Bangkok Craigslist (and the Best Alternatives)

Craigslist is the most popular classifieds site in the world.

Whether you are looking to rent an apartment, buy a second hand car, find a job or browse an entire spectrum of professional services — Craigslist Bangkok can help with your search.

However, it isn’t the only site of its kind.

Craigslist is just one of many classified sites that are popular in Bangkok.

We have listed some of the alternatives below:

Bangkok Craigslist: Best Alternatives

Baht&Sold – Baht&Sold is a native Thai classifieds site with a heavy focus on property and cars.

It has fewer of the bits and pieces that you might find on Craigslist, but it’s a good choice for bigger ticket items. You can find entire businesses up for sale on this site, as well as land, condos and property developments.

Farang Mart — It claims to be Thailand’s “cleanest and easiest to use Classified listings platform“.

Clearly, with the farang branding, it’s be aimed at foreigners…

Again there is plenty of property listings (usually high end), second hand cars, and a surprisingly high number of restaurants for sale.

It has nowhere near as many listings as Craigslist, but on the bright side, the design has at least entered the twenty first century.

Thai Visa Classifieds – In case you weren’t aware, ThaiVisa is the largest expat community in Thailand. And probably in the whole of Asia, for that matter.

It has a busy classifieds section, with 20,944 ads and 2,726 advertisers at our last check. The upside of dealing with ThaiVisa is that you will almost certainly be dealing with expats and good English.

The downside? Take one look at the forum and you’ll come away with the impression that Thailand’s expat population has a serious attitude problem…

Locanto Bangkok – Locanto has a very nice, clean interface and an even spread of classifieds listings across the usual sections: jobs, property, services and vehicles.

The classes and community section — hubs of activity on Craigslist — are sadly lacking here. Amusingly, we found just one pet for sale.

Bangkok Post Classifieds – The Bangkok Post is arguably Thailand’s most reputable newspaper. It has a forum where users can post ads for free.

The forum tends to be more useful than the main classifieds homepage, which is restricted to sponsored posts from large companies and institutions.

Prakard – Prakard is a property classifieds specialist that covers the whole of Thailand.

Whilst the site doesn’t branch beyond property listings, it is undoubtedly the best resource on the web for sourcing cheap apartments and condos. Many of the properties are listed directly by owners, instead of agents, meaning you’ll save yourself the commission mark-up.

Alternatives: Best Online Shopping In Thailand

If you are used to the ease and convenience of one-click ordering via Amazon, and same day delivery, living in Thailand can be frustrating.

There are plenty of online shopping options, but most come with caveats. Shoddy customer service, poor delivery times or limited selection… the list goes on…

Thankfully, there are three sites we can recommend:

Lazada — Making huge investments in Thailand e-commerce. This store has a vast and growing selection of categories that beats other local offerings.

AliExpress — The Asian alternative to Amazon. Not the best place to shop brands, but for everything else, it’s definitely the King.

Central — A department store that stocks some of the world’s top brands. Be warned: you will pay a premium!

We’d also recommend checking out this excellent guide to online shopping in Thailand for a list of retailers that can deliver direct to your door.

Staying Safe on Bangkok’s Classified Sites

If you’re determined to stick with the classifieds, then there are things you should know.

Firstly, and most importantly… how to protect yourself.

As with any classified site, you should be aware that scammers and fraudsters are active on the sites like Craigslist above.

Craigslist itself has some sensible steps for avoiding the most common of classified scams:

Deal locally, face-to-face, follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts.

• Do not extend payment to anyone you have not met in person.
• Beware offers involving shipping – deal with locals you can meet in person.
• Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) – anyone who asks you to is a scammer.
• Don’t accept cashier/certified checks or money orders – banks cash fakes, then hold you responsible.
• Transactions are between users only, no third party provides a “guarantee”.
• Never give out financial info (bank account, social security, paypal account, etc).
• Do not rent or purchase sight-unseen—that amazing “deal” may not exist.
• Refuse background/credit checks until you have met landlord/employer in person.

Be sensible and there are many great deals to be had.

Have we missed one of your favourite Bangkok classified sites other than Craigslist?

Let us know in the comments below!