Averages Costs In Thailand

Posted on June 25, 2014 by koomatzu

How much does an average holiday cost in Thailand? Food, drink and shopping is all very cheap in Thailand so you don’t need to worry about breaking the bank while enjoying your travels…

You tend to get much better value for money in mainland cities such as Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi or Bangkok, than you do at beach resorts. The Thai islands are particularly expensive – I’ve found that, although you may pay double the price for a restaurant meal on an island as you do on the mainland, the food is usually not so good quality either. Anyway:

How much does food cost in Thailand?

If eating locally at the street stalls, you can buy a meal from just 25 baht – that’s well under $1 or 50p. If you are travelling on a budget, or just want to sample some authentic, local Thai food, then street food is a must.

However, if you’re staying in tourist areas and eating near popular sightseeing attractions, expect costs to be a little higher (but still super cheap!). A standard meal in a restaurant in Thailand will cost between 100 baht and 350 baht on average – this works out to about $3 to $10.

As a general rule of thumb, usually, if you’re spending 250 baht or more for a meal, it should be a pretty nice place. When on holiday, eating out at the nicer establishments is very affordable and easily within the average person’s budget.

How much does a beer cost in Thailand?

At a cheap and casual bar, beers can cost from 60 baht (£1.50 or $2.50) for a large bottle of Tiger, Chang or Singha beer. A drink at one of the western style pubs in the city will cost up to 250 for a pint of Guiness or a bottle of cider like Magners. Cocktails tend to start from around 150 or 200 baht. Cheaper clubs and bars may sell cocktail buckets for around 300 baht.

How much does a T-shirt cost in Thailand?

You can get some really cheap clothing and shoes in the markets of Thailand. T-shirts typically cost around 200 baht, flip flops from 40 baht, women’s denim shorts from 80 baht and sarongs for around 100 baht.

How much does an average hotel cost in Thailand?

There are some nice, modern and clean hostels in Thailand available from 200 baht a night in most areas. In Bangkok, Khaosan Road is home to many of the more cheaper, backpacker hotels. While you’re staying in a country with such a low cost of living though, you might want to make the most of it and upgrade to a more luxurious hotel. From only 1500 baht ($45) per room, you can find some amazing hotels. For a guide on where to stay and the top hotels for different budgets, check my Bangkok guide here.

To avoid getting ripped off by greedy stallholders, I recommend checking my shopping price guide and street food guide for more prices before you go. You might also want to check out a more detailed account of the costs of living in Thailand here.

St Louis Hospital Bangkok

Posted on July 10, 2013 by koomatzu

Some people find the thought of having to visit any of the Bangkok hospitals daunting, maybe it’s the prospect of a confusing language barrier or the association with the vermin filled streets outside! Well, on the contrary, Bangkok hospitals have a pretty squeaky clean reputation and even attract people from across Europe and America, making Thailand one of the leading countries for medical tourism.

Hospitals in Thailand are mostly private and offer a selection of differently priced hospitals to choose from… but this leaves people confused as to which Thai hospital to choose. In rare cases, some of even the most expensive hospitals in Bangkok have been known to delay proper treatment in order to keep patients longer and make more money for them.

Well, I’d say I’ve become quite an expert on Bangkok hospitals during my 7 months living in Thailand and numerous unfortunate mishaps. I’ve suffered torn ligaments, broken toes, infected bug bites, dog bites and much more! Woe is me! However I have loyally used the same hospital in Bangkok, St Louis Hospital, and I’m guessing it’s also one of the cheapest hospitals in Bangkok.

Bangkok Hospital Review

St Louis Hospital Bangkok is a non-profit, Catholic hospital located right next to BTS Surasak in Sathorn. During lunchtimes, you can find a busy little market in the courtyard at the front of St Louis Hospital selling clothes, treats and cooked lunches. When you enter the main doors you’ll find an impressive, huge, shiny lobby with a welcome desk. The staff are helpful and speak reasonably good English to register you and point you in the right direction. You don’t need to make appointments and despite turning up without a reservation, you can usually be seen within 20 minutes of arriving. Amazeballs!

Did I mention how big and shiny St Louis Hospital is? I’ve visited St Louis Bangkok about 3 or 4 times altogether now – Orthopaedics, dermatology and A&E – and every single time, the doctors and nurses have shown compassion, concern and confidence in their own abilities. They are enthusiastic to help, patient with your questions and knowledgeable about the course of action. St Louis hospital is way cheaper than most of the other Bangkok hospitals and I think I trust the staff there more because of the fact that it’s not for profit.

Each time I have visited St Louis Hospital Bangkok, my hospital bill has averaged around 1000 baht (that’s a little over £20 or $30). I have had cheaper hospital experiences in Thailand up north but this is the capital city and St Louis Hospital is quite shiny. My first visit, the doctor gave me a splint for my torn ligament which was 800 baht plus the doctor’s and staff fees at around 300 baht. When I went to A&E I was prescribed antibiotics for a couple of hundred baht plus maybe 250 baht for the doctor’s time. Another time I had to pay 1500 baht for some fancy medicine.

