Imagine yourself shuffling out of your bedroom in the morning to find the girl next door sitting on your favourite sofa chatting on the phone. On the other side of the large living room, another neighbour is working on his laptop. At the dining table, a familiar couple are enjoying breakfast. In the kitchen, somebody's cooking a cheese omelette.
What would you say? "Good morning"?
To most Thais, such a scene is far from common. But to a growing number of young men and women in major cities throughout the world, this is everyday life. It's called co-living.
In the given scenario, "Good morning", or a similar greeting, would be natural.
In Thailand, while the concept of co-working is well known, co-living is not yet a familiar idea to most people. In much of the world, however, living in shared accommodation has a long history. The modern concept of co-living is a variation on this theme.
The precise set-up of a co-living space will vary significantly from place to place, but broadly speaking, it is pretty much like a co-working space where you have a private, usually small but furnished room to live in, often with en suite shower and toilet.
But that's not all, apart from a shared working space with office amenities and strong Wi-Fi, common areas also include a kitchen with several cooking stations, a communal dining room, a laundry area, and perhaps a gym, an activity zone and more. This is not to mention cleaning services, 24-hour concierge and security systems.
This new type of accommodation has benefits for both developers and tenants. The former need less space for such projects, and therefore less investment. The latter, meanwhile, pay affordable, all-inclusive rates. At a time where it is almost impossible for young professionals to own their own home in urban centres, co-living makes economic sense. Besides, the possibility of short-term contracts allows for greater flexibility. If a tenant is unhappy with a certain current living arrangement, they don't need to wait long to find a new one.
But the real benefit of co-living, like co-working, is social interaction which leads to friendships, business connections and other kinds of relationships. In addition to shared facilities, most co-living properties arrange activities and events which help the neighbours to get to know one another, promoting a greater sense of community and making their environment a more pleasurable, perhaps inspiring place to live.
In Thailand, this is the aspect that may make co-living appealing not just to younger people, but also to Gen Xers. Approaching retirement, a lot of middle-aged people are unmarried and/or childless. They may already own a house and be financially comfortable. But spending their advanced years alone won't seem like much fun. Co-living may provide an answer.
I have no idea what generation you belong to. But how about going back to the first paragraph and imagine yourself again in that scenario.
What would you say?
Pongpet Mekloy is the Bangkok Post travel editor.