Best Value Location

[Robert24]

@ canarysun: I'm renting out to Thai students only, no farang renting any of the rooms. I only get foreigners for some of the rooms that I rent out daily over Agoda.

What are the conditions of the rooms you rent for 1,500 baht? How about the bed/furniture in the room? Cleanliness? Free Wifi? Do you get aircon?

I will take a look at the apartments AnotheroneAmerican posted on Soi Belive near Maejo tomorrow just to get an idea why they are renting out so low.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

@ canarysun: I'm renting out to Thai students only, no farang renting any of the rooms. I only get foreigners for some of the rooms that I rent out daily over Agoda.

What are the conditions of the rooms you rent for 1,500 baht? How about the bed/furniture in the room? Cleanliness? Free Wifi? Do you get aircon?

I will take a look at the apartments AnotheroneAmerican posted on Soi Belive near Maejo tomorrow just to get an idea why they are renting out so low.

In MaeJo it's the price for a new build, new room, new condo, western ensuite, shower heater, free cable tv, free wifi, bed, desk, chair, table, wall fan. Provide your own TV and fridge if required. Extra for air con.

If you drive along the road past BeLive, new apt blocks going up all along, and in the side sois.

Same if you turn left at the MaeJo traffic lights.

[canarysun]

@ canarysun: I'm renting out to Thai students only, no farang renting any of the rooms. I only get foreigners for some of the rooms that I rent out daily over Agoda.

What are the conditions of the rooms you rent for 1,500 baht? How about the bed/furniture in the room? Cleanliness? Free Wifi? Do you get aircon?

I will take a look at the apartments AnotheroneAmerican posted on Soi Belive near Maejo tomorrow just to get an idea why they are renting out so low.

Generally the accommodation i have seen on my travels for 1,500 are basic rooms,yes they are clean,mainly old furniture and no wifi and no aircon !

I wouldn't of thought that " Thai Students " would be interested in " air con " mainly because of how expensive it is!??? ( I can't stand air con )

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I wouldn't of thought that " Thai Students " would be interested in " air con " mainly because of how expensive it is!??? ( I can't stand air con )

If you look at the photo I posted, you can see air-con units on a few balconies.

[Robert24]

Yes I thought the same about aircon units when I built the Khon Kaen apartment building. Initially I only installed aircon on 4 rooms out of 32. Now I have 22 rooms equipped with aircon. People seem to have more money these days. Same with parking lots. Initially I thought students only have motorcycles but nowadays many have cars too. So I had to arrange for parking on the land next to the apartment building.

[Postmaster]

Why would you want to live in Chiang Mai or for that matter any other INLAND place in Thailand. Very smokey, bad for your chest and lungs. I do like to live beside the seaside, I do like to live beside the sea as the song goes. Don't live there, don't buy there. Its OK for a week then that's it ! Live by the seaside for christ's sake, get a life.

[balo]

I think most people would like to live in a comfortable room , I prefer a studio or 1BR size up to 40 sqm . I dont think you will find that for under 5000 baht . Here in Pattaya I found older studios for around 5000 , basic but still ok to live in.

If you can afford 6-8000 baht , theres plenty of options , even in new condo buildings. Lumpini park. 30 sqm with kitchen , nice pool and gym only 7000 baht,

Edited December 20, 2014 by balo

[bangmai]

I don't think anyone would need to give reasons to not live in Pattaya, but as far as other beach areas....they are almost all reliant on tourist' money. They are magnets for thai con artists, and people from Isaan to come and help the farang part with his money. Chiang Mai actually has a real economy, with real locals, and there is a certain degree of local affluence. Unless you gauge the Provincial economy by how many stools are occupied at Mad Dog; you know that there is much more to the place than tourism/trashpackers. The type of clientele at the beaches is undesirable also; less experienced tourists doing a one to two week drinking binge at the beach every year. 120 thb for pad thai? they'll never know what hit 'em. Also, medical/dental care in CNX is among the best in Thailand, and likely all of SE Asia.

Edited December 21, 2014 by bangmai

[canarysun]

I must say viewers that if you are going to be spending " all day locked inside an air con room " ( which many farang seem to do ) then it doesn't really matter where you live! If you are like myself ( which you probably won't be....) who enjoys the " outdoor life " then you are probably better to chose a beach location with a lovely breeze and plenty of swimming in the sea.But i must say ( are you still with me viewers....? ) that if you love going on bike rides ( bicycle ) then the villages that surround Chiang Mai are some of the best places in the world for a bicycle!

