Directions Around Cm Needed

[kalliorocks]

my travel plans to CM are slowly starting to come together. i'm thinking of staying at this place for at least a couple of weeks (http://www.thaihotels.com/hotels/hotel-4139.aspx) while my gf and i attend the itm school (http://www.itmthaimassage.com/) and to get a feel for chiang mai.

has anyone stayed at that house before? can anyone tell me how far is that rental house from the thai massage school and approximately how much it'll cost to go to and fro by taxi? thanks once again for any info and advice!

[chanchao]

Typically the public transport that makes the most sense in Thailand is the red songthaews (converted pickup truck share taxis). There's loads of them. Should be very easy from that house location. Key with those share taxis is that you flag one down at a location where most of them are likely to be going in your direction. So if your destination is somewhere going 'West' then it's better to flag one down going in that direction rather than the other way.

BTW are you sure you are staying long enough for a house? And if so, if that is the one? For 35 US$ you can also get nearly any hotel in Chiang Mai including some 4 star ones if you stay longer.. Also the house doens't look that appealing, something like that would rent for like 4000 baht (100 US$) per MONTH when renting long term.

(Not saying you can get it relatively short term AND serviced for 4000 baht, merely that there's a lot of clean financial space between $100 per month and $35 per day.. I'd look a little further.) Like you could get the Orchid hotel for that (or Pang Suan Kaew for a bit less), which would be walking distance to the massage place. check out http://hotels.chiangmai-online.com and precisionreservations.com

Anyway, Maneenopparat road is the road along the Northern City moat, going from the North-Western corner (Hua Rin, where Central Dept store is) to Sri Phoom corner (North-East). To the north of that road are a couple of run-down row-house areas and I betcha this house is in one of them. Entirely possible that it's furnished seriously nice, but I kinda sorta doubt it's a very good deal.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[chanchao]

AND DEFINITELY DONT PAY A MONTH IN ADVANCE WITHOUT HAVING SEEN IT!

[Gulliver_in_LOS]

has anyone stayed at that house before? can anyone tell me how far is that rental house from the thai massage school and approximately how much it'll cost to go to and fro by taxi? thanks once again for any info and advice!

Stayed there with family (wife and baby) for a couple of weeks. The houses were recently refurbished, and look exactly as in the website. The weekly rent comes down to 980 or 700 baht a day depending on if it's in or off peak-season (no monthly deposit needed). I don't think any hotel or serviced apartment can beat this price for 2 bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. Mind you there is no telephone line installed yet. The Bangkok post and the Nation newspapers have offices in the same set of houses so I don't think it's a "run-down" area at the moment.

The location is close to everywhere interesting, including your school. Because of the one-way nature of Maneenopparat road (west to east), a red songthaews will cost you 20 bht per person to go to the school, and 10 bht to return. Also you can take a tuk-tuk for 40-50 bht for either ways.

Agree with Chanchao, if you are planning in staying longer in Chiangmai there are much better housing options. But for this length of time can't see a better deal, especially for families. Please PM me if you need futher information.

Cheers,

G

[kalliorocks]

wow, thanks for the advice and suggestions everyone. it's great to know that the rental house is within easy reach of the massage school. i know the house is fairly costly by local standards but the gf and i are adamant about having a 2 bedroom house or apt with a kitchen cos we would be in chiang mai for a month. So if anyone knows of a 2 bedroom house or apt that is reasonably close to the massage school and available for rent for the entire month of april and costs less than THB25,000, please let me know. thanks again everyone!

gulliver, is the house stocked with cooking utensils? cooking for ourselves is quite important to us. i sent thaihotels.com an email with a few questions but they haven't replied.

[Gulliver_in_LOS]

gulliver, is the house stocked with cooking utensils? cooking for ourselves is quite important to us. i sent thaihotels.com an email with a few questions but they haven't replied.

We had a gas cooker in the house where we stayed. Can't say it's stocked with cooking utensils, but you get the basics, such as pans, plates, glasses, etc. If it's urgent, you can call directly Khun Imm (a young lady who speaks fluent English) at this number +66 (0) 9755 6252.

Good luck.

G