Expat Life In Thailand

Posted on March 15, 2014 by koomatzu

It takes a while to adapt to life in Thailand and – especially living in the busy capital Bangkok – the craziness can be overwhelming to start with. But, it feels good when you suddenly realise that, actually, maybe you have finally acclimatized to life in Thailand. Maybe you’ve even been living there just a little too long…

You know you’ve been living in Thailand too long when:

You don’t feel like a douche for shielding yourself from the sun with your UV umbrella on a cloudless sunny day; not a rain drop in sight. Nope, don’t feel even the slightest bit like a douchey Pride & Prejudice wannabe… Okay maybe just a little bit.

Drinking Pepsi out of a plastic carrier bag seems perfectly plausible.

Drinking everything through a straw has now become mandatory. Everywhere you go in Thailand, you will be given a straw with your drink; even the more elegant establishments have embraced the convenience and easiness of a straw. Buy a pint of milk from the 7/11, and they will literally just chuck a handful of straws at you. I mean, hell, you’re gonna need so many straws to polish off that mammoth pint of milk with. How am I supposed to drink my iced tea without a straw should somebody ever forget? Out of the bottle? Like some sort of animal!?

You grow to anticipate motorcyclists around you on the side walk. It takes a while to get used to the fact that you’ve got to dodge motorcyclists on the pavement as they sneak up behind you – in Thailand it’s perfectly normal for cyclists and motorcyclists to use the pavement. When you cross the road… screw looking two ways, you’re looking five ways!

The green man at the traffic lights means nothing to you now – why do they even have crossings and green men in Thailand? Crossing the 6 lanes of traffic is every man for himself.

Hygiene issues. You can order some ominous, unidentifiable meat on a stick from a street vendor in Bangkok, and carry on blissfully and unaffectedly munching away when a grubby looking rat leaps across your foot from underneath the vendor’s cart.

You feel the urge to add ‘na ka’ on the end of all your sentences. You might let out a little cheeky ‘krap’ or maybe even a sneaky Wai when you’re around foreigners.

You increasingly start making Thai sounds. ‘Ooiwee!’ when surprised, or ‘err, err’ when in agreement.

Miser syndrome. You find yourself unable to frequent Starbucks anymore because you can’t help counting how many Thai meals you could buy instead of a coffee or cake. 110 baht for a coffee?! I could buy four meals with that! Despite amazingly good quality meals being comparably cheaper up to your own home country’s standards, your wallet becomes much tighter. $4 for a steak is way too expensive!

You have an annoyingly huge collection of 1 and 2 baht coins that have accumulated in a random corner of your apartment since you first arrived in Thailand. Now you have to slowly try and use them up on toilet paper and milk from the shop down the road. The cashier glares at you irritatedly as you hand them yet another handful of satangs to count out. I will use those coins up I tell you!

Launchpad Co-working Space Bangkok

Posted on July 31, 2013 by koomatzu

Still relatively new, Launchpad launched it’s 800sq meter co-working office space in Bangkok, Sathorn, towards the end of 2012. As far as I know, there are currently only two co-working office spaces in Bangkok, the other being Hubba in Ekkamai. If you’re new to Bangkok and keen to meet some people, get some work done in a professional environment or simply just itching to get out of the condo, these shared offices are definitely worth a visit.

A day at Launchpad Bangkok

Greeted by two Thai receptionists, I paid my 220baht for the day, then proceeded to try mastering their fingerprint entry system. Upon your first visit you must register a fingerprint which becomes the lynchpin of your identity at Launchpad. Used by the doors for letting you access the various areas and for recalling your details on subsequent visits. After the 5th or 6th attempt to register my fingerprint, it began to look like gaining access just wasn’t meant to be, however after some special finger powder from the staff the scanners finally let me though.

Launchpad has 120 work-desks, five meeting rooms, a large recreational area with beanbags plus a games room with gaming consoles, pingpong table and various breakout spaces. Unlike HUBBA (another co-working space in Bangkok’s Ekamai district), I wasn’t given a tour nor had much opportunity to ask questions. The Thai-English language barrier seemed a lot more apparent at Launchpad than at HUBBA, which made asking questions more of an exercise in poorly acted charades than anything fruitful.

The desk space was good with plenty of room and, although I didn’t have access to a UK socket, there were spare adapters available if needed. The chairs were excellent, some kind of decent replica of a Mesh chair, with great lumbar support.

