somewhere that has cottages or bungalows. Not that sure on alternatives for Phuket, there is a place in Patong called (I think ) Andaman Suites but don't book there, the balconies overlook the grounds of the temple where the crematorium tower is! There was a Swiss owned place in Patong that had some self catering units but I just can't recall the name, I'll try and dig it out for you. I know around Patong/Karon/Kata there 'are' some places, I'll ask around for you.
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Old Apr 22nd, 2004, 07:25 PM
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Thanks for replying so quickly, James, and that would be great if you could "ask around" on our behalf. I have come across a place called the Swiss Palm Beach in Patong. Maybe that's the one you were thinking of? We'd like to avoid being right in Patong if possible (too busy) but I have been looking at an apartment called The Residence Kalim Bay which is just north of Patong. Do you know anything about this place? Also, I know it is difficult to generalize but how would meal prices in Thailand compare to eating out, say, in Australia? (We were there in 2001 and I know you're from Oz.) Having a family of 4 eat out 3 meals a day in Canada can really put a dent in the holiday budget! Thanks again.
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Old Apr 22nd, 2004, 08:09 PM
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Just one novice's comment about the cost of eating out in Thailand: I could eat very enjoyable food in noodle houses for the entire trip and spend less money than preparing meals in a kitchen. The problem is that I wouldn't have the discipline to restrict my eating to noodle houses.
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Old Apr 23rd, 2004, 01:19 PM
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Swiss pam beach is run by a great Swiss guy called Rene and his wife, well run and nice but is a very 'Euro holidaymaker' place, no offense inteded but to give you the idea.
The Kalim Bay residence is just next to the Diamond Cliff Beach resort, I am sure it is more than the Swiss Palm but I remember it being built about 10+years back. VERY nice location as you can tuktuk into Patong in 5 minutes but in the evenings very quiet which is nice. A few local grocery shops. If you can get in there and the price is within your budget I honestly think you would be pleased. The other side is to forget the apartment idea and go straight for a beach place like the Karon beach resort which is absolute beachfront with seaview rooms, right on the beach. Walking distrance to restaurants and shops, it really winds on location-location-location.

If you get a place like a hotel or Bungalows ( Duangjitt Resort in Patong is excellent value, short walk to beach, nice palm trees, good pool, it's 3 star base but perfectly acceptable for a family and nice location, also the price is good compared to others ).

As for eating out, like anywhere, you can always get cheap snack food or you can pay as much as you want.

This post is opportune and indeed Mike put it in a nutshell about easting noodles 'everyday'.

Yes, you can but snack meals from streets stalls and vendors for B 20-30, that is in US$ 50-75 cents, but you can't really eat that all the time, all your life, when it comes to buying food in local markets or supermarkets I am not saying it is not less than Canada/Oz/Europe but it would be wrong to think it is 'dirt cheap' it isn't!
My wife and I were only talking last night about the cost of food, since SARS the cost of Pork and other meat has shot 'thru the roof', almost 100% incease, now it may still sound cheap to you but we pay US$3.50-4.50 a kilo for market Pork, more for nice cuts, a 500 gramme Beef steak from the meat seller would cost about $8+, one single potatao costs about 35 cents (1 potato), vegetables etc also expensive, apples and other fruits come in from USA and Australia, I love Grapefruit, about $2 each if you can find. A standard low quality 'loaf of bread' is about 60 cents, 1 ltr Orange Juise $1.80-2.00, Small breakfast cereal bos about $3.
Now, you need to compare that with say an included breakfast or a 'paying' breakfast if not included in the hotel rates of about $3.50 at a 3-star, though 99% of all of them include it!
Street food $ 0.50-1.00, a simple Thai curry in a standard simple restaurant is about $1.80-2.25 (these are all USD), they will add 40-50cents for the rice, a starter would cost $2-3.50, Fried rice could be from $1-2.50.

So all in all I don't think you will say a cent cooking yourself, cheaper to eat out. Oh, a Big Mac is about $2.

If in a hotel fill your own mini-bar with drinks from 7-11s and other stores, that saves a lot, if breakfast is included fill up!!, though avoid fried food, breads, toat, fruit, cereals etc. Snacks for luunch, sandwich etc, then Thai food in evenings. If you budget B200 ($5) per person for dinner that should be fine.

