Saving Money In Thailand (Bangkok) Tips?

[boosta]

Financial stability and future security are perfectly valid factors for mate selection anywhere in the world, and they are more openly acknowledged as important here.

The ones that aren't "good" in my book are the outright dishonest scammers.

Just because a girl honestly loves you (whatever that means to you) doesn't mean she'll stick around if you fail at being a good provider. Nothing wrong with that in my book from a moral POV, expecting otherwise is just unrealistic.

No matter how young and Brad Pitt hansum you are if you are seen to be genuinely skint then best you'll do is be some temporary boy-toy, not a serious potential long-term mate.

[YeahSiam]

Financial stability and future security are perfectly valid factors for mate selection anywhere in the world, and they are more openly acknowledged as important here.

The ones that aren't "good" in my book are the outright dishonest scammers.

Just because a girl honestly loves you (whatever that means to you) doesn't mean she'll stick around if you fail at being a good provider. Nothing wrong with that in my book from a moral POV, expecting otherwise is just unrealistic.

No matter how young and Brad Pitt hansum you are if you are seen to be genuinely skint then best you'll do is be some temporary boy-toy, not a serious potential long-term mate.

That might be the case in your world but there are millions upon millions of women all over the world who would disagree with you especially if they make a solid and meaningful financial contribution to their relationships.

I suppose it is possible that you've been in Thailand too long to remember women like that

[boosta]

I'm not saying they don't exist, you find all kinds of outliers out of the billions of individuals.

But we're specifically talking about modern urban Thailand, and farang male with Thai female, and I don't think it's unfair to state that having a reasonable bit of dosh is a pre-requisite to attracting the kind of girls the OP's talking about, for example going dutch on dates. If he were to say sorry honey, "can you pay the whole tab tonight I'm broke until my paycheck clears next week" what are the odds she'll say "oh no problem"? And then "will you marry me", even waiting until the paycheck clears, what are the odds of that?

Just saying the magic words "I teach English" will 99% of the time get you frozen out of the picture faster than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking competition.*

All find and good to be idealistic, I'd prefer to deal with reality as it is. . .

*tried to find a Thai-appropriate "Faster than" saying, anyone who loves Thailand don't google for that

Edited June 18, 2013 by boosta

[krisb]

It seems that you intend to live a very basic existence whilst in Bangers, so if you're already in the habit of being careful with your money, you should be OK.

 

You need to keep in mind that you are NOT a tourist. That way should you go out partying with your touristy mates, you won't try to match their holiday fun drinking habits. That means, if you want to go  out at night to the bright light areas, buying your alcohol in the least expensive beer bars.

 

Do your own laundry, walk to your destinations as much as possible and I suggest that finding some good, Thai food outlets, is cheaper than buying your food and cooking at home.

Sorry for full quote.

Is it really cheaper, in the long run to eat at Thai food outlets? Surely not?

[boosta]

A re-run:

To clarify the food issue:

Most expensive is Western restaurants, next most is western-style grocery shopping, in descending order of sources - Makro, Tesco Big C then the supermarkets Foodland Villa etc

Next cheapest is Thai food from street stalls, but subsisting on that is IMO not healthy - salt, fats and MSG abound, often quality of ingredients not so great, some risk of pollutants in the food.

What I do is most unusual but both as cheap as possible and healthiest.

Go to the wholesale fresh market - in Bangkok Klong Toei, south of BTS Pra Kanong station near where Rama IV approaches Sukhumvit. If you can live in or near that area so a tuk-tuk back is 20-30 baht that would be ideal, shopping for fruit and veg, a little fish chicken pork every few days.

A single person could eat like a king shopping there spending no more than B100 per day - my household of seven gets by on well under double that including milk and eggs occasional treat like fruit juice or sandwiches. You would need to be able to cook in your room, which not all places allow, a hot plate and microwave will suffice.

------------

In other words, for most foreigners with their "normal" shopping and eating habits, it is indeed cheaper to eat out if they do inexpensive Thai restaurants and particularly street food.

But not the way I do it, cooking and eating at home is much cheaper, street food then becomes an expensive luxury. And relatively speaking, a very unhealthy one.

Edited June 18, 2013 by boosta

[Sayonarax]

Your a tourist not an expat.

[FritsSikkink]

Health insurance hasn't been mentioned...

No need for that, can always write a sob story on a public forum that you can't pay the hospital bill.

