StevieWonders
April 22nd, 2021, 09:49
I've lived in the Silom/Sathorn area of Bangkok for most of my time here (almost 35 years). I've never bought accommodation as I've observed too many shoddily built condos going up and heard horror stories from friends who have bought about Thai owners who simply refuse to pay for the common property maintenance. Sathorn Rd itself is an interesting divider - properties between Surawong and Sathorn are typically more expensive than something equally large across Sathorn in the maze of odd-numbered streets. One's neighbours are various, too - Soi 15 is very popular with sex workers, as is Soi 1 and Soi 3, also known as Suan Phlu. Grindr works well in that entire area. I use Saint Louis Hospital for all my medical requirements.
As for facilities - I haven't driven a car since the BTS and the BRT (and the MRT in places) started up in the area. One of the problems in those little back streets used to be getting a taxi - now there's the Grab App that problem has disappeared. The traffic jams up Sathorn make an evening out somewhat of a gamble getting a taxi home (frequent refusals from knowledgeable taxi drivers) but it's manageable. I now have a regular Grab driver for that too. Groceries - Tops and Villa Mart will do home deliveries, and the larger 7-11 stores all have decent supplies of milk and eggs. Lunch is always cut fruit bought from one of the many street vendors unless I'm lunching out.
The air quality can be bad at times, but nowhere near as horrendous as Chiang Mai is reported to be. The slow traffic is a given - which is why the BTS is such a boon. But on the whole I live a very contented life here.
As for facilities - I haven't driven a car since the BTS and the BRT (and the MRT in places) started up in the area. One of the problems in those little back streets used to be getting a taxi - now there's the Grab App that problem has disappeared. The traffic jams up Sathorn make an evening out somewhat of a gamble getting a taxi home (frequent refusals from knowledgeable taxi drivers) but it's manageable. I now have a regular Grab driver for that too. Groceries - Tops and Villa Mart will do home deliveries, and the larger 7-11 stores all have decent supplies of milk and eggs. Lunch is always cut fruit bought from one of the many street vendors unless I'm lunching out.
The air quality can be bad at times, but nowhere near as horrendous as Chiang Mai is reported to be. The slow traffic is a given - which is why the BTS is such a boon. But on the whole I live a very contented life here.