Where do or would you live in Bangkok?

[Guest beachlover]

I've often wondered where I would live if I ever settled down there or made Bangkok a base. I've traveled there a few times but never stayed outside the Silom area except for once.

 

For those of you who live in Bangkok, where do you live and why do you choose to live there? Convenience? Food and amenities? Price? Atmosphere?

 

Most gay forum members seem to talk about the Silom/Sathorn area as their chosen base. I've heard one or two talking about Thonglor/Sukhumvit. What other areas are desirable in Bangkok? I'm curious to find out...

 

For those of you who visit, do any of you stay outside the Silom/Sathorn area?

[Guest MonkeySee]

Silom/Sathorn area is very convenient. If I were working in Bangkok, I would live somewhere close to my job. I like Bangkok but not sure I would chose to live there.

[Guest fountainhall]

Having explained on a new thread why I have broken my promise not to post for a week, and as I have lived in Bangkok for around 10 years, I will add my 2 cents worth here.

 

When I was looking for an apartment, the Skytrain was under construction but had not opened. I knew the Silom/Sukhumvit areas best, and really wanted Sukhumvit. If you take time to walk along some of the odd-numbered sois after Asoke, there are some really lovely areas. It is peaceful and relatively quiet because there is a klong running parallel to Sukhumvit at the end of most of those sois which prevents traffic using them as a main artery. It is also close to lots of nice little restaurants and cafes. Being close to the Skytrain would make travel within the city centre relatively easy.

 

The problem was cost and lack of availability! Even though the property market was close to rock bottom, many owners were just not selling, anticipating an eventual market upturn. After 10 days of checking, I gave up and sought the assistance of an agent. Over a week I saw lots of apartments, not just in Sukhumvit (all in not very good condition - my budget was just too low) and then in Silom/Sathorn. I ended up buying a flat in an area behind Sathorn. I bought it because when I walked in, it was flooded with sunshine from windows facing east, south and west. It was new, unfurnished - and I just knew it was what I wanted. Although public transport is about 1.5 kms away, it's walkable, taxis are pretty easy to get, and it is less than 5 minutes from the expressway. Plus I rarely have to travel in the rush hour.

 

I do like being in the centre. I have friends who live about 1 km up in the Thonglor/Ekkamai area which is really nice and has become quiet trendy in recent years. Other live in lower Sathorn. The building is nice, but it is close to a mosque. With all respect to our Muslim friends, the early calls to prayer would be a deterrent as I am a light sleeper.

 

So my priorities are location, price, ambience and atmosphere. Being close to shopping is not so important.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

I don't believe that I would ever choose to live in Bangkok. It is too noisy, dirty, bad air quality, crowded, and traffic is a nightmare. That said, I still enjoy visiting there!!

[Gaybutton]

I don't know exactly where since I don't know Bangkok all that well, but I would want to be somewhere with easy access to the Skytrain or BTS, preferably also close to the places in Bangkok I am most likely to frequent. I would not want to drive any more than necessary in Bangkok, but I would like to be in an area with relatively easy access to expressways.

 

That said, I'm kind of like GaySacGuy in that, for me, Bangkok is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. I usually try to go to Bangkok, just as a change of pace, every month or every other month for a few days. I usually have a good time when I'm there, but quite frankly three or four days there is plenty for me and I'm always glad to get back to Pattaya. Of course, that feeling might change if I ever get to know more about Bangkok and what it has to offer. Obviously there is far more to Bangkok and living in Bangkok than I know. But so far there has been nothing I want to do in Bangkok that can't be done during the times I visit.

[Guest fountainhall]

May I give another plug to my friend Alex Kerr's book Bangkok Found: Reflections on the City, published by River Books. It is not a travel guide. Rather it is jam-packed with insights into the history, culture, traditions, reasons for the nightlife and what fuels it - all the things that makes this great city 'tick'. As the blurb on the back summarises it (far better than I could): "Bangkok Found looks deep within traditional culture to discover how Bangkok is like no other contemporary city. It's the book you read after you've seen the temples and enjoyed the nightlife

[Guest travelerjim]

I agree with GB ...I believe Bangkok is a great place to visit.

