What the drive costs
Kamala is 45 minutes from the airport and Bang Tao 25. On a long weekend you pay that difference twice, and the roads add to it. Kamala has two ways out: the coast road north through Surin, which queues in high season, and the hill road south to Patong, which is steep and winding. Bang Tao's main road through Cherngtalay is slow at school and evening peaks too, but the school, the golf and the shops are close by.
If you will live on the island with children, that settles it for Bang Tao. Our guide to international schools shows where the schools are.
Evenings and views
Kamala's centre is low-rise and local: small restaurants, a market and a mosque on the flat land behind the beach, a beach club at the northern end, and Patong's nightlife over the hill. Green headlands close the bay at each end, and the rocky coast towards Patong carries a line of large private villas. Bang Tao's evenings are the restaurants on the Cherngtalay road and inside Laguna.
The risks are different
In Kamala the risk is the hillside. Much of the newer stock is on steep slopes, and a sea-view premium holds only while nothing is built in front. Ask for the building permit, the engineer's report on slope and retaining works, and who pays to maintain them.
In Bang Tao the risk is supply. Construction is constant on the roads behind the beach, and new units compete with a long pipeline for the same tenants. Ask how many units will complete near yours within two years.
In both, check that a rental scheme holds a hotel licence before you count on nightly income: see hotel-managed and rental pool schemes. The document checks are set out in title deeds and due diligence.
