What do I need to Rent a condo in BKK as a foreigner ?

[mbbnyc]

Hello, Falang from America here. I was thinking that I am here so much 5th time in last 12 months that just renting a condo in BKK would be a good idea. Something small modest 1 bedroom, Pkg space. A fuller service type building. close to BTS I see them around for between 20-30k baht a month. With some rearranging at home. I could swing this.

What would I need as far as permits and such ? I know I can't even get a smartphone here without a work permit. Can I rent a condo ? I just want a crash pad here. I have friends here. I use BKK as a launch pad for all types of adventures in SE Asia.

As a subtopic is it true I can't get a smartphone with out a work permit ? This is what they told me at True. So it must be right ??? Da dum dum

Right now I am a add-on to a bkk friends account. I would like to just handle it on my own.

Also what do I need to own a car here ? permit wise.

I plan on living here in the next few years and I figure this could be a good way to check out neighborhoods, see what I like/don't like. Kind of a "soft landing"

So to sum it up, Permits required for ??

Rental Condo/Apt

Smartphone

Car of some sort

[Upnotover]

Work permits required for......nothing. But they do make things easier for phone contracts and the like. To buy a car you need only a residence letter from immigration. To get that you need to show them where you live - your condo lease agreement will work for that, and to lease the condo you need only cash, no permit.

[mbbnyc]

Really ?? The True store in Siam Paragon said I needed a work permit to have a phone contract. Maybe I just needed a Thai address ? Which I do not have yet.

Are you are sure of all this ? I am just asking because it sounds like I can do exactly what I want to do with relatively little hassle. And that almost seems to good to be true in the land of a thousand permits :-) (Not complaining, Just saying there is a lot of paperwork here)

[FritsSikkink]

Buy a phone and get a pre paid sim card

Your main question should be what sort of visa do i need to live here for a couple of years.

[sam sen]

for my condo i need; copy of my passport, cash and normal behaviour

[Upnotover]

Really ?? The True store in Siam Paragon said I needed a work permit to have a phone contract. Maybe I just needed a Thai address ? Which I do not have yet.

Are you are sure of all this ? I am just asking because it sounds like I can do exactly what I want to do with relatively little hassle. And that almost seems to good to be true in the land of a thousand permits :-) (Not complaining, Just saying there is a lot of paperwork here)

I can only speak of my personal experience, I have no work permit, I rent a house, own a car and have an AIS phone contract. So all things are possible but as we all know here, there is very little uniformity in applying "rules", so all things can be impossible as well.

[mbbnyc]

I am not planning on living here yet. That is a few years off.

I am thinking more of a crash pad. Most of my visits are under 30 days or I go off to another country like Laos or neighbor so I am making a border run by default.

I have a phone already unlocked iPhone from US. I know it works here. But to get my OWN contract True store told me I needed a work permit. I ended up as an extra line on a friends account.

I am here (SE Asia) enough that I would like to investigate the possibility of renting a condo, Having a cellphone that is in my name and maybe an automobile.

[mbbnyc]

Really ?? The True store in Siam Paragon said I needed a work permit to have a phone contract. Maybe I just needed a Thai address ? Which I do not have yet.

Are you are sure of all this ? I am just asking because it sounds like I can do exactly what I want to do with relatively little hassle. And that almost seems to good to be true in the land of a thousand permits :-) (Not complaining, Just saying there is a lot of paperwork here)

I can only speak of my personal experience, I have no work permit, I rent a house, own a car and have an AIS phone contract. So all things are possible but as we all know here, there is very little uniformity in applying "rules", so all things can be impossible as well.

So all things are possible but as we all know here, there is very little uniformity in applying "rules", so all things can be impossible as well.

LOL my friend you have just described Thailand perfectly....lol Thank you.

So you ARE doing what I want to do, But do you live in another country and hop back and forth ?

[GreenSnapper]

Why you need a phone contract? Most Thais don't have one. Buy a SIM card at 7/11 and top up.

For renting a serviced apt., you need passport and the money for rent. Easy as well.

[mbbnyc]

I need a smartphone because I HATE does not even begin to describe how I feel about texting on a alphanumeric keypad. Forget email I won't even talk about. I need a smartphone like an iPhone so I can have access to email and the web for work back home. Plus the way I have it set now, I have a Thai cell and and us cell both iPhones. It all works seamlessly.

