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Bangkok, Thailand, Houses, Condominiums, ApartmentsViewing houses, condominiums or apartments starts with choosing the right location. Bangkok is vastly spread out, as a city of approximately 8 million people, and Thailand is as tall as the U.S. west coast. In the Bangkok region, approximately half of all expats want to be in the central business district (CBD), or somewhere along the two skytrain routes serving that area, namely on or near Sukhumvit-Phloenchit Rd. or the Silom subdistrict. This area is almost purely highrise luxury condominiums and serviced apartments, though there are some individual homes and townhouses scattered around, sandwiched within the concrete maze. The other half of expats are spread around Bangkok's suburbs, and are usually those who prefer a house (especially those who want a new house) and a quiet, spacious neighborhood, or else more economical housing, and/or to experience the Thai way of life (middle to upper class Thai). New housing estates near the expressways have many expat residents.
(Photo below: Infinity swimming pool in a highrise condominium.) However, if you plan to commute into town, you should know which parts of the "expressway" are often jammed at what times, where the skytrain and subway go, and what other modes of transport are available (e.g., private and public expressway vans to a skytrain station). The purpose of this section is to give you a general orientation to Bangkok and its regions, show you the most popular expat business and residential locations, review some of nicer places for expats, introduce you to some of the less conventional but nice places where some expats live off the beaten track, and attempt to give you a general feel for Bangkok and its different regions. It is best to find a home well suited for you from the outset, because your environment and amenities can make a significant difference for your life here. A little more time and money spent up front will usually prove well worth it many times over, in the long run, in terms of your quality of life in Thailand, as well as money saved. Your choices are:
Within the Sukhumvit-Silom "central business district" (CBD), there are literally hundreds of highrise condos and serviced apartments that expats live in (not counting purely Thai places), with a wide range of prices, amenities, styles and building ages. Modern new highrise buildings dominate. Houses exist, but not many good ones near the skytrain or subway, they are old (though they do get renovated), and housing compounds / gated communities practically don't exist until you get out into the suburbs outside the skytrain/subway coverage. Modern new gated communities have sprouted up in abundance over the past 10 years around the new expressway network. The central region filled up long ago, and land prices skyrocketed, with new highrises typically going up after demolition of houses on the land. You will need to look in the suburbs if you have a moderate budget for a house, or want a modern house with a yard and a place for the kids to ride bicycles and walk around a peaceful neighborhood. A modern new expressway system was completed in the late 1990s, with resulted in a surge in construction of nice neighborhoods with clubhouse and full amenities. These are most popular for families with children. Houses exist in the central region, but it's difficult to find much of a selection within walking distance of the skytrain or subway. There are many luxurious homes, but they tend to be occupied by wealthy Thais who really want to live there and don't need the money, rather than becoming rental properties. (Many houses get demolished and a commercial rental property such as an office or other business are put into their place, for maximum rental income. I've seen nice houses be demolished.) Houses that become available tend to be snatched up quickly, as demand outstrips supply for houses in the central region. Supply and demand for condominiums is a different story, and it's good to know the history of the property market in this regard. As Thailand's economy boomed at an average of 8% per year (sometimes double digit) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, demand outstripped supply and there was a boom in construction of highrise condos. Most of the buildings on today's skyline were built before 1995. Indeed, there was overbuilding due to property speculation, which contributed to the 1997 Asia economic collapse which started with nonperforming loans in the banks in Thailand, whereby construction seized. There were many abandoned buildings on the skyline from 1997 to 2001. The economy recovered fairly quickly, with the property market tightening up in 2000-2001, and major construction of new condominium buildings resumed in 2001-2002 and was quickly ramped up in 2003 (including resumption of abandoned buildings; the only ones left are those for which 1997-related bankruptcy and other legal problems have not yet been resolved completely). Having learned from the mistakes of the 1990s, both the banks and the government imposed new regulations on highrise property development in order to prevent another crisis. Many of the new buildings became totally sold out on plan before completion, some before the foundation was even finished. However, in 2006, due to some changes in government regulations which affected foreigners doing business in Thailand, and the military coup, there has been a slowdown in foreign arrivals which continued into 2007. Influx of foreigners is expected to increase again after the election in December 2007 putting an end to military rule, and especially as the pending revisions to the Foreign Business Act have been shelved for debate and passage by the next, democratically elected Parliament, a particular item which is high on the agenda. It is expected that an increased influx of foreign buyers and renters will occur sometime in 2007. The Thai economy has continued to grow at a healthy pace despite the coup and political uncertainty, though growth is expected to slow down a little bit, especially if the US economy slows down a lot, but depending on what happens in Europe and Asia as well, and of course the purely domestic economy which is primary. No recession is in sight for Thailand, and economists are talking only about a potential slowing of growth. In late 2006 and early 2007, controls on capital coming into Thailand was enforced by the military government due to excessive money flowing into Thailand, as the US dollar started to fall. This is a long story best discussed in another section on the economy ... and again some time after the December 23, 2007 election, after new economic ministers and policies are put into place ... Thais are traditionally heavy investors in property. You may have already noticed that Thai bank accounts offer negligible interest. Many wealthy people buy condos and houses as investment properties, which have appreciated in value many times faster than bank interest