The cheapest farang in town!

[DDBKK]

I've known a few cheep farangs in my time since I first came to Thailand as a backpacker many moons ago. It generally goes hand and hand with a certain section of backpackers. Not all, but some tend to opt for the cheapest options for EVERYTHING. 

 

There's nothing wrong with being a bit careful with your money and trying to grab a bargain here and there. However, what I'm talking about here is the type of cheap people who will buy a bottle of beer from the 7/11 and stand outside bars on Suk drinking it for example. 

 

I was told a funny story recently by one of my colleagues about a time when he was supposed to be meeting his buddy at a bar in BKK. His friend apparently arrived 4 hours late because he opted to take the open window baht bus from the airport which did a lap of the city before getting to his desired location. All so he could save the 35 baht taxi pick up charge he would have had to pay.  This is a guy who has a nice house and money but simply chooses not to pay for anything over and above what is absolutely essential.  Picking up massage shop girls because he "doesn't pay for it" and they never ask for any money after the deed is his MO apparently. Unbelievable behaviour. 

 

I know there must be some good stories out there.... ???

[bendejo]

Started traveling in 1975, we weren't called backpackers back then, I think the locals called us hippies, regardless of short hair and ordinary clothes.  Did the overland route from Europe to India, then a flight to SEA from Calcutta.

The northern Europeans who spoke German (not ALL, of course)  had this quirk:  the only real conversations they were interested in involved "how much you pay?"  E.g. if you had been to a place they were headed they wanted to know where you stayed, where you ate, and what you paid, and then they would write it in a little notebook.  But when you answered their burning question regarding a place they had already been, then began the chant "tooo much" (sounds better with a German accent). 

"What you pay for dinner?"

"25 US cents"

"Too much!  We pay only 23 cents!  You (insert nationality here) always pay too much."

Pretty riveting discourse.  Hey, I was getting by on a few dollars a day too, by I was primarily interested in the places I was visiting.

 

More recently, I was around Pratunam.  Young fellow with dreadlocks with his girlfriend in tow (my guess is she was from another SEA country) asked me how to get to KSR.  I pointed him in the direction and told him it was app. 3km away, and there were buses to take him right there.  He asked how much the bus fare was, I told him 14 baht.  He said that would mean 28b for both of them and that was too much.

 

 

[mstevens]

I have a friend with a net worth of about $2 million who is super cheap.  One time he bought a hamburger at the local takeaway shop and took it home, cut off a slice of cheese from the block in his fridge and added that to the burger to make a cheeseburger, all to save (if I remember correctly) the extra 20 cents the takeaway charged for a cheeseburger over a hamburger.  The crazy thing with this fellow is that he could stop working now, enjoy his money and it likely would not run out.  Rather, he remains a real tightwad.  Nothing wrong with watching your pennies if you don't have a lot or need to stretch out what you've got, but it's kinda sad to see those with money going to extreme lengths to preserve every last penny when they don't need to.

[SpokaneAl]

I have a friend with a net worth of about $2 million who is super cheap.  One time he bought a hamburger at the local takeaway shop and took it home, cut off a slice of cheese from the block in his fridge and added that to the burger to make a cheeseburger, all to save (if I remember correctly) the extra 20 cents the takeaway charged for a cheeseburger over a hamburger.  The crazy thing with this fellow is that he could stop working now, enjoy his money and it likely would not run out.  Rather, he remains a real tightwad.  Nothing wrong with watching your pennies if you don't have a lot or need to stretch out what you've got, but it's kinda sad to see those with money going to extreme lengths to preserve every last penny when they don't need to.

It can be a difficult challenge to move from saving and frugality one’s entire working life to loosening up the purse strings in retirement.


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[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, SpokaneAl said:

 

It can be a difficult challenge to move from saving and frugality one’s entire working life to loosening up the purse strings in retirement.


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

My Thai Mrs is helping me out on that one!

[mick220675]

 I have a friend, who is a proper Yorkshire man. He used to bring his wife's expensive face cream bottles to work and re fill them with the cheep hand cream you find on construction sites. His bag was always full of toilet rolls he would steal for his home use. I once saw him pull half eaten food from a bin and eat it.

