Bargain Phuket

[stevehaigh]

i think there was a thread a bit like this before but it probably doesn't hurt to start a new one to get the most up to date info

here's my list of ways to save money in Phuket

- tesco lotus (even the small ones) have expired vegies that are still ok and usually less than 1/2 price. best to go first thing in the morning before the good stuff has been picked over.

- wine connection has half price bread after 6pm. although even at full price, its better and cheaper than most of the other bread places.

- take away pizza - i usually buy a basic pizza (actually i like 4 cheese) then 'pimp my pizza' at home where the add on ingredients cost a fraction of the restaurant price. just fry quick in olive oil

- speaking of olive oil, olive pomace oil is far cheaper and is great for frying

- mexican black beans. i love to make mexican food but canned black beans are expensive. i use the dried beans from Villa, can cook in about 6 hours and cook with plenty of onion, garlic and chilly, tastes awesome

- pickles, i make my own, see this thread for my recipe http://www.thaivisa....03#entry5258903

- drink in bars at happy hour (kind of obvious this one). most of the bars in rawai have 50 baht bottles and 45 baht draft before 7pm

- before you buy something big, check the second hand shops, maybe get a better deal.

- also, if you need steel for a building project, look at the steel recycle places.

- broken tools or blunt saw blades or router bits? there a great repair shop on Jao Faa West about 100m south of the PTT petrol station

pls add yours

Edited April 29, 2012 by stevehaigh

[longstebe]

Usually buy the veggies from the markets.

Find your own group of friends to sit outside the 7-11 or something similar for a few drinkys before or after happy hrs.

[Guest]

Great thread thanks

Local Ciders taste more like chemical water with sugar. Buy SiamSato 'white wine' from a local 7/11 with price tag of 25 bath. Mix with Chang soda and you'll have not great, but better tasting cider for a few bath.

Old wisdom applies anywhere in the world. Eat where local residents are eating to get best quality/price ratio.

[stevehaigh]

Usually buy the veggies from the markets.

tesco has a lot of stuff you will not find in the market. button mushroom, rocket salad, those sweet coconuts with all the husk off.

also, another place for good salad is the hydroponic farm on Jao Far West across the street from the big stone shop and the bali garden place. they have a new retail shop now, connected to the farm. i think the salad has gone up a bit in price since opening the retail shop but still far cheaper than Villa

[goober]

I filter my sewerage and collect the water for drinking.

Have a shower every second day to save electric and water.

I chase balloons like its going out of fashion and back door it when it comes my turn to shout a beer.

Am I doing it right?

[Guest]

I filter my sewerage and collect the water for drinking.

Have a shower every second day to save electric and water.

I chase balloons like its going out of fashion and back door it when it comes my turn to shout a beer.

Am I doing it right?

No, dear child. No, unless you are an Englishman with Scottish mother living in Singapore.

[Guest]

Take a mini vacation on close by islands. Shuttle boat from Ban Rong pier to the Koh Yao Noi or Yai costs 150-200 bath. Renting an motorbike on Yao Noi is 200B per day. Accommodation varies from 500B-1500B per night. Great way to experience slightly different atmosphere what Phuket offers.

http://map.panphuket.com/mappoint/bang-rong-pier

http://map.panphuket.com/mappoint/koh-yao-noi

[KarenBravo]

Eat for free every day by becoming a balloon chaser (make sure you only order a coke and nurse it for two hours).

Get money for your happy hour beers by rummaging through other people's rubbish to collect cans, plastics and cardboard (best to go at sun-up so you can beat the professional scavangers to the bins).

Save on laundry bills by turning inside out your T-shirts shorts and underpants (using a stiff-bristled brush on the underpants is recommended), a great conversation starter as numerous people will inform you that you have them on inside-out. Feign ignorance.

Flowers for your sweet-heart? Don't buy them, there are loads of magnificent Calla lillies that grow in the storm drains. Absolutely free!

Screen your face with a free base-ball cap. You'll see one lying in the road at least once a week

Free flip-flops.....as above, though you might have to wait a bit to get a right and a left.

[Guest]

Save with water heating costs by getting an solar water heater. The price for unpressurised heaters start from 10.000B and can serve the need of few people on the house.

Use energy saving light bulbs, specially if your home is air conditioned. The excess heat of the normal light bulbs will need to removed by the cooling system, which doubles the energy consumption. Same applies to the home electronics.

