Enjoying life in Thailand possible with $400 a Month while volunteering possible?

[bangsaenguy]

Your dreaming.. You won't get any work here to supplement your $400. If you volunteer for different organizations, you will need a new work permit for each one.

You will need at least $600 to get by.

$600. Canadian, Aussie, or US? I could get by on that

[jdlancaster]

Soil spoil .... 30 baht a dish often feeds me quite well.... maybe some gaprao moo and soup.... 20 thb is gwai dtiaow with pork or mama with pork... fine for me and I weigh 85 kg... 5 thb for a stick of sausage or chicken ..depends where you live I suppose

[samsensam]

how much information have the places you plan to volunteer given you? they should have made you aware you need the correct paperwork. if they haven't told you this they are not only unprofessional but potentially breaking the law.

suggest you ask them some pertinent questions and obtain fully satisfactory replies - thai's are good at not answering the question when put on the spot.

as for your budget you will basically be a backpacker and they dont stay in the best places; basic but clean or eat in the best places; cheap but good enough. backpackers generally dont take out gym memberships, which are relatively expensive here. not drinking or partying will save you a lot. i do neither and still have a lot of fun here.

[chondan]

Well I for one admire you. I came to Thailand in 70. Married in approx 76 ? I have to check the docs. We had a so so l life when we went back to US. But, here, I have land and rice to eat. Now, at the U. they will not hire me anymore, I have land up the ass, and a title to it. I am old and my wife is old, we can't do the work by ourselves. I have 25 rai on a gravel road, next to our land.. Elec. maybe 3-4 years, but when it comes...bonanza. If you want to invest in NE Thailand, wait awhile. But now is better. I bought 27 rai (approx. 12 acres) 18 years ago for $6,000. The Thai guy across the way, bought his paddy land for 100,000 /rai. for 4 rai.. If you are dedicated, buy land now. The price of land will go up. Near the city,the Chinese own it already. Anything on the highway are gone. Pay rent. To a non Thai.

Land is actually scarce in NE. Thais have young kids in Bangkok that don't give a shit.

[KhnomKhnom]

Redwing, pardon my frankness, but you are a dreamer. One lands in Thailand every minute with the very exaggerated idea of helping and of cost of living here. Young Thai live on 900THB a month, but they listen to someone else's tv or radio, eat VERY basic food, fish heads, etc, and in a group that shares the cost, get free bed/flop and are in debt to local money lender or brother. They live day to day and hand to mouth, smile and joke every day and leave worry about tomorrow for tomorrow which never comes. If you will like to live like that come on in, but.............

-Work permit will cost YOU, not your host, but both are in jeopardy for violations..... even volunteers.

-all things outside your immediate volunteer situation will cost money and or time to get.

-"visa running" is now clamped down on and not a reliable way to live here.

-even getting to your volunteer place likely will cost you ten to thirty dollars.

-Men pay for dates with Thai girls, especially foreigners. You will be mobbed for dates, but you pay for eats etc; this does not include hiring a sex worker which is illegal anyway.

Other answers here are good cautions with more details. You are not ready, that is the sum of it.

[CNXBKKMAN]

What is the worst case scenario? You get here and burn through the cash faster than imagined. You have to pick up the phone and call the airline to make a date change on the return flight and come home early. That's the worst thing that can happen. (You might want to check your ticket allows date changes, it might cost usd100?)

Do you love travel? Are you interested in foreign lands and cultures? If you are you will be happy to be here even without big bucks. You can travel top to bottom on thai trains for very little money in third class. 250 baht bangkok to chiang mai. The same going south to Hat Yai. Rent a basic room including bathroom in Chiang Mai city centre 3000 - 5000 a month. Crate of water delivered to your room 38 baht a week or cheaper still use the water machines on the street, 1 baht gives at least 2 - 3 liters? Gym - Doi Suthip mountain . About 25km to the top by bicycle( do you like cycling? Bring your bike with you!) Jog on the mountain trails. Local thai food budget 50 baht a meal or less. You will figure it all out. Just need to get over here do your volunteering stuff, make friends, learn a bit of the language with the locals.

