Walkable area to live in CM?

[phrodan]

^ I think so too; ignore the unhelpful snobs & naysayers.

Snobbish for pointing out that the units in CM under 2,000 baht a month are as rough as hell? what's wrong with you?

I think he said 2,500 Baht. Or maybe these cost 3K now in a reasonable area, whatever. Either way I think we're talking about a room in an apartment block that includes a bathroom, small balcony, in a building with 3-4 floors, no elevator, no air conditioning provided. Hot water shower is often included but not always. Furniture (if any) is basic.

Of course as a tenant you can add lots of things to add comfort: your own furniture, bed/mattress, etc.

So the limitations you have are basically the same as when living in a hotel room: you don't have too much space, and you don't have a kitchen.

So while these don't work if you have a family or want a kitchen and a yard and a dog and so on, I can understand that they are perfectly adequate for people by themselves (or as a couple), without culinary aspirations.

I would not want to live in such a place now but it was perfectly fine for me when I first arrived. Not to mention they're right downtown so you can walk to anything: why require a washing machine when a laundry lady is right downstairs. Why require a kitchen when you have all the food you need for 40 Baht just down the road, etc.

> what's wrong with you?

Ah, I answered the question the OP asked. Sorry.

I guess that means there is something wrong with me, and not with those who ignore the question but still respond to start some kind of diatribe. :/

Read the OP again.

[uptheos]

It's worth posting the OP again as some people seem unable not to go off on a tangent or their own agenda.

Me and my wife want to move to CM(she is from Isaan). We want to stay in an area that is walkable or can be reached by discount tesco bicycle(for saving transport costs). We stayed at a place last time but it was out in the middle of nowhere and had to pay every time for the tuk tuk man to take us everywhere which cost us big money. We will be staying in an affordable Thai apartment loom(~2000 baht/month) and need a market with food stalls around for our rice cooker and cooking stove. Can you suggest an area?

[Paagai]

One comment about Santitham prices as things have changed a lot. A few years ago 2-2.5K Bt would get you a not bad A/C room, but the massive building spree has forced prices up. Thais love new places, so every time a new condo/dorm block opens there is a flood of people wanting to move there forcing up prices. Then, Thai style, the older places put their prices up too and it would seem there is demand to justify it. Now newish regular A/C rooms are more like 3K or more (price for Thais).

Santitham is still a good place to live, though it used to be a lot better. Infrastructure (power, water and roads in particular) have not kept place with the number of people. It's also worth remembering that these condos/dorm blocks are a favorite method of money laundering. Those with clean money are more likely to build shop houses to sell for the quick profit.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

^ I think that's still pretty affordable. And anything non-aircon would also not really go up that much in price. (Until a building gets renovated and aircon put in place, etc.)

[fey]

What exactly will you do all day? I mean, you would have to spend most of your time out of the "home", since living in a sardine tin is a little uncomfortable...

Well said. Really cheap places and you end up going out more. You have to drink in the heat walking around. Just the fruit shakes alone can set you back what you could have paid for a nice place with ventilation or a yard/balcony you can actually stay in all day.

At 2k baht your looking at small rooms in cinder block housing with those small vents in the wall and people hanging laundry on your doorstep.

I even knew someone who lived a step down from this in the cinder block housing with the sheet tin roof type. I'm not sure what they were paying but it was probably not less then 2k. There are lots of these real ghetto areas they are just behind the main buildings on the street and are accessed by very small lanes or trails and can't be seen from the street.

Many of them off the main road from the old city to the shopping mall near the airport.

In cm you take red or yellow songteaw for 10 or 20 baht, never tuk tuk. I never used tuk tuk there who wanted 100 baht each time.