Bangkok Is So Much Cheaper Than Phuket

[IrishIvan]

I disagree. Bangkok is over the top expensive. Rents are about 3 times the price unless you want to live in the slums. Taxis are cheaper up there, but sitting in Bangkok traffic for 5 hours a day doesnt float my boat no matter how much I am saving. The bars in sukhumvit are a rip off. 120-150 baht a beer. Unless you like drinking in kao mun gai stalls. Where you will be saving money but again it doesnt float my boat. The bar fines are ridiculous. 3 times the price of Phuket. The shopping centres there make European shopping look cheap. I think I will stick with Phuket

[stevehaigh]

i'm sometimes amazed that Phuket isn't more expensive for basics like food, drinks, building materials etc. its a long way from Bangkok, where most of the stuff we get in Tesco, Macro, Big C, 7/11, Home Pro, etc comes from but the prices are usually exactly the same as BKK

[NamKangMan]

I disagree. Bangkok is over the top expensive. Rents are about 3 times the price unless you want to live in the slums. Taxis are cheaper up there, but sitting in Bangkok traffic for 5 hours a day doesnt float my boat no matter how much I am saving. The bars in sukhumvit are a rip off. 120-150 baht a beer. Unless you like drinking in kao mun gai stalls. Where you will be saving money but again it doesnt float my boat. The bar fines are ridiculous. 3 times the price of Phuket. The shopping centres there make European shopping look cheap. I think I will stick with Phuket

I have it on good authority that most of the bars in the New Tiger are now a 1000 baht bar fine and 120 baht a beer.

For "beer bar" that would probably be the most expensive in the country.

Edited May 1, 2013 by NamKangMan

[IrishIvan]

Yeah thats about the same as Pat Pong Road. Tiger is expensive, when Im in Patong I normally do my trawling around Nanai road. Barfines arent too much and the beer is reasonably priced. But the best place for trawling definitely has to be Rawaii. I still stand by my previous post though. I reckon Phuket is sbout half the price of Bangkok. The food is cheaper yes. But 35 baht compared to 50 baht dishes wont break my bank. There is only so much you can eat in a day. If your paying double for barfines and johnny walker then it starts to hurt at the end of month salary day

[phuketrichard]

....I still stand by my previous post though. I reckon Phuket is sbout half the price of Bangkok

Half price for what??

surely not food, ( grocery stores same price)

7/11 same price

gas same price

Cars ( same price for new ones)

rent's NO WAY

restaurants depends on where u eat but no way half price anywhere (for that to be a be a big mac meal would be only like 75 baht. Khao meung Gai 25 baht!!!

electric, internet, UBC Same price

Dept stores same price

Rawaii for girls... first time i have ever heard that in 28 years of living here.

[IrishIvan]

....I still stand by my previous post though. I reckon Phuket is sbout half the price of Bangkok

Half price for what??

surely not food, ( grocery stores same price)

7/11 same price

gas same price

Cars ( same price for new ones)

rent's NO WAY

restaurants depends on where u eat but no way half price anywhere (for that to be a be a big mac meal would be only like 75 baht. Khao meung Gai 25 baht!!!

electric, internet, UBC Same price

Dept stores same price

Rawaii for girls... first time i have ever heard that in 28 years of living here.

I do a lot more drinking and womanising than eating kao mun gai. This is where most of my expenditure goes. Rent is about a third of the price. I dont drink at 7-11s and never go to tescos or any other dept stores. Ive spent a fair bit of time in Bangkok and it is double what I spend in Phuket. Now Pattaya is a different story. ...that is very cheap

[Bikkii]

It seems to me the substantive issue is that both central Bangkok and Phuket are extremely expensive places (by Thai standards), comparable to major international cities in Europe, at least in terms of some of the most visible expenditure categories (accomodation, food/drink, leisure) for visitors (not residents). A high end steak or italian restaurant or an upscale bar in Bangkok or Phuket is comparable in price to central London. This is the biggest change over the past few years and reflects the strength of the baht versus the weak pound, significant land price inflation in central Bangkok/Phuket, and a flood of foreign money pouring in from Asia. Phuket really is the playground of the super rich in SE Asia for whom 7000bt green fees or 40000bt boat day charters or 20000bt hotel rooms are normal. This stratospheric inflation at the top end of the market seems to be pulling all prices up. At the high end of the market I am not sure there is much difference in price between the two, not least because it is hard to compare a 5* city centre hotel with a beach resort.

At the margin, Bangkok is cheaper for hotel rooms, mainly because of the over-supply of 5* hotels - which charge 4* prices. You can still get amazing hotel deals in Bangkok at the upper end - Bt5000 at the brand new 5* Marriott Residence on Sathorn for a 65 sq m room. Golf is vastly cheaper in Bangkok. I think restuarant and bar prices are comparable. Taxis, car hire broadly similar. Likewise spa/massage. Retail is much the same as all the malls have the same chains. However in Phuket you can spend all day at the beach on a sun lounger for 100bt - try doing anything in Bk for 100bt all day. Nightlife, Bk wins hands down.

I am just back from a business trip to Singapore. That really is an expensive place and makes Bk feel quite cheap by comparason.

I just don't get Singapore,why would anyone want to live or even visit a City/Little Island/Country that is double the price of most capital cities in Europe?

I also finds the Singaporeans/Straits Chinese extremely rude and colder than a wet fish,although I'll admit the Indians are generally friendly enough!

Because the women there are the best looking in South East Asia by far! Take your pick, Chinese, Malay, Filipino, Indonesian, Sri-Lankan, Indian. If that doesn't float your boat, plenty of desperate farang women. Yes Singaporean's have no personality, emotions or class (proven online survey) but the richness of culture (food esp.) cannot be matched anywhere, and certainly not in Thailand.