jackers

I can see why it'd get the world- it's an amazingly diverse city. Beautiful parks. Great transport system. For what it's worth, Bangkok only just shaded the victory... the top 10 was

1. Bangkok

2. Florence

3. Istanbul

4. Cape Town

5. Sydney

6. Rome

7. New York

8. Hong Kong

9. Kyoto

10. Paris

Hmm Bangkok first, Paris tenth....*Checks calender to see if it's April 1st*

The only additional thing I brought with me was a photocopy of my passport.

I went to apply for single entry visa and I discovered it is no longer free, the cost is 110 ringgit. I think certain countries that have a bilateral visa agreement with Thailand still get their visas for free. I got chatting to a guy who told me it was possible to get double entry visas, he had done before and knew others that done it too. What he did was simply make air flight reservations at a travel agency and obtain a printout.

100,000 bht = 2,000 pounds a month to have a 'quality life' in Bkk???

Ridiculous,it can be done for much cheaper than that.

Quality is relative

RAZZ

Yeah, relative to the Sultan of Brunei, going by some of these posts.

Family of 4, with two children not yet at school age

Lets see:

Condo: 50,000/month (250sqm, 3 br/3 baht, mid sukhumvit near emporium, nice facilities)

Groceries: 15K/month conservatively, a combo of TOPS chidtlom and Carefore

Expat health insurance: 12K/month

Petrol: 4K/month (car owned outright light city driving)

Utilities: 12K/month (electricity, water, cable, gas)

Lunches: 3K/month per adult (street vendor type near work).

Where are we at?

99,000 per month before you even think about school fees, entertainment, going out and holidays.

The OP is not in a family of four though, he's single. Besides even with a family of four 100,000 a month is definitely not a requirement to have a quality life, but of course if someone wants to pay over the odds and live like royalty then they can spend more than 100,000.

I'm looking forward to seeing much less sex tourists and beer swelling chavs.

if there are no sex tourists it means the place is dead boring.

Not for me.

I'm inexperienced but it seems to me after reading these posts, that the OP would probably better off renting a room in a guest house. You have a better chance of getting your deposit back for starters. The downside of the guest house seems to be the 7bht a unit charge but even then my electric bill for last month was only 250bht.

Good luck finding trusted Thai friends when your flashing 15,000 to 25,000 bht around . That is asking to attract scammers.

100,000 bht = 2,000 pounds a month to have a 'quality life' in Bkk???

Ridiculous,it can be done for much cheaper than that.

Quality is relative

RAZZ

Yeah, relative to the Sultan of Brunei, going by some of these posts.

I think pretty much all banks have the same policy as Barclays, I don't use my bank card abroad unless it is really necessary. Instead I use a prepaid credit card, which means I can load the amount I need on the card. I brought two with me, good job I did as well because I lost one.

Not hard to get peoples noses out of joint on this forum is it?

A good left hook to the mid section and a nice uppercut to the nose will do it every time. Just make sure you get the FIRST swing.

As I've said many times, it all depends on what you think is value for your money. You can even get a fair pork or chicken hamburger at the 7-11 for 20 baht. 5 of those will fill you up quicker than ONE beef burger at McDonalds for the same price.

Me, I eat my Kow Padt Gai every day for anywhere from 25 to 50 baht. Usually I just give them 40 baht and leave them with a smile on their face and me with a full tummy.

Yeah I've seen those at 7-11 but I'm not really into hamburgers so never felt compelled to buy. Apart from the occasional thought about spaghetti or a roast dinner, I don't really miss western food at all.

I am going to be in Penang for a few days next week before going to kuching for three weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing much less sex tourists and beer swelling chavs. Heard a lot about the racist attitudes of Malaysians but my initial thoughts are it's probably no worse than some of the racist attitudes on this forum,in England or many other places.

100,000 bht = 2,000 pounds a month to have a 'quality life' in Bkk???

Ridiculous,it can be done for much cheaper than that.

Not hard to get peoples noses out of joint on this forum is it?

Chiang Mai is not really fantastic for the tourist to be honest, it's over-hyped and overrated. As a place to live though it'snot a bad choice, it's a good base for getting to other places in Asia and Thailand. Food is great and cheap,you can buy a good meal for 15 bhat and accommodation is cheap.

