Tag: Bangkok

Cost Of Living In Thailand

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How much is the cost of living for 1 month in Bangkok?

Before I actually moved to Thailand, I did a little bit of research, organised my savings and figured I could probably get by on a cost of living of  £250 – £300 budget per month… This includes fitness classes, food, bills, rent and a little bit of spending money. So I figured saving £5000 for expenses will be enough to get me by living a year in Thailand.

Well, after my first month of living in Thailand I’ve managed to plough through roughly 27000 baht (£540), although I am sure it will take a little bit of experience and time before I can make bigger savings on my cost of living in Thailand…. but at the same time I will always have a weakness for spending money on pretty things, eating in decent eateries, buying fancy shakes and getting the BTS just about everywhere possible… I just don’t have it in me to live on that tight a budget.

In all fairness, we have spent a lot of money eating out at nice restaurants, sightseeing and doing a fair bit of drinking what with it being Christmas and new year. Everybody ends up splurging and spending loads more money than usual around Christmas time right? I do still stand by my earlier calculations though, and I believe it is actually possible to achieve a cost of living in Thailand of 15000 baht if you live very frugally...

Guide To Monthly Living Expenses In Thailand

Cost of food and drink in Bangkok: 8700 baht (£175) each

You can actually buy street food in Thailand very cheaply from about 25 baht for a meal… although the language barrier can prove off-putting with the lack of menus, as well as the fact that these vendors consist of an unrefrigerated cart with five hour old ingredients left in 40 degree heat. So there’s always the fear of food poisoning or any other dreaded parasites like tapeworm (shout out to the Siriat Forensic Museum for freaking us out about parasites in Thai street food… thanks for that). On top of that, although it tastes pretty good, the portions are really quite small and I personally can’t live on two or three of these meals in a day (and I am not exactly overweight either)…

So, although I’ve spent considerably more than this, I think maybe a more dedicated person could get by in Bangkok on 100 baht per day (£60 per month) for food expenses. Just as a rough idea, you can also eat out in a decent Bangkok restaurant for about 100-200 baht per person and you can eat at a really nice restaurant for 500 baht. Also, I tend to spend money on a lot of bubble teas, smoothies and shakes costing from about 30 – 90 baht, doughnuts or waffles between 12 and 26 baht, and fancy cakes for 90 – 125 baht… I’m gonna get so fat living in Thailand…

Cost of Transport in Bangkok: 1780 baht

 As for transport in Thailand… I am a very sweaty, pig-like trogladite lady and so I have grown quite a distaste for walking too far or exerting myself even slightly in the hot weather of Thailand. Therefore over time I have used the BTS increasingly more and more for shorter and shorter distances. My body just isn’t built for this hot Bangkok weather. A journey on the BTS or MRT in Bangkok will cost you between 15 and 50 baht per journey, a ferry up the Chao Praya river – between 3 and 20 baht, and a taxi will typically cost between 35 and 150 baht to get around the city.

However, if you were on a really tight budget, you can easily buy a decent second hand bike for maybe 2000 baht and cycle most places. In Thailand, the pavement is actually also a cycle lane, so you could even use the path if you’re not too comfortable in the heavy Bangkok traffic – although I’ve personally not done this and am not really sure how easy it would be to weave in and out of the pedestrian traffic on the pavements in some areas!

Cost of Bills and Rent in Bangkok: 5525 baht each

It is possible to rent an apartment from 3000 baht per month in Bangkok; ours is a serviced studio in a central location and costs 10000 baht per month and that’s split between two of us. The bills in Thailand are very low, even though our apartment overcharges and profits from us for the utilities, the water bill is extremely cheap and only costs us 50 baht per month, so is pretty much negligable. Electricity bills cost us around 1000 baht per month, which runs our TV, fridgefreezer, microwave and air conditioner which we run half the day, everyday. So the cost of utility bills in Thailand work out very cheap.

Cost of Yoga classes in Bangkok: 2500 baht

Gyms aren’t cheap in Thailand, and most of them require you to sign a contract for 6 months or a year. Although I think the cheapest we’ve found so far in Bangkok worked out to about 1800 baht per month, but don’t quote me on that – we’re still looking into finding a decent gym. And of course there’s always the outdoor gym at lumpini park in Bangkok which costs something like 35 baht a go… if you’re not the type easily intimidated by super huge Thai dudes chest pressing tyres-on-a-bar then give it a go. Currently, I pay monthly for yoga classes instead which gave me  15 x 90-minute sessions of yoga for the month. Fair price I say.

