Deciding where to live - Wat Ket, Tha Salaa, San Sai or Hang Dong

[stament]

Luther and Chiang Mai thanks for the insightful comments on traffic. You make a good point of testing out the traffic at school times to Varee, I will do this for sure. I'm not that familiar with the are or the intersections mentioned, hopefully the Mae Rim one will be open when I visit in Sepember, otherwise I will need to check again when I return in December. I was once advised to visit houses at different times of the day and on different days to see traffic and neighbiur problems which arent always evident, so good advice thanks.

If we were this side of the lampang road would that improve things a lot say Tha Salaa? is it best to be right next to the inner ring road ior the road Varee is on whether we are coming from San Sai direction or the airport?

Other potentiwl places for consideration are Mae Hia which I have read good things about or purely locationwise looking at the map somewhere between Nong Hoi and there, like the top part of Pa Daet or a horizontsl line anywhere across there as that does not look too far from Nong Hoi. No idea whst the areas are like or if any suitable houses. Wat Ket and Don Muchoon if this side of lampang road (sorry for spelling) look favourable in location terms but I havent seen much for sale on line.

Sometimes it can favour being a bit further out if traffic is better or if you are close to a highway.

Whilst not being too far from Varee in commute times is important, its likely thst my kids would get the school bus if we lived more than 10km away as that would mean two returns a day for my wife, and if traffic is bad then a one way school bus would be preferable. However, I have heard some stories on here that people dont trust school transport so that too is a concern. Slightly off topic but iif anyone has any experience on Varee school transport please PM me.

Other places we have considered are Nong Hoi where we are now and Saraphi. The place we are renting now is very convenient next to Nong Hoi plaza but man is the place hot, its actuslly baking all the time. Its a newish build and Ive never experienced anything like it and Im living in Dubai! Need aircon 24/7 almost. I think the heat must be due to two factors, materials used, position of house ie lack of shade.

I have kind off gone off where we live mow as my wife complains she is bored of plaza 89 food and that there is no decent food very close, she normal.y ends up driving to the market for so eating to eat nearby there, and whilst its not that far on your own it does mean crossing the intersection and can ge a drag with kids. This I guess is a problem generally if living on a mooban. If she had a car then parking there would be an issue, hey you cant win whatever you do! but if we were a bit further out say San Sai or Mae Hi hopefully day time traffic would be less and easier to cover larger distances. Saraphi could be ok, not sure about local eats or traffic but wouldnt be interested in one of these new builds as you dont seem to get hardly any garden. The exception would be if it was right next to a park, although even then I am not keen on rows of houses the same, just seems a bit boring and uniform to me ala stepford wives but on a different scale and location.

Out of interest, for the school commute what directions are the best to be coming from traffic wise?

i didnt intend to write that much... As usual all thoughts and contributions most welcome.

[chiang mai]

FWIW it takes me 20 minutes to get from Mae Rim to Promenada or the Moat, outside of rush hours. During rush hours it can easily take one hour.

[koosdeboer]

Luther and Chiang Mai thanks for the insightful comments on traffic. You make a good point of testing out the traffic at school times to Varee, I will do this for sure. I'm not that familiar with the are or the intersections mentioned, hopefully the Mae Rim one will be open when I visit in Sepember, otherwise I will need to check again when I return in December. I was once advised to visit houses at different times of the day and on different days to see traffic and neighbiur problems which arent always evident, so good advice thanks.

If we were this side of the lampang road would that improve things a lot say Tha Salaa? is it best to be right next to the inner ring road ior the road Varee is on whether we are coming from San Sai direction or the airport?

Other potentiwl places for consideration are Mae Hia which I have read good things about or purely locationwise looking at the map somewhere between Nong Hoi and there, like the top part of Pa Daet or a horizontsl line anywhere across there as that does not look too far from Nong Hoi. No idea whst the areas are like or if any suitable houses. Wat Ket and Don Muchoon if this side of lampang road (sorry for spelling) look favourable in location terms but I havent seen much for sale on line.