Canned Cola in 7-11's are B 13-17 ( 25-35 cents ), in restaurants will cost usually B 30-40 ( 80-cents - $1 ). Glass of house wine at restaurant $2.50-3.50, Beer B 80($2). A 1.5ltr bottle of ok Italian wine is about $9.90 , a bottle of Beer varies on brand in 7-11 and other shops from around 80 cents to about $1.10 for Heineken. When I am 'down under' I considor supermarket prices as 'less' than in Thailand.

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Old Apr 23rd, 2004, 01:26 PM
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My normal typosbr />

1> Avoid fried food at breakfast, does not 'sit well' in the stomach in a hot climate. Stick to breads, fruit, cereals, Yoghurt for breakfast is Ok but otherwise avoid Dairy products, again, not good in a hote climate.

2> 1.5 ltr wine price is from a Supermarket, in a restaurant a 75cl bottle of wine would be B 600-900($15-22.50)
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Old Apr 23rd, 2004, 06:21 PM
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James, about those veggies and fruit coming from other countries ...

After walking through stall after stall of fresh veggies and fruit offered by the street vendors and seeing the availability of the same in the one grocery store I went to, I was perplexed that both were relatively difficult to come by in the restaurants. My experience is that the hotel restaurants limited fruit to the breakfast buffet and dessert at other meals. Even so, it was always the same: watermelon, a green melon, mango, grapefruit and pineapple. And I don't think I was served orange juice the entire trip (maybe because I didn't stay in any 5-star hotels and only ate at onece at a 5-star restaurant); instead, it was always an orange drink not made from oranges. However, grapefruit juice and pineapple juice seemed to be available. When it came to veggies, they were rarely offered as a side dish; I almost always had to order an extra entre to avoid going into veggie withdrawal. Even so, it was usually strongly influenced by Chinese style rather than Thai cooking.

In your or anybody's opinion, what is the reason vegetables and fruit are so relatively difficult to come by in the restaurants despite that they seem to be readily available on the street?
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Old Apr 23rd, 2004, 08:41 PM
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Well until a few years back I had a restaurant here so I can tell you it's price! A lot of the vegetables in the markets are very poor quality, something like a Cauliflower is expensive, that is why even when you order Euro style food the amount of vegetables they give you is minimal.
Running restaurant I could find myself being rather critical in hotels for poor selection.

Thai food is actually more expensive to cook because of all the different ingredients, as said, potatoes are expensive. Meat costs have gone up about double in the last few months!!
If you see the cattle in Thailand you will know why US Beef is imported, ALL lamb comes in from NZ, if you go to an Indian restaurant they might call it mutton but it's really goat meat.

The prices of course when you visit and see the prices are different from living here, we get paid local salary scale, my wife has a top job but here income you would 'laugh at', my income is about 25% of what I would get running same business elsewhere, so for us the costs are very high indeed, saying that my wife gets about 4-5 x the average wage and I get about 15 x the average wage, but the school fees are very very high indeed, runs around 2 x the average monthly salary fopr decent schooling. Anyway I've 'Going back to the beach life' within 2 months!!
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Old Apr 26th, 2004, 10:26 AM
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That was really good of you, James A., to take the time and trouble to describe some of the food and drink costs in Thailand. It gave us a much better idea of what to expect. Some prices you mentioned were fairly similar to those in Canada (i.e. meat) whereas others were definitely cheaper in Thailand (pop and beer!) Thanks as well for commenting on the Swiss Palm and the Kalim Bay Residence. I know you've recommended the Karon Beach Resort on this site before and it does look like a super location. However, another reason we were looking at an apartment is because our kids are now teenagers (13 and 15 year old daughters) and we'd like a unit with 2 bedrooms. A couple of days of sharing are fine but after that, things can get a bit tense! With that in mind, the Kalim Bay Residence with its two bedroom units actually works out cheaper than the Karon Beach Resort at peak season (our dates are Dec. 20 -28th - at that time one room at Karon Beach Resort is CAD $228.00). Two rooms would be twice that so getting out of our price range for a weeks accommodation. Those prices didn't included any meals either.

I did contact the Kalim Bay Residence and asked about the beach there. The fellow answered me honestly and said it was OK but there were nicer beaches about 10 - 15 min. away. (Probably meaning Kamala, Kata or Karon?) He said that we could go to these by longboat or tuk-tuk and that transporation in Phuket is inexpensive. Would you agree?

We will also consider the Duangjitt (the pool does look great) but thought we'd like to visit Patong a couple of times but stay somewhere less busy.

