Looking for friendly affordable BKK expat neighborhood for an older man.

[mercman24]

1800/20000 baht for a studio that's crazy money, i live at Phra Khanong, got a nice one bed condo, nice gym, great pool , library,  lots of eateries, dentist across the road, market across the road, can walk to BTS, all for 15,000, total all in 17,000 a month.

[berybert]

Thonglor. I shall be moving back into a 50m 1 bed condo at the start of next year for the pricely sum of 21.000 a month all in.

5 minute walk to the BTS.

 

[MiKT]

On ‎08‎/‎09‎/‎2016 at 9:37 PM, anotheruser said:

Okay well I have lived in some of the best and disagree. So I guess that ends that.  Tokyo is the best and not anywhere in the world compares to it. 

 

There are a number of different lines in Tokyo, the oldest of which is Tokyo Metro; that alone has 9 subway routes and has been going singe 1927. They certainly rank near the top amongst the best City transport systems; and so they should be as they have been going so long with a passenger base that is (still) the best behaved in the world.

 

But the BTS, the Blue Line (underground) and now the Purple line (terrible station layouts) are finally helping to drag KT into the 19th Century (yes 19th Century, London Underground has been going since 1863) and on the whole they do a good job given their limited budgets and the fights to actually get them built.

 

But this is a bit off topic. The main thing for our quester who want to be central and reasonably cheap; is to find a place that is near either the Underground or best of all, near the BTS. The other thing is availability of taxies and busses at all times of the day/night, hospitals, dentist, etc. which really makes Ekkamai out as the traffic really is terrible and ThongLor expensive (but nicer) and still not in casual walking distance of the main hospitals, nicest parks, etc.

 

You can get a nice place on Surriwangse if you want to pay 20k. That's near the only Library in KT and the British club - if you like that sort of thing.

 

Soi Pippet is a really good compromise on availability of everything you need and lower cost.

 

I hope we find out what was considered the best bet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2016 by MiKT

[pomchop]

since one of the main goals of the OP is no steps not so sure being near a BTS/MRT is the answer....some have escalators and some don't and if they don't there are some serious steps to deal with...unless things have changed

[roamer]

On 9/9/2016 at 9:21 AM, mercman24 said:

1800/20000 baht for a studio that's crazy money, i live at Phra Khanong, got a nice one bed condo, nice gym, great pool , library,  lots of eateries, dentist across the road, market across the road, can walk to BTS, all for 15,000, total all in 17,000 a month.

I lived there for a while, good value and I used to love spending an hour or two with a beer at the On Nut market, now sadly closed I think ?

[bkksteve123]

Go to Spain

[boomerexpat]

I didn't like the Omni. Too many Arabs and I found the rooms dated. but central location and decent size.

 

You might want to try Liberty Place Sukhumvit Soi 22. Liberty is 14000 studio size 30 sq meters. Not large but doable.  I like Soi 22 more than 4. Can walk to Asoke.

 

http://www.libplace.com/EN/roomrate.html

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 9/8/2016 at 8:46 PM, mcfish said:

No way you could have spent time in Bangkok

You simply cant beat the BTS and MRT for getting around anywhere in downtown Bangkok. In fact its one of the worlds most efficient big city transport systems and all for a few baht a trip

Not sure why you would even recommend Chang mai in comparison, its a bit red neck for city slickers

 

I think you're forgetting that the OP said he wanted to avoid stairs.  And at least as far as most of the BTS is concerned, it's going to be difficult to avoid stairs -- at least until they get their systemwide elevator project installed. There was an article in the news just in the past day or so saying that project is continuing to be delayed, now more than a year after the original deadline set by the court that ordered them to install elevators.

 

Yes, BTS has escalators for going up at some entrances at most/every station, but not at all entrances. From the typical four entrances at each station, they seem to often have one regular stairs and one escalator up on each side of the road. And then same thing once you're on the ticketing platform, usually one escalator in each direction and the rest of the access routes to the train level are regular stairs. However, as best as I can tell and see, BTS for the most part has no downward downward escalators with few exceptions, meaning its going to be going down stairs at most of their stations whenever traveling.