The environment seemed a little less expat friendly though. Most of the guys there were Thai, pretty young and mainly male with more technical type roles. Although the atmosphere was laid back and not particularly ‘office-y’ or stuffy, many seemed fully engrossed in their work; perhaps the illusive recreational area would have provided more conversation.

The overall feel was clinical and precise, a little like working in cubicles, minus the walls. Where compared to the contrast HUBBA’s organic friendly style it was a marked difference. I would recommend Launchpad as somewhere to go and get things done without distraction. However if you like the feeling of working in a more diverse and energetic, creative environment, I may point you towards HUBBA (Review pending).

How to get to Launchpad Co-working Space

Launchpad can be found on Thanon Pan just a 400 meter walk from BTS Surasak in Sathorn. It’s easy to find with it’s large ‘LAUNCHPAD’ stickered name on the window.

Address: Launchpad, Sethiwan Tower – 139 Thanon Pan, Bangkok, Thailand 10500

About the Author

Guest blog written by Mark from Fifty Shades of Mark, a blog documenting the ventures and misadventures of online dating.

Living in Thailand

Posted on June 26, 2013 by koomatzu

6 Months In Thailand

It’s been about 6 months since I moved to Thailand in November now. During the first few months living in Thailand I struggled to adapt to life. The culture shock hit me and I felt incredibly homesick, in fact, I could only look forward to the day I went back home, rather than appreciate my new life in Thailand.

I felt lonely and outcast living in Thailand society, taking every little reaction from a Thai person personally. Despite seeing no point in staying in Thailand any longer, I perservered, determined to see my stay through and past the 6 month mark.

Expat friends living in Thailand who originally moved only temporarily have ended up staying permanently. People always say to me, once you get past your first 6 months in Thailand, you’ll never want to go back home…. And they were all right! I pushed through the first 6 months in Thailand and now it has become my home. I’m happy here. But now I find myself in a quandry; not wanting to go back to England but not wanting to abandon my friends and family there either.

In one sense, through taking the big step of moving to Thailand, I have succeeded and found my place to belong in the world. Yet in another sense, I have given my life more confusion and anguish by being torn between two homes. The way of life in Thailand, the people and the laid back simplicity have trapped me here now. I have other lifelong dreams like travelling America and seeing the rest of the world, but I’m simply left feeling drawn back to living in Thailand now!

When I picture myself returning to England, I see myself feeling homesick for Thailand. I struggle with the thought of leaving my new friends in Thailand… It seem like I’ve gone and put myself in a lose-lose situation now!

Once you get past the 6 month mark living in Thailand, Thailand has you…

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.

Health Problems In Thailand

Posted on May 23, 2013 by koomatzu

Difficulties of an expat moving to Thailand

Living abroad in another country like Thailand does not come without it’s challenges. Near the beginning of my move I went through a stage of paranoia from the culture shock, I then went through a long period of homesickness and my thoughts even drifted to going back home. But the homesickness eventually passed, I felt like I had begun to relax into my environment, and so the paranoia subsided along with it. It’s not only emotionally troublesome though, I found there were plenty of physical difficulties to deal with after living in a country so completely different to my own.

If you’re going to live in Thailand for more than a few months, it might be helpful to be prepared for the extreme change in atmosphere, change in diet and some of the problems it might pose. Man, the amount of time I’ve had bits fall off, ominous skin changes and all sorts of weird things go on with my body…

The first problems I had in Thailand were purely heat related

For example, I wore my converse trainers everywhere. See, before now I have always hated flip flops and open toed shoes with a vengeance but… it backfired and I ended up getting a foot infection. My toe went itchy and basically looked like it was going to rot away and fall off – in fact after just a couple of weeks my toenail actually did fall off (sorry, probably too much info). In the end, after some time spent with Dr Google, I resorted to trying white vinegar that I bought from the local corner shop.

In the hot Thai weather, fungal foot infections can be pretty common, but soaking your foot in vinegar (mixed 50:50 with water) twice a day for thirty minutes is supposedly one of the cheapest and most effective treatments for it (or for it’s prevention).

A rash spread across my back, chest and arms

The rash was spotty, like welts or mosquito bites, and very itchy. It looked like some sort of tropical skin disease… It turned out to be a simple case of Prickly Heat (or heat rash), and with a healthy mixture of skin aeration and some 35 baht prickly heat powder from the Seven Eleven, the rash was much better in just a few days. Although I think it’s wise to cover up and have some modesty in Thailand, it can also be slightly unhealthy as your skin needs the circulation of fresh air in order to help prevent skin reactions and infections.

