How much to take on a month's stay

[Hardeep J 0]

I will be off on a months stay to Pattaya in July. I know this question must've come up quite a lot, but how much is best to take on month stay???

[zaphodbeeblebrox 0]

30 viagra, 200 condoms.

[Tengotodo 52]

If this is your first trip I think it's best to overbudget to the tune of $200 US per day (roughly 8K baht), including lodging. You will still want ATM access to more if needed, but this should be more than suffiicent unless you're planning on ringing the bell everywhere you go. I'll be there in July myself and I hear its hot as hell then.

[LilWilly 0]

Depends on how hard you party and how high on the hog you want to live.

 

I stayed at Sunshine Vista on Soi 3 for 29,700 baht per month. Excluding hotel, I'd budgeted 5,000 baht per day.

 

I took $4,000 in TC and $1,000 in cash CDN.

 

The third week there, I extended my trip from 1 month to two months. Hotel and medical expenses (additional perscriptions plus dentist visit) were charged to my Visa. I used my ATM once to draw 10,000 baht (just to see that it worked and check exchange rates)

 

At the end of my trip, I'd used up all the TCs plus the 10,000 baht from the ATM. I returned home with the $1,000 cash and about 5,000 baht in my pocket.

 

I'm not a big drinker or eater, so those expense were faily low. But I had a great time and spent 77,460 baht for 60 barfines.

 

Costs to me for 2 months was roughly $4,600 CDN.

[EnglishPaul 3]

Hi I budget just a little over £100 a day,approx. 7000 baht a day. last trip I was quite a bit under this but as Tengotodo posts if it is your first trip better to over-budget.

i always have a couple of back-up credit cards and some travellers cheques( have taken both US$ and UK£ T.C. both easy to change.

I think best to have access to some extra funds somehow as it is better to have too much than not enough.

Enjoy your trip

[dj0609 0]

First off, book a room on the monthly rate. For a nice room expect to shell out just under 20k Baht, that's the entire month, and includes room cleaning everyday and electricity. If you can do with room cleaning once or twice a week, you can cut the cost by about 3k Baht, and if you're only using the electricity at night that'll save another 1k Baht. That'll save you quite a bit.

 

Decide whether you want to pull girls from beer bars or go go's, or both. Go go girls will run on average 2000 Baht for the whole night and 1500 Baht for short time, with bar fines of 500 to 600. Beer Bar girls will run you 1000 Baht the whole night and 500 Baht short time, and 250 to 300 barfines.

 

Now whatever you think you're gonna spend on girls for barfine and how long you're gonna keep them.....DOUBLE IT. That should give you a good amount of money to party and drink with.

 

Next decide whether you're gonna eat Thai food or Farang food everyday. If you're eating Farang food all the time, expect to spend 1500 Baht a day for you and any girls you take. If you stick with all Thai food, you could get by as cheap as 300 Baht a day including the girl's portions.

 

Finally have a 150 Baht a day for Baht Bus and motortaxi transportation.

 

Hope you're not planning on actually buying anything touristy....that's just a waste IMO.

[farman 11]

First off, book a room on the monthly rate. For a nice room expect to shell out just under 20k Baht, that's the entire month, and includes room cleaning everyday and electricity. If you can do with room cleaning once or twice a week, you can cut the cost by about 3k Baht, and if you're only using the electricity at night that'll save another 1k Baht. That'll save you quite a bit.

 

Decide whether you want to pull girls from beer bars or go go's, or both. Go go girls will run on average 2000 Baht for the whole night and 1500 Baht for short time, with bar fines of 500 to 600. Beer Bar girls will run you 1000 Baht the whole night and 500 Baht short time, and 250 to 300 barfines.

 

Now whatever you think you're gonna spend on girls for barfine and how long you're gonna keep them.....DOUBLE IT. That should give you a good amount of money to party and drink with.

 

Next decide whether you're gonna eat Thai food or Farang food everyday. If you're eating Farang food all the time, expect to spend 1500 Baht a day for you and any girls you take. If you stick with all Thai food, you could get by as cheap as 300 Baht a day including the girl's portions.

