Living like a Thai - My Village in Samut Prakan Thailand

The village / suburb / town where you live is sometimes more important than the actual home that you live in.  The people, your neighbours, the facilities and what's available in the area matching your interests.  That's what's important!!! My village has everything that I need to live well on a daily basis.

I never wanted to live in a high traffic foreign Tourist area of Thailand.  Like all countries, Thailand is not perfect and many of the social problems that exist in this country are heavily concentrated in the Tourist areas.

I live in Thailand; I want to live like a Thai.

We're close enough to Bangkok to enjoy everything that this wonderful city has to offer, but far enough away not to be consumed by the constant hustle and bustle.

Our village is situated about 40km from the heart of Bangkok and about 20km from Suvarnabhumi Airport.  Bangkok's International airport is actually located in Samut Prakan and not Bangkok, as most people would think.

There are just over 3,000 homes in the estate.

The village is the largest in the area.  Many businesses / shops are also located within the village.
Both a morning and night market exists to satisfy the needs of the community.  A whole range of cheap and delicious Thai food options are available.  People from the surrounding villages also come to shop here.

A monthly fee of 150 baht (US$4.30) is charged to cover the cost of garbage collection, community area garden maintenance, street sweeping and security guards.

Very few western foreigners live here on a permanent basis.  My estimate is only 4 males, of which, I am the youngest.  The majority of the population is Thai; however immigrant workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia also live here.  Very little English is spoken.

The village was created about 10 years ago.  The land was formerly mostly made up of fish farms.  A huge lake still takes pride of place in the centre of the development.

There are 3 types of dwellings in the village.
1. A single house.  A large house on a single block of land. Value estimated to be between 8 - 10 million baht (US$230,000 - US$290,000).
2. Town homes.  A town house in a row of town houses.  Share external connecting walls. Tiny rear courtyard.  However, virtually all courtyards have been replaced by a structure to house a kitchen.  Value estimated to be between 1.2 - 1.5 million baht (US$35,000 - US$44,000).
3. Twin homes.  2 town houses on a single block of land. The size and layout of the twin home is the same as the town home, but they have more land on one side of the property.  Value estimated to be between 2.3 - 2.6 million baht (US$66,000 - US$75,000).

All homes are 2 storey dwellings.

There is also a golf course, swimming pools, gym and table tennis / bad-mitten courts located directly behind the village.  These facilities are easily accessible by motorbike, bicycle or just walking.  There is no direct access from the village for cars.

A BTS (sky train) extension is currently being constructed and will be located about 14km from the village.  This will give far more direct access to Bangkok.  At the moment, the public transport options to reach Bangkok are minibus to the bus stop, then bus directly to Bangkok or bus to the nearly BTS.

The region is set to flourish.

As the direct transport links (BTS) to Bangkok come on line, more affluent residents will move into the area, both Thai and Expat.  Several new villages and Condominium complexes are already under construction.  A Ferry Terminal is also to be build, with planned ferry routes of Pattaya - Hua Hin - Pranburi, Bangpoo (Samut Prakan) - Hua Hin - Pranburi and Bangpoo - Pattaya.  Cars will also be transportable on these ferries.

A large and modern shopping centre complex and cinema is located about 12km away.  However, very few English speaking movie sessions are offered.

The houses are manufactured, for the most part, from preformed concrete.  A very standard way of building houses in Thailand.

I love our home and I love the village in which we live.  The people are warm and friendly and I have been made to feel very much part of the community.

We have two temples within 5 minutes drive and the Monks can be seem walking our streets every morning.

Places of Interest:
http://www.bangpoogolf.com/home/
http://www.ancientcitygroup.net/
http://www.worldcrocodile.com/about.html

Shopping:
https://www.robinson.co.th/
https://www.tescolotus.com/home
http://www.bigc.co.th/?___store=en&___from_store=th

Village Aerial:
https://map.longdo.com/p/A00320532/info/iphone?locale=en

BTS:
https://www.bts.co.th/index_CoverPage.html

I hope that you found this information interesting.

Please put any questions that you might have in the comments section below.  I will do my best to answer as quickly and as accurately as possible.

We look forward to seeing you back here again very soon.

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/OurLifeThai/
YouTube for a video tour of the village
https://youtu.be/hhDQVRmhRlQ

Take care
Brad & Ta