Cost of recreation in Bangkok: 240 baht. This includes going to the cinema and museums.

Cost of shopping in Bangkok: 4700 baht. I wouldn’t normally spend this much in a month I don’t think. I had to spend a fair bit of money at the pharmacy and also bought myself a yoga mat for 1300 baht too. Then I guess I must have spent about 2000 baht on clothes :/ But in all fairness, I have bought a decent amount of new clothes for this amount!

Sneaky thieves: 3500 baht. Maybe I’m unlucky, or maybe (probably more likely) I am not too smart, but the amount I’ve been short changed, overcharged and stolen from has added up to about 3500 baht for my first month living in Thailand, so maybe the less street wise might need to account for this early learning curve too!

 

I will keep making records of my cost of living in Thailand every month, hopefully it will be less, and a more realistic figure for the expenses of an expat in Bangkok.. in all honesty, at the moment we are living as tourists in Thailand more than expats… easily distracted and lured in by Thai novelties and attractions and more vulnerable to being scammed and robbed!


Update: For more information on the cost of living in Thailand, you can check out Month 2 and Month 3 of my expenses in Bangkok.

Apartments In Bangkok

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where to rent in bangkok

Renting apartments in Bangkok can be very affordable and extremely good value. Although slightly more expensive than others, there are many apartments in Bangkok around that will allow monthly contracts for those who are maybe unable to sign a contract for a whole 6 months or year. And likewise, there are many hotels that will encourage long stay visitors and offer some decent discounts for monthly stays. It can actually cost as little as 2500 baht a month to rent an apartment in Bangkok – that roughly works out to $80, or £50.

 

Renting an apartment in Bangkok on a budget

I can’t personally vouch for the quality of the types of apartment in Bangkok which start at 2500 baht and to be honest, I can assume that one should use common sense and be prepared for some very basic accommodation at best. If you really are a carefree and unperturbed individual who doesn’t mind roughing it, then I’m sure that’s fine. It’s just a place to sleep after all.  I tip my hat to you.

It’s the kind of price most of the working class locals will pay for rent in Bangkok and is actually quite the norm I believe. But for this price, these cheaper apartments in Bangkok are usually very small bed sits. I’m sure there are plenty of clean, cockroach free apartments in Bangkok to choose from though!

For those willing to pay a little bit more rent in Bangkok, serviced apartments can be quite a good option. Serviced apartments in bangkok arrange bills, cleaning and sometimes laundry for you too, however they do tend to charge about double for your water and electricity bills. You can find some decent serviced apartments in Bangkok which start from 8000 baht per month ($250). Some good value serviced apartments in Bangkok are:

http://www.nonsiresidence.com/

http://sathornsaintview.com/index.php  –  Review of Sathorn Saint View

http://bosstower.com/contact.html

Renting an apartment in Bangkok with money to burn

If you can afford to spend maybe 15000 or 20000 baht/month on rent, you will have absolutely no problem in finding plenty of luxury studios and bedroom apartments for rent in Bangkok. And of course for more than this, you can find some magnificent apartments in Bangkok in excellent locations.

For both budget and luxury apartments in Bangkok, please take a look at any of these sites. I myself have found them to be very useful; they have a huge range of short stay and long stay apartments to rent in Bangkok.

http://en.9apartment.com

http://www.tee-pak.com/en/index.html

http://www.companyvauban.com

http://www.bigmangoproperties.com

http://www.bangkokcondofinder.com 

www.ddproperty.com

 

Renting an apartment in Bangkok. For more information on areas, apartments and where to live in Bangkok, click here.

 

How to Use The BTS & Rabbit Cards Explained

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RABIT CARD BTS

How To Use The BTS Skytrain in Bangkok?

We’ve been in Bangkok for a few weeks now and used the BTS Skytrain almost every day. The BTS Skytrain is a really useful mode of transport when staying in Bangkok. You can catch the BTS train to take a ferry to Khaosan Road or Wat Arun, to the central malls of Bangkok and to all the main, big markets. Traffic in Bangkok is pretty mental during the day, so it pays to stay in a hotel in walking distance to a BTS Skytrain station – You can check out all the best places to stay in convenient locations near the BTS stations in my Bangkok area guide here.

