Thread: Bring on the flames... Here is some Sukhumvit gym info.

Disco gym, here I come.



After getting sick of looking for gyms, and still not finding one within walking distance of the new apartment (which is righ at Thonglor BTS stop), I ended up joining the California at Suk Soi 23 tonight. Yeah, a bit I got a good deal though.

I can only imagine how many flames I am going to get for this after whining about wanting something near Thonglor, but I want to post the info I found about the gyms in the Sukumvit area because it might be helpful to others in the future.

California Gym at Sukhumvit Soi 23 2 min walk from Asoke BTS
Price paid: 10k upfront for 12 months (so 850/month).
Trial/Visiting Options: No trial memberships offered, 1,000/day to visit (!!!!!).
Hours: Mon-Sat till 12am, Sun till 10pm

+ near BTS, new facility, good hours
- crowded, loud dance music, atmosphere at bit fruity

They initially cited some ridiculous price (standard operating procedure) and a large fee to join, but with just some basic bargaining and pointing out that Clark-Hatch Fitness (basically across the street) is offering 1 year for 10K, I was able to get that price here. It is only for this branch, but I don't see why I would need to go to any other branch. I paid for the year upfront, and honestly I am not entirely sure that everything is on the books, but I have a receipt and all the standard membership paperwork. I basically joined because I was able to get such a good price, and because it has late night hours which I will sometimes take advantage of.

True Fitness, Corner of Sukhumvit and Asoke next to Asoke BTS
Price quoted: 1799/month, no extra fees.
Trial/Visiting Options: Gave me a 1-week free trial after I appeared interested.
Hours: Mon-Sat till 12am, Sun till 10pm

+Brand new, just opened. Right next to Asoke BTS. Slightly nicer than California. Not crowded AT ALL but I suspect this will change with time
- Same loud, disco style as California.

I liked True better than CA, but I could only negotiate for them to drop the joining fee and some other BS fee... couldn't get much of a discount. Considering they are both next to the same BTS stop and 99% the same, it was a no brainer to join CA for less than half the price.

Clark-Hatch Fitness, Sukhumvit Soi 20 couple minute walk down the soi, maybe 10 min total from Asoke BTS. Located in the Windsor Suites Hotel
Price quoted: 10k for a full year at just this branch, 15k to be able to go to any of the Fitness Network branches. Supposedly these were "special" prices as part of a promotion. There are a lot Fitness Network gyms in BKK so if for some reason you spend time in different parts of the city frequently, it might be a good idea.
Trial/Visiting Options: no trial, 350/day.
Hours: Mon-Fri till 10pm, Sat, Sun, Holidays till 9pm.

+Quiet, quiet, quiet. Nice big pool, but it's lounge style so I'm not sure how it would be for excercising. Very nice staff.
- Older equipment, somewhat limited facilities, but it seemed to have all the free weights, resitance, and cardio basics covered. Not as close to BTS. Hours a little more limited than the above.

If you imagine a nice hotel's fitness facility, you have a good idea what this is like. Couldn't be more different than the two "disco" gyms above, and it is much more limited, but I think it has everything that most people would need.

Fitness Network in the Emporium Suites Sukhumvit Soi 24 Right at Phrom Pong BTS
Price quoted: 24k/year, plus VAT (VAT was never discussed at the other gyms...hmmm...)
Trial/Visiting Options: Sorry didn't ask, but I was able to go in and take a look by asking at the Emporium Suites front desk.
Hours: Fitness daily to 9:30pm, pool daily to 8pm.

+POOL. It is an outdoor lounge type pool but it is big, and you have an awesome view of the city. Exclusive, part of the Bangkok Club. Quiet. Seems like the service would be quite good.
- Mainly price and hours. Also the fitness facilities are good but limited... nothing special but nice and completely adequet.

Not much more to say... if it would be convenient to have a gym at the Emporium and you are ok with the price, go check it out.

Well, that completes my exhaustive research. In the end, I chose to head to the disco rather than continuing to look for something I probably wasn't going to find anyway.

You what?>


You are actually standing on your own two feet and doing things?


Well done. :chug:

I knew you could do it.

At least you can pick up a few decent sarnies from the Italian place next door.

Thanks folks. Glad I could provide a bit of useful info for a change.

If anyone else wants to add a gym to this list, PM me with the info in the same format and I'll add it.

hmmm, i want to join the california on 23 as well, i heard the starting price was 1800 a month..how did you get it down that low??? Did they know english when you were bargaining?

p.s. thanks for all the great info!

Originally Posted by KimThailand

hmmm, i want to join the california on 23 as well, i heard the starting price was 1800 a month..how did you get it down that low??? Did they know english when you were bargaining?

p.s. thanks for all the great info!

Yeah they speak English. It wasn't really hard to bargain for this price, but the following things seemed to help.

1) Mention a lower price somewhere else, or say you will pay X amount for the whole year and no more. Don't let them talk you out of it or give you stuff you don't need... but don't worry, Thai people are so much more polite than Westerners that they aren't very pushy. If you have ever dealt with a western salesman, this won't be a difficult task at all.

2) Be willing to commit to an entire year, and pay for the year upfront.

3) Be willing to only visit this particular club, rather than all 6 CA centers.

Just make sure you are getting the right package for you... i.e. if you want aerobics or yoga make sure you have access to those things. Also if I were you I might look into the women's only California that is opening up. It will be newer and less crowded. It's on Suk at the corner of Suk and Soi 31. Unless you are out to meet some guys at the gym. :twogirls:

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

Given that he's patronising corporate American chains (apart from the last one), then Subway would be a fitting post 'work out'* meal.

*I don't class workouts in an air conditioned environment as workouts

I'm not purposely going American... this was the best price for a gym I could find. I really would have preferred hole-in-the-wall Thai gym if there was one near my new apt., but I was tired of looking.

Actually I'd be fine with working out outdoors with no a/c... I wish they had free-weights at Queen's park like they do in the bigger parks. It would have been a simpler solution, and so far I like keeping things simple here. I already run there every other day- but not shirtless, as we have already been over CA was just the closest, cheapest free weights I could find.

I have a 10 day trial coupon from my BTS bonus coupon, so I will make my way over there next week to check it out, i live by On Nut and there is NOTHING here gym wise...as far as i can see anyway.