A Singaporean's guide to living in Thailand

[Stompiss]

Have you taken the ferry? I prefer taking the ferry to reach the temples or palaces rather than taking a taxi. Take BTS to saphan taksin station. Bloody ferry is damn crowded though.

You mean the local ferry? Cheap and good lah. Can see humongous catfishes along the breakwater at the temple.

 

[Froggy]

I rarely have krapow moosap (Thai basils minced pork) for breakfast but really ran out of idea what to have this morning



Mentioned somewhere before that krapow moosap is the most popular food in the whole of Thailand and can be eaten anytime of the day also it's cheap for a meal you have rice and pork and some vege in pork usually cost 30baht (1.20) but with egg can be 35baht ($1.40) so for Foodland's Took Lae Dee to charge 77baht ($3) without egg and 86baht ($3.40) with egg it's just too expensive. But seriously I think they cook the best krapow moosap.

Another very popular and favourite but simple dish for Thais is khao-moo-ka-tiam literally rice with garlic pork. Cheap and eaten anytime and anywhere.

 

[johnny333]

Have you taken the ferry? I prefer taking the ferry to reach the temples or palaces rather than taking a taxi. Take BTS to saphan taksin station. Bloody ferry is damn crowded though.

I am the same as Joe, have been to LOS for years & have never taken the ferry or visited the floating market. I'll have to buy a guide book & start exploring BKK

Nowadays I stick to the MRT routes because it is more convenient. In my earlier days when I was a newbie I would explore places like China town, Wat Poh,... even was approached by one of those gemstone scammers

If I go to Saphan taksin to take the ferry. where should I take the ferry to Are there any interesting places you can get to

 

[Equalisation]

Hi Johnny,

Do you bring your guitar with you during your travels ?

All The Way ! Easy easy.

 

[johnny333]

Personally, have been living here for so many years and no idea where the Royal Palace and Temple are except for a general direction of where they are. I don't even know where the floating market is, never seen it before. Also never seen tigershow but had seen elephant show in Ayutthaya.

When I was in Pattaya I did go to one of those places with both crocodile & tigers. The crocodile show was ok but I prefer the photo taking session where you can have a photo with a full grown tiger or a cute baby tiger.

 

[johnny333]

Hi Johnny,

Do you bring your guitar with you during your travels ?

I travel light when I'm visiting LOS. I bring an almost empty large backpack. The reason it is a large is so that I can bring stuff back from LOS.

On my next trip to LOS I will travel even lighter because I'll be replacing my laptop with a tablet.

 

[Froggy]

Having a double sausage mcmuffin breakfast now in Samut Sakorn about an hour south of Bangkok was surprised that this meal shown here costs 155 baht or S$6.20 or US$4.90. For me this is expensive even for Singapore standard but this place is pretty packed with families and young people. Sometimes I wonder if Thais are "poor" as what many will think including myself sometimes.

Does anyone have any information as to how much this meal will cost where you are living, say in Singapore or Malaysia or States or Australia etc? Thought it'll be interesting to compare.

 

[rotikosong]

Having a double sausage mcmuffin breakfast now in Samut Sakorn about an hour south of Bangkok was surprised that this meal shown here costs 155 baht or S$6.20 or US$4.90. For me this is expensive even for Singapore standard but this place is pretty packed with families and young people. Sometimes I wonder if Thais are "poor" as what many will think including myself sometimes.

I think that is expensive too - I wouldn't spend 155 baht on McMuffin b/fast much less any b/fast. I think though that USD4.90 is the norm for this in a Western country. But they have higher purchasing power parity.

Propensity to spend does not always correlate with how much you earn, though. I know people who earn and burn and people who are thrifty. I personally don't go crazy even with company's money. Not too little, not too much, just nice.

I am always curious on how people plan for retirement in Thailand. There seems to be a reliance on children. I hope to be self-sufficient.

 

[Equalisation]

Joe,

Itu McThai burger manyak mahal. Tapi, sabai tak ?

 

[Charlie99]

Joe,

Itu McThai burger manyak mahal. Tapi, sabai tak ?