Sometimes it can favour being a bit further out if traffic is better or if you are close to a highway.

Whilst not being too far from Varee in commute times is important, its likely thst my kids would get the school bus if we lived more than 10km away as that would mean two returns a day for my wife, and if traffic is bad then a one way school bus would be preferable. However, I have heard some stories on here that people dont trust school transport so that too is a concern. Slightly off topic but iif anyone has any experience on Varee school transport please PM me.

Other places we have considered are Nong Hoi where we are now and Saraphi. The place we are renting now is very convenient next to Nong Hoi plaza but man is the place hot, its actuslly baking all the time. Its a newish build and Ive never experienced anything like it and Im living in Dubai! Need aircon 24/7 almost. I think the heat must be due to two factors, materials used, position of house ie lack of shade.

I have kind off gone off where we live mow as my wife complains she is bored of plaza 89 food and that there is no decent food very close, she normal.y ends up driving to the market for so eating to eat nearby there, and whilst its not that far on your own it does mean crossing the intersection and can ge a drag with kids. This I guess is a problem generally if living on a mooban. If she had a car then parking there would be an issue, hey you cant win whatever you do! but if we were a bit further out say San Sai or Mae Hi hopefully day time traffic would be less and easier to cover larger distances. Saraphi could be ok, not sure about local eats or traffic but wouldnt be interested in one of these new builds as you dont seem to get hardly any garden. The exception would be if it was right next to a park, although even then I am not keen on rows of houses the same, just seems a bit boring and uniform to me ala stepford wives but on a different scale and location.

Out of interest, for the school commute what directions are the best to be coming from traffic wise?

i didnt intend to write that much... As usual all thoughts and contributions most welcome.

In muubaan Rungarroon you don't have to cross a busy road to the market. The market is on walking distance. Many school busses from Hang Dong to Varee.

My daughter used these for eleven years from Hang Dong to Varee.

The back entrance of Varee is easy accessible from the second ring road driving from Big C Hang Dong.

Since construction of the highway from the canalroad around Hang Dong the traffic is much less. The traffic to San Pa Tong and Doi Inthanon uses the canal road now.

From Hang Dong to Varee takes me 20 minutes.

15 minutes into town, central airport plaza.

One poster mentioned airplane noise in Hang Dong. That's in a part of district Hang Dong, not in Hang Dong the village.

District Hang Dong is very big, from Tesco Lotus to San Patong and from Sarapi far into the road to Samoeng.

[chiang mai]

That's an excellent point. Similarly, Mae Rim stretches all the way down to the Convention Centre. So when talking about which of the alternatives better suits, it's perhaps useful to be more specific within each Amphur, if possible.

[Bill97]

That's an excellent point. Similarly, Mae Rim stretches all the way down to the Convention Centre. So when talking about which of the alternatives better suits, it's perhaps useful to be more specific within each Amphur, if possible.

San Sai is probably bigger.

Meaningless discussion unless much more specific about location, even the Tambons are diverse and/or large.

OP asked an unanswerable question.

Close it.

[stament]

Why meaningless, I am asking for advice and getting some good insightful responses. Hopefully some members can suggest suitable places in San Soi Noi, Mae Hi, etc. There are a lot of very helpful members on here.

[stament]

That's an excellent point. Similarly, Mae Rim stretches all the way down to the Convention Centre. So when talking about which of the alternatives better suits, it's perhaps useful to be more specific within each Amphur, if possible.

San Sai is probably bigger.

Meaningless discussion unless much more specific about location, even the Tambons are diverse and/or large.

OP asked an unanswerable question.

Close it.

BTW as the original poster I can honestly say that your two posts aren't even remotely helpful and add nothing to the thread imho. If you dont like the thread why not simply ignore and let others who are being helpful respond?

[luther]

Agreed, Mae Rim, the district, and San Sai, the district, confuse the discussion.

