• As with many things in life, a lot depends on our budget. Living in Bangkok is cheaper than living in some other major cities around the world, but it still does not mean one can live in a castle for almost nothing.
• I think that the average price per square meter would be around 250-350 THB (5-7 Euro). This means that there are places cheaper than above rate and also more expensive, but in general, many places (appartments) fall within this rate.
• Most of the time, when an appartment is very deep in a Soi (name for a small- or substreet in Thai) the price will decrease per Sqm. The price will also depend on the age of the building, new or renovated appartments are more expensive.
• If you think that you will need more space, but would not be able to afford it, then you have to look for an appartment that is not in the center, but a bit outside or a townhouse.

It is important to know that if you have children, you should consider several facts:

• Where will your children go to school. You do not have to live near the school, but at least choose a place where a school bus passes and check the average time your child will have to sit in the bus to go or come back from school. Sometimes children have to sit in the bus much longer even though living much closer to the school.

• Are there any other children in (or near) the place you intend to live.

• What is the nationality / language of the other tenants (some places have a majority of American tenants, then some other place more french or Indian).

• Is there a nice and safe playground, swimming pool, or sporting clubs, shops, movies nearby.

• Consider also the age of your child and the number of years you will stay in Thailand. One place might be great for your child now, but three years later, you would have chosen a complete different place. A child of ten likes certain places now, but in a few years, that same child would be completely bored if you would live very far from the center in a Village (in Thai called Moo baans).

• Traffic in Bangkok can be bad, but it does not mean that living 2 km from your work will give you less time in traffic then living 10 km from your work. Check also if you are close to a one way road; going somewhere might seem so easy, but coming back could be the opposite.
• If your workplace is close to the subway or skytrain and if you would not mind using any of these ways of transportation, you could look for a place near the skytrain or subway.
• Please look at the different maps to locate your workplace and place to live Page with links to all kinds of maps

• Very often, you(r partner) will stay at home and it is important that she/he should feel at home. Your partner will spent most of the time at home or at least more then the other family members.
• So, do you like to work in the garden or do you really like shopping a lot or meeting friends.
• Will you have a maid to buy and prepare your food or will you do it all by yourself and are the neccesary shops nearby.
• Will you have a car available or will you depend on public transport.
• Do you like to play (certain) sports (often) and can you do so nearby.

I will here below sum up some of the advantages and or disadvantages of certain places to stay.

• Serviced Appartments
  Serviced Appartments are like appartments with all the furniture and kitchenware inside. Than on the other side it is also like a hotel, as you will have your appartment cleaned and linen will be changed. Service appartments are a perfect place for persons that have just arrived in Thailand and have not yet found a permanent place and also perfect when your personal belongings are still on their way. In general, a service appartment is more used for short stay (days - month(s)), but rarely more than that. This, as a service appartment is rather expensive and as the other tenants are also mostly staying for a shorter period (so if you have children, their friends do not stay for long).
• Appartments or Condominiums
  The difference between an appartment building and a condominium is that all appartments in a building are owned by one and the same owner, in the contrary, a condominium is owned by an individual. It is therefor possible that in a condominium building you might visit an absolutely ugly place (simply decorated or just not your taste) and on the other hand a place that you love. So if you visited one ugly place, it does not mean you should exclude the whole building.
  Positive aspects of both are 24-hour security, maintenance and repair service, many facilities (swimming pool, fitness center, garden, sometimes a tennis court, and possible other facilities) In some places there are many children, so friends for your kids if you have any. Always check the nationality (majority) of the nationalities of other tenants.
• House (villages)
  Considering a house, it has the advantage of space. You will in general have more space for the same price, compared to an appartment. You will have a private garden, but not very often a swimming pool though (except for the bigger houses).
  If you are in a village, you might have commun facilities, like a tennis court, swimming pool, etc, but in general the villages are far from the center of Bangkok (close to some international schools though).
  Another advantage of a house is that they very often have one or even two maid rooms, a shower and an extra kitchen. It is nice to have a maid live in, to wash and iron your clothes, buy and prepare your food, go and pay your bills and if anything breaks in your house, she might know where to find a person to help out. (Take care of having a maid that you can trust though).
  Disadvantage of living in a house is that you might have less facilities, there is less security, you will have to take care of the garden, it might be flooded (does not happen that often, just check the area) and if you have children, they might have less other children closeby that they can play with.
• Townhouse
  Townhouses are houses with 3 or 4 levels, they might be very spacious but in general you do not have that much of a garden. The price is also cheaper than an appartment, but townhouses are mostly deeper in the sois. Even though I walk a lot and think going up and down the stairs is easy, I think that I would dislike going up and down all the time. Also with children, you might feel lonely somewhere deep in a soi, even though your appartment might be great. If in a townhouse, I would be best in a compound or maybe if you work from home, then you might have enough space to reserve one or two rooms for your work only.

• If you are new in Bangkok it is easier to contact an agency to help you find the places available at this moment. You do not need to pay the agency for this service, it is free (as the agent will receive his share when he finds you a place, if not, then he receives nothing).
• You can tell the agent what kind of place you are looking for:
• What budget
• The prefered area
• The kind of place, appartement, house, townhouse, village
• How many bedrooms
• The size (square meters)
• Do you need a maids room
• Do you need / want a swimming pool
• Do you want to live in a place with majority of a certain nationality
• Do you need to have a (partly) furnished or unfurnished place
  
• Please try to give as many details as you can, so you will not have to visit places that are really not the kinds you are looking for. Of course, on the other side, it is sometimes good to see at least one place that is not what you like, so that you feel more confident about your other options.

• When you have found some places that you are seriously considering, then compare:
• Location, easy to access, traffic, BTS (Skytrain), (MRT) Subway,pay attention to the noise around. Try to visit the place on a working day. Carefull with closeby construction sites, as they can be very noisy.
• Look at the difference in the facilities, swimming pool, fitness, tennis...
• Look at the inside of the place very critically. Anything that is not in order should be fixed (sometimes a leak, sometimes a closet opening very difficult, no hot water in the kitchen, a very noisy airconditioning, termites etc.)
• When you have taken note of all your remarks, discuss them with the owner and see if there is any problem in having it fixed. If there would be any problem, then you would have to live with those points and also would you know that any new thing that will break, he might not be fixing it and you might have to do it yourself.
• Also ask what are the charges for water and electricity, as some places will not use the bill as the basis but will charge you a certain amount per unit of electricity

• I hope you will not run into any problems, but suppose you do,
• then do not hesitate to contact the owner of the place about the certain problem, as the longer you wait, the harder it will be to have them fix it.