I thought I’d do something different and break down how much money I spent today in Pai, Thailand.
- AM trail run: 0 baht. This was probably the highlight of my day. I just went off exploring different trails, and ended up with 6.3 miles under my belt.
- Breakfast at hostel: 0 baht
- The hostel gives me free breakfast. It’s normally toast and eggs, but since I don’t eat eggs they give me toast and fruit. I spread some of my black sesame tahini that I bought the other day from Earth Tone Cafe to make it more filling.
- Coffee at Art In Chai: 70 baht ($2.17)
- Tried Lao coffee with coconut milk! Prettyyyyy prettyyyyy pretty good.
- Sunglasses: 190 baht ($5.90)
- Mine broke so I had to get new ones (seen below).
- Water: 13 baht ($.40)
- Lunch at Chew Xin Jai: 30 baht ($.94)
- Highly recommend this place. It’s SUPER cheap (meals are 30-45 baht) and everything is so good.
- Thai massage: 200 baht ($6.28)
- There was a massage place right across from Chew Xin Jai, so I decided to get one on a whim. My massage person was sniffling the whole time, so if I get sick I know who to blame…
- Fresh coconut: 50 baht ($1.55)
- This was my afternoon snack; I drank/ate it while reading my book (Kafka On The Shore by Murakami).
- Beer at hostel: 60 baht ($1.88)
- Played some pool and had a drink with hostel friends.
- Dinner at night market: 50 baht ($1.55)
- I got a tofu stir fry (30 baht). It was OK. I also got black sticky rice for dessert (20 baht). For the black sticky rice, they toast a flattened out pancake made of black sticky rice, fill it with a sesame/sugar mixture & condensed milk, and then cut it up into small pieces. Just ask for no milk to make it vegan.
- Drinks at hostel: 175 baht ($7.37)
- Throughout the night I ended up drinking 1 more beer (50), a tequila sunrise (100), and a big water (25).
- Accommodation: 220 baht ($6.83)
- I’m staying at Purple Monkey. I really like it! The vibe is chill and the staff are really friendly. It has a pool, gym, basketball court, and small field for soccer/other sports. The only negative I have is the bathrooms; the showers are in the same room as the toilet, so it can get a bit messy.
TOTAL: 1058 baht ($33.22)
This was more of a high-spending day than usual because I got a massage, bought sunglasses, and drank more alcohol than normal.
A typical day is more like $25. My budget is around $32 a day, but I put the massage in my “excursions/miscellaneous” budget, for which I allocated $2000. So without the massage I spent about $27.
This is so helpful to know! It’s hard to work out a budget for places when you’ve never been there or anywhere similar…thank you!
Yeah! Budgeting is so important. Happy to help!