I think of Chiang Mai as a spider web. Nearest me, the radii heading out from the city’s center are the canal road, the Mae Rim Road (107), the Mae Jo Road (1001), and the Chiang Rai Road (118). Each ring road that you must cross during a commute is significant. I know a couple who moved from just inside the super highway to just outside it. They are along the river near Ban Pi Sua. They commute outwards in the morning. They moved less than a kilometer, but now get up half an hour later and have reduced their commute by a lot.

There are many niches very close to ring roads, but with backdoor routes that avoid one major intersection.

Future growth is another huge factor especially for anyone considering buying or building. The new airport is a done deal.

“chiang mai” is correct: The Mae Rim underpass construction has pushed a lot of commuters along the river and down the Mae Jo Road. I have heard there are other intersection projects in the works. What's happening at the intersection of the superhighway and 1001? Several Thai friends have said it is also going to be an underpass. If so, when the real digging starts, it will be Chiang Mai’s ultimate bottleneck.

Edited August 30, 2015 by luther

[chiang mai]

The digging you refer to is the start of the Maejo underpass, what that would appear to do is to push more traffic onto the ring roads and away from that stretch of the superhighway. Already there's a heavy flow of traffic on many back roads in that area, during rush hours.

[stament]

Agreed, Mae Rim, the district, and San Sai, the district, confuse the discussion.

I think of Chiang Mai as a spider web. Nearest me, the radii heading out from the citys center are the canal road, the Mae Rim Road (107), the Mae Jo Road (1001), and the Chiang Rai Road (118). Each ring road that you must cross during a commute is significant. I know a couple who moved from just inside the super highway to just outside it. They are along the river near Ban Pi Sua. They commute outwards in the morning. They moved less than a kilometer, but now get up half an hour later and have reduced their commute by a lot.

There are many niches very close to ring roads, but with backdoor routes that avoid one major intersection.

Future growth is another huge factor especially for anyone considering buying or building. The new airport is a done deal.

chiang mai is correct: The Mae Rim underpass construction has pushed a lot of commuters along the river and down the Mae Jo Road. I have heard there are other intersection projects in the works. What's happening at the intersection of the superhighway and 1001? Several Thai friends have said it is also going to be an underpass. If so, when the real digging starts, it will be Chiang Mais ultimate bottleneck.

Hi Luther, ant tips on any areas to look at ie the niches you refer to please? New airport, not heard anything about that, let alone how that or other future growth/road changes will affect things, be grateful of any insight. Meantime I will go and google the new airport.

[stament]

just googled an old thread on the airport but it seems more talk and geared by certain stakeholders interests in selling land. i must say the current airport doesnt seem too busy to justify a new airport, are there huge expansions or is this politically targeting land sale like Swampy was?

[chiang mai]

There is a current airport expansion plan which stretches through 2035. Current passenger loads equals almost 7 mill passengers whilst the expansion plan will enable an increase to 20 mill. I personally do not believe there is second airport on the radar currently.

[luther]

The digging you refer to is the start of the Maejo underpass, what that would appear to do is to push more traffic onto the ring roads and away from that stretch of the superhighway. Already there's a heavy flow of traffic on many back roads in that area, during rush hours.

Right. I've heard it's estimated to take two years. I was just giving it as an example of an area where you might move to and then find out a few months later you'd made a big mistake.

[junglechef]

Future infrastructure might be worth the present hassle if it's a long term life decision.

[Dante99]

Why meaningless, I am asking for advice and getting some good insightful responses. Hopefully some members can suggest suitable places in San Soi Noi, Mae Hi, etc. There are a lot of very helpful members on here.

Mae Hi could well be the best place around, wide tree lined streets, no soi dogs, great restaurants nearby, nobody planting cantilop and excellent views.

[stament]

Why meaningless, I am asking for advice and getting some good insightful responses. Hopefully some members can suggest suitable places in San Soi Noi, Mae Hi, etc. There are a lot of very helpful members on here.

Mae Hi could well be the best place around, wide tree lined streets, no soi dogs, great restaurants nearby, nobody planting cantilop and excellent views.

