Heres a rough price guide of what I bought and what I paid. Hope it helps anyone going there soon.

In Patong (most shopping done on Beach Rd and Otop Markets)
Guess or LV Wallets $10-$12 Watches b/n $10-$20 depending on quality Silk cushion covers 100bt each ($3) Small set of 3 buddha pictures 500bt ($15) Large set of 3 buddha pictures 900bt (30) LV bikini girls 300bt ($10) Plain bikini ladies size XXL 350bt ($12) DVDs/CDs from Kittys 60bt each ($2) or from Beach Rd 50bt each Facial 1 hr at Jungceylon 299 bt ($10) Massage on beach 300bt ($10) Manicure or pedicure on beach 200bt each ($7) Popular Guess bags small $15 Medium $20 Cotton dresses 300bt ($10) Loose cotton stretch pants (very comfy) 300bt ($10 - I wish Id bought more of these!) Calvin Klein boxers at Otop 180bt each ($6) Tiffany silver keyrings 300bt ($10) Socks are everywhere 3 for 100bt ($1 each - cant argue with that price) Sunnies price range from $5-$7 Shoes in Ocean Plaza on beach road - all were 199bt each ($7) Shell necklaces boys 120bt ($4) String bracelets 3 for 100bt ($1 each) QB silk quilt set including runner and cushion covers 1200bt ($42) bought from small shop in soi post office at 104/10 called Duangporn! (we bought a lot of stuff from here) Shell/bead ladies necklaces 180bt ($6 each) Coys c/zirconia earrings about $4 each set Soccer shirts (I bought 12!) b/n $10-$12 each with better quality ones on beach road Channel umbrella 300bt ($10) cotton sequin bag 200bt ($7) Singha singlets b/t $5-$7 each Tsunami book on beach road 299 bt($10) with amazing photos and proceeds to charity supposedly Bling Channel earrings are everywhere I bought heaps and paid b/n $5-$7 pair Elephant keychains 5 for 100bt 2mg fake Ipod 1500bt ($53) from beach road somewhere Bling phone charms 199bt ($7) Billabong boardies about 300bt ($12-$13) depending on quality with better quality ones in Otop Proper Brooks kids shoes from sports store in Jungceylon 948bt ($33) Blue canvas shoes from Carrefours (bit like a Big W shop) in Jungceylon 199bt ($7)

TRIPS - Phi Phi Island all day A$42 and C$28
Siam Safari 2 1/2 hours A$35 and C$28
Fantasea from 7pm - 11.30pm A$57 and C$57

FOOD - Maccas on Beach road (Called McThai!) meal for 2 for around $10
Banana Leaf on back road near Holiday Inn - meal for 2 including drinks from $10-$17 - great value and good food
Napoli Italian Restaurant on soi post office - meal for 2 $24 - very nice
S & G on soi post office - meal for 2 $12 - cheap and yummy
NOTE the renowned Sabai Sabai is now closed - or as the Thais wd say "its finish"
Cafe del Mar on Beach Road actually part of the Merlin - we only ate there once, it was not that nice and quite expensive - meal for 2 cost $25 - wd not recommend this one.
I was amazed that a proper branded Cornetto Icecream was only 70c from the Big One Supermarket on Beach road!!!!!

IN BANGKOK - only shopped at MBK and Chatachuk Mkts.
MBK - jeans only 650bt each hemmed on the spot for no extra charge Watches 330bt ($11) Oil of Olay from a chemist $13 Elephant silk table runner 300bt ($10) t-shirts any size $6 each sunnies b/n $6-$7 each Placemat/coaster set for 6 300bt ($10) LV kids thongs 199bt ($7) Guess wallet 200bt ($7) Girls calvin undies 150bt ($5) camera bag 200bt ($7) long sleeve diesel tops for guys 300bt ($10) Guess bags small 299bt ($10) large 399bt ($14) and super large 499bt ($17) Long sleeve guys dressy shirts 650bt each ($23) Soccer name shorts 240bt ($8) LV bling earrings 180bt ($5)

AT CHATACHUK - Boys trendy t-shirts b/n $3-$8 each socks 25bt ($1) each Hello Kitty small purses 25bt each ($1) watches 99bt each ($3) I bought 3 bags here and had to bargain hard got all 3 for `1800 bt ($60) a brown D&G one, and 2 LV cloth ones a small and a large one.