 

He now has 3 houses, must be worth a couple of million pounds.

[Colabamumbai]

13 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

My Thai Mrs is helping me out on that one!

Mine too, she is saving my money, good lady.

[sirmud63]

rich people stay rich by living like poor people .

poor people stay poor by living like rich people .

[Emster23]

Regarding putting own cheese on burger: perhaps he wanted to put some decent cheddar on the burger instead of the bland processed goop that is classed as "cheese" on most commercial burgers?

[Dazinoz]

Was holidaying on a little island in the middle of the Pacific out from Australia. It was called Norfolk Island. One day I saw this old guy going through the bin and digging out the aluminium cans and putting them into a bag. He would have been in his late 70s early 80s. Talking to a local that day I mentioned the “poor” guy. The local said that’s Borry. Owned a car rental business and several hotels on the island. Turns out a multi millionaire. Guess he figures he can take it with him. 

[smotherb]

4 hours ago, mstevens said:

I have a friend with a net worth of about $2 million who is super cheap.  One time he bought a hamburger at the local takeaway shop and took it home, cut off a slice of cheese from the block in his fridge and added that to the burger to make a cheeseburger, all to save (if I remember correctly) the extra 20 cents the takeaway charged for a cheeseburger over a hamburger.  The crazy thing with this fellow is that he could stop working now, enjoy his money and it likely would not run out.  Rather, he remains a real tightwad.  Nothing wrong with watching your pennies if you don't have a lot or need to stretch out what you've got, but it's kinda sad to see those with money going to extreme lengths to preserve every last penny when they don't need to.

I have to admit I tend to agree with you. However, I knew a very cheap, but very wealthy man who insisted he was rich because he had not spent his money all his life. I believe life is too short to deprive yourself of anything you enjoy; if you can afford it and it is not illegal or hurts someone else.

 

Unfortunately, some people just don't plan their lives and fortunes well enough to do anything except on the cheap.

 

I am just trying to plan my life well-enough to party until the day I can't and still leave my wife enough to live well until her death and hopefully she has some left for our son--to cover that we are giving to our son and his family now.  

[smotherb]

1 hour ago, Emster23 said:

Regarding putting own cheese on burger: perhaps he wanted to put some decent cheddar on the burger instead of the bland processed goop that is classed as "cheese" on most commercial burgers?

Well, if that were the case. I would have opted to build my own burger instead of the slop which constitutes most commercial burgers.

[smotherb]

1 hour ago, sirmud63 said:

rich people stay rich by living like poor people .

poor people stay poor by living like rich people .

Although a old adage, poor people cannot live like rich people; they can only blow the little money they have. And, rich people do not live like poor people; they do not have to worry about their children starving or meeting the bills.

[namoi]

Never seen a Hurst taking a rich man to the cementry stop at a bank so he can make a withdrawal to take it all with him.

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[smotherb]

4 hours ago, SpokaneAl said:

 

It can be a difficult challenge to move from saving and frugality one’s entire working life to loosening up the purse strings in retirement.


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

I think you have hit on a valid point. Having lived cheaply all your life, it could be difficult to change your lifestyle. 

[1FinickyOne]

5 hours ago, bendejo said:

Started traveling in 1975, we weren't called backpackers back then, I think the locals called us hippies, regardless of short hair and ordinary clothes.  Did the overland route from Europe to India, then a flight to SEA from Calcutta.

The northern Europeans who spoke German (not ALL, of course)  had this quirk:  the only real conversations they were interested in involved "how much you pay?"  E.g. if you had been to a place they were headed they wanted to know where you stayed, where you ate, and what you paid, and then they would write it in a little notebook.  But when you answered their burning question regarding a place they had already been, then began the chant "tooo much" (sounds better with a German accent). 

"What you pay for dinner?"

"25 US cents"

"Too much!  We pay only 23 cents!  You (insert nationality here) always pay too much."

Pretty riveting discourse.  Hey, I was getting by on a few dollars a day too, by I was primarily interested in the places I was visiting.

