Is The River too far out to live?

[NewbieInBangkok]

14 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Ill just chime in to say that your condo sould be selected for transport. Yer hubby has to go to work, so pick a place with easy access to the highway. Since you are going to TL or PP, you have easy access as long as you are on a train line. But his road line needs to come first, sitting in BKK traffic with a driver sucks the same as driving in BKK traffic. Its traffic.

 

Personally, I think Central Bangkok which I define as Sala Daeng into Prom Prong/Thong Lo, is touristy, over priced and/or seedy. Choose wisely

True...but the only info we can go on is that all his coworkers live between TL and PP.   He will likely have to have business dinners with them in the city on a regular basis.

 

It was indeed the seedy aspect of Phrom Phong that I was concerned about and I’d rather be away from the tourist areas.

 Where would you recommend?  

[Matzzon]

1 hour ago, NewbieInBangkok said:

40-60 mins according to google maps depending of time of day

And Google know nothing about the traffic. Most of the time you will have to add 1-1/2 hour for congestion.

[NewbieInBangkok]

10 minutes ago, wordchild said:

I think you have to consider your husband’s commute first, because from the wrong location, even getting a short distance, in the morning traffic,  to get onto the highway can be a bit of a nightmare. Maybe focus on ease of highway access first and foremost and stress that to your agent.  From that perspective , mid Sukhumvit is a bit less attractive, and maybe better to consider either Ploenchit area , where you are close to the highway or further out, past Ekhami, also with highway  access and which is also cheaper. I use the airport a great deal (almost weekly)  and have mostly lived in the Ploenchit area during  my time in Bangkok: on a good day, early morning, I can be at the airport in 30/35 minutes from where I live, even a bad day normally under 50 minutes . It would be even quicker from the Phrakanong/Bang Na area. 

Good info...I didn’t realise Ploenchit would be easier to get to the highway than from PP and TL.  I’ll take a closer look at the condos around there.

 

What time does rush hour start?  My husband has flexitime but is thinking that he’d leave for work at 6:30am.  Is this early enough to beat the traffic or not really?

[NewbieInBangkok]

10 minutes ago, Matzzon said:

And Google know nothing about the traffic. Most of the time you will have to add 1-1/2 hour for congestion.

Ok....I thought google maps incorporated current traffic and congestion.  I know it changes the commute times when I check at different times of day.

 

But I’ll take that into account..thanks.

[NewbieInBangkok]

In view of the comments about traffic....is there a good app for accurate and up-to-date traffic in Bangkok?

[Nyezhov]

2 hours ago, NewbieInBangkok said:

True...but the only info we can go on is that all his coworkers live between TL and PP.   He will likely have to have business dinners with them in the city on a regular basis.

 

It was indeed the seedy aspect of Phrom Phong that I was concerned about and I’d rather be away from the tourist areas.

 Where would you recommend?  

tell me where he will be working, area wise. Prom Pong isnt quite as seedy as Asoke and Nana btw

[Airalee]

49 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Prom Pong isnt quite as seedy as Asoke and Nana btw

“Quite”  being the operative word.  It’s just more discrete.

[Nyezhov]

6 minutes ago, Airalee said:

“Quite”  being the operative word.  It’s just more discrete.

Yeah. The whores are more behind closed doors In Phrom Pong. Plus its more of an Asian scene.

 

You want to catch a laugh dude, catch a buzz and go to Thong Lo BTS and watch the falangs going into Tulip or whatever the name of that famous brothel is. Some of them get all furtive and actually look around to see if someone is watching. Those are the tourists. You can get a snack and a Cha Manao right there aound the corner too. Better than Netflix.

[Airalee]

14 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Yeah. The whores are more behind closed doors In Phrom Pong. Plus its more of an Asian scene.

 

You want to catch a laugh dude, catch a buzz and go to Thong Lo BTS and watch the falangs going into Tulip or whatever the name of that famous brothel is. Some of them get all furtive and actually look around to see if someone is watching. Those are the tourists. You can get a snack and a Cha Manao right there aound the corner too. Better than Netflix.

Half the sois around there are veritable “walks of shame”.  

 

I thought the famous ones were on soi 33.  Or is that 31?  Or maybe 22, 24 or 26?  24.1 is more colorful than a supermarket detergent aisle.

