Living Around Suk Soi. 71. Your Thoughts?

[BinKata]

I am looking for a new apartment and have found some great prices around sukhumvit Soi 71.

It seems a bit out of the way but you get much more for your money there.

I would love to get some thoughts from people who live in the area. The Good & Bad.

Thanks

[Rowdy100]

It's not really "out of the way" at all... get close enough to the BTS line and Suk. 71 is actually a really good location....one stop to Ekamai, one stop to On Nut....20 minutes to the airport....15 minutes to Siam Square...and everything in between...

and yes, prices are excellent compared to other areas with that ease of access to most places of "interest"...

So all things considered... it's an excellent location

Cheers

[RAZZELL]

Cheap. But a bit of a dump.

A "bit" bargirl central and pisshead long stay tourists.

The mosque makes a racket too

RAZZ

Edited June 26, 2012 by RAZZELL

[xen]

Suk 71 may not be the prettiest area around but it is home to me now. We have a good value studio appartment with pool , gym and free ,but slow ,internet for 6000 a month so i can't complain.

Most Falung seem to be a either short term and don't stay around for long or are English teachers . But it is also very Thai as well with many southern Muslim Thais who have moved from the trouble in the southern areas. We live about a block from the Mosque and so hear the call to prayer all the time but am used to it now. Thru Rammadan it gets a bit over the top tho. Seems to be have a few wealthy Indians in the area too

There are a couple of no go areas for falungs (and Thais) around some of the Muslim areas at night time but unless you have no sense you would not go there anyway.

[Soi Sauce]

Good place. Good market, great street food, easy access to BTS,near Sukhumvit and Rama 4 Roads, and Lotus and Big C just over the bridge.

[dddave]

I guess I must be one of those "pisshead" long stay tourists as RAZZ so endearingly puts it since I have lived off Suk. 71 for over 8 years now. I am fortunate to have a unique, very large (70 sq/m) studio in a older building that costs me less than B6000 p/m. It does lack a pool and fitness room but I consider that a positive as it spares me the guilt of knowing I should be doing laps and reps rather than vegetating in front of my flat screen.

I love the area. I like it's diversity that I have never seen turn to hostility, I like it's markets and old style mom and pop shops, it's hustle and bustle at all times of day. There is a lack of pretension on '71, it is what it is; working people going on with their lives and filling their needs. I don't feel like an exploitable commodity here as I do in other more westernized areas; nobody tries to sell me a suit, gladhanding me as I walk down '71. Girls sitting in front of the many small Karaoke bars that line the road never say "Welcome, hansum man" as I pass, and though it is true that many of Bangkok's "working girls" do live here, long, flirty looks are rare as this is their home and not their place of business.

Other than KFC, western food is scarce along '71 but the selection of small, shophouse restaurants selling a wide range of cuisines from Isan Thai to Burmese to Indian to middle eastern is amazing. There are a number of specialized coffee shops including one just past Pridi 38 that is probably the most beautifully decorated coffee shop in Bangkok.

Transportation wise, it is hard to beat. The Airport Rail link Rhamkhamheng Station is a 10 minute bus ride, the BTS anchoring the other end. Many major bus routes traverse '71 making most of the city cheaply accessible if you have the time. I've never had to wait more than 2 minutes for a taxi cab and moto taxis are everywhere and cheap.

Shopping is easy and plentiful: with Tesco/Lotus and Big-C at On Nut and on Rama 4. Rhamkhamheng Rd has a wide variety of malls and street shopping. The JUSCO between Pridi 10 & 12 is well stocked and has decent meat and veggies (excepting the beef; always tough!) Pridi 2 has an amazing array of street food on offer at all times of day and the adjoining wet market has everything a wet market should have; including great prices. You can get a very nice massage around there for B100 (and please let us not get back into "that" discussion)

What Phra Khanong will be like in five years time is anybody's guess; three huge new condominiums have just opened and three more are under construction, all within 1/2 km of the BTS. Will the upscale population these condos bring alter the landscape as they have in Ekkamai and Thong Lo? For sure, along the strip of Sukhumvit the rents will skyrocket and more "lifestyle" businesses will take over the small shops but I'm betting the heart of Phra Khanong, the length of 71 will remain what it is. I certainly hope that it does.