If you come on a tourist visa you get a 60 day stay plus a 30 day extension( 1900 baht ) . After your 90 days you head to Cambodia on the bus/ train to do another 2 - 3 month volunteer / teach English and return later to Thailand to fly home. If you love to travel it will be a great trip. If you are more of a hang out in a smart coffee shop with you macbook , can't live without aircon, can only eat bacon eggs, pizza and Sunday roast dinners, only drink Heineken beer don't like Chang, your budget won't be enough.

[1FinickyOne]

Sorry to say it is not going to be easy - I understand it is a dream and you would probably have fun just sitting on a bench and watching the world go by - but for a traveler/tourist, first timer - the incidentals are going to eat you alive… a few dollars wasted here and there and "miscellaneous" might be one of your biggest expenses… $400 is just not a lot of money if traveling and it sounds like you don't have the volunteer work sorted out - it should be all pre-arranged…

**** Important - do you have any emergency contingency? what if you get hurt or run into some sort of problem…

I think you would be wise to save up some more and come another time...

[hanno]

Again, apart from the cash: what makes you think that the Thais, or anyone else for that matter, need an unqualified volunteer. To paint fence posts? Dig crappers?

[Sandman77]

When you sleep have of the month in a Tempel maybe it's possible with 13 k in isaan!

I can eat here everything from our trees in the farm free melon papaya coconut banana vegetables , longan dragon fruit if you life like a tourist 13 k is not enough for rent the room!

Another advice do couch surfing and then not pay the rent!

For more advice send pm!

Ps the water at all banks Is free and you good luck at moment you are from dollar region your currency goes up every day little bit and not down like the euro !

[Kenny202]

Have to agree there. It's like going to a supermarket back home. Everything seems like it costs 50c and $1.99 but you get to the checkout and it's still $200 bucks. And thais are the best at ripping it out of you without u feeling any pain. Trouble is it will take you a couple of days to get with the flow. When I wud come here on holidays I would always spend as much in the first day or two as I would for the rest of the holiday.

[recycler]

Cancel your trip if you don't want to suffer!

[arthurwait]

Are drinks included you will spend 100 -200 a day possibly just on liquid non alcoholic refreshment. Is electricity/ air con included ? Are visa fees included, travel ?

What on earth are you talking about? 100-200 a day on non alcoholic drinks? Water costs 1 baht a liter at machines. You can buy cheap Coke/Pepsi/Juice at Tesco, or better yet, in bulk at Macro.

Nightclubs are out really, maybe once or twice a month, maybe some very cheap local ones, but good Thai ones or tourist ones are 300 baht a drink or you can get whisky by the bottle and buy mixers which is cheaper but tourist places the whisky starts at about 1500 but you could share with friends.

A whole bottle of cheap whiskey at a Thai club is about 400 baht. Who wants to go to tourist nightclubs anyway

If his housing and food are paid for, $400 a month is just his travel and entertainment budget. That is plenty to go to a Thai nightclub on a Friday night and a weekend trip once or twice a month.

If you are happy with your 1 baht water who am I to argue, but some of us live the high life with 15 baht bottles of cold flavoured liquid several times a day. Dunny digging is hot work especially when you first arrive here.

As I said , cheap locals clubs. I'm sure he will enjoy the conversations and menus.

Note to self, don't go to DP25's party.

[arthurwait]

Have you sorted out your Work permit?

Otherwise you will not be here for 6 months.

$400 a month is enough to survive as about the other activities, I'm sorry to say but you have to forget about them.

Good Luck to you......and don't forget the Work permit

I was unaware I'd need a work permit to volunteer. Couldn't I just get a 60 day tourist visa, leave the country, and get another entry each time? Or is it required that I have a work visa to volunteer? I'm planning on volunteering through local organizations instead of the mainstream guys because they are free. $400 won't be enough even if I have the two biggest expenses covered? Thanks for your help!

