I will be DN’ing from Phuket in February for a week. This will be my first time working remotely so apologies for the amateur questions.

I’m looking for accommodations on Airbnb and to my surprise, daily rates are about $100/day for something decent. I always thought Thailand was super cheap. I’ve even seen some YouTube videos where people will claim they can live a luxurious lifestyle for $600/mo, all-in including accommodations, food, etc.

Is there something I’m missing here? Should I be booking somewhere else besides Airbnb?

  • Ethereal4R@alien.topOPBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Maybe not luxurious but I’m seeing some apartments claim to be rented for $400/month on YouTube. Yet something similar is $100/night in Airbnb. The disparity is astounding.

    • digitalnomad23@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      a few things a play. if someone has a 400$/m apartment in TH it’s:

      1. probably not in phuket or at least central phuket, the most expensive part of TH
      2. it was probably a year lease
      3. or someone who has been around the area for a long time and knows where the bargains are
      4. they probably didn’t start looking in the high season

      let’s not forget some youtubers probably just lie about their situation lol

    • Viktri1@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I think at 100/night you’re competing with tourists. You can definitely find places that cost a few hundred a month but they’re generally with more locals.

    • zenmonkeyfish1@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I got a great (rather luxurious) apartment for 13,000 bath/month on a year lease in Bangkok before prices went up again after covid restrictions relaxed

      That’s around $400/month

    • ZmicierGT@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      On Phuket in Patong you can rent a nice studio under $20 per day. Or 10k THB per month if you rent it for a long term.

      In Asia two things are really cheap (and often surprisingly cheap) - accommodation and restaurants. Other life expenses are pretty high. On Phuket if you stay there alone for a couple of months with a moderate entertainment (sometimes boat trip, good restaurant etc.) a realistic budget is $600 for an apt and $900 for other expenses for a month.

        • ZmicierGT@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          AirBnb imo is not the best option there. I used Booking. Just checked that the apt I lived 2 years ago is $23 per night now - earlier it was around $19.