Read about my other hospital experiences outside of Bangkok – Bitten by a dog in Pai and Maharaj Hospital in Chiang Mai.

My review of St Louis Hospital Bangkok: 10/10

Hairdressers in Thailand

Posted on June 7, 2013 by koomatzu

Hairdressers in Thailand are cheeeap! If you stumble upon one of the ordinary barbers or hairdressers on the streets in the local areas of Thailand or outside of the main cities, you can get yourself a Thai haircut, wash and blowdry for as little as 100 baht. Cheap aye?

There are a couple of drawbacks to these cheaper, local hairdressers in Thailand though: It’s hard to know if they’ll actually be any good or even have any skill cutting hair; They very rarely speak English – most ladies’ worst nightmares when unleashing hairdressers on their luscious locks; They are only used to dealing with Thai hair types so they can be known to use the wrong hair products or chemicals and even damage western hair types.

My Thai haircut

When I injured my wrist on holiday in Thailand a couple of months ago, I found it hard to wash and do my own hair. Fed up of walking around looking like a dischevelled, scruffbag bird’s nest, I stumbled across a local Thai hairdressers in Chiang mai. It was a dark and dingy-looking, open-walled shop just off the main street charging 200 baht for a wash, cut and blowdry, and the hairdressers working there seemed surprised by my patronage. I asked, in Thai, for a haircut and wash, but only to cut a little… She ended up cutting off about 3 or 4 inches of my poor hair.

Also, on a recent drunken weekend in Thailand, my boyfriend ended up being taken to a Thai hair salon (which randomly had a pet squirrel running loose btw) by friends who showed the hairdresser a picture of a guy that looked like a cross between Mr T and Prodigy… Now that’s a hard look to pull off, but it does help if the hairdresser actually shaves your hair even remotely straight – not making it look like she did it with her eyes closed. Yeah yeah, it’s not a particularly good start to let your drunk friends pick out your hairstyle but it seriously looked bad… I think I could’ve had a better crack at it myself. Sorry for the Thailand hairdresser horror stories anyway, but just a heads up!

Never fear though, you can always opt for the more glitzy hairdressers in Thailand on the highstreets and in the malls of the city centres. A haircut and blowdry can cost from 400 baht upwards, but in some places they’ll speak English, have more specialist products for western hair and spend more time on their customer’s haircut.

Best Hair Salon in Bangkok

Where to find the best hair salon in Bangkok… Although I’ve not yet tried and tested them myself (I do plan to), these seem to be the most renowned and best hair salons in Bangkok, popular among expats because they speak English too:

Anderson hair salon Bangkok

Hair by Phonatip Bangkok Salon

Zen Red Hair Salon Bangkok *

*I am a little dubious of Zen Red hair salon in Bangkok, they seem to have mixed reviews but are meant to be specifically catered for western hairtypes and customers. Their website seems a little flashy to me as well, not as genuine as the other two.

How to ask for a haircut in Thai!

Dtong-gaan... – I’d like…

Dtat pom – Hair cut

Lem – Trim

Yawm pom – Colour

Sa – Wash

Bpao pom – Blow dry

Gohn noo-at – Shave

Dtok dtang noo-at – Beard Trimmed

Khae nit noy – Only a little

Yaa dtat hai san bpai – Don’t cut it too short

When using these phrases to get a haircut in Thailand, don’t forget to add ‘ka’ for women and ‘krap’ for men to be polite.

How To Order Thai Street Food

Posted on May 24, 2013 by koomatzu

Thai Street food

The language can be a bit of a barrier when ordering street food in Thailand – there are not usually english menus and the sellers speak little english if any. It’s not a problem though, a lot of them can still speak very basic english to help you out. Street food in Thailand is so cheap and tasty that I highly recommend giving it a try – especially if you love to try real, authentic food.

I have given some useful phrases for ordering Thai street food below, but when attempting to speak Thai, make sure to add krap for men, or ka for women, on the end of sentences to make it more polite.