Edited June 27, 2012 by dddave

[fstarbkk]

I guess I must be one of those "pisshead" long stay tourists as RAZZ so endearingly puts it since I have lived off Suk. 71 for over 8 years now. I am fortunate to have a unique, very large (70 sq/m) studio in a older building that costs me less than B6000 p/m. It does lack a pool and fitness room but I consider that a positive as it spares me the guilt of knowing I should be doing laps and reps rather than vegetating in front of my flat screen.

I love the area. I like it's diversity that I have never seen turn to hostility, I like it's markets and old style mom and pop shops, it's hustle and bustle at all times of day. There is a lack of pretension on '71, it is what it is; working people going on with their lives and filling their needs. I don't feel like an exploitable commodity here as I do in other more westernized areas; nobody tries to sell me a suit, gladhanding me as I walk down '71. Girls sitting in front of the many small Karaoke bars that line the road never say "Welcome, hansum man" as I pass, and though it is true that many of Bangkok's "working girls" do live here, long, flirty looks are rare as this is their home and not their place of business.

Other than KFC, western food is scarce along '71 but the selection of small, shophouse restaurants selling a wide range of cuisines from Isan Thai to Burmese to Indian to middle eastern is amazing. There are a number of specialized coffee shops including one just past Pridi 38 that is probably the most beautifully decorated coffee shop in Bangkok.

Transportation wise, it is hard to beat. The Airport Rail link Rhamkhamheng Station is a 10 minute bus ride, the BTS anchoring the other end. Many major bus routes traverse '71 making most of the city cheaply accessible if you have the time. I've never had to wait more than 2 minutes for a taxi cab and moto taxis are everywhere and cheap.

Shopping is easy and plentiful: with Tesco/Lotus and Big-C at On Nut and on Rama 4. Rhamkhamheng Rd has a wide variety of malls and street shopping. The JUSCO between Pridi 10 & 12 is well stocked and has decent meat and veggies (excepting the beef; always tough!) Pridi 2 has an amazing array of street food on offer at all times of day and the adjoining wet market has everything a wet market should have; including great prices. You can get a very nice massage around there for B100 (and please let us not get back into "that" discussion)

What Phra Khanong will be like in five years time is anybody's guess; three huge new condominiums have just opened and three more are under construction, all within 1/2 km of the BTS. Will the upscale population these condos bring alter the landscape as they have in Ekkamai and Thong Lo? For sure, along the strip of Sukhumvit the rents will skyrocket and more "lifestyle" businesses will take over the small shops but I'm betting the heart of Phra Khanong, the length of 71 will remain what it is. I certainly hope that it does.

Great description of the character and qualities of 71! I totally agree, having worked on and lived very near this street for a few years.

[hotandhumid]

I guess I must be one of those "pisshead" long stay tourists as RAZZ so endearingly puts it since I have lived off Suk. 71 for over 8 years now. I am fortunate to have a unique, very large (70 sq/m) studio in a older building that costs me less than B6000 p/m. It does lack a pool and fitness room but I consider that a positive as it spares me the guilt of knowing I should be doing laps and reps rather than vegetating in front of my flat screen.

I love the area. I like it's diversity that I have never seen turn to hostility, I like it's markets and old style mom and pop shops, it's hustle and bustle at all times of day. There is a lack of pretension on '71, it is what it is; working people going on with their lives and filling their needs. I don't feel like an exploitable commodity here as I do in other more westernized areas; nobody tries to sell me a suit, gladhanding me as I walk down '71. Girls sitting in front of the many small Karaoke bars that line the road never say "Welcome, hansum man" as I pass, and though it is true that many of Bangkok's "working girls" do live here, long, flirty looks are rare as this is their home and not their place of business.