Alan Whicker

[Cheesekraft]

sounds good in theory, except how on earth do you find somewhere, if you don't speak Thai?

Rule 1
Never rent from a foreigner
Rule 2
Never rent from English language adverts
Rule 3
Never rent through a property agency
Rule 4
Don't rent using your Thai gf as a front
Rule 5
Beware of shady operators selling any services on the sly through forums

In all these cases it generally costs double the price of renting yourself directly from a Thai owner.

[elektrified]

I don't think anyone would need to give reasons to not live in Pattaya, but as far as other beach areas....they are almost all reliant on tourist' money. They are magnets for thai con artists, and people from Isaan to come and help the farang part with his money. Chiang Mai actually has a real economy, with real locals, and there is a certain degree of local affluence. Unless you gauge the Provincial economy by how many stools are occupied at Mad Dog; you know that there is much more to the place than tourism/trashpackers. The type of clientele at the beaches is undesirable also; less experienced tourists doing a one to two week drinking binge at the beach every year. 120 thb for pad thai? they'll never know what hit 'em. Also, medical/dental care in CNX is among the best in Thailand, and likely all of SE Asia.

I guess you've never been to top end restaurants in Bangkok where Pad Thai is 1500 THB per person (with several huge prawns the size of small lobsters).

[Robert24]

sounds good in theory, except how on earth do you find somewhere, if you don't speak Thai?

Rule 1

Never rent from a foreigner

Rule 2

Never rent from English language adverts

Rule 3

Never rent through a property agency

Rule 4

Don't rent using your Thai gf as a front

Rule 5

Beware of shady operators selling any services on the sly through forums

In all these cases it generally costs double the price of renting yourself directly from a Thai owner.

Suggest you take a Thai speaking friend along. Most Thais don't speak English so it's good to have a Thai speaker helping you when you are house hunting.

As for the rules from AnotherOneAmerican: Agree with them maybe with exception of Rule 4. If you have a good Thai gf, certainly she can help with many local things including finding a reasonable place to rent.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

sounds good in theory, except how on earth do you find somewhere, if you don't speak Thai?

Rule 1

Never rent from a foreigner

Rule 2

Never rent from English language adverts

Rule 3

Never rent through a property agency

Rule 4

Don't rent using your Thai gf as a front

Rule 5

Beware of shady operators selling any services on the sly through forums

In all these cases it generally costs double the price of renting yourself directly from a Thai owner.

Suggest you take a Thai speaking friend along. Most Thais don't speak English so it's good to have a Thai speaker helping you when you are house hunting.

As for the rules from AnotherOneAmerican: Agree with them maybe with exception of Rule 4. If you have a good Thai gf, certainly she can help with many local things including finding a reasonable place to rent.

You would be surprised at the number of wife/gfs that make a commission on everything you spend.

If you speak Thai, you can hear the bargaining, "Charge buffalo double and split the extra 50/50 with me"

From what I see and hear, more do than don't.

[LivinLOS]

You would be surprised at the number of wife/gfs that make a commission on everything you spend.

If you speak Thai, you can hear the bargaining, "Charge buffalo double and split the extra 50/50 with me"

From what I see and hear, more do than don't.

I am really glad I dont hang around with the kind of people you seem so familiar with.

[bangmai]

I don't think anyone would need to give reasons to not live in Pattaya, but as far as other beach areas....they are almost all reliant on tourist' money. They are magnets for thai con artists, and people from Isaan to come and help the farang part with his money. Chiang Mai actually has a real economy, with real locals, and there is a certain degree of local affluence. Unless you gauge the Provincial economy by how many stools are occupied at Mad Dog; you know that there is much more to the place than tourism/trashpackers. The type of clientele at the beaches is undesirable also; less experienced tourists doing a one to two week drinking binge at the beach every year. 120 thb for pad thai? they'll never know what hit 'em. Also, medical/dental care in CNX is among the best in Thailand, and likely all of SE Asia.

I guess you've never been to top end restaurants in Bangkok where Pad Thai is 1500 THB per person (with several huge prawns the size of small lobsters).