After just a few weeks living in Thailand, the skin on my hands started to peel away

Now I’m not talking just a bit – I’m talking like when a snake sheds it’s skin! Grossss! Anyway, this lasted maybe a month and then went completely back to normal. I put it down to adjusting to the hot weather and constant sweatiness living in Thailand.

Diet in Thailand

I ate very healthily back at home, but being kitchenless in Bangkok, I don’t manage to eat as well as I used to. Not only do I end up feeling a little rough and haggered from the lack a balanced diet, but at least once a month I end up ill. I basically get a bout of mild food poisoning every month… England is too hot on health & safety rules and it makes us English folk puny and weedy when we eat the food in other more laid back countries like Thailand. Stoopid health & safety…

Hair falling out

My last health problem I had freaked me out so much that I eventually ended up giving in and seeing a doctor about it. I had problems healing early on after moving to Thailand – I had some piercings which wouldn’t heal and my bruises would take ages to disappear. Finally I gave up and removed my piercings – in my mind ignorance can be bliss and I thought if I can’t see the problem it can’t hurt me! I speculated that it was probably just change of diet and environment messing up my body. But then for about three months after this my hair started falling out. I’m talking loads… everywhere.

I ignored my hair falling out for a while but then, obviously, the effects of this started to become visible on my thinning hair. This time Dr Google scared me with it’s primarily cancerous suggestions (why do I still use google to diagnose myself?!) and I consulted a doctor at the nearby hospital. The doctor basically confirmed what I’d originally thought… the extreme change in diet and environment had basically just caused my body to spaz out.

Anyway, prescribed zinc supplements and multivitamins helped fix me up within a month or two… But my thick locks has suffered irreversible damage :'(. As much as I always prefer a balanced diet to resorting to supplements and vitamins, I highly recommend buying some if you’re staying in Thailand for a long time.

(Update) Insect Bite!

One day I woke up with a sore, swollen elbow. I thought nothing of it, my boyfriend even joked that maybe a bug had laid eggs in my elbow. I’m such a hypochondriac it’s not even funny – I immediately had visions of the Egyptian scarabs borrowing through people’s skin like in the movies… We laughed about it though, until later that evening it had become so painful and swollen that I couldn’t even move it and I started to worry. I think the rule is that if it’s red, hot and painful – go to the doctors asap because it’s infected.

So the next afternoon I did. The receptionists at the hospital looked at it, conversed worriedly with one another and then hastily sent me to the Emergency department (again man!!! What a joke I am!). It turned out to be an infection caused by an unknown insect bite and it got quite bad over the next couple of days while the antibiotics kicked in. I even worried that maybe I’d been poisoned by the flesh rotting venom of an exotic spider. (I can be a tad irrational sometimes ;p)

Most of my expat friends and people who have visited me in Thailand have also struggled with the physical changes in Thailand – reduced healing and hair loss being the worst culprit of all. On the other hand though, my boyfriend doesn’t ever seem to have suffered any health problems in Thailand so far – apart from food related illness. I’m such a punoid!

Worried about the hospitals in Thailand? You can read all about my visit to St. Louis Hospital in Bangkok here.

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.

Where To Live In Bangkok

Posted on January 22, 2013 by koomatzu

Areas Of Bangkok

The best place to live in Bangkok mainly depends on each expat’s priorities and commitments they will have while living in Bangkok. There are the ‘Hi-so’ areas of Bangkok for those with good job prospects and finer tastes, and there are places to live more suited to a local Thai style for those on a budget.

Understandably, apartment rent in Bangkok typically costs much more when located closer to a BTS or MRT station. For many, once they have become a seasoned Bangkok expat they tend to grow a distaste for walking more than two minutes in the sweaty Thailand heat! Therefore, renting near a BTS station can be well worth the extra cost…

You can find the BTS, MRT and airport link routes and their areas on the map below (the green, blue and red lines respectively). Although you may want to bear in mind that some condos in Bangkok offer a free shuttle service to the nearest station.

If you plan on driving or don’t mind commuting by bus, songtaew and motorbike taxi, then you will find much cheaper condos and even more flexibility of where to live in Bangkok. Areas of Bangkok such as Bangkok Noi, Pinklao, Ratchada Thapra (both located to the west across the Chao Praya river), Lat Prao and Lak si further past Chatuchak, all provide great value accommodation.

It can be difficult to decide where to live in Bangkok without knowing exactly where the different districts, transport links and essentials are located.

