The Terrific3 travel blog

One of you asked me for a video walk around of our Airbnb space, so here it comes.

We tried to go back to Royal Park Rajapruet today, it was admittedly quite hot, already mid 80s by 830am, and very very humid. Z started complaining right away, S was actually into it, and then Z wiped out on his bike while trying to avoid some road construction, so the morning was over and we were home by 11am.

Now the kids are listening to songs on Alexa (yes we brought her), dancing, wiggling Z’s tooth, and about to watch some TV. I’m relaxing in my bed and enjoying this down time.

So let’s talk prices in Chiang Mai. I wish I had had a list like this when I traveled as I experienced a bit of sticker shock when I arrived, expecting things to be way cheaper than they were. Keep in mind that I’m upcharged being a foreigner, but so will you be. The Thai baht is 30-35ish per US dollar.

First thing to know is that CASH IS KING in Thailand. You must have cash. Most vendors don’t take credit card, and if they do, will charge a 3% fee. Also the ATM usually charges me several dollars ($6-10ish) every time I make a withdrawal so I just started withdrawing larger amounts less frequently. Had I known this. I would’ve brought a large amount of $ and used a currency exchange. For ease of understanding, I’ll put prices in USD below.

Bag of dried mango— $1

12 inch pizza at restaurant— $7-10

Meal for 3 at the market $10

Meal for 3 at a restaurant with AC, serving western style dishes, including drinks, dessert, appetizer, salad, main course, and maybe with leftovers $20-$30

Mango sticky rice at market $2

A whole day at the Elephant Nature Park, including transportation and a vegan lunch —$100/adult, $50/kid

Morning tour to Doi Suthep temple including alms with monks—$45/person

3 day tour like we did— $700 total

Half day cooking class—$30/person

1/2 day private cooking class for family of 3–$155

Bolt taxi ride about 1-2 miles away— $2

Bolt taxi ride into the city (20 min) $5-6

Small pack of tillamook cheese $9

Resort hotel in Phuket off season $250-$500/night

So you can see that the prices fluctuate, but if you plan on coming to Thailand and eating some western food (we had no choice as S needed accommodations) and taking tours (highly recommended), it can be pricier than you may originally have imagined (at least it was for us). We still cook/eat 2 meals in our Airbnb, and often have leftovers, and have also not done tours every day, so we also have lower expenditure days.

Ok folks, that’s it for today. I love getting your comments or texts. Helps a girl feel a little less far away, but I have to say, the initial loneliness and missing of adult company has dissipated a bit as I’ve just settled into the temporary and pretty awesome reality we are in during this adventure of ours.