BTS Surasak - Good or Bad Area?

[blackcab]

Does anyone know what the BTS Surasak area is like please? I'm interested in the area within 5-10 minutes walking distance of the BTS.

 

I'm interested to know about shopping and entertainment options. Is there anywhere convenient to buy groceries? Central, Tops, Villa, Foodland, etc? What about dining options? Is there a good selection of restaurants?

 

Overall, what's the area like please?

 

[SaintLouisBlues]

I lived there for over a year. It depends on which side of the tracks you live. Behind Saint Louis Hospital (SLH) there is a lot of relatively inexpensive and also roomy housing. I can particularly recommend Saint Louis Mansion, where the building's owners live in apartments in the building and have a vested interest in its maintenance and ambience. One downside of that area is a lack of pavements if you're a walker. As far as supermarkets go it's either Tops on Silom near what is (may still be) Holiday Inn, or Villa on Naratiwas. Walking distance for the latter if on the SLH side, and frequent tuk-tuks back via the intermediate sois. Plenty of ATMs particularly if you walk through to Soi 11. A decent Au Bon Pain coffee shop within the grounds of SLH. There's a Tesco Lotus further down Naratiwas - definitely a taxi ride home. If you do move in behind SLH it's worthwhile walking around and acquainting yourself with the streets many taxi drivers seem not to know about, in particular from Naratiwas through to SLH. However where I am now I rely extensively on home delivery for bulky items so visiting a supermarket isn't such an issue except for fresh vegetables - and you can buy those in the streets nearby - or meat

 

The biggest downside however is transportation. It's a hot 10+ minute walk to Surasak even via the back streets, and in the evening through to say midnight you'll find taxis will most likely refuse to take you because "traffic jam". Finding a taxi to pick you up might also be a challenge at times, although with Uber and so on these days maybe less so

 

Dining - plenty on the Silom side of Surasak, less so on the SLH side. There's an S&P at the entrance of SLH. Most of the restaurants on the SLH side cater to Thais rather than Westerners 

[OMGImInPattaya]

The area is rather nice...lots of restos and cafes and walkability score is pretty high. Not sure about supermarkets though...but easy access to BTS. The area is pretty dead on weekends so this provides a bit of respite from the weekday trafic and  crowds.

[blackcab]

I have a property in mind - it's the Diplomat Sathorn. It's located right next to the BTS.

[planr]

6 minutes ago, blackcab said:

I have a property in mind - it's the Diplomat Sathorn. It's located right next to the BTS.

 

As one of the previous posters mentioned, there are no supermarkets within walking distance, however if you'll be at the Diplomat, Silom Complex (with a Tops) will be two stations away. There is also a small Tops in the basement of Empire Tower, which has a direct connection to Chong Nonsi BTS which can be useful for weekday shopping, but weekend hours may be limited. 

 

In terms of restaurants, there are some decent local places, but for quality western/asian fare you'll need to walk to Sathorn sois 10 and 12 (a new BTS station will be built in front of these sois within the next year or two). Also a couple of good restaurants at Empire Tower (e.g., The Capital, Savoey, Muteki, etc.) as well as at the CUBE (retail modium of the Mahanakhon tower next to Chong Nonsi BTS). There's a Chef Man inside the Eastin hotel across from the Diplomat for top shelf Chinese fare. Not much in the way of entertainment though, regardless of if you mean a typical western sports bar or night clubs. 

 

The major downside is that if you plan to drive or use taxis / uber / etc, traffic is horrendous during the week. 

Edited October 30, 2016 by planr

[Fairynuff]

A pretty easy walk to Saphan Taksin area and on Charoen Krung there's a Robinsons with a good Tops. In that area there are a million and one restaurants of all kinds. Surasak itself is a pretty good area IMO

[bark]

It has good and bad; same as any area. I would the the good out weighs the bad.

Stay in a hotel for a weekend. Then you can walk , around and see first hand.

Same as renting a car before you buy the model.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

A pretty easy walk to Saphan Taksin area and on Charoen Krung there's a Robinsons with a good Tops. In that area there are a million and one restaurants of all kinds. Surasak itself is a pretty good area IMO

I hate that area.

[blackcab]

1 hour ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

I hate that area.

 

 

Why?

[KhonKaenKowboy]

I would live there if the price was right...kind of upscale...very expensive land..you got food land at patpong and makro around there..or they were...horrible traffic during the week and kind of dead on weekends...thousands of school kids around there..just kind of lengthens rush hour....

[theguyfromanotherforum]

9 hours ago, blackcab said:

 

Why?

 

Dirty, crowded, overpriced and access to one of the dirtiest riverfronts in the world.