What distinguishes Sammakorn as a housing village are:
Sammakorn Village, or "Mu Ban Sammakorn" in Thai, is a housing village in the Bangkapi district of Bangkok. Specifically, it is located on Sukhaphiban 3 Road, about 4 km east of Sri Nakharin Rd., and about 1 km west of the Eastern Ring Road. There are two entrances to the village, as Ramkamhaeng sois 112 and 110. The village is approximately 3 km long and 1 km wide.
What distinguishes Sammakorn as a housing village are:
Sammakorn was originally started several decades ago on property owned by the Royal Family, and served as a community of low income houses, when Bangkapi was a remote area of Bangkok. Over the years, the community has undergone metamorphosis, and additional phases of development have been added on. You can see this as you drive into the housing village -- the further you go, the newer and more luxurious it gets.
As entered on Ramkamhaeng soi 112, the beginning of the village is now dominated by a diverse row of stores and shops on both sides of the road. I believe this part's been heavily rebuilt. At the water tower there is a fork in the road. You can find an old part of Sammakorn if you just go straight and then to the left of the old lake, but many people get lost there, too. If you turn right, however, then you are on your way to the most prestigious parts of Sammakorn and a nicer main road. This is the only possible right hand turn from the 112 entrance, but it's easy to miss with all the parked cars and activity going on, despite the large size of the road.
After the right turn, you go past more shops on the right and the playgrounds, tennis courts and things on the left -- the community center, but after a short ways the road will start to open up as the shops thin out. There is a lake behind the tennis courts which has remained undeveloped, and which you may get a glimpse of further down. I call that "Lake 1". Eventually, you reach a bend where you merge with another road, which comes from the Ramkamhaeng soi 110 entry. At that point, the two entry roads for the housing village merge into one "main road", and you start to enter the "phase 2" section of development which started around 25 years ago and ended about 10 years ago.
Notably, if you had entered the housing village on Ramkamhaeng soi 110 instead, then you would've avoided the most commercially crowded area of Sammakorn, which is on the soi 112 entrance. The soi 110 entrance is more spacious and quiet, and you don't have to make any turns but just go straight to reach the main road. Many people get lost when they enter on soi 112 and miss the turn at the fork in the road. However, there are many good shops to be aware of along the 112 route.
There is a big sign that marks the beginning of phase 2, with a big number "2" on it (in case you can't read Thai), as pictured above. The second and third big lakes are in phase 2, and come close to the road. You may note the creaky old windmill on the second lake, which used to pump water in years past, perhaps back to phase 1. This second lake has a small park, some popular piers which people enjoy in the evening, a few restaurants, and some luxurious private property. The third lake is down a little further, and is where the nicest restaurants are, sporting no less than 8 nice restaurants on the lake itself, plus others across the street. Most of these are on the main road.
There is another fork in the road halfway past the third lake. If you bend to the right, past the Steak Lao restaurant, and continue for approximately half a kilometer, then you will enter Phase 3, which starts at Sammakorn soi 48, which is located at the intersection where you meet a fourth lake. The fourth lake has no restaurants and is undeveloped, and all the houses on the fourth lake are less than 2 years old.
Most of phase 3 is found by turning right on soi 48. The photo above has the entrance to soi 48 to the left and soi 44 to the right, with the water tower right between them. (The office for www.Sammakorn.com is located about 20 meters off to the right.)
However, the newest homes are found by continuing straight on the main road to an area behind the other side of the lake. (photo pending)
You can exit and enter the housing village only from Sukhaphiban 3 Road, i.e., there is no back exit. However, finding your way out is easy. You just head back and keep going straight on the main road.
Notably, our office is locate on the main road approximately 50 meters before soi 48. You can't miss the sign that says www.sammakorn.com
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