New House
Trip Start
Jan 08, 2004
1
53
167
Trip End
Ongoing
Bangkok,
Thailand
Thursday, March 23, 2006
While I was in Australia I asked Kanchana to find a house for us to rent. We can afford this now and I think it is better to have the family all together in a house and also we are running out of storage space in the apartment - much of my belongings remain packed up as there isn't room.
Attached is a video of our new house that we are renting. It is just up the street from the old one.
In the video you can first see the view from the street, into the front yard and see Kanchana then in through the front door; the lounge with Vava; towards the kitchen via the downstairs toilet; the kitchen with bench, sink, gas cookers, washing machine and fridge (that someone hadn't closed properly), then out of the kitchen there is a pantry which is full of Kanchana's Mum's junk
Alif doing Tae Kwon Do (in the red helmet)
. Upstairs to our bedroom (which has a mattress bed and air-conditioning; the balcony and then out of our room, to Alif's room which is untidy and then to the upstairs toilet / bath room. Into Kanchana's Mum's and Vava's room which is also very untidy.Kanchana's Mum, Alif and Vava have already moved into the new home and Kanchana and I are in the process although we are still sleeping in our apartment for the moment.
Previously we were all living between two apartments. Kanchana and I were living in one and Kanchana's Mum in another down the hallway. The kids used either although kept most of their stuff in Kanchana's Mum's room and tended to sleep there more often as she would let them watch crap TV when Kanchana and I would not.
The new arrangements should be good as it will out all the family in the one place. Also it gives us more space.
But perhaps it will be bad as it puts all the family in one place and gives me less space.
In the apartment Kanchana and I had a room to ourselves most of the time
Elephant in Minburi
. We slept on a mattress on the floor which was folded up during the day and we sat on the floor which saved space as we didn't have too much unnecessary furniture. During the day I had the room to myself and so had plenty of chance to have quiet time and work on the computer or read or do whatever I wanted.In the new house although there is more rooms, there also seems to be more crap already accumulating. Kanchana's Mum is a hoarder of junk and she has already filled the pantry with her garbage (damn it, I was hoping to fill it with mine). Perhaps there is going to be less space here for me than in the apartment.
During the day Kanchana's Mum hangs around the house and she often baby sits for one of the street vendors, watches TV or has the radio turned up loud. So no more quiet time to myself.
Lately Kanchana has been working a lot and then studying, so she has little time with the kids. When she is with them she seems to spend most of that time telling them off and being grumpy. She is trying very hard to be a good Mother and raise good kids that behave well. But it is very tiring for her, the kids and me when she is just grumpy and critical all the time
Google Earth view
. Hmmm, hopefully it all works out OK, but it is a bit of a worry too. Seems that I am loosing freedom and privacy by moving into the new house. We'll see.
What else. I haven't been doing much but seem very busy at the moment. I am studying Thai language most days (by myself, using books) and that is progressing well. I go to the park and exercise most days but not all. Hopefully I will start practising Muay Thai boxing soon. In the afternoons I am teaching English to Vava and some of the local kids for free. It is their school holidays now. Also I often go and help Kanchana's Boss's daughter to practice English. I spent a couple of days painting the lounge room and???? I don't know what else, but time seems to be going too fast and I don't seem to be relaxing as much as I would like. Need to fix that too.
Soon it will be time to cross the border and get a new visa, maybe I will go see Angkor Wat.
See ya
Comments
Bangkok accommodation rent holiday house home rent
Brand new holiday 5 bedroom teak wood home in Bangkok Taling Chan district.
massagelondon@gmail.com
http://massagelondon.org
It's by Thanon Wongwan Rob Nok and by the Klong Bang Tal - 5 minutes drive to South Bus Terminal (towards Kanchanaburi, Cha Am, Hua Hin, Phuket, Krabi and Malaysia) on Thonburi & 15 minutes to Chao Phraya River, Khaosan Rd, the Old King's Palace & the Wat Pho. There is also a frequent bus 556 to Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Pictures on request.
check it out on google maps:
lat=13.79381307 latitude
lon=100.408499781 longitude
Around are traditional houses with orchards, gardens, peace and clean air.
Suit family with children and animals as the place is safe and has a terrace under the elevated on stilts house.
Goes cheap, even short let - as I can't go on holidays to Bangkok as often as I use to go. At the moment stays there my daughter with her children, but she can move to my sister in law house just the next door. Daily $30, weekly $100, monthly $300.
A much better option of staying in Bangkok than the town centre, with it's noise, pollution, traffic jams and crowds of tourists. In a Taling Chan home-stay you will immerse yourself in a traditional lifestyle and learn a little bit about Thai culture and customs. Walks through the fruit orchards and flower groves make a very challenging experience.
You can feel here like living in the traditional thai willage - yet 5 minutes walk is 7/11 shop, cash machine and a daily street market. A short ride there is a famous traditional thai floating market in Taling Chan by the Chakphra Canal.
