Good Places to Live on BTS Extension (Bearing - Pak Nam)

[drguid]

Hi,

 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to good places to live on the Eastern extension of the BTS? I've found a teaching job I like the look of out there. The school suggests I live in Bearing but it looks kind of boring. To my untrained eye Samrong looks better. Or am I better off having a slightly longer reverse commute and living in Phra Khanong or On Nut? I used to live in Ekkamai so I'm more familiar with those areas.

 

BTW I'm not really into street food and don't speak Thai (I'm an evacuee from China ????). Somewhere with a Western supermarket and farang friendly bars would be good. I'm semi retired so I'm not strictly limited by the poor salary.

 

Small other question: Is there an easy way to go to Pattaya from there? I seem to remember that the Ekkamai bus stops off at a bus station somewhere en route, but I don't know where that is. Maybe it's easier just to go to Ekkamai.

[uhuh]

Samrong can be dangerous. Especially deep in the sois and at night.  It's not a good neighborhood. GF once watched how someone was beaten up until he was lying on the ground and did not move anymore. That was in broad daylight in front of BigC Samrong.

 

Bus to Pattaya stops at Bangna, on the Bangna-Trat highway near the junction with Sukhumvit. Not very convenient to walk there. 

[drtreelove]

19 minutes ago, uhuh said:

Samrong can be dangerous. Especially deep in the sois and at night.  It's not a good neighborhood. GF once watched how someone was beaten up until he was lying on the ground and did not move anymore. That was in broad daylight in front of BigC Samrong.

 

Bus to Pattaya stops at Bangna, on the Bangna-Trat highway near the junction with Sukhumvit. Not very convenient to walk there. 

Disregard this unnecessary fear mongering!  In front of Big C Samrong is not "deep in the sois", its on Sukhumvit Rd right at Imperial World, and late at night anything can happen, anywhere. Samrong is not any more dangerous than anyplace in the big city. 

 

There is not much English or Chinese language anywhere past OnNut, and no "farang friendly" beer bars like in lower Sukhumvit if that's what you mean.  But the reduction in density of population and a little better environment, closer to the water, is past Samrong, further out as far as you want to live on that line. We live past Kheha station and like it, 4 bedroom townhouse for 6000/mo. Condos on the water at Miami Bayside for 6000 and up. But family life and a car make it much different that what you are looking for.

 

Finding an affordable apartment near a station and near grocery shopping and restaurants will be the challenge. 

There are condos with affordable rentals near the BTS stations at Samrong, Chang Erawan (check Aspire condos and others here), Paknam and others. But the best shopping and restaurant selection right at the station, would in my opinion be at Samrong with Imperial World, or better yet Praek Sa with the Robinson mall on one side and Big C on the other. A lot of the housing is older and occupied by industrial workers, which is the primary demographic in Samut Prakan, but there are renovations and new apartments going up since the extension was completed. My wife is a real estate agent, PM for contact info. 

Samut Prakan immigration is right at the PakNam BTS station, and is very easy to work with from my experience. 

See Richard Barrow's site:  http://paknam.com/

 

 

[bkk6060]

Oh Nuts is good and inexpensive.

Spend your spare time walking around Tesco lots of older falang they love it.

[buick]

i'd go for phra khanong, W district is nearby offering a wide variety of food options. 

[stbkk]

The other advantage of living 'closer in' (e.g. On-Nut, Phrakhanong) is that as you mention, you are doing  a reverse commute so the sky train journey would be much more bearable. 

[Khun Yaaai]

You're correct that soi Bearing doesn't provide much western style entertainment, but neither do stations further south down the line. Simple not comparable with the lifestyle you have access to around Ekkamai.

I live in proximity of BTS Samrong and couldn't recommend it for anyone looking for 'farrang friendly' bars, neither Imperial World Samrong which is the closest we got to a western style establishment is very enjoyable imo, but that's personal preference I suppose based on the mix of visitors there. It's not a big problem however to drive over to Central Plaza Bagna or (better) Seacon Square/Mega Bangna.

As for the safety of the Samrong area, as a previous poster correctly stated, it's advisable to stay off the back sois especially after dark as the drug abuse and general level of poverty is much more visible here than north of the Bangna Trat highway. Add to this that police presence is very rare apart from Sukhumvit.

If you want to lower your overall cost of living it's probably a good idea to move out south, but if entertainment/access to bars is more important then you could probably consider to stay where you are and take the BTS as you will pass the commute wave going into the city in the morning and back in the evening.
 

[samsensam]

3 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Oh Nuts is good and inexpensive.