 

More recently, I was around Pratunam.  Young fellow with dreadlocks with his girlfriend in tow (my guess is she was from another SEA country) asked me how to get to KSR.  I pointed him in the direction and told him it was app. 3km away, and there were buses to take him right there.  He asked how much the bus fare was, I told him 14 baht.  He said that would mean 28b for both of them and that was too much.

 

 

I made a similar RTW backpacking trip in 1974 - my first time here. Nice to know there are some of us here from those days when if you saw another Westerner, you had an immediate friend. 

 

That said, I am out in the countryside and have enjoyed picking up an occasional backpacker, taking them for a meal, sometimes even getting them a hotel room if they seem to need it. Just re-paying some of the kindnesses offered to me in my youth...

[sanemax]

3 minutes ago, namoi said:

Never seen a Hurst taking a rich man to the cementry stop at a bank so he can make a withdrawal to take it all with him.

Although there are plenty of people who die in poverty because they spent all and not saved anything when they were younger

[1FinickyOne]

4 hours ago, mstevens said:

I have a friend with a net worth of about $2 million who is super cheap.  One time he bought a hamburger at the local takeaway shop and took it home, cut off a slice of cheese from the block in his fridge and added that to the burger to make a cheeseburger, all to save (if I remember correctly) the extra 20 cents the takeaway charged for a cheeseburger over a hamburger.  The crazy thing with this fellow is that he could stop working now, enjoy his money and it likely would not run out.  Rather, he remains a real tightwad.  Nothing wrong with watching your pennies if you don't have a lot or need to stretch out what you've got, but it's kinda sad to see those with money going to extreme lengths to preserve every last penny when they don't need to.

 

4 hours ago, SpokaneAl said:

 

It can be a difficult challenge to move from saving and frugality one’s entire working life to loosening up the purse strings in retirement.


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

I have seen this too.. to go the opposite way of what brought you success, saving, can be a difficult habit to kick. 

 

It takes perspective.

[Dmaxdan]

I wouldn't refer to someone who buys beer from a 7/Eleven as a Cheap Charlie. There is no way I would pay their inflated prices. Leo is 2 baht more than it is in my local shop. That's just unacceptable.

[userabcd]

With the real effects of inflation and the CPI having on future value of savings and the cost of living, I say well done to those being prudent with their money, one never knows what future curve-ball life will throw.

[sanemax]

5 hours ago, bendejo said:

Started traveling in 1975,

"What you pay for dinner?"

"25 US cents"

"Too much!  We pay only 23 cents!  You (insert nationality here) always pay too much."

 

Although you need to take into account that back them , a Dollar a day was the usual daily expenditure 

[leafmould]

I had a friend that I knew from travels in India, first I thought driving around Koh phangan for an hour to find the cheapest pad Thai was mildly amusing as I didn't go with him but then I saw that he always filled up one cup in 7/11 with coffee and another with ice but would only pay for the coffee, sometimes arguing long time with staff that It was only one cup, then mixing it outside in his own bottle. I was with him in bkk once and he was on his way to Cambodia with his girlfriend, he wanted to change bhat to usd, so instead of using money change he stood outside the change place on ko San road at noon and asked everybody if they were changing dollers and if he could buy for the non comission rate of 2 bhat per doller more, it took 40 minutes in the sun to do. I took his girlfriend off for a drink as I think she was getting heat stroke. He lives from his girlfriend, now wife, giving body body massage in London and owns and rents out 2 houses. 

[userabcd]

I drink cappuccinos from 7 eleven rather than Starbucks, currently get 2 for one deal at 39 baht. Go on all, have a good laugh at my expense.

[csabo]

4 hours ago, SpokaneAl said:

 

It can be a difficult challenge to move from saving and frugality one’s entire working life to loosening up the purse strings in retirement.


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

You hit it on the head. Some people are more susceptible to obsessive behavior. Over obsessing on food,  drinking or drugs are obvious negative behaviors but people think over training or saving every available penny are "good" behaviors and don't see the harm. 

[colinneil]

Well i am a cheap farang, go into big C, look for the yellow stickers 25- 50% discount, get some funny looks from the locals.

What the hell i dont care, my pension is a joke at the moment, pound @ 43 baht.