rates since 2001, with any rent collected sometimes even seen as a bonus. It is common for wealthy Thais to buy a property for their young children or relatives and rent it out until they grow up! However, for westerners, investing in a property in Thailand is a different matter. Foreigners can only own a condominium. Foreigners cannot own land under a house, and can only lease it for 30 years (with an option for a renewal and other legal twists, but it's still a lease, not a title deed). Many foreigners have made a lot of money buying condominiums and then reselling them years later, collecting rent in-between, but a foreigner getting a loan for a condominium mortgage in Thailand is not easy. There are a few banks which have relationships with foreign banks which will do this, but it's not nearly as easy as doing the same in your home country. Most foreigners pay for condos with cash. Loopholes have also been closed for foreigners using a holding company to purchase land. Not all the loopholes have been closed, but the risk to foreigners is now much higher, e.g., no more foreign majority voting rights (preference vs. ordinary shares), and must prove the source of the money for the purchases, the majority of which which cannot come from the foreigner in any way. This does not affect condominiums. You should also be aware that there are tax penalties for quickly selling a property you have bought. This is one of the new post-1997 regulations to reduce property speculation. You must own it a few years if you don't want to pay the tax penalty for a quick resale. If you are buying a place to live in Thailand such as for retirement, then let's find the place of your dreams. However, if you are looking for an investment property, then we should talk first. Generally, all these matters, and others, are best discussed with a property agent (such as one of my companies, Serena Property Co., Ltd.). Expats often waste a lot of time & effort going around in the traffic and heat, then dealing with the Thai language barriers, in search of an available condo or house to their specifications and preferences. If you are not real familiar with Bangkok, if you don't have a lot of time & energy to burn, and especially if you want to find the best home, then you may want to consult a housing specialist who maintains a database of the good quality condominiums and serviced apartment buildings and keeps updated on the available units in each, as well as good houses in the metro region. Such as us at Serena Property Co., Ltd. Otherwise, if you are interested in a house, then an on-the-ground search will be even more challenging because unlike highrise buildings which are obvious from a distance, decent housing estates are usually not on the main road, but are hidden behind the roadfront business facade, or down a soi a quiet ways, completely out of view from the main road. The region is so vast, that you really need a specialist agent. We have a number of Thai agents who each specialize in their own region, and we also liberally "co-agent" with other agents operating in those areas. Unlike in North America, the vast majority of Thai owners of condos and houses do not sign an exclusive agreement with any real estate company, but instead just advertise their homes in various other ways. Professional real estate companies have networks of people who maintain private, in-house listings of condos/houses/other properties -- usually nonexclusive -- which are very dynamic. These agents and agencies will also maintain contacts with condo building managers and others related to these properties, who update them when a condo becomes available for rent or sale at the moment. These networks can be very longstanding, personable, interlinked with an extensive real estate community, and trusted by reputation. In Thailand, a network of contacts is important in more ways than one! Rental properties go quickly, so that any database is usually incomplete (nobody has yet had time to go out to take photos and details, and upload them to the on-line database), but an agent familiar with the area will know of many places not yet in any database. The first stage is first determining the region(s) the client is most interested in, by discussing their needs, preferences, styles and budget. If you are looking for a home, then it is strongly advised that you use a professional real estate guide to save you time, energy and frustration, as they can nicely help you find the best selection of homes for your specifications and preferences, as well as deal with the Thai language barrier. It is a major investment, and it is your home.
To assist people in finding a region of interest, we have been developing a new website, www.ssBKK.com , which discusses certain popular regions in more detail. Here, we not only show photos of regions and discuss their advantages and disadvantages, but we also map out the main amenities such as locations of schools, grocery stores, modern shopping malls, nice restaurants, etc., etc. -- places to go and things to do. Of course, you can see the parallelism between ssBKK.com and kkBkk.com . SS = Skytrain Stations, Subway Stations, the Suburban Side of BKK, Sukhumvit Sois, Sathorn & Silom area, and Siam Square (the peak shopping district and skytrain interchange station). There are many links to ssBKK within Thailand Guru, so no need to click on that just yet... The Bangkok housing market generally consists of:
Factors that go into a decision on where to live may include:
Of the expats who live and work in Bangkok, probably around half are in the central business district (CBD), namely at the beginning of Sukhumvit Rd. and in the Silom and Pathumwan-Lumpini areas, as shaded in yellow on the map below, shaded in yellow, near the bottom. This region is mostly highrise office buildings, condominiums and apartments. Click here for a list of condos, apartments, and houses near the skytrain courtesy of kkBkk.com Of course, the rest are in the suburbs. There are certain suburban regions preferred by expats, due to the nice modern housing villages, general environment and access to the expressways, as shown in a different shade of green below. These are not the only areas that expats live in, but from our experience, about 90% of suburban expats live in one of the shaded regions. However, with nice new housing villages being created in some new regions, this will change over time. You can click on some of the areas of interest on the map below, which will send you to the corresponding page. Each page both describes the region and lists specific homes -- houses, townhouses, condos and apartments for rent and for sale in that region. Just click on any region of darker green or yellow.
If you have children, then you should also see the section on schools. This website has a separate page on our Personal Home "Guide" Service. To view some specific properties, please visit kkBkk.com For anything else, you can email the Thailand Guru here
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