How to find an apartment in Bangkok: five steps, in order

How to find an apartment in Bangkok: choose your stay, then the station, then the budget. Furnished homes start at ฿46,600 a month. See all ten areas.

By Jumphot Srisomsap · 3 November 2026

If you are working out how to find an apartment in Bangkok, make five decisions in this order: how long you are staying, which train line you need, what each area costs, how far you will walk to the station, and what the rent covers. Get the first two right and the rest is easy to compare. Get them wrong and a good flat in the wrong place is still the wrong flat.

This guide uses our own furnished homes in central Bangkok as the examples, so every price is a real monthly rent. We let by the month, the minimum stay is one calendar month, and there are no platform or booking fees on top.

1. Decide how long you are staying

Length of stay decides what kind of home suits you. For one to three months, a furnished serviced apartment saves you buying anything: the sheets, the kettle and the Wi-Fi are already there, and many include housekeeping. For six months or more, you will care less about the hotel side and more about the street outside: whether there is a market, a gym and somewhere to eat that you still like in month eight.

Renting by the month also lets you test an area before you commit. Plenty of people take a first month near the office, learn the neighbourhood, then stay on or move once they know where they want to be.

2. Pick the train line before the flat

Bangkok traffic is slow at rush hour, and a short distance by road can take a long time. So start from the rail map, not the listings. The BTS Skytrain and the MRT underground reach every area where we have homes, and they meet at two interchanges: BTS Asok with MRT Sukhumvit, and BTS Sala Daeng with MRT Si Lom.

• BTS Sukhumvit line, city end: Chit Lom and Phloen Chit, for our Central Bangkok homes and the Lumpini homes near Ratchaprasong.
• BTS Sukhumvit line, heading east: Nana, Asok, Phrom Phong, Thong Lo, Ekkamai, Phra Khanong, On Nut and Bang Chak, for our Sukhumvit, Thonglor, Ekkamai, Rama 4 and On Nut homes.
• BTS Silom line: Sala Daeng, for the Lumpini Park side and Sathon.
• MRT Blue line: Si Lom, Lumphini, Queen Sirikit, Sukhumvit and Phra Ram 9, for our Asoke and Rama 9 homes.

Find your office or your children's school on that map, note the nearest station, then look for homes on the same line. A home three stops away on the same line is usually an easier daily trip than one that looks closer on the map but needs a change of line or a taxi.

3. Set the budget by area

Rents differ more between areas than most people expect. These are the lowest monthly rents among our furnished homes in each area, with how many homes we have there, so you can see where your budget reaches.

Rama 4 starts lowest on our list, at ฿46,600, with Thonglor and Sukhumvit both from just over ฿50,000. Lumpini starts highest, at ฿85,700, because you are paying to live by the park. If the budget is tight, look east along the Sukhumvit line; if it is generous, the choice opens up everywhere. For what each area is like to live in, not just what it costs, read our guide to where to live in Bangkok.

4. Weigh the walk against the rent

The rent on a listing is only part of the cost. Bangkok is hot all year, the walk from a station to a building is often along a busy road, and a long walk tends to become a taxi or a motorbike taxi twice a day. Compare the distance to the platform before you compare rents.

The 32 m² Thonglor home is the cheapest of the three, but it is 1.4 km from BTS Thong Lo. For ฿2,500 a month more, the On Nut one-bedroom is 350 m from its station. For ฿15,100 more than the Thonglor home, the Central Bangkok flat gives you two bedrooms, 80 m² and a 200 m walk.

Compare the walk before the rent. A flat 1.4 km from the platform means a taxi twice a day; one at 350 m is a short walk.

5. Read what the rent covers, then view

Two homes at the same price can be very different deals. A serviced apartment may include cleaning, breakfast or fast internet; a condo let by its owner may include the furniture and little else. Some of ours say it in the name: five of our six Rama 4 homes come with housekeeping, several homes in Sukhumvit, Thonglor and Central Bangkok come with breakfast, and three Asoke homes list 200 Mbps internet.

Ask every place on your shortlist the same questions, in writing, so you can compare like with like:

• Is electricity in the rent, or billed by the meter? Air conditioning runs most of the year, so this matters.
• Are water, internet and building fees included?
• How often is the flat cleaned, and are sheets and towels changed?
• How long is the walk to the station, and is it along a main road or a quiet soi?
• Is there a pool, a gym or a co-working room, and when are they open?
• Are pets allowed? Only some buildings say yes; ours that do are in Ekkamai and Sathon.

When you view, go at the time you would normally leave for work and walk to the station yourself. Run the taps, try the air conditioning in every room, look at the view from the window you will actually sit by, and listen for traffic or building work.

Paperwork when you sign

Bring your passport. Thai rules require the owner or manager of the place where a foreigner stays to report that address to the Immigration Bureau, so expect to be asked for a copy of your passport and visa page. Questions about the visa itself belong with the Immigration Bureau, not the landlord.

Start with the station, then browse

Once you know your line, your area and your budget, the search gets short. Open all our homes, narrow them by area, check the distance to the station on each listing, and send your shortlist the questions above. Every home is furnished and let by the month, so you can move in, live there for a month and decide from there.

Frequently asked questions

What do I need to rent an apartment in Bangkok as a foreigner?

Your passport, and usually a copy of your visa page. The owner or building has to report a foreign tenant's address to the Immigration Bureau, so they will ask for it. With us the minimum stay is one calendar month and there are no platform or booking fees.

How much does an apartment in Bangkok cost a month?

Our furnished homes start at ฿46,600 a month in Rama 4, just over ฿50,000 in Thonglor and Sukhumvit, and ฿85,700 in Lumpini. Bigger homes, and homes closer to a station, cost more.

Can I rent an apartment in Bangkok for just one month?

Yes. Every one of our homes is let by the month, and the minimum stay is one calendar month. A first month is a good way to try an area before you stay longer.

Which area of Bangkok should I look in first?

Start from where you work or study. Find the nearest BTS or MRT station and look along the same line. If you have no fixed place to be, Sukhumvit and Thonglor have the most choice on our list, with 31 and 29 homes, and Rama 4 has the lowest starting rent.

How close to the station should my apartment be?

As close as the budget allows. A walk of a few hundred metres is easy every day; beyond a kilometre, in Bangkok's heat, most people end up taking a taxi or a motorbike taxi. Our On Nut one-bedroom, for example, is 350 m from BTS On Nut for ฿54,200 a month.

Browse all monthly apartments in Bangkok