 

Finally have a 150 Baht a day for Baht Bus and motortaxi transportation.

 

Hope you're not planning on actually buying anything touristy....that's just a waste IMO.

DJ0609!!

 

Do you like wasting money????

 

 

 

 

upto 300 baht for thai food a day??

 

 

Upto 150 baht for travel(bus and motorbike)

 

 

I think you are being ripped of on your visits to Pattaya............

 

 

[Montydog 135]

30 viagra, 200 condoms.

[BigDUSA 71]

July is low season. Many hotel deals around. Pay for 10 stay 14 at the Flippers and other mid range hotels. Book a hotel for 2 days and look around. I would suggest at least 150K baht for the month. Enjoy your stay.

[Cennn3 0]

I stayed January to February and paid 8,500 for the month at Shagwell Mansions and an extra 650 baht for electric (about £140 at the time). I spent £800 for the month but I was not going to walking street and pissing my money away buying lady drinks for the whole bar. Mostly eating Thai food at between 30-70 baht a meal, and drinking beer at beer bars for 40-70 baht a beer. You can get by here very cheaply if you want or you can spend a small fortune, up to you

Edited April 6, 2006 by Cennn3

[torrenova 644]

I would suggest at least 150K baht for the month.

150k = 5k per day Denny ? Have you won the lottery ?

[rightsaid 44]

I will be off on a months stay to Pattaya in July. I know this question must've come up quite a lot, but how much is best to take on month stay???

IMHO, I wouldn't TAKE any money with you. If you have to access money use an ATM they are everywhere.

 

Next I would budget approximately 6000 per day. Some days you'll use more some days you'll use less.

 

If you are going for a month I suggest you plan to take a day off each week just to recover a little. Believe me it is very very easy to burn the candle at both ends.

[dj0609 0]

Farman - I could go cheap, but I have no idea how others want to spend their money, and if a person is green to pattaya, it's better to have more than less for transportation and food.

 

When I just hang with the girls and eat at the stalls on the street corners, I pay about 30 Baht per meal for me and the girls, which is usually 3 dishes and rice for everyone. But if a guy isn't comfortable eating at anything less than Sizzler-Royal Garden decor restaurants, well then the 300 Baht makes sense right?

 

As for travel, it all depends on how fast you want to get someplace and how much walking you want to do. If you just hang out between 2nd Road and Beach Road, then Baht Buses all day long at 5 Baht per ride (if you can get away with it, which I can). Otherwise if you're thinking about going up the hill and want to get dropped off at a specific spot, then Motortaxi's at 30 to 50 Baht one way.

 

And when it comes to how much a guy wants to spend on women, well I like to have 3 ladies a day, and spend no more than 2000 Baht per day on the ladies, 2 short time and 1 long time, I usually get away with not paying the bar fine. Some might think at 2000 Baht I'm spending too much, and others will say it's impossible to get away with so little. Personally I don't know, but that's my experience.

[markytee 0]

Remember to budget double the amount when taking a bar girl for long time because you will have to pay for her meals , drinks, entertainment etc. as well as yours.

[eyedot 0]

Hi, I did in £1600 in 29 nights on food. drink and time with the ladies, .

This included 2 trips to the Eden Club Bangkok, true am not a big drinker these days but I had all the entertainment I needed for the time I was there, Id say £400 - £500 per week is plenty, unless your a big spender or tipper.

 

By the way I spent another £700 on top of the £1600 for shopping (watches, clothes) and accomodation (which was £210 for the month), and a 2 night trip to Bangkok. (worst hotel Ive stayed in in Thailand)

 

Maybe you should take as much as you can anyway, you might regret it if ya run short

 

eyedot

[sinbinjack 243]

Hi, the exact ammount that you should bring is ,all that you can afford,if you have any left over you take it home and keep it until next time,any other ammount could see you running out of money, before you run out of holiday.The only way you as an individual can calculate how much you will spend in any single holiday destination will only be evident to you after you have been in that location at least once,no one can tell YOU how much YOU need only YOU can make that decision.