Where in CM you can buy a good meal for 15 bht ?

Maybe he/she hasn't visited C.M. in the last 10 years???

huh? I am in CM right now, I've only been here for less than two months and I know about these street carts.

I am staying in town and there are a number of street stalls selling the meal I described. There are always people queueing up to buy, never seen any foreigners buying from there though.

Chiang Mai is not really fantastic for the tourist to be honest

Depends on what you are looking for.

For tourists interested in temples, Chiang Mai has heaps. The Old City is more or less unique among Thai cities and nice for excursions by foot. If you're interested in scenic mountainous terrain, Chiang Mai is up there among the Thai top 5, at least (along with Kanchanaburi/Sangkhlaburi, Loei, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son).

It's a shame the smog obscures the scenery most of the time.

There's a decent art museum, Chiang Mai Zoo and the Night Safari, low and high end spa type places, good shopping: Airport Plaza, Saturday and Sunday walking street, Nimmanheimin Rd, Warorot Market, the Night Market, general touristy stuff like the elephant camps, bungy jump, ATV trails, tiger patting, monkey/snake shows in Mae Rim, Flight of the Gibbon in Mae On, botanical gardens - personal favourite being Queens Sirikit Botanical garden in Mae Rim; Huay Tung Tao lake, Hot Springs and Waterfalls, a water reservoir w. restaurant rafts, rooftop bars/restaurants at Porn Ping hotel and Furama hotel, river boat dinner cruise arranged by the Riverside Restaurant and a number of festivals throughout the year like Songkran, Loi Krathong and the Flower Festival.

Anyone into cooking schools, meditation courses, tai chi, yoga classes, vegetarian food will also feel at home in CM. Accommodation is good value for the money compared to Bangkok and the touristy parts of the South.

In my opinion the markets are good but the general touristy stuff is tacky to me.

Chiang Mai is not really fantastic for the tourist to be honest, it's over-hyped and overrated. As a place to live though it'snot a bad choice, it's a good base for getting to other places in Asia and Thailand. Food is great and cheap,you can buy a good meal for 15 bhat and accommodation is cheap.

Where in CM you can buy a good meal for 15 bht ?

street stalls, not fancy I know, but good enough for me. Rice only 5bht , vegetable/chicken curry 10 bht, sold in little small plastic bags.

I came here in march and I haven't use the aircon or fan once.

The 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house attached to this pool is only 5,000 baht per month.

If you know what you are doing, you can find this too

Holy crap, great find.

Chiang Mai is not really fantastic for the tourist to be honest, it's over-hyped and overrated. As a place to live though it'snot a bad choice, it's a good base for getting to other places in Asia and Thailand. Food is great and cheap,you can buy a good meal for 15 bhat and accommodation is cheap.

My electric bill is only 250bhat, I'm charged 7bhat per unit. I'm very pleased with that bill. I only use my laptop and the TV. I haven't felt hot enough to use the fan.

At 7 baht a unit you must live in a rented apartment (one room?) and how long have you lived in Thailand? You have been on the forum a little over a month. Just wait till it gets hot.

Guest house.

People warned me that march would be boiling hot, but it was fine. If it does get unbearable I'll put the electric fan on, no need for air con.

My electric bill is only 250bhat, I'm charged 7bhat per unit. I'm very pleased with that bill. I only use my laptop and the TV. I haven't felt hot enough to use the fan.

In my opinion this is the worst possible thing to donate, all I've seen in internet cafe's is people doing online gaming.

OMG when will these kids learn, the thing to do is Join a Forum and be someone.

That's right...mugg.

In my opinion this is the worst possible thing to donate, all I've seen in internet cafe's is people doing online gaming.

This is the first I've seen a nations tolerance level on a graph. I'll speak about the UK which has a high tolerance level on the graph. There are race discrimination laws and a lot of interracial marriages but I would say that your general population isn't really that accepting at all, especially outside major cities, there is a lot of stereotyping between everybody including ethnic groups. The tolerance level I would suggest as dropped even more since the recession started, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there is nowhere in the world where a foreigner can go and be fully accepted as a native by the majority of natives themselves.

I think you should go, you didn't mention anything about love in your post, so there is nothing holding you back.