Accommodations At $5 Per Day Is It Possible?

[Linosea]

Hi guys,

do you know if this is possible? I am not sure they can achieve this and I don't know where to look for this kind of places as google returns accommodation for $8 minimum.....

They are going to travel around LOS a bit.... Their trip should cover these places ....Bangkok (i think KSR should be in their budget) then Pattaya then Koh Chang.

Hua Hin, Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui, Phi Phi. And finally Chian Mai.

Thanks for yr help......

[sbk]

Hi guys,

do you know if this is possible? I am not sure they can achieve this and I don't know where to look for this kind of places as google returns accommodation for $8 minimum.....

They are going to travel around LOS a bit.... Their trip should cover these places ....Bangkok (i think KSR should be in their budget) then Pattaya then Koh Chang.

Hua Hin, Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui, Phi Phi. And finally Chian Mai.

Thanks for yr help......

They want to get a room for 175 baht a night???? Phi Phi and Samui, forget about it. Tell them to either up their budget or shorten their stay.

[flightcrew1]

Hi guys,

do you know if this is possible? I am not sure they can achieve this and I don't know where to look for this kind of places as google returns accommodation for $8 minimum.....

They are going to travel around LOS a bit.... Their trip should cover these places ....Bangkok (i think KSR should be in their budget) then Pattaya then Koh Chang.

Hua Hin, Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui, Phi Phi. And finally Chian Mai.

Thanks for yr help......

They want to get a room for 175 baht a night???? Phi Phi and Samui, forget about it. Tell them to either up their budget or shorten their stay.

I don't even think this is possible on KSR anymore! 500 cheap cheap on KSR! Phi Phi and Samui can find for 600 to 800 baht such as charlies and such. Up the budget!

[londonthai]

in bangkok I have 5br house 12 minutes taxi from Khaosan Rd from $100/week - more if a group larger than 3 and in high season (till end of january).

krabi and chang mai you can find reasonable prices

[Lite Beer]

They sound just the kind of up market tourist Thailand is looking for.

Anyway on Samui can get a bungalow near the beach in Lamai for 350 Baht a night . 500 with aircon.

[canadiangirl]

Yeah, that's pretty rough. Last year I met some people that were staying in rooms that were 175B and below, but prices surely have risen since then, and most of the rooms seemed pretty grim!

For 100B on Ko Tao, a girl I know got a hut on top of the mountain with no electricity, no toilets, cockroaches, and a monitor lizard lurking around and possibly under your house. Amazing view, though.

They're also not helping their budget by staying on a ton of islands. I found islands to be a lot more expensive than the mainland for basically everything: lodging, food, and transport. Transport in particular, tends to be a giant rip-off on the islands.

[britmaveric]

Sure it can be had, but prob not worth staying in for that price.

[torrenova]

Staying in Krabi one year (about 2001 perhaps) we went over to Phi Phi for a couple of days. Walking around the "town" we were amazed to find 3 asian girls (could not be Japanese as my wife then was Japanese, so perhaps Korean) who turned down a dark room with no windows and just matresses on the floor at Bt300 for the inght, so Bt100 each as being too expensive !

Also on Phi Phi, we were on the back side, is it Dalum Bay (?) and had some beers and food in a place near Charlies (pre tsunami) and a western girl at the next table left about 1/3 of her large Chang and disappeared. When we came to pay they asked us where our "friend" was ! We had never spoken to her but she had done a runner from what must have been about a Bt40 or Bt50 bill !

Sorry but whilst I hate Thailand's stance on most of the visa regulations, we do not need people like this. The OP's friends should come for a much reduced stay and budget perhaps Bt2000 all in per day of lodgings, food and entertainment including travel or save some more money and come later.

[londonthai]

most probably those asian tourist girls did find a room with beds and windows for the same or lower price.

we are not talking about alcoholics or drug addicts but about budget tourists simply not able to spend 2k/day. If thai are able to live on 2k/week or even per month, than, with some research and know-how, a tourist can do the same.

it's not difficult to spend 2k/day - anybody can do it, but it's an art to travel on, say, 400baht/day. The accommodation, being the single biggest expenditure, is a the best way of saving money

[asanee]

it can VERY esily be done, and not at all with the dangers the assorted above assume.

basic rooms, clean, shower otside (NO hot water), having nothing more as a bed+ fan (pad lom) in it, NO towles/room service= thats the classic standard Thai budget room. goes still for around 150/200 THB/single/nite, in BKK ad MAINland tourist towns. NOT at beachside =also any island, not even in low-season. Can even get for less (80/100) in towns like Chiang mai/the north, Chiang Khong. they are NOT on the web, do NOT take any bookings other as walk-in and standds vary a lot; some are nice places in family-homes, some are flophouses, most in between.