[TheSpade]

Pay for your flights with a card that offers free insurance. Walk around and ask about accommodation, it'll be cheaper than anything advertised. Buy a floor fan and live on a high floor, but never the highest. Shop at the markets. Buy a rice cooker and sacks of brown rice - too much white stuff'll kill you. Look out for pre-paid sim deals that include lots of data. Live close to where you party - it's ok to scrimp on buses and PT during the day, but you'll blow it getting taxis home late at night. Find a rich girlfriend.

Yeah I plan to scout out accommodation on the ground with the help of a Thai friend. I will defo invest in a fan to keep aircon costs down.

A rice cooker is not a bad idea, I suppose you can cook more than rice in them anyway.

How much will I have to pay for a SIM with data? Do I have to enter a monthly contract?

A rich g/f isn't a bad idea, on my last couple of trips I've dated / hooked up with 2 different girls who had a bit of cash (more than me actually) who weren't afraid to split the bill and even pick up the tab at times. Doubt I'll be lucky enough for it to happen a third time.

In general great tips; some caveats. Free travel insurance usually doesn't cover for long and often excludes anything actually likely to happen, if you want to be properly insured you have to pay for it.

Don't even use mobile data, do your surfing from your fixed-monthly-cost unlimited GB from home. Unless you're such a high-powered business type you need email while out and about, SMS works fine, emails can wait until you get in front of a computer.

Don't party so much you need to live near there - live next to your work, ideally walking distance, have to go there every day. Go out to party maybe once or twice a week, maybe more frequently at first maybe but work to set things up so the party comes to you.

I'll have decent travel insurance. I would like to have mobile data to use Whatsapp / Line and other useful apps when out and about...what would I pay per month for a SIM with data and is there minimum contracts?

I won't be working in Thailand.

So the more money you have (or are willing to spend), the better your chance of finding "the good ones"?

Any girl who expects financial reimbursement is not the sort of girl I'm interested in dating.

[TheSpade]

No matter how young and Brad Pitt hansum you are if you are seen to be genuinely skint then best you'll do is be some temporary boy-toy, not a serious potential long-term mate.

Suits me just fine. I'm not looking for a g/f or anything serious.

I'm not saying they don't exist, you find all kinds of outliers out of the billions of individuals.

But we're specifically talking about modern urban Thailand, and farang male with Thai female, and I don't think it's unfair to state that having a reasonable bit of dosh is a pre-requisite to attracting the kind of girls the OP's talking about, for example going dutch on dates. If he were to say sorry honey, "can you pay the whole tab tonight I'm broke until my paycheck clears next week" what are the odds she'll say "oh no problem"? And then "will you marry me", even waiting until the paycheck clears, what are the odds of that?

Just saying the magic words "I teach English" will 99% of the time get you frozen out of the picture faster than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking competition.*

All find and good to be idealistic, I'd prefer to deal with reality as it is. . .

*tried to find a Thai-appropriate "Faster than" saying, anyone who loves Thailand don't google for that

I don't think my cash situation will be an issue as the girls will not know my bank balance. Just like they didn't last time I was here and I did quite nicely. The fact I can spend 5-6 months at a time in Thailand without working, regularly travel the world and come from a supposedly rich country is enough for them to think I have some money, If only they knew.

I don't teach English so not a problem.

Though the guys I know living in Thailand teaching English seem to do alright for themselves and they have a super strict budget. One guy I know survives on around 20k a month and has a girlfriend and other girls on the side and there's no way he can be splurging out for lavish dates or showering them with gifts or payment as he is stone cold broke.

My budget whilst low isn't a major concern to me. I know guys who survive on less than half of what I have and I know from my previous trips in Thailand on a slightly bigger budget that I can save some money by not staying in hotels for months on end, not travelling all over the country, drinking in bars every night and hitting clubs all the time. I just have to be sensible and it should be fine.

The tips have all been appreciate though, thanks guys.

I still don't know what I can expect to pay for monthly water and electricity bills + phone data plan?

[boosta]

I still don't know what I can expect to pay for monthly water and electricity bills + phone data plan?

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Sorry not addressed to you specifically, answering the query about money being a factor in general. Young & hansum guys sure are lucky, but if I'd come here 40 years ago I'd probably have ended up OD'ing or something.