As far as I know, You cannot have a pay at 7-11 smartphone. Plus I prefer to just pay one monthly fee and be done. Not worrying that I have to go to 7-11 to top off.

It seems like the hardest thing to do of my 3 wishes will be the cellphone....lol The condo I just need a passport and cash, The car is the address, my passport & cash. The phone it depends who i talk to.

[Upnotover]

I need a smartphone because I HATE does not even begin to describe how I feel about texting on a alphanumeric keypad. Forget email I won't even talk about. I need a smartphone like an iPhone so I can have access to email and the web for work back home. Plus the way I have it set now, I have a Thai cell and and us cell both iPhones. It all works seamlessly.

As far as I know, You cannot have a pay at 7-11 smartphone. Plus I prefer to just pay one monthly fee and be done. Not worrying that I have to go to 7-11 to top off.

It seems like the hardest thing to do of my 3 wishes will be the cellphone....lol The condo I just need a passport and cash, The car is the address, my passport & cash. The phone it depends who i talk to.

You do not need a contract to have a smartphone. All the providers have lots of different prepaid packages of voice/data combinations, you just have to pick the one that suits you.

[mbbnyc]

I thought so but True would not let me do it without a work permit. Maybe there was something lost in the translation. I was with a Thai and we had no language barrier.

Strange, Ok looks like I am good. I can do all of this with little or no problem.

Thanks all

[chiang mai]

Visited five times in twelve months and wants to rent a condo and drive! The OP has yellow fever, unless he is nurturing an amazing business which I doubt, more likely Sukhumvit fever I suspect, can anyone help steer him in the right direction?

[mbbnyc]

I was waiting for the sarcastic, racist old buggers to come out. I have residences in NYC & Los Angeles. If I had YF I would not need to schlep 10k miles to get some. Plenty back home, Who probably came there to get away from leeches like you.

Now why don't you mind your own business, Instead of judging someone else look at your own life. If you bothered to read the entire post you would see that I am planing to live here in the next few years. So doing these things helps me to decide where I want to live. Hopefully not in the condo next to you.

[chiang mai]

Your response says it all!

Dude, if you really did have residences in NYC and LA, you would not be asking question about insignificant rental amounts of 20/30k in Bangkok and asking for details about driving in a city where it's almost impossible to drive anymore!

Wise up.

[mbbnyc]

Wow your name is Tired of the idiots. You should look in a mirror. Listen, I am not going to divulge my addresses so some internet troll who probably spends his day in a darkened room roaming the forums looking to make snarky comments about people he does not know because he's sick of his own life. I assure you I speak the truth

it's called reading comprehension READ THE BEGINNING: I will move here in a few years. In the meantime I thought it would be nice to have a crash pad type of place Why would I spend 100+ k a month while deciding on a neighborhood ?? For an apt I would only be in a few weeks of the year ?? Why would I blow all that cash for nothing ? Maybe I just get what I need and not what I want ? Sure I could go and rent 70,80,90k or + a month but what if I don't move here for another 3 years ? Why blow all that money ? You know why cause I am not a <deleted> idiot like you

Also maybe I want the convince of a car or maybe I was going to get a bike and just asked about a car ? Bangkok is full of traffic yes. but if you know when to travel and what streets to avoid it's not that bad.

Your a troll and you need a hug from your mommy or something so please go away, Everyone else I got what info I needed Thanks for all the helpful answers everyone. Well everyone but one

[FritsSikkink]

Forget True and go to an AIS store

[mbbnyc]

I will consider it, I was only at True because my friend was. Also they seemed to me to be the biggest. Thank you tho I will start looking around at the others. Do they all have online billing ? In english ?

[soomak]

I am not planning on living here yet. That is a few years off.

I am thinking more of a crash pad. Most of my visits are under 30 days or I go off to another country like Laos or neighbor so I am making a border run by default.

I have a phone already unlocked iPhone from US. I know it works here. But to get my OWN contract True store told me I needed a work permit. I ended up as an extra line on a friends account.

I am here (SE Asia) enough that I would like to investigate the possibility of renting a condo, Having a cellphone that is in my name and maybe an automobile.

Don't know about iPhone, but there is no problem with getting a smartphone in TH without a work permit - I have Galaxy S3.

Just buy it with a prepaid SIM, and every time it's getting empty, top it up in 7/11 or somewhere similar. You can top up any amount you like: 100 thb, 1,000 thb or 10,000 thb.