Storing Personal Items

[Raiderz4Life]

Since moving to Chiang Mai I have aquired a few personal items, such as two chairs, television and stereo, a nice bicycle, cooking items, linens, etc. I am contemplating returning to the US next April and returning in November. I thought of storing my things but I haven't found a "self-storage" facility here. Is there a practical way to store your stuff here when you go away?

[rakchaingmai]

yes rent a small cheap apartment and keep the items in there.

[Mahseer]

Chiang Mai Properties advertise self storage between 5 and 50sq mtr (no cu mtrs quoted). Houseinchiangmai.net and select the appropriate tab. No first hand knowledge so you'll need to check it out but they do mention CCTV.

[MaxwellCM]

i was going to do this a few months back, and researched it a bit. Yes, the previous poster is correct, you will most probably need to rent out an inexpensive condo room and leave it in there. My research led me to problems with people starting up "storage unit" businesses, only to get caught up in the middle of drug operations [caused by the ones leasing it] and the police wanting to charge the owner of the biz with drug possession/storage/ etc. So, im under the impression that farang steer clear of starting this type of business [ableit it would be a profitable one if the culture/law/etc was the same as in the west].

[ctrunfree]

Chiang Mai Properties advertise self storage between 5 and 50sq mtr (no cu mtrs quoted). Houseinchiangmai.net and select the appropriate tab. No first hand knowledge so you'll need to check it out but they do mention CCTV.

Can't see the self storage tab on the Chiangmaiproperties website...have they stopped doing this, and are there any other options (just need to store one or two boxes, so not worth getting a condo room)?

[rakchaingmai]

You can get a cheap room for about 1200 per month i even know a small room for 800 baht per month if it's only to store your stuff who cares what the room looks like just put a good lock on the door .

[elektrified]

You can get a cheap room for about 1200 per month i even know a small room for 800 baht per month if it's only to store your stuff who cares what the room looks like just put a good lock on the door .

He is correct. That is your only option and a good one at that. Most of these people who advertise 'storage' disappear after a couple of months of advertising as there is no demand for it.

[CMSteve]

If it's only a couple of boxes, can't you ask a friend to hold on to it for a while? Can't imagine it being much of an imposition....

[HappyInCM]

You can get a cheap room for about 1200 per month i even know a small room for 800 baht per month if it's only to store your stuff who cares what the room looks like just put a good lock on the door .

He is correct. That is your only option and a good one at that. Most of these people who advertise 'storage' disappear after a couple of months of advertising as there is no demand for it.

you wouldn't be worried that at that price your neighbors might be in the lower income bracket and seeing a place vacant for 5 months might make them want to help themselves to whatever is behind the padlock?

[elektrified]

You can get a cheap room for about 1200 per month i even know a small room for 800 baht per month if it's only to store your stuff who cares what the room looks like just put a good lock on the door .

He is correct. That is your only option and a good one at that. Most of these people who advertise 'storage' disappear after a couple of months of advertising as there is no demand for it.

you wouldn't be worried that at that price your neighbors might be in the lower income bracket and seeing a place vacant for 5 months might make them want to help themselves to whatever is behind the padlock?

Quite the contrary as in those kind of places everyone is looking out for one another. The g/f's mother has 10 rooms she rents out for about 1100-1200 and often Thais and/or foreigners store things in the rooms for up to several months at a time. There are a few tenants who are home all day and night and the gate is locked at night and there are about 8 dogs! There has never been an incident involving theft in over 20 years. Deaths, drunks, wife-beaters, non-payers, but never a theft. If someone was smashing or using a hack-saw on a padlock, the whole building would know it!

[Greenside]

The storage business is an unattractive one here for a number of reasons including the grey area of liability for illegal items that may end up on the premises, but not least the myth perpetuated on this forum that renting a cheap room is a viable option leading those looking for this service to have unrealistic price expectations. Renting a room is OK if you're not worried about your stuff getting mouldy, have nothing of value and can do without insurance, have plans that won't change (not many 1200 baht a month places will take credit cards for a long distance top up) and don't mind the possibility of carrying it all up countless flights of stairs. Apartment buildings at this level change hands without notice and are unlikely to have reliable communication by email (or sometimes even telephone) and, even if they have, can they respond in anything other than Thai?