‘Issan style’ tray restaurants

Occasionally you may come across street food stalls in Thailand that have their food already made and laid out in a selection of trays. They usually sell curry and sauce dishes to go with plain rice. It’s often easier to judge if you will like Thai street food by seeing it first anyway. The best way to order Thai food at the tray places is to just point, it’s pretty easy. You could also say the Thai phrases…

an ni – this one an nan – that one
You could also say ao – I’d like: ao an ni krap/ka – I’d like this one please

Tray Style! Foods a bit cold, but hey I’m still alive

They will simply dish your chosen Thai meal onto a plate and you will pay upfront, usually around 30 baht ($1). They also have polystyrene boxes for takeaway if it looks a little cramped for you to sit down.

gin tii nii – To eat in sai glawng/ sai toong – To take away (box/ bag)
tan nii – To eat in glap baan – To take away (lit. back home)

The first Thai phrase that street food vendors will often ask you is tan nii rue glap baan, or tan nii rue sai glawng – are you eating in or taking away?

laew… (duay) – and… (as well) kai – egg
moo – pork gai – chicken

Cook on the spot

Sometimes you might come across a Thai street vendor cooking at a small, mobile trolley with a glass cabinet full of different ingredients. These vendors prepare dishes in front of you – usually noodle soup dishes or som tam (papaya salad).

They can be the most awkward places to order Thai street food because they often don’t have english menus, or anything written anywhere for that matter, and don’t have anything you can get away with just pointing to. These are probably the healthiest places to eat though (glass noodles are the healthiest option, being made of mung beans: woonsen) and food costs from 25 baht a serving. Some useful Thai phrases for when you don’t know what the hell the street vendor is selling are:

ao neung tuuay/jahn – I’d like one bowl/ plate
arai aroi tiisut – What is most delicious?
mee maynoo mai – Do you have a menu?
mee maynoo arai – What food do you have?
mee maynoo nehnam arai – What dish do you recommend?
Ao – I’ll have it
Arai gor dai – Whatever will do
Baep nai gor dai – Which ever will do
Moo – Pork   Gai – Chicken
Bah mee – Egg noodle   Sen nai – What kind of noodle
(Sen) lek – Small (noodle) (Sen) yai – Big (noodle)
Pet – Spicy   Mai pet – Not spicy

Take a seat, and they will bring your food to you when it’s ready. At these places, you can help yourself to drinks from the fridge. When you have finished, they will add up the total from your table, you can just grab their attention with your money out and they’ll get the idea. Or a casual gep dtang ka/krap (Can I get the bill please)

Thai Street Meat

Some of the tastiest and most popular street meat in Thailand is Moo ping, also known as Moo yang – grilled pork. These are sticks of pork grilled with a barbeque sauce marinade and usually cost 10 baht a stick. There are also street vendors which sell various meatballs and cubes on skewers – reconstituted types of meat served in a plastic bag with chilli sauce. You can sometimes get sticky rice (pronounced ‘Cow Neo’) to compliment it.

Other Thai street food vendors sell deepfried chicken and sausages – again you can buy this with sticky rice and chilli sauce. A piece of chicken will typically cost around 20 baht depending on the size and type. With these guys you can just point and nod but it’s always better to speak Thai. With the skewers, you can just pick out the ones you want and put them in a pile to the side and they’ll heat them up for you.

Ao neun/sawng/sam mai krap/ka – I’d like one/two/three skewers please
Ao neung/sawng/sam chin krap/ka – I’d like one/two/three pieces please
ao cow neo duay krap/ka– Can I have sticky rice too
ao cow neo neung toong duay krap/ka – can I have one bag of sticky rice too

Fruit men

Another kind of street vendor to look out for are the fruit men. I love Fruit men. These guys wheel around a glass cabinet full of mangoes, pineapples, melon and sometimes rose apples and other fruits. Then, like a freakin ninja, they’ll chop your chosen fruit up for you and whack it in a carrier bag.

You can have a bag of sugar to go with it – a kind of salty tasting, sweet sugar. A little too much sweetness for my liking. An ordinary sized bag of fruit costs 10 baht.

Sa-ba-rot – pineapple Daeng-mo – melon Ma-muang – Mango
Ao (sa-ba-rot) neung/song chin krap/ka – I’d like one/two pieces of (pineapple)
Ao (ma-muang) neung/song luuk krap/ka – I’d like one/two whole (mangoes)

You use the word chin when asking for a piece of fruit or food, and luuk for any whole, round food item such as a whole mango or a steamed bun

I think she likes me

Mall canteens

Mall canteens, usually on the top floor of all the malls and department stores, should not be forgotten as an authentic, cheap source of food in Thailand. If you’re on a budget, they are useful as most meals only cost around 30 – 50 baht and they have practically every meal you can possibly order in Thailand under one roof. The canteen at the top of Terminal 21 in Bangkok is particularly good.

Head up to the coupon kiosk, hand over 100 baht and then they will give you a card, use the card to pay at whichever food kiosk you fancy, take the card back to the kiosk and the person will give you back the balance. Easy.

You can just point to the pictures or a lot of the staff speak basic english anyway. Or, you can just say ‘tii +number krap/ka‘ to specify which number meal you want. (See the Thai numbers below)

1 neung 4 See 7 Jet
2 sawng 5 Hah 8 Bpaet
3 Saam 6 Hok 9 Gao

Eating cheap in Thailand

As food is one of my biggest weaknesses and ends up burning the biggest hole in my pocket of all living in Thailand, I figured it was the most controllable of my outgoings and so I made it my mission for the last month to eat on as small a budget as possible. Without starving myself to death however and whilst eating reasonably healthily.

