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Housing in Nonthaburi
and Muang Thong Thani
(northwestern suburbs)
West of the old Don Muang International Airport is Nonthaburi, a very large region most of which is on the other side of the Chao Phraya River. It ranges from densely populated old Thai areas with government offices (southern Nonthaburi) to wide open rice paddies (Pathum Thani), and features a large number of diverse housing estates.
The former high tech Prime Minister Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra chose to move here (and his wife owns big property developments here), and there are many cutting edge technology operations in the Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi areas, such as Software Park, various internet companies and ISPs (good broadband all over), the Asia Institute of Technology (regional), NECTEC, Shinawatra University, and so on.
This region is connected to the central business district by two elevated expressways -- the scenic Chaeng Wattana Elevated Expressway, and the Vipawadi-Rangsit elevated expressway with dual surface road underneath. A third expressway on the other side of the river is the Western Outer Ring Road which connects you to industrial areas to the north and south but does not connect to the Bangkok expressway network yet.
The skytrain and subway do not reach out to Nonthaburi or Pathum Thani, and you generally rely on the expressway vans to take you to the station, usually at Victory Monument. Alternatively, taxis are most plentiful, though the taxi fare plus tollway is considerably higher. The distance is longer, but the time is the same since you fly down the two northern expressways rather than sit in traffic.
Many people note that whereas decent condominium and housing costs in central Bangkok start at 35,000 and UP, on the other hand in Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani the cost is 35,000 and DOWN ... to the single digits -- decent condos and houses at 9,000 baht and down!
kkBkk has a list of suburban Bangkok homes in Nonthaburi
On the map below, the airport is in blue, Nonthaburi is in the darker green, and Pathum Thani to the north is in the brighter green. You can click on the map to get a magnified and more readable version.
Generally, regarding the two expressways going north, looking on a map it may seem odd to a Bangkok newcomer that the government would choose two expressways to go so close to each other, but it was most reasonably chosen this way. The Vipawadi-Rangsit elevated expressway is directly above the old main road past the airport, and everything around it tends to be more industrial and older. The Chaeng Wattana elevated expressway originally linked the Nonthaburi government office region and densely populated area, and then was extended to go all the way thru Pathum Thani and link up to the ring road just inside Ayutthaya Province. Once you get past central Nonthaburi, it gets scenic as things open up.
Muang Thong Thani is the first stop along the scenic drive. Best known for the immense Impact Convention Center where there is a constant stream of trade shows (mostly international) in the various exhibition halls, Muang Thong Thani (MTT) is a story in itself, as discussed at www.MTTBKK.com, initially designed to become a satellite city center just before the 1997 Asia crash. Beyond MTT, it's mainly just beautiful new housing estates, spread out independent houses, and open fields.
It's important to judge this region by time, not distance. The Chaeng Wattana elevated expressway is usually a wide open drive, rarely jamming, and almost never jams for long, quite unlike some other "expressways". It can take the same amount of time to get 20 km to your exit within the central business district as it can take you to get the next 1 or 2 km, or just down a soi!
It is recommended that if you plan to work on the Bangkok side of the river, and if you don't like traffic but run the usual rush hour schedule, then you consider only Nonthaburi east of the river, because the river bridges are choke points for traffic.
A particular area of interest in Muang Thong Thani, which is due west of the airport and is in the northeastern edge of Nonthaburi (Pakkred) bordering Pathum Thani, right off the Chaeng Wattana expressway. Muang Thong Thani (MTT) is one of the nicest suburbs of Bangkok, offering both highrise condominiums and spacious housing estates, practically no traffic, easy expressway entrance/exit ramps in all directions, complete shopping needs plus a variety of restaurants, no pollution, wide open spaces, and a nice community environment. The website www.MTTBKK.com shows photos and discusses some of the advantages of this unique region.
From Muang Thong Thani and elsewhere in Pakkred, there is a constant flow of expressway van cars straight to the Victory Monument skytrain station expressway exit, a quick and comfortable public transport commute. They get on the expressway at Muang Thong Thani, and get off at the Victory Monument exit near the skytrain. Another set of van cars instead exits the expressway at the Silom exit and continues to near the Chong Nongsi skytrain station, dropping off passengers along Silom as they wish.
You can't find another expressway that offers van car commuter service by expressway, besides the Chaeng Wattana expressway. This is a unique feature of Nonthaburi.
The Thailand Guru chose to open an office in Muang Thong Thani, and you may have already gathered that I don't like traffic, pollution or crowds, nor to waste my time getting what I need and to where I must go.
Two of the best international schools in Thailand are in this region. The most popular is the International School of Bangkok (ISB) which follows the US curriculum and has 2000 students (about 80% purely foreign) in Pakkred. A new school is the Harrow International School in Don Muang (airport district) on a 76 acre campus located between the airport and Muang Thong Thani, which uses the British National Curriculum (IGCSE and IB), and is a division of the Harrow School headquartered in London.