Other than KFC, western food is scarce along '71 but the selection of small, shophouse restaurants selling a wide range of cuisines from Isan Thai to Burmese to Indian to middle eastern is amazing. There are a number of specialized coffee shops including one just past Pridi 38 that is probably the most beautifully decorated coffee shop in Bangkok.

Transportation wise, it is hard to beat. The Airport Rail link Rhamkhamheng Station is a 10 minute bus ride, the BTS anchoring the other end. Many major bus routes traverse '71 making most of the city cheaply accessible if you have the time. I've never had to wait more than 2 minutes for a taxi cab and moto taxis are everywhere and cheap.

Shopping is easy and plentiful: with Tesco/Lotus and Big-C at On Nut and on Rama 4. Rhamkhamheng Rd has a wide variety of malls and street shopping. The JUSCO between Pridi 10 & 12 is well stocked and has decent meat and veggies (excepting the beef; always tough!) Pridi 2 has an amazing array of street food on offer at all times of day and the adjoining wet market has everything a wet market should have; including great prices. You can get a very nice massage around there for B100 (and please let us not get back into "that" discussion)

What Phra Khanong will be like in five years time is anybody's guess; three huge new condominiums have just opened and three more are under construction, all within 1/2 km of the BTS. Will the upscale population these condos bring alter the landscape as they have in Ekkamai and Thong Lo? For sure, along the strip of Sukhumvit the rents will skyrocket and more "lifestyle" businesses will take over the small shops but I'm betting the heart of Phra Khanong, the length of 71 will remain what it is. I certainly hope that it does.

Great description of the character and qualities of 71! I totally agree, having worked on and lived very near this street for a few years.

I spent a few years living on 71 and I have to agree it definitely has some character about it, it has a very Thai feel about it.

What I didn't like though was when walking along you get all times of liquids dripping on your head and on your sandals from the canopees above which drove me mad, as did the build up of traffic at the suk end.

But overall good value for money in a good location. Not in the heart of Sukhumvit (but who wants to be anyway) but not too far out at all.

[SantiSuk]

Excellent postings here - sounds much more lively than On Nut area, which only beats it on connections (the up and down ramps onto the very useful Bagna-Ram Inthra-Chaloern-Rat toll road) are only a few minutes away for those who drive. That and two large supermarket within walking distance. Since 71's homely ethnicity is unlikely to spread north westwards up Sukhumvit I look forward to Thonglor chic spreading south-eastwards this way. The restaurant/bar scene here certainly needs a bit of of a boost

[mrtoad]

I lived on 71 for the first 16 months of my time in Thailand. There are actually some very, very nice house in the sub sois, and certainly not at prices for pissheads and English teachers. There are also a lot of very well priced apartments and condos. I found it a decent place to live, close to BTS and lots of places to eat and drinking the area.

I would certainly say it is a better option than On Nut, and it is also close to Thong Lor and Ekamai.

Try not to be too close to the Mosque unless you want to be woken by the loud speakers, but in all fairness I look back on my brief stay in that area with fondness and lucky to meet some very nice people.

[farang000999]

soi 71 and soi onnut are very crappy but cheap. the description above makes it sound very nice unless you have been through there. it is chaos when it rains.

[tw25rw]

I know the area and would echo the above.. A bit rough round the edges, but affordable and loads of food shops etc.. You can see it on google maps street view now.. There's new hotels springing up and a few girly bars further up soi 71. The gf says it's becoming the new Nana..

[fstarbkk]

The gf says it's becoming the new Nana..

Oh lord, I hope she's wrong! Do we really need another Nana?

[HardenedSoul]

Not in the heart of Sukhumvit (but who wants to be anyway) but not too far out at all.

There are downsides to living in the heart of Sukhumvit but far fewer than there are upsides.

