Silliest things you did to save the smallest amount of baht?

Where to start?? Well I have never really encountered such a large "population" of ignorant westeners in one place... How can you guys actually be proud (it seems like it anyway) of the fact that you trick and squeeze a few measly cents out of streetkids in Cambodia or street vendors and hookers in Bangkok? Come on relize how fortunate you are to have enough money to actually be able to travel to different parts of the world.. Anyone who can pay to fly halfway around the world and live there for a few weeks or months without working is bloody fortunate!!

abpt the ater, Chan: in BKK the 5-bt bottles sell for 2,5 bt in SUPERmarkets and its remark. how cheaper these big shops are compared to ealrier days. and their foodcourts have the cheapest water too

I did at least get the idea to never actualy buy a newspaper... :D Like I'd read it in hotels ans some guesthouses that had newspapers. And newspapers from back home (this is pre-internet cafes) were completely out of the question of course.. Sometimes read a months old head line in one of those papers.. And for a long time I completely didn't follow any news whatsoever. Just didn't seen relevant or necessary.

Actually you only have to wait in a bank if you actually want to to bank-things. The water cooler however is conveniently located in some corner, usually without a queue in front. :) Pharmacies tend to have them too by the way (tip for Girllrig here), just don't fill up at the same pharmacy all the time.

Then a whole separate category is "fun things you can do that don't cost any money". This includes studying Thai while chatting up department store girls. (or boys, as it may be). Same for monks in temples. I also went up tall buildings a lot for the view, or just hang out on the roof. A friend of mine never ever paid for transportation.. he'd just hitchhike to save even the 20-50 baht that an ordinary bus would cost. To hitchhike in Thailand you have to be a little outgoing and approach drivers when they're stationary at some gas station for example. (Cuz nobody is gonig to pick up a weird looking backpacker on the side of the road.. :)

#21 - did you even read what I posted?

I sell it to the kids cause they then onsell it to tourists and make more money - that is what they do. If I leave it in FCC it just means the next person to flop down for a beer gets a free read - if there is one mob that do not need barangs donating their newspapers to them it is FCC.

By selling it to the newspaper kids rather than giving it to the kids, I believe I'm reinforcing the message (admitedly on a tiny scale) that you can't rely on everything in life being free -- a lesson a lot of people here could do with relearning. Sure a buck is a lot more to the kid than me -- it's the message that is important.

We're drifting off topic here - I thought the point of the thread was talking about ridiculous things a lot of people do here when they first arrive to make their money last longer, I don't think there was a requirement to be proud of the actions!

Chanchao - you really used to fill your water up in the Bank - jeez I thought you were joking... good tip though

Funny that nobody is going rabid about you stealing the banks water - just don't step outside and sell the bottle full to some kid on the street. ;-)

> jeez I thought you were joking..

Absolutely true... Actually I thought YOU were joking with the newspaper business. :)) I'm sure there's more things I did, just can't think of everything. Every once in a while I get this thing where I wonder if I can still live on 8000 baht a month or something.. Like I'd like to try again but it would be even silier now with any savings being completely eclipsed by current high fixed costs for runningh a car, UBC TV... Frankly I can't say that I'm happier now having all those things compared to living on a shoestring.

For free water I now get 2-3 bottles when filling up the car.. That's almost 1000 baht right there at the moment with current fuel prices.. :)

We met an Aussie on our first trip to Thailand who rented a room, no fan, on the roof of 99 G.H on KSR for 20 Bt.

Before my first arrival in LOS I had already quite widely travelled, so my stupid money saving happened elsewhere.

Egypt 1981 (my first 3rd world experience):
Refused to pay more than 6 egyptian pounds for a return journey from El Arish, because that was the amount we had paid on the way in. The other passengers even helped us to convince the driver. So we looked very stupid, when all the locals happily paid 7 pounds. Apparently, this time nobody had tried to cheat us as we had assumed.

Sudan (same trip):
Getting a student reduction (half price) for the 7 day Nile ferry from Kosti upriver to Juba. So we paid approx. 4 US-Dollar (if I recall correctly). Needless to say, that all those half naked undernourished Dinka and Nuba paid full price :-(

Sudan (same trip):
Purchasing a 3rd class train ticket, but unwilling and more or less physically unable to enter crowded 3rd class. Ended up with a 2nd class seat between very nice and hospitable sudanese folks. Managed to evade to pay the little upgrade fee asked for by the conductor.
Only possible excuse the result of the heat on my head ;-)

Sudan again:
Paying only every second night in a guest house in Khartoum after finding out counting problems of the responsible person. E.g., when I had a receipt for the nights 2.-3., 4.-5., and 6.-7. of the month, this person who had not been able to attend school was satisfied :-))

Many places:
When sick of shitty toilets of our cheap backpacker hostel, entering a Hilton Hotel (or the like), using the nice facilities, maybe have a look (with out buying) at some postcards in the souvenir shop (yes, we are customers), and walking out again. Fully aware that this would probably be impossible with another skin colour ...

For sure there are more which I do not recall. But this is getting OT here anyway.

Cheers,

Henning

yes, I remember the toilet-quests well.. Especially during the bad floods in bangkok in 1995.. When everything is flooded, toilets tend to work in reverse, if you know what i mean.. Fortunately my room was upstairs.. (Thewet area)

I imported a custom i had in France, going to a food festival, and asking to sample the food and drinks at every stall, after 1 hour I'm full and haven't spend a single baht.