Bangkok Home-seekers check-list

Thought you'd got answers to all those important questions about a potential property only to find out afterwards you’d forgotten half of them? Don't worry, it happens to us all, so here's a Q & A reminder.

DAMMIT! I FORGOT TO ASK!

Listed below are some of the most commonly forgotten issues on the Home-seekers check-list, and have been submitted to us by various tenants who learnt by their mistakes! Thanks one and all for your contributions.

The Location

I went to view this place on a Sunday morning. It was some way out from where I was working but I was getting a lot more for my money so decided to take it. I’d just made my first mistake! Apart from Sundays the main road is gridlock all week long. It makes getting to and from the office a living hell. I lose around 4 plus hours a day to travelling alone. I wished I’d thought things through properly.

Mr Roomfinder says – So many people fall in love with a place and it’s location but often forget to question the local infrastructure before it’s too late. Ask about roads and routes that are important to you and then go check these out for yourself to get a feel for daytime traffic flow. There’s more to an ideal location than a nice room with a lovely view. Only you know what you need access to and what you don’t. Remember, there may also boats and train services around your area that are often overlooked by the House Hunter.)

Building Safety

I’ve lived in a number of apartments around the greater Bkk area over the past few years and made many slip-ups along the way. Nowadays, once I’ve decided on the location, I scrutinise the structure itself. I always forgot to check a few building basics before making my decision such as: Is the building in good overall condition? If it has s lobby, is it well-maintained? Is the place well lit at night time? Now I also evaluate the elevator for convenience and security. I check out the fire escapes, the presence of fire extinguishers, and water sprinklers throughout the building? There are more checks but the ones I’ve mentioned are the essential building checks for me.

Mr Roomfinder says – Fire and security are probably the most important issues and should definitely be on your check list. ‘The Building’ deserves a page on it’s own so we’ve written a file called ‘Inspecting a Prospective Apartment’ found in the Articles index.

The Phone & Internet

The place doesn’t have a direct telephone line. I have to go through the frigging switchboard every time I connect to the internet. This means I’m automatically cut off after 15 minuets and at 5 Baht a throw! It’s just impossible to work. I run my own website. Aghhh! It’s driving me mad! I just never took this into consideration when searching for an apartment.

Mr Roomfinder says – If it’s important to you, make sure the apartment either has a direct line or allows you to install one. If an internet connection is your main concern, then you need to make sure you check what options are available. Warning! Some of the wireless setups in some buildings are next to useless. Ask a couple of residents about speed and reliability so that you get an honest opinion, as the admin will always tell you it's very fast when it would in fact be faster to post a letter home than to email it!

The Water Charge!

I never even thought to ask how they charge for water. We had a bit of a shock when we received the first bill. There’s me and my gal here, and the first person is charged 800 Baht a month and the second 400. That’s 1,200 Baht fixed cost we didn’t anticipate. We just assumed the water would be metered and therefore not exceed more than a couple of hundred Baht a month!

Mr Roomfinder says – A fixed cost exceeding 400B monthly borders greed. Unit cost above 16B is penny-pinching but still cheaper than most fixed costs. The best deal to look out for is direct Billing from the Thai water board.

The Electricity Charge!

The owner told me the electricity was charged at the same rate as all the other apartments and not expensive. I never knew anything about unit costs, just what my friends were paying a month in similar places. I was in for a shock when I got my first bill. I later found out I was paying 7 baht a unit. When you compare this to what I now know to be a reasonable average of 4.5 B per unit (or just 1.4 Baht direct from the Electricity board (MEA)) it’s a dam rip off!

Mr Roomfinder says – Over 6 Baht a unit is getting costly. 6 Baht or under is the accepted norm. The best deal to look out for is obviously direct billing form the Electricity board (MEA) as it’ll save you quite a lot on your monthly electricity bill.

Those Hidden Extras!

What a bargain, I thought! Nice clean room, good size, complete with fridge, Cable Television, TV set, telephone and a few other bits and bobs that made the place homely. All this for 5,500 Baht a month. I was ready to move in. A few days later I came back to secure my lucky find with a deposit. It was only as I was reading through the contract that I realised that all those extras were in addition-to and not included-in the price. Fridge 300B a month, Cable TV, 1,000 B, TV Set, 400 B, Phone & line 300 B. “Why didn’t point this out to me this before”, I said. “Everyplace is the same” the lady replied. “Anyway, you never asked”. I decided against moving there out of principle.

Mr Roomfinder says – Almost all apartments make money on the extras. You should always ask about additional charges to save any confusion later. TIP: If you are thinking of staying for any length of time, you should consider buying your own refrigerator, TV set, telephone etc as you’ll save on these charges in the long run.

