Rent For A Month + Good Internet

[inasia]

I want to rent somewhere in Bangkok for just a month. ( Many places set a 3 month minimum limit ).

My only requirement is that I need fast and reliable internet.

This is why I'm looking for some personal recommendations. (As opposed to just reading the classifieds) There's a difference between a Thai place that says it has WiFi, and a place where the WiFi actually works 24/7.

Other than the WiFi (/ethernet) requirement, I'm pretty flexible.

Good for public transport would be good (BTS? / Ferry?). Great if it came with sheets and pillow cases.

Fan or A/C. (But if it came with A/C, it would be nice to have a fan too - I don't like A/C air). Don't need a fridge, TV, etc. - but ok if it has it.

Looking at between 4000B (just a bedroom+en suite) to 16000B (say) for something more.

Any leads? (Later in the year, or next year, I may want to take it for more than 3 months - but just one month this stay.)

[mallyrd]

When you consider all of the 'ifs' and the 'buts' etc., etc. then it seems to me that you need a fully furnished studio apartment with reliable internet access, correct or not correct?

[thrilled]

If your only going to be in bangkok for A month,you might want to consider A hotel.Renting A month at A time,you might get A discount

[richardt1808]

I agree with the above. Not much chance of finding anything at any price for only 1 month.

There are pleny of cheap hotels or bed and breakfasts which will give a good monthly rate.

Cheers

[thedistillers]

The problem is that there is no such place in Thailand that can offer fast and reliable internet, especially 1) with your budget (if Internet doesn't work at times, all you'll get is a shrug, ie, you get what you pay for) 2) if you stay in a short-term place (which is going to be in a hotel/serviced apartment). Those places most of the time have a crappy Internet connection.

[swifter]

there are plenty of options for 1 month of housing here, but your internet requirements are not going to be met at any of them, not for what you likely consider a reasonable amount of money.

options available to you:

- standard in-house wifi. i work remotely, 8 hours a day, on my month to month hotels wifi. its fairly awful compared to anything one would be used to in a more 'wired' country, but for ssh/email, its adequate, *usually*. ive had horrific routing, power outages, storm interference, so on, and im never facing less than about 1500-2000ms average lag. plus they have some bizarro border multihoming going on which also creates its own subtle tcp nightmares. 80% of the time its fine for ssh/email/light web browsing. 15% its really bad but no one notices. 5%, im glad i have a sympathetic boss. forget IP phones, online games, so on.

- usb modem / cdma type access. you pay by the meg and its not terribly cheap, plus all the instructions are in thai. and despite claims on the boxes that they are supported under osx, neither of the usb modems i ever bought for my powerbook ever worked right. with a windows laptop, i suspect i would have fared better, but seriously consider disabling flash/images on your browser, its that type of party. also for get IP phones, so on of course.

- buy a 3g iphone here and stack up on the data sim card option, then tether to laptop. did not do this. will be doing it next time i come out i think.

- satellite. set-up fees, equipment deposits make this an unlikely solution for you, plus you gotta deal with returning equipment and the like, which youre not going to want to deal with in the final hours youre in the country.

- cable modem, etc. year long commitment iirc.

[rogervertigo]

I've only been in Bangkok for 12 days, and I'm surprised to see all the internet problems that seem to be normal. My first two days I stayed at a crappy guesthouse near On Nut and I had really fast and reliable Wi-Fi in my room on their 8Mb connection.

Then I moved into a serviced apartment, where I plan to stay for 3 months, and I've been using the 8Mb Wi-Fi provided here almost around the clock, and it's also been really fast and reliable. I'm honestly on the internet actively about 12 hours a day, and I've been averaging maybe two times per day when it slows down or drops, but that was fairly common in the US as well.

