Street numbering system in Pattaya

[short 215]

I have yet to fully understand the street numbering system in Thailand. Here is an example.

 

 

159/173 Moo 5, Pattaya - Naklua Road, Soi 33

 

 

What do the numbers 159, 173, 5, and 33 all represent?

 

 

 

 

 

also, how do I get rid of the green background above. It came in from the copy and paste of the address.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

A brief description from thaiguru.com ...

 

 

'Thai addresses are usually in the form:

 

XXX/YYY Moo ZZ

T. aaaaaaa

A. bbbbbbb

City, Province, Postal Code

 

For example:

 

765/345 Moo 12

T. Ban Mai

A. Pakkred

Nonthaburi, 12345

 

In the latter example, the 765 (XXX) is the house group, and the 345 (YYY) is the house number within the group. You will find house groups mixed up with each other, so that going down a soi you may find 56/234 beside 56/789 beside 56/987 beside 41/2 beside 41/3 beside 56/876 beside 98/321, and you may find 56/232 a kilometer away from 56/233.

 

The groups tend to designate the age of the house, i.e., a building phase.

 

Then there is the Moo, also spelled Mu or abbreviated M., which is the village number, so the example designates village number 12 within Tambon Ban Mai.

 

Each province is split into about 5 to 25 districts called Amphur, and each Amphur is split into many Tambon, and then each Tambon is split into many Moo groups. In the address

 

above, T. is Tambon and A. is Amphur. People often put in M. for Moo.

 

In the cities, you can have addresses like this:

 

321/456 Sukhumvit soi 39

Klongton-Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110

 

The difference is that it has a street name instead of a Moo number (instead a soi number, see next paragraph). Also, they tend to drop "Tambon" and "Amphur" words, though that's what Klongton-Nua and Wattana are, in this example.

 

Most city addresses will have a "soi" number. The main roads have perpendicular streets going off both sides, which are called "sois" and are even numbered 2, 4, 6, etc., on one side and odd numbered 1, 3, 5, etc., on the other side. As you go down the road, they tend to get out of sync so that soi 71 can be across the street from soi 48, but they are always in order on the same side of the street, i.e., before soi 48 is always soi 46.

 

Many sois usually have a name, too, for example, Sukhumvit soi 4 is called soi Nana (well known), but the name of the soi is usually not specified, only the number, and if you said a typical soi name, most people wouldn't know where it is, but if you say Sukhumvit soi 39, they know generally where that is!

 

However, once you find the soi number, the office and house addresses are normally not in order, so you have the same problem as in the provinces and suburbs, such as "I'm now on Sukhumvit soi 39, but where is house 321/456?" In the city, people usually don't know each other, unlike in the countryside, so you better have clear directions. If it's a business, then ask the motorcycle taxis because they normally know.

 

If you need to find a place, the best thing to do is ask the person you are trying to find, and get directions like this: "From Sukhumvit Road, go to Sukhumvit soi 39, turn left, go 1.2 kilometers to L'Opera Restaurant, turn left again, go 50 meters to turn right at the next sub-soi, then go down another 80 meters and our house is on the right, number 321/456" or something like that.

 

In the countryside, once you get close enough you can often just ask for a person's family name and someone will know. The problem is getting close enough, because there are no signs saying "Mu 5 this way, Mu 6 that way". You can see addresses with Mu numbers on them and ask someone where is Mu 12, and keep getting closer and closer ...

 

On a weekday, you can call or go to the post office to ask. On a weekend, you can find the Tambon village headman's house and go ask him, and someone may even take you to the home. Otherwise, you can ask around, but people don't remember house numbers and it's best to ask for names, and hope they know who you are looking for.

 

However, in the end, the best thing to do is just get directions from the person or place you are seeking out."

Edited August 25, 2012 by CheshireTom

[Severn 109]

how do I get rid of the green background above. It came in from the copy and paste of the address.

 

If you are using Windows right click and choose "Paste as plain text"

 

However I am also intrigued by the addresses and look forward to learning how they work.

 

PS. Cheshire Tom posted his response as I made my original reply and has confirmed that addressing in Thailand is an art in itself, however thanks for the reply Tom.

Edited August 25, 2012 by Severn

[CheshireTom 1,377]

If you are using Windows right click and choose "Paste as plain text"

 

 

If you're not using Windows ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bigdelta 46]

As I understand it ,159 is the floor and 173 is the room number.

