When first moving to Thailand your best option, if you don’t have a friend that will put you up for 1-3 months, is to rent a guest house room, vacation condo, or serviced apartment. You will need this time to shop for and secure a permanent residence. With all three options you can book a room in advance of leaving your home country.

VACATION CONDOS and GUEST HOUSES

Best I can determine, your least expensive option for a long-term temporary stay is with the guest houses and vacation condo rentals. The problem is availability and flexibility. If you book a room for one month, then discover you need an additional month, there’s a good chance you’ll be relocating. On top of that, you may find it difficult to locate a place that can accommodate a stay for even one month, particularly if your plans are to relocate during high season. Like serviced apartments, rental rates are on a sliding scale based on length of stay.

Room at Vincent’s Guest House

Actually, there is one other option, if you can find a vacancy. Some apartment buildings rent by the day, week, or month, with rates on a sliding scale, based on length of stay. And a lot of these places are near the BTS! I found one (Baan Porntip) with efficiencies (20, 22, and 24sqm) ranging from 7k to 9k a month. At 7 baht per unit, their electric rate is high, but you are going to run into the same thing with the more pricy serviced apartments. These are basically the equivalent of a hotel or guest house room, without any services.

I found another place (Piyavan Tower) that sits right on the BTS in Ari with 45 sqm efficiencies at 24k a month and 95 sqm 1 bedrooms at 32k. And this place has all the amenities, including a convenience store! At these rates, you could afford to camp out for a long time while looking for that perfect place to live. This happens to be in a very gay area of town, and has plenty of nice restaurants within a short walk. The big unknown is how many actually have vacancies.

SERVICED APARTMENTS

The more expensive, serviced apartments should be more flexible with availability and extending a stay. I have links in the side bar to a few web sites that have listings for serviced apartments, so you can get a good idea of what they offer for the money.

Serviced apartments are, by western standards, modern apartments run like a hotel. They are completely furnished, have a full kitchen, and modern bathroom. Maid service is included, and most if not all facilities, such as laundry, convenience store, and restaurant/bar are located in the building. Many will even deliver meals to your room. Most include Internet service in the room, but some may only offer a wireless or Internet café service near the lobby area of the building. Most, if not all, of these places have a pool and fitness center on property. In all likelihood key staff members will speak English, something you probably won’t find when renting an apartment or condo off the open market. It is reasonable to expect safety and security will be at a higher standard in the serviced apartments, but I have no doubt there are exceptions.

Rental rates are on a sliding scale based on length of stay, and compared to a hotel room can be quite reasonable when renting for one or more months. You do need to check if utilities are included, as this is a favorite way to trick people into thinking they are getting a good deal. The standard city rate for electric is 2 or 3 baht per unit, but all rental properties have the option of tacking on an additional per unit charge. So what you end up with is cheap rent and an exorbitant electric bill. This is true for all rental properties, not just the serviced apartments. You should also expect the amenities, such as laundry and restaurant, will be a little more expensive. In addition, serviced apartments may add vat and a service fee.

A lot of guys like serviced apartments so much they elect to stay in them permanently. It offers a more sheltered and pampered lifestyle that some prefer. I personally think if you are going to move to Thailand, then LIVE in it. Serviced apartments are hotels filled with other foreigners who are, more often than not, tourists.

Please take into consideration I have never rented a serviced apartment.

APARTMENTS and CONDOS

The differences between apartments and condominiums are almost negligible. Apartments, within a building, are owned and managed by one company. However, some units in the building may be privately owned. The privately owned units may also be for rent, and will most likely be managed by the same company. All maintenance issues, including the changing of light bulbs, will be dealt with by the one management company. Condo units are privately owned, and managed separately from the condominium management. Therefore, maintenance issues will be addressed by two different entities, depending on what the problem is. And, in some cases, the responsibility may fall on the owner of another unit, such as a leaking water pipe. The land lord should make the determination as to who has responsibility, and take care of coordinating the repairs, if it is not his to fix. Another important difference is condominiums have a monthly maintenance fee. This fee may or may not be included in the rent. You need to check on this when considering a condo unit, as that fee may be added on to the rental rate you were initially quoted.

Here after I’ll just keep it simple and call them condos, as everything applies to both.

Rental rates are driven largely by standard of living and size of the unit. They are also influenced by location. Properties within short walking distance of the BTS or MRT rapid transit systems will be more expensive, but well worth it. Of course, the cost of rental properties is higher in Bangkok than most other communities in Thailand.