We will be in Phuket for 3 or 4 nights initially and hope to stay in a family room at the Kata Bhuri (new section of Kata Thani). From here we plan to visit Phi Phi island for 3 nights and then back to Phuket for 7 or 8 nights over Christmas week with us returning to Bangkok on Dec. 27. I have made these bookings in this order to avoid the peak Christmas charges as much as possible. (I know, an expensive time to visit but we have to work around school hols. as well!) This way, we could spend a few nights in Kata and then be centrally located at Kalim Bay for our other week. What do you think of this plan?

Thanks as well to Mike Buckley for his questions/comments about the price of vegies and food in Thailand. We all found the dialogue between you and James A. very informative. My daughter asked why SARS had really affected your meat prices? Is this due to restrictions on imports from certain countries?

Now we are all dieing of curiosity, James A. When you said "Going back to the beach life within 2 months," is that in Phuket or Australia? (great beaches in both!) We all appreciate your practical suggestions and first hand knowledge very much!
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Old Apr 26th, 2004, 05:01 PM
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The Kata Thani is a good choice. Now, the Kamala Residence is at the far north of Patong Beach. The beach ends up around the Novotel and Diamond Cliff Resorts, about 250metres from there facing the sea are the Kamala Residence places, so it is outside of Patong but very close, hope that makes sense. As you can see from photos it has a nice sea view.
If you cannot get a room right next to your I shouldn't panic as overall Thailand is a very very safe place indeed(!!!!)
I plan to stop working in the BKK office and leave it to the staff and then work from an office near the beach. Had 3 years on Phuket. We are thinking of Jomtien Beach as not far from Bangkok and we like the area, also it's cheap(!!)
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Old Apr 27th, 2004, 07:45 PM
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Sorry, James A., but I'm a bit confused. I had mentioned staying at the Residence at Kalim Bay whereas your last post refers to the Kamala Residence. I did a "search" and did find a Kamala Residence but it looked more like a condo development with units for sale rather than to rent by the week. Did you actually mean Kalim Bay Residence as I believe this is the location you were describing? It's a bit confusing with all the "K" names - YIKES! Thanks for clarifying.

I also wanted to ask about Thai Air Asia flights from Bangkok to Phuket. When I checked this site, I couldn't believe the price savings compared to Thai Airways. Have you actually flown on Thai Air Asia? We don't care about frills for such a short flight but do care about safety. Thanks again.
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Old Apr 27th, 2004, 09:11 PM
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Sorry I meant Kalim Bay Residence, yes, the names can be confusing sometimes!

Thai Air Asia are fine, just note that once you book and pay 'that is it'. A very imprtant note for international travelers is the Free baggage allowance only Thai Air Asia is only 15kgs(!!) and you have to pay excess on anything over, it is rigid in it's implementation so a lot of passengers with say 20-23kgs have to pay excess.

I would not book anything until Nok Air is under way, they start to fly June 1st and are part owned by Thai Airways, so they might be a better deal. Thai Air Asia was formed by Air Asia malayaisa who are 'fine' and have been around a few years now.

Don't book any tight inbound or outbound international flight connections because even if your flight lands lare from long haul and you miss your 'budget flight' they that is 'tough luck' and you would have to buy new tickets. But if you are catching the flight from BKK just be at the airport 1hr 30 before flight and you will be fine. Both airlines fly 737s. Nok Air website is supposed to be up and running by next week.

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Old Apr 27th, 2004, 09:49 PM
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Thanks for clearing up the "K" confusion, James A. We are still leaning towards the Residence at Kalim Bay. I did send a query to a new place called Kamala Bay Garden but haven't heard back from them. I will keep in mind your advice on the other post about new places often having little space and not great locations.

Excellent suggestions as usual on the flights from Bangkok to Phuket. I actually had looked at the Thai Air Asia site tonight and thought about booking as we just got our international flights confirmed but you can't seem to book any further ahead than October at this point so I will wait and see what Nok Air comes out with in June. We are flying into BKK from Denpasar and don't arrive until 8:00pm so had thought to stay at Airport Asia Hotel and fly to Phuket the next morning.

Thanks for the "heads up" on the baggage. That will almost certainly be a problem for me - I'm one of those "everything but the kitchen sink" type packers. Every trip I try to cut down. This year my husband says I have to "drag my own" but 15 kgs? I have books that weigh that much! With the excess baggage charges, it might be cheaper to fly Thai Air. Just kidding! (Any idea what the excess charges would be?)
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