Dear fellow travellers,
Currently travelling in Thailand with a 1000 baht daily budget available, and realize that my options are rather limited. I will be here for 2 more months and at this stage i'm around phuket where everything seems to be 'expensive'. Any thoughts for cheap places to live or some voluntairy work?
Kop koon krup!
Phuket is one of the most expensive provinces in Thailand . Krabi , Ko Phi Phi and the main beaches on Ko Samui are also expensive . You can still find budget accommodation on some beaches at Ko Phangan as well as islands such as Little Ko Chang and Ko Payam (Phayam) near Ranong - although not the right time of year weatherwise for those islands . You can also live within your budget in the north of Thailand . Even in Changmai you can get a reasonable room in a guesthouse for little more than 200 baht or even less at Tapeh Gate area.
You are not supposed to do voluntary work on tourist visa , Thailand is not that expensive its just that places like Phuket have been distorted by the inflow of high spending tourists .
I spend a lot of time in Thailand and usually spend about 600 baht a day. I always ride a bicycle so see a different view of the country to most tourists. I am not so drawn to the big tourist centres, often staying in small Thai towns.
You can easily do this on cheap local transport, but I wouldn't really recommend it as most of the fun is the travelling on the bike, not the towns. Why not buy a bike? You can get a reasonable one for under 5000 baht, which you will quickly save and can also sell it when you leave.
You can put your bike on most buses and trains to make getting to places like Chiang Mai easy. There is loads of great cycling in Thailand and with two months you have plenty of time. Its starting to get warm now, so start early and finish early (12 midday).
If gou dont want a bike, you can still easily live on 1000, but you need to think about where you go and where you stay. Choose backpacker areas. Krabi and Ko Lanta can be cheap and are not far from you.
In the meantime there are cheap hotels in Phuket town, then use local transport to visit beaches and sites.
Its starting to get warm now
LOL, LOL, LOL.
It's already the hottest time of the year, and it's HOT, DAMN HOT, hot enough to melt those wheels, hot enough to cook eggs, hot enough to melt the OP.
You can get a reasonable one for under 5000 baht
Can buy a brand new one for under 3,000, but no way I'm pedalling around outside in Thailand. It's like being in a fan oven on full riding my scooter.
Choose backpacker areas
Nah, backpackers are paying far too much for what they get in Thailand. The Thais see them coming a loooooong way off.
To get cheap you have to stay in Thai areas. 5,000 a month rent easy.
Krabi
You can't just say Krabi- where in Krabi, Krabi town, Railay, Ao Nang or any of the many areas that make up Krabi?
NB Railay is stink expensive now, but the beach next door is cheaper.
I think most of Krabi is taken over by mainstream / upmarket tourism rather than budget travellers or "backpackers' . In the beginning it was like that , but nowadays they are the minority. On the east coast the town of Trat has some very inexpensive guesthouses on a street near the market area . (Windy Guesthouse etc )
As you have found out you can get by on 1000 a day but you won't do much in terms of activities on that budget.
Best bet is to hunker down on a beach and enjoy doing nothing as generations of budget backpackers have done before you.
Ko Phayam and little Ko Chang off Ranong have what you need - a little hut, 3 simple meals and 2 or 3 large bottles of beer in the evening, swim, read and chat with others.
Save some money for travel days while staying put on the island...
its coming into low season on the Andaman coast, which means the bungalow operations will have lots of vacancy.
if you plan to stay for a week or more, don't book online, and be sure to ask for a discount on that basis. They know they'll get it back on food and drink.
when you do move, take the big orange non-AC buses. they take a bit longer, but are cheap and you get to see more of the country than the VIP tourist bus will.
Good Luck!
Thanks guys! I feel a bit more confident now. Probably going to head north pretty fast.
Look, in Chiang Mai there are dorms for 100 baht....and food for 35-40 baht...hunker down for a while and you can save enough easily to splurge when you're ready...
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