Answered the bills question above, phone data can easily eat up B1000+/mo for heavy usage, maybe B400 for light browsing and email, but coverage can be spotty, falling back to Edge is way too slow for anything but text.

Better IMO for budgets to have a fixed HS wireline account with your own WiFi connection B400 a month no limits, I go through 20GB per week myself, stick to SMS/voice for out and about. But up to you, can get both if that's important to you.

Edited June 18, 2013 by boosta

[GooEng]

Phone data is 600-800 month depending on provider. You buy an unlimited top up slip and its valid for 30 days.

For that you get 5gb of fast data at full 3G speed then once that is done it reduces to slow speed which is really slow as in Edge speed as much as you like until the 30 days is up. You can of course buy another one before 30 days is up if your 5GB is done. I think Truemove H, offer an even larger package of 12GB high speed for about 1100 or 1200.

I can burn a 5GB package in a few days Skype video calling and stuff, but for normal surfing and emails it lasts quite a while.

This can be got around if you live in one of the wifi hotspots, cos when you buy a new one month unlimited they give you a wifi password too - if you're in a wifi spot apparently this gives unlimited wifi speed data traffic. I've not tried this but there's a thread about it in here somewhere - have a look.

Edit - boosta offers sound alternative above.

Edited June 18, 2013 by GooEng

[TheSpade]

Sorry I missed that part of your post above.

I agree that buying your own appliances is not worthwhile if you know you'll only be staying less than a year, so your 10K budget is realistic, hard-part criteria besides the kitchen will also be the freedom to get your own internet connection in, IMO don't rely on shared condo connections get a direct account with e.g. True, B400 a month. This may not be important to you if you just do occasional web browsing and email though, things can just get very slow afternoon up to midnight.

Electric depends on the condo markup - don't go over 7 baht per unit, size of your fridge & computer usage, and of course how much you run the air, say B1000-1500, water usually just a few hundred.

How do you get a direct account with True and how do they go about hooking you up? Do I have to enter a contract? Not something I want to be doing.

I will need decent internet access available all day though.

The place I've been recommended to stay charges 17B for water and 7B for electricity..so that's fair then?

[TheSpade]

Phone data is 600-800 month depending on provider. You buy an unlimited top up slip and its valid for 30 days.

For that you get 5gb of fast data at full 3G speed then once that is done it reduces to slow speed which is really slow as in Edge speed as much as you like until the 30 days is up. You can of course buy another one before 30 days is up if your 5GB is done. I think Truemove H, offer an even larger package of 12GB high speed for about 1100 or 1200.

I can burn a 5GB package in a few days Skype video calling and stuff, but for normal surfing and emails it lasts quite a while.

This can be got around if you live in one of the wifi hotspots, cos when you buy a new one month unlimited they give you a wifi password too - if you're in a wifi spot apparently this gives unlimited wifi speed data traffic. I've not tried this but there's a thread about it in here somewhere - have a look.

Edit - boosta offers sound alternative above.

And it's not a contract with minimum terms, just a month to month thing?

[boosta]

This can be got around if you live in one of the wifi hotspots, cos when you buy a new one month unlimited they give you a wifi password too - if you're in a wifi spot apparently this gives unlimited wifi speed data traffic. I've not tried this but there's a thread about it in here somewhere - have a look.

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Public-access WiFi, at least in my experience so far is NOT at "WiFi speeds", just as unbearably slow as Edge.

Note I'm not talking about private accounts opened to the public (McDonald's, shopping malls), but direct from True BB etc around the city for access via username/password you get from them.

Not just due to overuse, but even at 3am or 6am, they're obviously putting deliberate throttling in place to make these suitable for text-only applications.

[boosta]

How do you get a direct account with True and how do they go about hooking you up? Do I have to enter a contract? Not something I want to be doing.

-

Not sure of the short term options, I'd say as long as you buy your own router they won't have much to say about cancelling early if that's the way you need to go. They should be able to install within a few days depending on the area.

That's really the only way to get decent access IMO, a shared WiFi connection via your apartment/condo will be really luck of the draw depending on the time of day. If you're going that route (shared condo-supplied WiFi) then make sure to make them let you test it say late afternoon before you put down your deposit, or only rent for one month to start.

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I will need decent internet access available all day though.

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That's pretty ambitious if you're roaming all over town there's no way to guarantee "decent" speeds no matter what you do, but if you get 3G accounts with multiple vendors you can juggle SIMs, but of course it will cost you if you use a lot of data.