No, but have had some nice squid spaghetti in North Beach for about 350 thb. Wasn't pad thai created as a food shortage/WW2 dish to utilize ingredients that wee cheap and available. 1500 thb for something one step above a Happy Meal?

[AnotherOneAmerican]

You would be surprised at the number of wife/gfs that make a commission on everything you spend.

If you speak Thai, you can hear the bargaining, "Charge buffalo double and split the extra 50/50 with me"

From what I see and hear, more do than don't.

I am really glad I dont hang around with the kind of people you seem so familiar with.

I expect you do, but are too daft to know it.

The guys with the wife/gfs would also claim the same as you.

Funny thing about stupid people, they don't know they are stupid, and can't be told.

Hard to understand really!

Edited December 21, 2014 by AnotherOneAmerican

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I don't think anyone would need to give reasons to not live in Pattaya, but as far as other beach areas....they are almost all reliant on tourist' money. They are magnets for thai con artists, and people from Isaan to come and help the farang part with his money. Chiang Mai actually has a real economy, with real locals, and there is a certain degree of local affluence. Unless you gauge the Provincial economy by how many stools are occupied at Mad Dog; you know that there is much more to the place than tourism/trashpackers. The type of clientele at the beaches is undesirable also; less experienced tourists doing a one to two week drinking binge at the beach every year. 120 thb for pad thai? they'll never know what hit 'em. Also, medical/dental care in CNX is among the best in Thailand, and likely all of SE Asia.

I guess you've never been to top end restaurants in Bangkok where Pad Thai is 1500 THB per person (with several huge prawns the size of small lobsters).

Great, we've now run the range of 1500 Baht monthly condo rental to 1500 Baht for a Phad Thai.

As for Phad Thai in a restaurant setting at all at any price, those tend to be tourism oriented places or hotel restaurants. (To have something recognizable on the menu that still appears Thai, while appealing to any palate.)

Thai people wouldn't typically order Phad Thai as a dish in a restaurant; a quick lunch or snack on the street, sure. Then again you did mention Bangkok, where there's a whole different kind of crazy going on when it comes to throwing money around just for bragging rights.

Edited December 21, 2014 by WinnieTheKhwai

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Wheres the best area to live? Is the value in a rental best around Niman, out in the boonies (Hang Dong?) or by the train station? Central Festival?

I think the reason this topic is so all over the place is because the word 'value'. Some people take this to mean 'cheapest' which is why you get all the '1500 baht loom'-posts.

'Value' though gets into personal requirements and preferences for your daily life, which we don't know. Some people value a nice detached house with a garden. Others value to never be further than a 2 minute walk away from a Starbucks, or a smoked salmon bagel. If the latter then the best value is Nimman. If the former it's more likely to be Hang Dong. (Or San Sai or any other of the districts surrounding town)

Value is a combination of price and what you get for it. But you mentioned neither your budget nor your requirements. Result is the total crap-shoot you see unfolding before you.

Edited December 21, 2014 by WinnieTheKhwai

[bangmai]

Then there's always the people that were taken by a tuk-tuk driver (after the great gem discount sale) to the seafood rip-off restaurant described in the 1989 Lonely Planet Guide, but they actually are now touting it, they enjoyed it so much. But, I think even 99% of the TVF knew what I meant by the 120 thb pad thai.....there's always a few, though.

[canarysun]

I have never spent more than 40 baht on a meal in almost 4 years living in Thailand ........ ( inc Chiang Mai )

[sfokevin]

I have never spent more than 40 baht on a meal in almost 4 years living in Thailand ........ ( inc Chiang Mai )

You Sir are missing out on life...

Sent from my iPad at The Dukes...

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I have never spent more than 40 baht on a meal in almost 4 years living in Thailand ........ ( inc Chiang Mai )

You Sir are missing out on life...

Sent from my iPad at The Dukes...

Yep, KFC Zinger Burger Set, upsized, 104Bht.

Well worth the extra!

[sfokevin]

Sadly even a regular Zinger is out of his league...

[bangmai]

Shrimp Burger and Cola for 35 THB at Engineering School Canteen.

