Hello and welcome to the first in a series of budgeting blogs where I break down how I am spending, what I am getting for that money. Hopefully, if anyone out there is planning to travel in some of the regions I’m visiting, it may be of help to see a realistic budget breakdown from someone who does street food but also Starbucks.
I am currently travelling with a daily budget of just over £25 ($40).
Country: Thailand (Bangkok & the North)
Cities visited: Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai, Pai
Number of days: 15 (05.05.15 - 19.05.15)
Total Expenditure: £371.61 (c.19,200B)
Average daily expenditure: £24.77 (c.1280B)
These last fifteen days in Bangkok and the north of Thailand have been amazing. I have explored one of the most exciting and crazy metropolises in the world; I have explored ancient ruins and royal palaces; I have braved renting a moped and rambled around the Thai countryside; and I have seen more markets and eaten more Pad Thai than I can count. It has been an amazing two weeks, and it is even more amazing that I have managed to spend less than £25 per day.
 |
| I've been cycling in Bangkok |
 |
| I've been cycling in Ayutthaya. |
 |
| I've been motorcycling in Pai. |
 |
| And I did some sunbathing in Chiang Mai. |
While I’ve been keeping track of my expenses, I’ve been tagging my expenses into different categories, so both you and I can understand better how far money goes in each of the places I’ve been travelling.
Categories:
Accomodation: £39.67
I really tried to keep my accomodation expenses down. I stayed outside of the expensive tourist ghetto Khao San Rd in Bangkok, used Couchsurfing for one night in Bangkok, and caught a sleeper train in Ayutthaya to keep my costs down (which is included in Transport). The end result was an average of £3.60 per night, or 186B
Alcohol: £64.16
I didn’t try too hard here. In addition to the odd beer with lunch, this money includes six decent nights out, which averaged at around £10 per night. Again, I really wasn’t trying to avoid spending here, and drank in the popular tourist bars for the most part.
Attraction: £15.70
This covers any museums or sites or temples that charge entrance fees or camera fees. This figure is very inflated because of entry fees to the Royal Palace and Wat Pho in Bangkok, which combined cost £11.94. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss them, but they could be more reasonably priced.
Entertainment: £17.73
This covers massages and similar unnecessary extras. My average massage cost in Thailand was 175B, which is £3.39 (per hour).
Equipment: £22.17
Toiletries, replacing broken or damaged equipment and clothes. It also includes the occasional souvenir vest, as I argue I am using it by wearing it so it’s an essential.
Excursion: £11.82
This covers organised trips and tours, which I try to avoid as much as possible. In fact this tag had only one entry, for my trip to Lod Cave in Pai. Expensive, but worth it.
Fees: £16.89
This covers unavoidable visa and bank fees. As there is no visa cost for Thailand, this amount is just what Thailand and my UK bank charged me to access the money I spent on this trip. Sadly this is still the cheapest way to access money, as I at least using a debit card get decent exchange rates.
Food and Drink: £100.01
Perhaps I had too many Starbucks or trips to western restaurants with AC, but this is by far my largest expense, even though I separate water into a category below. I do eat a lot of street food, and finding Pad Thai for 15B was a personal best, but I do also eat a lot, and enjoy Western breakfasts and expensive sushi. Average daily cost for food and drink (excl. alcohol and water) was £6.67 (343B)
Loss: £1.58
A necessary category for someone as absent-minded as I am. But thankfully so far all I have realised I have lost is around 150B from a trouser pocket.
Mobile: £10.93
I decided that this time, whilst travelling, I would get a local SIM, and utilise a data package. For my money, I got 4.5GB of data to use over 30day. I ran out of data the night before I left Thailand, so it was spot on for me.
...I am not including the fact that I am also currently paying for my data plan back in the UK….
Transport: £61.06
Thailand really is a cheap place to navigate. Bangkok has ferries that cost pennies, and an efficient metro network, and outside of the capital, transport costs for tuk-tuks and buses plummet. This amount includes a sleeper train for around £15, and the bus to the Laotian border for £6. Even including these in the average, I spent only £4.07 per day on transport. This could have been even less if I had the energy to barter more effective with greedy tuk-tuk drivers. In Bangkok, just use the taxis! They have AC and are cheaper!
Water: £9.91
I separated this from F&D just out of curiosity, and it is surprising how quickly water mounts up when you are buying 1 or 2 big bottles per day. Daily average cost = £0.66. This would have been more without most of my hostels offering free tea and coffee, and without my frequent fruit shakes bought on the street. Mmmm...mango!
So overall my first part of my travels in Thailand have been fairly cost effective and affordable. I realise that my expenses will not be the same as everyone. Most people probably don’t eat as much as I do, and people with less time will undoubtedly move around more and use more organised tours, driving the costs up. But if you’re travelling slowly, £25/$40 per day is more than ample for Thailand.
DSP
No comments:
Post a Comment