Isaan prices

[leadpencil]

I have been travelling through Isaan for the last few days. I have been to Buriram on a couple of occasions and although I remember it being cheap, I never really took too much notice of the prices.

 

Anyway, this time round, travelling solo and having a (very) few words of Thai under my belt (just enough to have a laugh) I am finding that everything is so cheap and making even Pattaya look expensive.

 

Here are a few everyday examples;

 

Medium sized bottle of water in restaurant (size that is 7 baht in 7-11) 10 baht

Large bottle of Heineken in riverside Nong Khai (i.e. touristy restaurant) 50 baht

Pair of shorts (similar seen in Pattaya 450 baht - 150 baht - knocked down from 200 baht)

 

Small restaurants

Pad Thai 25 baht

Pork with rice (Kao pad moo) 25 baht (+ free water)

Duck with rice 50 baht (+ free water)

 

Accomodation in Nong Khai

Basic room, bathroom, aircon and free water 450 baht

Room with no aircon and shared bathroom 300 baht

 

 

The list goes on and on and I am sure that expats living in Isaan have far more knowledge of the bargains to be had. I think that I would struggle to go to somewhere like Phuket again after knowing the 'true' cost of things.

[jerry]

When you're staying just outside Pattaya these prices are quite similar .

Only the large bottle of Heineken is a little strange as it is already 65/70 bath in a 7/11 .

[leadpencil]

When you're staying just outside Pattaya these prices are quite similar .

Only the large bottle of Heineken is a little strange as it is already 65/70 bath in a 7/11 .

 

Looking at the receipt it could well be 65 baht for the Heneiken. I had it with a green curry and fried rice. I assumed the curry to be 65 baht but that could well be 50 baht and the Heneiken 65 baht. The receipt is hand 'written' in Thai so slightly difficult to decipher...

[dc_publius]

Well, yes, hotel prices in Nong Khai are cheaper, but there really isn't much to choose from. I like to stay in hotels that don't look like they were decorated 25 years ago and have 2 tiny twin beds. I like more modern places that look super-tidy and have western quality bathrooms, etc. This is not easy to find in NK. I found one place that was running 2500-3500/night and couldn't really find any cheaper alternatives. So yes, hotels are cheaper, but I think this is in large part because they are considerably crappier.

 

Food prices you quoted can be found even in BKK if you get out of the touristy zones. (except for maybe duck dish depending on how much meat you got.)

 

'The scene' is almost non existent. There is only one spot and it is in a dark alley in some dingy houses. I watched that alley from the main road (where the gas station is) and you could sit there for hours and not see anyone walk into that alley. That gives you an idea of how small the mongering scene is. Quite honestly, I never got the nerve to walk in as I hate a hard sell and I didn't see anything worthwhile riding through that alley a few times. So I don't know mongering prices in NK, but in my experience with other Issan towns people will be disappointed. Prices are usually similar to BKK prices and sometimes a little more and the girls are generally NOT as hot as BKK gogo girls. You will find that you need excellent scene intelligence to get anywhere and it is very hard to find. Basically, a big PIA for most Issan cities.

[korat9]

cost of living farang life and more .. you can find in the local buriram site: http://buriramexpats.com

 

I hope you enjoyed being in buriram.

 

*Phuket is one of the most expensive places in Thailand to live in from my experience, even Pattaya is cheap compare to Phuket.

[Big Casino]

There is three bars all next to each other in Nong KAI one soi back from the river who all have bar girls allthough they dont appear to turn up unitl the evening, another bar on road between the pantawee hotel and the river plus a chinese hotel with P4P. I was only ther for three days with my GF and noticed these without evenlooking that hard so I am sure there is more if you want it. Allthough we stayed in the Pantawee hotel which is pretty basic for my standards there is a new hotel on the outskirts of the city travelling north which looked 4 star to me. Personally I will go back there soon as I liked its laid back lifestyle probably suit the over 40s.

 

Big C

[doctorsam17]

these prices aren't that different then they are in Pattaya, but you just have to look for'em in pattaya.

Prices for a room could even be cheaper in Pattaya: 400baht for a basic room, bathroom, aircon.

 

But the difference will probably be,that in Isaan, you can find these prices everywhere, and in Patts you realy have to look for them.

