Thailand Apartment Rental Guide for Bangkok and Beach Towns
One of the questions I get asked fairly often is: if I came to live in Thailand, if I came to retire or I just wanted to come out for, say, 3 months, how much would it cost me to rent an apartment? And quite honestly, that is one of the hardest questions to answer because there are so many variables involved.
People have different budgets, different needs. Some people are very happy to live in a small room and pay 7,000 baht a month. Other people want something overlooking Benjakitti Park in Bangkok with a beautiful view for miles a 90- or 100-square-meter apartment. But as I say, we’re all different.
How to Find an Apartment Agents vs. Boots on the Ground
Let me give you a little bit of background on Thai agents here because they’re not the same as where you are around the world. I’ve had some dealings with agents, and I find they’re not the best way to find apartments.
One of the best places to find agents, if that’s what you want to do, is Facebook. But be careful don’t send any money on Facebook because there are a lot of scammers on there. What will happen is you’ll see a property advertised somewhere, you’ll get the agent’s details off Facebook, you’ll call her up and say, “Look, I’m looking for a one bedroom apartment near the beach.” She’ll say, “Great, where do you live? I’ll come and pick you up. I’ll show you what I’ve got.”
She might have three or four apartments. She shows you around, and for whatever reason you don’t like any of them. You’ll say, “Well, look, I’m still looking. If anything comes on your books that you think would suit me, please give me a ring or email.” And they’ll say, “Yep, we’ll do that. We get properties every day.” And you’ll never hear from them again. So don’t expect to just sit there and wait for the phone to ring. You’ve constantly got to be chasing them, calling them, “Have you had anything new in?”
For the best price without agency commissions or extra charges, ask directly at the condo office. Direct booking usually requires a longer stay.
Boots on the Ground The Best Way to Find a Bargain
That’s where you’ll find the best deals. A lot of the time the agents only want to show you the higher end they don’t want to deal with the 10, 12,000 baht rooms because they get their commissions based on how much rent comes in. So they want to show you the 30, 40, 50,000 baht a month apartments. That’s all they’re interested in.
If you’re at the lower end and you’re looking for a bit of a bargain, it’s worth just walking around. It is quite tiring it’s hot especially this time of year but that’s where you find the bargains and the best deals. Once you’ve secured an apartment, it’s worth every footstep that you’ve taken.
Don’t Rely on Just One Agent
Another thing you need to know about agents: you might go to a building that’s got 50 apartments. You go with an agent and she’ll say, “Well, I’ve got two in this block.” You look at the two and you don’t like them. She’ll say, “Well, that’s all I’ve got.” All that means is that particular agent doesn’t have anything else in that building. There might be 20 apartments available in that apartment building, but the management doesn’t just contact one agent they’ll contact half a dozen agents and give them a few apartments each.
So what you need to do is once you’ve said goodbye to that agent, you need to go back into the office and say, “Look, that wasn’t very helpful. Have you got any others?” A lot of the time the management will say, “Yeah, we’ve got five or more. Let me contact the agents.” And they’ll ring the agents and organize a meet so you can go back and look at the other five. So that’s very important to remember don’t just rely on the one agent.
Central Bangkok
If you want to stay in central Bangkok tourist areas where they have all the McDonald’s, the malls with international food, the pizza places somewhere like I lived in Soi 8. A lot of people will say, “Oh, no, I want to live in a Thai neighborhood.” That’s great if you speak Thai, but if you don’t speak any Thai, the menus are in Thai, most people don’t speak English you won’t be able to communicate and it makes it very, very difficult. Whereas if you live in a tourist area where lots of expats live, then a lot of the staff who work in restaurants and bars do speak a little bit of English.
For a one bedroom apartment in central Bangkok anywhere between 32 and 50 square meters you’re looking at anywhere between 20,000 and 35,000 baht. That’s kind of the going rate depending on where you are and depending on the view. Most guys I know who want to rent in Bangkok have a budget of around 25,000 baht. You’re not going to get a luxury place for that it isn’t at the high end at all. You can pay 100,000 baht a month in Bangkok more for a big spacious apartment overlooking the park.
But go to the other end of the scale. If you’re willing to take a large room that’s got a little kitchenette in the corner a sink and a microwave basically one room with a sofa at one end, a bed in the corner, and a shower room with a toilet, you could find something like that even in central Bangkok for around 12,000 baht.
Living Outside Central Bangkok
Some people will say, “Well, the BTS and the MRT are great they go every 5 minutes. I can live 20 minutes out of town and jump on the BTS.” That’s good in theory, but after you’ve been doing that for 6 months, it gets a little bit tiring when you want to go and have a coffee and a pastry in a bakery, and you’ve got to do a 20 minute journey each way and fight through the crowds. So you really want to be living fairly in an area where you can get your coffee and pastry and snacks, and you can meet other foreigners. It’s important to meet other foreigners as well, isn’t it?
Bangkok BTS Access and a Quiet On Nut Community
The community is close to the BTS SkyTrain and about four stations from major tourist areas such as Asok and Nana. The area around the main road is busy, but the residential community becomes calm after a short walk.
La Salle Road, Sidewalks, and Local Services
La Salle Road was described as a calmer and more comfortable area for walking than the busier street near the narrator’s home. The sidewalks were wider, with fewer annoying motorbikes. Shops and apartments lined the street, and the walk from BTS Bearing to the condo area near Soi 5 and Soi 6 took about five minutes. Motorbike taxis, regular taxis, tuk-tuks, food options, and shopping were available.
Beach Towns Pattaya Jomtien and Hua Hin
If you go to somewhere like Hua Hin, Pattaya, Bang Saray, Rayong those sort of beach towns. A lot of guys ask, “I’m looking for a place overlooking the beach.” Those overlooking the beach apartments can be very expensive and few and far between. Jomtien you can get some good deals.
You can get a room in Pattaya for as little as 5 or 6,000 baht a month if you don’t mind living above a go go bar or some room with no elevator, no facilities, nothing. It’s almost like a hotel room, but very, very basic. It’s not somewhere you’d want to stay long term.
If you go up to Isaan or up in the north not the cities like Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, or Chiang Rai but a little bit out in the sticks, you can get places for 2,500 to 3,500 baht. The Thais do this. It’ll just be a room with maybe air conditioning if you’re lucky, but you’re in the middle of nowhere there’s not much going on. Some guys are very, very happy to live like that on their pensions, but it’s not something I’d want to do.
If you go to somewhere like Hua Hin not overlooking the beach, but in town if I wanted a nice one bedroom apartment, clean and comfortable, nice and spacious 50 square meters if I really looked around, I could get something for about 15,000 baht a month. You’re not going to snap it up you’re going to have to do some legwork but there is that sort of availability for that price. You could get a room down here for 5 or 6,000 baht.
The High End
If you’re at the higher end if you can afford anywhere between 50,000 and 80,000 baht then you’ve got the pick of the bunch because there are only so many people who can afford that kind of apartment. You’re going to get offered some very, very nice apartments.
I think the hardest market really is between 20,000 and 25,000 baht the one bedroom apartments because that’s what most people are looking for. If you’re happy to go down to the lower end and just rent a room, you’ll find it fairly easy.
