A 39,000-baht Ploenchit condo, and what it taught her about prices

Jade’s rent started at 42,000 to 43,000 baht a month. She got it down to about 39,000 (around US$1,100) by going back and forth through the agent. Central Bangkok, she found, is not cheap.

The verdict: a comfortable, quiet, well-placed one-bedroom for someone who works from home. It is not a bargain, and the kitchen is the weak spot.

Who it suits: remote workers who value a quiet building, a proper pool and a central address over cheap rent.

Who should skip it: anyone who cooks a lot, wants a big balcony, or is shopping to a budget well under 35,000 baht (she says rents in the area do not go below about 35,000).

The numbers

• Rent: about 39,000 baht a month, down from an asking price of 42,000 to 43,000.
• Electricity: around 3,000 baht (roughly US$100) in her experience. Water, she says, costs only a few dollars.
• The unit: one bedroom, about 46 to 49 square metres by her estimate, with a large bedroom, a walk-in shower and a balcony.
• The kitchen: built-in fridge and freezer and a dishwasher, but no window.
• The light: her unit gets plenty of morning sun.

Why Ploenchit

Jade first focused on the Siam area, but did not have a good experience looking for condos there. An agent then showed her this building, and it worked out. She says Bangkok always had her heart, partly because it feels international.

Ploenchit is very central, with long skywalks and good pavements, close to Siam and Lumpini. It is also one of the pricier districts of the city, in the same bracket as Thonglor and Chit Lom.

What she likes

• The pool. It is big enough for laps, and she says it is never crowded: a few people at most, sometimes nobody.
• The sky garden. High in the tower, windy even in the heat and nearly always empty.
• The gym. In her words, “it’s not like the nicest one I’ve seen, but at the same time, it’s not bad either.” It has a Smith machine, free weights and cardio machines.
• The quiet. She watches films loud at night and nobody hears.
• Feeling safe. She says she feels very comfortable and secure where she lives.
• The lifestyle. She says she is happier here, and would pay more than she did in Greece for it.

The trade-offs

• The kitchen has no window and is separate from the living space. She wanted more light there.
• The balcony. She would like a bigger one, and says a two-bedroom would give her more outdoor space.
• The interior is beige. Her words: she wants “more life, more character”.
• Construction. It is going up nearby, but it does not affect her: she hears nothing and her view faces the other way. Check what is being built near any condo before you sign.

The hunt: what she learned about agents

Jade saw 10 to 15 condos and contacted every agency she could. As general advice, stock and prices can differ from one agent to the next, so it pays to ask around.

Listings are the other problem. Jade found that “usually they’re not very much updated”, so units she asked about were often taken or unavailable. In general, many ads on listing sites are out of date, so treat them as a starting point and ask agents what is actually free.

She met two kinds of agent. One was trying to “sell, sell, sell”. The other was direct and honest, telling her which owners were stubborn and which would negotiate.

“It’s not that cheap, you know, if you’re in the center.”

— Jade

What to do:

• Message several agents and compare the available units and prices across them.
• Be wary of anyone who pushes you to sign.
• Do the negotiating through the agent. Owners can take a blunt low offer badly, and an intermediary lets both sides save face.

Three factors drive price: location, size, and the age and amenities of the building. The very cheap rents you see online usually give up at least one of them.

Visa, money and work

Jade works online for her own business and came on a Destination Thailand Visa (DTV), a multi-year, multiple-entry visa with long stays per entry. She says hers came through within a day (processing times vary). Document requirements are set by each Thai embassy and change, so read your embassy’s current checklist before paying for anything.

She pays almost everything by card or app, including rent, and withdraws cash rarely. Her ATM fee was a flat 250 baht per withdrawal (her figure), so she takes out larger amounts. Check your own bank’s fee, which shows on screen before you confirm. Do not assume a DTV gets you a Thai bank account.

Her advice

Come first as a visitor. See several cities and neighbourhoods, and talk to other expats before you commit. Do not believe everything you see on YouTube, because the prices are not realistic for the centre.

“You really need to come here for at least, I don’t know, like a month or two and just get the feels of it before committing and moving here.”

— Jade