ericdk

I'm looking for neighborhoods in BKK, where you might still find a monthly apartment for like 15.000 THB tops with no long contracts, so that means, probably no condos. Somewhere I can take a thaifriendly girl on a date and have something to do and an apartment which is not completely embarassing. On Nut seems to have grown to something very different than 20 years ago, but it's also full of highrise condos, are there still cheap apartments there? Phra Kanong is the new Ekamai? Is Ekamai the new Thonglor? What about Ari? Best if its not too far from Railway Link (so probably not west of the river), as I want to go ride my roadbike on the Skylane. Any on the ground local info, be as specific as possible if you can, would be greatly appreciated. Some old timers or new arrivals for sure know better than Reddit.

I signed for a condo for 6 months here in Chiang Mai, great condo building but the furnishing is not to my liking, the biggest issue the small couch and small TV. It’s a managed property through a popular real estate agency but contract with owner who is a farang. Anyone have experience with such a situation? How to ask for swapping the couch for one I buy myself? I could store it and have it removed on my cost which is cheap. The sofa that’s here is a cheap IKEA one, so no major risk imo even if have to replace.

I rented 6 months. There are 3 month rentals, but after seeing the amount of bait and switch attemped, I decided against it. In any case, I got a nice condo for a good price, so 6 months is definitely the way to go at this time.

Well, someone did reach out with condo offerings, so we will see if its legit or a scam.

No, there are not any options on AirBnB for monthly.

I was told Chiang Mai was a digital nomad paradise, which I naively connected to having lots of easy month to month accomodation. So far my experience has been exactly the opposite, the condos I've been to near Nimman and CMU all want 6 month contracts, even when I can see their postings on notice boards saying 1 month is fine. I guess greed is setting in with the locals as high season approaches. Green and unprofessionalism. Agents seem clueless, don't want to do any work, despite me being willing to pay a lot more for short term. Don't want to talk to owners etc. AirBnB is fragmented, can't rent monthly anywhere, so I'd have to move around every 10 days. What's going on people? I am very close to saying <deleted> it and going back down south. This town rubs me the wrong way in a major way already. The only reason I'm saying is because I want to ride my bicycle in the mountains, but I need a place to stay for that. I'm currently staying in a <deleted>ty "residence" with a smelly toilet and a <deleted>ty bed. This I suppose is the "digital nomad paradise". Can any one recommend at least decent monthly accomodation in Nimman/CMU/Doi Suthep area?

Or have low attendance requirements?

It's not selective to prefer Bumrungrad, Samitivej or Bangkok Hospital for emergencies, that used to be the minimum. For small stuff I'll be happy to visit Camillean or some other cheap private hospital.

This is a typical expat response. Most of the big insurance companies pay out if you meet the criteria. A lot of people think they can bull<deleted> their way around terms or don't read them. I had LMG last time and they paid in full upfront, but were a bit slow to talk to the hospital (3-4 hours).

I intend to sublet my apartment so I won't have my address there probably. I am a citizen of Denmark and live there.

Hello Sheryl, I am going to be in Thailand for 1 year probably and not travel much. As for hospitals, I'll be honest to say, in case of serious illness or accident, I'd not want anyone other Bumrungrad and Samitivej. Most of the plans I've looked at, the cheaper ones, are too low in Room and Board to pay for Bumrungrad for a solo room. Samitivej is a bit cheaper. Also important that the plans can pay for ICU room rates at Bumrungrad and Samitivej.

What's the best play for me to get good health insurance that has direct billing and won't be difficult in an emergency and accept tourist visas? I looked at things like STV180 from Pacific Cross, but they seem to have a ton of exclusions and difficult to figure out whats going on. I just want something like BUPA Thailand had back in the day. I had some kind of health insurance back in 2013 on tourist visas, so I figure possible still? If you have an address in Thailand registered? I'm posting in this subforum because the Insurance subform seems to be pure spam now.

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.