I remember once I wrote several posts about prices in Thailand and they turned out to be quite interesting to people. Indeed, it is one thing to read the budgets, and another to see the price tags. It is very convenient in advance before a trip or wintering when you can at least approximately calculate how much a vacation or spending on living in a new country will cost. It is especially important to see not just the price, but the photograph in order to understand what is behind these numbers. They say that in this cafe a plate costs 50 baht, but this one costs 100 baht and it is immediately clear from the pictures whether he is ready to pay more or not. Agree, it would be convenient?
So one person recently contacted me and asked me to review his website Globalprice.info, which is devoted to the subject of prices in different countries. Since I am most versed in Thailand, then this is the section that I will consider and say, as I would have done. By the way, once I also had an idea to make such a resource, but as usual, a lot of ideas come, but there is no time (or desire). Although, it seems to me, the topic of money has always been and will be of interest to the public.
How I usually estimate prices
In all my articles, I always write, guys, we spend so much and so much, but it's not a fact that this will suit you, people are all different. True, some individuals still manage to make claims later, but oh well, that's their business.
I myself, when preparing for the first wintering, and indeed always, when preparing for other travels, I read the reviews of other people. And since I know my travel format, I compare it with the authors' format and try not to succumb to such verbal characteristics as «budgetary». For example, among package bags and others like them, a budget hotel in Tae costs 50 dollars. And for me a budget hotel means 10-20 $. They have an inexpensive lunch at a cafe 500 baht, and me 100 baht. This I am writing to the fact that in such reviews you need to look for numbers and a description with pictures, everything else will not give any idea, only if you do not know this person personally in order to draw conclusions.
Therefore, in general, I like the idea of prices. It is convenient when everything is collected on one site, and you do not need to climb through a huge number of blogs, analyzing various articles, and not always understanding what their authors mean by words «budgetary» and «inexpensive».
Globalprice.info
Globalprice.info project - information on prices, as an idea for you?
So what I will do in the future and what is missing there now.
- We need prices for all regions of Thailand, at least for the most popular ones, and not just Phuket.
- It is necessary to add other items of expenses that are not enough, for example, the topic of housing is not covered at all.
- I would add a price fork and give a minimum description of how to get the minimum price, and where the maximum price occurs.
- Complementing the previous point, it would not be bad to introduce such a concept as the average price. For example, if I just go thoughtlessly into all the cafes, then the price for Pad Taya will be 150 baht (average price), but if you search, you can find it for 40 baht. And if the cafe is surrounded by fountains and everything is made of glass, then most likely it will cost 300 baht there. The average price for a motorbike is 250 baht, but if you search (spend a couple of hours on your own or ask those who have already found it), you can find it for 150. Also add that with a long lease (from 3 days), the prices are different at all.
- I would like a clearer structure so that it is easier to find what you need, some kind of rubricator.
- I would add more photos to illustrate this or that nuance. For example, a photo of a makashnik with plastic chairs and a photo of a restaurant with aquariums, and not just a verbal indication of the range of prices depending on the surroundings. No photos of taxis, tuk-tuks, motorbikes, etc..
The site is quite new, so you can understand why it is not filled very well yet. It seems to me personally that if you continue to develop it, fill it with information, make it more convenient and interactive, then it has a future, like the SDL project. You can even try to raise a forum or some kind of discussion on these topics. But it all depends on the goals of the author..
