mauiguy90

Nowadays anyplace close to a skytrain/subway that has a good hospital close by and a market like Villa with a Western selection of foods is good. That fits a number of locations, however, a place that also has lower pollution levels is most desirable. Parts of Thonglo, Mo Chit, and Soi Ari are good candidates but with the expanding mass transit system, areas like Wong Wian Yai might also be fine as well.

Sutti Mansion is the apartment located right under the BTS station at Thonglo. Haven't looked at the rooms myself but you can take a quick look at it here:

http://www.easyhomes.tv/property/sutti-mansion-thong-lo--178

Not a new place but very conveniently located and relatively cheap.

Depends where you want to set up camp. On soi Rangnam, close to Victory Monument, there is a serviced apartment called Starry Place with a website by the same name (www.starryplace.com ). They have nicely decorated 1 bedroom units for reasonable prices and weekly rates, last time I checked. Its less than a 10 minute walk to the skytrain located closeby to the Century Shopping Center (has a movie theater which might come in handy and lots of reasonably priced name brand fast food places. Soi Rangnam is a generally safe area and although there can be a lot of traffic at night, it tends to be slow moving.

The Adelphi Grand on Sukhumvit 41 is a nice place with serviced apartment facilities in a quiet soi. They have larger units including one bedroom units although they will be a little pricey. However, the units have washing machines, a full kitchen and most amenities a family would need. It is located closeby to a Tops Supermarket and is walking distance from the Phrom Phong BTS station. If you are staying longer term, you can negotiate with the sales manager about the price, although agoda.com has good discounted prices.

Best of luck!

There are two apartment complex located close to the Thonglo BTS. One is called SK Mansion, which is located directly on Sukhumvit between Sukhumvit 38 and 40. Monthly rent runs from 7000 baht a month for longer term rentals and probably 2-3000 baht more per month for a short term rental. They have wifi for an additional 500 baht or so, plus electrical and water expenses. The rooms are not large at this price but quite clean and nice. The building is less than 2 years old. FYI, they also rent by the night for an advertised price of 600 baht a night, so that you can check it out the facilities for a couple nights and then decide.

There is another apartment complex that is directly under the Thonglo BTS, which has rooms starting from 10,000 baht per month. Its a bit older and I actually haven't looked inside the rooms so can't say what they are like but if you want immediate access to the BTS, you can't beat the location. Will try to get the name and contact numbers for both of these places.

A friend of mine lived at 38 Mansion. It is an older building but from I have seen, fairly well maintained. It does have a decent sized pool, which the other two don't, as well as a restaurant and minimart. The rooms are generous in size, although you probably have the specifics of that. It is a bit of a walk to the BTS, but the road has been recently renovated so its a nice walk and as mentioned before, it is a short motorcycle ride to the beginning of the soi.

Just to mention that soi 38 is well known for its food stalls which open mainly at night and have a variety of foods, so that you can eat something different and delicious every night of the week without going very far. There is also a hostel located on the left side of the soi, closeby to a Christian church.

Boss Tower on Rama IV is not that close to the BTS, although it is also a motorcycle ride away. I've only visited there once and wasn't that impressed for the prices they charge but the rooms are a decent size and they do have some desirable amenities. On the other hand, there is an entire thread devoted to the roach problems in the building.

Used to live at Suk 36 and also play tennis often at Suk 38, so I am very familiar with this area. Good luck with the apartment hunting!

Many buildings in the area have lots of unoccupied units. There are many buildings, more going up, and although the area is growing, it's still pretty quiet.

Having said that, though, I was on an "isolated" small beach near other more popular ones, yesterday, and the bleedin' place was absolutely crowded! Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian flags hanging from in front of three or four beach restaurant bars!

It's growing in popularity, so although many units may be unoccupied (and they could be sold, just the Bangkokians who own them aren't in residence) it will change.

Thanks again! My friend has been checking for updates and appreciates all the feedback. Have a great holiday season in Rayong/Samed!

Thanks for the input Steve and JusMe! My friend is planning on living there intermittently until she retires. She may end up trying to rent her place in the short term. The realtors guaranteed her an 8% return on her property if she does choose to rent it out. I'd appreciate any further info on the condo's potential rent and the building in general. As mentioned before, she wants to know why her building seems to have numerous unoccupied units. Thanks!

