Ok my big plan.

[PhuketonBudget]

Save £8000 Then go live in los for 8 months. I can take a year career break from work. Which i plan to do.

A few questions. Is it possible to get long stay deals at guesthouses on nanai Rd? Book 6 months for say 5000 baht a month. Can be basic just need clean and aircon.

Also for a long stay how would you recommend taking your money.

Also visa runs, they are quite expensive is there any way of getting a longer stay visa?

Just money saving advice. I'm dedicated to doing this now.

[NZ-Alstar]

Sorry, I don't have the answer's to your questions. Just my 2 cents...

This sounds like avoidance... not a plan!

At the end of the 8 months you are going to be worse of financially and facing the same conundrum... (but apart from reflection, probably no closer to solving the riddle).

Are you sure this is what you really want to do?

[Benjy]

Nothing wrong with taking some time out every once in a while.

[PhuketonBudget]

Im going to save the money. So ill come back to no debt. I dont have really anything keeping me from travelling. I can cancel sky and my gym membership.

I think this is what i need. 8 months on a budget to just think about things. I dont need girls everynight or anything. Just the beach, thai food, a few nights out in kangaroo bar a month and lots of relaxing.

[Benjy]

a grand a month is doable, do some interesting stuff and it will help make the cv look great.

[Rex7777]

Originally Posted by PhuketonBudget

Save £8000 Then go live in los for 8 months. I can take a year career break from work. Which i plan to do.

A few questions. Is it possible to get long stay deals at guesthouses on nanai Rd? Book 6 months for say 5000 baht a month. Can be basic just need clean and aircon.

Also for a long stay how would you recommend taking your money.

Also visa runs, they are quite expensive is there any way of getting a longer stay visa?

Just money saving advice. I'm dedicated to doing this now.

I think your accommodation budget might not be enough. And also, it depends on the time of the year. If you came in April and stayed until November, you'd probably find a better deal than if you showed up at the beginning of high season. Anyway, I would consider 10,000 a month a good deal. The last time I stayed in a Patong guesthouse for three or four months straight, during high season, it cost me 24,000 baht a month, and that was supposed to be a deal.

Just yesterday, I was looking online for some long term rentals. I didn't see a thing in the 5000 range. 22,000, yes, but much cheaper? Maybe not. It's probably easier to show up in person and look around.

Rex

[PhuketonBudget]

Hey Benjy do you think that i can get aircon rooms on nani for around that price ? 7000 a month tops clean, aircon and Tv.

Does 1000 allow for doing things like trips to islands etc? I suppose in the budget it drew up i have 10 k for other activities budgeted but i dont know if im missing something.

[capetownbarry]

Originally Posted by PhuketonBudget

A few questions. Is it possible to get long stay deals at guesthouses on nanai Rd? Book 6 months for say 5000 baht a month. Can be basic just need clean and aircon.

170BAHT a day....just wondering what you would exspect for that kind of money??? perhaps you need to rethink your budget

[PhuketonBudget]

Ok. But on nanai i doubt they would be that expensive. 15,000 baht maximum i would think. just basic clean aircon.

My budget may have been off but i saw that girls rooms that seem ok for 3000 baht a month without aircon. I just assumed 4000 more could get a basic aircon room

[PTG]

You could always rent a hong for 4K/month and buy your own aircon. Then sell your aircon upon leaving. Granted a hong would be a small room next to other small rooms, but the upside is most of your neighbors would be some Issan girls in the p4p game, so maybe if you're nice, you'd get some good lovin in.

[LivinLOS]

Originally Posted by PhuketonBudget

Ok. But on nanai i doubt they would be that expensive. 15,000 baht maximum i would think. just basic clean aircon.

My budget may have been off but i saw that girls rooms that seem ok for 3000 baht a month without aircon. I just assumed 4000 more could get a basic aircon room

A single ac unit can run a couple of grand a month in electricity.. If used by someone who doesnt keep check on it and opens doors even more..

Basic rooms can be found in the 6 - 9 range.. But not to people who dont know the area, haggle properly, push it in thai.. Baan Ton Sai will do a low season room (no TV but I think AC) for about 9 - 12k a month.. Pretty dumpy tho.

15k gets quite nice, cable TV, AC, wifi, pool, etc.. Thats one of two night staying in so may actually save you money.

[landofsmiles]

Visa get a Non Imm O visa before you come....GBPounds 110. Lasts 1 year but you have to do a border run every 90 days so you'd only need to do 2 if you stay 8 onths.

Don't think I could live on 55000 baht a month in Phuket. I suppose it could be done if you drank beer from 7/11, ate noodle soup every day and didn't play with the small brown ladies. Would be a boring 8 months though.

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by PhuketonBudget

Hey Benjy do you think that i can get aircon rooms on nani for around that price ? 7000 a month tops clean, aircon and Tv.

Does 1000 allow for doing things like trips to islands etc? I suppose in the budget it drew up i have 10 k for other activities budgeted but i dont know if im missing something.

