Quote:
Originally Posted by soinana
If you want to have a quiet life living cheaply with girlfriend and golfing etc then Chiang Mai is a solid choice. There are a few nice golf courses here. If you enjoy nightlife and drinking late then it is a terrible choice and BKK is by far the best place imo.
Do you want to live out of town or near to town? The traffic here is pretty bad now compared to just a few years ago. There are 2 main areas for living out of town. Many moo baans (housing villages) with coffee shops, restaurants, supermarkets etc nearby. These are the Sansai area North of the city and Hang Dong area which is South not too far from the airport. If you want to live in the city itself then Nimman area (as mentioned by jspill) is a busy street with shops, cafes, nightlife etc but the traffic is very bad and i personally do not enjoy walking around there. Chang Klan road is another option near to the night market. A few nice condo buildings around there. In terms of prices a house in a moo baan outside the city is about 15-25k Baht a month. Obviously you can spend much more than this for something very luxurious but i think this price range would cater to most people. In terms of condo pricing i don't have as much experience with this but i believe 30k Baht a month is on the high side for a 2 bed and you can get something very nice for around 20k.
Another thing to consider is the air quality. Usually every year there is a burning season where the farmers in north Thailand and neighbouring countries clear their fields by burning them. As a result the air quality is extremely bad. Right now it is absolutely terrible. This usually happens in February - April. You can learn a lot more about this and the health consequences by googling a little.
PM me if i can help further.
The more you get away from Nimman, the cheaper it can get (rent and everything else).
We live (My GF and I and our 2 dogs) in Hang Song (San Phak Wan), in a 4k baht per month house that is much bigger then the condo we had in Nimman before (that cost 6.5k, just across the Salad Concept on Soi 8). i didn't hate nimman but it's much better where we are right now, more quiet, feel more like a *home*, without all the digital *gonads*, the heavy trafic and western vibe. We are spending 1k usd per month for everything (non-visa run month), half of it is food.
I agree with everything you said.
p.s: Rivers, most places in Nimman area won't accept pet, ur best bet is a house, for ur budget ull get a very nice house with a private swimming pool, nice furniture, garden, etc. People living in city center are usually solo traveler/nomad, if you want more of a *family vibe*, with ur gf and cat, outside city center is the best for you. Contrary to popular belief, there is a lot of coffee shop, western food, etc, outside city center. You obv need a motorbike (2.5k baht per month, very cheap). But even walking distance, we were living near a international school before (Grace), and we were near 5 different coffee shop and equally as much western restaurant. Even right now there is a british own small restaurant about 800m walk from where we are (and it is a 99.9% thai area), I can grind there or wtv (I prefer to grind home).
You might be interested in a dual thai/western area, like the one we were before (near Grace). Search for international school, most of the time the area is gonna be half thai/half western. Some very big western style family house. Finding something on they internet is impossible for couple of reason: 1) Fake picture/photoshop all over the rental website ; 2) You don't get to see what the area look like/neighborhood. ; 3) You get much better price live ; 4) Can deal directly with a agent.
A agent is a must for ur situation. There is a lot of agent for any part of CM, I know a lot of them. If ur looking for a house I can get u in contact with them, and having ur kind of budget will make it a lot easier to have many different option. So ur best bet is: Get in contact with agent, then come here and stay in hotel for couple of days while been on the road with agent. Then read contract carefully, and ur set to go!
Last edited by MiguelPicard; 03-24-2017 at 12:47 AM.
