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Overview

SAMUI PROPERTY BUYING GUIDE
(What buyers need to know.)

It is better to buy sea view hillside properties on the WEST COAST.  >>>

• BUY SEA VIEW WITH SUNSET (NOT JUST SEA VIEW).
• It has spectacular sunset (more beautiful than north, east, and south). 
• Sea view has good composition (It’s not just an empty sea), something to look at, that you can rest your eyes on and relax. 
• -->>   West coast has Ang-Thong National Marine Park and other neighboring small islands in the view.
• -->>   Especially, Taling-Ngam has the beautiful Five-Islands in the view.
• -->>   West coast has ferries from mainland come & go, and fisherman\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s boats at night in the view. (Shallow water on west coast is where fishermen fish.) 
• The southwest corner (Taling-Ngam and Phangka) is the only area that’s still quiet and peaceful like the way Samui used to be.  It’s “Green Zone”. 
• Avoid hillside that faces directly into southwest monsoon wind. 
• If your villa depends on buying water from delivery tankers, ask yourself how clean the water you will get.  The fact is they do not want you to see their wells !  And, what do you do if they cut you off from their deliveries? (This happened to people before.) They also buy water from each other wells while making delivery runs to save driving distance.  You may not get water from the same well every time.  So, it’s wise to buy villa that has own well, or plan to drill one. 

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Here is a list of things that buyers should be aware of when shop for hillside villas.

NORTH SAMUI hillside :  (Bophut, Maenam, BangPor,  Bangrak, PlaiLaem)  >>>

• Expect strong wind all 12 months (the sea channel between Samui and Phangan creates a natural wind passage for both northeast wind & southwest wind), making swimming pool near useless.   
• Always flood on ring-road when big rain. 
• Bad traffic jam during rush hours on ring-road like in Bangkok. 
• Hillsides are overcrowded with villa, villa, and villas (roof, roof, roofs are part of your view).
  

EAST SAMUI hillside :  (Chaweng, Chaweng-Noi, Lamai)  >>>

• Boring sea view (only empty sea and sky, nothing to look at) and no sunset.
• Very congested area (both traffic and people), nearly uninhabitable. 
• Avoid hillside that faces directly into northeast monsoon wind.
  
• Landslides & rockslides happened on East Coast.
  
• Chaweng-Noi to Maret have several flash flood areas along hillside and ring-road when big rain. 
• Areas in the southeast may be too close to Tessabarn\'s garbage dump site contamination on the mountain. Check your interested area for potential effect. 
  

SOUTH SAMUI hillside :  >>> 

• Most villas are situated on very top of mountain (not hillside), very high 200 meters above sea level expecting wind from all direction all year round.
• The mountain access roads are very steep and treacherous with cliffs along side of the road.
• Areas in the southeast may be too close to Tessabarn\'s garbage dump site contamination on top of the mountain. Check your interested area for potential effect. 

Note:  Tessabarn regulation will not give new building permit (or with limitation) on land higher than 140 meters above sea level.  


Feature photo is the Five-Islands, credited to professional photographer Jacques Herremans.