Anyway, I managed to squeeze my budget down to 120 baht a day simply by eating mainly Thai street food. In fact, I’ve managed to live in Thailand off of just 15000 baht a month lately. Thats about £330 or $500 – 5000 baht for my rent and 10000 on everything else.

So there you have it – it is indeed very possible to live in Thailand Bangkok on only 15000 baht a month. But eat lots of street food.

Still not satisfied? Eager to learn more useful phrases for ordering Thai food? Curious to know more about Thai street food? You might be interested in the Eating Thai Food Guide below – 100 pages of Thai food tastiness…

Buy the Eating Thai Food Guide eBook for only $7

What To Do In Pai

Posted on May 3, 2013 by koomatzu

What Is Pai?!

Pai (pronounced more like ‘Bai’) is a tiny, chilled out town situated in the mountains near Chiang mai in Thailand, popular among backpackers and the more bohemian crowd. What to do in Pai… there is not actually much activity-wise in Pai in the way of attractions or typical Thai sights. Though, Pai is a great place to travel in Thailand for a peaceful, creative or meditative Thai getaway… or simply a hangout for younger groups of friends in the many bars and cafes. Pai is not really a place to stay in Thailand for a family holiday though and it also does not usually require more than a day or two to explore when on holiday in Thailand.

Pai is relatively overpopulated by travellers these days and I think has possibly lost some of it’s past Thai charm for some. The town of Pai itself is pretty small and cute – probably about a 10 minute walk from one side to the other, with it’s own daily walking street where you can pick up some very creative and quirky Pai postcards, paintings and souvenirs. However clothing is kind of limited to tie-dyed clothing styles.

How to get to Pai

You can travel by bus from Chiang mai to Pai from Arcade bus station for around 100 baht. This would involve catching an overpriced tuktuk or songtaew out of the centre of Chiang mai though, so in my opinion it may well be just as cheap but more convenient to travel via the hourly minibus to Pai for around 190 baht. This involves hotel pickup and most Chiang mai guesthouses or the many travel agents can arrange this for you.The journey to Pai takes 3 hours and be warned, it is quite unpleasantly stomache churning on the windy Thai mountain roads, even when broken up by the 20 minute break in the middle.

It is best to rent a scooter in Pai to travel and explore the surrounding scenery. AYA is not hard to miss in the centre of town and charge as little as 100 baht for a scooter with a voluntary charge of 80 baht for insurance. If you can’t think what to do in Pai, a scooter gives you the flexibility to travel outside of town.

If you wish to drive yourself to Chiangmai from Pai, you can pay AYA 500 baht so you can drop it there instead and have your luggage transported back to Chiangmai separately. AYA also provide travel services outside of Pai and charge 150 baht for a minibus trip to Chiangmai.

Where To Stay in Pai

As a guide, you can stay in Pai in a hostel for as little as 200 baht per night, in particular Mae Yen is a great choice for travellers on a budget. Otherwise you can find some very good value luxury accommodation to stay in the most idealic Thai settings. Baan Tawaan Guesthouse is a good choice of mid range accommodation within easy walking distance to shops and bars of Pai town. Alternatively, you can camp in the peaceful setting outside of town at Pai Tree House from 300 baht per night or stay in a quirky Thai treehouse from 500 baht per night… or rent a luxurious family sized villa within the beautiful grounds there. Be sure to visit their unusual cafe, Love Pai Strawberry too.

What To Do In Pai

Pai is most renowned for it’s white water rafting during the season of June to February, so this would probably be at the top of the guide of what to do in pai. Rafting packages take from 1 to 3 days and costs start from 1600 baht with Thairafting.com.

Train at a Muay Thai camp – there is a particularly good, farang-friendly Muay Thai training camp called Charn Chai. Be prepared though, Muay Thai is tough; it is not for the feint hearted but this team in Pai have a reputation for being particularly welcoming and kind.

Go trekking in the untouched Mae Hong Son forests or take a hill tribe guided tour.

Try the many yoga and meditation lessons in Pai.

If you can’t decide what to do in town, explore the mountainous surroundings of Pai – Hire a scooter and travel to the attractions like Pai Canyon, Memorial Bridge, Hot spings and waterfalls while admiring the tropical Pai scenery along the way.

Thai Hospital – Two Visits In Five Days

Posted on May 2, 2013 by koomatzu

Thailand accident #1 – Trail biking

I’ve always been pretty bad on a motorbike, I even had to sell my 125cc because I was just so crap on it. So why the hell I decided to go trail biking through the jungle in Thailand, I do not know. In fact, I was so terrible that I fell off the motorbike so much so that it later malfunctioned and the brakes became stuck on the road journey back. The bike skidded and flew me to the tarmac where this time I was not so lucky. My wrist hurt like hell but basically, as nice as the Thai staff were at the bike centre, after earlier surprised remarks and jokes at the sight of a girl doing trail biking I felt like I had something to prove.