[Gregory Morozov]

@KarenBravo: I understand you might be allergic to freeloaders, but the original poster gave no indication he is one. Why need to scorn so badly a person who is just not as well-off as you apparently are? The comments like that are the main reason why the Phuket forum is not very lively these days...

Edited April 29, 2012 by Gregory Morozov

[KarenBravo]

@KarenBravo: I understand you might be allergic to freeloaders, but the original poster gave no indication he is one. Why need to scorn so badly a person who is just not as well-off as you apparently are? The comments like that are the main reason why the Phuket forum is not very lively these days...

Please get well soon after your sense-of-humour bypass operation.

[LivinginKata]

Let's have some civility here. It's ok to have some fun on a boring Sunday. But insults are not welcome. Thank you.

[MissChris]

@KarenBravo: I understand you might be allergic to freeloaders, but the original poster gave no indication he is one. Why need to scorn so badly a person who is just not as well-off as you apparently are? The comments like that are the main reason why the Phuket forum is not very lively these days...

I actually LMAO at KarenBravo's post.

Just don't rummage through the rubbish with too much abandon...had a bad dose of some bug & son simply dropped all the towels & stuff into plastic garbage bags. Still chuckling at the surprise someone would have got opening them with gleeful anticipation. Not a good look.

What's wrong with growing some of your own veggies & brewing your own beer? Goodness, in Phuket you could probably operate a still...

[stevehaigh]

Screen your face with a free base-ball cap. You'll see one lying in the road at least once a week

that's where i get all mine from, can't believe i forgot to add that to my list

[stevehaigh]

Save with water heating costs by getting an solar water heater. The price for unpressurised heaters start from 10.000B and can serve the need of few people on the house.

Use energy saving light bulbs, specially if your home is air conditioned. The excess heat of the normal light bulbs will need to removed by the cooling system, which doubles the energy consumption. Same applies to the home electronics.

i'm putting LED lights in my house. still very expensive in Thailand but i buy on ebay from hong kong where they are close to the price of compact florescent but much nicer.

[GiantFan]

I like to make chili at home. The canned variety of kidney beans in Carrefore, now Big C, at Jungceylon is imported and fairly expensive. I go to the salad bar and get a bag full at a fraction of the price of the canned. I think it is also fresher vs. the canned variety.

[Shot]

I like to make chili at home. The canned variety of kidney beans in Carrefore, now Big C, at Jungceylon is imported and fairly expensive. I go to the salad bar and get a bag full at a fraction of the price of the canned. I think it is also fresher vs. the canned variety.

That is a very good idea. Smart one on you friend. I will give that a try.

Stevehaigh: can you give measurements of the spices in your pickles?

[stevehaigh]

Stevehaigh: can you give measurements of the spices in your pickles?

not really, family secret. no seriously, i don't measure anything when cooking, i just throw stuff in and hope for the best. it depends on how spicy you like it but if making 2 big jars of pickles, start with about 1-2 tsp of each thing i listed and 1 garlic bulb and about 5 chillies

Edited April 29, 2012 by stevehaigh

[stevehaigh]

gardening tips:

- when laying japanese grass sod, don't try cover the whole area, leave large gaps between the sod. it will look like crap at first but as soon as the grass is established, it will grow sideways and fill in.

- bird or paradise spread out at the roots. i get into the ground with a hand saw and cut a clump in half then replant the cut off bit somewhere else. it grows in no time.

- lelawadee (plumeria), did you know you can grow them from seed? i have about 500 plants in my garden i grew from seed. the great thing is they come up all kinds of beautiful and surprising colors. look on ebay for suppliers in Thailand, usually $30 for 1000 seeds. or if you want to propagate what you have or something you saw on the side of the road, just take a cutting and put it in some potting soil and keep it in partial sun for a few months until it roots.

- orchids, there is a garden shop on Jao Faa east, about 800m south of Toyota (Dowrung intersection) that sells off the old orchids that the flowers have died, for 20 baht. don't worry, the flowers will come back in a few months anyhow. i have over 500 in my place and they look fantastic.

- trees, i actually go to surat for a lot of garden stuff, its about 30% cheaper than phuket. i can get nice flowering trees there in 10" pots, 2-3" trunk, for about 300 baht. the shop i like is about 1km past the tesco-lotus

- landscaping rocks - go to Phang Na, about 20km past the bridge, to a rock quarry to find salt and pepper and green granite boulders of any size you like, 150b/ton. phuket price, 9baht/kg i.e. 9000 baht/ton!

