After a lifetime of living in the UK, I moved to Thailand where I spent three years before setting off on our travels around the world. My only previous visit to Thailand was a 2-day stay on the way back from Australia in 1999, so I didn’t have any real idea of how to find long-term accommodation when I first arrived in Bangkok. I had booked a week at a hotel in Sukhumvit before I left the UK, but after that it was down to me to find suitable long-term accommodation. Click here to know how to wire money to/from Thailand
I arrived in Bangkok during the May 2010 demonstrations, and during my first few days there was a curfew in place, which meant that I couldn’t leave the hotel after 6 pm. As if that wasn’t enough of an introduction to the country, I now had to grapple with an unfamiliar language and culture, and somehow find myself somewhere to live.
But I was in for a real surprise, because finding somewhere to live in Bangkok was very straightforward compared to the UK. In the UK, I had the advantage of knowing the language and culture, but I can remember many times when I struggled to find somewhere decent to live. But in Bangkok it was a completely different story.
For most foreigners arriving for the first time, their instinct is to register with a real estate company, and get them to show you around suitable property. And this is also what I did to begin with. While I was shown some great apartments, they all seemed to be very over-priced. After talking to some locals and expats, I decided to dispense with the services of the real estate companies, and do the job myself.
If you’ve been sent to Thailand by your company and they are footing the bill for your accommodation, then getting a real estate agent to the job might be perfect for you. But for those who will be paying their own accommodation costs, it makes sense to find your own accommodation and use the money saved for other purposes.
So how did I go about finding long-term accommodation in Bangkok? Firstly, I let everyone I met know what I was looking for, and also explored the city myself so that I could see first-hand which areas I liked, and which areas I didn’t. If I liked and areas, I’d walk around the streets and see if there were any condo buildings I liked the look of. These are easy to spot in Bangkok. I then just walked in and asked at the reception if they had any condos for rent. And I was very surprised to find that almost every single building I asked at had at least one condo for rent. Most had 5-10 condos available. There really does seem to be a huge oversupply of condos in Bangkok, which makes it a great place for long-term renters.
The first condo I stayed at was at Trinity Place in Silom. This was actually suggested to me by a Thai person that I talked to about my accommodation needs. So it goes to show that asking around does work. Even though I had walked around the Silom area, I’d missed this particular condo building, as it was at the end of a market lane that I hadn’t walked down. The condo was over 1,000 sq ft and cost 25,000 baht ($800, £530) per month. The originally asking price was 30,000 baht, but accommodation costs in Thailand are very negotiable, so it’s usually easy to get a good discount off the asking price. The condo building I lived in has now been converted to hotel rooms, and is part of Glow Trinity Silom Hotel. But I think there are still some condos for rent in the main Trinity Complex building. Trinity Complex has a fantastic fitness room and swimming pool, so this was a great first place to stay for me.
For my second and third condos in Bangkok I decided to stay in the Silom area, as it’s less touristy than the Sukhumvit area, where most expats live, and near the river, which means I can take boats to Chinatown and other places. As well as walking around checking out condos myself, I also discovered what is probably the best accommodation website for Bangkok – www.prakard.com. This site is mostly in Thai, but it also has lots of listings in English as well. They are a mixture of owner and agent listings, and you can find some real bargains in there. And it’s from a listing in prakard.com that I found my second condo. This was at Silom City Resort, and I would highly recommend this building. It’s on Soi Pipat, so within a few minutes’ walk of two big markets, and also only a few minutes from Chong Nonsi BTS station. Here I paid 25,000 baht ($800, £530) per month for a modern 1-bed, 500 sq ft condo.
The last condo I lived at in Bangkok was at Baan Siri Silom, near Surasak BTS. This was my favorite of the three, and also cost 25,000 baht ($800, £530) per month. And this condo was also around 500 sq ft. As you can see, over three years, condo prices were quite stable, probably due to the oversupply.
We also spend some time living in Chiang Mai, and finding accommodation there was just as easy. As we were only there for a couple of months we opted to stay in a long-term hotel – Smith Residence, near Wulai Road.
One other thing I love about finding accommodation in Thailand, is that no-one asks for references. You just hand over you cash, and you’re good to move in. And you can usually move in right away, even the same day if you want. Everything is just so simple and straightforward here, which makes a refreshing change from the UK.
So, my advice to those looking for a long-term place to live in Bangkok, or any other Thai city, would be to walk around the different areas of the city and check out the buildings you like. After seeing a few condos in different buildings you’ll get a good idea of what’s a good price and what’s not. Also check our prakard.com to see the prices offered for similar condos. Then all that’s left to do is make an offer and move in. It really is that simple.