So I sucked it up and we continued along the road back to the centre until the pain in my left hand became so much that I couldn’t even grip the handle let alone pull in the clutch, so I surrendered to the pain. They called somebody to pick me up and when I jumped into the truck I eagerly and curiously removed my glove to sneak a glance at the damage. And there it was, a lump the size of half a golf ball sticking out the top of my wrist. I cringed at the thought of it being my bone sticking out… And that was how I had my little accident in Thailand.

Chiang mai Maharaj Hospital

A few hours later we arrived at Chiangmai Maharaj hospital, a large government run hospital located outside of the old city. I found my way to the hospital registration desk to sign myself up and the lady pointed me in the direction of the department to go to. I wandered inside the busy Thai hospital ward and a staff member waved me over to his desk as another man crept up behind me and took my form from me. He then roughly grabbed my arm, completely unobservant of the large misshapen lump on top, and proceeded to slap a blood pressure monitor over the top of my shirt. I whinced and pulled back slightly as he roughed my arm up as if it had wronged him in some way. Then the other hospital staff member questioned me, glanced at my arm and pointed me over to the emergency room.

I actually found the Thai doctors in accident and emergency to be very warm and helpful – most of them seemed to be students at the hospital and they all spoke relatively good english. They rushed me over to a stretcher and made me lie down. I felt pretty stupid considering I’d only hurt my wrist – a stretcher seemed a little overkill when there was a patient opposite, unconscious and looking pretty messed up. My boyfriend, with his slightly irrational fear of dirt and hospitals, shuffled nervously at the sight of the grubby floor behind me. They were good at keeping me up to date on what was going on – probably better service than the hospitals in England in fact. At the same time though, they didn’t really seem like they knew much about what was going on with my injury. I had about a team of five Thai student doctors alternating between investigating and prodding away at me and then gathering around for a group discussion on what it could be.

They sent me for an x-ray after only an hour of arriving at the hospital – a porter wheeled me away on my stretcher and I couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed at being unnecessarily pushed around and on display for a wrist injury. When I arrived back at the hospital ward, another foreigner had arrived and she was tearfully led out on a stretcher while her male friend and the group of doctors lingered around her bed. One of the non-student doctors appeared beside me and excitedly explained that they were from Brazil; it was almost as if he was reuniting me with a long lost sister. He then went on, “she had a dog bite her!’ He then grinned jollily and made bitey impressions to which I felt a bit mean giggling at.

The girl next to me ended up having to pay a total of 7000 baht for her hospital treatment and a rabies shot – apparently it was a more expensive kind ‘made from human’ as they had run out of the kind ‘made from horse’. One of the doctors informed me that my wrist wasn’t broken, but was probably a torn ligament or muscle and that I shouldn’t use it and should keep it bandaged up. She didn’t seem particularly confident to be honest but I guess stuff like that can be hard to diagnose when it’s still so swollen. And I certainly can’t fault her customer service after she kept me updated practically every 10 minutes.

All in all my Thailand hospital visit was not a bad experience at all (ignoring the overly aggressive blood pressure guy). For two hours worth of attention from the team of Thai scrubs, two bandages, an x-ray and a goodie bag of drugs it only cost me 691 baht. That’s not even £15 or $20….

Whatever! At least now I have an excuse to wear a cool ninja glove-looking splint…

Read about my Thailand hospital experience #2 here

Trains In Thailand

Posted on April 1, 2013 by koomatzu

Do trains in Thailand get fully booked?

Do I need to book the train in advance in Thailand? In my opinion it is best to book ahead when travelling by train in Thailand just to be sure to avoid disappointment. I especially recommend it around new year and before the dates of the full moon party if travelling South. It’s not easy to book trains in thailand though… it’s a real ball ache actually. You can’t book Thailand trains online through the official Thai railways website – either you have to do it through a travel agency or make an extra trip to the train station itself before hand. If you are very lazy like myself though, you may find www.thailandtrainticket.com a useful website to book Thailand trains online.

Hualumpong Train Station Scam

I did not book the train ahead when I took a trip to Koh Samui this weekend in Thailand. The trains and buses to the islands and beaches of Thailand get pretty full up what with them being one of the biggest attractions for foreigners. However, having the prematurely anti-social spirit of a grumpy, elderly woman, I also did not realise that I was travelling around the busiest time of the full moon party. I had my hotels sorted, transport planned by the exact memorized Thailand train timetable… We arrived at Hualumpong train station one hour early before the 19.30 train was supposed to leave Bangkok for Surat Thani and nonchalantly approached the man on the tourist information counter for a timetable.

