The Onnut area has been a very popular area in recent years. It is very close to the upscale neighbourhoods like Thong Lor, Ekkamai and Phrom Phong but in many aspects, substantially cheaper. On Nut is 2 BTS stations away from Ekkamai, 3 from Thong Lor and 4 from Phrom Phong. It is an area that is well stocked with amenities like a huge Tesco Lotus and a Mall, Century The Movie Plaza, right next to Onnut BTS station. Increasingly this is growing to become a very popular area with not just the locals but foreigners living in Bangkok as well as tourists. Ekkamai, which is a mere two BTS train stops away has become synonymous with most people living in Bangkok as a “Japanese” area due to its huge collection of Japanese restaurants and shops within the area. You can definitely sense it just by walking in the area. Onnut has had the benefit of some of that Japanese influence trickling down and you would easily find a strong Japanese community, albeit one that prefers a more local Thai vibe to an area, living in Onnut.

Details about the developments

Aspire Onnut Station is a freehold condominium by one of Thailand’s largest developers. Namely AP Thai. They are listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. There are 696 residential units with 1 shop which will be owned and possibly run by the developer. The single residential building will have 37 stories and a rooftop garden. There is one 8-storey carpark building with a rooftop garden as well. The development consists of a good mix of 1 and 2-bedroom types.

Nia by Sansiri is a freehold condominium by Sansiri. Sansiri is also one of Thailand’s largest developers. They are also listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Sansiri is perhaps one of the more aggressive Thai developers when it comes to marketing their developments to the overseas market. Hence the developer is a brand that many foreign investors would find familiar. There are 419 units in Nia by Sansiri. The single residential building will have 19 stories with a rooftop garden. The development consists of a good mix of 1 and 2-bedroom types.

Where are the developments located?

The walk from Aspire Onnut Station to On Nut BTS

Aspire Onnut Station is located along the main Sukhumvit road. It is 300 meters away from BTS On Nut. The walk will take 5 minutes. The walk is generally unsheltered until you cross Sukhumvit Soi 50 to get on the side of Tesco.

The walk from Nia by Sansiri to On Nut BTS

Nia by Sansiri is a lot further. It is 1.4 kilometres away from On Nut BTS and will take 20 minutes to walk to the BTS station. However, it is located at the fringe of the T77 Community. The T77 Community is a guarded and gated community developed by Sansiri. The popular Habito Mall is located within the T77 Community.

The walk from Nia by Sansiri to Habito Mall

The walk from Nia by Sansiri to Habito Mall takes 6 minutes as it is 400 meters away. There is also a shuttle service that takes residents of the condominium to Habito Mall and On Nut BTS. The highly popular Bangkok Prep School is located very close by.

BTS On Nut is two stations away from BTS Ekkamai, four stations from BTS Phrom Phong, and five from BTS Asoke. EM Quartier, Emporium and the newly opened EM Sphere are located at Phrom Phong. The popular tourist haunt Terminal 21 is located at Asoke.

It is safe to say that the shopping belt along the light green BTS line has been expanding and it is expected that the fringe of the shopping belt is also moving further down the BTS line. On Nut is an area benefitting from this.

My thoughts about the developments (selling points and investment potential)

Perhaps when I first started dealing with Bangkok properties, I would draw the line at BTS On Nut as to where the cut-off point should be for investors looking to purchase properties for rent. However, over the years, Bangkok, like many cities, has developed. The central business district is not merely confined to the Sathorn or Silom area. The shopping belt has also expanded and the expatriate community has grown increasingly more diverse with the mainland Chinese playing a significant role. On Nut is no longer the edge of where investors should be looking at. Punnawithi which is further away than On Nut in terms of BTS stations from places like Siam and Asoke are developing. There is a True Digital Park which houses Huawei and Google Academy. There is a digital nomad scheme (which is another topic for another blog article) where the government is trying to encourage tech companies to relocate their staff to Bangkok which is boosting the area around Punnawithi. The Bangna area even further down the BTS line is also developing in terms of residential and commercial developments. There are multiple train lines that have opened up in the last few years with BTS Samrong, which is after BTS Bangna, being an interchange between the Light Green BTS line and the Yellow BTS Line. In essence, On Nut seems to be right in the centre of all these intersections as well as close to the areas of development. This is reflected in the strong rental demand from tenants.

As for pricing, On Nut is still many tiers lower when compared to properties in the Asoke or Ploenchit area. However, the returns are not necessarily correspondingly lower. In fact, rental demand is strong in this area because it is a generally very self contained location. There are amenities like a huge hypermart in Tesco next to BTS On Nut, a decent shopping mall in Century The Movie Plaza and if residents want something a little more upscale, Ekkamai, Thong Lor and Phrom Phong are a few BTS stops away. This sits right on the edge of where the high end restaurants and community malls are located but yet pricing is much lower in terms of quantum for a similarly sized unit. This applies to both units on sale and rent. I must mention that the T77 Community, though not exactly near to On Nut BTS station, is very popular with tenants. It is a self contained guarded and gated community and the school within the community is a huge draw for expatriate communities with young schooling children. The environment within the T77 community is also significantly cleaner and more pleasant as it is run by Sansiri.

Aspire Onnut Station

Aspire Onnut Station

Pricing 4/5

It is very reasonably priced with 1 bedroom units below 4 million. The yield is about 4.5% per annum. Most importantly, demand for rental is strong in this area. Rental prices have been creeping up so we expect the yield to hold steady at 4.5% even with new developments coming up in this area.

Location 4.5/5

It is location along the main Sukhumvit Road. It is, to me, on the correct side of the road. This being the side that Tesco Lotus is located along. Aspire Onnut Station is very close to BTS On Nut. In fact, this is one of the closest to the BTS.

Quality 4/5

AP Thai has rarely disappointed clients with its finishing. In my decade of dealing with Thai properties, I fail to recall an instance when buyers have been disappointed with the delivered product.

Nia by Sansiri

Nia by Sansiri

Pricing 4/5

I think this can be the score in general for most properties in the On Nut area so long as a one-bedroom unit in the development does not cross THB 5 million. The key to me is the fact that rents can be obtained rather easily. Rental demand is strong. The unique thing about properties by Sansiri in the On Nut area is that they are either within or on the edge of the T77 Community and the demand for properties in and around the T77 community is very high. In some instances, higher than properties that are closer to BTS On Nut.

Location 4/5

I scored this slightly lower because this development is at the edge of the T77 Community and not within it. However, the entrance to the T77 Community is extremely close to the entrance of Nia by Sansiri and Habito Mall is just a short distance from this development.

Quality 4.5/5

I have had the opportunity to visit the completed development. Due to the pandemic, projects like Nia by Sansiri did not have any significant presale activities where buyers had the opportunity to purchase the development before the development was completed.

Yours Sincerely,

Daryl Lum

p.s.Disclaimer: I am a licensed real estate salesperson in Singapore at the point of writing this review. I also own and run a real estate company that specialises in dealing with Bangkok properties. AP Thai and Sansiri are developers whose developments are being marketed by my real estate company. I also maintain a web portal InvestBangkokProperty.com where we list the various new project launches in Bangkok. The purpose of this review is to provide my thoughts and insights for buyers looking to invest in these developments.