Here, in Asoke, you've got everything: Emporium, Terminal 21, BTS, MRT, True Fitness, a soon-to-be-opened Fitness First, two multiplex cinemas, clubs, after-hours clubs, an abundance of taxis/mototaxis right outside your door.

Of course, there is the scourge that is Soi Cowboy but other than that, why wouldn't one want to be more central? There are just as many Thais buzzing around here as there are in the outlying areas and, if you know where to look, there are plenty of havens away from the Westernized food outlets and lifestyle shops.

Wouldn't live anywhere else in this city.

[tw25rw]

The gf says it's becoming the new Nana..

Oh lord, I hope she's wrong! Do we really need another Nana?

Nana MK1 won't last forever. The real estate is too valuable..

[RAZZELL]

I guess I must be one of those "pisshead" long stay tourists as RAZZ so endearingly puts it since I have lived off Suk. 71 for over 8 years now. I am fortunate to have a unique, very large (70 sq/m) studio in a older building that costs me less than B6000 p/m. It does lack a pool and fitness room but I consider that a positive as it spares me the guilt of knowing I should be doing laps and reps rather than vegetating in front of my flat screen.

I love the area. I like it's diversity that I have never seen turn to hostility, I like it's markets and old style mom and pop shops, it's hustle and bustle at all times of day. There is a lack of pretension on '71, it is what it is; working people going on with their lives and filling their needs. I don't feel like an exploitable commodity here as I do in other more westernized areas; nobody tries to sell me a suit, gladhanding me as I walk down '71. Girls sitting in front of the many small Karaoke bars that line the road never say "Welcome, hansum man" as I pass, and though it is true that many of Bangkok's "working girls" do live here, long, flirty looks are rare as this is their home and not their place of business.

Other than KFC, western food is scarce along '71 but the selection of small, shophouse restaurants selling a wide range of cuisines from Isan Thai to Burmese to Indian to middle eastern is amazing. There are a number of specialized coffee shops including one just past Pridi 38 that is probably the most beautifully decorated coffee shop in Bangkok.

Transportation wise, it is hard to beat. The Airport Rail link Rhamkhamheng Station is a 10 minute bus ride, the BTS anchoring the other end. Many major bus routes traverse '71 making most of the city cheaply accessible if you have the time. I've never had to wait more than 2 minutes for a taxi cab and moto taxis are everywhere and cheap.

Shopping is easy and plentiful: with Tesco/Lotus and Big-C at On Nut and on Rama 4. Rhamkhamheng Rd has a wide variety of malls and street shopping. The JUSCO between Pridi 10 & 12 is well stocked and has decent meat and veggies (excepting the beef; always tough!) Pridi 2 has an amazing array of street food on offer at all times of day and the adjoining wet market has everything a wet market should have; including great prices. You can get a very nice massage around there for B100 (and please let us not get back into "that" discussion)

What Phra Khanong will be like in five years time is anybody's guess; three huge new condominiums have just opened and three more are under construction, all within 1/2 km of the BTS. Will the upscale population these condos bring alter the landscape as they have in Ekkamai and Thong Lo? For sure, along the strip of Sukhumvit the rents will skyrocket and more "lifestyle" businesses will take over the small shops but I'm betting the heart of Phra Khanong, the length of 71 will remain what it is. I certainly hope that it does.

Maybe I was a bit harsh

But true, will be very interesting to see if the "gentrification" of the area continues down the Soi.

Trouble is they'd have to flatten half of it!

RAZZ

[beachyman]

It still blows my mind that so many expats only consider sukhumvit, silom, sathorn and bts extentions as possible places to live. North of asoke, perhaps?

Sent from my GT-P6200L using Thaivisa Connect App

[farang000999]

probably cause they don't like sitting in traffic?

[tw25rw]

probably cause they don't like sitting in traffic?

Or walking for half an hour in the heat/humidity.

