Many people are always asking me, “Why is Thailand such a popular destination for travelers looking to extend their vacations?” The answer is simple, economics.

The following is a guide to the costs of various things in Thailand. It is just a guide. There are lots of different prices depending on where you are in Thailand and also lots of different items. In Thailand there is a huge variety of food, there are many different kinds of rice for example with different prices.

39 - 40 Thai Baht is about US $1
LIST OF PRICES IN LOCAL THAI SHOPS (the housing prices refer to outer suburban Bangkok)

Mangoes - 35 Baht per kilo

Petrol - 26 Baht per litre

Watermelon - 25 Baht

Haircut - 50 Baht

Rent (1 room apartment) - 2000 Baht per month

Rent (3 bedroom house) - 5000 Baht per month

5 litre of drinking water - 3 Baht

Rice - 340 Baht per 15kg

New 4 wheel drive, 4 door Toyota Hilux - 700,000 Baht

New 125 ltr motorcycle - 60,000 Baht

10 Chicken eggs - 26 Baht

Loaf of bread - 27 Baht

Our monthly electricity bill - about 250 Baht

600ml of coke put in a plastic bag with ice and straw - 13 Baht

A 3 bedroom town house in outer Bangkok - 1 to 1.5 million Baht

Use of Gym in Suan Serithai - free

Afternoon aerobics almost anywhere in Thailand - free

1 hour facial - 300 Baht

1 kg of Tiger Prawns - 200 Baht

1 kg of Prawns - 150 Baht

Wedding dress - 5500 Baht

7 kg clothes washing machine - 2700 Baht

Dental check up and clean - 400 Baht

Elephant - 300,000 Baht

Cow - 10,000 Baht

School books for 1 year for private school - 3431 Baht

School fees for private school (for 1 term out of 2 term year) -8500 Baht

School books for 1 year for at Government school - 180 Baht

School is “free” in Thailand, although after books, uniforms and insurance and some excursions it probably costs 1000 baht per year - which is perhaps equivilant to 2 hours work. Kids are fed lunch at school free. If anyone wants to spend 2 hours of their money to send a Thai kid to school for a year please let me know. Although it is very cheap, some families cannot afford this and they would appreciate your help. I can send your money to people who can ensure it is used to educate Thai kids (or Burmese refugee kids).

1 hour Thai massage in Chiang Mai - 150 Baht

Going to the movies in Bangkok - 80 to 120 Baht

Renting movies in Bangkok - 2 for 60 Baht and get one free. Is that 20 or 30 Baht each?

Tailor made pants - 880 Baht

Two plumbers to come and fix / install a new tap (about 2 hours of work) - 200 Baht

A 6 socket power board with safety fuse - 119 Baht

In Thailand, there is a GST and people pay up to 5% in income tax. For that they get a range of services from the government. Not all the government services are perfect but often they are pretty good.

A 2 hour, professional Thai massage at the flash sporty complex near the Mall Bangkapi - 300 Baht.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 8th, 2007 at 4:20 pm and is filed under Accomodations, Asia, Money. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.