Our Budget for Bangkok, this whole part of our trip, actually, is $41-$50 AU per day. That’s not each, that’s for a family of four. We’ve had a bit of a rude awakening, Bangkok ain’t cheap any more!
We love Bangkok, we’ve really enjoyed our stay, but it’s hit us in the pocket! I’m sharing a bit of information on costs and expenses for Bangkok, I hope someone finds it useful.
We booked our first ten nights at a fairly comfortable hotel, The Rambuttri Village Inn and Plaza on Rambuttri Rd. Bangkok.
We had our own basic bathroom, aircon, TV ( useless, all in Thai or German), fridge and pool access. It was a great place to stay, but be wary of pre-booked child stays free deals, they initially didn’t honour mine.
Costs
Twin room ( for 3 people on an extra child stays free deal) $36/night.
Once The Chef joined us we had to find somewhere bigger and, we assumed, cheaper, as we were moving from a nice-enough hotel to grotty backpacker accommodation. Wrong again! We had a really good deal at Rambuttri, although we didn’t know it. We walked the streets for a whole morning and asked at every guest house.
The cheapest triple room we found was 700 Baht, 760 with wi-fi, which is essential for us. It was another nice-enough room, with a basic shower room. It was a fair way away from the central Khao San/ Rambuttri area.
In hindsight, we should have taken that one.
Instead we took a room on Rambuttri road at Tuptim Bed and Breakfast ( since closed down).
Costs
Triple Room,( for 4 people) shared bathrooms, aircon, wi-fi and breakfast included. 900 Baht
Basic but clean triple room Rambuttri Rd, Bangkok. 900 Baht.
We thought the free breakfast would save us a bit of money and as we checked out the room the breakfast looked good, people were tucking into eggs and toast, yum.
After all, this is a bed and breakfast, right? Not a backpacker’s .
Wrong.
The folks with the eggs were paying diners, the “free” breakfast was 2 mini slices of white toast, jam and coffee. For 3, as this is a 3 bed room. So that’s Mum missing out on breakfast again, I’m rapidly disappearing, no complaints, just a bit peckish.
A tiny portion of fries at the “bed and breakfast” 85 Baht.
We really enjoyed staying there, particularly being able to hang out in the restaurant and use our wi-fi but after paying our 900 Baht for accommodation we are left with just a couple of hundred Baht per day for food and other expenses, that’s nowhere near enough.
Food in Bangkok is cheap by most standards, but it’s not as cheap as it used to be. Last time we were here we were eating out 4 times a day because it was such great value and so delicious.
Food has gone up.
Omelette and rice 35 Baht. Yummy and within our budget, but not the delicious Thai food you’d expect, maybe.
In this area you’ll struggle to find a meal for under 30 Baht ( 26 Baht to $1 AU is the rate we got when we exchanged), so a meal for 4 is going to set you back at least 5 dollars. It’s cheap, I know, but not on our budget.
Water costs 14 Baht per 1.5L bottle
A small coffee from Mc Donalds is 30 Baht
A “local” coffee is around 10 to 20 Baht
A small beer from the supermarket is 35 Baht.
A small beer in a restaurant is up to 90 Baht.
Pad Thai from a pavement food stall, that means, plastic chairs on the pavement and a lady with a gas burner. Delicious, some of the best food you’ll find in this area, and 40 Baht.
Taxis are cheap if you can find a driver who will use his meter Around the Khao San Rd./ Rambuttri Rd. area and the big tourist attractions, you’ll struggle. Drivers will quote you a price, you’ll need to talk them down or else walk a while ’till you find a metered taxi.
Tuk tuks cost about the same as taxis, depending on your bargaining skills.
Getting about on the river costs about 15 Baht/trip on the local boat, 40 Baht/trip on the tourist boat.
Admission to Wat Pho ( or Po) is 100 Baht, Wat Arun, 50 Baht, The Grande Palace 400 Baht. Dusit Zoo, 100 Baht adult, 50 Baht children.
I think I’ve worked out how the cost of child admission is worked out, it’s a bit hit and miss, if the child is taller than the counter, they pay full adult price, if they are shorter, they are free, usually. ( about 120cm).
We’ve been over budget every day, usually spending double our budget. It doesn’t really matter, we’ll be spending less in cheaper parts of Thailand and countries like Nepal and India should be OK financially. Our budget isn’t set in stone, it’s just a number based on how much money we have divided by four years. We have to find a balance between enjoying ourselves and keeping costs down. If we find that our $41/day is totally unworkable, we shorten the trip or push to make more money, The Chef can work and I should be able to make a bit with the blog.
Chef’s favourite, Pad Siew ( fried flat noodles) with chicken. 40 Baht in Kanchanaburi. At last we can eat what we want!
I’m happy to report that now we’re in beautiful Kanchanaburi on The River Kwai, our room is costing us just 450 Baht/night so we’re hitting budget pretty easily and enjoying some fabulous food. So, that’s the way it goes, sometimes we are over budget, sometimes under, we hope it will all work out in the end.
BUDGET UPDATE Our $40-$50 budget worked out fine for our 6 months in Asia. We’ve had to kiss that budget goodbye as we head on to the USA, an unplanned excursion that just sort of happened. But what the heck, it’s only money! ( that OK for you Mark?)
