Rawai Review 🏝for Digital Nomads (Phuket, Thailand)

Rawai impressions

• It’s like a mini Canggu!
• Rawai is the Canggu of Phuket.
• I think it will develop to me be the CANGGU of PHUKET / THAILAND… it’s like 5-10 years behind Canggu
• it is a top nomad spot in Thailand next to Chiang Mai, BKK, Koh Phangan.

Phuket Island

• Phuket island is the most popular tourist destination in Thailand (and the world). It’s where most tourists arrive and spend the most time.
• Bali island is 10x the size of Phuket.. which doesn’t really matter. But Phuket is basically a coastal town because you can drive to Bangkok.
• Phuket Old Town is cool to explore with lots of cool cafes and night market

Nomad community

• plenty of nomads / remote entrepreneurs
• many BKK nomads came here since covid… and many say they will ‘stay’!

Expat community

• Plenty of young remote workers, expats families, and retirees. I think Rawai started as a sleepy ol’ retired expat area. Now developing into the nomad spot.

Cost of Living

• Like anywhere in Thailand / SE Asia, cost of living is 2-4x less than in the USA for comparable things.
• As always it depends on where you stay & what you do
• I spend around $3-4k a month. Nice villa or condo, motorbike, gym, eating at popular restaurants, party on the weekends.
• As always in SEA you could live like a local for $1,000-$1,500 a month. Perhaps not as cheap as Chiang Mai.
• I wouldn’t recommend a budget of less than $2,000 a month.

Co-working spaces

• Project Hub

• Let’s Work

• Nai Harn Space

• ‘Social events like Kohub?’ Not sure.

Gyms

• Nai Harn Gym – most popular

• Stay Fit – nicest gym ever, HIIT classes

• Action Point – full gym w/ cross-training classes

• Muay Thai
  • Phuket is the Muay Thai capital of the WORLD! Many professionals train/base here.Powerhouse – in heart of RawaiTiger Muay ThaiPhuket Fight Club (w/ CrossFit Siam, BJJ)a million others

CrossFit Siam

CrossFit Phuket

Weather

• as in all Southeast Asia, beautiful and sunny, average mid-80’s ☀️
• as in any tropical place, there is a ‘rainy season’ with more frequent showers, but still sunny.

Beaches

• Nai Harn Beach – main hotspot in Rawai. Everyone is there for sunset. Great beach for surfing, chill, running, volleyball, football, swimming.
• Kata Beach – next closest, popular, great beach, 15 min shoot.
• Karon beach – next next closest, another great one.

Work Cafes / Coffeeshops

• Rustic & Blue 🔥
• BOOST Cafe 🔥
• Gallery Cafe 🔥
• Cannelle 🔥
• Wilsons
• We Cafe
• Macan Cafe

Nice Restaurants

• Plenty!
• Grills
• Zen Eats
• Fresca
• Kata Rocks (epic sunset spot)

Town layout

• It’s got a surf town feel, similar to Canggu.
• How is the traffic – not really. Roads are paved & easy.
• Walkability – Rawai is very walkable, bicycle-able. Everyone scoots on motorbikes of course. Nai Harn lake is packed with walkers
• Distance to things – close to anything you need.

Nightlife

• Rawai has plenty of bars, sports bars, girl bars, but no ‘nightclubs’ that I know of.
• Patong has EPIC nightlife
  • just a 20-30 taxi from Rawai
  • Bangla road / walking street is party central – has it all. It’s like a Khao San road. Endless bars, clubs, girl bars, strip clubs, street entertainment, etc.
  • ILLUZION club is the biggest superclub in Thailand. Big names come through. We’ve seen Tiesto & Steve Aoki there and it was epic.
  • Sugar Hip Hop club

Touristy Stuff

• ALL the things
• Zip-lining, river rafting, elephant riding, boat trips, SUP, jet skis, go-karting, golf, tiger kingdom, scuba diving
• Rent a catamaran or small yacht for the day with friends. $1,000 a day for an epic boat, 10-20 people.
• Boat to some islands
  • Coconut Island. Island Escape Resort.
  • Phi Phi islands
  • Island hopping day trips with scuba or snorkel
• 1-hr flight to
  • Koh Samui – perhaps the 2nd most popular Thai island. I have done several weeks here, a great spot.Koh Phangan – short boat from Samui. Nomad hotspot.Koh Tao – a small island, short boat from Phangan

Villas / Accommodation

• Tons of epic villas
• Look on Airbnb & Facebook Marketplace
• For hotels I tend to use Booking and Agoda
• STAY Fitness Resort: $50-$200 a night. Sandbox approved

Travel / Visa / Quarantine Situation

• any tourist with vaxx card can visit
• Phuket (and Samui) ‘Sandbox’ is now only 7-days. So you just gotta stay on Phuket island for 7-days, then be free to roam the country. It’s NOT a hotel quarantine!
• the standard tourist entry ‘visa-exempt on arrival’ is 45-days (for US citizens) and can be extended once for another 45-days. I just did it and have done it dozens of times over the years.
• During covid, there’s a new form that allows you to extend more times ‘because of covid’. From my understanding, many people have already done this several times.
• in November 2021 it’s been published that they plan to start a Bangkok Sandbox. As of October Bangkok has a 7-day hotel quarantine.
• October 8 updated article on Sandbox Program: https://www.traveldailymedia.com/thailand-is-open-a-travel-update-from-the-tourism-authority-of-thailand/
  • NEW DIGITAL NOMAD VISA IS COMING
    • https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/visa/cabinet-approves-new-visa-package-to-lure-wealthy-expats-to-thailand“The government is forging ahead with a new visa package that targets rich expats, in an attempt to inject some foreign money into an economy decimated by Covid-19.
    • It also partially addresses the so-called digital nomads – people wanting to conduct their online businesses whilst living in Thailand…
    • The third target group are the digital nomads or employees of foreign companies who want to work remotely from Thailand. They will need to have at least 5 years’ relevant work experience, a salary of at least US$40,000 a year.”

Instagram Questions

• English – as in any popular place in the world, no issue.
• Hospital – yes.