[Kinnock]

5 hours ago, NewbieInBangkok said:

I just checked the list of condos we can choose from and the cheapest Domus one they have is 130k so a bit over budget.  The only Athenee one they have looks ok but nothing special.  Worth taking a look maybe.

The ones in that area that I liked the look of are in;

Magnolia Ratchadamri

Oriental Residence 

The Rajdamri

The Park Chidlom

Millenium

 

 

I've always wanted to live in something with a river view, but my work, social life and shopping always happens in the Chidlom to Bang Na area so for the last few years I've lived in the lower Sukhumvit area.

 

From your list, The Park is 'HiSo' but its the wrong end of Soi Chidlom, so every day you will have bad traffic just getting to the Expressway and BTS and its a bit of a walk to anywhere.

 

Oriental is nice and more convenient, the Rajdamri is a fading old leasehold property.

 

Magnolia is good and new, but close to the wrong BTS line.

 

Athene is near BTS and Central Chidlom, not too bad getting to expressway, bit of a soulless area, but the pool area can be noisy at weekends with embassy ex-pats and their kids

 

I'd consider some of the lower rise condo units and houses around Phrom Pong and near Benjasiri Park, Benjakitti Park or around Ploenchitt area near Lumpini Park.  The Parks give some open space and there's lots of restaurants and shops.

 

The high-profile high rise condos you mention are the preferred condos for people concerned about their address - but in practice their infinity pools, coffee shops, gyms, golf ranges and massage rooms are unused and of no value on a daily basis, plus you spend half your life in the lift.  Low rise or a house has much more real-world value, and if facing a park you get some open views.

 

Travel to near the airport will be a drag from anywhere in the Central Business District (CBD) though.  If I had to do that everyday I'd go nuts.  

 

My office is in the CBD, so living there (in a rented house after trying several high rise condos in various locations) works well for me.

 

You mention your partner will have a driver - I did that for the first two years - yes I could work in the car on the way to and from the office, but really that's just extending your working day by 2 hours, and I got tired of it after the first year.

 

Bang Na and On Nut are worth a look too.  Not as prestigious as the CBD, but closer to the airport and the area is a bit more 'real'.  Depends on if you want to live in Thailand or 'Little Japan/Korea/Singapore/India I guess.

 

Also consider that if its you that forces your partner to make a long commute each day so you can be near the shops and restaurants, he may start to resent this ...... and Bangkok has 5 women to every man, and at least 50% of those women are looking for a foreign husband.  You may think this rude or impertinent, but Bangkok puts a massive strain on any relationship, so my recommendation is to think about who makes the compromises.

 

Also consider that if your husband has the car and driver, you will need to be close to the BTS ..... very close in the monsoon season.

 

[geisha]

HI, can’t you spend a few weeks in a hotel ? I can’t imagine choosing a place so fast, especially Bangkok. There is a storage place or two well placed and very cheap if you need. I love the river too, but think of your daily comfort, and your husbands morning nightmare. Also think of not having the sun on your side, very important for me. On the other hand, a pool with sunshine is better as in the shade they can get quite cold which I hate. YOuncould do all this easily if you have time to look around, worth it if you are going to be spending 2/3 years there. Good luck and enjoy.

 

 

 

[NewbieInBangkok]

2 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

tell me where he will be working, area wise. Prom Pong isnt quite as seedy as Asoke and Nana btw

- near Khan na yao

- true but still seedier than I’d like ????

[NewbieInBangkok]

57 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

I've always wanted to live in something with a river view, but my work, social life and shopping always happens in the Chidlom to Bang Na area so for the last few years I've lived in the lower Sukhumvit area.

 

From your list, The Park is 'HiSo' but its the wrong end of Soi Chidlom, so every day you will have bad traffic just getting to the Expressway and BTS and its a bit of a walk to anywhere.

 

Oriental is nice and more convenient, the Rajdamri is a fading old leasehold property.

 

Magnolia is good and new, but close to the wrong BTS line.

 

Athene is near BTS and Central Chidlom, not too bad getting to expressway, bit of a soulless area, but the pool area can be noisy at weekends with embassy ex-pats and their kids

 

I'd consider some of the lower rise condo units and houses around Phrom Pong and near Benjasiri Park, Benjakitti Park or around Ploenchitt area near Lumpini Park.  The Parks give some open space and there's lots of restaurants and shops.