A friend of mine from Australia is about to purchase a condo on the beach at Ban Phe. Its 57 sq. meters and selling for between 1.125-1.2 million baht. Its called The Royal Rayong and it's on Mae Ramphueng Beach, Rayong. The main real estate agent is named D2 Real Estate Co (the owner's name is Jens) and the agents who showed her the unit the second time are called Rayong Home and Land. Its sounds like a great buy but there are questions about why so many rooms in the building are vacant and the price is so low. Also would like to know about problems with industrial pollution, if any. If anyone can give feedback about this area and condo, it would be appreciated. Thanks!

I don't know about what makes the women happy, if you give your security gang a bottle of the 200+ baht bottle of whiskey they will be seriously impressed. Throw in a big bottle of coke or two and you will be their favorite tenant all year long! Just don't count on having great security that night...

Glad someone has the Christmas spirit! Merry Christmas!!!

Great game between Texas and Michigan State on True Sports 4 this morning! Texas has played two quality opponents this week--North Carolina and Michigan State. Now there's an ACC game on between Florida State and Georgia Tech. Even though its a replay, there's some great coverage of college basketball on UBC! Amazing!!!

There is also a prune extract sold in most stores that you can try. Costs about 35 baht per bottle. The bottles are green and the size of a small vitamin bottle. The thai word for prune is "luuk plaam haeng".

For an herbal treatment, you might try going to the Lemon Farm organic food store, located in Suk. 39, close to the stoplight at the middle of the soi. There is also a Whole Foods market at the Ekamai Medical Building (not the same as the US chain) that may have something you can use.

Going to the doctor as well, makes a lot of sense, at least to put your mind at ease!

Here's a post about constipation that might help:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Constipation...ies-t32328.html

Thanks for sharing your diet! All kinds of dweebs on thaivisa that make you wish you hadn't posted however lots of people read the posts and benefit from them. This is an especially tough topic to post on since weight is always a subject people like to ridicule.

Depends a lot on your location...Regular thai massage ranges from 100 baht an hour to more than 1000 baht per hour. Tends to be more expensive in Nana and Chitlom area. Spas in general cost more than the average massage shop. There's a new one opening up at the corner of Asoke BTS station called Urban Retreat. Another at Thonglo, closeby to the exotic car dealership about 100 meters from Sukhumvit. Less expensive but not so convenient is Healthland at Ekamai--not a spa but a nice place to have a reasonably priced massage.

Close to the Emporium, there are a couple places that I know of which are good. In Sukhumvit 33/1, a place called At Ease which has a spa like feeling to it, without the extreme prices. Costs about 350 baht for a two hour thai massage. Also next to the Queen's Imperial Park Hotel, Sukhumvit 22, my favorite place is May Massage, which charges 300 baht for a 2 hour thai massage. (Its the largest shop closest to the hotel--2 smaller ones are sex massage places.)

If you want cheap, Go to Onnut. Sukhumvit 77/1, which connects to Carrefour, has about 6 or more shops with 100 baht per hour massages. Most of the places do a fair job at massages--don't expect them to speak a lot of English. Also a couple 100 baht places close to Cowboy but they do sex massages, as well.

Enjoy your massage!

True Visions has the American Sports Network (ASN) which does telecast some college basketball games. Saw UCLA play against Kansas last week. Although the game was not that close, it was nice to watch Kansas play. They do show some good teams but not sure how they select the games to be telecasted. Hopefully they will have full coverage of March Madness!

ASN is part of the True Visions silver package and also the platinum package. There are also some other games shown on the True Sports Channel, which is part of the gold and platinum package. Not cheap to watch US sports but at least there is some coverage now.

Have never seen them for sale in Bangkok. Boots is probably your best bet but even that's unlikely. Reading the manual, there are apparently service centers in Australia and New Zealand (also UK, Canada and Ireland). Their website is www.neilmed.com and www.sinusrinse.com .If you are desperate, I can let you have some packets. PM me.

