Security & Noise In West Side Of Old City

[NancyL]

Hubby & I are considering a long-term rental of a house in old Chiang Mai City. It is just a bit west of Siam TV (electronics) and is part of a gated (Thai) family compound. This house is right on the Soi, so it's probably the least desirable home in the compound which explains why they want to rent it.

Here we've lived in either serviced apartments or high rise condos with excellent security. We've never lived in a rented house. It does have a locked gate and bars on the windows. What is security like in that part of town? How about the noise? There isn't much traffic and the landlady said no neighbors have dogs, but that's got to be some sort of anomoly for Thailand!

Incidentally, Hubby plans to check out the noise between 2 and 4 am this coming Saturday, but we'd appreciate any recommendations, expecially about security.

[ollylama]

Hubby & I are considering a long-term rental of a house in old Chiang Mai City. It is just a bit west of Siam TV (electronics) and is part of a gated (Thai) family compound. This house is right on the Soi, so it's probably the least desirable home in the compound which explains why they want to rent it.

Here we've lived in either serviced apartments or high rise condos with excellent security. We've never lived in a rented house. It does have a locked gate and bars on the windows. What is security like in that part of town? How about the noise? There isn't much traffic and the landlady said no neighbors have dogs, but that's got to be some sort of anomoly for Thailand!

Incidentally, Hubby plans to check out the noise between 2 and 4 am this coming Saturday, but we'd appreciate any recommendations, expecially about security.

right on a soi in the old city? the soothing sound of motorcycles zipping by might very well lull you into madness.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

This house is right on the Soi, so it's probably the least desirable home in the compound which explains why they want to rent it.

Actually, no. Thais typically value road access; the closer to the road, and the bigger the road, the more valuable it is. (Rationale: With soi access you could start a little shop or restaurant or whatever, hence a higher price)

Other than that, I think the old town area is great, and really not overly noisy; for sure less noisy than the main roads outside of the old town.. Go for it!

Edited September 8, 2009 by WinnieTheKhwai

[NancyL]

Winnie, thanks for pointing that out.

The entire front "garden" area is covered with metal roofing. When asked if we could remove it for sunlight to grow decorative plants in pots (as a hobby, not a business) the landlady said yes, it was installed by a previous tenant who ran a Thai cooking school and wanted an under-cover area for classes. Also, when looking at the property and acting very interested, the landlady lowered the rent by 2000 baht/month without us asking, saying that her "asking" rate was too much for just two people living there. Maybe she expected it to be used for commercial purposes and was pleasantly surprised when two older westerners inquired about it as a home.

Edited September 8, 2009 by NancyL

[wedders]

I've lived in a rented house in a Thai area in town for more than two years, and it can be a bit pot luck. No problems with neighbours or noise for the first 18 months, then they knocked down a shack on the plot next door and started building. The noise was terrible, time to move.

Now south of the moat, in what I thought would be a quiet soi. It looks perfect. But there's noise all night - bar girls have rooms in a building next door and opposite, come and go at all hours, are often drunk and arguing with boyfriends in the small hours. In another building nearby the guy gets drunk every weekend and the karaoke starts up, full blast. He can't sing.

Next door to him there's a couple constantly beating each other up.

The police are regular visitors to the soi, we've called them ourselves a couple of times.

If you are being asked to cough up say six months' rental in advance -bad move. Only living there will reveal the drawbacks of the area.

No security problems at any time over the time I've been in Chiang Mai - one advantage of having people come and go all night is that would-be thieves are quickly spotted.

Edited September 9, 2009 by wedders