In BKK we mainly ate at Novotel, using room service or at restaurants. We ate at Food court at MBK on 5th floor called Fifth Avenue and it was unreal, very cheap, quick, easy to use and delicious.
Everywhere we were caters for fussy eaters, either by way of Maccas, BK, KFC, Subway or every restaurant has food on menu such as burgers, schnitzels etc etc so fussy kids shd never go hungry!

We only used tuk tuk once in Patong and yes it was a rip off 200bt just to go from Jungceylon to Merlin. Another day we used a taxi and was able to manage to get the price down a little, so I wd suggest using a taxi opposed to a tuk tuk. In BKK we only used their crazy tuk tuk once just for the fun of it to get from MBK to Novotel and it was 100bt, but a lot of fun!

The whole time we were there we saw or encountered nothing that was bad or scary, such as assaults, car accidents, suspect peopple acting strangely. We did see a lot of young guy tourists in Patong with multiploe injured and bandaged limbs, we assumed this wd be from moped accidents! But on the other hand, we didnt frequent areas that may be susceptible to "bad" things, such as Bangla Road or Patpong etc. We were always in bed early, so not around when all the partying was going on and I guess all the out of control behaviour begins!

We did our Phi Phi Island trip with a group called "Phuket Siam Sea Canoe" and were impressed with them, it was a very organised tour and Id recommend them.

Massages/treatments were very expensive both at Merlin and Novotel so didnt indulge in them. At Merlin massages ranged from 900-1600bt per hour and at Novotel prices ranges from 700-1500bt per hour.

I cashed my last t/cheques at Novotel cashier just cos it was easier and noted there was no fee to cash them, but I got a much lower exchange rate, but if you are cashing lots, it may well be a cheaper option doing this at your Hotel if they dont charge a fee.

Didnt get to see the Simon Cabaret in Patong which I wanted to see. Also didnt get to go on the James Bond Island canooeing trip due to lack of time and money. I did buy myself a waterproof bag from Jungceylon for that trip, which came in extremely handy on Songkran day in BKK!!!!!

We had no problems or anything with flying Thai Airways, all was good there and wd def fly with them again. Although if not including a stopover in BKK I wd def look into a direct flight to Phuket, just to cut off time.

Well .... sorry if Ive bored you too much ... I do tend to rave on and on and on ... OVERALL ON THE 12 DAYS I SPEND $3,300 WHICH WAS ONLY $300 OVER MY BUDGET SO I WAS HAP0PY WITH THAT. I CERTAINLY CDVE SPENT MORE IF I HAD THE TIME AND MONEY!!!

Cheers to all Kitty
(any q's just ask me!)

Thanks Kitty! Thats very helpful!
was your budget $3000 for yourself? or whole family??? just interested as I am trying to work out how much I need..
Thanks!

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....Thailand here we come....

Grace ... it was only my daughter and myself that went to Thailand, but I was buying also for my hubby and other 2 older sons, so spending money only for 2 but pressies for 5 people. My friend, her hubby and their two kids took $5000 over and actually came home with some money!!! I certainly didnt come home with any - I actually owe her some money! So ... depending on how many of you are going ... as to how much you take. Also ... we didnt drink alcohol usually at restaurants which kept the food/drink bill down a lot. I always buy a bottle of vodka and have happy hour on the balcony!!! Some people will go there and spend $5o plus a nite just on drinks etc. Also it will depend on how many tours/trips you want to take and whether or not you are prepared to bargain to get the price of these down. I actually found it easier than I had anticipated to reduce the price of trips by less than half original quoted price, which meant I had more money to spend on other stuff!!!

Any more q's just ask me. Kitty

Great price guide Kitty, very helpful, you did well with your money considering you were buying for 5.

