Living in Thailand: A Tour Of My Thai House in Pictures!
Contents – Open To Read
A TYPICAL THAI HOUSE IN PICTURES
Do you want to see what a real modern Thai house looks like? Would you like to try and live like a local but don’t know exactly what to expect in terms of accommodation? Are you just a curious person, who likes sneaking inside other people’s house to see how they live?
If you fall under one of the above descriptions, you are in the right place! Today, Tomas and I are opening our “magnificent villa” just for you! I’ll show you every room and give you some insight about the costs and opportunities to rent a house while traveling slowly.
Look at the brilliant pictures, have a laugh if you wish (I don’t mind!) and enjoy this virtual tour into my everyday life in Thailand.
Disclaimer: I cleaned the house before taking the pictures. On an average day the rooms are so messy that, to find my boyfriend, I need to call 911. No Jokes! SO LET’S GET STARTED!
THE ENTRANCE
Every house entrance in the Village looks pretty much like this:
At first, I was puzzled. I just said: “Looks great! let’s see the main entrance now!” Ermmm… NO. This is the main entrance, and there is a reason for this: Many people use the spacious area in front of the gate to set up a small business.
It’s a common practice in relatively poor villages like this one. Another reason is to use this area as a parking space.In western countries, we are not familiar with the idea of having a car parked in the kitchen /living room area. That’s why I travel, to see things I never thought I would! ?
THE OUTSIDE
This is what I see if I look outside. And these are the typical sidecars in the village.They are mainly used to move goods around, or as a cheap alternative to the car. A nice way to carry their large families around the village.
You can see how Thai people have the habit to leave their shoes outside, to avoid bringing the dirt into the house (it doesn’t matter if they park their car inside without removing the wheels) Upsss..! Tiny detail!
THE FRONT AREA
A multi-functional open space. It has so many uses, including parking, big carpetdining area, praying area, shop, playing area and meeting area.
We just left the table and 2 benches to dine. big carpet, and I bought a small piece of furniture with a mirror and a chair for my “beauty routine” (Translated: to desperately try and look like a decent human being before leaving the house. It usually lasts between 5 to 15 minutes on my lucky days).
I hung my sarong on the wall, a picture of the Buddha, a souvenir I bought in Bali and one of Tomas’s drawing. A touch of color is all we need to feel at home!
THE CORRIDOR
Renamed ” INDIANA JONES corridor” because to go to the toiled during the night, I have to walk in the dark, trying to avoid scorpions, huge spiders, cockroaches, and moths. The door at the end gives access to the backyard and the one on the right is our bedroom.
THE BEDROOM
Pretty basic: 2 mattresses laying on the floor, 2 fans to avoid melting in 40 degrees and 2 small tables (one on the left side of the beds and one in front of them). No windows. We get the light from the open holes around the perimeter on the top.
THE WARDROBE/BATHROOM AREA
This is a multi-purpose area. We just put a small wardrobe and a plastic chest of drawers to organize our clothes.
Close to the bathroom entrance is the fridge (we borrowed it from the school) and a cupboard with a non-specified use. Meaning: we throw everything we can’t fit anywhere else in there. A kettle is on top of it. We use it for coffee or to warm up some water to wash the dishes.
On top of the fridge is the most valuable item in the house: A BOTTLE OF EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL. Finding it was almost impossible and it’s worth more than gold for me!
THE BATHROOM
What can I say? Pictures speak more than a 1000 words. This is Thailand: GET USED TO IT!
THE PRIVATE BACKYARD
A well sized, slightly filthy backyard, with a protective roof (useful during rainy season). The clothes hanging are the neighbors. When they realized we didn’t use it, they decided to make the most of it. I wish they could wash and hang our clothes too ?
THE WASHING AREA
In these small villages in Thailand, they usually don’t have a proper “western” kitchen. Forget about having a kitchen plan, a sink, and a cooking area. This is the alternative to the sink to wash the dishes: 2 buckets, one to wash and one to rinse. That’s all.
This is the only thing I still can not get used to. I HATE washing dishes like that. It looks like they are still dirty even if I rinsed them 1 million times (so I gave up and we always ended up eating out at Noom’s, our Thai friend who owned a sort of “restaurant” at the end of our street).
THE KITCHEN PLAN
If you rent a house in Thailand and plan to cook your own meals, be ready to buy one of these. They don’t provide such luxury items in the house.
Luckily this is quite cheap and easy to find, 50 $ and this spectacular kitchen can be yours! As you can see, measures aroundI hate doing dishes (because I don’t have a sink) so much that I cleaned everything except them for the photo shoot. I’m going to fix the mess as soon as I’m done with the post. Next meal will be broccoli and cauliflowers for dinner!
THE COMMON BACKYARD
In addition to the roofed backyard, we also have this one, shared with the neighbors. As we don’t even use our private one, we totally gave up on this. It’s still nice to have it tough. Sometimes I just go there and have a look around, listening to some distant Thai song playing on the radio.
CONSIDERATIONS AND COSTS OF LIVING IN THAILAND
As you can see, the size of the house measures around20 m X 6. A long, basic rectangle with a built-in room.
Some Thai houses have 2 bedrooms, and generally, the members of the family sleep together in the same room. They don’t have our sense of privacy and are comfortable with sharing most of the spaces.
This is a basic version of what a local Thai house looks like, here in Map Amarit. I’ve seen infinite variations on the theme. Our neighbors use their front area to park the car, and they set up a small altar where they put the incense and offers for the Buddha.
You can see this practice in almost every house here in Thailand). Other put sofas and TVs or even beds if it’s too crowded to fit everyone in the bedroom.
There are also the typical wooden Thai Houses, like this one:
They are not common in this area, but they are pretty popular all over Thailand. The structure has the purpose of making the house more secure during the rainy season.
The inside is quite basic and consist on a big open space with mattresses on the floor, while the cooking area is generally on the back or downstairs, during the dry season.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COSTS?
The monthly rent is 3500 baht (around 112 $), so if you share the house with a friend is only 56$.
The expenses, water, and electricity are ridiculously low: around 15$ per month in total. These costs apply if you rent a house in a small, isolated village in Thailand, sometimes is even cheaper. If you want to move to a bigger city, get ready to pay a little more or to have a smaller house.
HOW TO FIND A HOUSE FOR RENT?
We found this one trough the director of the English school where we teach, so it was very easy.
I suggest, as soon as you arrive in a place, ask to the locals. Enter a shop and see if they know of anyone renting a house. Only remember that, in small and isolated villages, the 90% of the population don’t speak a word of English.
You may need to ask several people before finding the deal you are looking for. Search for the local English school is also a good idea, they will give you all the information you need.
All in all, this is a dirt cheap opportunity to move slowly, appreciate living like a local and save a lot of money in accommodation!
What do you think? would you rent a house like this one? have you had a similar experience? Give me your feedback or tell me your own experiences in renting houses while traveling.