Our Home Away from Home in Bangkok – A Studio Apartment in Asok

Breathtaking Bangkok city vistas, a colossal swimming pool, and a soi crammed with street food stalls were all bonuses. Space for both of us to spread out and set up office, fast reliable Internet access, a kitchen where Terence could cook on the evenings we had to stay in, and a good building in a living-breathing neighbourhood rather than a tourist ghetto – those were our priorities when it came to looking for an apartment to call home in Bangkok.

We’d hoped to find an apartment in Bangkok‘s hipster ’hood of Thonglor, with its scores of restaurants and bars, its ‘Japan-town’, its cool shops and countless street food stalls. But the building we had our heart set on was booked solid and had a years-long waiting list.

We have a little Thong Lor boutique hotel we like where we usually stay when we’re in the Thailand‘s capital for a few days. But its snug rooms make it unsuitable for a long stay and we wanted to find out if Bangkok was somewhere we could live long-term.

So a compact studio apartment at Somerset Lake Point, near the Asok BTS, furnished in clean contemporary lines, and with enough mod cons to keep us satisfied, has became our ‘home away from home’ in Bangkok. So much so that we’ve left our things there when we’ve had to go on assignment to Saigon, Luang Prabang and Siem Reap.

We’re travelling light for the first time in years, which has been heaven! – and the staff have welcomed us back so warmly it’s as if we’ve lived there forever. Little did we know when we booked a month-long stay that this compact studio apartment with breathtaking Bangkok views would become our home in the Thai capital for a while.

Our Home Away from Home in Bangkok – A Studio Apartment in Asok

The set-up here at our home away from home in Bangkok is what they call ‘serviced residences’. It’s a building with furnished apartments for both short-term and long-term residents and some of the services of a hotel – smiling reception staff, a guest services person to book you on tours, a cleaning service, and porters and doormen to help with your luggage and hail you a taxi, and, in Bangkok, make sure that the taxi driver knows exactly where you’re going. Although, of course, they rarely do, no matter what they say.

The arrangement has suited us perfectly, as we weren’t sure we wanted to make Bangkok our long-term home. And that’s what this stay was all about. Was Bangkok somewhere we could settle into after so many years living out of suitcases, travelling the world? Maybe. Or maybe not.

Admittedly, there were some problems. The Internet was slow when we arrived, and both of us couldn’t connect at the same time. But the staff called the internet service provider and sorted it out straight away. We upgraded our service at the same time and they fixed it so that we could both have internet access at the faster speed.

We would’ve hated to have had to deal with that ourselves. We’ve been busy enough just doing the work that we came here to do, and then loads of extra assignments have come in, so we have plenty to keep us busy. We’re happy for a cleaner to come once a week (although they’d come twice if we wanted), as the apartment starts to look like student digs after a few days. As I said, we are very busy.

So busy that those stunning skyline views that were a welcome ‘extra’ have become essential to maintaining my sanity. We’ve spent much longer at our desks than anticipated, as more and more magazine commissions have landed in the In Box, that those gorgeous vistas of the lake and park have been immensely appreciated – not to mention the interesting views immediately below us in the surrounding streets of our neighbours’ houses, from ramshackle corrugated iron dwellings to grand villas with overgrown tropical gardens.

We’ve grown to love our Asok neighbourhood, centred on and around Sukhumvit Soi 16, and the many personalities it takes on as it transforms multiple times over the course of a day.

We’ve become fond of the familiar faces we see whenever we step out our door, from Noi, our favourite street food seller who serves up Bangkok’s best fried pork, to the scarred ‘soi dogs’ (one missing an eye) who may look homeless and abandoned but are actually well cared-for and loved by the local residents and shopkeepers, who leave them big bowls of biscuits and rice twice a day.

Yes, our stay here has been great so far. Although we’ve been visiting the Thai capital for years, it’s the longest time we’ve spent in Bangkok in one hit – and it’s going to be hard to leave if we have to head off on a long assignment, such as a travel guide commission.

Down sides so far? Terence would have liked a proper oven instead of a microwave but they only come with the larger apartments. He’s still appreciated having the kitchen where he’s been cooking Thai food and conducting all sorts of experiments with everything from pork belly to prawns. Though I’m sure I’ve appreciated his creations more than he has!

I would have liked to have used the swimming pool more, and I’ve made a vow to do just that. But that’s my own fault. I did start to do laps and have done them from time to time, but as usual I’ve let work get in the way of getting fit. We’ve regularly walked around the park that we’ve dubbed ‘Swan Lake’, for entertainment more than anything. Wait until we tell you about that!

It has felt good to be back in Bangkok. After an icy winter in Europe, I haven’t minded the heat and humidity one bit. Our first day in the city, I finally understood how Europeans must feel when they arrive in Dubai in March, pale from their long hibernation, yearning for nothing more than a week by a pool on the beach to soak up the sun and add some colour to their skin. No wonder they wander about with so little on.

It’s only recently, now that the rainy season has started, and every day is a sultry one in Bangkok, that I’m actually looking forward to winter again. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

We’ll share more from our home away from home in Bangkok with you over coming weeks and months.