What you do for fun can have a significant impact on your budget. If you like to do liveaboard scuba diving, plan on Bt 20,000+ per trip. But if you are a nature lover, you won't spend much at all past getting to your destination and/or lodging.
Golf in Thailand is cheap. Greens fees at great courses will be in the Bt 2,000 to 3,000 range unless you are on the eastern seaboard. That area has 20+ top quality courses. By joining the Pattaya Sports Club, you will get a 50% discount. More normal neighborhood courses can be played for Bt 300 - Bt 600
Some really good courses will have "Sportsmen's Day" or something similar, usually on weekdays, and greens fees will be 30% - 50% of normal. Most courses, even the cheap ones, have caddies at Bt 50 - 150 per round.
Thailand has lots of courses. Virtually every military base has a golf course. A number of the EGAT (Electrical Generating Authority of Thailand) installations have courses as well as guest houses.
Doing a golf tour with a friend or two can be a very nice way to discover Thailand.
Medical and dental treatments in Thailand are less than 50%. Many of the professionals attended medical schools and worked for years in the west. The best doctors and dentists will generally be in larger cities, especially Bangkok.
One member of our staff had cataract surgery / implants by a graduate of NYU who had practiced just outside Chicago for 9 years. Wonderful results and Bt 70,000 for both eyes.
A consultation with an orthopedic surgeon at Bumrungrat Hospital, one of the very best in the world, cost Bt 850, and included medications.
People travel to Thailand for major dental procedures. They pay for a vacation and still save money.
Medical insurance is available. If you can form a small group, or get in a group, you can get a BUPA policy for around Bt 10,000 per year. The only problem with the BUPA policy is that it cuts off at age 70.
Internet service in Thailand comes in 3 basic flavors. Most common is still dial-up outside Bangkok.
Generally, ADSL service will only be available within a 5-6 km radius around the TOT or TTT termination point. Packages claiming 512 kb with unlimited bandwidth are often Bt 800/month. 1024 may be Bt 1,200. Providers are Loxley, True, TOT, KCS, Inet and several others.
Dial-up is generally spotty, and can make you tear out your hair. Sometimes, however .. it can be quite reasonable and even approached the 56k that the service providers claim. Normally, you will select a package and be billed a set amount for perhaps 100 hours, then be billed extra for overages.
Dial-up can be arranged either by a contract with monthly billing or by a temporary "ticket" system. If you don't need an associated email account with your dial-up, and your usage is not too heavy, the ticket system is a simple approach. Tickets have unique logins and passwords that expire after a certain number of hours of access. They are widely available, 7-11 stores perhaps being the handiest. The tickets will generally be good for 10-30 hours of connectivity.
The ticket system actually has a couple of advantages over a contracted monthly account. While the cost per hour is generally higher than a contract rate, you:
- Pay for the hours you spend online
- Have access to multiple providers by purchasing different tickets
For your Bt 3,000 you get 1 gb of bandwidth; and service that varies from what is claimed .. to something that approximates slow dialup. But it is an option.
Cable TV with a number of western channels is available nationwide from UBC. Installation costs vary depending on the promotion that is happening at the time, but should be in the Bt 6,000 range. That includes equipment lease and installation. Monthly service will be Bt 1,500 and up depending on the package you select.
Note: Before ordering UBC service , make sure you have made arrangements with the property owner. UBC will not install in a private house without a copy of the "House Book".
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