 

The high-profile high rise condos you mention are the preferred condos for people concerned about their address - but in practice their infinity pools, coffee shops, gyms, golf ranges and massage rooms are unused and of no value on a daily basis, plus you spend half your life in the lift.  Low rise or a house has much more real-world value, and if facing a park you get some open views.

 

Travel to near the airport will be a drag from anywhere in the Central Business District (CBD) though.  If I had to do that everyday I'd go nuts.  

 

My office is in the CBD, so living there (in a rented house after trying several high rise condos in various locations) works well for me.

 

You mention your partner will have a driver - I did that for the first two years - yes I could work in the car on the way to and from the office, but really that's just extending your working day by 2 hours, and I got tired of it after the first year.

 

Bang Na and On Nut are worth a look too.  Not as prestigious as the CBD, but closer to the airport and the area is a bit more 'real'.  Depends on if you want to live in Thailand or 'Little Japan/Korea/Singapore/India I guess.

 

Also consider that if its you that forces your partner to make a long commute each day so you can be near the shops and restaurants, he may start to resent this ...... and Bangkok has 5 women to every man, and at least 50% of those women are looking for a foreign husband.  You may think this rude or impertinent, but Bangkok puts a massive strain on any relationship, so my recommendation is to think about who makes the compromises.

 

Also consider that if your husband has the car and driver, you will need to be close to the BTS ..... very close in the monsoon season.

 

Thanks...a lot of good info.

 

And no, on the contrary, it’s my husband who would prefer to live in the same vicinity as his coworkers.  I did suggest looking for a house nearer his work.  Anyway, the list of accommodation available to us, albeit a very long list, does not have any houses or apartments any closer to his work.  They are all in the area between Ekkamai (none even as far as On Nut) to Silom/Sathorn and as far as Riverside - that triangle kinda.  No offence taken.

 

Advice much appreciated ????

[NewbieInBangkok]

1 hour ago, geisha said:

HI, can’t you spend a few weeks in a hotel ? I can’t imagine choosing a place so fast, especially Bangkok. There is a storage place or two well placed and very cheap if you need. I love the river too, but think of your daily comfort, and your husbands morning nightmare. Also think of not having the sun on your side, very important for me. On the other hand, a pool with sunshine is better as in the shade they can get quite cold which I hate. YOuncould do all this easily if you have time to look around, worth it if you are going to be spending 2/3 years there. Good luck and enjoy.

 

 

 

We have just 2 days in Bangkok before we have to fly back. That’s about a month before we physically move over.  (Yes, company realtor arrangement so it is possible to secure a place that far in advance). It’s a short business trip simply to find apartment and see his company.  ????‍♀️  I wish it could be longer but it is what it is.  Also company rule is that we need to decide on abode before we move from our current country.  Again ????‍♀️...company rules ????

 

Good info about the sun and the pools.  I did wonder if they would be warm enough for swimming as I’ve seen a lot of complaints about them being too cold.

 

Thank you for your advice ????

[Matzzon]

6 hours ago, NewbieInBangkok said:

Ok....I thought google maps incorporated current traffic and congestion.  I know it changes the commute times when I check at different times of day.

 

But I’ll take that into account..thanks.

Yes, you are right, Google try ro take it in to account. Failing miserably, though. ???? 

[wordchild]

8 hours ago, NewbieInBangkok said:

Good info...I didn’t realise Ploenchit would be easier to get to the highway than from PP and TL.  I’ll take a closer look at the condos around there.

 

What time does rush hour start?  My husband has flexitime but is thinking that he’d leave for work at 6:30am.  Is this early enough to beat the traffic or not really?

rush hour starts a bit later in Bangkok than most other cities i know. 6-30am is still pretty quiet esp as he would tend to be going against the traffic. His morning commute is unlikely to be much of a problem; the traffic will be more of a problem returning home afternoon or evening. Worth also considering exactly where exactly his office is around the airport as there are 2 possible highways , one that goes North of the airport and another to the South, there are also links that run between the two. they have different traffic patterns, from my experience. If one or the other is more convenient, for his office then that may also be worth considering in terms of where you live. 

