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Post by Banjo on Dec 1, 2014 8:54:43 GMT 7
Food in Asia can be problem if you cannot cook. I once knew an agricultural scientist who worked in northern Laos and would not eat rice or any Asian food. He told me he lived exclusively on fruit and hard boiled eggs.
I cook a bit but I find anyone can make a sandwich without going near as stove, even the shopping malls in Thai cities sell quite good bread and rolls now, and cold meat and prepared salads are available in hygienic packs. I've also noticed that in the more popular supermarkets (Think Rimping, Chiang Mai)frozen precooked "farang" meals are available at a reasonable cost, just requiring a few minutes in the Microwave.
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Post by zorro1 on Dec 1, 2014 11:19:01 GMT 7
Mra "Trip to Bangkok or the Islands twice a year for a break: $1000 for a week" I hope for this price your flying in by chopper and landing on the roof of the landmark hotel, where you only need to walk down one flight of stairs to their magnificent steakhouse I live in Bangkok in the heart of the tourist area and would not recommend it ! The rents are through the roof and I only live here because I dont pay rent and have a long term GF. My biggest expense is Air conditioning at 4000bht/month but its always on except when I sleep as I fitted a ceiling fan in the bedroom. without doubt my biggest saving is not drinking alcohol except friday night when I might have 3-4 beers. When I drank heavily I got up to all sorts of mischief and its associated costs Banjo. Im also on the boiled eggs and fruit diet for a few years now due to the low calorie count of only 60 calories per egg and Im gradually getting back to my normal weight after a blow out due to medications and the associated cravings. I pay $450 a year for accident and travel insurance and just pay cash of a whopping $6 to see my doctor if I need to.
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Post by Banjo on Dec 1, 2014 13:52:00 GMT 7
I've been offered private medical insurance for about that price as well, may take it next year if I lose the Thai coverage as is being predicted on ThaiVisa.
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Post by zorro1 on Dec 1, 2014 14:03:35 GMT 7
Thats right your on the govt scheme? it always sounded to good to be true, and believe it was a loophole after it was incorrectly passed through their medical system.
What private coverage do you mean?
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Post by Banjo on Dec 1, 2014 14:07:23 GMT 7
Can't think of the name of the firm now, it's about 12,000B a year. A relation of a friend is the local agent.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2014 14:57:23 GMT 7
I have went in for a higher insurance package mainly due to the fact I have seen two very bad accidents here (I saw a young girl get hit by a cement truck in Vietnam and get her legs crushed) and it changed my tune pretty quick. I have a friend that is a lawyer here and he told me it is pretty easy to get a bill up to 500,000, so he told me to be well covered. He was the other person whom I saw in hospital after someone drove out into him and he broken a leg and a arm badly. Cost him 230,000 after operations and what so not but his insurance paid it out.
I have seen the rumors on TV as well about shutting the "loophole" but cannot see how yet.
As for having a break, I mostly go when the smoke is thick up here. You need to pamper yourself once every year at least or why is life worth living. Bangkok is expensive to stay in but most the time I only stay a day or two and other times I fly to Krabi and stay down that way. If my best friend comes, we sometimes go to Pattaya first then off to Khao Salmet or another island near Rayong. Flights are cheap if bought 4-5 months out and I know the owners of the hotels very well now down in Ao Nang and I get a 10% discount now and last time I got 15% off and a upgrade as I had referred about 15 people to there hotel.
Food costs don't really worry me to much now. Today I had a coffee, spaghetti an some watermelon from brunch and it cost me 100B. Pretty cheap. Petrol is much cheaper here then the Philippines it seems as well at around $1.07/lt. Costs to buy a motorbike are okay as well. You can buy second hand for around 25000, new for 40000, for a three wheeler (tricity) 78000 and for anything Italian (Vespa), 84000 upwards.
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Post by Banjo on Dec 1, 2014 15:32:04 GMT 7
I had to go down to Krung Thep last week, down and back the same day, just about killed me. The highlight was a trip to Foodland on the way back to the airport... Must be getting old.
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Post by Denis-NFA on Dec 1, 2014 18:29:03 GMT 7
I had to go down to Krung Thep last week, down and back the same day, just about killed me. The highlight was a trip to Foodland on the way back to the airport... Must be getting old. lol... Highlight for me was having a new chain store open in a location about half hour bus trip away and they sell Nescafe Gold!
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Post by Denis-NFA on Dec 1, 2014 18:38:17 GMT 7
I find the most expensive food item here is/are eggs at about $1.70 per dozen, which is not that much cheaper than Australia.
A proportion of food comes from China, particularly since the big typhoon earlier this year.
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Post by zorro1 on Dec 1, 2014 21:10:29 GMT 7
Can't think of the name of the firm now, it's about 12,000B a year. A relation of a friend is the local agent. I looked at a few of those but found the coverage really really low SO abandoned the idea. Its okay for maybe a broken arm or basic doctor trips but not much good if your in a head on Van crash and need to be in emergency for 4 weeks. Just have a good read of the fine print because most of the good ones are between $1500 TO $2000
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Thailand
Dec 1, 2014 22:56:38 GMT 7
via mobile
Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2014 22:56:38 GMT 7
I find the most expensive food item here is/are eggs at about $1.70 per dozen, which is not that much cheaper than Australia. A proportion of food comes from China, particularly since the big typhoon earlier this year. Yes, eggs are not cheap here either. 45 baht for 12 eggs. Have to admit but, the eggs are extra large an duck eggs are not much more expensive.
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Post by Denis-NFA on Dec 1, 2014 23:59:34 GMT 7
the eggs are extra large an duck eggs are not much more expensive. I had a mate that lived on the East coast of Tasmania and when he was a young bloke they used to collect Swan eggs. Loved them. Emu eggs are okay. Not sure how widespread this is but locally here you can buy de-shelled eggs that have been pickled that have the chicken inside. Depending if it is 2, 3 or 4 weeks depends on the price you pay. I can eat most things but cannot bring myself to eat that!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2014 5:39:55 GMT 7
Can't think of the name of the firm now, it's about 12,000B a year. A relation of a friend is the local agent. Sounds good Woill have to look into this when i come to stay in Chiang Mai
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Post by Banjo on Dec 2, 2014 7:44:55 GMT 7
the eggs are extra large an duck eggs are not much more expensive. I had a mate that lived on the East coast of Tasmania and when he was a young bloke they used to collect Swan eggs. Loved them. Emu eggs are okay. Not sure how widespread this is but locally here you can buy de-shelled eggs that have been pickled that have the chicken inside. Depending if it is 2, 3 or 4 weeks depends on the price you pay. I can eat most things but cannot bring myself to eat that! Balut.... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_%28food%29When I was there it was almost the national dish. Seen it in Laos as well. The eggs at my local market are terrible, well past their use by date if you ask me. Luckily I found a nearby resort with a good coffee shop where the live-in Hills Tribe staff have their own chickens and sell the eggs. Sometimes you have to wait while they go and collect the latest batch.
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Post by Denis-NFA on Dec 2, 2014 8:10:55 GMT 7
Balut.... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_%28food%29When I was there it was almost the national dish. Seen it in Laos as well. The eggs at my local market are terrible, well past their use by date if you ask me. Luckily I found a nearby resort with a good coffee shop where the live-in Hills Tribe staff have their own chickens and sell the eggs. Sometimes you have to wait while they go and collect the latest batch. May have to wait but at least you know they are fresh.. Balut... wasn't sure how widespread. Something about it just turns me off. I would rather eat fried cockroaches.. lol
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