Is living in Rayong and commuting to BKK for 2 days a week a bad idea?

The real hidden cost is your weekends. You'll get back to Rayong Friday night exhausted, then spend Saturday recovering, and Sunday dreading the drive up. That leaves you basically one usable day at home, so the whole "live by the beach" thing fades fast. If you do it, make sure the Rayong side has actual stuff you love, like a regular Saturday market routine or a boat you can get out on, otherwise you're just paying for a bed you sleep in four nights a week.

For the BKK nights, look at monthly rates at the older apartment blocks along Sukhumvit soi 50-60, places like On Nut or Bearing. They're not fancy but you can get a furnished studio for 5-7k a month and leave a proper setup there, not just a hotel room. That also means you can arrive late, skip check-in hassle, and roll straight into your own place with your own pillow.

Also factor in the mental load of packing. Two days of office clothes, laptop, toiletries, it sounds small but you'll forget something every single week. Keep a full duplicate kit at the BKK place, including chargers and a spare pair of shoes, and your life gets way easier.

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one thing nobody mentioned yet is the car itself. that 4 hour round trip twice a week is like 30k km a year just for commuting. tires, oil changes, brakes, they all wear way faster than you think. i'd budget an extra 20-30% on top of fuel for maintenance alone, plus the resale value tanks once you stack that many highway kms.

also consider the ferry option from ban phe to pattaya, it's a car ferry that runs a few times a day and cuts out the whole chonburi mess. you'd still drive from pattaya to bkk but that's a much easier stretch, and it turns the commute into a kinda scenic thing instead of pure gridlock. check the schedule though, it's not super frequent.

and for the nights in bkk, look at the small guesthouses around klong toei or the old town, not the tourist ones but the worker ones. 400-600 baht a night if you book weekly, and they're used to people who just need a bed and a shower. just don't expect wifi or quiet, it's a tradeoff.

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ngl the drive is the easy part, it's the mental drain of living in two places that'll get you. I've seen guys do this for a few months then bail because they never really settle anywhere. you'll have no routine, no gym, no local coffee spot you actually like, and that eats at you more than the 4 hours on the road.

if you're set on it, skip the hotel and find a monthly rental near your office, like a studio in Bang Na or even around Ekkamai if you can stretch it. tons of those serviced apartments go for 6-8k a month and you can leave a bag, a pillow, even a bike there. that way you're not lugging a suitcase back and forth and you actually have a second home base.

also think about the ferry angle, not for the commute obviously, but for your weekends. if you're living in Rayong you're close to Koh Samet, so at least make that your payoff. otherwise you're basically paying to be miserable in traffic twice a week.

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Krua Dok Mai Kao is solid but I've always found their som tam a bit tame on the pla ra. If you want the real funky version, try the shophouse spots along Soi Udomsuk 26, near the night market end. They pound it fresh with fermented fish that'll clear your sinuses, and it's like 60 baht. Different style from the On Nut places, more Lao-leaning.

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for som tam specifically i'd say the Isaan spots in Chatuchak are underrated, weekdays only though since the weekend crowd ruins the vibe. there's a stall near gate 2 that does tam pa with fermented bamboo shoots, super sour and funky, not something you see much in On Nut. if you're already heading north for Or Tor Kor anyway its worth the detour.

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honestly the som tam at Krua Dok Mai Kao is good but what got me hooked is their nam prik pla raa dip with the raw veggies, that funk hits way harder than the papaya does. think most people sleep on it cuz they just order the som tam and gai yang. also pro tip, go before noon on weekdays, after that teh pla ra gets milder cuz they batch it for the lunch rush

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