Yes you need one, see reports of Tsunami volunteers getting nicked.

Can you provide specific details ???

Like names, dates, activities etc.

I doubt you can.

Oh gawd they are all out tonight.

Ok apparently all the reports are false.

[CNXBKKMAN]

Are drinks included you will spend 100 -200 a day possibly just on liquid non alcoholic refreshment. Is electricity/ air con included ? Are visa fees included, travel ?

What on earth are you talking about? 100-200 a day on non alcoholic drinks? Water costs 1 baht a liter at machines. You can buy cheap Coke/Pepsi/Juice at Tesco, or better yet, in bulk at Macro.

Nightclubs are out really, maybe once or twice a month, maybe some very cheap local ones, but good Thai ones or tourist ones are 300 baht a drink or you can get whisky by the bottle and buy mixers which is cheaper but tourist places the whisky starts at about 1500 but you could share with friends.

A whole bottle of cheap whiskey at a Thai club is about 400 baht. Who wants to go to tourist nightclubs anyway

If his housing and food are paid for, $400 a month is just his travel and entertainment budget. That is plenty to go to a Thai nightclub on a Friday night and a weekend trip once or twice a month.

If you are happy with your 1 baht water who am I to argue, but some of us live the high life with 15 baht bottles of cold flavoured liquid several times a day. Dunny digging is hot work especially when you first arrive here.

As I said , cheap locals clubs. I'm sure he will enjoy the conversations and menus.

Note to self, don't go to DP25's party.

Yes he will be happy with litres of 1 baht water he has in his room when he gets up in the morning or returns to at night. During the day he will drinking a coke or whatever.

[arthurwait]

Only if you stay out of bars, sneezy woman, She/he girls, Learn to Identify them. then maybe its possible.

Yes tissues in Thailand are expensive and it can really mount up if you meet a sneezy woman, but then again without a woman a tissue bill can really mount up so it's swings and roundabouts.

Remember though that the sneezy woman will probably be used to the finest table top toilet roll that a 20 baht noodle stall can provide so if you really want to impress a sneezy woman get some nice soft facial tissues, preferably with a hello kitty or doreman box and you might actually reduce the need for your private tissue supply/costs within the 6 months that you are here. Of course this is once she has got over the shock of a tissue that doesn't fall apart when you blow your nose with it.

[CNXBKKMAN]

Again, apart from the cash: what makes you think that the Thais, or anyone else for that matter, need an unqualified volunteer. To paint fence posts? Dig crappers?

They are crying out for native English speakers to help the kids learn English just about everywhere especially ones who don't need 50k baht a month, aircon, 4g in. Nakhon nowhere.

[FritsSikkink]

Don't listen to all these dinosaurs here, many if not all of them came

to this backward third world country just as you dream.

If many of the locals can survive on $3 a day, compared to them you

are rich, you will have $13.00 to spend per day, remember most

street food is about 30 baht per dish, that's about 80 cents so there

you can save lots, many ladies will welcome you into their home, feed

you, wash your clothes, give you many massages, what are you

waiting for, hurry up and get over here, the ladies are waiting.

A lot of people here are just intimidated by a new hundsum man

moving in to their territory, you have nothing to worry about, enjoy.

Locals can't survive on $3 a day, the minimum wage is over $9 a day. Most of them have a lot of debt too.

[CNXBKKMAN]

Sorry to say it is not going to be easy - I understand it is a dream and you would probably have fun just sitting on a bench and watching the world go by - but for a traveler/tourist, first timer - the incidentals are going to eat you alive a few dollars wasted here and there and "miscellaneous" might be one of your biggest expenses $400 is just not a lot of money if traveling and it sounds like you don't have the volunteer work sorted out - it should be all pre-arranged

**** Important - do you have any emergency contingency? what if you get hurt or run into some sort of problem

I think you would be wise to save up some more and come another time...

