Finding Housing in Bangkok

Try to live ten minutes away from your school as much as possible.  Traffic in Bangkok is terrible.  Even the BTS will take you somewhere, ten stops takes about 30 minutes in the morning, plus when you exit the BTS everyone will be taking the motorbike taxis.

You can use a service to find housing but they will help you only if you spend more than 20000 baht.  The easiest way to find housing is to walk around and ask people.  This allows you to see the activity in the area.  My friend found a nice place that was above a bar--that he didn't know it was a bar--during the day, the bar was closed.  The bar was open til 4 a.m. so he had to move.

If you are staying in the heart of Bangkok next to a BTS or  MRT stop, the rent will be higher.  As you move away from city center, the rent gets cheaper but then, your transport options change.  A car may or may not help, I live ten minutes away from work by motorbike, but it's literally one hour by car. 

As I wrote before.

The difference in housing is usually based on location, size, and newness of the building.  Things in Thailand are based on meters so a 32 square meter place is normally a decent sized room in USA.  

Question One--What is the function of your room?

Ask yourself how often are you going to be in your room?  If you're just using it to sleep, eat, and rest, then small will be okay, but if it's going to be a major place for you to be, then you need a larger room.

Question Two--do you need swimming pool/fitness room?

Some places have both or none, some places come with a washing machine and refrig.  Air conditioning is a must in Thailand.

Question Three--Transport

How will you get around?  Do you plan to use motorcycle taxis or walk?  I would never take a bike longer than ten minutes, it gets too dangerous as you travel longer.

Question Four--Long term or short?

A two year lease will usually get you a smaller rental fee each month, but if you break it, you will lose your deposit.  Foreigners usually pay three months deposit.

Question Five--Location

I would prefer to live in the Theprasit area or Jomtien, but if your job is in the heart of Pattaya such as by Central then you must live closer. I would stay away from beach road and first as those areas are 24 hours a day busy.

Finally, take a walk around the area you plan to live at different times to see what it's like.

The biggest difference in Bangkok are the options.  You can live across the river and have a large place, but then, you deal with transport coming back from across the river at night, dealing with the traffic.

Look around and see.