 Depending on his office location the airport rail link may also be a good option, esp for his home journey. If i had to commute daily to the airport i would certainly consider that, esp if he has a driver. he can do the morning run by car then home on the train.

[Nyezhov]

5 hours ago, Kinnock said:

plus you spend half your life in the lift. 

Really dude, can we be realisitic here?

 

4 hours ago, NewbieInBangkok said:

Khan na yao

OK. Call up your Hs exact place of work. See the two expressways? Sirirat and Chulong. thats probably how he would get out there. Find a nieghborhood with easy access to either and trains. To me that would be Victory Monumet BTS, Phaya Thai BTS and Rathaprapop and Makkasan. TL out towrds Petch would be good too

[ben2talk]

5 hours ago, NewbieInBangkok said:

Thanks...a lot of good info.

 

And no, on the contrary, it’s my husband who would prefer to live in the same vicinity as his coworkers. I did suggest looking for a house nearer his work. Anyway, the list of accommodation available to us, albeit a very long list, does not have any houses or apartments any closer to his work. They are all in the area between Ekkamai (none even as far as On Nut) to Silom/Sathorn and as far as Riverside - that triangle kinda. No offence taken.

 

Advice much appreciated ????

There's no substitute for staying there and trying out the commute.

I live 1.3km from my son's school. By scooter I can ride 5km to get there going along a canal, by car I drive 15km along the roads... GPS (Google) will give me a kind of average journey time which can vary - if it states 40 minutes, the actual trip can take between 30 and 90.

 

On one day when his mother insisted on taking the car, the round trip took 3.5 hours because it started raining after we left home.

 

Best advice - take a hotel room, then look around when you're here.

[ben2talk]

10 hours ago, Matzzon said:

And Google know nothing about the traffic. Most of the time you will have to add 1-1/2 hour for congestion.

And Google also cannot keep up with police changing stuff - closing u-turns or coning off routes.

[Poppadom]

13 hours ago, NewbieInBangkok said:

Thank you for taking so much time to give info.

 

The problem we have is that we will have to decide on a few to view before we fly over to Bangkok.  Once there we will have just 1.5 days to decide which of them we will live in.  If I had longer to decide it would make things much easier.

 

There are soooo many that would be completely fine and I’m glad that the company realtor we are dealing with does not have access to everything available so that has helped to narrow things down.

 

Furnishings is important to me so I must admit I was tending to rule out the older condos because the furniture might be shabby but it is true that they have the larger rooms.

 

Decisions, decisions...

Get them to put you up in a serviced apt until you decide. That was the case with me when I relocated to Singapore in 2010. My company gave me one month to find a place. Well that turned out to be 6 weeks eventually, but this is how it should be done.

[wordchild]

i missed your post where you said he will be working in Khan Na Yao, which is a fair distance North and West of the airport, so airport link would make no sense.  His route to work would likely be Chalong Rat or Highway 9 depending on where exactly his place of work is in that area. I understand why Ekhami/Phra Kanong may be popular with his co-workers as you can access Chalong Rat easily from that location,  certainly that time of the morning. Getting home later will be a bit more of a problem. Looks like that maybe is the area you should focus on. 

[BobbyL]

Google Maps is dreadful here on a week day. I drove home from work last Friday after playing footy and it said 25 mins, whereas it ended up being nearly an hour. 

 

If he is going out towards the airport every day then I would definitely be around Thong Lor or Ekkamai with your budget. Staying down near the river would be a bad call. 

[Just Weird]

18 hours ago, wordchild said:

They also keep saying the BTS station there will close, but I don’t know when that will be.

Can you give any more information on that, please?  Which BTS station do you mean, and who keeps saying that it will be closed?

[NewbieInBangkok]

8 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Really dude, can we be realisitic here?

 

OK. Call up your Hs exact place of work. See the two expressways? Sirirat and Chulong. thats probably how he would get out there. Find a nieghborhood with easy access to either and trains. To me that would be Victory Monumet BTS, Phaya Thai BTS and Rathaprapop and Makkasan. TL out towrds Petch would be good too

Unfortunately all of the options are sort of between Ekkamai, Siam, down to Sathorn/Silom and over to Riverside.

 

But info much appreciated.

[NewbieInBangkok]

6 hours ago, ben2talk said:

There's no substitute for staying there and trying out the commute.