[Cheesekraft]

I understand value is depending on a persons budget and needs; I just wanted to hear general preferences. For me, I want something of a larger room in an area that has food, convenience stores, etc nearby, not in the direction of Hang Dong, because of the dangerous road for motosai. I would like a room that has enough space for a large table/monitor to use without annoying someone in bed. Other things, like a pool, gym, condo internet add value, but I must be able to have my own connection as well. Anything like this under 15k? I wouldn't have made something so specific to me but it does seem like the answers are pretty vague/arbitrary

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I understand value is depending on a persons budget and needs; I just wanted to hear general preferences. For me, I want something of a larger room in an area that has food, convenience stores, etc nearby, not in the direction of Hang Dong, because of the dangerous road for motosai. I would like a room that has enough space for a large table/monitor to use without annoying someone in bed. Other things, like a pool, gym, condo internet add value, but I must be able to have my own connection as well. Anything like this under 15k? I wouldn't have made something so specific to me but it does seem like the answers are pretty vague/arbitrary

You can get a 2 room place for 6k easy.

A pal of mine has one @7k in the condo next to Tesco superhighway available to rent (it's actually 2 condos with a connecting door about 70m2).

Not one viewer in the last two months.

18.808331, 99.001240

Edited December 22, 2014 by AnotherOneAmerican

[canarysun]

I understand value is depending on a persons budget and needs; I just wanted to hear general preferences. For me, I want something of a larger room in an area that has food, convenience stores, etc nearby, not in the direction of Hang Dong, because of the dangerous road for motosai. I would like a room that has enough space for a large table/monitor to use without annoying someone in bed. Other things, like a pool, gym, condo internet add value, but I must be able to have my own connection as well. Anything like this under 15k? I wouldn't have made something so specific to me but it does seem like the answers are pretty vague/arbitrary

15,000 Baht rent!!!!??? We are talking about Chiang Mai in Thailand it's officially one of the " top ten cheapest places to live in the world " ( fact )

I know somebody who rents a huge mansion with massive gardens and an orchard.It comes with it's own lake and gardener and includes every " possible extra " at an " all in " price of 10,000 baht a month.Even the locals in this fab village just a few km outside Chiang Mai are saying he is being " ripped off " and should be paying 8,000 baht a month!!!

I think for what you are looking for then 5,000 to 6,000 baht absolute max!!!

Farang Jaidee

[elektrified]

I have never spent more than 40 baht on a meal in almost 4 years living in Thailand ........ ( inc Chiang Mai )

You are a pathetic, petty individual.

[Oscar2]

Rooms from 1,600bht/month, free wifi, shower heater, etc.

250m from MaeJo University, 5Km from Tesco and Rimping, 8KM from Central Festival, 10Km from the moat in CM.

2014-12-12 14.47.14.jpg

what an amusing thread! didn't realize there were so many cheap charlies around.

buildings like the one pictured above located near universities are for student housing in Thailand. i doubt they would rent to single older farang men. it would be somewhat unusual and seen as downright 'creepy' by the landlord. we have a relative attending Mae Jo university who will be moving into a similar building. like most of these student housing buildings, there is a list of rules of what students can and can't do on the properties as part of the rental agreement; including the gates being locked by a certain time at night, how many guests allowed in the apartments, etc.

[Cheesekraft]

wow, that sounds great! I am currently in a 15,000 b small condo that is very poorly furnished/designed not too far from hauew kaew, but further out of town at that price sounds like a steal. I will try to figure out how to find a place elsewhere

I understand value is depending on a persons budget and needs; I just wanted to hear general preferences. For me, I want something of a larger room in an area that has food, convenience stores, etc nearby, not in the direction of Hang Dong, because of the dangerous road for motosai. I would like a room that has enough space for a large table/monitor to use without annoying someone in bed. Other things, like a pool, gym, condo internet add value, but I must be able to have my own connection as well. Anything like this under 15k? I wouldn't have made something so specific to me but it does seem like the answers are pretty vague/arbitrary

15,000 Baht rent!!!!??? We are talking about Chiang Mai in Thailand it's officially one of the " top ten cheapest places to live in the world " ( fact )

I know somebody who rents a huge mansion with massive gardens and an orchard.It comes with it's own lake and gardener and includes every " possible extra " at an " all in " price of 10,000 baht a month.Even the locals in this fab village just a few km outside Chiang Mai are saying he is being " ripped off " and should be paying 8,000 baht a month!!!

I think for what you are looking for then 5,000 to 6,000 baht absolute max!!!

Farang Jaidee

Edited December 22, 2014 by Cheesekraft