Best place to live in Bangkok

Pathum Wan district – Central Bangkok

BTS: Siam, Chit Lom, Ploenchit, National Stadium

Pathum Wan stands as the central area of Bangkok and is home to a huge chunk of the mega expensive and fashionable malls of the city. For both human traffic and transport traffic, it is perhaps the busiest and liveliest area you could live in Bangkok. If you stick to the main streets of Siam you’ll find the glamorous hi-so socialites and fashionable business folk of Bangkok, yet veer off slightly to the side streets and you’ll find bustling local streets exploding with cheap stalls and food carts.

The centre of Bangkok has everything you could possibly need: Live music, yoga classes, pole dance classes, gyms, restaurant brands from around the world and even a giant Blade Runner stylee technology market, Pantip Plaza – get bored and there will probably be something going on or some kind of activity you can take up in this Bangkok centre.

The centre of Bangkok will be particularly appealing to the shoppers and expat fashionistas. Conveniently, a skywalk even runs through a large part of Siam, connecting all the big Bangkok shopping malls with Chitlom BTS stations. You’re never too far from the luxury of air con here – people in the centre really don’t like to sweat too much…

The Bangkokians in Siam tend to be very glamourous and fashionably dressed. Let’s just say walking around the shopping malls here… I feel like kind of a pauper scruffbag. If you search for apartments near the National Stadium side of Pathum Wan though, you can still find some affordable places to live and still be in a great Bangkok location.

Cost of Living in Pathum Wan: $$$$ – $$$$$

Points of interest in Pathum Wan: Siam Centre, Paragon, Central World, Siam Square

Where to live in Bangkok Pathum Wan: Budget apartments near National Stadium – 74 Mansion, Patumwan Oasis

Rattanakosin

Ferry Pier: Phra Athit

Rattanakosin is located away from the subway and skytrain systems, perhaps to preserve it’s historic roots as the Old City of Bangkok. The area is great for tourists but not so great as a place to live for expats in Bangkok. Getting around can be difficult as traffic is terrible and taxis often refuse fares and are reluctant to take passengers far.

Options are limited between taxi and ferries on the main canal and the Chao Phraya river. The district of Rattanakosin is also a little less modern than other areas of Bangkok, lacking in amenities due to the lack of expats living there. There are still expats living in Bangkok who enjoy renting in this area though, mainly those who work there or others who peacefully stick to the hidden away hippy communities.

Cost of Living in Rattanakosin: $$

Points of interest in Rattanakosin: Khaosan Road

Phayathai

BTS: Victory Monument, Phayathai, Rachathewi, Sanam Pao

The Phayathai district is ideally located in central Bangkok within very close distance to Siam centre. The BTS system allows easy travel between all the main areas of Bangkok such as Siam, MBK, Silom and Chatuchak weekend market which are all within just a couple of stop’s reach.

Phayathai is perhaps the best location in the city for public transport. The traffic is terribly busy in the area, but expats in Phayathai have access to Bangkok’s airport rail link and city link, the BTS system and the mini bus hub. Yet despite it’s convenient, central location and fantastic transport links, you can actually find some good value condos for rent in the area.

The area around the Victory Monument and Rangnam Road offers plenty of entertainment such as shopping, restaurants and Thai nightlife, plus some great bars with live music such as the Rock Pub and Saxophone Pub. Phayathai is not overly touristy so you can rest assured that you won’t get hassled too much by Tuk Tuk drivers like in Nana, Silom or Rattanoskin, but it is still an extremely busy and lively area to live in Bangkok.

In the evenings, the streets become heaving with crowds and street stalls selling food and clothing. For some expats, it can be a little overwhelming and hectic to live amongst this after a while. Nonetheless, if you love a bit of classic hustle and bustle, you can rent surprisingly cheap apartments for such a central area of Bangkok… plus it’s definitely a hard area to beat for convenience and entertainment – Thai-style!

Cost of Living: $$$

Where to live in Bangkok Phayathai: Budget – 21 Living Place, 507 Residence

Bang Rak Silom

BTS: Sala Daeng, Chong Nonsi / MRT: Silom

Silom offers pretty much everything you could possibly need while living in Bangkok and provides a lively atmosphere 24 hours a day, everyday. Silom boasts a wealth of multi-national bars, irish pubs, pizzerias, sushi restaurants, markets, malls, useful shops and supermarkets ideal for expats in need of some home luxuries. On the other hand, there are plenty of cheap, local places to eat for those living on a budget in Bangkok as well.