The area keeps getting recommended, I will check it out in 3 weeks, thanks

[stament]

Bumping this as interested in any other helpful comments before I arrive ;-)

[mascarabertha]

Why meaningless, I am asking for advice and getting some good insightful responses. Hopefully some members can suggest suitable places in San Soi Noi, Mae Hi, etc. There are a lot of very helpful members on here.

Mae Hi could well be the best place around, wide tree lined streets, no soi dogs, great restaurants nearby, nobody planting cantilop and excellent views.

The area keeps getting recommended, I will check it out in 3 weeks, thanks

anything south of the city the people are like human plankton. they work, they come home, they over breed, they retire, they die

[stament]

thanks, I asked for helpful not sure if you missed that

[mascarabertha]

thanks, I asked for helpful not sure if you missed that

that validates it you belong there

[stament]

Today I will be taking a drive around and will report back any thoughts

[LivinLOS]

Future growth is another huge factor especially for anyone considering buying or building. The new airport is a done deal.

Is it ??

and is there a specific map anywhere showing its runways ??

[fireplay]

San Sai is very nice for us, but it would not suit you as songtaews are not readily available...nor tuk tuks. You would need a vehicle. The moat is only 15 minutes away by car....(we go down 1001 from the third ring road...past the second ring road..to the first ring road, hang a right, cross the river, left at tesco lotus and three kilometers straight down to the moat. Guess you want to buy...we rent a huge 4bedroom/4 bathroom "quiet and nice" , with landscaping for 5000 baht per month. Can walk from here to my wife's cafe/restaurant business. Extremely convenient...for us (we don't have children and we don't care for the old town very much). Only 5 minutes from the NewHome Pro, Rimpings, Raum Chok Market, Tesco, Central Festival, Gas Station..and plenty of places to eat out.

Sir this sounds amazing. I am paying 6500 bht a month for a 40sqm studio off suthep road near chiang mai university. I never see houses for rent as you described...and both my gf and i have been looking on rental sites both thai and english and fb for monthes. Pray tell how we can find something like this.

[LivinLOS]

San Sai is very nice for us, but it would not suit you as songtaews are not readily available...nor tuk tuks. You would need a vehicle. The moat is only 15 minutes away by car....(we go down 1001 from the third ring road...past the second ring road..to the first ring road, hang a right, cross the river, left at tesco lotus and three kilometers straight down to the moat. Guess you want to buy...we rent a huge 4bedroom/4 bathroom "quiet and nice" , with landscaping for 5000 baht per month. Can walk from here to my wife's cafe/restaurant business. Extremely convenient...for us (we don't have children and we don't care for the old town very much). Only 5 minutes from the NewHome Pro, Rimpings, Raum Chok Market, Tesco, Central Festival, Gas Station..and plenty of places to eat out.

Sir this sounds amazing. I am paying 6500 bht a month for a 40sqm studio off suthep road near chiang mai university. I never see houses for rent as you described...and both my gf and i have been looking on rental sites both thai and english and fb for monthes. Pray tell how we can find something like this.

Not on rental sites !!

I am in the house hunt again.. And agents are just awful, one showed us an old dusty moobaan house, with 10 year old index miss matched furniture and with a straight face said 35k a month, I would be amazed if any Thai would rent it for more than 10 max 15.. Once they pull such silly stunts I dont want to continue to talk to them, its an insult that they think your so poorly informed at what the real values are, they would do this.

Days spent out on the scooter, Stop and chat at all the noodle shops and cafes, every security guard, etc etc..

[MaeJoMTB]

San Sai is very nice for us, but it would not suit you as songtaews are not readily available...nor tuk tuks. You would need a vehicle. The moat is only 15 minutes away by car....(we go down 1001 from the third ring road...past the second ring road..to the first ring road, hang a right, cross the river, left at tesco lotus and three kilometers straight down to the moat. Guess you want to buy...we rent a huge 4bedroom/4 bathroom "quiet and nice" , with landscaping for 5000 baht per month. Can walk from here to my wife's cafe/restaurant business. Extremely convenient...for us (we don't have children and we don't care for the old town very much). Only 5 minutes from the NewHome Pro, Rimpings, Raum Chok Market, Tesco, Central Festival, Gas Station..and plenty of places to eat out.

