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[bobsonthegreat]

Hi guys,

How much money do you reckon I can get away with for a month in Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand? I'm not gonna be well-off any way I do it but I need to know if I'm gonna have to do a bit more work in Oz before I get there.

Also, which of the three countries are the cheapest/can you get the most value for money?

[rbisset]

Out of those 3 Thailand would be the cheapest followed by Malaysia then Singapore. My accomodation in Thailand varied from about £1-5 but it was really easy to spend a load on junk that you don't need. Plus the prices really go up on some of the islands, especially Internet fees!
Malaysia's a little more expensive but not enough to get worried about. The only really expensive item in Malaysia is alcohol which is on a par with UK/Aus prices. Singapore is about double the price of Malaysia and to be honest only merits a couple of days to see everything.

Daily budgets from LP:

Thailand: US$11-15
Malaysia: US$12
Singapore: US$25

Those still seem a bit low to me but definitely could be done. So for a month with 14 days in Thailand and Malaysia with 2 days in Singapore they reckon you'd need US$428. I'd say give yourself US$600/AU$757/£300 and you'd have more than enough. If you had AU$1000 you wouldn't have to worry at all!

[whereshegoes]

This is great info Rich...thank you! Is there anyone who has been there recently that can shed some light on this?

I am wondering how quickly inflation pushes up prices.

[rbisset]

There's loads of variables that need to be put into perspective before you can figure out how much you need to budget for.

- Type of accomodation - Prices vary everywhere. For budget accomodation I paid 70baht (£1) in Kanchanaburi but 600baht in Phi Phi. My accomodation at Koh Pha Ngan cost me 150baht and was the epitome of basic but more than adequate for my needs. Depends what creature comforts you need. You get what you pay for and I paid for a small shed with no electricity but a hammock

- Drink - I like a drink, especially when I'm on holiday when I like a lot! Luckily they are reasonable in Thailand where 60 baht will get you a large Chang in most places. 150 baht will get you a SangSom bucket on KPN! I can't say that I budgeted at all when I was in Asia and just drank when I wanted so you may want to think about it as it could add up quickly! Maybe £10+/day to be safe lol!

- Travel - How quickly do you get bored in 1 place? You'll probably want to move around the country and that costs money. 500-1000 baht will get you from Bangkok to the islands/Chiang Mai. Smaller distances will of course cost less. You could of course take a local bus and pay even less. You may choose to fly at some stage so maybe factor that in as well.

- Activities - I'm normally a bit of a lazy bastard but travelling I seem to want to do a lot of activities. Think about any activities you might do (trekking, tubing, kayaking etc) and add more to your budget.

[wakingdream]

Out of those 3 Thailand would be the cheapest followed by Malaysia then Singapore.

I would definitely agree with that Rich based on our last trip. It's seems prices haven't changed that much since I was last in those parts. Good to know since we're heading back this year!

[bobsonthegreat]

Cheers guys. If I can get my taxback sorted out I should be more than fine!

[Paul]

Hey quickly check out the air fares on Jet Star and you could save yourseld a huge amount of money. They have just started flying to Thailand and are offering very good prices.

Otherwise I pretty much agree with what has been said - maybe add a bit more for Malaysia, depending on where in Malaysia you are. KL seems quite expensive.

[rbisset]

JetStar are great. I saw they were flying to Asia/Hawaii now and the prices are pretty good as long as you are flexible with dates. Just make sure you check all the dates a week or so in advance and there's normally 1 day which is $100 cheaper!

[wakingdream]

Is JetStar U.K.? Where do they fly from?

[lisartw]

haven't been to malaysia so cant comment on that but Singapore was relatively cheap. we went there from Sydney (via Hong Kong). Accomodation was about 6 uk pounds per night for a decent hostel in a good location but it was for air con double room so dorm beds much cheaper. Food really cheap, you can eat at the hawker stalls for about 2 uk pounds (and that includes beer!). Beer in restaurants and bars is quite expensive in comparison to buying it at hawker stalls so be prepared for that. travel around singapore is cheap as well. I think I spent on average about 15 uk pounds a day - accom, travel and lots of food and beer. You can spend over that or under that depending on what you eat/drink or do.

As for Thailand, yes it's cheap, food is very cheap. can buy loads of tasty thai food for about 2 or 3 uk pounds, beer is cheap - probably about 1.40 for a big bottle on happy hour places in the most tourist areas (ie khao san road) but it pays to shop around. bus travel is almost free but if you cant face bus the taxis are cheap - you can get almost anywhere for max 100bhat (make sure you insist the meter is turned on).

i've been spending about 1000 - 1200 a day, which is a huge amount over here. But that includes drinking loads, going to a few bars, paying for sights, eating huge amounts of thai food, getting a taxi everywhere and staying in a pretty decent hostel. You can spend way less if you eat/drink less or take cheaper modes of transport (and don't spend excess amounts of money in Boots on lush cosmetics!)

Jetstar do really cheap flights if you book far enough in advance, we got flights from singapore to bangkok for about 30 uk pounds each but we booked them a month in advance. Booking a flight last minute through them will probably set you back about 60 uk pounds

hope that helps?

[whereshegoes]

Wow Lisartw! What a wealth of info Thanks for sharing.