The Silom area of the Bang Rak district is conveniently located in close distance just stops away from the main centre via both BTS and MRT. It’s both a convenient and entertaining place to live, however this does come at a cost. Apartments are hard to find for less than 15000 baht per month minimum. By all means though, if you can afford to live in this area of Bangkok it may well be worth paying the extra money.

It’s useful to know that there are two sides to Silom that are extremely different in atmosphere. The attractive, palm tree lined western end of Silom, nearest the Chao Phraya river, is considerably more subdued and less lively during evenings, whereas the eastern end, that surrounds BTS Sala daeng and borders Lumpini Park, is quite the opposite. On the main Silom road here, as dusk falls and the highstreet shops start to close, the streetwalks begin to quickly fill up with vibrant, fairy light-covered night stalls, where you can buy shoes, bags, dresses and trinkets throughout the whole night.

The red light district area in Sala Daeng, known as Patpong, may be seen as rather seedy and unappealing to some. It is pretty harmless and easy to avoid once you know the roads though.

The whole of Silom is a popular area in bangkok to stay for tourists. This means you might get some of the usual tourist trap shouts by tuk tuk drivers and restaurant workers like ‘Oi you! Where you going? You want Thai food? Ping pong show?’. This may get annoying for some people. Not only is the Silom area of Bangkok a hotspot for locals, expats and tourists, it is particularly popular with Japanese expats, hence you will find the famous ‘Japanese Street’, or Thaniya Road, brimming with Tokyo style neon signs and Japanese restaurants.

Cost of Living in Silom: $$$$

Points of interest in Silom: Roadhouse Pub, Central Silom Complex, Patpong night market, Lumpini Park, Thaniya Road

Where to live in Bangkok Silom: Luxury – The Legend Apartments

Bang Rak Sathorn

BTS: Saphan Taksin, Surasak / MRT: Lumphini

Sathorn is somewhat more of a business district area of Bangkok and hence has a slightly more subdued atmosphere than some of the other central areas of Bangkok. Weekends are eerily quiet but the weekdays provide a balanced, lively crowd of bustling locals and business workers.

Sathorn makes a good place to live in Bangkok for an atmosphere that sits between the busy, hectic tourist centres of the city and the perhaps less interesting, outer areas of Bangkok. It makes for quite a pleasant, hidden escape from some of the craziness you might find in Phayathai, Nana and Silom, for example.

Location-wise, Sathorn is ideally situated on the BTS route just a few stops away from the centre of Bangkok, still close to all the main activity of the main city. The western end is a little more quiet than the eastern side with quaint backstreets offering plenty of local activity and cheap Thai cooking. It provides easy access to BTS Surasak as well as easy walking distance to the western side of Silom.

Just one stop away on the BTS, you can find the central pier which will grant you access to all the areas along the Chao Phraya river. For those on a budget living in Bangkok, you can find some relatively cheap apartments for rent towards the western end of Sathorn; studios start from as little as 5000 baht per month and provide a convenient base to commute or travel around the city.

The eastern end of Sathorn, towards Lumpini Park and Lumpini MRT station, offers slightly more sophisticated and professional surroundings: you’ll find the Life Center shopping mall elegant restaurants and five star hotels dotted along the main road.

Cost of Living: $$$

Points of interest in Sathorn: Jameson’s Irish Pub, Launch Pad Co-work Space, Chinese Cemetery & Park, The Life Center, Lumpini Park

Where to live in Bangkok Sathorn: On a budget – Sathorn Saint View (Review here), Baan Sathorn, Purita Apartments, Medium – Littlest Guesthouse, Thai CC Residence, Luxury – Sathorn Gallery Residences

Sukhumvit 9 – 27

BTS: Nana, Asoke / MRT: Sukhumvit

Sukhumvit is the extremely long, main road that runs through Bangkok city and connects all the areas by numerically ordered numbered sois. When you live in Bangkok, you’ll find that people use the Sukhumvit Soi numbers to explain locations to people – the smaller the number, the closer to central Siam.

The Nana and Asoke area of Sukhumvit is a hugely multicultural area teaming with expats and holiday makers from around the world. Nana in particular is a very lively and busy area of Bangkok. On the main Sukhumwit Road through Nana, it’s actually difficult to walk on the paths without being hassled in one way or another; being persuaded to buy a suit or hounded by the street stall owners along the way.

