The River condo Bangkok

[muffy]

Anybody staying there . Comments please .

[metisdead]

As you're asking about a Condo in Bangkok, moved to the Bangkok forum.

[muffy]

• Was about to change , didn't want to double post . Thanks

[muffy]

Nobody ?

[Filer]

Not staying there, but have a few thoughts that may be useful.

Looked at this place a few times over the past 2-3 yrs or so with view to buy (or rent). Inspected all the facilities and several specific units and eventually decided definitely against it end of 2013.

Leaving aside the high buying price/rent levels being asked, which are arguably justified for this premier, very convenient location and high quality spec, three things contributed to making it negative for me.

1. The units are generally very hot and the windows/walls are not very well insulated against solar heat (unless you want to spend a lot on pwer for air conditioning. This is especially so on the south side (downstream side) which gets sun from dawn to sunset.

2. The large site between the two towers of The River and the Taksin bridge (currently a drinks bottling plant/depot) looks a prime spot for development and another high-rise complex which would overshadow The River complex and block views southward.

3. There seem to be a lot of 'distressed sales' by speculators who had bought the units at launch with a quick capital gain in mind upon re-sale, who now seem increasingly to be opting to rent out (because they can's sell at anywhere near their target prices right now) -- and renting out on short term basis (even by the day) for holiday rentals. You can find many adverts for this on the Web. This seems to have been accepted as OK by the condo owners/management, although to me it seems to defeat the whole purpose of an upmarket, select condo development. This for me was the real killer. I just would not accept to pay good money to be surrounded by lots of short term holiday tourists, probably with a highlevel of kids, plus the obvious issues of security resulting from lots of short-term, unknown people having security access around the site.

The problems above probably apply to other prime Bangkok condo sites too, but in the case of The River they played a major role in turning me off.

I hope this helps.

[muffy]

^{Helps a lot , some are selling their units at a loss , you gamble and sometimes lose . I move in next month and am only a renter . It seems very secure and I carry insurance for any loss . I always use my air con in Bangkok and am down sizing from 250 sqm to a one bedroom high up with a view . I really like the location and the upscale of the building . My condo faces west so I am sure it will heat up , the first negative that I notice . Looked at a lot of places on the river and decided to go for luxury . Thank You , you are right on with your comments , I am tired of lower Sukhumvit and looking forward to the move .}