I think I’ve been really fortunate that my school isn’t located in a very touristy area. It’s in a smaller urban city outside of Bangkok so the only people living here are locals and students at Mahidol University. Everything is small and locally owned, the university being the jewel of the city. Other than my town being a great spot to meet locals, I personally found the best way to get to know people is to talk to my taxi drivers, bus drivers, tour guides, and people at markets. Most of the time these people are so willing to have a nice conversation and it’s great because they have so much knowledge about the surrounding area. Sometimes there is a language barrier, but when there’s not everyone is so willing to answer any questions.
While I’ve been here I actually haven’t purchased that much. I’m not much of a spender on things that will take up room in my suitcase. Instead I like to put my money towards experiences. The most interesting thing I’ve purchased based off of that criteria are all the tours I’ve gone on while I’ve been here. One of my favorites was Khao Sok National Park. It was absolutely stunning. It’s a manmade body of beautiful blue water and huge cliffs shooting up sky high. It didn’t look or seem real as we cruising over the water. The tour included exploring the waters by long-boat and then sleeping on little river rafts on the water. I also got to hike up to an incredible viewpoint that overlooked the entire lake. This tour may not necessarily count as an interesting purchase, but it was worth every penny to go on it. If you were curious one of my friends did buy a fried scorpion one time while here and I think that counts as a weird purchase.
The currency here is 34 baht for every dollar. So….it’s incredible. Most meals in general range between 40 and 100 baht (depending on where you are and if it’s a touristy place or not). On campus I would buy meals for 35 baht and get fruit everyday for 15 or 20 baht. So if I had a meal with fruit it might not even add up to $2. That is unheard of in the states. Traveling is also amazing because plane tickets within country are usually less than $100 roundtrip and bus tickets range from 100 and 400 baht. Taxis are usually the most expensive thing here, but I’ve never had more than a 500 baht taxi and it’s always split between me and my friends. Thailand is not like Europe where you have to save thousands to enjoy yourself here. I’ve been able to travel almost every weekend and I haven’t broken my bank. (I’m also not an over spender on random things). I just spend smart and make sure to not get caught in any tourist traps. Also not overspending on where you stay is huge. You can book hostels or guesthouses for as little as $5 a night if you search hard enough. And most of the time the accommodations are still pretty nice, but no, you won’t get a luxurious pool and beautiful room. But most of the time I don’t even stay in my room and I’m exploring so wasting money on a nice hotel wasn’t worth it.