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The place I've been recommended to stay charges 17B for water and 7B for electricity..so that's fair then?

-

Sounds like a 100% markup, which is par for the course. Only way around that is to rent a house, can find within your budget but not furnished in Bangkok.

IMO you're really better off looking for a place that suits you after you get here, can get decent furnished rooms for B4-500 near BTS in the meantime, again if you need good internet you may need to hop from place to place so one day at a time as they say.

Edited June 18, 2013 by boosta

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

IMO dating nice girls is more expensive than the alternatives but of course that's up to you.

There are nice girls?

[GooEng]

Phone data is 600-800 month depending on provider. You buy an unlimited top up slip and its valid for 30 days.

For that you get 5gb of fast data at full 3G speed then once that is done it reduces to slow speed which is really slow as in Edge speed as much as you like until the 30 days is up. You can of course buy another one before 30 days is up if your 5GB is done. I think Truemove H, offer an even larger package of 12GB high speed for about 1100 or 1200.

I can burn a 5GB package in a few days Skype video calling and stuff, but for normal surfing and emails it lasts quite a while.

This can be got around if you live in one of the wifi hotspots, cos when you buy a new one month unlimited they give you a wifi password too - if you're in a wifi spot apparently this gives unlimited wifi speed data traffic. I've not tried this but there's a thread about it in here somewhere - have a look.

Edit - boosta offers sound alternative above.

And it's not a contract with minimum terms, just a month to month thing?

.

No, no contract or anything required, that's got by buying a True-H 3G SIM card, charge it with say 1000baht, then call their service line and ask to buy a data package and choose the unlimited one which I think is 699 or 799 baht. Valid for a month. The 3G speed amount is normally 5GB, then down to edge unlimited untitled he end of the 30 days, or as I said you can call again and buy a new one.

If you have a laptop you can also buy similar plans on a 3G based USB stick modem and use that, but it's worth checking how good the network is where you end up living as it varies....

True also offer a 12GB option but can't recall the cost. Check the website maybe?

[boosta]

No, no contract or anything required, that's got by buying a True-H 3G SIM card, charge it with say 1000baht, then call their service line and ask to buy a data package and choose the unlimited one which I think is 699 or 799 baht. Valid for a month. The 3G speed amount is normally 5GB, then down to edge unlimited untitled he end of the 30 days, or as I said you can call again and buy a new one.

If you have a laptop you can also buy similar plans on a 3G based USB stick modem and use that, but it's worth checking how good the network is where you end up living as it varies....

True also offer a 12GB option but can't recall the cost. Check the website maybe?

-

In practice these plans aren't going to last their nominal 30 days, if you pay for a 3GB recharge for me that might last about a day and a half - but in my case I don't get a True signal here anyway.

Note you can use the same SIM(s) for any of your mobile devices, swapping between them as needed, the USB dongle (modem?) is just an add-on for devices that don't have a built-in slot.

But see above for my other comments about roaming data plans vs fixed-line high-speed, for my usage the difference is B400/mo at always-very-fast speeds vs 20x that for the same volume usage but wildly variable speeds depending on location, just wouldn't make sense at all.

For my usage patterns, YMMV.

[TheSpade]

That's pretty ambitious if you're roaming all over town there's no way to guarantee "decent" speeds no matter what you do, but if you get 3G accounts with multiple vendors you can juggle SIMs, but of course it will cost you if you use a lot of data.

I'm not going to be roaming all over town, I mean I'd need internet access in my apartment for most of the day, I have things I have to do online.

[boosta]

Then just make sure your landlord lets you have your own dedicated account as a condition of you signing on, they have to give the ISP permission to run the wire, might have to pay a little one-time fee.

Some buildings let you do this but they dictate which company, probably get a cut.

Between this issue and the electric markup is one reason I tell people to try to find a house, but doesn't fit your relatively short-term stay.

[pomchop]

Don't set foot in villa market or ever buy anything that is imported. EVER.

Don't get sucked into paying 150 baht or so for a beer just to watch girls dance around on a stage.

Don't pay bar fines. Don't buy lady drinks. Don't try and act like a big shot.

Make sure you agree on prices/services before taking any girl home.

Don't get the most expensive satellite tv packages.

Don't pay cover charges to get into any bar or club.

Eat only Thai food, avoid cheese, avoid western franchises like mcdonalds, subway, etc.