Tom,can you be a bit more specific?All of those generalizations are no help.Kidding-excellent explanation as usual.

[jacko 8,822]

Well each region has a limited number of streets or Sois so the Soi 33 Naklua Rd nails it down to the second road on the right after the Dolphin roundabout, heading out of town. (Numbers start at the far end) Here

 

The Moo 5 is abbreviation for moobaan....5, which is like a village/hamlet number (a subdivision of tambon).

Then the 159/173....well the 173 defines the house number, (my neighbour has an adjacent number), leaving the 159 to represent a block or something like that. It is something related to land plots and are assigned as they are subdivided, hence chronologically more than location wise. Hence it can appear illogical. It seems to make sense to the post office.

 

Here is a thread on Thai Visa which doesn't make it any clearer.

Edited August 26, 2012 by jacko

[jacko 8,822]

As I understand it ,159 is the floor and 173 is the room number.

Tom,can you be a bit more specific?All of those generalizations are no help.Kidding-excellent explanation as usual.

Good guess, so my one level bungalow is on the 71st floor!

[ozibill 546]

My house number is 3/22 - it is in the middle of the soi , but it was the last development , it was a development of 5 houses , but for some reason they started the numbers at 22 , so there is 3/22 . 3/23 , 3/24 etc . But there is no rhyme or reason to the numbering - the house to the other side of me is 55/112 - there is one other house before you enter the soi is numbered 55/111 so as has been said , the numbering is an art form . There are housing the other side of 3/26 and they have a different sequence - there is no housing on the other side of the road . Even people who have lived here from the beginning cannot explain how it works. As the saying goes 'TITS' - 'This Is Thailand so ???'

[bigdelta 46]

Thanks for that.

 

Well each region has a limited number of streets or Sois so the Soi 33 Naklua Rd nails it down to the second road on the right after the Dolphin roundabout, heading out of town. (Numbers start at the far end) Here

 

The Moo 5 is abbreviation for moobaan....5, which is like a village/hamlet number (a subdivision of tambon).

Then the 159/173....well the 173 defines the house number, (my neighbour has an adjacent number), leaving the 159 to represent a block or something like that. It is something related to land plots and are assigned as they are subdivided, hence chronologically more than location wise. Hence it can appear illogical. It seems to make sense to the post office.

 

Here is a thread on Thai Visa which doesn't make it any clearer.

[chris2004 67]

What about postcode ? My post code is 20150 but that seems to be the same for most of Pattaya. What's the point of a postcode if everyone has the same.

Edited August 26, 2012 by chris2004

[Siam Sam 964]

It isn't very logical, I know that.

[darkmancomes 75]

A brief description from thaiguru.com ...

 

 

 

'Thai addresses are usually in the form:

 

XXX/YYY Moo ZZ

T. aaaaaaa

A. bbbbbbb

City, Province, Postal Code

 

For example:

 

765/345 Moo 12

T. Ban Mai

A. Pakkred

Nonthaburi, 12345

 

In the latter example, the 765 (XXX) is the house group, and the 345 (YYY) is the house number within the group. You will find house groups mixed up with each other, so that going down a soi you may find 56/234 beside 56/789 beside 56/987 beside 41/2 beside 41/3 beside 56/876 beside 98/321, and you may find 56/232 a kilometer away from 56/233.

 

The groups tend to designate the age of the house, i.e., a building phase.

 

Then there is the Moo, also spelled Mu or abbreviated M., which is the village number, so the example designates village number 12 within Tambon Ban Mai.

 

Each province is split into about 5 to 25 districts called Amphur, and each Amphur is split into many Tambon, and then each Tambon is split into many Moo groups. In the address

 

 

above, T. is Tambon and A. is Amphur. People often put in M. for Moo.

 

In the cities, you can have addresses like this:

 

 

321/456 Sukhumvit soi 39

Klongton-Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110

 

The difference is that it has a street name instead of a Moo number (instead a soi number, see next paragraph). Also, they tend to drop "Tambon" and "Amphur" words, though that's what Klongton-Nua and Wattana are, in this example.

 

 

Most city addresses will have a "soi" number. The main roads have perpendicular streets going off both sides, which are called "sois" and are even numbered 2, 4, 6, etc., on one side and odd numbered 1, 3, 5, etc., on the other side. As you go down the road, they tend to get out of sync so that soi 71 can be across the street from soi 48, but they are always in order on the same side of the street, i.e., before soi 48 is always soi 46.

