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Getting to Pattaya and Petchrungruang to train - Low Budget

Chris Shawbell
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Chris Shawbell Nong

Chris Shawbell

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I'm writing to get some info regarding coming to Thailand to train.  I intend to train in Pattaya at Petchrungruang.  A few basic questions for my budgeting purposes: General monthly (or weekly) cost of living (food and so forth), and a cost of residence (I need only a bed and means to cook).  I will not be there to "see the sights", but only to train.  Also, where should I fly into?

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Tyler Byers Nong

Tyler Byers

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There are a few threads on this if you do a search Chris. I don't remember if any of them are Pattaya specific, but I wrote one up for Bangkok a while ago that should be pretty comparable. Just be aware that most cheap places to live won't have any area to cook in. If you get a cheap place to live you are probably going to be stuck buying street food or from a restaurant. I would plan on flying into Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and taking a bus from Ekkamai to Pattaya. I believe that bus station is the Eastern station, but I'm not sure. It's super easy to find though, its at the base of the Ekkamai BTS station. A ticket is only like 120-130 baht. 

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Snack Payback Contributor

Snack Payback

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You might be able to get a bus/minivan straight from Suvarnabhumi, although probably not as cheap as from Ekkamai, like Tyler suggested.

What sort of food were you planning to cook? Unless you're planning to live off instant noodles the whole time, it's probably not worth your while with street food being so affordable (and delicious). 

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Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu Mentor

Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu

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On 8/26/2019 at 9:04 AM, Chris Shawbell said:

I'm writing to get some info regarding coming to Thailand to train.  I intend to train in Pattaya at Petchrungruang.  A few basic questions for my budgeting purposes: General monthly (or weekly) cost of living (food and so forth), and a cost of residence (I need only a bed and means to cook).  I will not be there to "see the sights", but only to train.  Also, where should I fly into?

Hey Chris, sorry it took me so long to get to this thread, we've been driving all over and are finally back in Pattaya. Here, I think, is the thread @Tyler Byers mentioned where general budgetary details were shared by him:

 

Here is his comment where he lays some things out that seem pretty close to Pattaya costs (even though BKK):

 

But yes, definitely fly into Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). I don't have experience with the bus as Tyler mentioned, we usually take a taxi which I think runs about 1,500 baht? When flying into a whole new country, new city, etc, it sometimes is worth it to just get to your hotel pronto, to settle down and locate yourself. Then begin the adventure. But, I would guess that the bus is also a perfectly reasonable option as well. I'm a "get me to my bed, first" kind of guy. Royal Thai Residence is kind of a middle of the road hotel. It has surprising amenities, like a pretty nice pool, for a pretty reasonable cost, but it is not the lowest budget option. Though, one of the nice things about it is that Dieselnoi stays there 3 days a week 🙂 Maybe you can hang out at the pool or the local sauna with him. I'll have Sylvie hop on and maybe suss out how low clean low-budget hotels can go. And I've asked Kero to maybe jump on re: food costs?

 

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Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu Fellow Traveler

Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu

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Tyler is right, inexpensive accommodation doesn't have cooking options. You can buy a hot-plate and a pan, which is an investment on your own part. Middle-level rooms will have a balcony with a sink where you can kind of turn it into a kitchen with a microwave and electric kettle. It's much, much easier to just buy your food from stalls but obviously the tradeoff is you don't have as much control over your diet at all. 

Chicken+Rice is a common meal, generally running 40 Baht for a serving. Anything that's served on rice is about 40-100 Baht, soups are about the same at most stalls. If you get a dish plus rice (not the same as "on rice"), the vegetable or meat is a bigger serving and so the price is maybe 60-120 Baht. I go to a place near the gym that's grilled chicken and Somtum (spicy salad). A whole chicken plus the salad is 199 Baht and it takes me two meals to finish the chicken.

If you sit down at an indoor restaurant with air-con, food prices are around 120-250 Baht per dish. If you get western food, it's 200+ for almost anything.

