Please notice this was first posted in the period 2012-2014 and can be outdated
When I first envisioned myself studying in Thailand, at Sasin, I expected some sort of a campus experience where most students live in dorms, since it is pretty common in Thailand for students to live in dorms, and there would be a lot of opportunities to bond and party. Also because when you look at the map of the Chulalongkorn campus surrounding Sasin there are a lot of student dorms.
Sasa International House (Z) is located about 50 meters from Sasin (A)
So why is there no dorm available for Sasin students where we can stay, avoid traffic jams when coming to Sasin, and do some studying also? The answer would be quite simple I guess: there is not enough demand. When you live with your parents in a big-ass villa of over 40mln baht with a maid and a cook you will not consider living in a 5,000 baht a month dorm where you have to arrange your own food, do your own laundry, and clean your own room. There is an alternative though, and that is the Sasa International House which is located at about 50 meters distance from Sasin.
The entrance of Sasa International House. There are more flags at the entrance than people with different nationalities staying there.
The Sasa International House is not really a dorm though: it can best be compared with a hotel for students. They rent out rooms per night and it looks exactly like a hotel besides that it is not open for tourists to rent a room here. Single occupancy of a room will cost you 900 baht per night and if you share a room with a fellow student, or some random person you found in the gutter, it will cost you 1,200 baht. I am not sure if it is allowed to rent a room together with a classmate of the opposite sex though, as Sasin management can be a bit prudish about these things.
Two separate beds, hard to do boom boom.
The reading / study room at the Sasa International House
Some students do rent a room at Sasa International House during weekdays from time to time when we have early classes lasting till late to not be stuck in traffic twice, but in general there is nobody in my class that uses the accommodation extensively as far as I know. I was warned during my first visit of Sasin that rooms might be fully booked around exam dates but I think this warning must be taken with a grain of salt.
Pictures from the President room from the internet. For visiting professors only (or if you are willing to shove out 5,000 baht).
There are rooms available which look quite up-to-standard, like the President rooms, but as far as I know they are only used by visiting professors when they are in Thailand. Rent for these rooms for Sasin students appear to be around 5,000 baht per night. Of course there is no breakfast included, for a gym you have to go Sasabol recreation center, and you should not expect much happening there since the visiting professors are not really known for organizing outrageous parties at the Sasa International House.
All together it offers a nice opportunity to stay on campus for really busy times, or when you don’t want to be stuck in traffic too often, but besides that I would recommend finding a nice place to stay somewhere near the skytrain route if you haven’t got an apartment yet in Bangkok for your 2 years at Sasin.