The region surrounding the International School of Bangkok is an oasis of foreigner families, and driving thru that region can seem like you've driven into a time/space warp into your home country, though the prices are much higher than those in Muang Thong Thani and other parts of the region.
With the exception of Muang Thong Thani, there aren't many places in Nonthaburi where we normally show foreigners, unless they don't mind the traffic at the bridges, or they consult to the government offices in Nonthaburi, or they work in an industrial area west of the river, or of course they wish to be part of an established community such as the ISB. There are many very nice housing estates out there at very economical prices, and a lot of modern superstores, but the traffic at the river bridge choke points may be just too much. With all the nice housing estates in Pathum Thani and Rangsit, plus some in northeastern Nonthaburi, why go anywhere west of the river?
Nonthaburi has many top level offices of government ministries and infrastructure centers (e.g., communications, Foreign Ministry, intellectual property, Ministry of Commerce, ...) on the Bangkok side of the river, down in the older Thai areas which are crowded. There are some new housing estates off the road in nooks and crannies, especially new townhouses and condos, but the main justification for choosing those places is that you are involved in some kind of company or liaison activity in that region, which may in turn dictate where you should take up office and residential space. These are areas which we can provide guidance for, on a case by case basis, but the general recommendation on this region is to avoid it otherwise unless you have really eclectic tastes.
A fleet of big river boats carries commuters between piers in central Bangkok and Nonthaburi pier, which is the northernmost pier of river commuter boat service. The main Nonthaburi pier is on the east side of the river (not near any bridge, though small boats on the other side bring commuters to the main pier) and it's an express boat with few stops before it gets to central Bangkok. The speed is nowhere comparable to driving down an expressway, of course. Nevertheless, it's a nice boat ride, ending/starting at Taksin Bridge in Bangkok where there is a skytrain station. If you try this, then get on at the Taksin Bridge and see where the boat goes, rather than trying to find piers up-city.
Here are some properties we can show you in the Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani region:
[scheduled for mid-October, 2006]
Some people go out to central Nonthaburi looking for a really cheap place, where you can find many small townhouses for as low as around 5,000 baht per month in purely Thai neighborhoods where you won't see much besides concrete (and forget what "ground" with exposed dirt and grass looks like), may have difficulty squeezing down the streets among the vehicles, and transport into/out of the city isn't quick, comfortable or so economical. If you want to brag about how you got a great deal and you're nobody's fool, and downplay or keep quiet about the disadvantages, then you're free to do so. However, if quality of life, your time and environment are more important to you than price comparisons with your Cheap Charlie peers, then you may want to look around other recommended regions.
On this page, I haven't yet covered the areas around the two biggest international schools, ISB and Harrow. The International School of Bangkok has a foreigner satellite city around it, called Nichada Thani (near Muang Thong Thani). Going there, it's like going to inner Sukhumvit as regards the population of mostly foreigners. The 2000 student school itself seems to be about 90% foreigners, and the community has nice international standard houses and highrise condos. Go to a restaurant and you'll see lots of blond hair and blue eyes, and may feel like you stepped thru a space-time warp to another part of the world, wondering where are the Thais (besides the waitresses). Harrow is different, and is smack in the middle of an old Thai community.
If you are looking to start a business, and if you don't really need to be located in the Sukhumvit-Silom area, then I would strongly suggest Muang Thong Thani. Opposite to the Sukhumvit-Silom area where demand outstrips supply, Muang Thong Thani is a buyer's/renter's market for modern office space where supply still exceeds demand, and you don't pay central prices. There are already a lot of good potential employees living in that region -- Nonthaburi ranks in the top 3 districts in Thailand in terms of population, and the education level tends to be higher in the general community there, which is "old Bangkok" along the river, not so migrant. As regards employees living elsewhere, the bus transport hub of Bangkok is Victory Monument, which has the entrance/exit of the Chaeng Wattana expressway van cars as well as the skytrain, so that employees from other places can go to/from quickly, with guaranteed seating and air conditioning for cheap (20 to 25 baht). Besides the expressway vans to central Bangkok, there are also vans going east to Minburi-Bangkapi.
Muang Thong Thani is the northeastern most subdistrict of Nonthaburi, and we actually have a separate web page specializing on Pathum Thani.
Unlike central Bangkok, the Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani regions are spatially immense, and it may be a good idea to have a guide show you around initially if you are short on time.
Would you like to browse another part of the Bangkok greater metropolitan region?
If you want a good guide or real estate agent, then please visit kkBkk.com and click on their contact page, or else email the Thailand Guru here
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