Recommended Area For 3-Month Condo Rental?

[rogervertigo]

Hello everyone,

I've been in Vietnam and Cambodia for the past 5 months and in about a week I'll arrive in Bangkok with a 60-day Tourist Visa. I'm working on my laptop as I travel and I'd like to rent a modern condo for 3 months, and I'd like to find a place pretty quickly once I arrive, since my visa will expire (after the 30-day extension) before the lease does anyway.

I'm hoping I can get some advice for an area to check, and perhaps even a real estate agent?

My top priority is finding a place with fast internet and a decent kitchen, plus is walking distance to a supermarket. I've been to Bangkok several years ago, and I've read that the Sukhumvit area is very popular with expats and such, but it also seems like it's relatively expensive since it's central to many offices. In my case I will mostly be staying home, so I'm more interested in a comfortable and modern place where I might be able to afford a nicer unit by being a bit farther out.

I'm hoping to spend around 15,000 baht/month, but I can pay more if the condo is nice and has everything I need.

Any ideas of areas where at least some expats live and I could be walking distance from a Villa or Foodland etc? Also, any advice for how to find and rent a place quickly?

Thank you.

[photosonmytravels]

That's pretty similar to what I am looking for Roger, I have been trawling though the various agents online. One of the best user friendly sites with lots of properties is Mr Room Finder but there are literally hundreds and

thousands of places to choose from. As it seems like a buyers market, I have taken a hotel for a few days and going to do a bit of leg work when I arrive early July. I have got a few on my list, and will have a look at

those, and I would expect a few more to pop up while looking. Depends how much time you have to look around.....me I have got all the time in the world, so makes sense not to rush into something.

Good Luck. Paul

[RAZZELL]

I think you'll be pushing it at 15k month in Suk. Maybe double that and you'll have a chance.

Try a bit further out but still on the BTS...OnNut..? Ladprao?

Keep us posted if you find anywhere

RAZZ

Edited June 20, 2010 by RAZZELL

[photosonmytravels]

I think you'll be pushing it at 15k month in Suk. Maybe double that and you'll have a chance.

Try a bit further out but still on the BTS...OnNut..? Ladprao?

Keep us posted if you find anywhere

RAZZ

They are loads under 15k on Suk.....................now to what standard, is a different story, and a matter of opinion, but you can doss down on Suk under half 15k no problem.

Verb1.doss down - sleep in a convenient place; "You can crash here, though it's not very comfortable"

[rogervertigo]

Thanks Paul and Razz, that's helpful info.

As Paul says, there are plenty of places in the 15K range in Sukhumvit, and I'm fine with a studio apartment (I've been living in cheap hotel rooms for almost 5 months now), so to me it's more a matter of value. I'd like to have public transport access to the city center, but I might make that trip once per week instead of every day, so it's not worth paying a lot more for a central location.

The On Nut area looks interesting, as I see there is a Lotus/Tesco right at the BTS stop. So is it true that prices generally go down the farther you get from the city center along Suk? Are there any other BTS stops out there which have nearby supermarkets and other services for non-Thai speakers?

That Mr Room Finder site does seem to have many decent options. Am I best off to just get a hotel in that general area and then walk around looking for real estate offices, or might it be better to choose among the online real estate sites?

This forum is a great help, and I'll post my final results once I get there and find a place.

[thedistillers]

For 3 months only, 15K seems low if you want a kitchen and a modern apartment...

Also there is no guarantee you'll find a place with a reliable, fast Internet connection. But I guess if you've been to Cambodia you're okay with a not-so-fast Internet connection.

[rogervertigo]

Just to wrap this story up in case anyone else is interested in the state of things...<div><br></div><div>I contacted several agencies that were listing places on Craigslist and on the Web, and several of them never bothered to even reply. Later I discovered that most of them only deal with 12-month leases. I did get a few replies so I had some things to look at once I arrived from Siem Reap.</div><div><br></div><div>I stayed at a guesthouse in the On Nut area and looked at a place out there, but it really felt too far out for what I wanted. There are definitely some Western-oriented shops, including that huge Tesco place, but it does feel like the expat community is a tiny minority out there. And also the sidewalks aren't suited for a tall person, with all the low-hanging canopies.</div><div><br></div><div>An agency that I contacted about a modern condo on Suk 6 for 16k also wanted to show me some serviced apartments, so the day after I arrived they took me to see both. It turned out that the Suk 6 condo is modern and really nice, but it's a bit small and had a weird layout that didn't really work for me. </div><div><br></div><div>The agent showed me three serviced apartments at a complex called House By The Pond. Two of the smaller one-bedrooms were 16,000/month and a larger one with a desk, comfortable chair, and a nice view, was 18k. The following morning (yesterday) I moved into the 18k one. It comes with daily maid service and internet speeds that are honestly 4 or 5 times faster than anything I was getting in Vietnam, and probably 10 times faster than anything in Cambodia. </div><div><br></div><div>The place is about 800m down Sukhumvit 22, so I'm a long-ish walk to the Asoke BTS stop and Emporium, and a bit closer to a Foodland. This particular area seems to be filled with these serviced apartment places, so it's mostly expats, but plenty of locals too. Interestingly, the agent who took me here got me a discount of several thousand baht off the listed prices, and the commission is paid by the apartment place rather than the renter. It's definitely a buyer's market around here at the moment, so they are dealing. It's also nice that this place is basically month-to-month, so I could leave after one month or two months if I wanted, though I think I'll stay for three, and maybe even come back after a visa run.</div>

[tidarat]

House by the Pond is spooky. It is there forever as I remembered.

Would you consider a condo, a friendly owner could rent for you sure at 15k a month at on-nut area.

A Condo at the Soi Sukhumvit 50, I signed up a lease for a friend there for 3 months at 14,000 THB (Excl Water, Elec, Internet and a two months deposit).

The way to get around with Internet for short period, you have to get Internet by.. how many you use per month.

The Lotus just opposite site by the way.

[CarlBkk]

Roger, be prepared for unusually...no....ridiculously high electricity bills at that place, regardless of a/c usage. Something is not right. I'm talking 4600 baht per month with one a/c used only at night. If you can live with that, the place is fine. There are actually two buildings, the older one without the pool on top is more spookey.

I would have recommended Greenbells at On Nut. Very near BTS, brand new, studios for 10K I think. Luxurious bathroom, huge and extremely comfortable beds, free wi-fi etc. Only problem is the thin walls. You can hear every next-door groan as if it right next to you.

[rogervertigo]

Thanks for the feedback, folks. It's too late for me to switch places, at least for a month, and I'm only here on a Tourist Visa anyway so I'll have to leave Thailand completely in less than 3 months. This place is month-to-month though, so if for some reason I really do begin to hate it I can leave.

I'm on the top floor of the non-pool building and I don't find it spooky at all, but maybe I will in the future. The gardens downstairs are a bit dark, which doesn't bother me.

The electricity thing is an interesting warning, particularly since I work from home and I have the A/C on most of the time. I'll ask the front desk about it soon to prepare myself. In the end, for 2 or 3 months, it's not a huge deal, though I'm very glad to hear about it now rather than after the first sky-high bill.

I spent my first two days here in the On Nut area, and perhaps it's an ideal cheaper area for longterm residents, but I didn't really care much for it for my purposes. As mentioned, the sidewalks in much of that area were difficult to navigate for someone of my height, and there seems to be a minimum of foreigner-friendly shops out there. Here I'm walking distance to Foodland and Carrefour, and a short taxi ride to MBK and other things in the center. If I come back in the future, which I might, I'll probably have the living-farther-out thing figured out better. Again, thanks.