Before you start complaining that is not helpful there are many posts that can tell you how much hotel rooms cost,meals and various other things,but only YOU know how YOU spend money on any given occasion,so bring as much as you can afford,that way you wont go wrong.

[Hardeep J 0]

I have been to Pattaya before including this year (Jan 2006) But I wanted to do some research on other people's expenditure over the course of a month.

I'm sure it's a difficult question to answer, as everyone is different and do different things. But so far the feedback has been good and given me an insight to the whole thing.

 

Many thanks

[sinbinjack 243]

Hi hardeep,My post is an honest answer to you and others who ask the same question there is no answer that will give you any real help,I can tell you how much I spend but that is what I can afford,not what you or others can afford.The amount that YOU spend will depend on how much you earn ,what you consider luxury,how many women a day or week that you want to BF,where YOU will stay,how much and what you drink,will you ring the Bell,(I don't,others do)what YOU eat and where,will you BF more than one girl at a time,will YOU be a cheap Charlie or a high roller.I personally am a disabled man who live on less than £11000 a year I come to Pattaya using savings from when I did work,this year I will be in Pattaya for 4 months and 12 days and the total for this stay will probably be less(much) than £5000 and that will inc all my costs,even in this time of an increasing Baht,some will spend more than this for less than a month,so everything is relative to YOU and YOUR circumstances,the question that you asked is far too specific to YOU, for YOU, ever ,to get a reasonable answer from anyone but YOURSELF.enjoy yourself in LOS and if you are in Pattaya after 20th April and before August 30th look me up and we can have a drink and a chat

[pentire 1]

Hi I budget just a little over £100 a day,approx. 7000 baht a day. last trip I was quite a bit under this but as Tengotodo posts if it is your first trip better to over-budget.

i always have a couple of back-up credit cards and some travellers cheques( have taken both US$ and UK£ T.C. both easy to change.

I think best to have access to some extra funds somehow as it is better to have too much than not enough.

Enjoy your trip

This post just about describes my budget and expenditure Somedays I am well over and a few days under, plus if my wedge is diminishing too quickly then I have a cheap charlie night out without buying any lady drinks

I always seem to arrive at Don Muang down to my last 2000 Baht.

Sinbinjack also offers sound advice in his piece and my friend Jim manages to live in Pattaya on 35,000 baht per month loving every minute

[nariad 6]

Just Back from Pats(march)was there a two weeks,spending money under £500 out of that I had 8 LT,had enough beer every night.Hardly ate at all due to Heat and beer.Lived on Pig and Whistle breakfast(soi 7) and sarnies made with my own fair hand.lady drinks bought 3.Had plenty of fun on £35 aday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS take a couple of ATM cards use same as at home.I used ATM's in Big C(super markey)

Edited April 9, 2006 by nariad

[CageMonkey 0]

I plan on spending about $500 per week, excluding hotel cost. Some things I do to keep cost down is not to spend all my time in bars. Bring some good books, get a room with a balcony or go to the beach, and relax. I also trade time for money, since I have six weeks and my be extending it to eight. Like taking the bus (an interesting expierence in itself) from BKK to Pattaya. Plan on doing the same from Pattaya to Phomn Phen. In any case, remember you don't have to buy every girl you meet LD's and all her friends LD's. Ladies from Bars are also less expensive than ladies from Go-Go's, althrough both have advantages and disvantages.

[latour82 1]

All right, i am not a cheap charlie, but i guess my budgeting is special.

 

I am married and hawe my Thaiwife with, we not stay together many days because she want to stay with her family 100 miles away from Pattaya.

 

My budget is 2000 bath a day INCLUDE hotel.

 

Hotel 1000 bath excl. breakfast.

I eat most of the times in Tops or Royal Platza, so i spend about 300 bath a day for food.

 

I drink not very mutch, so a beer or 2 before i sleep is good for me, around 100 bath.