[swagman]

Well, yes, hotel prices in Nong Khai are cheaper, but there really isn't much to choose from. I like to stay in hotels that don't look like they were decorated 25 years ago and have 2 tiny twin beds. I like more modern places that look super-tidy and have western quality bathrooms, etc. This is not easy to find in NK. I found one place that was running 2500-3500/night and couldn't really find any cheaper alternatives. So yes, hotels are cheaper, but I think this is in large part because they are considerably crappier.

 

Food prices you quoted can be found even in BKK if you get out of the touristy zones. (except for maybe duck dish depending on how much meat you got.)

 

'The scene' is almost non existent. There is only one spot and it is in a dark alley in some dingy houses. I watched that alley from the main road (where the gas station is) and you could sit there for hours and not see anyone walk into that alley. That gives you an idea of how small the mongering scene is. Quite honestly, I never got the nerve to walk in as I hate a hard sell and I didn't see anything worthwhile riding through that alley a few times. So I don't know mongering prices in NK, but in my experience with other Issan towns people will be disappointed. Prices are usually similar to BKK prices and sometimes a little more and the girls are generally NOT as hot as BKK gogo girls. You will find that you need excellent scene intelligence to get anywhere and it is very hard to find. Basically, a big PIA for most Issan cities.

[swagman]

That's also very true for the rest of Issan too. I believe the scene that must exist (well it's Thailand) I'm sure is for Thai men so need not be advertised & us Falangs wouldn't know where to look. I tried looking for a whole day in Nakhom Phanom a few years back asking evey tuk-tuk driver I saw, only to get a lounge where you sit & drink with a lovely woman but...that's all! No mongering or short time of any sort could I find after 5 hours traveling about the town.

[dc_publius]

That's also very true for the rest of Issan too. I believe the scene that must exist (well it's Thailand) I'm sure is for Thai men so need not be advertised & us Falangs wouldn't know where to look. I tried looking for a whole day in Nakhom Phanom a few years back asking evey tuk-tuk driver I saw, only to get a lounge where you sit & drink with a lovely woman but...that's all! No mongering or short time of any sort could I find after 5 hours traveling about the town.

 

I have been darn near everywhere in LOS from Mae Sai in the North, to Tak Bai in the deep South and the statement above is so true not just for Issan, but all of Thailand. If you stay in expensive western oriented hotels, you will often get a bell-boy or staff to offer to get a girl for you. They will usually ask for what you like (I always say young, very thin, skin color doesn't matter) and they will bring 2 girls who look like they are hitting 30 and are about 5-6. Worse yet, they usually want 3000 and it is seriously hard work getting them down to 2000-2500.

 

I'm sure there are some cheap thai places somewhere, but don't expect to find them. Tuktuks and motorbikes will not take you there. Maybe if you know Thai well, it may be different for you.

[matthewh]

been to my wifes family in roiet recently for 2 weeks,although we do stay in hotels and what a bargain they are.the first hotel we stayed at was the petcherat garden,its in town near the bars.it has a great swimming pool.the price including 2 buffet breakfasts was 540 baht.we had to check out after 6 days as they were full for some fuction.anyway we foun another place the next street along for 400 baht.the room was better but no breakfast.it was called petpallin hotel.

great thai food was very cheap when we chose to eat out, and a large singha with a bucket of ice was 69 to 75 baht.all in all fairly priced.

[asiansun]

ive lived in isaan on off now 12 years and i can tell you that it is full of pussy,  our villiage alone has 5 karaoke type places just on the outskirts,  you drive along the roads at night after 7pm and you will see these little bars lit up by xmas tree lights ( our villiage has population of about 4-5000 i would think )    even when i go to udon or khon kaen there are little back street knocking shops where you can get a bang for around 500-700 baht.

 

 you just need to know where to go.    saying that , in isaan its very hard to pick up a thai girl as most you meet in market etc dont speak any english and i think they are shy.   but coming back from udon one night last year i stopped at a roadside noodle stall in khumpawapi,  behind me were 4 young thai girls , i would say they were from 17 -18,  couple of them spoke decent enough english, i bought them a spy wine each and took one of them to a local resort 200 baht for nice room per night,  banged her , but then she told me her mama wanted to meet me  WTF !!    and even in between banging her the friends were constantly on phone to her and it was that they werre wanting banged too as she told me her friend wanted to come .   yes it can be done