One of the things that foreigners can find a little distressing when settling in Thailand is the Thai address system, which is completely different from one would be accustomed to in Europe or the United States. In our monthly real estate column, we will attempt to decipher the address system so that you won’t ever get lost again.
Here is what a random address looks like in Phuket:
27/35, Moo 7
Soi Sai Yuan 10
T. Rawai, A. Muang
83130 Phuket, Thailand
What’s behind your Thai address?
Starting with the first line, we have the plot and house number, followed by the name of the village. In this instance, this house has the number 35, was built on the plot 27, and is located in the “village” 7. Some houses are located in actual communities, and would often use the name of the village instead. For example, a house could be located at 27/35, The Plant. The next line tells us the street name and number; in this case, Sai Yuan street number 10. The word “soi” here can be translated as street, while larger roads would usually be referred to as Thanon, such as Thanon Chao Fah, for Chao Fah Road.
We then have the sub-district and district names. In the Thai language, a sub-district is called a Tambon, while the district is called Amphur (sometimes written Amphoe). There are three districts in Phuket: Muang, which covers the southern part of the island and part of the west coast, Kathu, for the center of the island and Patong and Kamala, and Thalang, which covers the northern part of the island.
Finally, we find the zip code, the name of the province and the country to finish it off. Thailand’s zip code consists of five numbers, with the first two digits denoting the province or special administrative area. In the south, where Phuket is located, the zip codes start with 80 to 86. Our beautiful island uses the number 83xxx, while Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, uses the number 10xxx.
We hope that this short guide will help you better understand where you live and, as usual, join the conversation on our Facebook page if you have any questions.