I think he mentioned he has travel insurance also he changes the date on the return ticket, goes home early if he doesn't like it or the cash runs out. Probably never more than 24 hours from home.

[BudRight]

I hope the change in budget doesn't mean you are paying to volunteer. That is a scam.

[Friendly Stranger]

Hello everyone. My plane is booked and I'll be making my first visit to Thailand this coming May. I'm planning on volunteering for 6 months in Chiang Mai, Bangkok, etc. After some... unexpected expenses.. my original monthly budget of $800 is no longer realistic, I can only afford $400. The places I'm planning on volunteering pay for food and accommodation so that's taken care of. But I want to enjoy my trip to Thailand along with the volunteering, not just survive. Let's say I wanted to purchase extra food (I eat a lot), get a monthly gym membership (I'm a Personal Trainer), and go on a dive, elephant trek, or caving adventure about twice month. Do you guys think $400 is being realistic? Thanks everyone!

Hey,

Did you have to pay to volunteer?

Good that you're asking questions now as you're going to have to rethink some particulars. Many of the western type luxurys will cost you, almost at par and beyond on some. The longer you stay, comparing month 1 to 4 in costs can be dramatically different. Just do some spec and/or speak to the locals or other westerners where you're volunteering. The visa part is #1 on your list.

Good luck and enjoy.

[williet98248]

I doubt very much if $400 a month is adequate, even if food and shelter is included. Someone has already advised you to cut your time in half and increase your funds to $800 a month. Get your WP, have travel insurance and a return ticket in hand. If you actually come here under the circumstances you describe I would hope that you would post to TV your experience so we can see if it worked out for you...or not.

[mogandave]

$400 a month is plenty, if you have a good program and facilitator/banker. Send me a PM that includes your bank information. Once the funds transfer is complete, I will process you work permit and visa and set up your account.

It's going to be the greatest experience life helping the poor in the refuse camps .

[kekalot]

I doubt very much if $400 a month is adequate, even if food and shelter is included. Someone has already advised you to cut your time in half and increase your funds to $800 a month. Get your WP, have travel insurance and a return ticket in hand. If you actually come here under the circumstances you describe I would hope that you would post to TV your experience so we can see if it worked out for you...or not.

it depends on what he wants, I read the first post and well, here's my take on it

I live on less than 400$ a month when I am in Thailand, rent, food, water, phone, electric, water, gas for the motorbike and food for my dog (1500 baht a month for him only)

obviously I do not live the high life but I am not here to party and I don't drink alcohol, I eat street foods, lots of fruits. went to the free fitness gym, ran with my dog and I wasn't lonely

in fact, I did that for over 6 months last year and as far as I know it was almost always under 10,000 baht a month.

I would be able to do it on less than half of that if someone paid my food and rent.

and I have plenty of entertainment, eat better and live a much better life there than I do freezing in Canada

[smotherb]

What are you volunteering to do?

I'm planning on volunteering at refuge camps, schools, and orphanages. Most likely teaching English, helping with day-to-day, and maybe some other classes like Physical Education would be cool.

Then, why don't you just get a job teaching English, the pay will be about $1,000/mo, the school/agency will worry, or not, about the work permit, you need no other qualifications than a white face and speak some English.

[Ulic]

I doubt possible with visa expenses, and certainly no fun. Stay home work and bank some money.