Rental rates for a (Thai middle class standards) one room efficiency, in a good location, should start at around 8000 B. This is your basic box with a bathroom, and maybe a small balcony. Something that feels like a one bedroom by design, but really only one big room will run around 12k. One and two bedrooms will range between 15 and 24 thousand a month.

Amenities, at this standard of living, are minimal, at best. Some places will have a pool, but few will include a fitness center. Community coin operated washers, and maybe dryers, will most likely be available on property. Drinking water dispensing machines or bottled water delivery to your room may or may not be available on site. Community Internet services (WiFi or café) may or may not be offered. Cable or satellite TV should be available for a monthly fee. Most likely there will be someone on property providing laundry service. An on property convenience store, dry cleaners, pharmacy, restaurant or bar are unlikely.

Even at this standard, most condos come fully furnished, including refrigerator. Some, particularly the one and two bedrooms may even have a floor fan, stereo, TV, microwave, washer and dryer. Rooms at this standard, and above, will have air conditioning. One phone line will most likely be installed.

With the exception of some smaller efficiencies, units at this standard will have a small cooking area. Typical is a small counter space with one small (cold water only) sink, and a few storage cabinets. Some will have a cooking vent, but do not expect a stove. Cooking is done with your own hot plate and other appliances.

It is very common for bathrooms at this standard to have one floor for shower, toilet and sink. In other words, when you shower the entire floor of the bathroom gets wet.

Safety and security standards are all over the map at this standard of living.

As you move into the upper middle class and above standards, monthly rentals will range from between 25k and 60k. At this standard you start to see full, and often spacious, modern kitchens and bathrooms. As an example, 40k a month will get you a massive two bedroom, two bath. The master bath has a tub and separate walk in shower. The kitchen is huge, with plenty of storage, built in stove and oven, dish washer, and built in washer and dryer. The kitchen also has a separate servant’s entry, and an adjoining maid’s quarters, with bathroom and one of FIVE balconies. Interestingly enough, there’s still no hot water in the kitchen sink.

At this standard of living all properties will have a pool, and many will include a fitness center. Depending on the property, some or all amenities will be on site. Safety and security standards are typically much higher and more professional. The higher you get in this standard, the more it will look and feel like the properties you are costumed to in your home country.

As a general rule, most westerners will find something comparable to their home country standard of living in the 30k to 40k range. Of course there’s even better out there. For 100k a month you can rent a condo with its own private pool. At that level you can assume everything is top of the line, and over the top.

All of this information is generalized, and more typical of what you can get if near the BTS or MRT. For a complete picture, poke around at ThaiApartment.com.

LOCATING A PROPERTY

From the point you start looking, to actual move in will take between one and three months. The actual time it takes to secure a property will be driven mostly by availability of the standard you want, in a good location, and at a fair market rate. In other words, you can get a cheap dump in a lousy location very quickly, but finding something nice, particularly in the middle class range, can take awhile.

The chances of someone on property speaking English is hit or miss, so you need an English speaking Thai assisting you with your search and move in. Don’t rely on the boy to help you find places, as he probably won’t be of much help. Instead, ask farang to point you into good neighborhoods, and take the boy with you to knock on doors.

Once you locate a property it can usually be secured for a few thousand baht. This is not refundable, but does get applied to the security deposit at move in. Most places charge an additional month’s rent for the security deposit. This is paid at the same time first month’s rent is collected. Make sure to review and sign the rental contract before handing over the deposit and rent moneys. The contract will most likely be written in Thai, so you will need a Thai to assist you with its review. Watch out for companies that hold the deposit for two months after move out. There is no justification for them doing this. Most likely they are hoping you will be leaving the country and won’t come back to collect it.

Rent rates are often negotiable. I once talked the rent down from 18k to 15k. I ended up not taking the place, because I discovered a high rise condo was about to start construction right next door and on the other side of what would have been by bedroom exterior wall.

Rental contracts are usually for 12 months, but some places are willing to do a 6 month agreement. As I mentioned before, there are some places that rent by the day, week and month, but they are going to be a little more expensive than the one’s that do not.

From the standpoint of location, there are a number of things to consider when looking for a property. In my opinion, number one on the list is proximity to the BTS or MRT. It’s a lot easier to get around town if you are within walking distance of either.

