Ok my big plan.

[Heywood]

Very best thing I can think of is no matter what you choose is to just do it. Go and see where the road leads ya, your young so plenty of time to work things out. Have a good time and enjoy...just keep your eyes open, don't try and plan everything from this side of the keyboard and just go forth and learn by doing...nothing wrong with a rough plan, but that's about it. IMHO.

[eddiemonster]

Originally Posted by PhuketonBudget

Hey Guys. Thanks for the replies. I know you guys hear this alot so get sick of answering but i appreciate the input. Basically the reason i said 8 months was the following.

I have two options, i can holiday for a month or i can take a career break for 1 year. But i have to take 1 year off and am not allowed to work if i return to the country after 4 months.

I think a year career break would be good. But id want to spend at least 8 months away. I don't need to be in patong the whole time. Infact what id probably do is go somewhere alot cheaper for the first few months and save money, like a backpacker budget then spend a good two months or mabye 3 in patong. Before heading home.

I went looking the other day and even thought about doing a working tourist visa in australia, you know the fruit picking for 4 monhts and just save then travel for the next 4 / 5 months on a good budget around SE Asia. Again making patong my final stop.

However im hearing now there is no jobs for tourists even in fruit picking now, and the guy in the travel agents telling me i can make $500Aus a day sounds way to good to be true.

So if i take the career break i realise when i come back nothing will have changed. But at least i will have had the experience.

I got 3 thoughts for you mate:

1. You have cash and time and a job to go back to. Make the most of your opportunity - they dont always come round as often as you think. The time to do these things is when you are young.

2. Budget, no idea really. The guys have given you some numbers, only you know what level you can be happy living in. But I think the working tourist visa in Oz is another great opportunity, they sure as hell dont want us old gits
Even if it only means you can get a job which just pays for accommodation and food its going to help stretch the budget and got to be worth it.

3. I know from another of your threads you are serioisly p1ssed off with your work. As someone who has p1ssed plenty of money up the wall in Bangla and other places on jollys around the world, I would seriously consider investing some of your time and money in training, because as others have said you are going to face the same problems when you get back.

Get a trade back home - I wish I had the money my plumber has or something you can travel with - diving, teaching, computers, timeshare sales chef, hairdresser, ladyboy You get my drift.

In 1 year you could do some serious training and still have 6 months to bang the hell out of Bangla

[sundancekid]

Regardless of what some says, you will most definitely be able to live here quite comfortably on 55K Baht a month. And with lotsa fun in between. Very close to my current expenditure in fact. The only problem you will face is your own self-restraint.

I know this sounds sort of evident, but still well worth noting (I think). Point is to try having a “normal” as life as possible form the very beginning. Get into a daily rhythm right away. The beach, walks, checking emails, meals at certain times, etc. So don’t start out with two weeks on a holiday budget, and then plan to return to a somewhat normalized life after that. Chances are you will not.

Bottom line is that you can easily get by with around 600 - 800 Baht on “normal” days, even with a few beers thrown in (and that’s a lot of noodle soups). Then plan on a couple of “big” nights out a week. Just avoid the Bangla bars and LDs and BFs and those other (costly) alphabet soups. Drink in the local bars or the Bangla outskirts and then do pick-ups in the discos.

Then again, that’s just my experience / opinion.

[Dupree00]

And don't forget to look for the balloons. 555

[Sham69]

I agree with the shorter time guys.

Instead of taking a career break why not take 4 months unpaid holiday?
That way you can have fun every night and at the end of your trip go straight back to work and start saving for doing it again as soon as you can!

There would be nothing worse than spending a lot of nights watching the girls going to work knowing you can't afford to go out that night and maybe only eating every second day.

[marc26]

Originally Posted by sundancekid

I know this sounds sort of evident, but still well worth noting (I think). Point is to try having a “normal” as life as possible form the very beginning. Get into a daily rhythm right away. The beach, walks, checking emails, meals at certain times, etc. So don’t start out with two weeks on a holiday budget, and then plan to return to a somewhat normalized life after that. Chances are you will not.

.

very good point
although i had a blast the 10 months i spent in Phuket, i partied way too much and didnt do nearly enough "normal" things and do regret that
but boy, was it fun 5555

[tmontana]

i honestly think £8000 for 8 months will be pushing it, sure you could survive but your nights out/partying/girls will be limited

i came here in 2007 for 5 and a half months and went through just over 18k euros but i had a lot of fun and it was extremely rare that i stayed home at night, different girl every night etc

It all depends how you want to roll, if your a big drinker? like alot of girls? etc etc

dont forget your money for cable, electricity money, phone credit, laundry, motorbike rental costs, visa runs, health insurance, food, money for ST/LT,

livinlos has a super thread here on the forum about monthly outgoings for a person living here but i can never find it

[forestcall]

Hey All-

I was living in Chiang Mai for 3 yrs. and before that I lived in China for 3 years. I moved back to the US for last 18 months and got married to a nice Japanese girl. We both just purchased our AIR tickets for Aug 27 for Phuket! :-)

Obviously im not moving to Phuket for the girls as im newly married. I just want to do my web development work, snorkel, scuba, watch a feature film or 2 per week and find a nice hotel-gym. Very simple life. I dont go to bars. I will drink beer when i go out to dinner or I sometimes go to little bars with other expats who have REAL woman (not bar girls).

When I was living in Chiang Mai my rent was 8500 BT for a nice hotel sized apartment with fridge/ac/tv/wifi near CMU in the forest. Only 20 rooms total and was 10 min from the town square. This was 2007 and my AC bill would bring my total room cost to 12,000 BT. Room cleaning is 100bt and in CM laundry is about 60BT per kilo. Motor Scooter is about 5000BT plus fuel per month. Total cost per month with decent food budget. movies, beer, etc. was about 30,000 - 40,000 BT. Plus 3rd Month border runs to Lao was easily $300 USD with airfare, hotel, taxi, visa fees, etc.

