Paying For Your Thailand Vacation

Even though a trip to Thailand is relatively inexpensive, you still need money to have a good time. Food and hotel prices are inexpensive but your airfare costs may have gone up 50% from last year.

So, how can you earn some extra money to pay for your dream vacation?

One way is to cut out the little things. Stop buying that cup of Starbucks coffee every morning and that candy bar every afternoon.

Skip the movie theater and the DVD rentals. We all have about 200 channels on TV and missing an occasional movie won't kill you.

Bring lunch from home. Make a couple of sandwiches, and pack a power bar and some fruit. Lunch will be cheaper and healthier.

Have a yard sale. Clean out your closets and sell your unwanted treasures. If you have a lot of good items, sell them on eBay.

If your job allows it, work some overtime. I look for overtime all the time but I don’t get extra money. But I do get extra time off called compensatory time. Time off is worth more than money to me.

If you have a web site, add some AdSense ads or join an affiliate program to make some money from your web visitors. I have more than one web site, and earn $500 - $1000 per month in advertising and affiliate sales.

Cut out the pizza deliveries, and the after work drinks. Frozen pizza and a few beers at home will save you some bucks.

Share a ride. Catch the bus. Ride your bike. Find some alternative means of transportation and save on your gasoline bill. You don’t have to do it every day but the more you use as alternate method, the more you will save.

You can also save some money by doing some daily hunting for the lowest airfares online and with your local travel agent. It may require an extra stop or two, but you may be able to save some cash.

You can also save some money by planning your trip more economically. There are also ways to save money while you are in Thailand.
Book a cheaper hotel. You don’t need to stay at a 5-star hotel to have a good vacation. By the same token, you don’t need to eat at fancy restaurants every day. Thai restaurants and street vendors have great food for super low prices. There are many low cost, smaller boutique hotels at half the price of the "name" hotels.

Don’t sign up for a package deal (air and hotel) – it will cost you more in the long run. Book your own flight and hotel separately. If you plan to take any day trips, do it when you arrive. The prices are cheap and the street tour vendors are cheaper than the ones you see in your hotel lobby.

Don’t book a hotel just because they give you a free breakfast. You may pay ten or twenty dollars more for this privilege and breakfast in Thailand is only a dollar or two.

Take advantage of the duty free store at the airport. You can get booze and cigarettes tax free going and coming.

There are many ways to add $50 - $100 extra every month to your vacation fund. And there are even more ways to save money once you arrive in Thailand. Combining the two will make it a lot easier to plan your dream vacation in Thailand.

Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com

Larry Westfall has been traveling to Thailand for over 34 years and when he stays in Pattaya he books his hotel through Pattaya-Resort
Submitted by: Article Submitter
By: lar

Dining In Pattaya Thailand

In Pattaya you will be bombarded with smells and tastes from a wide variety of cuisines. Determining where you will dine for the day may be the biggest decision of the day.

I will list approximate prices in Thai Baht and the exchange rate as I write this is about 33 Baht to 1 US dollar.

Breakfast is cheap in Pattaya. You can get basic fare for about 50 to 80 baht which consists of bacon and eggs, toast, juice and coffee. A better deal is the hotel buffet. The Lek Hotel, Apex and Diana Inn on Second Road all have buffets for about 110 Baht. Lots of food but nothing really spectacular.

I prefer to have a big breakfast but one that also tastes good. My favorite is at the Sportsman on Soi 13. They have a full English breakfast for about 240 Baht. This is served on a platter and comes with bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, beans, bubble and squeak, and fried tomatoes. It is all you can do to finish it.

I usually don’t eat lunch after having the big breakfast but for those who get hungry mid-day, there are many, many places to get something to eat. Everything from fast food to street vendor dishes are all over the city. You won't be able to walk ten feet without someone selling something to eat.

If I am hungry at lunchtime, I usually go to the Royal Garden Shopping Center upstairs to the food court. There you buy a card similar to a credit card and put however much Baht on it as you want. I usually add about 200 Baht and if I have money left over, I can get it refunded.

Then you just walk around to the many vendors and see what you like. Most of the food is Thai and there is everything from soup, to rice dishes to noodles. Beverages and dessert are also available. Most of the meals are in the 30 – 40 Baht range.

For dinner, I usually stop at a street vendor and get some meat and rice. There is a group of street vendors, or an outside food court on Soi Buakhao just north of Soi LK Metro. The northernmost vendor is my favorite. He has boiled chicken, fried pork, and cooked red pork. All dishes come with rice and cost 25-30 Baht. A bottle of water is an additional 10 Baht.

If you get hungry while out on the town in Pattaya, you will be able to get food no matter what time it is. Stationary street vendors and vendors with motorized stalls are everywhere serving soup, bar-b-que, and rice and noodle dishes. You can even get a sampling of Northern Thailand snacks – grasshoppers, silkworms, ants, and beetles.

Eating in Thailand is a way of life and you will find yourself eating 4 to 6 times per day. The meals are small in size and huge in taste. Some of the Thai dishes can be very spicy so be careful with the chili peppers.

And if you only eat pizza, burgers and fries, you can get those dishes all over the city too.

You can even find some of the best steaks and European cuisine in this former fishing village. Seafood is also abundant and you can get lobster or crabs for a small fraction of what you pay at home

I can guarantee that you will not go hungry when you are in Pattaya.

Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com

Larry Westfall is a frequent traveler to Bangkok - the City of Angels - and books his Bangkok Hotels at Bangkok Accommodations
Submitted by: Free Article Distributor
By: lar