The Best Location

[FarangSerbia]

Hey all,

as I am planning to move to CM in fall and I'd like to decide on location as soon as I can. I plan to live there for a couple of months, but it may as well be a year or so.

I am 27 years old, been to Thailand once for just over a month , but never actually lived there. Things that I find important regarding apartment/condo and location:

• Price - not to exceed 8k baht / month, would prefer if bills were included in that (excluding internet)
  
• In the city - It would be nice if I could get a place in a walking distance from big malls and markets, but also not too far away from various types of entertainment and wellness (think regular bars, pool, gym, etc.)
  
• Good internet quality - I know this is hard to find, but it's really important for me, I may even go for 2 operators at the same time to ensure 24/7 availability. From what I understand, this could depend on the location so that's why I am putting it here.
  
• Size - this is actually not an issue, every place larger than 20 square meters will do it for me.
  

I am sure there are some things I forgot to mention so feel free to ask or add.

Thanks for taking time to read and answer!

[BlackArtemis]

I myself will be checking out http://www.facebook....0953407?sk=info (they're site is down, but I know they are still in business) less than a year old, inside the old city and 3500B a month. The only down side is that they are LITERALLY 5m away from Anubaan Chiang Mai. I d on't mind this because I have to be up early, and if I forget to set my alarm I will get woken up.

you can check out http://www.apartmentchiangmai.com/index.html as well, tons of places between 1500-7000B it's all in Thai, but it's easy to navigate or to translate via google.

Edited March 6, 2012 by BlackArtemis

[FarangSerbia]

I probably wasn't clear enough on the advice I really need - it's a location. As I sadly didn't have enough time to check out CM last time I was in Thailand, I have no idea which areas are good for my requirements. I would be more than grateful If someone could be kind enough to point me to the right direction

[chiangmaiexpat]

You might want to check out the western edge of the city, along the canal road and further inward towards the city and university area. This area has many low-priced apartments and it's reasonably close to the shopping and entertainment places.

Cheers, CMExpat

[DowntownAl]

Check http://huaykaewresid....php&sound=soff

I lived there for 5 months and found them pretty good. You can get a 36 Sq meter room for 5,500 baht (500 for internet 2mbs) with fridge and microwave,, my utilities ran around 800 baht per month, but I don't use my AC very much. Location sounds right for you. It is about 200 meters from Central Kad Suan Kaew which is one of the biggest malls in CM. It is walking distance to many bars and restaurants both in Thai areas and 10 minute walk to Nimman Road. Many of the sois just south of Huay Kaew road have bars and restaurants as well. You can walk to the old city on the west side and there is a large Thai market about 1 km walk along the north-side of the moat. You can, if you are a walker like I am, walk to Thae Pae market, Loi Kroh for party time and pretty much everywhere else.

Now that I think about it this a pretty good area. I live in a smaller place (21 sq meters) brand new building north of Huay Kaew that costs 4,500 baht. It is set up to use the balcony as a kitchen (bring your own kitchen as it were.) There are many reasonably priced rooms in the neighbourhood. Hillside 4 is pricier but huge balconies etc.

I forgot to mention, the internet is crappy, on and off a lot. I used my iPhone as a backup when the other was down. You may want to look at an air-card (dongle?). True claims 7 mbs. check the tech forums for info on that.

Edited April 5, 2012 by DowntownAl

[jamesbrock]

Alternatively, on the other side of town, you can check out Veerachai Court. Rooms are 4500 per month for a fan room, or between 5000 - 7500 for aircon. I will be staying there when I move up from Samui in a few weeks or so.

You can check out TV User, Greenside's, Opinionated Map Of Chiang Mai - I find it a great resource! (Hope you don't mind me linking to it Greenside )

[hellodolly]

Alternatively, on the other side of town, you can check out Veerachai Court. Rooms are 4500 per month for a fan room, or between 5000 - 7500 for aircon. I will be staying there when I move up from Samui in a few weeks or so.

You can check out TV User, Greenside's, Opinionated Map Of Chiang Mai - I find it a great resource! (Hope you don't mind me linking to it Greenside )

How far d you want to walk. Verichai Court meets all your conditions except it is a 30 to 40 minute walk to a shopping mall. On the other hand it is only about 5 minutes to a huge Thai market.

As for the internet I don't know what they have. I myself use a air stick from AIS with a 7.2 Mbps. it works great for me. But a lot of the use depends on how close to the tower you are and all of them used to oversell their product thereby slowing the performance down. Where I live they have free 3BBB and it is way to unreliable for me s I use my air stick. In some areas they are great some areas True is the way to go. Check with the supplier where their transmitters are before you get one.