Granted, I just came from Vietnam and Cambodia, which are much worse, but so far it's been fast and great for me. For example, I've downloaded a couple 700MB files on Bittorrent and each was complete in maybe 30 minutes. Most other things are slower, but definitely decent by First World standards, including Skype calls etc. Maybe it'll all go to hel_l soon, but so far I'm very happy with it.

Still, I think the hotel idea is probably the way to go, and there are some good off-season deals out there now. I'm in a nice serviced apartment on a month-to-month agreement, but I had to pay a full month's security deposit in addition to the full month in rent, so that might be a bit much for a one-month stay.

[inasia]

Usual disparity of perceptions about the cost of living in Thailand.

I was expecting comments like "You can't get an apartment in Bangkok for 16KBaht". But ok, fair enough - only staying one month probably restricts my options as far as an apartment is concerned.

4000B can easily get a bedroom+bathroom+A/C+WiFi(ok), and possible extras like fridge and TV in Chiangmai, Phitsanulok, or even Bangkok (but a smaller room in Pin Klao and less reliable internet from what I've experienced looking after a friend's place).

Actually, the best internet in Bangkok is a 200B a night room above a cafe. Dilapidated decor, thai style (hard) mattresses on the floor, and a long walk down dark, slippery, narrow, wooden stairs to a shared bathroom. Blazing internet though.

On my brief visits to Bangkok previously, and compromising internet speed for a bit more comfort, I've also stayed in great guesthouses in Banglumpu, rare finds from 400B a night. If all else fails, I'll try and get a monthly rate - but word about these places has got around, and they're usually full.

But can anyone recommend this kind of decent guesthouse near the BTS perhaps?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

@swifter: You seem to be in the know.

What about TrueWiFi prepaid card? If the apartment building is sitting on a hotspot? Any good?

Are you sure that 3G mobile/dongle is a viable option? I though it would be slow? I'm interested. Has anyone else tried this?

[Murf]

I currently live in an apartment. It is a decent sized room, (40sqm+) albeit a little old. Its a 20baht ride to Surasak BTS.

There is a bed, wardrobe, sofa and table included.

4500baht per month (1 month is ok) but you need to give a deposit of 9000baht.

WiFi Internet 400baht per month - sometimes doesnt work but on the whole its ok.

Has Air Con.

10/15 mins and you can be in Silom.

PM me if interested and I will forward details.

[mysterybkk]

Usual disparity of perceptions about the cost of living in Thailand.

I was expecting comments like "You can't get an apartment in Bangkok for 16KBaht". But ok, fair enough - only staying one month probably restricts my options as far as an apartment is concerned.

4000B can easily get a bedroom+bathroom+A/C+WiFi(ok), and possible extras like fridge and TV in Chiangmai, Phitsanulok, or even Bangkok (but a smaller room in Pin Klao and less reliable internet from what I've experienced looking after a friend's place).

Actually, the best internet in Bangkok is a 200B a night room above a cafe. Dilapidated decor, thai style (hard) mattresses on the floor, and a long walk down dark, slippery, narrow, wooden stairs to a shared bathroom. Blazing internet though.

On my brief visits to Bangkok previously, and compromising internet speed for a bit more comfort, I've also stayed in great guesthouses in Banglumpu, rare finds from 400B a night. If all else fails, I'll try and get a monthly rate - but word about these places has got around, and they're usually full.

But can anyone recommend this kind of decent guesthouse near the BTS perhaps?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

@swifter: You seem to be in the know.

What about TrueWiFi prepaid card? If the apartment building is sitting on a hotspot? Any good?

Are you sure that 3G mobile/dongle is a viable option? I though it would be slow? I'm interested. Has anyone else tried this?

i run my internet from a 3g dongle. my apartment does not provide reliable wifi (meaning i can't even connect to their access point) so i opted to get the post pay sim from true and pay 600 baht per month for the unlimited 3g package. yes, it's not perfect, it lags sometimes and disconnects occasionally, but overall it works better than i thought at first.

Edited July 27, 2010 by mysterybkk