 

One thing i said to my wife, when i go put all my money in the box with me, ok darling she says i will write you a cheque

[giddyup]

32 minutes ago, namoi said:

Never seen a Hurst taking a rich man to the cementry stop at a bank so he can make a withdrawal to take it all with him.

Sent from my CPH1707 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

I believe you mean a hearse.

[csabo]

9 minutes ago, userabcd said:

I drink cappuccinos from 7 eleven rather than Starbucks, currently get 2 for one deal at 39 baht. Go on all, have a good laugh at my expense.

I got a coffee at 7-11 and the water was so hot I would have been there for 10 minutes waiting for the cup to cool down enough to pick it up so I doubled up the cup which is a totally common practice in the States. Some shops even give you the double cup when they prepare it for you or at least those little cardboard sleeves. The keen eyed girl behind the counter making 30 baht an hour was quick to stop the thief (me) and started commenting in Thai to her co-slave that I had 2 cups and asked how to handle the situation. I overheard and told her in Thai to relax and just charge me for 2 coffees. And she did. Free stay at Bangkok Hilton averted. Someone could be stomped to death outside the shop and she would look away but TWO CUPS?! NO WAY MISTER! 

[robblok]

6 minutes ago, csabo said:

I got a coffee at 7-11 and the water was so hot I would have been there for 10 minutes waiting for the cup to cool down enough to pick it up so I doubled up the cup which is a totally common practice in the States. Some shops even give you the double cup when they prepare it for you or at least those little cardboard sleeves. The keen eyed girl behind the counter making 30 baht an hour was quick to stop the thief (me) and started commenting in Thai to her co-slave that I had 2 cups and asked how to handle the situation. I overheard and told her in Thai to relax and just charge me for 2 coffees. And she did. Free stay at Bangkok Hilton averted. Someone could be stomped to death outside the shop and she would look away but TWO CUPS?! NO WAY MISTER! 

Moral of the story.. don't think that habits of your old country are acceptable here. 

 

You should have asked to pay for an extra cup (not 2 coffees)

[theguyfromanotherforum]

6 hours ago, DDBKK said:

I've known a few cheep farangs in my time since I first came to Thailand as a backpacker many moons ago. It generally goes hand and hand with a certain section of backpackers. Not all, but some tend to opt for the cheapest options for EVERYTHING. 

 

There's nothing wrong with being a bit careful with your money and trying to grab a bargain here and there. However, what I'm talking about here is the type of cheap people who will buy a bottle of beer from the 7/11 and stand outside bars on Suk drinking it for example. 

 

I was told a funny story recently by one of my colleagues about a time when he was supposed to be meeting his buddy at a bar in BKK. His friend apparently arrived 4 hours late because he opted to take the open window baht bus from the airport which did a lap of the city before getting to his desired location. All so he could save the 35 baht taxi pick up charge he would have had to pay.  This is a guy who has a nice house and money but simply chooses not to pay for anything over and above what is absolutely essential.  Picking up massage shop girls because he "doesn't pay for it" and they never ask for any money after the deed is his MO apparently. Unbelievable behaviour. 

 

I know there must be some good stories out there.... ???

 

I find your examples silly.

 

I definitely enjoy more taking a bus rather than a taxi or BTS when I am in the city. One of the reasons is climbing up those stupid stairs for nothing. Most of you guys claim taxis are not turning on the meter (which I didn't experience much to be honest), so the guy maybe just thought it would be less stressful for him to take a bus.

 

Some people enjoy buying a cheap beer and drinking it outside and watch people go by. Why does it have to be from a Nana bar? Did someone write the rules how someone should enjoy their beer?

 

I don't enjoy beer. It makes me puke. Maybe I should make a thread about you being alcoholic? I mean... here you are... in Thailand.

Edited January 22, 2018 by theguyfromanotherforum

[csabo]

4 minutes ago, robblok said:

Moral of the story.. don't think that habits of your old country are acceptable here. 

 

You should have asked to pay for an extra cup (not 2 coffees)

The moral of the story is that they sell coffee to hot to take away and the UPC code on the cup rings up the price of a full cup of coffee and that Thai logic (like yours) does not exist. 

Edited January 22, 2018 by csabo