Sir this sounds amazing. I am paying 6500 bht a month for a 40sqm studio off suthep road near chiang mai university. I never see houses for rent as you described...and both my gf and i have been looking on rental sites both thai and english and fb for monthes. Pray tell how we can find something like this.

You cruise around on a m/c looking for signs in Thai on gates.

You need a Thai speaker to phone the numbers, one that doesn't double the rent and take a cut.

Beware the Thai gf who can't find such a deal.

Edited September 20, 2015 by MaeJoMTB

[fireplay]

San Sai is very nice for us, but it would not suit you as songtaews are not readily available...nor tuk tuks. You would need a vehicle. The moat is only 15 minutes away by car....(we go down 1001 from the third ring road...past the second ring road..to the first ring road, hang a right, cross the river, left at tesco lotus and three kilometers straight down to the moat. Guess you want to buy...we rent a huge 4bedroom/4 bathroom "quiet and nice" , with landscaping for 5000 baht per month. Can walk from here to my wife's cafe/restaurant business. Extremely convenient...for us (we don't have children and we don't care for the old town very much). Only 5 minutes from the NewHome Pro, Rimpings, Raum Chok Market, Tesco, Central Festival, Gas Station..and plenty of places to eat out.

Sir this sounds amazing. I am paying 6500 bht a month for a 40sqm studio off suthep road near chiang mai university. I never see houses for rent as you described...and both my gf and i have been looking on rental sites both thai and english and fb for monthes. Pray tell how we can find something like this.

You cruise around on a m/c looking for signs in Thai on gates.

You need a Thai speaker to phone the numbers, one that doesn't double the rent and take a cut (beware of the Thai gf).

You know and we do that...i suppose not enough as we should...as far as the integrity of the tgf she's totally solid. Nothing like the sorid experiences i read on this site...perhaps she is playing the "long game" 555 but she is the least materialistic and most money saving conscious girl i have ever met. And i have met more than a few hey!

Ps we are kinda hoping for a thai style lanna wood house 2 bdrm would be fine and a 15-20 k BHT Budget if anyone has suggestions

Edited September 20, 2015 by fireplay

[LivinLOS]

Ps we are kinda hoping for a thai style lanna wood house 2 bdrm would be fine and a 15-20 k BHT Budget if anyone has suggestions

Ping have a few wooden homes listed in the 20s.. have to assume they would barter down to the teens.

[LivinLOS]

Beware the Thai gf who can't find such a deal.

Have to say.. For my personal needs Chiang Mai is hard to find what I need.

I currently have my own pool.. I would like to continue to have a pool..

I like nice fixtures and fittings.. A kitchen with an oven and good work surfaces..

I like nice big rooms, maybe walk in closets..

I like a garden or outdoor green space thats private and not overlooked.

In Hua Hin, Patts, even Phuket.. theres 100s of small places, built with pools, or houses built to a western standard with western tastes in mind. In chiang mai houses are built for the Thai market, moobaan homes with no garden set 2m from its neighbor with no outdoor privacy or screened garden space.. Or to get space and walk in closets they are 5 bed plus mansions with the kind of interior design, chandeliers and the like, which would make Liberace blush..

Nice modern clean places, with a private pool and a not overlooked garden ?? Not easy.. Hua hin, common as muck, can find 5 in the 25 - 35 baht a month range in a day. But then I would have to live in hua hin !!

[MaeJoMTB]

^^^^

I thought we were discussing 5,000bht rentals?

[fireplay]

^^^^

I thought we were discussing 5,000bht rentals?

Yes mr slippery lobster seems to have that...did he find it riding around scoping out signs...or online...or gossip at the noodle shop? My guess is through a friend of friend or family...some sort of insider networking