There are several nice homestays in that area - old thai teak wood houses on stilts just overlooking slowly moving canals. You are in the middle of verdant and vast, lush gardens.
There is nothing comparable to it in the whole of Thailand - a dream student home stay or a holiday accommodation.
The exact address to my home:
172/9 moo 11 Kanchanapisek
Salathammasop
Thawi Wattana 10160
Bangkok
(it's on the west border of Taling Chan district with a newly formed Thawi Wattana, and a few hundred yards south of amphoe Bank Kruai, already in Nonthaburi province).
If you are coming by taxi just stop immediately after the klong Bang Tal, go down over a small wooden steps to the canal and walk along the concrete path by the canal 150 metres - almost to the end of this path. If you are coming by car pass the canal and park on soi Muban Chuangchun Park Villa - you will have to walk back about 150 metres.
If you are going to stay there and have a car we can arrange an off road parking space close to the home and use a side gate to enter the property.
================
AMENITIES & SERVICES
Additional Payment Options: PayPal, Money Order ----------
Check In: 1 a.m.
Check Out: 12 p.m.
Required Stay: even 1 night - but residential guests, for many months, are welcome
Cancellation Policy: All of the rent is required to complete the booking. If you cancel anytime, payments (less 1 nights rent) are refunded if the unit is re-rented.
Deposits: A refundable security/damage deposit of $100 is required on check-in-
Other Policies: ----- * Smoking is allowed. ----- * Guests may arrive on any day of the week.----- * Dogs and Cats are allowed. A deposit of $100 will apply towards eventual clining house and the garden. ----- * There is no specific quiet time policy, though guests are asked to be respectful of any neighbours. ----- * Children are allowed. A Crib, High Chair and a Play Pen can be provided. ----- * No Maid Service is provided during a stay. An optional Daily Maid Service is available for the following fee of $5. ---------- Best time of the year to travel----- The best months to travel through Thailand are December and January. Second best are November and February. These months constitute the 'cold' seasons. In Bangkok temperatures are still as high as during a good West-European summer though. At night, it cools off a bit but temperatures will rarely drop below 20 degrees Celsius, even at night.---------- From roughly March till May, Thailand experiences the hot season, when temperatures can soar into the 40 degrees range. Not the best time of year to go walking about cities or countryside.---------- From roughly May till October, we have the rainy season. It is quite unpredictable when it is going to rain though, and there are sometimes episodes of up to two months during this period, when there is no rain fall. Other years, rain falls more consistently almost every week. Traditionally rain falls during the late afternoon. It seldom lasts more than a few hours. ---------- Flooding of areas of Bangkok and in the provinces occurs, more at the end of the rainy season in Bangkok (the drains are more clogged by then).---------- Temperatures tend to be high, but cool off somewhat each time it has rained.
There is something subtly exotic about wood. No other substance seems to mature in the same way, changing it's texture and smell in a second life that defies life's normal rhythm.
The traditional Thai teak house represent a style of living that is almost absent from Bangkok these days - with citywide modernisation, it is hard to find older houses that are still in use.
Villages such as Lampang in the North, featuring predominantly teak houses, are becoming more and more rare as people switch to modern building materials.
Built around the concept of simplicity, Thai stilt houses were the functional solution to a hot climate in the days before air-conditioning.
The gap between the floor and ground enables a cool breeze to to naturally ventilate the entire house, and the open window style still in practice today further aids this process.
Building with native teakwood gave the houses a natural beauty that is still imitated in today's architecture (think of the sweeping, upturned eaves of many Thai roofs.)
Prized for it's durability and attractive finish, teak has been logged almost to the point of extinction, and the magnificent trees (sometimes reaching 50m in height) are today rarely found outside dedicated plantations.
However, there remain some people trying to revive the traditions of teak workmanship, incorporating it into new homes and proving that old materials can be re-used with stunning effect.
In the heart of the Taling Chan district lies a canal that seems entirely detached from the regular bustle of city life, yet connected to the rest of the klongs that form the city's ancient corollaries.
I am introduced to this world by Kanya, a masseuse currently overseeing the production of a new home with her husband Yan. She leads me along the narrow path by the canal and I soak up the atmosphere of a quiet backwater entirely different from the Bangkok I am used to.
Across from us sits a magnificent example of wooden architecture, an obviously new house by the water's edge surrounded by palm fronds.
Kanya explains that this has been built with the express purpose of being a party house, and I feel a pang of jealousy for their frivolously beautiful enterprise.
Just back from the canal's edge sits her house, an obvious labour of love that sits next to her sister's, also being built with an eye for past wooden beauty.
While the ground floor retains some modern materials, the upper floor is furnished with a stunning mix of old teak boards and ornately carved pine shutters, the darker wood setting off the light to beautiful effect.
Inside the house the smells of wood craftsmanship pervade the rooms, and there is a feeling of inherent age that is difficult to achieve in new properties.
The main room upstairs stretches the breadth of the house, overlooking a patch of genuine wilderness that teems with life, and I'm pleased to hear they have no plans to get rid of it. 'We wouldn't want to lose the birdsong' explains Kanya.