[Sayonarax]

Soi 71, the soi of bomb makers. Id personally check out the other side of the road up closer to lotus. Soi 50 up have plenty of 6k 7k month studios

[ayayay]

probably cause they don't like sitting in traffic?

Or walking for half an hour in the heat/humidity.

what are you talking about??

[beachyman]

probably cause they don't like sitting in traffic?

Or walking for half an hour in the heat/humidity.

what are you talking about??

They were referring to my comment. Apparently if you live north of asoke you must be constantly stuck in traffic or sweatting to death walking everywhere. Knowing to avoid driving in rush hour, using the mrt which is worlds better than the bts, taking a bicycle or motor bike instead of walking if one is so heavy a few meters of walking are too much... these things are simple matters but may not have occurred to them.

Sent from my GT-P6200L using Thaivisa Connect App

[ayayay]

probably cause they don't like sitting in traffic?

Or walking for half an hour in the heat/humidity.

what are you talking about??

They were referring to my comment. Apparently if you live north of asoke you must be constantly stuck in traffic or sweatting to death walking everywhere. Knowing to avoid driving in rush hour, using the mrt which is worlds better than the bts, taking a bicycle or motor bike instead of walking if one is so heavy a few meters of walking are too much... these things are simple matters but may not have occurred to them.

Sent from my GT-P6200L using Thaivisa Connect App

Yeah. that´s what I mean, why does he say one has to walk, just because you want to live north of Asoke? Why not use the MRT? In fact, much more convenient than the BTS.

[tw25rw]

probably cause they don't like sitting in traffic?

Or walking for half an hour in the heat/humidity.

what are you talking about??

They were referring to my comment. Apparently if you live north of asoke you must be constantly stuck in traffic or sweatting to death walking everywhere. Knowing to avoid driving in rush hour, using the mrt which is worlds better than the bts, taking a bicycle or motor bike instead of walking if one is so heavy a few meters of walking are too much... these things are simple matters but may not have occurred to them.

Sent from my GT-P6200L using Thaivisa Connect App

It was in reference to someone saying that foreigners only want to live near stations. I can't imagine living in Bangkok and not wanting to live near a station.

[sjaak327]

probably cause they don't like sitting in traffic?

Or walking for half an hour in the heat/humidity.

what are you talking about??

They were referring to my comment. Apparently if you live north of asoke you must be constantly stuck in traffic or sweatting to death walking everywhere. Knowing to avoid driving in rush hour, using the mrt which is worlds better than the bts, taking a bicycle or motor bike instead of walking if one is so heavy a few meters of walking are too much... these things are simple matters but may not have occurred to them.

It is of course east of Asoke

I used to live right next to BTS Thong Lor but moved to Pridi 45, whilst there wasn't a mass transit station "near" (now of course the Airport link is near), I didn't miss the BTS one bit. Plenty of taxis and plenty of near empty streets to avoid the main roads, and the saen saeb canal boat nearby as well. Great area, great people, lovely food.

Edited July 5, 2012 by sjaak327

[Pseudolus]

Other than KFC, western food is scarce along '71 but the selection of small, shophouse restaurants selling a wide range of cuisines from Isan Thai to Burmese to Indian to middle eastern is amazing. There are a number of specialized coffee shops including one just past Pridi 38 that is probably the most beautifully decorated coffee shop in Bangkok.

FYI - if you cross Sukhumvit onto Rama4, walk 20 meters, turn left, (Soi Phum Chi) stroll down there about 50 mts on the left is a cafe open at 4pm each day until night time that sells burgers, Sausages (proper), pies, chips, all the Brit junk food basicall. Bacon baps, bacon and egg sandwiches, You name it, Simon has it. So if you fancy some western food pop down there.

[rgs2001uk]

It was in reference to someone saying that foreigners only want to live near stations. I can't imagine living in Bangkok and not wanting to live near a station.

Well I live in Bkk and dont live near a station.

Too be perfectly honest, why would I want to?

