there are countless of stories regarding foreigners who have been apprehended when doing manual labour on their own house, all it takes is one neighbour with a stick up their a**
seriously, its illegal and you risk someone will report you, justice can be swift in these cases, so prepare for spending a week in IDC before being sent back to your home country...
Chalong and Rawai have been left pretty much untouched since most inhabitants are retired foreigners, Bang Tao still somewhat vibrant due to the large numbers of resident expats in the area... everywhere else is basically completely abandoned