Most Thais do not own a car, so everything you need tends to be clustered within each neighborhood and in easy walking distance of everyone’s home. The two exceptions may be a grocery store and large discount department store, like Big C or Tesco. An ideal location puts you within walking distance of a grocery, and within one or two kilometers of a discount shopping center.

All neighborhoods are full of restaurants, but most will not have English menus. Check to see how many sit down restaurants, with English menus, are near by. If you like drinking coffee, the number of up scale shops near the room is another consideration.

It’s almost a given one or more convenience stores will be within walking distance, and the same goes for pharmacies. Make sure there is at least one pharmacy near by with English speaking staff. Keep in mind there are two different types of pharmacies in Thailand. There are the big chains, like Boots and Watsons, but they don’t stock a good selection of pharmaceuticals. So if you need to replenish your blood pressure medicine every month, Boots and Watsons are of no use. They are, however, a good place to shop for toiletries as their prices are often much lower than other stores, including grocery.

Check to see if any of your bank’s ATMs are near by. Even better is having a bank branch close to home.

A dry cleaners and one or two sewing shops that do simple alterations are nice to have close by.

A shop for making photo copies, scanning and digitizing documents, and taking photos for immigration is nice to have within close proximity to your room.

A hair shop in the neighborhood that specializes in doing men’s hair is a nice plus, but you don’t want to hold out for this, because they’re not that common.

Having a washing machine in the room, or paying someone to do your laundry are the two best options. Even so, you want to make sure there are coin operated machines on property, or very close by. You never know when the machine is going to break, or the laundry lady is going to take vacation for a week or two.

Check to see if drinking water can be delivered to your room, or a water dispensing machine is on property. If neither is available, you want to make sure a dispensing machine is very close to home, as carrying those bottles back to the room can be a bit of a workout. Of course, you can always get a boy to do that for you once or twice a week. Lord knows I do!

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

I’ve already covered room security and safety in another document. There are a few other things you want to take into consideration when selecting a room.

As I mentioned before, cable or satellite TV should be available in any room you rent. It rains a lot here, and satellite doesn’t work so well during a down poor. It’s something to consider if you like watching TV in the evenings.

Even if you like running your air conditioner full time, there are those occasions when you’ll want to open up the windows and let the fresh air in. Alright, I know that sounds silly when talking about Bangkok, but trust me when I say you will want to do this. So make sure all the windows have good screens on them, or you will get eaten alive by the mosquitoes.

As I mentioned before, some condos do not have a hot water heater installed in the bathroom, for hot showers. Renters can purchase their own and have it installed - been there done that, big pain in the ass. At this point I would have to say if a place doesn’t come with a water heater installed, scratch it off the list of candidates.

Try to avoid units that catch the afternoon sun, as it will just make it harder to keep things cool. Most places are built with brick, and that causes the walls to store heat from the day and release it well into the night.

If you plan to have an Internet DSL line installed in your room, check to see if the phone line is already Internet ready. If it is not, there will be extra installation fees, and the entire process will take one or two weeks longer.

WHERE TO LIVE

First off, you want a place that’s within walking distance of the BTS or MRT. Of the two, I prefer the BTS, as it will get you to the places we farang tend to frequent most often.

To get a general idea of good areas you should be looking at, ask for opinions at the on-line Thailand forums. You can also ask other farang that hang out at Balcony Pub, Telephone Bar, and @Richards.

I personally would steer clear of the tourist areas like Silom and Nana. These places tend to be a little more expensive, and have a higher crime rate. Unless you are really into having cocktails with the boys every evening, there isn’t much to be gained by living so close to the action.

WHEN TO MOVE

When first moving to Thailand, you’ll be running around a lot trying to get settled in. For this reason, the moderate temperatures and less frequent rainy days of the high season make for the most comfortable time to relocate. The downside is you may have more difficulty securing long term temporary housing. You might even find it a little more difficult to locate your permanent residence during these months, particularly with those places that take short-term contracts.

A ROOM FOR THE BOYS

While I don’t recommend doing this right away, after you’ve been here for awhile it might be a good idea to consider renting a separate place just for “entertaining” the boys. This is definitely something to consider if you’re uncomfortable with bringing boys to your permanent residence. I know of two guys that split the 6k a month rent on a small efficiency in Silom. Neither of the two actually lives in Silom, and find having a separate place near the heart of the action a convenient and worry free solution.

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