The Contract

Most contracts are pretty straight forward and are easy to read but I wished I’d looked at mine prior to signing it. When I moved out I was hoping to get my deposit back the same day. Wrong! They told me I’d have to wait for 1 month before my money was returned to me. When I started to kick up a fuss, they pointed out that this was written into the contract that I’d signed prior to moving in. How can you argue with that? It actually took 6 painful weeks before they gave back most of the deposit but that’s another story.

Mr Roomfinder says – Agreed, most contracts are simply worded. However, I urge you to read them carefully before you put your mark along the dotted line, as there could be areas that you have issues that affect your decision to sign. Also, contracts are not necessarily set in stone, especially in the more expensive places, so there’s sometimes room for tweaking a compromise between the tenant and landlord on certain matters. It’s certainly worth a try.

The Quiet Cul-de-sac!

I thought I’d found the perfect Soi to live in. Well set back off the main road, nice and quiet and with a few local amenities near by. The problem is it’s a long sweaty 20 minute walk to the main road with no means of local of transportation to ferry me back and forth. When I went to view the apartment, I arrived and left with the same taxi and the issue never even crossed my mind!

Mr Roomfinder says – it’s tempting to look for quiet out-of-the-way homes that provide peace and tranquillity to their residents, but always check the accessibility of these places with the locals. You could also become trapped in or out of deep Sois during the rainy season if there are problems with drainage!

Look for Local Amenities

I have nowhere to put a washing machine and the place I’m living doesn’t have a Laundry service. I have to either wash my things in a bucket or bag them up and drag them down to the washer woman on the main road. It’s a blo*dy pain in the backside because I always forget to pick my clothes up on the way home from work. This apartment doesn’t have any facilities to speak of. No restaurant, no mini mart, no salon, no pool or gym. When I went looking for a room, that’s all I was looking for. In hind sight I could definitely have benefited from a few local services. I will certainly try to find a place with at least a Laundry shop and convenience store when I next move on.

Mr Roomfinder says – Many Thai Apartments offer facilities of sorts. It’s worth thinking carefully about the kind of amenities you would like when short-listing your search. Sometimes the apartments don’t have much to offer but everything is available in the immediate Soi which can make it less of an issue. See Mr Roomfinder’s Apartment Checklist for assistance.

Local Venues

To me it was appealing to see a few local Thai style shops restaurants, wooden shacks, and Karaoke bars along the Soi I’d chosen to live in. After all, I wanted to experience the Thai way of life right? Well, yes and No! I wanted to experience the people, the local culture etc, but as far as the entertainment scene was concerned, that was something I’d prefer to visit as opposed to live next door to. The metallic ear piercing mono music started at around 7 in the evening and didn’t stop until well after 2 AM every single night of the week. It was so bad I decided to make a spontaneous departure one day which meant kissing goodbye to my deposit.

Mr Roomfinder says – It’s always a good idea to visit an apartment building in the evening prior to making a decision to take it. It’s only then you can get an idea of how things really are after dark. This goes for traffic flow, parking, and drunken youths as well as the noise factor from the local sing-along joints.

The Soi Dogs

Despite the menacing appearance of the Bangkok Soi dogs I always thought them to be good-natured and submissive. It was in retrospect a sweeping generalisation and I was to find out that these beasts can at times be a real nuisance.

There were packs of these animals at both ends of my chosen Soi and for some reason, after sunset, a few of them were transformed from peaceful pooches into hostile hounds, snarling and snapping at everything that moved.

I was never actually bitten by one but I always felt threatened and nervous when negotiating my way home. The other disadvantage was the racket they made after sundown. Sometimes it sounded like every dog on the planet was barking from different hymn sheets throughout the hours of darkness and needless to say this gave me many sleepless nights. The place I live now is almost a dog free zone and I’m much happier.

Mr Roomfinder says – being bitten by Bangkok’s stray dogs is rare if left alone. They can carry rabies although I have never personally heard of a fatal case. However, they are at times loud and fearsome and one should definitely avoid living in areas where packs of these dogs roam the Sois in any great numbers. Read the Roomfinder article The Street Dogs of Bangkok for more on these local mutts.

The Flooding Soi (side road)

I moved into my Flat in the dry winter month of January and never thought to ask the local residents whether the Soi flooded during the monsoon season. Well it did. It was nothing short of knee deep, white water rapids each and every time there was a downpour. Sometimes I was either trapped in or trapped out of my home until the filthy water subsided.

Mr Roomfinder says – A Flooding Soi can turn your apartment into a home from hell and you could actually cause you to either be late for or miss appointments altogether. Ask the residents and locals, not the landlords, if the Soi floods.

That's it. I hope you find the above useful when searching for Thailand apartments, condos, and houses.