When I first moved here, I had a bad case of "tong sia"(10 days). After several days of suffering, I took some meds my girlfriend got from a pharmacist that she uses. I felt a little better, but it continued for another 5 or so days so I went to a clinic. When I showed the doctor the meds I had, he laughed and gave me Norflaxacin. One pill later, I was all better. I don't get sick that often but when I do, I take Norflaxacin. It works--very fast. No suffering required!!!

I'm all for natural methods of dealing with health problems but I don't like spending endless hours in the bathroom. Next time I'm ill, I will remember to have a healthy serving of natural yogurt to restore the healthy bacteria after I'm all better.

Saw an air mattress at Carrefour for about 500 baht also. Was on sale but that was several weeks ago.

Taipan Hotel has a Christmas Eve spread for 500 baht ++. Its not the Oriental Hotel but its a good spread for the price. According to the menu, it includes shrimp cocktail, salmon with obster such, roasted duck with baked beans, New Zealand Roast Beef, roast turkey with stuff and pudding. The price for Christmas lunch is even better--350 baht++ with a menu including bbq ham, salmon, roast turkey and an assortment of other goodies. Sorry, no Christmas dinner scheduled but if since the Taipan is located a block away from Soi Cowboy, you can have a buffet of Christmas Santa's helpers for a late snack!!!

There's a nice condo called Plus 38, located in Sukhumvit 38. A one bedroom will be in your price range, although they are difficult to come by. Here's one I found while I was browsing this morning:

http://www.condothai.com/showdetail.asp?ID=1&pro=7773

Its listed by Sun Property agency: http://www.condothai.com/index.asp

fyi, I have no connection with the agency or property. Just enjoy looking at real estate listings....now if I only had money!!!

Have fun hunting around!

Yep, Dairy Fresh has lots of sugar and other ingredients that are bad for you. That's probably why it tastes 10 times better than any other yogurt...I suspect it has a higher cream content than most yogurts. Tastes like ice cream and good for you--impossible!

I used to think that all rental contracts are the same. I had problems with the air conditioner in my place and found out that the owner had written in a provision that the tenant is responsible for all repairs to the premises including appliances. Even though the air conditioner is over 10 years old, they expected me to pay for repairs. I ended up negotiating to pay for half the repairs including freon replacement(twice over 6 months now). Its a ridiculous provision but since I signed the contract, I have no choice but to pay up.

What soi is that on? I searched in google but couldn't find anything.

Its a new coffeeshop, located on the main soi between Sukhumvit 33/1 and 35. Just walk the area and you will find it even tho' its not very big. Went by yesterday and they did have a number of customers there.

The SM Grand at Nana Sukhumvit 4 does shorter term rentals if they have apartments available. The SM Grand is a very nice apartment complex, which has attractively furnished rooms. I don't have a direct contact number for them at present however, here is a link to mrroomfinder which lists the studios at 20,000 baht per month. Generally that's inclusive of electricity, cable and phone services, however, not sure if this has changed recently.

Here's the link:

http://www.mrroomfinder.com/detail.php?id=...5662de26193ae87

Thanks mauiguy90 I will check it out.

I did look at the TCDC and they have a fantastic library but it's open to members only.

You might also check out the coffeeshop called "Chaa by the Park", which has an upstairs area that could meet your needs.

I will be in BKK next week staying off Suk 22 so I think I will try it out.

I will take my motosai though, bugger walking that far.

FYI There is a motorcycle stand at the beginning of the soi you can use. The motorcycle guys probably recognize the name Himalaya although I hate to think how the thai pronounciation of the word sounds like. Maybe "Hi-ma-ma-ma-ma...." or something like that. If they don't understand, tell them "Soot soi" or the end of the soi. Its before the end of the soi so keep your eyes out for the Himalaya sign on the left.

Thankou eek, thankyou mauiguy90

mauiguy90 i made it along to the meeting today but i only caught the last 15 - 20 minutes maybe you were there and saw me lookin rather nervous and unsure of myself XD I will definately make the next meeting on the 10th of Jan and hopefully ill get a better grasp of things and also properly introduce myself. I completely forgot my manners and failed to do so when given the oppurtunity sorry! Once again thanks so much for the pointer

Hern,

Glad you made it to the meeting. Friends of mine go there regularly, altho' I don't go myself. A number of them get together regularly and also attend Dharma meetings. If I hear of any such meetings, I will PM you.