What poster should know is, that this particular forum has a specific bias against anything they think is too cheap.

Afte havig slept (those asian girls, I think) at those places, yes prices at PhiPhi wil come as shellshock.

very simple advice; buy a guidebook, a budget one, that lists them. do not rely at all on web.

[Linosea]

Thanks guys!

I told them exactly what Canadian G. posted here.

Anyway their budget is $20 per day on a 5555 basis ( $5 accom. $5 food $5 booze $5 transportation) .....

Not sure how they are going to party on a $5 booze' budget thou!

Thanks again!!!

[kash]

so 600 bucks is what they have saved up for this trip? lol, why don't bother working one more week at home and they could afford the triple? what a troll

[londonthai]

their trip might be not only for 4 weeks but for many months, if they are travelling to the other countries as well. If they find out thailand is beyond their budget they will go somewhere else, where they would have a better value for money.

[pointofview]

Also worth remembering that the $ is becoming an undesirable currency - its decline is so fast it is scary (being dumped all over the world $2.10 for £1 ) The more Mr Bush asks the Fed to print the more worthless it becomes!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Also worth remembering that the $ is becoming an undesirable currency - its decline is so fast it is scary (being dumped all over the world $2.10 for £1 ) The more Mr Bush asks the Fed to print the more worthless it becomes!

[jackr]

so 600 bucks is what they have saved up for this trip? lol, why don't bother working one more week at home and they could afford the triple? what a troll

What's trollish about it? Cut them some slack, they're asking for help so if you have nothing constructive to add then bog off elsewhere with your smugness.

I'm sure many of us on here originally traveled around Muang Thai on a shoestring. As others have said, op, traveling with that sort of budget to some of the island destinations you suggest may have been possible 10 years ago, but is getting tougher as the cheapies make way for more mid-range places. Also, what time of year they go will also have a big effect on their budget as most accommodation rises between about now and April. The 5555 may have to be doctored to 10555, but the food (noodles, khao soi), booze (Chang) and transportation shouldn't be a problem.

Google won't show you too much in the way of cheapie places with a generic search; you need to go direct to sites that specialize in that type of travel and then explore them. Below are a few useful resources on the subject. Someone else suggested getting a guide book and while everyone likes to knock Lonely Planet, they cover budget travel pretty well, with useful info on accommodation, maps, and what to see etc. All the best.

Useful resources

Lonely Planet - Basic costs

Rough Guides - Thailand Accommodation

Frommers Thailand - Planning a trip

1 Stop Thailand - Generic info on Thailand

[britmaveric]

Also worth remembering that the $ is becoming an undesirable currency - its decline is so fast it is scary (being dumped all over the world $2.10 for £1 ) The more Mr Bush asks the Fed to print the more worthless it becomes!

Silliest comment to date.

[sbk]

Agreed brit, and absolutely off topic.

As for the 5555 idea, well... is that for each person or for both of them?

If for both of them then I will be honest with you, they won't have much fun as they won't be able to travel very much or eat very much food. Better to cut the trip a bit shorter and have some extra money.

And let me add, I have no problem with budget backpackers, our business survives on them. But I am speaking from a point of reality here. 175 baht a day for food for 2 people is doable but not enjoyable. Transportation, no, not possible unless they take the local buses and then they will be spending the majority of their holiday on the cheap bus.

My suggestion? Cut the holiday shorter than 4 weeks or go to some of the places with cheaper costs of living and rule out Phi Phi and Samui entirely. Very unrealistic budget IME. And I am a thrifty woman

[JimsKnight]

I agree, the days of cheap digs for tourists on the Islands are long gone.

I'm glad I caught the last hurrah back in 2000-1 when they were still worth visiting.

[britmaveric]

And its worth pointing out - having no/little dosh in thailand well can be downright miserable experience.

[cmsally]

I think if that budget was per person on some days they would achieve it, but certainly not everyday.

In the north it is cheaper and you could probably get by.