Cheap rooms can be as low as 2500 Baht per month (for any price I give, water and electricity are not included), but usually they don't have air-con or hot water. 5000/month is the lowest I've seen for having air-con and hot water, but the room will be small and often there's a 6 month contract on those. We did this in Bangkok our first trip out and just paid the penalty for canceling the contract before 6 months, which was the cost of our deposit (1 month's rent). 

I recommend a motorbike in Pattaya, those are probably 1500 Baht for a month, plus whatever gas cost to fill it, which depends on how much you drive. I drive a lot and it's probably 120 Baht/week in gas. Otherwise you can walk and use the truck-busses or motorbike taxis for longer trips.

I'll try to add more to this as I think of things. But ask if I've missed something and I'll try to find out.

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Tyler Byers Nong

Tyler Byers

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I don't know why, but I thought it would be slightly less expensive down there. Seems to be about the same though as far as food prices. That's generally how I judge cost of living for different areas of Thailand lol. The price of noodles is a pretty consistent one that will tell you about prices of everything else in the surrounding area.

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Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu Mentor

Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu

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On 8/26/2019 at 9:04 AM, Chris Shawbell said:

(I need only a bed and means to cook).

As others have noted, but with some emphasis, cooking one's own meals is not entirely customary. There is a network and custom of foodstalls by which many people eat throughout the day. The food is cheap and dependable. If you are only staying a week or two, cooking your own food would not be the ideal set up in terms of cost effectiveness, unless the reason is that you are trying to gain control over your diet.

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Tyler Byers Nong

Tyler Byers

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Hahaha more on the food topic.... This is a great start to practicing Thai language skills. I'm not entirely sure why, but food vendors tend to be the easiest/most accepting while beginning to learn a little Thai. I think it revolves around food being a common thing between people from all countries. Thais LOVE food! It's like 40% of what gets talked about throughout the day lol. I didn't know a single word in Thai before I arrived in BKK, and the first thing I learned was all the names of fruits, small necessities like eggs, and how to order a few basic dishes. The great thing is that you always can point and it gives you an out if you suddenly get overly self-conscious.  One thing I will caution you about is that if you begin buying food from one stall regularly, don't start buying stuff nearby (like within eyesight) just to switch it up. I made this mistake and it soured the owners towards me a bit. Either regularly spread it out (buy one thing from each stall), or find a place you like in each little neighborhood and travel around. If you order regularly from a place they will likely form a bit of a relationship with you and can get upset if they one day see you spending your money at a competing location. Forming these relationships can be half the fun of eating out though, and its a great way to start learning Thai culture. 

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Kero Tide Nong

Kero Tide

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I don't have much more infos to add to what's already been said. Plus I've only stayed one week in Pattaya so my input is very limited. I was staying at the Royal Thai Residence and I ate outside everyday.

Basically my eating routine was fruits for lunch and a meal consisting of rice and veggies for diner at a street food stall nearby the hotel. That evening meal cost me about 50 bath. The fruits I'd buy them in the morning before training at a market near Jomtien Beach. If I remember well I would buy for around 100/150 baht of fruits and it would last me two days or so. I'd also buy cheap snacks from convenience store sometimes; and coconuts everytime I see them. I think one whole coconut costs around 50 baht. As for water you can buy a bottle for cheap (10 or 15 baht I don't remember) and when it's empty just fill it back up for 1baht at the many "water providers thingies" you can find everywhere outside. It's cheaper to do this than buying packs.

All in all, I think I was spending around 150 baht on food/water everyday. I guess you could do less if you don't snack at all. 

I told Kevin the more time you spend at the gym the less money you spend on food (or otherwise) so there's a tip if you want to save money. You could also try fasting every other day like Sylvie and Kevin. Hahaha.

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Oliver Nong

Oliver

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On 9/2/2019 at 8:39 AM, Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu said:

Cheap rooms can be as low as 2500 Baht per month (for any price I give, water and electricity are not included), but usually they don't have air-con or hot water.

What the minimum time rental for those places? Can you get those at short notice for the short term?

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