[swampdonkey]

I will give you a slightly more positive answer. I have a salary of 15000 thb teaching English in a small village in Jangwat Phrae. I consider it like a volunteer gig while I write my masters thesis. You can comfortably live in a village but almost no one will speak English. Without alcohol or trips it's about 9000 thb for me to live since i already have a motorbike tv computer etc.... that said.... my social life is highly subsidized by the local pooyai ban and teachers as far as drinking and trips goes lol..... and the farmers take every chance to give me a shot of lao khao and laab deep ... this leaves me with enough for a once a month trip to a place like kwan phayao or lampang. On the plus side, if you are commited you will learn thai quickly. .. you have no choice. And if you speak thai theres no reason to be spending alot of money on some girls.... take turns paying and thai food is cheap.... 20 thb for noodles.... 30-40 for most rice dishes. This lifestyle isn't for everyone but if it's for you there are organizations that will set you (no salary) or you can find a job. Your english is worth far more than your manual labor.... few are willing to teach out in the sticks..... If you stay in a city... it is way too expensive for $400 .. I can easily spend 6000 thb in a weekend in chiang mai if I go out.... it can be done.... but don't expect any sorta western lifestyle or ... scuba diving haha

Do the minimum salaries for faring not apply in your case? Just wondering if there is a loop I am not aware of.

Farang minimum wages list read this way if I am correct. When I went for my Non B it was the only question asked of me by embassy staff.

• 50,000 Baht/month: Western European Countries, Australia, Canada, Japan, and USA
• 45,000 Baht/month: South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong
• 35,000 Baht/month: Asian Countries, South America, Eastern European Countries, Central American Countries, Mexico, Turkey, Russia and South Africa
• 25,000 Baht/month: African Countries, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam

Minimum salaries do not apply for teaching,

Most schools in the sticks could not afford 50 k for a native English speaker

[Gumballl]

The world is full of dreamers.

You want to stay in Thailand but dont have sufficient funds, you want to volunteer with no work permit.

Give yourself a good shake, step back away from la la land, into the real world. STOP think then start again.

We are involved with an organisation called workaway, take volunteers.

They are looked after, in exchange for some work, most of them are students on low budgets.

Earlier this year we had a male volunteer from Sweden (what a joke) he had no money, we were in tesco, please help me i need toothpaste plus other items,

i will pay you back at home, well that never happened, he was stocking up on food from our supplies, thinking nobody saw him (wrong)

In the end i told him to leave, but i have no money he says !!! sorry not my problem, also he says i am on overstay bye bye, we dont want problems with immigration. Yes before anybody starts about him staying here immigration were informed on the correct form.

The guy asked a question and is seeking advice. Hardly necesary to tar him with your bad experiences and make all sorts of assumptions and personal remarks he is going to steal food, he's a dreamer etc. God knows there would be plenty of "dreamers" who may have already given advice and maybe even the volunteer people have steered the bloke astray. Problem with this forum too many like you. Give the bloke a go. He's asked the question seeking information before he makes a mistake. Isn't that the idea or one of the functions at least of TV?

I commend your reply. However, that being said, my recommendation to the OP is to stay clear of LOS. Find a charity in his home country (the US?), and live off of $400. Ha ha ha... not going to happen. Even with free room and board, the cost of all of the extra-curricular activities, whether one drinks or not, will eat up that stipend.

[hanno]

Again, apart from the cash: what makes you think that the Thais, or anyone else for that matter, need an unqualified volunteer. To paint fence posts? Dig crappers?

They are crying out for native English speakers to help the kids learn English just about everywhere especially ones who don't need 50k baht a month, aircon, 4g in. Nakhon nowhere.

Just being a native speaker does not a teacher make.....

[zierf1]

That is plenty of money. Ignore these other troll posts. They are blowing their funds on bargirls and expensive restaurants. A Thai(and most other people in developing countries)can live on 10,000 baht a month(which is probably the median wage) and be happy. So can you.

Edited March 12, 2015 by zierf1

[Sharp]

That is plenty of money. Ignore these other troll posts. They are blowing their funds on bargirls and expensive restaurants. A Thai(and most other people in developing countries)can live on 10,000 baht a month(which is probably the median wage) and be happy. So can you

'Plenty'.... I feel that is the wrong word.... 'Exist'.... Would be more appropriate.... Good luck...