Check the price and ask if there is a happy hour before you order beers/drinks.

Have a couple of beers at home before heading out for the night.

Develop hobbies like walking etc that will keep you healthy and are free.

Don't buy English language books except from second hand book stores.

[TheSpade]

Don't set foot in villa market or ever buy anything that is imported. EVER.

Don't get sucked into paying 150 baht or so for a beer just to watch girls dance around on a stage.

Don't pay bar fines. Don't buy lady drinks. Don't try and act like a big shot.

Make sure you agree on prices/services before taking any girl home.

Don't get the most expensive satellite tv packages.

Don't pay cover charges to get into any bar or club.

Eat only Thai food, avoid cheese, avoid western franchises like mcdonalds, subway, etc.

Check the price and ask if there is a happy hour before you order beers/drinks.

Have a couple of beers at home before heading out for the night.

Develop hobbies like walking etc that will keep you healthy and are free.

Don't buy English language books except from second hand book stores.

The hookers, bar fines and lady drink thing isn't an issue. I don't bang hookers and I don't enjoy being in those bars where you get annoyed from girls all night to buy drinks.

I don't even watch TV at home so I've no need to in Thailand so not satellite package needed.

Not paying cover charges to get into clubs is unavoidable though really isn't it as many have cover charges. Will just have to cut down the amount of clubbing and big nights out I have.

Will definitely try and stick to Thai food but I know I will eat Western once a week or there abouts. Won't be able to help myself.

Drinking at home before going out is definitely on the cards but forget the beers...cheap bottle of Whisky from 7/11 and some ice.

With beers being so cheap in 7/11 for singles do places like Tesco Lotus sell them even cheaper when bought in crates or multi packs?

[boosta]

I don't drink alcohol at all so leave the price of beer to others, plenty of experts here on that.

Re books great point - join the Nielsen Hays (sp?) Library on Sathorn, there's also a book swap group that meets on Lang Suan every month, and keep your eyes open for used book sales at the international schools, can pick up crates full for a song.

Plus expats leaving Thailand are happy to give them away, in my case four cubic meter's worth free to a good home (but donations accepted).

[balo]

If you cen get a postpaid subscription from Dtac you dont need to worry about internet . Smartphone package 599 baht , it includes unlimited data every month and 3G speed up to 3GB . If you use more than 3 GB your speed is reduced to 400ish kb for the rest of the month .

I use my Samsung Galaxy as a wireless modem connected to my laptop. Works perfect !

Edited June 19, 2013 by balo

[TheSpade]

If you cen get a postpaid subscription from Dtac you dont need to worry about internet . Smartphone package 599 baht , it includes unlimited data every month and 3G speed up to 3GB . If you use more than 3 GB your speed is reduced to 400ish kb for the rest of the month .

I use my Samsung Galaxy as a wireless modem connected to my laptop. Works perfect !

Interesting. Do I need to enter into a contract?

[boosta]

If you cen get a postpaid subscription from Dtac you dont need to worry about internet . Smartphone package 599 baht , it includes unlimited data every month and 3G speed up to 3GB . If you use more than 3 GB your speed is reduced to 400ish kb for the rest of the month .

-

But many of us go through 3GB in hours, at most a day or two, and Edge bandwidth is completely unusable, every tried to watch a YouTube HD at that rate?

Sure if you're browsing mostly text-based sites and don't mind twiddling your thumbs waiting for the page to arrive, or just doing email without large attachments, but for those who actually use the full capabilities of the Internet and value their time it's completely unusable.

What you've outlined is no different from the pre-paid packages.

[balo]

I agree if you are going to watch streamed movies online this is not a package for you.

I use it when I'm not at home so for email, skype and reading the news it's perfect .

To get a postpaid subscription you need to visit your local dtac office and show them your id and a valid credit card.

Edited June 20, 2013 by balo

[boosta]

My point is that the package you recommended isn't any cheaper than the ones we were already talking about.

Re bandwidth issues generally:

I never stream/download movies or even watch YouTube when I'm paying for 3G, and I still go through more than 1GB per day.

Lots of web sites have high-res photos these days, nothing but web browsing for four hours my meter shows 427 MB.

Then there's updating software regularly, my last Windows update was 50MB alone, people sending attachments via email, sync'ing my DropBox accounts, running cloud-based data backups.

Edited June 20, 2013 by boosta