After asking a colleague about our train, the Thailand tourist information guy then informed us that the trains to Surat Thani were actually all fully booked that day. At this point I was starting to panic that I had screwed up our plans. But it wasn’t a problem – he explained to us that there was also a bus that went there… only it was due to leave in 10 minutes time. He bought us to another Thailand tourist information office and handed us over to the travel agent. Again, the new man reasserted that there was a bus about to leave in 10 minutes but it may be fully booked. My panic bar crept up slightly more… He phoned someone up to check for us and eventually turned back to us. “They have last two seats left. But they cost this much:” He got his calculator out and punched the numbers into it – 1300 baht each.

Now, from my experience living in Thailand so far, it’s never a good sign when people get out the calculator. People normally expect you to haggle when they get out the calculator, so obviously they type in some ridiculously over priced figure to start off. I did not expect to haggle over a bus ticket in an official-looking booth in a train station though. I enthusiastically nodded my head with relief. Yayy we got the last two tickets! So lucky!

…. 50 minutes went by after we bought out train tickets. Not only did the bus not leave 10 minutes after we had been told it would, but about 15 people entered the office after us and bought tickets for the very same journey. He’d just lied to us to panic us into paying more for our tickets -_-

I don’t think joint bus and ferry tickets from Bangkok to Samui should cost any more than 1000 baht. Maybe they can cost even less than this I am not 100% sure as maybe I was ripped off the 2^nd time I bought tickets also! Who knows? Either way, I’m not sure what happened. It is a possibility that the trains were not fully booked and the overly helpful Thailand tourist information guy just got paid commission from bringing tourists to book bus tickets. On the other hand though, it was four days before the full moon party and it’s a very popular route for tourists in Thailand afterall.. Being ripped off though, particularly on the very first day of a trip in Thailand, can be really demoralizing and frustrating.

Be warned and do not make the same mistake. Try booking the train in Thailand in advance and don’t let people panic you into paying more than you should. Hopefully someone else can gain something from this experience and some good may come from my gullibility. 😉

Sathorn Saint View Serviced Apartments, Bangkok

Posted on March 15, 2013 by koomatzu

Sathorn Saint View is both a long stay apartment complex as well as a short stay hotel in Bangkok. If you’re looking for some cheaper budget accommodation in a convenient location, then Sathorn Saint View can be a good choice of apartment to rent in Bangkok. Including the more expensive rooms, all apartments in Sathorn Saint View are open plan studios with no kitchen, just a fridge (and microwave in the better apartments). Rooms are relatively cheap and vary from between 5000 (£100 or $150) and 12000 (£250 or $400) baht per month or from 600 baht per day.

The Area Around Sathorn Saint View

Sathorn Saint View is in Sathorn, just a 5 or 10 minute walk to the Surasak BTS sky train station. Just four stops away for 25 baht on the skytrain is the Siam interchange, the hotspot of Bangkok. Alternatively, about a 20 minute walk from the apartments is the central pier, where you can catch a ferry from about 10 baht which will take you to the old district of Bangkok where Khaosan Road and all the main areas for sightseeing are. Also within easy distance, there’s Silom Road which has plenty of choice of restaurants and shops, just about a 15 minute walk away.

A review of Sathorn Saint View serviced apartments

With this convenient location and low price in mind, you can’t have everything for nothing in life.

The downside of Sathorn Saint View:

Some of the staff are quite nice but a lot of them aren’t particularly helpful and just aren’t particularly enthusiastic or welcoming for some people’s tastes.
The professional images on the hotel website are very deceiving. The gym is somewhat ill-equipped in comparison to the these images. Personally, I’ve completely written off the gym. It comprises of a rusty old, dirty weights bench, 3 treadmills and an even rustier pull down cable bar machine. And maybe the odd dead cockroach. It’s real grubby… and to top it off, not only is it located in a boiling hot, green house stylee room on the rooftop but it’s got no aircon either. It’s pretty unbearable during midday in Bangkok. The swimming pool seems okay but it’s just a bit on the small side.
The cleaners don’t really do their jobs so well and the dirt can really accumulate after a while. They also tend to skive off on the roof and perv on any of the female guests either sunbathing or using the gym.
Directly outside the building, there are some dodgy alleys you need to walk through to get to the main road. Being a lady, I felt a bit nervous on my own after dark.. Maybe a more seasoned traveller might scoff at this and survive just fine.. but for those of a more nervous disposition such as myself, you might want to bear this in mind. Bag snatchings and crime can be a more common occurrence in the sois around here and this is particularly bad for tourists who are bigger targets and more at risk of falling victim to this.
The internet can be frustratingly slow. If you need internet for anything important, then bare this in mind. It was a big problem for us. There doesn’t seem to be a limit on the internet usage so even though you have to pay 750 baht per month for wifi in your apartment, you may still be sharing it with somebody downloading ten movies a night.
The food in the restaurant is rather greasy. The sandwiches are the only thing on the menu that I could eat. I am not a fussy person at all, but let’s just say eating here has put me off fried rice for life. Every time I think of that greasy meal I feel nauseous…

On a more positive note though!