Spend your spare time walking around Tesco lots of older falang they love it.

 

or sitting in the food court, the lesser spotted elderly farang can be spotted there too...

[tom in bangkok]

We live on the extension close to highway 9 (expressway 9? motorway 9?) on Sukhumvit and I like to call it "local" -- i.e. I've only seen a couple of permanent westerners around. I mention the highway as a positive because if you drive it's definitely better to be close to a highway onramp than sit in Sukhumvit road traffic for 10 minutes just to get on the highway.

 

There are two ladies at Big C near Pu Chao BTS that speak English but it's not hard to get by without any Thai unless you're completely lost. Imperial Samrong is okay but nothing special.

 

There are at least two apartment buildings being built near Chaeng Erawan BTS and I think one is almost finished at Pu Chao BTS.

 

Samut Prakan immigration is easy to get to and (in my experience) has short wait times if you come after lunch -- and it definitely beats driving/commuting all the way up to CW (if living on the border of Bangkok province). However, the Samut Prakan immigration office has more requirements for extensions and the like so it would be worth comparing requirements with CW and Samut Prakan immigration first.

 

There's not much in terms of casual bars that I've found; we usually head up to Onnut or Thong Lor for that. Having said that, there's a beer bar near Chaeng Erawan BTS (or it might be the naval academy station) that seems pretty chill. Western food is a bit lacking unless you're happy with having fast food and pizza a lot. If you live with or have a Thai friend nearby then it'll be a lot easier since you don't speak/read Thai.

[flbkk]

I’ve lived in Udomsuk for a long time, in a ratty but cheap Thai building. It’s a huge street food area, though you may not care about that. Also there a new mall with a Tops Market at Punnawitti, the next BTS stop, see what you think. Otherwise at On Nut there are many condos with foreigners and Tesco, Big C, and McDonald’s. Opposite Tesco on the same side of Sukhumvit, there’s a Complex with a farang bar. 

[Thainess]

7 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Oh Nuts is good and inexpensive.

Spend your spare time walking around Tesco lots of older falang they love it.

On Nut is only for poor English teachers. Further out is only for very poor English teachers without any qualifications.

[rabang]

I stayed one month about two years ago in the middle of BTS Samrong and Bearing. It was a quiet place and the condo was kind of nice, new and not too populated so there was plenty of space and not too many people running around. It was deep in a soi and a bit too far to walk to either of those BTS stations, especially considering the soi dogs making it often unpleasant. Other than that the area is a dump. Anything beyond On Nut doesn't have much to offer to a westerner unless you want relly basic stuff. Not centraI enough to have enough foreigners to cater and too urban to have a sort of semi ruralish feeling that you can get in Nonthaburi. I have also been all the way to Khe Ha and visited Pak Nam in Samut Prakan many times even before the BTS extension. There is nothing particularly interesting there either, except maybe the temple area. I just happen to like to explore cities where I am living in. But the truth is it is dirty, smelly and ugly like the vast majority of similar places. I noticed especially the stench from the river at BTS Khe Ha.

[unblocktheplanet]

On 2/17/2020 at 7:00 PM, flbkk said:

I’ve lived in Udomsuk for a long time, in a ratty but cheap Thai building. It’s a huge street food area, though you may not care about that. Also there a new mall with a Tops Market at Punnawitti, the next BTS stop, see what you think. Otherwise at On Nut there are many condos with foreigners and Tesco, Big C, and McDonald’s. Opposite Tesco on the same side of Sukhumvit, there’s a Complex with a farang bar. 

I've been on Udomsuk for nearly 30 years. Makro is a big plus for groceries. BTS station & soon more skytrain on Srinakharin. Easy access to Central Bangna & Big C, Villa at Paradise Park, Tesco Lotus at Seacon. Friendly area. 

[Operator2002]

I don't think Samrong or Bearing is good for stay - I felt uncomfortable there- like I was lone Westerner among Thai people there even when visiting Imperial Samrong mall (though it was short visits). 

I lived near Central Bangna (our office was in Central Bangna tower) for several years - even that area felt better - only drawback - no Skytrain - you can use buses/taxi only.

What is good - the bus stop to Pattaya is near - and in 2,5 hours you can get to Pattaya (sometimes even faster back) - no need to go to Ekkamai. Though it takes some time to wait for the bus at the stop - usually 10-20 min.

The bus stop: https://goo.gl/maps/o4azbrLcp1ahaNrs5

If you will be going from Samrong side to the Pattaya bus stop - there are non-ac green buses (365) - running very often though ususally quite crowded - this bus goes further to Mega Bangna and to Macro Bangplee/Market Village.