ericdk

It's pretty simple, Thailand used to be exceptional value for money, now it's only good value for money. It also seemed as if they lost some of their world class service during covid. The awful face masks changed something.

Crackdown?

I saw that Park Origin 24 were no longer available on AirBnB, but is that because they cracked down on renting out to AirBnB or because they have not been safe after the earthquake?

The replies to my question has been pure AIDS.

I'm curious, what would be, as a farang but also objectively as a thai, be considered an impressive income and cash savings in the middle class in Thailand now? Monthly income? Cash savings? Lets just say big cities like Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

I can see how it can get tiring after some years. It's difficult to find places to chill out. Need more trees.

I think Jomtien/Pattaya can be a decent place to live if you're fit for it and not worried about the inevitable gossiping about your residence. Pattaya and Jomtien does have a lot of stuff to do and western oriented malls, shops, restaurants etc and of course all the nightlife and fun you could want. I would want to live up on the hills near Jomtien probably.

I speak poor thai and it's just good to have a chat with people without the cultural and language barrier once in a while. I am not against your suggestion, but that's why I would sign a 6 month contract and see how things play out.

When I studied at Thammasat back in the day I walked to Pinklao, which I would not recommend to live in, but every day I walked across the bridge and look at the condo by the river, Rattanakosin View Mansion, the best view, but then again, no MRT/BTS, so you'd have to take the riverbus to Saphan Thai or drive. If you worked at Thammasat or something, maybe it would be worth it.

I think I prefer to live with more westerners to be honest.

I have considered that also, probably would prefer Soi 14 or Soi 10 because you can exit without having to go past the tourist crowds every day. Soi 2 and 4 is also an option there.

Well, I don't mean done with the good parts of Sukhumvit such as lower Sukhumvit from Nana to Phrom Phong, which is the best part of BKK imo, just I think the residential areas of Sukhumvit are very overrated and people only stay there because they want to stay close to Lower Sukhumvit, when in fact you could stay near Rama 4 or somewhere like Soi Ruamrudee and get the parks, while still being closer to Asoke. It's also why this area is easily more expensive, but Park Origin and Lumpini 24 are actually quite affordable now.

An added benefit of Soi 24 is that it allows for sort of easy access to Sathorn and Lumpini etc, which are areas that I have never really explored. I'm kind of done with the whole Sukhumvit area to be honest. I do not think the extension of the BTS has done it any favor.

I didn't notice the traffic to be honest, but that's maybe because I have lived in On Nut and Thong Lor which are both much worse (the main sois) and Park Origin lies well back from the street. I'd much rather take a motocy taxi every day in Soi 24 than On Nut or Thong Lor. As I see it, if you have a motorbike you can also quite easily go the other direction through Soi 22 and drive to the BTS and leave it there without dealing with traffic. The issue with the small sois such as on the unequal side of Phrom Phong is that it's a long walk and there are often gridlocks. If they could get the cars out of the subsois then it would definitely be the better area.

If you find somewhere with an attractive female proctologist let me know.