Although I am not a native Malay speaker, and did not take Malay as a second language, may I correct your sentence.
In your context, it should be "sangat mahal" or "mahal sangat", but not "manyak (banyak) mahal"

 

[Froggy]

I think that is expensive too - I wouldn't spend 155 baht on McMuffin b/fast much less any b/fast. I think though that USD4.90 is the norm for this in a Western country. But they have higher purchasing power parity.

Propensity to spend does not always correlate with how much you earn, though. I know people who earn and burn and people who are thrifty. I personally don't go crazy even with company's money. Not too little, not too much, just nice.

I am always curious on how people plan for retirement in Thailand. There seems to be a reliance on children. I hope to be self-sufficient.

This morning took an early drive to Samut Sonkrang's Ban Amphawa (about 2hrs from home) to attend a wedding so stopped by at Mc, could not eat at street as all suit up. Yes I agree with you that people planning to retire overseas need to be prudent as things could be expensive if not careful. In Thailand we still have no gutter oil yet (I hope so) so street food is not just clean it could be healthier too compare to fast food.

Now arrive at a resort in Ban Amphawa

[video=youtube;y6FH04IUT-o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6FH04IUT-o[/video]

 

[Froggy]

Joe,

Itu McThai burger manyak mahal. Tapi, sabai tak ?

Gila la lu. McThaiLady burger lagi sabai la.

 

[rotikosong]

Yes I agree with you that people planning to retire overseas need to be prudent as things could be expensive if not careful.

I believe it's the reverse actually. Overseas, esp. in the West, there are social safety nets. In Asia, ex. Japan, there are few to none.
What Asians do is trade the quality of life and the burden the next generation for their retirement.

In Thailand we still have no gutter oil yet (I hope so) so street food is not just clean it could be healthier too compare to fast food.

I love Thai street food but it is myth that it is clean. Look at food prep - where it is done, look at their water source and where they store ice, how food is stored (temps, no cross contamination of containers etc). Most are not clean, not by standards in the developed world. Look at the source of food: I know farmers in the north use a lot of pesticides, antibiotics on animals and so on.

Yet, after 20+ years of traveling to Thailand, I can't recall even one time I've gotten sick. Heat kills most pathogens - that's why I avoid som tam

Enjoy your party - looks beautiful.

 

[rotikosong]

Although I am not a native Malay speaker, and did not take Malay as a second language, may I correct your sentence.
In your context, it should be "sangat mahal" or "mahal sangat", but not "manyak (banyak) mahal"

"manyak" is colloquially sino-malay so it's OK. But you cannot say "sabai" in relation to food

 

[Equalisation]

Although I am not a native Malay speaker, and did not take Malay as a second language, may I correct your sentence.
In your context, it should be "sangat mahal" or "mahal sangat", but not "manyak (banyak) mahal"

Si Guru,

For correcting my malayu, I must express a very big Terima Kasut !!:o

 

[Equalisation]

"manyak" is colloquially sino-malay so it's OK. But you cannot say "sabai" in relation to food

Melons equal food which equals sabai !:p

 

[po2wq]

Although I am not a native Malay speaker, and did not take Malay as a second language, may I correct your sentence.
In your context, it should be "sangat mahal" or "mahal sangat", but not "manyak (banyak) mahal"

his is mabuk melayu la ... nevermind ...

 

[Equalisation]

his is mabuk melayu la ... nevermind ...

Heineken atau Chivas ?

 

[Froggy]

Many Thais are Buddhists and being Buddhists they believe in karma. So many try to do good deeds to improve their merits. So during special occassions particularly birthdays Thais will wake up early do give alms and then maybe go do some charity. Some of the good deeds will be like giving alms to the monks in the morning, donation to charities in terms of money and maybe food and clothing. One of these donation is to animal shelters.

Recently I had a chance to follow someone do this for a birthday, it was a trip to a dog shelter in Chonburi province. Its my first time to a dog shelter and it wash't really what I'd expected as this is quite a run down place. A donation of big bags of dog food and bags of rice was given and also some cleaning detergent.

[video=youtube;N8hg72iZSJE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8hg72iZSJE[/video]

 

[Charlie99]

"manyak" is colloquially sino-malay so it's OK. But you cannot say "sabai" in relation to food

ok, sino-Malay as in peranakan?