I had a room in Patts last year in a guesthouse for 7000/mo in high season. Electric(A/C) was extra, 1 to 2K per month, depending on how hot is was, but I was on the shady side of the building. Very nice big room in a fairly newish building, only one or two yrs old. The only real drawback was sheets/towels/cleaning was only once a week, and then you had to remind the girl.

One month I stayed with a girl in her room. It was small, but tidy, no AC(just fan on wall), no hot water, bathroom the size of a small closet, just big enough to turn around in. You could shit and shower at the same time! The best thing about it, though, was that in the Thai neighborhood, there were no bars, discos, and it was on a side soi, so very, very quiet, and I liked that. Family Mart and carts with yummy food on the corner, a stone's throw away, was very nice, too. All that and a short walk to Walking St. or South Pattya Rd., which is a market street, every kind of food on sale there, plus supermarket. The massages were a lot cheaper in that neighborhod, too, as most of their customers were Thai. She paid 3500 plus electric(very little with no AC).

[Dupree00]

Originally Posted by JayBee

One month I stayed with a girl in her room. It was small, but tidy, no AC(just fan on wall), no hot water, bathroom the size of a small closet, just big enough to turn around in. You could shit and shower at the same time! The best thing about it, though, was that in the Thai neighborhood, there were no bars, discos, and it was on a side soi, so very, very quiet, and I liked that. Family Mart and carts with yummy food on the corner, a stone's throw away, was very nice, too. All that and a short walk to Walking St. or South Pattya Rd., which is a market street, every kind of food on sale there, plus supermarket. The massages were a lot cheaper in that neighborhod, too, as most of their customers were Thai. She paid 3500 plus electric(very little with no AC).

Where did you keep your debit cards, passport and cash when you weren't in her room?

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by Dupree00

Where did you keep your debit cards, passport and cash when you weren't in her room?

Usually in my pocket! But there was a huge friggin' padlock on her door, so really not a problem anyhow. It actually was a nice little building , with small beauty shop downstairs, and on a short dead-end soi, so no traffic at all. The owners were a farang and his TG who lived there. They were really nice, and kept an eye on things. Were never any problems there, while I was there. Except sometimes the water went out. But that occasionally happened at the guesthouse I stayed in, too.

[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.

[snowy]

Originally Posted by LivinLOS

Baan Ton Sai will do a low season room (no TV but I think AC) for about 9 - 12k a month.. Pretty dumpy tho.

lil, you're far to generous in your praise of this place.
it's not even close to being that good. imo.

[Sirgezza]

Originally Posted by PhuketonBudget

Im going to save the money. So ill come back to no debt. I dont have really anything keeping me from travelling. I can cancel sky and my gym membership.

I think this is what i need. 8 months on a budget to just think about things. I dont need girls everynight or anything. Just the beach, thai food, a few nights out in kangaroo bar a month and lots of relaxing.

On that budget all you will do is think. No money for anything else!!!

What do you have to think about that takes 8 months?

Just because you are in a job that you don't find very interesting, living on the cheap in LOS for 8 months is not the answer IMHO.

[Rex7777]

Originally Posted by Sirgezza

On that budget all you will do is think. No money for anything else!!!

What do you have to think about that takes 8 months?

Just because you are in a job that you don't find very interesting, living on the cheap in LOS for 8 months is not the answer IMHO.

Isn't he planning on 54,000 baht per month? He probably has enough to find a room, eat avery day, and maybe have a little bit of money to go out once in a while.

I agree, though, in eight months he'll be out of money and right back where he started from.

Rex

[Yahooka]

Originally Posted by Rex7777

Isn't he planning on 54,000 baht per month? He probably ha enough to find a room, eat avery day, and maybe have a little bit of money to go out once in a while.
Rex

54.000 baht will for sure give him a LITTLE room,eat a LITTLE bit every day and the have a LITTLE bit of money to go out for !!

PhuketonBudget,my experience is even if you have a budget it very seldom you are able to keep it ( the "Nickel-And-Dimed To Death" factor is a main contribitor here) and do also try to find something bigger to live in...after a while I can promise you that the walls will start to creep in on you and you will end up spending all your time outside of it and hence spending more of your money !!

[sishow]

From personal experience there are very few things you can do in Phuket that turn out to be as cheap as you think.........

[Rex7777]

Originally Posted by sishow

From personal experience there are very few things you can do in Phuket that turn out to be as cheap as you think.........

I always found that I spend less money in Phuket than in elsewhere in Thailand, mainly because things are pretty quiet during the day, with most of the bars closed.

Typical day: get up and take a long walk, either before or after breakfast. Then, catch up on my email and whatever else I do on the Internet. Or read. Maybe go out for some Thai food in the middle of the afternoon. And if I went out to the bars, that would be later on, past 9PM. So, until 9PM I didn't spend much money. Contrast that with Pattaya, where there's all sorts of trouble you can get into, starting about noon.

Rex

[Snideybowl]

Just take 4 months off, double your budget and have a great time.
I took 3 months off in 2007, and by the 3rd month I was ready to back to work again, and I work in a potboiler.