In Chiang Mai many people join Hotel Gyms. I would pay about 10,000 BT for a year membership at a NICE hotel gym. I would use their pool, suana, weight room, running machiene, etc. Anyone do that in Phuket? If so what are the costs?

So I think Phuket will be closer to 50,000BT per month since I dont go to the bars.

i wonder how many readers of this post are active outdoors people? Seems like many of you are into the Bar scene. Who here goes swimming daily, gets a hotel-gym membership, scuba dives, hikes trails, snorkels the better coral reefs, etc.?

Last time i was in Phuket was 2007 for a 30 day stay and I did not go to a single bar and had so much fun with the ocean life I almost cried when I left. Kayaking is really fun, especially when you carry your snorkel gear and a picnic lunch.

Anyways......

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by forestcall

i wonder how many readers of this post are active outdoors people?

Do outdoor bars count?

[cotambear]

Dont sweat too much about the aircon. IMHO it takes around 3 weeks for you to aclimatise to the heat - after that a fan is sufficent.
What he said earlier - book yourself in a nice guesthouse for a week to give you time to scout for cheaper rooms.
Do not use tuk tuks for travel. These nasty b&stards will treat you wrong then (over)charge you for the privelidge.

[fotonut]

Originally Posted by PhuketonBudget

... I don't need to be in patong the whole time. Infact what id probably do is go somewhere alot cheaper for the first few months and save money, like a backpacker budget then spend a good two months or mabye 3 in patong. Before heading home.

Now you are talking! If that is the case then you may have a chance... I spent a few days with Geir in Koh Phayam in March and loved it. Very quiet but with lots of stuff to do. I think you would not have any problem keeping under 1000 bt/day there. If I had lots of time I can easily see staying there for a month or two. Another bonus is that it is close to Ranong for the visa runs. Also, there are other similar islands you could do the same on. A month here, a month there, a month in Phuket then repeat!

http://www.phuket-info.com/forums/ko...ch-2009-a.html

[wazza]

Why not look for a room in kathu, are several apartment blocks near the gokart tracks charging 5-6000 per month with air and internet and including cable, you should be able to long term hire a motorbike for 2000 per month and bus to patong 20bt. Get a pet taxi or tuk tuk and can get to and from bangla for 200bt each way.

[oracletoyboy]

just wondering but why take a year out to just go and sit on the beach in phuket?? I know its nice and everything, but when i took a year from work, i went and did all of australia,bit of NZ came back to uk after about 8 months, heard my mates were going Thailand in 2 weeks for a month so left my bags packed and went with them.. I think total i spent just under 10k in a year,but that was some tours in Oz in NZ actually going scuba diving/ayers rock/cape trib (full moon) Matt.

[jingjai1]

8 Months in THAILAND sounds like a great idea.
8 Months in Phuket doesn't sounds like as good of an idea.

Spend a few of those months traveling around, where 55K/month should be plenty... and you may be ahead of your budget before you know it. Chiang Mai is cheap, and some of the upcountry provinces even cheaper. Take the trains from province to province for a pittance.

Spend the driest months (Dec-Feb) in Patong/Phuket where you can probably find a cheap Thai style room for under 10K...

8 months is perfect... but don't spend it all in one place.... the most expensive area of the country.

Many of us have resources. Living in Phuket costs more, but we don't take from tomorrow's budget when we spend a bit more today. The situations are different. Come and enjoy Phuket, and Patong if that's your thing. I like it. But, don't discount the rest of the wonderful country, especially when it's much cheaper elsewhere, and you're on a budget.

Do it. Enjoy it.

And buy a flexible return ticket. Don't sweat it if you run out of cash and have to return a month earlier than planned... it's all about fun. Come and get it!

[Spike]

Originally Posted by tmontana

i honestly think £8000 for 8 months will be pushing it, sure you could survive but your nights out/partying/girls will be limited

i came here in 2007 for 5 and a half months and went through just over 18k euros but i had a lot of fun and it was extremely rare that i stayed home at night, different girl every night etc

It all depends how you want to roll, if your a big drinker? like alot of girls? etc etc

dont forget your money for cable, electricity money, phone credit, laundry, motorbike rental costs, visa runs, health insurance, food, money for ST/LT,

livinlos has a super thread here on the forum about monthly outgoings for a person living here but i can never find it

LIL spends more then I do.His living figures are about what I spend on my 3 week vacations.

[wilmebarabac]

Originally Posted by sishow

dont know about Nanai, but i stayed in a room for a few months a while ago for the same price. Although the electricity bill does add up over time.

AC, tv, keycard entry and very friendly neighbours. Was in a place called Candy House near the fire station. But prices would of gone up i would think.

My lady and i had a room near there the Fire Station a few years ago, Max's Guest house.
$4,500 a month with o/h fan and air con. No air con $3,600.
Some rooms had hot water, ours didn't. I didn't miss it or need it. I just boiled the kettle for hot water to shave.
Had to pay for electricity and water, i can't remember what it used to cost, but it wasn't too expensive.
The little lady used to cook, we'd buy our fish off the fisherman on the beach, and go to the market for chicken, pork fruit and vegies.
I could get a feed from 30 baht at a place 200 metres up the road
It was great and i had a ball and would do it again if i had cause.
The prices would've gone up i guess, and my lady did the ground work to get the right price.

Good luck PhuketonBudget, give it ago mate.
Best to shop around when you get their i reckon, especially if you to get there in the low season.




I might've been fat and and ugly, Baht the girls used to love me