Personally, I find Nana busy in a bad way rather than a good way, and I find it a chore to make it through the hectic way of the sidewalks – this may be all fine and dandy for tourists who might actually be interested in the souvenirs for sale and the prospect of tailor made suits, but for expats it’s just a plain pain in the ass.

Location wise, Nana and Asoke make a convenient place to live in Bangkok, being only three stops away from the centre station at Siam and just a 5 or 10 minute walk to the cool shopping mall, Terminal 21. And to top that off, the area has some of the best and most renowned nightlife Bangkok has to offer. For all the modern nightclubs (many especially popular amongst expats), rooftop bars, pubs and huge range of restaurants, soi 11 is absolutely crammed full of choice in nightlife for the average person.

For the go go bars in Bangkok, ‘Soi Cowboy’ is one of the most famous ‘red light district ‘areas in Thailand for it’s choice and sheer volume of bars. Some may find the atmosphere of this area a little seedy and distasteful because of this though. Personally, other than the bars on soi 11, I’m not much of a fan of this area and think it is perhaps not ideal, or 100% safe, for couples or females living in Bangkok.

Cost of Living: $$$$

Points of interest on Sukhumvit: Terminal 21, Benjakiti park, Soi 11 nightlife, Soi Cowboy red light district

Where to live in Bangkok Sukhumvit: K-House

Sukhumvit (Soi 29 – 65)

BTS: Phrom Phong, Thonglor, Ekkamai

Phrom Phong, Thonglor and Ekkamai are known to be the posh areas of Bangkok, the hi-so place to live in Bangkok if you will. Phrom Phong in particular is recognised as where to live in Bangkok for high flying expats with professional jobs. Conveniently, you’ll find many good restaurants, hair salons, western pubs and shops catering for expats with English signs outside.

A 20 minute BTS ride about 5 stops away from Siam centre, this part of Sukhumvit manages to evade the pushy hustle and bustle of tourist trap tuk tuks and other tack that you mind find in other areas of Bangkok. It offers a little more sophistication in the form of fashionable complexes, trendy bars and clubs, and fine dining restaurants.

You can still find some charming, hidden away Thai gems such as cool bars, cute beer gardens and casual outdoor Thai buffets. Thonglor and Phrom Phong tend to be especially expensive to live in Bangkok and mainly appeal to expats with well paying transfer jobs. Ekkamai offers equally pleasant scenery and amenities though, as well as better value apartments for rent. Typically, you can find a one bedroom apartment in Ekkamai from around 15000 baht per month (£300 or $470).

Cost of Living: $$$$-$$$$$

Points of interest in Sukhumvit: Emporium Mall, SD BBQ, Banrie, Tuba Bar, Iron Fairies, Witches Tavern, Roast, Soi 55 and 63 nightlife

Where to live in Bangkok Sukhumvit: Low/medium – The Hive, Luxury – Ivy Thonglor

Wongwian Yai & Talat Plu (Thonburi)

BTS: Wongwian Yai, Po Nimit, Talat Plu, Krung Thonburi

Thonburi is located a little further out of the city centre, across the Chao Phraya river that cuts through Bangkok. In recent months, the BTS route has been expanded to include Po Nimit and Talat Plu stations, and continues to build further on.

This means that despite Thonburi’s distance out of the city centre, it is still well connected to all the main areas of Bangkok via the newly built BTS stations. It also means that apartment rent is currently very cheap in this area as it doesn’t seem to have built up and caught up with the rest of Bangkok yet. There are a many new apartment buildings popping up in the Thonburi district near the BTS stations very quickly, and they all seem to offer great value condos for the money.

Where there are advantages though, there are usually drawbacks as well. The main areas near the BTS route in Thonburi, particularly Talat Phlu, tend to have rather unsightly overpasses and carriageways running through them. There are also ongoing building works of the extending BTS route. Therefore, as the area is currently being modernised and built up, many parts are suffering a rather ugly in-between stage.

There are not many expats and tourists in Thonburi at all and you will find locals speaking a lot less English than they do in the centre. People tend to notice foreigners more and respond with more stares and giggles than other areas of Bangkok. Due to the lack of foreign influence though, the cost of living such as food and shopping prices are much cheaper.

Cost of Living: $

Points of interest in Thonburi: The Mall Thapra

Where to live in Bangkok Thonburi: Budget – Lumpini Place, Medium – Casa Condo, Parkland, Metro Park

Cost Of Living In Thailand

Posted on January 1, 2013 by koomatzu

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

Posted on December 15, 2012 by koomatzu

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.