There is a a really cool looking temple and grave yard behind the apartments – it’s nice to hear the chants from the nearby mosque and the birds singing throughout the day. It’s a peaceful area compared to staying on a main road.
The more expensive apartments are also quite nicely furnished, with a nice lobby area downstairs and a roof top garden.
There is an awesome little restaurant directly next door which is lovely and cosy, and on top of this you can buy a really tasty meal from about 40 baht to eat in or take away.
In terms of location and size, Sathorn Saint View is decent value for money for long stay residents being within easy walking distance of the BTS.
You do not need to sign a long contract. You can pay monthly to stay there and just give two weeks notice when you wish to leave.

Sathorn Saint View has so much potential, it just seems a bit neglected. For apartments to live long term in Bangkok, you can find cheaper and better value for money if you don’t mind staying further from the centre. However it is not a bad price really when considering the convenience and closeness to the BTS and Silom. If you don’t mind basically living in a hotel room then it’s a good bargain. However, if staying in Bangkok on holiday, I think that there are much better value for money hotels in Sathorn. The charming youth hostel, Saphai Pae down the road looks better value. Or Eastin Grand, complete with it’s own walkway to the sky train station! How I envied those tourists…

Money In Thailand

Posted on March 4, 2013 by koomatzu

Cost of living in Thailand

How much the cost of living in Thailand will be for anybody depends on the things in life that are most important to that individual person. For example, I spend the majority of my money in Thailand on sports and exercise, and then on the extra food to supplement this. I live in the centre of Bangkok and I don’t eat street food for every meal, I treat myself more than a couple of times a week to some variation of good food in a cafe or restaurant. I like to spend money in Thailand travelling, exploring and I also like to buy clothes, but on top of this, for some reason I feel drawn like a magnet whenever I go in a Boots or Watsons, I just want to spend my money on everything. What is it with women and pharmacies anyway?

Beer isn’t that cheap in bars and pubs; just as an idea, the cost of a beer in Thailand such as Chang and Singha is around 100 baht a pint (£2 or $3), but you can also buy a bottle of Thai whisky like Sangsom for about 290 baht (£6 or $9); just half of one of these will easily do for me. Beers like Guinness or Hoegaarden will cost from around 250 baht a pint (£5 0r $7).

Anyway this month, my cost of living in Bangkok totalled 24000 baht (£530 or $800). I also made 5000 baht (£100 or $150) from extra work, I didn’t earn much money from work at all this month – I worked about 3 days altogether… my movie career in Thailand seems to be dying a slow death after it has only just begun. Sad times.

Anyway, from what I’ve googled and seen online, a great deal of people seem to say you can’t live on this low amount of money in Thailand, especially Bangkok, but I guess I have proof otherwise. Although I eat out a lot and spend more money in Thailand than I really need to, I just don’t think anyone could live much cheaper than this anyway; everybody has their vices in life. To have an even lower cost of living in Thailand, you would have to live frugally and not have much of a life I think. But of course the cost of living is much cheaper outside of Bangkok.

*Update: Please note that I have since managed reduce my cost of living in Bangkok to around 18000 baht per month (£400 or $600) simply by not going shopping and by eating mostly street food. You can read more about eating on a budget here.

Cost of food in Thailand for one month: 7900 baht (£175 or $260)

Most days for lunch I will eat Thai street food, either to takeaway or sit in, at 30 – 35 baht ($1) for a meal. It’s actually pretty good too. On evenings, mainly out of convenience and laziness, I will often eat at our apartment restaurant or the restaurant next door for around 50 – 90 baht per meal. A couple of times a week or more, we tend to cave and spend money at more expensive, maybe western style restaurants for up to 350 baht (£8 or $12) each.

Most days I will also spend money on extra snacks such as chopped fruit bags, meat sticks, dumplings, steamed buns, fried chicken, soy milk and the odd bubble milk tea; all of which cost from 10 baht per serving. 1150 baht of my spendings this month was used at 7 11s and Top supermarkets mainly on toilet roll, cereal, milk and bread. Cereal is a luxury in Thailand, one box can cost up to 300 baht… Furthermore, water in Thailand is pretty much negligible as you can buy it purified from Reverse Osmosis machines for 1 baht per litre.

