Thai Money

This isn't really part of the Thai culture series, but I was thinking today I should include it. This kind of starts back to before I went to Thailand. Of course, when I found out I would be able to go, I quickly rushed in my personal studies to prepare myself for the experience. One of those, was figuring out how much money I would need while here. However, the sights for tourists turned out to be incredibly inaccurate when offering the prices for how much things cost here. So after learning how much everything generally costs NOW, I decided to give back.

To begin, I'll first explain food, since everybody has to eat everyday. Of course, different meals have different prices. But generally, food here is a lot cheaper than in the United States, so don't be too shocked when you see complete meals sell for less than 30 baht (1 dollar). Most of the food the locals eat though comes from markets, which are just about everywhere. Customers often buy in bulk because the prices are extremely cheap. Here are some common food prices:

Pad Thai Noodles - 30 baht
Coconut Ice-Cream - 10 baht for a cone
Shaved Ice Smoothie - 10-20 baht
Fried Egg - 10 baht
Dish of Rice - Often free with a meal, but about 20 baht if you just want it alone
Family Eats At Expensive Restaurant - 800 baht
Family Eats At Cheap Restaurant - 200 baht

Next there's the cost of living. For this, I am not quite sure since Thai families don't have the habit of discussing finances with their children. The one thing I'm sure on is the gas prices though. (Fun Fact: In Thailand, there are people hired by gas stations to actually pump the gas for you. You don't even have to get out of your car! X3) Here it's about 100 baht per gallon of gasoline. Here they use liters though, which means it's about 30 baht per liter. So much conversion... Anyway, here are some common living expenses:

Cheap Hotel - 300 baht per night
Expensive Hotel - 1000 baht per night
My Cell Phone Bill - 100 baht a month (I don't use it that much...)
Water Bill - Not sure specifically, but apparently it's very cheap
Electricity Bill -Again, not sure specifically, but people tell me it's extremely expensive

Finally, the last thing you'll probably want to know is about traveling. Kind of ironic since when I typed this up I was actually about to leave for a trip to Kon Khaen, a province in the Northeast. I mentioned in an earlier post that you can pretty much get around without a car here since the buses are quite cheap. Of course it all depends on where you go and what kind of bus you're taking:

Short Trip to Nearby City with Cheap Bus - 10-20 baht
Short Trip to Nearby City with Expensive Bus - 30 baht
Long Trip 6-12 Hours - 300-1000 baht
City an Hour Away - 100 baht
Me to Go to Bangkok from Ratchaburi - 120 baht

So that's my overview of the prices in Thailand. Obviously Thailand sells more than food, hotels, and buses, but you can probably get a good idea of how much other things cost based on this list. ^-^