Thailand beaches are the reason many people choose to spend a vacation or a lifetime in Thailand. Beaches, almost uniformly beautiful surround three sides of this small country, and provide hundreds of miles of white sand and blue water.

Thailand beaches are becoming known and popular mostly during the years since the Vietnam era. Servicemen and women returned home after a stint in Vietnam, but they remembered the good times they had while on leave. With the cooling of tensions somewhat in the Far East, combined with the growing need to find profitable and economically sound ways of increasing investment in the country, came the realization that building a fine resort accommodation in Thailand with close proximity to beaches, shopping, history, was a sound business decision.

Thailand beaches were largely unspoiled by over development, and because there is so many miles of coastline available. it was not difficult to find a low cost area to develop. Although foreigners cannot own controlling interest in Thai property or businesses, with some creative accounting and a little under the table assistance, major development began.

Early resorts allowed the sun, sand and water to be their own sales force, A day on the beach, lazing in the sun with occasional dips in the warm azure waters of the Indian Ocean followed by a trip to Bangkok for wonderful Thai cuisine and perhaps some dancing or barhopping afterward made for a rewarding and satisfying vacation.

Of course, as popularity grew and locations close to the capitol city became more developed, prices of land grew as well. At the same time, a new breed of vacationers began to arrive looking for excitement, more than just a day on the beach. Tour companies began looking for more and different activities to increase the flow of tourists and poor people in need of employment began to be drawn to the coastal areas. This became an increasing cycle of more tourists needing more beaches and more hotels which brings more working people.

What is most amazing is that in spite of all the ebb and flow of people to Thailand beaches, they have managed in most instances to retain their pristine beauty. Were it not for the attack of the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004, Thailand beaches might have continued to increase in popularity.. Although other areas of the country were spared major damage, it remains to be seen what if any long-term effect the tsunami will leave.

If you are planning to stay in Thailand for awhile, you should probably rent one of the many apartments that are here.

If you want to rent one of the Thailand apartments such as on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok, you should expect that the apartments between Soi 3 and Soi 55 will have the most expensive rents. Their rents can go as high as 80,000 baht (about 2,000 dollars a month). They are definitely for Americans who are upper middle class. A middle class American if he is working for an American company in Thailand could definitely afford one of these apartments. These Thailand apartments are out of reach for most Thais.

After Soi 55 on Sukhumvit, a person can expect to the cheaper rents. On Soi 71, you can rent a Thailand apartment for 1,500 baht (about 30 dollars) a month. This is where Thais mostly can afford to rent apartments on Sukhumvit. An American teacher would find that he can afford to rent an apartment.

Overall, as far as apartments in Bangkok, Thailand, the rule of thumb is that the further you get from Sukhumvit Road, the cheaper the apartments. There are still some apartments that are expensive outside of Sukhumvit, but mostly, they are cheaper. On Phahon Yothin Road, about 20 km from Sukhumvit Road, you can easily find Thailand apartments that are 3,000 to 5,000 baht a month (about 75 to 150 dollars a month).

What are the best locations for apartments in Bangkok, Thailand? Sukhumvit Road is good because it is on the BTS Skytrain. Ratchadapshiek Road has become one of the best since the subway has opened. Victory Monument is one of the best locations since it is near the Skytrain. Half the buses in Bangkok also grow through Victory Monument. Victory Monument is one of the major bus stops and a lot of buses. Victory Monument does have apartments that have reasonable rents. If you are looking for a good location and cheap rent, Victory Monument is the best place to go. If you don’t care about price, then Sukhumvit is probably the place for you.

One of the things that you should definitely know about renting Thailand apartments is that once you rent an apartment here, your days of privacy are over. The apartment staff will watch you like a hawk and they will talk about every move that you make. If you get a girlfriend, they will know about it. If you are bringing prostitutes, they will know about it. The problem is that they will not keep secret about it. If you get a new girlfriend and you have been known to bringing prostitutes, they will openly tell your new girlfriend. For all you know, they could be telling strangers on the street about your activities. The best thing that you could do is not bring prostitutes to your apartment. You should pay the extra expense of going to a hotel because there is no way that the apartment staff is going to keep your secrets.