Settling In Cm, Need Neighborhood Suggestions

[clokwise]

After 1 year living here in CM and renting a townhouse, my thai wife and I are ready to buy a proper house and settle down.

We've recently been looking at several of the homes in the moobans, such as Koolpuntville and some others which I can't recall the names. These homes generally look very nice, and the moobans seem very quiet and secure. But overall, I get an overall impression that these moobans are rather sterile and cookie cutter, and the architecture is rather generic. I can even almost feel the icy glare of Stepford wives from inside the lifeless homes as we drive down the empty mooban streets. I am still a couple decades away from retirement age, so I'm not looking for a retirement community, nor a community with mainly empty nest couples. We do not have kids, and we don't want kids, though a neighborhood with kids is perfectly acceptable.

Budget is about 8 to 10 million baht. We'd prefer to buy a completed house, or a second-hand house, as we're ready to move in now.

Basically, as an artist, I need to live in a neighborhood with a little more flavour and colour and life, and live in a home which isn't a mirror image of the home across the street. Surely such a neighborhood exists here! Anyone have any suggestions?

Edited July 14, 2009 by clokwise

[elektrified]

There are many regular moobaans which are not krongaan baans (housing developments). Is there any particular area that you like more than others?

[bluweyze]

You could try looking around Mae Rim. It's a lovely area with views of the mountains and not at all sterile but really everything is in the eye of the beholder. There are some individual houses for sale and the area will have more high class housing in the future because there are one or two projects on the cards.

[Shazza]

Lakeview Park #1 is a quiet moobaan with fake lakes... the houses are not all the same and there are varying sizes in there. It is on the road to MaeJoh, just a wee way down from Ram 2 hospital.... go up Mae Joh Road, take the u-turn that is just after the Caltex Station, if you get to Rim Ping supermarket, you've gone too far.... then look out for a sign with Elvis written on it, then just after that you'll (if you're lucky) see a Lands and Houses Lake Veiw Park sign... turn in between the two blocks of offices (on one side there is a Sharp sign)... then you'll be in there... perhaps the guards at the gate can tell you where to look for houses for sale. It's a quiet place and nice to walk around at night and has many different types of birds and animals.... not cookie cutter but still a moobaan....

[Sansai Sam]

Baan Suonnonsee is an old but nice moo baan. It's right across the street from Rimping and Rhuen Chok market which is very convenient. You go up the Mae Rim Road just pass Rimping and Rhuem Chok and take a U-Turn just after the gas station. The entrance to the moo baan is not in english but there is a big seafood restaurant at the entrance so it's hard to miss. Lot's of variety in tenants...kids and no kids. I don't think any two homes are alike.

[clokwise]

Thanks so much for the advice so far. I like living within the moat area, where we live now, because it's very convenient for just about everything, but I realize the housing options are somewhat limited here. I also like the idea of a secure moobaan because we do not intend to live in the house year round and it would be comforting to know that the odds of the house being burgled while we're away are much lower. Or is all that security just for show and not really an indication of actual security?

How about older neighborhoods? It's hard to judge the quality and longevity of a new house so it's comforting to know that a house hasn't fallen over in its first 10~20 years. Plus these neighborhoods seem to have more character IMO. We're ok with a fixer upper if it's nothing major.

BTW, are there any recommended agents with a good portfolio of properties?

[anonymouse]

and it would be comforting to know that the odds of the house being burgled while we're away are much lower. Or is all that security just for show and not really an indication of actual security?

I'd say the quality of security varies with different moo baans, we've had two burglaries that I know of in ours [ I've been living there three years]. One guy was caught in the act and the second burglary was the moo baan office next door to the security guards hut

Personally I wouldn't rely on the security but once you get in with the neighbours I'm sure that your house will be kept an eye on.

[earlofwindermere]

Ing Doi is a nice place. It is on the canal road about 2 km North of Huey Kaew Road. The homes are large and so are the lots. Each home is different and not cookie-cutter.

[benton]

After 1 year living here in CM and renting a townhouse, my thai wife and I are ready to buy a proper house and settle down.

We've recently been looking at several of the homes in the moobans, such as Koolpuntville and some others which I can't recall the names. These homes generally look very nice, and the moobans seem very quiet and secure. But overall, I get an overall impression that these moobans are rather sterile and cookie cutter, and the architecture is rather generic. I can even almost feel the icy glare of Stepford wives from inside the lifeless homes as we drive down the empty mooban streets. I am still a couple decades away from retirement age, so I'm not looking for a retirement community, nor a community with mainly empty nest couples. We do not have kids, and we don't want kids, though a neighborhood with kids is perfectly acceptable.

Budget is about 8 to 10 million baht. We'd prefer to buy a completed house, or a second-hand house, as we're ready to move in now.

Basically, as an artist, I need to live in a neighborhood with a little more flavour and colour and life, and live in a home which isn't a mirror image of the home across the street. Surely such a neighborhood exists here! Anyone have any suggestions?

Mine's for sale- 1.8mill 3 bedroom, one level, fully furnished, ADSL, Satellite, 8km south of city..check it out and mail me.

[0zz1]

With your budget u can get almost any house in CM =)

anyway go to check out Lanna Country Garden, you might like it a lot its in Soi Chank Khyen, near the mountains. They building some condos around it and I got worried that it would be ruined but last time visited there its still quiet and nice.

here is a map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp...016426&z=17

There is another one on the Sameong Road... perhaps Country Garden? Which also looked nice. In Lanna Country Garden I like the thing that there are not 2 house that looks same, they all different and they all have beautiful gardens that the moo bahn takes care of.

[0zz1]

Ing Doi is a nice place. It is on the canal road about 2 km North of Huey Kaew Road. The homes are large and so are the lots. Each home is different and not cookie-cutter.

I agree Ing Doi is also nice... and I like the North-West side of the Canal Road... after Huaw Kaew... a lot less traffic there. The Chang Khyen area just behind Ing Doi is my favorite in CM, unfortenately not living there anymore

[Asmerom]

BTW, are there any recommended agents with a good portfolio of properties?

I like browsing through the properties on www.chiangmaihouse.com

[PeaceBlondie]

I spent 2.5 years in Chiang Mai Lakeland. It's over 20 years old, half the lots are empty. Not cookie-cutter, many big homes. Canal Road, south of CMU.