I never go to Chatuchak market, I dont need to go to the CBD, I dont visit the Suk ghetto on a regular basis.

Hence no need to live anywhere near a station or pay the inflated rents some seem to try and charge the farang suckers.

How many on here remember the Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Suk 71?

Ex soi 34.

[GarryP]

It was in reference to someone saying that foreigners only want to live near stations. I can't imagine living in Bangkok and not wanting to live near a station.

Well I live in Bkk and dont live near a station.

Too be perfectly honest, why would I want to?

I never go to Chatuchak market, I dont need to go to the CBD, I dont visit the Suk ghetto on a regular basis.

Hence no need to live anywhere near a station or pay the inflated rents some seem to try and charge the farang suckers.

How many on here remember the Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Suk 71?

Ex soi 34.

I do. And Asian Department Store, and Welco and ATM department stores too. Even the Thai Daimaru. Asian is now a hotel, Welco and Daimaru are condos and god knows what ATM is. The old pork hotplate restaurant next to Bangkok Bank across from the ghost of Dunkin is now becoming a condo too. Prakanong slowly died with the opening of Tesco (Onnut) and Carefour (now Big C), but it seems like it will bounce back to a greater or lesser extent and become a nicer place to live.

[hotandhumid]

Not in the heart of Sukhumvit (but who wants to be anyway) but not too far out at all.

There are downsides to living in the heart of Sukhumvit but far fewer than there are upsides.

Here, in Asoke, you've got everything: Emporium, Terminal 21, BTS, MRT, True Fitness, a soon-to-be-opened Fitness First, two multiplex cinemas, clubs, after-hours clubs, an abundance of taxis/mototaxis right outside your door.

Of course, there is the scourge that is Soi Cowboy but other than that, why wouldn't one want to be more central? There are just as many Thais buzzing around here as there are in the outlying areas and, if you know where to look, there are plenty of havens away from the Westernized food outlets and lifestyle shops.

Wouldn't live anywhere else in this city.

That nasty soi cowboy, with all those nasty farangs and horrid girl bars. I hope you hold your nose when one has to go past it.

Edited July 5, 2012 by hotandhumid

[rgs2001uk]

Well I live in Bkk and dont live near a station.

Too be perfectly honest, why would I want to?

I never go to Chatuchak market, I dont need to go to the CBD, I dont visit the Suk ghetto on a regular basis.

Hence no need to live anywhere near a station or pay the inflated rents some seem to try and charge the farang suckers.

How many on here remember the Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Suk 71?

Ex soi 34.

I do. And Asian Department Store, and Welco and ATM department stores too. Even the Thai Daimaru. Asian is now a hotel, Welco and Daimaru are condos and god knows what ATM is. The old pork hotplate restaurant next to Bangkok Bank across from the ghost of Dunkin is now becoming a condo too. Prakanong slowly died with the opening of Tesco (Onnut) and Carefour (now Big C), but it seems like it will bounce back to a greater or lesser extent and become a nicer place to live.

Garry,

I remember all the department stores you mention, but couldnt tell you which one was located where.

The one furthest down Suk 71 (where you walked downstairs) was taken over by Indians and was for a few years a cheap textiles store.

I cant remember the name of the one on the opposite side of Suk 71, are you talking about the one where you walked across the footbridge, or the one on the same side of the road but up a small soi and it was on your RH side about 100 meters into the soi?

That moo gata place you mention was a fairly recent arrival, before that it was a clothes market.

I dont know if it was the arrival of Carrefour and Tesco/Lotus that killed off that part of Prakanong,

all the stores you mention were killed off by the Asian Financial Crisis.

A contributing factor may well be that at On Nut there was cheap accomodation readily available within walking distance of the BTS, most of the cheaper accomodation on Pridi tended to be at the Klong Tan end of the soi.

Last time I was up that way I was in the car waiting to turn right to get to the HSBC on Rama 4, it was quite a shock to sell all the building work that was going on.

I take it the cinema is long gone.