 

I cannot imagine myself ever living there! Too much air pollution,

traffic congestion and too big a city for me to fathom.

 

For many of my friends, they love Bangkok.

 

For me, I really would enjoy even a quieter rural area in N or NE Thailand.

 

Though I am in Pattaya along Dongtan Beach for much of the year,

I really do not like Pattaya either.

 

But that is for another thread... not this one.

 

tj

[Guest travelerjim]

delete, duplicate

[Guest Astrrro]

I don't know exactly where since I don't know Bangkok all that well, but I would want to be somewhere with easy access to the Skytrain or BTS, preferably also close to the places in Bangkok I am most likely to frequent.

 

I agree.

 

And if one is working an easy commute is a must.

 

lots of friends live in the Lower Suk area but that is a bit crazy for me.

[aussie_]

Because of the pollution of Bangkok I would rather live near the beach but If I did live in Bangkok Sathorn would be my choice. It is walking distance to Metro/Skytrain and if you keep away from the main roads it is a very pleasant area to walk around with nice houses and their gardens and relative fresh air. It is also close to the shopping/entertainment venues at Silom. I would also enjoy going to Lumpini Park which is a nice place to spend some time and an oasis away from the surrounding business district. Saphan Taskin is also nearby for a boat trip to see the Grand Palace, parks or other sights.

 

I have stayed a few days at Ramkhamhaeng and have wandered around areas like Ari and they are very nice but I felt a bit isolated. A condo in Sathorn to stay a few days each month and a house near Jomtiem would suit me with an occasional trip to the countryside and islands.

[Guest df358]

Soi Lang Suan is a my top choice:

- The street has many restaurants, a Villa supermarket, and an upmarket gay karaoke

- Lumpini Park is at the end of the street, a few upmarket gay bars at the end of the street too along Soi Sarasin

- 5 min on foot to either BTS Chitlom or Rajchadamrai station

- 1 BTS station to Silom area or Siam Center Area

- 7 min walk to Central Chitlom department store, the popular department store for the upper-middle-classs Thai.

[Guest fountainhall]

Soi Lang Suan is a my top choice

It would have been mine too. But living there now you need a huge budget. It is one of the most expensive parts of the city, alas.

[Guest beachlover]

Thanks guys! Some interesting insights into various locations.

 

Soi Lang Suan look interesting, df358. I saw where it's positioned on Google Maps. You can see it's walking access to both MRT and Skytrain lines and is right next to Lumpini Park. I'm not surprised it would be flipping expensive there...

 

I also notice it's smack bang in the middle of the former red-shirt camp area!... I wonder what kind of experience people living there had during that period.

 

Anyone else know any nice spots like this?

[Guest tdperhs]

Nowhere. See GaySacGuy above.

[TMax]

Probably in the Silom / Surawong area as it has all that I need.

[Guest df358]

Thanks guys! Some interesting insights into various locations.

 

Soi Lang Suan look interesting, df358. I saw where it's positioned on Google Maps. You can see it's walking access to both MRT and Skytrain lines and is right next to Lumpini Park. I'm not surprised it would be flipping expensive there...

 

I also notice it's smack bang in the middle of the former red-shirt camp area!... I wonder what kind of experience people living there had during that period.

 

Anyone else know any nice spots like this?

 

I did not encounter any problem during the Red Shirt period except near the end,

the army resticted the general public to access the street. To go home, they did ask for my ID (I look like Thai-Chinese), and I replied in English they let me in right away.

 

Soi Ruamrudee is also nice too, very similiar to Soi Lang Suan.

[Guest beachlover]

Hey df358, thanks. Soi Ruamrudee sounds interesting too. Similar area.

 

Yeah, I think that area would have been a bit difficult towards the end of the red shirt protests as the army looked like it actually had to fight its way up that area to reach the main red shirt camp HQ.

 

Are you Thai-Chinese? Or from another country?