[JRSlim]

Hi Phuketon(tiny)Budget.
There are guesthouses with decent sized rooms, aircon, tv etc charging 500 baht per night (on nightly basis), many of which are half full to completely empty at the moment being low season. How good are you at haggling, as your long term monthly rate will come down to how good a deal you will be able to negotiate? You should be able to get something decent for about 10,000 baht per month.

In terms of how to take your money, well when I was there recently I got slugged with a 150 baht fee each time I used an ATM, so you may want to consider travellers cheques.

I reckon if I spent 8 months in Patong with a fairly limited budget I would be bored shytless. But as you say, you are dedicated to doing this now, so good luck...

[Dodger]

As usual loads of opinions from people who have never done it but just compare to thier holiday budget. One of Duncs friends came over here with £5k, lived here for 6 months and went home with a little more than £2k.

How? he met a girl, moved into her apartment and they lived together so very little money on entertainment................oops sorry a bit of real life rather than speculation.

Only one example but can give many more actual ones, guy here lives on an incopme of 30k per month, how? shares his accomodation, works running a bar for a few different bars, gets food and drinks included and is out everynight, albeit the same bars.

There is accomodation avaialble in Patong from 3500bht per month upwards, agree to get a half decent apartment you should budget for 10k but if you can put up with 3.5k room, up to you.

So yes it is possible and yes different opportunities do happen for different people, however saying all that I cannot for the life of me go with the 'need 8 months to think about stuff' routine, thats just an excuse to have an 8 month holiday, stop trying to fool yourself, come on holiday and when your money runs out, go home.

[dan boy]

I would cut the trip in half and have enough money to do what you want and stay in decent accomodation. What can you do in 8 months that you can't do in 4 ??

The problem is you will feel just the same when you get back, but you will be 8 grand poorer...

[LivinLOS]

Originally Posted by Dodger

There is accomodation avaialble in Patong from 3500bht per month upwards, agree to get a half decent apartment you should budget for 10k but if you can put up with 3.5k room, up to you..

Hes specifically listing AC..

Those 3.5k rooms are usually kinda rough, unsecure, no TV or anything BG rooms.. 8 months in something like that is hardly a holiday !!

[Benjy]

Yeah I'd have thought circa 8k baht for a room would be the minimum you could get away with for something sensible.

[fotonut]

Originally Posted by dan boy

I would could the trip in half and have enough money to do what you want and stay in decent accomodation. What can you do in 8 months that you can't do in 4 ??

The problem is you will feel just the same when you get back, but you will be 8 grand poorer...

This is what I recommend and if you can stretch it out to 5 or 6 months good for you or you can go home at 4 months with a little cash left over. Bottom line, I don't think it would be very much fun living in Phuket without being able to enjoy it!

[landofsmiles]

Well he has posted he has a "girlfriend" in Bangkok he's stayed with before who never asked him for any money so maybe he's going to bus her down to take care of the long nights in Phuket or maybe he's one of these young guys that "doesn't need to pay for girls."

[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.

[les1999]

Originally Posted by dan boy

I would cut the trip in half and have enough money to do what you want and stay in decent accomodation. What can you do in 8 months that you can't do in 4 ??

The problem is you will feel just the same when you get back, but you will be 8 grand poorer...

I'm with you - make the stay 4 or 6 months and have enough to actually enjoy yourself, there are many ways to not spend so much money and most of them have been covered by other BM's .........

[Sirgezza]

Originally Posted by Dodger

....

How? he met a girl, moved into her apartment and they lived together so very little money on entertainment................oops sorry a bit of real life rather than speculation.

....

And you are speculating that the same will happen to Phuketonabudget?

If that does not happen, where will it leave him?

Still, I'm just a dumb tourist and not a clever expat, so what do I know?

[sishow]

Originally Posted by Dodger

As usual loads of opinions from people who have never done it but just compare to thier holiday budget. One of Duncs friends came over here with £5k, lived here for 6 months and went home with a little more than £2k.

How? he met a girl, moved into her apartment and they lived together so very little money on entertainment................oops sorry a bit of real life rather than speculation.

Only one example but can give many more actual ones, guy here lives on an incopme of 30k per month, how? shares his accomodation, works running a bar for a few different bars, gets food and drinks included and is out everynight, albeit the same bars.

There is accomodation avaialble in Patong from 3500bht per month upwards, agree to get a half decent apartment you should budget for 10k but if you can put up with 3.5k room, up to you.

So yes it is possible and yes different opportunities do happen for different people, however saying all that I cannot for the life of me go with the 'need 8 months to think about stuff' routine, thats just an excuse to have an 8 month holiday, stop trying to fool yourself, come on holiday and when your money runs out, go home.

Not me Dodger!

I speak from experience......... (Yes, for a change! 555)

[tony70007000]

if you have something to fall back to, then do it..8 months in LOS is not enough, it's my 5th year now still i am stuck here

Originally Posted by PhuketonBudget

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.