Another feature that puts off those thinking about starting in this business is the difficulty of getting out should things not go so well.

This company has been around for a while and has a recent ad on TV. Since they are not solely relying on the storage side they have a better likelihood of being there when you want your things back.

I've no connection, by the way.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Greenside

[uptheos]

[There has never been an incident involving theft in over 20 years. Deaths, drunks, wife-beaters, non-payers, but never a theft.

[rakchaingmai]

Most of these apartments do look out for each other the one i mentioned there is an old lady that lives there that knows everything that goes on in her block and will tell you anything else that is going on in the soi 55555.

[Greenside]

Most of these apartments do look out for each other the one i mentioned there is an old lady that lives there that knows everything that goes on in her block and will tell you anything else that is going on in the soi 55555.

She'll be a truly exceptional Little Old Lady if she'll alert you by email in English when the apartment has a flood/fire/robbery when you're on the other side of the planet.

Edited August 21, 2011 by Greenside

[rakchaingmai]

Sarcasm at it's best .

So when is your stuff truly safe as most of them things can happen in a storage or your house apartment or wherever as well and they wouldn't tell you until you got back in thailand.

[Greenside]

I was just being realistic. The value of someone who knows what's going on in the building or on the soi is precisely zero if you can't communicate with them.

The market here simply isn't ready to pay for a well managed, secure self storage facility of the kind we are used to seeing in Europe or the US (or Bangkok, for that matter). One day that will probably change, but for the moment it's either impose on a friend, rent-a-hovel or try a company like the one I linked to above who will no doubt expect a reasonable price.

[elektrified]

I was just being realistic. The value of someone who knows what's going on in the building or on the soi is precisely zero if you can't communicate with them.

The market here simply isn't ready to pay for a well managed, secure self storage facility of the kind we are used to seeing in Europe or the US (or Bangkok, for that matter). One day that will probably change, but for the moment it's either impose on a friend, rent-a-hovel or try a company like the one I linked to above who will no doubt expect a reasonable price.

As I recall, a few years back Greenside's friend who was thinking of opening a professional storage facility did market research and determined that there was not enough demand and nobody wanted to pay a fair rental for a secure place high above ground with CCTV's, security, etc.

[Tokay]

Every time I store something for more than a few months, it gets ruined with mold.

[Greenside]

That's why storing stuff in shipping containers doesn't work very well in the tropics - even in an empty apartment (especially and old one) the mould can take over pretty quickly. You have to have some humidity control or at the least well thought out ventilation.

[cmbe]

I have secured spaces that you can use it to store your items, cost not much up to you. I garantee you will get all items back, if not I will pay you back in market price for all items . Is it Fair?

[mccw]

Now in 2013 - is there any secure self storage available?

[JomtienEats]

Now in 2013 - is there any secure self storage available?

I can recommend Chiang Mai Removals -

http://www.chiangmairemovals.com/

More convenient than self-storage, they'll pick up your stuff, store it, and return it to you when you're ready.

[PoodMaiDai]

Good luck. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that you don't acquire things in Thailand unless you're OK with losing them, because eventually you probably will. They will break, ruin in mold, get infested with insects, get stolen, damaged by electric, or simply just leave one day and take everything you have with her so she can give it to her Thai husband or gik who she had all the time she was with you.

[PoodMaiDai]

Forgot to add.... watch out for mold. Make sure air is circulating. If you can put a fan on a timer blowing on your goods it would help. It's not really humid up north but enclosed with no air can breed it. Down south I've had all of my belongings RUINED by mold twice.

[mccw]

Now in 2013 - is there any secure self storage available?

Any idea what cost a motor bike and a couple of suitecases would be for 6months?

Edited February 25, 2013 by mccw

[haybilly]

A couple of years ago, we returned to UK for a half-hearted attempt at repatriation- we were away around 10 months --I left all our worldly goods, including TVs, VCR, PC computer, household electrical goods [ M'wave, Elec. Cooker/Grill, toaster, Kettle, etc] and many boxes of miscellaneous stuff--only casualty was the P.C. which had to have surgery on our return. This was all in a locked room 4 X 4 metre--admittedly 'Mer Bahn' came and opened the doors to the rest of the house.

Mind you--I can't say I would recommend it--quite a worrying period.