 

I like to walk, so normal i not spend mony for transport.

No barfining ofcourse.

 

So normal about 1500 bath a day is good for me . .

 

Niels

[TALBOTMAN 0]

As my countryman sibinjack says take whatever you can afford and hope to take some home there is no definitive answer to the question as we are all different people and what you spend depends on several things where you stay-your age-what you eat-and most importantly how many ladies you have and where you get them a go go girl will cost you double the price of a beer bar grl and take it from me 21 visits to pattaya i have had just as many beutiful girls form beer bars as from go go bars

 

basically you will have to do your 1st visit there to know how your spending will go and then you will know for the future. my advice to you though is try to meet up with a bm who is pattaya experienced or even lives there and arrange to meet up on your first night in pattaya and i am sure they will show you the ropes and the sights and the basic dos and donts

 

i myself will be in pattaya on july 8-9-10 before heading for bangkok and huahin

i would be only too happy to show you some places

 

if you are looking for a good room for a month try www.carltonpattayahotel.com the carlton hotel on second road at soi 5 you can get a room right next to the swimming pool , with a good restaurant bar for thai and farang food for 15.000 bhat room cleaned every day towels changed 2 times a day 2 mins walk to soi 2 bar area and sabailand and sabairoom massage parlours 3 mins down the soi to beach road for taxis to south pattaya and walking street (about 7 mins journey time)

[York 0]

Budget according to your lifestyle but don't ruin it for the rest of us by over-paying for bar girls and goods.

I noticed most newbies like to show-off by over-spending when they first come to Thailand to impress bar girls and bar owners but after awhile they slow down and realized how stupid they were by doing so. It take experience and wisdom and it usually works out for most people but NOT all. Some gets royally scr-wed here.

Budget B2,000 per day plus emergency money and this will go far, especially at slow season. Save the rest for the next time. And yes, you will comeback again, again and again.

Barfine is 200 baht and short-time is B500 and long-time is B1,000 in beer bars. Go-go bars want 500-600 baht for barfine and girls want B1000+ for short-time and B2,000+ for long-time. However you can negotiate for the price. I usually take beer bar girls but yesterday I took a go-go girl. She wanted B2000 but I countered her offer and with B1155 and I got it. That all I had and it was up to her. Normally I don't take go-go girls since they are usually over-priced and aggressive but I liked this girl, so I took her it was worth it.

In Thailand, always negotiate for better prices since it's Thai way of doing things here.

[MAD MAC 0]

OK I know this is all about Pattaya, but I haven't seen this mentioned here, and I thought it would be worth metioning. Obviously, Pattaya has a wild, incomparable nightlife with the rest of Thailand (outside of Bangkok). But I always go to Isaan - call me crazy. But Mukdahan, Nakhon Panom, are nice towns with few tourists. You can find an apartment there that is fully furnished, very clean, studio style with kitchen and bathroom, for 3,000 baht a month. Now, the naughty life is more discreet. In the hotels there are piano bars, the singers offer other services on the side for, say, 500 baht a night. And they are charming. Some of the karaoke bars are the same way. Low key, friendly. Find a Sam Loh or Tuk Tuk or Skylab driver who speaks some English and, for a generous (say 50 baht) tip, is willing to steer you straight. Use the same guy(s) over and over again and be nice to him (them). Pays dividends every time. Speaking of English, languge is a challenge. Very few people will speak any English at all, and those that do, for the most part speak horribly. So work on your Isaan dialect.

 

I found that I could eat, sleep, and entertain on less than 2000 baht a day - easily. And it was high adventure every time. Speaking of eating, you won't be eating a lot of western food because there isn't a lot to be had. Also, I found myself socializing more with Thai men than women (no I don't bat for the other team). Thailand is a pretty conservative overall. But as soon as I wanted female companionship, I knew where to find it. Didn't take long at all.

 

So just food for thought. If you don't want to break the bank, consider getting off the beaten path and heading up to the storied Mekong. I'm moving there next year after a number of successful and satisfying visits.