I see a lot of non-Thai’s in the  BTS Skytrain station trying to make sense of the posters and purchase the correct ticket. It’s actually quite simple; In the smaller stations, to purchase your tickets visit a panel on a wall, usually in some sort of pillar or podium in the middle of the turn styles. You will see 8 buttons all with numbers on such, something like this:

15        20

25      30

35     40

45      50

Each number, or button, is a fare, in Baht. Put your coins in, press a button and it will print your ticket. To know which fare you need, look at one of the maps of the BTS Skytrain system, usually mounted on the wall next to the machine. You will see a series of BTS station names, with a circled number. That number is the fare in Baht. That is the button you press.

In bigger stations there is a touch screen machine you use where you select the station you want to  go to and how many tickets (passengers) you want, then enter your money, it will tell you onscreen how much you need to pay – and collect your printed ticket.

For both of the above systems, take your printed ticket to the gates and offer it to the slot on the right hand side of the gate post, it will suck in your ticket, open the gate and spit your ticket back out the top. Make sure you take the ticket as you have to put your ticket into the gate when you leave too, though when you leave you will not get the ticket back. If you have to change trains at all, then you don’t need to use your ticket at every station as you will arrive in the BTS station on the skytrain beyond the gates.

RABIT CARD BTS     What is the Rabbit Card and can I get one as a   foreigner?

You can. I’ve seen a few posts online where people complain that foreigners are not allowed BTS Carrot cards in Bangkok, however this is not true. Not only is a lot of the BTS Rabbit Card information in English, but  when you register you card online you have an option to select if you’re not Thai and are asked for your  international passport number. BTS Carrot cards are extremely useful to save time wasted queuing when travelling around Bangkok.

To buy a Rabbit card just visit the manned booth in any station. At the time of writing this they cost 200 Baht which includes a 50 fare. You can top up the card by taking it to any manned both and handing over cash with it.

Every time you go to a station you need to place your Rabbit card on the round pad on the top of the turn style/gate.. make sure you do the same when you leave so that you are charged correctly. If you manage to slip through an open gate on your way out the station then you are likely to be charged the most expensive fare for the day, automatically.

Visit one of those big orange Rabbit card machines in the station and you can print some vouchers. Also print out the instructions on how to register your Rabbit card online just in case you lose it. Additionally benefit to registering is that you can get reward points every time you use it which can be exchanged for things such as money off, coupons, limited edition Rabbit cards and even holidays.

You can check your Rabbit balance at any Rabbit machine or online and each time you place your Rabbit card on a gate the screen will tell you the remaining balance.

Can I use my Rabbit Card on the MRT In Bangkok?

No, not yet. But apparently it’s going to be an option in mid-late 2013.

Random Job Offer

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I arrived at my thai lesson early today and decided to wait outside in the sunshine at Park Venture. A few minutes later, a Japanese guy approached me – ‘excuse me, do you speak english?’. His name was Bob Anderson and he went on to explain that he had a job for me – translating. I assume maybe (as we chatted about languages so he’d know I can’t speak any others fluently) translating texts or just improving rough drafts… I’m not quite sure. Bob Anderson seemed nice enough… he was softly spoken and polite, his english wasn’t that easy to understand and he just didn’t seem to get to the point about what the company did or what the job was.

He asked me if I could come for an interview in the office across the road but as I didn’t have time, I wrote down my email address for him and asked if he could send me some more information. I figured, as I didn’t have much of an idea what he was talking about, I could probably get a better idea if he sent me something more official, or his website even. Now, I am a strong believer in the Yes Man theory… You regret the things in life that you don’t do more than the things that you actually do. A job in translation sounds pretty cool and I could really use the money – it sucks living on a budget when there’s so much tasty food enticing you and seducing you on every street corner :O

Well, I received an email from him straight away… It didn’t have any more information in it, just a load of his website links and a facebook link. I looked at the links… still have no idea what exactly he does, looked at his facebook and get this – he has around 3000 friends and seriously 99% of them are all young girls around my age… That’s weird. My boyfriend got pretty suspicious and stayed awake hours googling him – Bob Anderson seems to have different aliases, different businesses and all information and pictures basically just don’t match up. So, admittedly I’m a bit put off now, but he seems pretty harmless so we’ve concluded that it’s probably legitimate… Still though, I shall prepare myself for something very, very ropey.

Learn more about my interview and Bob Anderson here.