But I agree in the south forget it.

If that budget covers both of them its way too low.

[Naam]

their trip might be not only for 4 weeks but for many months, if they are travelling to the other countries as well. If they find out thailand is beyond their budget they will go somewhere else, where they would have a better value for money.

they could work in a coal mine in China

[dr_Pat_Pong]

their trip might be not only for 4 weeks but for many months, if they are travelling to the other countries as well. If they find out thailand is beyond their budget they will go somewhere else, where they would have a better value for money.

they could work in a coal mine in China

[kash]

What's trollish about it? Cut them some slack, they're asking for help so if you have nothing constructive to add then bog off elsewhere with your smugness.

work another week, you don't find that constructive? 20 bucks a day is a joke, whether you like it or not.

[londonthai]

is that for each person or for both of them?

we don't know how many of them there is - still many chinese hotels in asia do charge per room and not per person, so the whole family/group pays same as the single traveller.

if there is a group of them they can save even on transport renting a songtaw, mini bus or even taking taxis from time to time. Alcohol is cheap in shops - they don't have to visit go-go bars to fork out 200baht for a small haineken.

Once again - if thai can live on 100 or 200baht per day than a farang can do on 600baht.

ps dr nan - maybe you are loaded and maybe you never had to work a single day of your life to have your money, but there are countless who are poor, even in the west and for whom a trip to asia is beyond their wildest dreams

[jackr]

What's trollish about it? Cut them some slack, they're asking for help so if you have nothing constructive to add then bog off elsewhere with your smugness.

work another week, you don't find that constructive? 20 bucks a day is a joke, whether you like it or not.

No, I don't. How do you know what their current circumstances are? They could be gap year students or whatever. You were simply belittling them without adding anything of use. It doesn't concern me as I'm not in that position and never have been, even when backpacking it, but at least I'll sit own for a few minutes and try and give someone some half-decent information.

[london]

Hi Linosea,

frankly, I would advise them against coming to Thailand with such a tight budget.

I remember doing it as a student 20 years ago, and from memory, we were living on $10 per day then.....and that wasn't easy.

The other factor is that in the event of an unforeseen issue (which may be a positive or negative event), they have to have the funds available to handle that....or access to funds offshore.

Its a great adventure, but one that can turn sour if they are under prepared.

Edited November 11, 2007 by london

[gvan]

Hi guys,

do you know if this is possible? I am not sure they can achieve this and I don't know where to look for this kind of places as google returns accommodation for $8 minimum.....

They are going to travel around LOS a bit.... Their trip should cover these places ....Bangkok (i think KSR should be in their budget) then Pattaya then Koh Chang.

Hua Hin, Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui, Phi Phi. And finally Chian Mai.

Thanks for yr help......

This site might help for accomodation www.travelfish.org that solves part of the problem. It could be possible to eat 'street' food and survive on US5 perday. Thai Wiskey or 7 Eleven might help keep the drink budget intact. Your transportation budget is not going to do with the travel you have planned even if taking a bus. Ferry travel is not that cheap. I think most would agree that it would be a shame to travel so far and be so limited by budget that it was not possible to experience all the beauty and wonderful experiences that only another US10-20 could make possible. While it might be possible, many great opportunites would most likely be missed. Good Luck

[fredlaw]

a good choice for both hotel and food is "sip-som" coins (13 coins) hotel. i believe they have about 25 resturants and rooms throughout thailand. when i stayed in 2005 it was way less than $5 (us) per day. however that was when the dollar was worth a lot more great food and cheap also

[Girlaboutglobe]

I reckon it can be done more or less (more some days less others) if it's $20 each. I averaged about $20-$30/day for the first months in Thailand, but it takes some research. The earlier post re buying hard liquor at 7-11 is bang-on, you can easily rack up expenses drinking at some bars. in terms of transportation, public buses and song taos are just fine for getting around. One good option is to take over night sleeper trains when possible because they're pretty affordable and you save the cost of a night's accommodation. For me it worked out to be about $10 accommodation, $3 food, $3 transportation, and booze was a wild card. I stayed in private rooms, mostly shared toilets, mostly no hot water or air con, hostels are cheaper and more realistic for a group than for a single.

Assuming we're talking about Canadians or Americans here, consider that the flight alone runs anywhere from $850-$1600 each way, so I can understand the need for keeping costs down.