 

Many sois usually have a name, too, for example, Sukhumvit soi 4 is called soi Nana (well known), but the name of the soi is usually not specified, only the number, and if you said a typical soi name, most people wouldn't know where it is, but if you say Sukhumvit soi 39, they know generally where that is!

 

However, once you find the soi number, the office and house addresses are normally not in order, so you have the same problem as in the provinces and suburbs, such as "I'm now on Sukhumvit soi 39, but where is house 321/456?" In the city, people usually don't know each other, unlike in the countryside, so you better have clear directions. If it's a business, then ask the motorcycle taxis because they normally know.

 

 

If you need to find a place, the best thing to do is ask the person you are trying to find, and get directions like this: "From Sukhumvit Road, go to Sukhumvit soi 39, turn left, go 1.2 kilometers to L'Opera Restaurant, turn left again, go 50 meters to turn right at the next sub-soi, then go down another 80 meters and our house is on the right, number 321/456" or something like that.

 

In the countryside, once you get close enough you can often just ask for a person's family name and someone will know. The problem is getting close enough, because there are no signs saying "Mu 5 this way, Mu 6 that way". You can see addresses with Mu numbers on them and ask someone where is Mu 12, and keep getting closer and closer ...

 

On a weekday, you can call or go to the post office to ask. On a weekend, you can find the Tambon village headman's house and go ask him, and someone may even take you to the home. Otherwise, you can ask around, but people don't remember house numbers and it's best to ask for names, and hope they know who you are looking for.

 

However, in the end, the best thing to do is just get directions from the person or place you are seeking out."

 

In otherwords they just dropped the numbers out of a helicopter!

[MM 6,562]

What about postcode ? My post code is 20150 but that seems to be the same for most of Pattaya. What's the point of a postcode if everyone has the same.

 

Because that is the postal code for Pattaya...it gets the mail to the post office(s) in Pattaya. Once in Pattaya's post office(s), it is not used.

 

The decision about which post office to deliver the mail to is a bit more complicated, I think, and probably has to do with the Mooban number.

[short 215]

So Moo 5 is Naklua and Moo 9 is Pattaya? What are Moo 6, 7 and 8?

[CheshireTom 1,377]

So Moo 5 is Naklua and Moo 9 is Pattaya?

 

No. Naklua is a Tambon and Pattaya is a self-governing municipal area which includes Naklua.

[short 215]

No. Naklua is a Tambon and Pattaya is a self-governing municipal area which includes Naklua.

 

Ok, what is Moo 5? (that's what is in the example address)

[MM 6,562]

Ok, what is Moo 5? (that's what is in the example address)

 

It's out there somewhere on Google. If this is such an important issue to you, why do you expect others to do your homework?

 

I'll take a guess, but it's not definitive. I'm gonna guess that Moo 5 is out around Nongprue.

 

What have you come up with?

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Ok, what is Moo 5? (that's what is in the example address)

 

As already explained, village/hamlet (moobahn) number 5.

 

"Then there is the Moo, also spelled Mu or abbreviated M., which is the village number, so the example designates village number 12 within Tambon Ban Mai."

Edited August 27, 2012 by CheshireTom

[jacko 8,822]

Ok, what is Moo 5? (that's what is in the example address)

As said, Moo, short for Moobaan is a village/hamlet area.

If you type Moo 5 Naklua into Google a shit load of hotels will pop up and give you an idea where it is.

It seems to extend from the Amari as far North as the sea.

[LocalYokul 217]

 

What's the point of a postcode if everyone has the same.

 

Not everyone in LOS shares your postcode.

[short 215]

 

I'll take a guess, but it's not definitive. I'm gonna guess that Moo 5 is out around Nongprue.

 

 

I guess what I am asking is :given a moo number which represents a village, how do you get the village name from that number? MM, did you use google maps to get Nongprue?

[CheshireTom 1,377]

I guess what I am asking is :given a moo number which represents a village, how do you get the village name from that number? MM, did you use google maps to get Nongprue?

 

 

 

 

 

[short 215]

That's cute Tom, but you didn't show how to get the village name from the moo number. Or at least I don't see it.

[Guest Fatboyfat]

Despite your persitant attempts to show suitability......I'm sure that village will already have its's "incumbant idiot" ! )

Edited August 27, 2012 by Fatboyfat

[CheshireTom 1,377]

That's cute Tom, but you didn't show how to get the village name from the moo number. Or at least I don't see it.

 

I worry about you sometimes.