Living in Thalang, Phuket: Rents and Daily Life

Two very different markets. Condos are few in the interior: 36 long-term listings in Si Sunthon, with a median of 23,000 THB a month and about 23,500 for a one-bedroom, a little under the island's 25,000. Pool villas are another story: 60 listings in Si Sunthon, a pool at 90% of them, and a median of 170,000 THB. Only 22% come in under 100,000 THB.

In the general villa sample, Si Sunthon and Thalang came to 130,000 THB and a three-bedroom villa in Si Sunthon to 120,000 THB. You pay for newer estates and quiet, not for a beach.

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Three sorts of housing. Houses and townhouses in Thai villages along the highway, the cheapest on Phuket, taken by people who work on the island. Villas among the greenery on the side roads towards the hills and the national park, with a plot you could never get on the coast. And new complexes near the junctions, built for families with a car.

The pluses are space, cool shade under the trees and the airport close by. The minuses are just as direct: shops and schools are scattered, and the beach is always a drive. People usually choose Thalang on a second try, after living on the coast and tiring of the density.

The northern interior of the island. Route 402, linking the airport and town, runs through it, and the monument to the two heroines marks the main junction. Inside the area are Khao Phra Thaeo National Park with its waterfalls, old temples and villages.

The airport is about 15 km, Phuket Town about 20 km, both along Route 402. The sea is always a neighbour's: north-west to Nai Yang, the nearest and calmest beach; west to Bang Tao's long sand; south over the hills to Kathu and the western bays.

Read by the greenery and the water rather than the waves. From May to October the monsoon turns Thalang into the greenest place on the island: plantations stay wet, park waterfalls fill up, rivers rise at the side roads. That is when people come for nature; in the dry season the waterfalls shrink to a trickle.

The flip side is roads. Dirt side roads deep in the area become impassable on a scooter after rain. From November to March it is dry and noticeably hotter than the coast, with no breeze. In the dry months crop waste is burned inland, and on still days the air in the lowlands can be hazy. The nicest time is late October and November.

Thalang has the most Thai food on the island. Along the highway and in the villages, canteens sell rice with ready dishes to take away, noodle stalls stand at the turnings, and morning rows of hot food set up at dawn and pack away by noon. The markets are for locals, with almost no tourists and no English menus.

Western food is scarce, and coffee shops appear mainly at junctions and in new housing. Villages close early in the evening, so eat on the way if you spend a day out. Water and ice are sold in the same small shops as everything else.

People on their second Phuket winter who want space, a garden and a short airport run of 15 km. Families with a car like the new complexes near the junctions; people who work on the island take the village houses along Route 402.

It does not suit a first visit or anyone without a car. With a one-bedroom at about 23,500 THB it is cheaper than Kamala's 32,000 THB, but you trade that for a drive to every beach, Nai Yang being the nearest.