I find that in Thailand, the food prices range greatly. It's really common to find food at around 100-200 baht per person. Which is around $4-$8 for us. And we get to sit in a restaurant.
But of course that's not for me. I know that there's cheaper alternatives. The above picture is 95 baht. Around $4 for the both of us.
And I realize that the typical price of a meal per person is 50 baht for small shops and roadside vendors or food courts in a shopping mall.
Restaurants are 100-300 baht per dish.
And then there's the atas restaurants that charge 700 baht per dish. I won't even talk about these.
Cafes are pretty expensive and yet there are so many people sitting around eating desserts and drinking their coffee.
The cost in a cafe is typically 150 baht per person and above. And that's probably just ordering a drink.
I don't know whether I should be surprised. Cos I had the impression that the average pay in Thailand isn't much. And if I were them, I'd be eating cheap food most of the time to save up and try to move to a better financial position.
Even for me, I think that restaurant food or cafes are over priced when I see the cheaper options that are available.
It's like if I eat a pad Thai at a small shop which might cost me 50-60 baht vs I eat a pad Thai at a restaurant which would cost me double.
It's like eating a hor fun at the zichar stall downstairs at $4-5 vs if I go to Crystal jade and pay over $10.
Nissin cup noodles are a nice surprise at around $0.50 per cup. In Singapore it's almost $2 per cup.
I did go to a couple of restaurants to eat cos my wife was hungry and she didn't want to walk around to find cheaper alternatives so I did try some of the more expensive restaurants. To me 500 baht ($20) for the both of us is considered expensive for a dinner in Thailand.
Nothing much I can talk about cos we haven't been doing much. We aren't doing much shopping. She bought 2 blouses at $16 for both. So I can't really say too much about it.
The roads are a mess, it's hard to walk around cos not all areas cut through to other places so we really had to walk around the area to find the road that cuts through.
Ok I'll end the post here. Maybe I'll do a follow up when I get back if I learn anything more about the lifestyle here.
**PS thanks for all those who commented about my Australia visa issue. I now have 2 visas approved.
1 is the manual visa which I applied after the electronic one failed.
2 is another visa which my wife helped to request from the travel agent which helps her company book flights.
A bit double effort and additional costs, but at least it's one big thing off my mind and I'm relieved. So looks like I'll be having a trip to Perth soon.
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