Throughout the house, we walk on gigantic beams that have the solid, immovable quality of wood that has been in existence for a great deal of time; '100 years old, maybe more' she says proudly.
Taken together, the ancient wood and the laid back pace of the canal provide an intoxicating mix that would likely tempt even a die-hard village-dweller to consider city life.
My Taling Chan visit has reminded me that Bangkok is a city of many faces, where the old can sometimes lie comfortably beside the new (without complaining about the price of milk these days.)
And while the building of super-malls with concrete and steel continues apace in Bangkok, there are signs that the traditional is also making a comeback, with interest in attractions such as Vimanmek mansion (a gigantic teak house made exclusively with teak - no nails!) and Jim Thompson's house on the rise.
It seems that there are also a number of people who are willing to sacrifice convenience for beauty in building of their own Thai homes, as the growing number of teak queries for 'traditional thai teak wood homestay Bangkok' posted online show.
A trip along the Chao Phraya shows a great deal about the city's character, from individual riverside lives to gigantic trade barges, peaceful restaurants to stunning Wats best seen by boat.
But a surprising part of this journey are the properties that have fallen by the wayside of development, beautiful teak houses left abandoned by their owners that have the potential to be truly amazing locations.
With all the development occurring along the riverbanks, it is a shock to see such treasures lying idle, and if Thailand is to maintain it's heritage this would surely be a good place to start. After all, a teak house party by the river is not to be sniffed at...
The Taling Chan house featured is available for long and short term rents
About This Property
Category: Single Family Homes
Address: 172/9 M 11 Kanchanapisek
Salathammasop, Thawi Wattana
Bangkok,Taling Chan,Thawi Wattana, Thonburi Thai
Bangkok 10160
Thailand
For Sale/Rent By: Owner
Construction Year: 2007
Area: 125 m2
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 1
Sleeps: 10
Stories: 2
Parking Spaces: 5
Features - Amenities
Furnished
Appliances
Pet Friendly
Balcony
Terrace
Patio
Cable TV
* 5 Twin Beds * Balcony * Canoe * Full Kitchen * Game Room * Hardwood Floors * High Speed Internet * Kayak * Kitchenette * Linens Provided * Outdoor Shower * Parking * Patio * Porch * View (Water) Appliances * Alarm Clock * Cd Player * Ceiling Fan * Dvd Player * Ice Maker * Iron * Microwave * Radio * Refrigerator (Full) * Refrigerator (Mini) * Stereo * Telephone * Tv (Antenna) * Tv (Cable/Satellite) * Vcr * Washer/Dryer
Activities * Boating (onsite) * Canoeing (onsite) * Fishing (onsite) * Kayaking (onsite) * Playground (onsite) * Bicycling (1 Mile) * Children's Pool (1 Mile) * Golf (1 Mile) * Grocery Store (1 Mile) * Gym/Fitness Center (1 Mile) * Hiking (1 Mile) * Miniature Golf (1 Mile) * Pool (1 Mile) * Restaurant (1 Mile) * Live Entertainment (1 Mile) * Shopping Area (1 Mile) * Tennis (1 Mile) * Bowling (2 Miles) * Movie Theater (2 Miles) * Basketball Court (3 Miles) * Park (3 Miles) * Volleyball Court (4 Miles) * Horseback Riding (6 Miles) * Ice Skating (7 Miles) * Zoo (7 Miles) * Casino (9 Miles) * Aquarium (14 Miles) * Amusement Park (15 Miles) * Theme Park (15 Miles) * Water Park (15 Miles) * Beach (25 Miles) * Deep Sea Fishing (25 Miles) * Hunting (25 Miles) * Ocean (25 Miles) * Sailing (25 Miles) * Scuba Diving (25 Miles) * Snorkeling (25 Miles) * Surfing (25 Miles) * Windsurfing (25 Miles)
Vacation Rental Policies Payment Options:
PayPal, Money Order, Cashier's Check, Personal Check, Wire Transfer
Check In: 1 A.M. Check Out: 12 P.M.
Required Stay:
Even 1 Night - But Residential Guests, For Many Months, Are Welcome
Cancellation Policy:
All Of The Rent Is Required To Complete The Booking. If You Cancel Anytime, Payments (less 1 Nights Rent) Are Refunded If The Unit Is Re-Rented.
Deposits: A Refundable Security/damage Deposit Of 100 Is Required
Other Policies:
* Smoking Is Allowed.
* Guests May Arrive On Any Day Of The Week.
* Dogs And Cats Are Allowed. A Deposit Of $100 Will Apply Towards Eventual Clining House And The Garden.
* There Is No Specific Quiet Time Policy, Though Guests Are Asked To Be Respectful Of Any Neighbours.
* Children Are Allowed. A Crib, High Chair And A Play Pen Can Be Provided. *
No Maid Service Is Provided During A Stay. An Optional Daily Maid Service Is Available For The Following Fee Of $5.