Edited April 30, 2012 by stevehaigh

[Shot]

Stevehaigh: can you give measurements of the spices in your pickles?

not really, family secret. no seriously, i don't measure anything when cooking, i just throw stuff in and hope for the best. it depends on how spicy you like it but if making 2 big jars of pickles, start with about 1-2 tsp of each thing i listed and 1 garlic bulb and about 5 chillies

I'll give it try...thanks

[lavender19]

I like to make chili at home. The canned variety of kidney beans in Carrefore, now Big C, at Jungceylon is imported and fairly expensive. I go to the salad bar and get a bag full at a fraction of the price of the canned. I think it is also fresher vs. the canned variety.

Just by the dried beans soak overnight and boil 30 bht 500 grms.can't get any fresher than that

[prophet01]

gardening tips:

- when laying japanese grass sod, don't try cover the whole area, leave large gaps between the sod. it will look like crap at first but as soon as the grass is established, it will grow sideways and fill in.

- bird or paradise spread out at the roots. i get into the ground with a hand saw and cut a clump in half then replant the cut off bit somewhere else. it grows in no time.

- lelawadee (plumeria), did you know you can grow them from seed? i have about 500 plants in my garden i grew from seed. the great thing is they come up all kinds of beautiful and surprising colors. look on ebay for suppliers in Thailand, usually $30 for 1000 seeds. or if you want to propagate what you have or something you saw on the side of the road, just take a cutting and put it in some potting soil and keep it in partial sun for a few months until it roots.

- orchids, there is a garden shop on Jao Faa east, about 800m south of Toyota (Dowrung intersection) that sells off the old orchids that the flowers have died, for 20 baht. don't worry, the flowers will come back in a few months anyhow. i have over 500 in my place and they look fantastic.

- trees, i actually go to surat for a lot of garden stuff, its about 30% cheaper than phuket. i can get nice flowering trees there in 10" pots, 2-3" trunk, for about 300 baht. the shop i like is about 1km past the tesco-lotus

- landscaping rocks - go to Phang Na, about 20km past the bridge, to a rock quarry to find salt and pepper and green granite boulders of any size you like, 150b/ton. phuket price, 9baht/kg i.e. 9000 baht/ton!

Steve, we'll be shortly looking at sourcing a large quantity of trees and plants for a resort landscaping project. Does this place in Surat have a large variety and are you able to let me know its precise location?

Edited April 30, 2012 by prophet01

[stevehaigh]

Steve, we'll be shortly looking at sourcing a large quantity of trees and plants for a resort landscaping project. Does this place in Surat have a large variety and are you able to let me know its precise location?

yes and 9.106292,99.32844

[prophet01]

Steve, we'll be shortly looking at sourcing a large quantity of trees and plants for a resort landscaping project. Does this place in Surat have a large variety and are you able to let me know its precise location?

yes and 9.106292,99.32844

Thanks. Those two numbers look very precise but mean nothing to me. Could you elaborate?

[HongKongPhooey]

Steve, we'll be shortly looking at sourcing a large quantity of trees and plants for a resort landscaping project. Does this place in Surat have a large variety and are you able to let me know its precise location?

yes and 9.106292,99.32844

Thanks. Those two numbers look very precise but mean nothing to me. Could you elaborate?

They are coordinates. Cut and paste the number in to Google Earth or Google Maps for the precise location.

Edited April 30, 2012 by HongKongPhooey

[prophet01]

Steve, we'll be shortly looking at sourcing a large quantity of trees and plants for a resort landscaping project. Does this place in Surat have a large variety and are you able to let me know its precise location?

yes and 9.106292,99.32844

Thanks. Those two numbers look very precise but mean nothing to me. Could you elaborate?

They are coordinates. Cut and paste the number in to Google Earth or Google Maps for the precise location.

Thanks.

[grumpyoldman]

BillR, your shotgun please.

[MissChris]

For who? The person who doesn't realise it's latitude & longitude or 'gasp' referring someone to google?

[TaoNow]

Sorry if beating a dead water buffalo, but Falcon and I have attested to the fact that it is possible to lead a very confortable life on less than 20,000 baht a month in Phuket. See previous posts (or PM me) if interested in details.

[grumpyoldman]

For who? The person who doesn't realise it's latitude & longitude or 'gasp' referring someone to google?

For myself after having mistakenly suffered through the merits of getting drunk early and balloon chasing............yeesh........