I live 1.3km from my son's school. By scooter I can ride 5km to get there going along a canal, by car I drive 15km along the roads... GPS (Google) will give me a kind of average journey time which can vary - if it states 40 minutes, the actual trip can take between 30 and 90.

 

On one day when his mother insisted on taking the car, the round trip took 3.5 hours because it started raining after we left home.

 

Best advice - take a hotel room, then look around when you're here.

Unfortunately we have to narrow down a shortlist and then choose during a very short business trip.  So I have to gather as much info as possible to make an informed decision.

[NewbieInBangkok]

4 hours ago, Poppadom said:

Get them to put you up in a serviced apt until you decide. That was the case with me when I relocated to Singapore in 2010. My company gave me one month to find a place. Well that turned out to be 6 weeks eventually, but this is how it should be done.

We have had that option in other countries we have been transferred to but not for Thailand apparently.  Decision has to be made my narrowing down their list to a shortlist to view during a business trip lasting just a few days a month before we move.

 

Im not fussed really as there are some lovely places within budget so I am sure we will find something we like.  We can always move again (at our expense) once in the country I guess.

[NewbieInBangkok]

4 hours ago, wordchild said:

i missed your post where you said he will be working in Khan Na Yao, which is a fair distance North and West of the airport, so airport link would make no sense.  His route to work would likely be Chalong Rat or Highway 9 depending on where exactly his place of work is in that area. I understand why Ekhami/Phra Kanong may be popular with his co-workers as you can access Chalong Rat easily from that location,  certainly that time of the morning. Getting home later will be a bit more of a problem. Looks like that maybe is the area you should focus on. 

Yes sorry...my fault as my knowledge of Bangkok is zero at the moment but growing each day with research.  I am going off of google maps and have thought things were much closer than they seem.  I think it’s near the Siam Amazing Park.  And yes, those 2 highways are the routes showing on google maps.

 

His job involves a lot of business dinners with visitors from other companies and countries so I assume they’d leave the office to get to the centre pretty early on those days.  On usual workdays he often works pretty late.  But until we get there he won’t know the culture of this branch of his company.

 

Thank you.  You continue to be very helpful.

[NewbieInBangkok]

4 hours ago, BobbyL said:

Google Maps is dreadful here on a week day. I drove home from work last Friday after playing footy and it said 25 mins, whereas it ended up being nearly an hour. 

 

If he is going out towards the airport every day then I would definitely be around Thong Lor or Ekkamai with your budget. Staying down near the river would be a bad call. 

I see.  I’ve always lived in countries where Google Maps was incredibly accurate so I guess I’ll just use it as a guide in Thailand but factor in worst case scenarios.  

 

And Thong Lor - Phrom Phong seems to be where husband would rather stay if he can’t live at the Riverside.  If he can’t get the lifestyle then at least he wants to be close to where everyone else he knows is living.

 

Thank you.

[wordchild]

1 hour ago, Just Weird said:

Can you give any more information on that, please?  Which BTS station do you mean, and who keeps saying that it will be closed?

Saphan Taksin, this has been an ongoing saga for several years now. The original plan (from the BMA) was to demolish it and provide a pedestrian walkway to connect to another station further up Sathorn ;  but in recent times that seems to have changed to a period of closure (2 years?)  to allow for the complete rebuild of the station and the addition of another track to ease the bottleneck caused by the current (single track)  design . There has been recent press comment that suggested  the closure and start of the rebuild would happen during 2019 but, so far, that has (clearly) not happened. I really have no idea what the current situation is as plans seem to be changing all the time

[Just Weird]

45 minutes ago, wordchild said:

Saphan Taksin, this has been an ongoing saga for several years now. The original plan (from the BMA) was to demolish it and provide a pedestrian walkway to connect to another station further up Sathorn ;  but in recent times that seems to have changed to a period of closure (2 years?)  to allow for the complete rebuild of the station and the addition of another track to ease the bottleneck caused by the current (single track)  design . There has been recent press comment that suggested  the closure and start of the rebuild would happen during 2019 but, so far, that has (clearly) not happened. I really have no idea what the current situation is as plans seem to be changing all the time

Thanks.

 

So the station is not going to be closed in the foreseeable future and, if it is removed, it will be replaced by a new, better one. 

 

Not much of a problem for the OP, then, I'd guess.