Bubble milk drinks from a street vendor

Cost of transport in Thailand for one month: 2738 baht (£60 or $90)

I spend money on the Bangkok BTS sky train on a daily basis. 900 baht (£20 or $30) of this total was spent on the MRT subway, the ferry and topping up my BTS carrot card. I spent 600 baht on taxis, mainly to get to work in Bangkok in the unsociable, early hours of the morning or basically whenever other times the BTS is closed at night. Getting around Bangkok city in a taxi shouldn’t cost any more than 200 baht a journey – taxis in Bangkok for me usually average around 100 baht per ride. A typical journey on the BTS can cost between 15 baht and 50 baht per journey depending on the distance (the MRT underground is also very similar in price). The ferry usually only costs 15 baht. I spent another 900 baht on a 460 km return train and bus journey when making a trip up north. The remaining 300 baht went on two days of moped rental (after splitting between the two of us).

Cost of rent & bills in Thailand for one month: 5500 baht, split between two (£120 or $180)

We pay 10,000 baht for a 40 sqm studio apartment which is situated 10 minutes walking distance from a BTS station in Bangkok. If you live alone, you can find a basic, smaller studio apartment from 4000 baht; for a couple you can find slightly bigger apartments from 8000 baht. It will obviously cost more money the closer you live to the centre or subway/ skytrain in Bangkok. You can find more information in my article renting in Bangkok.

Cost of clothing in Thailand for one month: 4000 baht (£90 or $130)

With this money, I practically bought about 8 new outfits from Platinum Mall and Siam for 1050 baht, at Boots and Watsons I spent about 900 baht (what the hell I spent that on other than sun cream I do not remember! Shameful), 200 baht on phone topup and 1300 baht on a ukulele. Anyway, for more information on average costs of clothing and souvenirs in Thailand you can check the prices here.

Total spent on recreation in Thailand for one month: 3400 baht (£75 or $115)

This includes 600 baht spent on booze, 2000 baht on hotels and 750 baht on a cycle tour (you can see more details on this by clicking here)

Cost of gyms and fitness classes in Thailand for one month: 1000 baht (£20 or $30)

This covers two pole dance classes costing 500 baht per class. I am also a member of a gym in Bangkok but paid for this upfront for 6 months. Technically, this would work out to cost about 2000 baht per month as well.

For more information on the cost of living and money in Thailand, you can check out more on my expenses here: Month 1 and Month 2

Thailand Cost Of Living – Month Two

Posted on February 1, 2013 by koomatzu

Money In Thailand

As promised in my previous article here, I have carried on keeping a record of my spendings for my second month living in Bangkok. It’s not all good news as I spent much more than expected this month – I was hoping for it to be less rather than more as I should be learning to save my money in Thailand better by now.

This month, I spent a total of 47721 baht (£1050 or $1600). However, I did join a gym for a large chunk of money of 12500 (£260 or $420) baht and I went on holiday to Malaysia for 17500 baht (£370 or $580). And then after you add on the 7800 baht I earned from working as an extra, I actually technically only spent 17721 baht (£390 or $590)… Still not good but we’ll see how it goes next month ;p (kind of cheating too as 17721 would really be the amound spent over 3 weeks, not a month)

Cost of food and drink in Thailand – 6572 baht (£130).

This includes trips to the 7/11 and Tops supermarket for all kinds of consumables such as toilet roll, hand wash and cereal. This only really covers about 3 weeks of this month as well, as I went on holiday to Malaysia for 1 week this month… So I actually spent more than last month despite my plans to save more money! It doesn’t really help that I’ve gotten to a point where I am absolutely sick of Thai food this month, so have had to spend whatever it takes to survive and eat whatever western food I fancy! Hopefully this will pass and I can return to eating cheaper Thai food once again :/

Cost of transport in Thailand – 1470 baht (£30).

This covers catching the BTS most days and the odd taxi to Extra jobs which are outside of BTS opening hours.

Cost of shopping in Thailand – 2363 baht (£45).

I actually wouldn’t usually have spent this much but had to keep running out and buying cheap clothes for extra jobs. Hopefully having some more clothes will end up paying for itself so I can use them for work. In all fairness, I got a lot of clothes for this money e.g. a pair of office shoes for 250 baht from a street vendor in Siam.

Cost of gym membership and Fitness classes in Thailand – 14350 baht (£300).

I try and attend a pole dancing lesson once a week which costs 500 baht per hourly session at Rumpuree dance studio. I also splashed out this month on a hefty six month gym membership at Clark Hatch which cost me 12500 baht. Hopefully this will work out cheaper in the long run though!

Cost of rent in Thailand – 5000 baht per person (£100).

Cost of utilities in Bangkok – 466 baht (£10).

Cost of water bill this month was 30 baht each (between two of us) and electricity was 430 baht each.

Cost of visa run to Malaysia – 17500 baht (£370).

For a weeks mini holiday to Kuala Lumpur to visit the embassy and apply for a visa it cost 17500 baht. This included flights, hotel, spending money, visa fees and food. For more details on this, click here

Money earned from Extra work in Bangkok + 7800 baht (£170).

For 5 days of work.