 

BTS and MRT are great for me, but I have no problem with stairs. A few BTS stations have elevators right now, but most don't. And even those few that already have elevators, the reports from the disabled community are they don't always work and/or require the passenger to summon BTS staff to unlock them or otherwise get them to work.

 

MRT seems to be better in terms of accessibility, in that escalators up and down seem to be widely available, alongside their stairs. Maybe BTS will be better 3+ years down the road. But right now, in terms of accessibility and avoiding regular stairs, I'd think living along an MRT route in general is a better choice.

 

At Nana BTS, for example, they've had the beginnings of an elevator install project for more than a year, but I haven't seen any progress on it for months now. And the contractor has done little more than install some framing, and not much more. As for escalators, Nana has ones going up on the Soi 7 and Soi 8 entrances on opposite sides of Sukhumvit Road. But the Soi 6 and Soi 11 entrances only have regular stairs.

 

 

[mcfish]

14 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I think you're forgetting that the OP said he wanted to avoid stairs.  And at least as far as most of the BTS is concerned, it's going to be difficult to avoid stairs -- at least until they get their systemwide elevator project installed. There was an article in the news just in the past day or so saying that project is continuing to be delayed, now more than a year after the original deadline set by the court that ordered them to install elevators.

 

Yes, BTS has escalators for going up at some entrances at most/every station, but not at all entrances. From the typical four entrances at each station, they seem to often have one regular stairs and one escalator up on each side of the road. And then same thing once you're on the ticketing platform, usually one escalator in each direction and the rest of the access routes to the train level are regular stairs. However, as best as I can tell and see, BTS for the most part has no downward downward escalators with few exceptions, meaning its going to be going down stairs at most of their stations whenever traveling.

 

BTS and MRT are great for me, but I have no problem with stairs. A few BTS stations have elevators right now, but most don't. And even those few that already have elevators, the reports from the disabled community are they don't always work and/or require the passenger to summon BTS staff to unlock them or otherwise get them to work.

 

MRT seems to be better in terms of accessibility, in that escalators up and down seem to be widely available, alongside their stairs. Maybe BTS will be better 3+ years down the road. But right now, in terms of accessibility and avoiding regular stairs, I'd think living along an MRT route in general is a better choice.

 

At Nana BTS, for example, they've had the beginnings of an elevator install project for more than a year, but I haven't seen any progress on it for months now. And the contractor has done little more than install some framing, and not much more. As for escalators, Nana has ones going up on the Soi 7 and Soi 8 entrances on opposite sides of Sukhumvit Road. But the Soi 6 and Soi 11 entrances only have regular stairs.

 

 

Good post. The mind boggles as to what they where thinking when initially building the BTS system. There is a good reason you dont see the very elderly and the sick using the BTS and quite simply walking down steps can be far more problematic with bad knees , legs than walking up so not having built 2 way escalators was a huge mistake.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Here's the link for the OP's info to the latest news article on the delays in the BTS system elevators project. It's a pretty sad state of affairs, but then, that's pretty much what you can expect with anything involving the BMA (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration).

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Sukhumvit Soi 8 might fit the OP's bill, but I'm not sure about the available pricing there for studio apartments and whether they'll fit the OP's budget.

 

Soi 8 is a nice street because it dead ends about 500 meters off the main road, where BTS Nana is located, meaning no through vehicle traffic. Up at the top of the soi near the main road, there are quite a few different restaurants and bars/pubs that mainly cater to expats and tourists. BTS Nana is right there, and MRT Sukhumvit just one stop away.

 

However, in terms of housing, most of the housing on the soi seems to be either daily rental hotels/guest houses for tourists, or more traditional and upper end condos for working expats with prices to match. There might be a couple smaller places on the soi that might have studio apartments fitting into the OP's retiree budget.