My advice is do not book one for a extended period of time until you have seen it.

[udonguy]

Thapae location for sure

edit: Veerachai is opposite where I live and perfect location

Edited April 6, 2012 by udonguy

[jamesbrock]

Thapae location for sure

edit: Veerachai is opposite where I live and perfect location

Good to know! We only spent nine days in Chiang Mai, and the Thapae area certainly had the vibe we liked. Obviously with more time there, we may find other areas that we like, but thanks to the mostly positive feedback we have received, I'm happy with our decision thus far - for both the area, and the accommodation.

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup, FarangSerbia,

You've gotten lots of solid advice here, but I'll just add that if you are living anywhere inside the river (the western side) up to the moat central-city ...say between Sridonchai Road to the south, and Chang Moi to the north, air-quality from heavy motor vehicle traffic pollution is something you might want to think about, and I'd consider that, also, *if you and I'd consider that, also, is you lived anywhere you lived in close proximity to heavily travelled roads like Huay Kaew, Suthep, Nimmanheiman, etc.

I'd also carefully consider the impact of air-quality and traffic congestion anywhere near Pratu Chiang Mai, Pratu Chang Pluek, or any major intersection of a "feeder" road into the encircling first ring-road (Superhighway).

good luck, ~o:37;

Edited April 7, 2012 by sbk

[elektrified]

Check http://huaykaewresid....php&sound=soff

I lived there for 5 months and found them pretty good. You can get a 36 Sq meter room for 5,500 baht (500 for internet 2mbs) with fridge and microwave,, my utilities ran around 800 baht per month, but I don't use my AC very much. Location sounds right for you. It is about 200 meters from Central Kad Suan Kaew which is one of the biggest malls in CM. It is walking distance to many bars and restaurants both in Thai areas and 10 minute walk to Nimman Road. Many of the sois just south of Huay Kaew road have bars and restaurants as well. You can walk to the old city on the west side and there is a large Thai market about 1 km walk along the north-side of the moat. You can, if you are a walker like I am, walk to Thae Pae market, Loi Kroh for party time and pretty much everywhere else.

Now that I think about it this a pretty good area. I live in a smaller place (21 sq meters) brand new building north of Huay Kaew that costs 4,500 baht. It is set up to use the balcony as a kitchen (bring your own kitchen as it were.) There are many reasonably priced rooms in the neighbourhood. Hillside 4 is pricier but huge balconies etc.

I forgot to mention, the internet is crappy, on and off a lot. I used my iPhone as a backup when the other was down. You may want to look at an air-card (dongle?). True claims 7 mbs. check the tech forums for info on that.

I would not recommend this place at all. Do a search, see for yourself. It's a farang ghetto as well.

[udonguy]

all I can say is I have lived in most areas - around Nimman (very young crowd which made me feel ancient and noisy from Prastertland), near Kaed Suan Kaw (bit out of the way for most things), at Riverside (far away from anything), at Galae Thong (nowhere near anything) and now on Thapae (by FAR the best location for walking street, night market and bars/clubs etc). You can't go far wrong here as everything is NEAR - for the Malls just take a bike or tuktuk.

[BlackArtemis]

So, I just spent a night at Nineresident, the place I previous linked. It was a bit small. Staying at a friend's house and house sitting for the next few weeks as I try to figure out where I will live. Work for me is 30mins outside the old city, but I really don't want to move away from here

[jamesbrock]

So, I just spent a night at Nineresident, the place I previous linked. It was a bit small. Staying at a friend's house and house sitting for the next few weeks as I try to figure out where I will live. Work for me is 30mins outside the old city, but I really don't want to move away from here

Here = Old City?

[BlackArtemis]

So, I just spent a night at Nineresident, the place I previous linked. It was a bit small. Staying at a friend's house and house sitting for the next few weeks as I try to figure out where I will live. Work for me is 30mins outside the old city, but I really don't want to move away from here

Here = Old City?

Yeah, I'm inside the moat at the moment. I have previously lived in this area for almost two years.

My other friend has an apartment free in Chomdoi, I rented it a few years ago. It's a bit older but it is double the size of the room I slept in last night.

I get to make the choice of living close to work out in Hang Dong and having a short commute but a long drive to anything else, or a long commute and short jaunt to most places.

[jamesbrock]

Yeah, I'm inside the moat at the moment. I have previously lived in this area for almost two years.

My other friend has an apartment free in Chomdoi, I rented it a few years ago. It's a bit older but it is double the size of the room I slept in last night.

I get to make the choice of living close to work out in Hang Dong and having a short commute but a long drive to anything else, or a long commute and short jaunt to most places.

Tough decision...