 | We know what it costs to live in Canada, and what with the dismal financial climate that truly is affecting the whole planet it's obvious that the most pain is probably being experienced in those places where consumerism is a way of life. | Most people in the "developed" countries are hunkering down and trying to maintain whatever levels of comfort they can manage, while having, of necessity to cut down on some of the frills, and hoping against hope that the new normal is only temporary. And hoping they'll remain in the shrinking minority that have livelihoods essential enough to keep the pay envelopes coming. But to some of us this meltdown of confidence in the world of money was long overdue, and some of us were lucky enough to read the writing on the wall before it was too late. Some of us, just by the skin of our teeth. | Before we packed it all in and headed off to Southeast Asia we did some research on the net to determine what it would cost; not to live it up like sultans, but just to live well, eat well and have the proverbial roof over the heads. One blogger maintained that two people could live in Thailand for something like $880 a month. I suspect that was USD, which would translate rough to $1125 CAD. OK, let's see how far we can get on around eleven hun a month: In Thai funds we're talking around 31,500 bahts for food, accommodation, transportation, and sundries that include such things as toiletries, cleaning supplies, suntan lotion (a necessity, trust me!) and the odd medicine to take care of some of the hazards of tropical living. |
The price range for accommodation is large, and dependent on certain factors, such as high or low seasonal rates, location vis a vis beaches or special tourist attractions, and amenities provided. For instance, a beach bungalow can be as low as 250 bahts a day ($9) ,but there'll be no hot showers. A slightly more upscale bungalow resort would be more in the 1000 baht range ($35). Or it can be 1500THB a day if there's a swimming pool. Pool=add500! There are places that for sure are more pricey than that, but we ignored these in our research because the eleven hun probably wouldn't get you past the first three days, and as soon as you walk out the door you're living in exactly the same paradise as the backpacker staying at the Nantakarn Bungalows for 250 baht a day! As for the hot shower thing, the water coming out of my tap is already practically scalding for the first couple of minutes, because in their infinite wisdom they've run the pipes from the well about a half a kilometer along the surface of the ground to our house.And swimming pool? They've got one at the "Y" back home, what are ya, crazy? |  | Drinking water has to be purchased, as even the locals don't drink either the well or the "government" water, for whatever reason. There is a service that delivers water in 40-litre re-usable plastic bottles (deposit 100 baht+15 to 20 baht/bottle). Figure on a bottle every 5 days for two people, so 90 to 120 baht ($3.15 to $4.20) a month. You can also buy small bottles of water at any corner store, but a 500ml bottle is 10 to 15 baht, so in an emergency it's okay, but otherwise not very cost effective. |
If you like Thai food, you're in luck, because it's cheap, delicious (aroon- mak-mak!) and available everywhere from the street vendors to the resort frou-frou restaurants. In our favourite street market a meal of Pad Thai, Thai spring rolls, fried chicken that makes KFC look and taste like Alpo, and fruit shakes (the Thai version of a slurpee, but made fresh with real fruit, not Strontium 90 and chemical dyes like the youth of northamerica are downing by the tanker-load), and all for 200 baht for two ($7). The same-same in a tourist trap restaurant might be about double that, and not any better tasting, maybe not even as good. At the same market we splurged once and had crab, prawns, pad thai, curry and a couple of quarts of Singha beer, all for under 400 baht! And that's with a tip, which is not really expected, and not 20%! If you don't care for Thai food, bring lots of cash, because everything is available, I suppose, (I've seen Mexican, Italian, Japanese, and even Bangers and Mash, Cheeseburgers and French Fries) but the prices are not much different for these foods than where you came from. And anyway, if you don't like Thai food, what're you doin' here anyway? Jeeze! | 
| If you've rented a house, you'll want to cook at least some of your own meals, and the markets are teeming with fruit and vegetables, half of which I couldn't begin to tell you what they even are! But Thailand can grow just about anything, so one can find what one needs to womp up some serious good eatin'. If you don't know how to cook Thai-style, they have cooking schools that are inexpensive, or go online and download some recipes. A lot of Thai cooking is very simple because it's mostly that stuff you shake out of the bottles (soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar) and the little things you chop up and throw first into the wok (garlic, ginger, galangal) that make it authentic. And coconut milk; you can't swing a dead water monitor lizard without hitting a coconut tree, so it's a cheap staple. |
| I suppose I could break it down and tell you the prices of the individual foodstuffs, but I don't feel like it right now (this place appeals to the lazy in me!), so instead I'll just say in general that two people can eat well in the street markets for, say, 400 baht a day(12,000 baht a month) or about half that if you do all the cooking (and shopping, and washing up, and putting out the garbage...). A roof over one's head can cost as little as 5000 baht a month even in the high season, and transportation (in our case, a scooter-slash-motocross bike of 125 cc) can cost 2500 baht a month plus gas at 25 baht a liter which can reasonably be estimated at less than 1000 baht a month. The sundries are only a little cheaper than back home, so soap for dishes, clothes and bodies might set you back another 1000 baht, and all other things should be considered luxuries anyway (but if you really wanna know, smokes are 60 baht a pack and beer is 30 baht a quart bottle in a store - or 34 baht if you want it cold - wine is no cheaper, and perhaps more expensive than we're used to, and hard stuff that anyone civilized would pour into themselves is pricey). | | Add that up, and if you had as much money to spend as, say, a BC welfare cheque, you could do it here. 16,620 baht for two, or about $581.70, would cover the day-to-day expenses if you lived like a monk (and a nun), that is, an ascetic monk (so you'll have to be a bit sneaky about the nun), but visas and visa runs cost money, as does air fare, insurance, cell phones and computer connectivity, all of which don't enjoy any real price break over here, and I'll leave that to you to figure out, because there's a bug crawling on my calculator that I'd rather not disturb, and besides, didn't I say I'm lazy? |  |
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