 

Villa, Tops and Foodland supermarkets all within 5-10 minute walking distance. And Bumrungrad Hospital just down the road at Suk Soi 3. And of course, Soi 4 Nana just 5 minutes down the road at well. Plus lots of malls for shopping and eating nearby at Asoke, Ploenchit, Chid Lom, Siam and Phrom Phong on the BTS line.

 

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

re Tanatawey Place behind Fortune Town. This used to be my go-to hotel when commuting from Pattaya. Great place. However, walking to FTown means dodging some heavy foot and moto traffic. But more important, you cannot escape stairs going up or down to enter the mall. Go down to the basement, you have to descend, then climb or descend steps as the floors are uneven. The main floor requires taking 8-12 steps or more to enter the mall and then descend to the walkway to the MRT.  

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

re Tanatawey Place behind Fortune Town. This used to be my go-to hotel when commuting from Pattaya. Great place. However, walking to FTown means dodging some heavy foot and moto traffic. But more important, you cannot escape stairs going up or down to enter the mall. Go down to the basement, you have to descend, then climb or descend steps as the floors are uneven. The main floor requires taking 8-12 steps or more to enter the mall and then descend to the walkway to the MRT.  

 

I'm not sure, because I always enter direct from the MRT level, but I think the new shopping mall on the opposite side of the road, Central Rama 9, is better in terms of not having to traverse steps to enter. I know for certain it is once you get inside, as all the floors inside are level, and there are elevators and escalators to all levels.

 

But, I don't think FortuneTown is that bad. Yes, there are probably a half dozen short steps to enter from the street level outside to the inside main floor. But inside they have elevators and escalators, including to go down to the basement level. That basement level, as you mentioned, does have interior steps, maybe 3 or 4, in a couple of places.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

The only things that lower Sukhumvit has that the rest of bkk doesn't are a profuse amount of ladyboys, high rent, and ripoff beer prices.  I live in cm, and i really like bkk, but certainly not tourist traps.  

[chubby]

On 9/15/2016 at 1:38 AM, boomerexpat said:

I didn't like the Omni. Too many Arabs and I found the rooms dated. but central location and decent size.

 

You might want to try Liberty Place Sukhumvit Soi 22. Liberty is 14000 studio size 30 sq meters. Not large but doable.  I like Soi 22 more than 4. Can walk to Asoke.

 

http://www.libplace.com/EN/roomrate.html

 

........walking to Asoke from here, with the vendors, terrible sidewalk would be a big challenge to the OP I'm sure, plus, they wanted like 2 months deposit, probably in cash, for some odd reason, rooms felt like prison cell to me, but I guess that is typical architecture, maybe if the OP told us what his lifestyle is or plans to be, maybe he might like to be near his hospital of choice

[chubby]

On 9/15/2016 at 1:38 AM, boomerexpat said:

I didn't like the Omni. Too many Arabs and I found the rooms dated. but central location and decent size.

 

You might want to try Liberty Place Sukhumvit Soi 22. Liberty is 14000 studio size 30 sq meters. Not large but doable.  I like Soi 22 more than 4. Can walk to Asoke.

 

http://www.libplace.com/EN/roomrate.html

 

........walking to Asoke from here, with the vendors, terrible sidewalk would be a big challenge to the OP I'm sure, plus, they wanted like 2 months deposit, probably in cash, for some odd reason, rooms felt like prison cell to me, but I guess that is typical architecture, maybe if the OP told us what his lifestyle is or plans to be, maybe he might like to be near his hospital of choice

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

This is one of the places on Sukhumvit Soi 8 that probably would fit into a 10-20K monthly rental budget. If memory serves, this apartment is in the 15K+ range. It's about half way into Soi 8 and very close to an adjoining 7/11 store.

 

http://serenityaptbangkok.weebly.com/