I intend to do NO SHOPPING while we are there!

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http://www.cathyandgarystravelpages.com

Lot of money spent! We usually get away with about $1000 in 10 -12 days between us, Did that include accommadation?

Thats $275 per day! The Thais must love you.

Den

Yeh well I guess it is a lot of money, actually it was for 14 days and not 12, so I think that works out at about $230 per day. I can tell you roughly how the money was spent ..... with approx. amounts which is for 2 people, but as I said, buying stuff for a family of 5

Food/drinks/snacks/including bottle vodka $430
Massages/pedicures/facials $80
DCDs/CDs $210
Stuff bought for ME/the house $530
Stuff bought for my daughter $430
Stuff bought for my hubby $100
Stuff bought for older son $220
Stuff bought for younger son $220
Tours/trips/taxis/tuk tuks $330
Phone calls back home (will send emails next time!) $70
Gifts for friends etc. $230
Duty free stuff (Grog!) $50
Miscellaneous stuff $260 (this includes doctors fees, medicines and our room upgrade in Bangkok cost of $130)

So ... I dont really think my spending was that excessive ... it was in line (roughly) with what I had budgeted for. If you can get away with only $1000 spent in 12 days, then thats great!! If we had spent more time just lazing around the pool, I guess we could have spent less, but for me, its not every day (or even every year!) that I get the opportunity to travel o/s so I try and make the most of it. This didnt of course, include accommodation, apart from the $130 room upgrade. Our cost for all airfare, taxes, transfers, accommodation (10 nites Patong Merlin and 3 nites Novatel BKK), breakfasts and travel insurance for my daughter and myself was about $3,100, which I thought was dirt cheap! Not too many places you can holiday in Australia for that kind of money, in those kind of places .....

Kitty

Cathy ... I take it as a big compliment when you said I did a good price guide ... thankyou!
NO SHOPPING IN THAILAND ..... HA HA HA!!!
Kitty

Ah thats why,lots spent on others! How did you manage with all the extra weight?

It works out quite cheap from Perth with Thai airways usually about $850 return each inc taxes although this time it cost $900 plus the flight to Samui $115 each.

The package to Samui is basically the same as you paid for Phuket but we prefer to go it on our own with hotels so works out a bit cheaper as the standard of hotel usually isnt quite as good as the package ones

Plus when we book the flight we arent even sure where we will end up going.

We are so used to eating and drinking on the cheap that its hard to pay some of the prices asked in some tourist areas,then again we wouldnt be able to go at least twice a year if we spent as much as your recent trip.

we went on a cruise in Jan and that cost quite a bit so this trip will be on a bit of a budget but we just have to have that Thailand fix.

Funny how that small thin credit card can dish out so much cash

Den

Den ... so yes as you see, my spending prob was a bit excessive, but I usually buy lots and dont put any limits on spending (except when Im nearly out of money!)
My luggage weights were all under ... like I said I found out flying back to Australia with Thai you are actually allowed 25kg per checked in piece, even tho it says on your ticket its only 20. We had 2 huge suitcases for check in that both weighed about 24 kg and then we also each had a smaller suitcase as carry on luggage, one weghed about 5 and the other one about 8kg. They didnt check weight of these, I think they would only weigh these if they saw you struggling to lift it!!!
One could get away easily with spending $1000 in 10-12 days Im sure, with only eating cheaply at Thai places, doing not much shopping and limited tours and day trips. Certainly next time I go back, I know I dont have to do Fantasea (that will save over $100) and I prob wdnt do Phi Phi Island again.
Anyway ... have a gr8 trip ... when are you going again? And Im lookin fwd to reading your JBR (just to see if your budgeting works out!!!)

Kitty

Also ... forgot to mention ... if anyone is interested in a floor guide for MBK ... as I took one home. This wd have been very handy and a time-saver had I had it the first day we went there. The floors are pretty well organised, with certain levels for certain items, but some places you dont really know they are there. If anyone wants me to list floors ... just let me know.
Kitty