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Tyler Durdin
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I am from the US and when I go to LOS, although I am aware of the exchange rate, usually I spend too much because it feels like monopoly money. Only when I really think it through do I realize how much (or how little) I actually paid for several things. But my question is, what really is the ratio of USD to Baht? For example, a Coke in 7-11 in the US is $.75, whereas in BKK it is 11 bht ($.25), so does that mean that our $.75 is equal to $.25 or a 3:1 ratio? On the other hand, lunch for me at a foodcourt would be about $7, whereas in BKK would run about 40 bht, (1 USD), which would make that a 7:1 ratio. So is it fair to say that the average ratio (depending on what you are buying) would be about 5:1 - 8:1? I have been scammed by various people for 100bht, which isnt that much to me ($2.50) but according to my ratio theory would be about $15 - $20 equivilant to them (not bad to the average Thai).
So, if I pay a BG 2000 bht, is that the equivilant to giving a girl $350 in the US? (this would be just about right, I think). I once gave my friends little sister 4000 bht as a present when she graduated university, and she was floored! Now that I think about it, that would be about $700 while in the US I would only have given $100.
Any theories? I know seubeu once explained this to me but I had other things on my mind at the time (like how do I get rid of this girl next to me so I can try to hook up with another one later on in the evening?) seubeu helped me out with that one too by suggesting a 500bht tip (she only had dinner with us), which would be about $75 - $80?
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:20 pm on July 25, 2002
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bkkz
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Tyler,
Well, if you measure it from different perspectives, you will get different answers. I would use buying power as a yardstick. Now, we all know why you are here for, so that use that as our guide. 
I guess, using something like massage+bj or full service as an index would be a good idea. I am not sure if soapies are available in the US, if not, you will have to find some common denominator.
BK
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 1:52 am on July 26, 2002
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Tao Hua Nguu
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I am a little confused .. how do you come up with b4,000 being the same as $700 in the USA? Doing it based on what a meal costs??
How about based on what a car costs.. they are much more expensive in Thailand, so perhaps your b4,000 is worth less than US$100 if she is going to use it towards buying a car?
Frankly, this is the type of excercise done by guys drinking beer with too much time on their hand. Thailand is basically a market driven country ... the girls get what they can .. pussy is in shorter supply than farangs with B2,000 or so ..
When the baht moved from 25 to the US$ it did not take long for the bargirls to figure out they could now get two purples when before they only got one ..
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 2:49 am on July 26, 2002
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ccvvbb
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1 USD is worth 40B, it might vary 1 or 2 Baht either way depending on the markets. The best exchange is US travellers cheques which is normally about 41B for every USD. 50 and 100 dollar bills are the next best about 40B per dollar, then 5 to 20 dollar bills at about 39.75B per dollar and the worst exchange is 1 dollar bills at about 39.5B per US dollar, this exchange is given at the banks and is current as of 4 days ago.
1000B is equal to approx $25.00 American
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 3:02 am on July 26, 2002
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pinga
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Ref. B/.40 = US $1
Hmmm maybe a soapy can be a way of measure....let's say..If you spend B/. 2,000 in a soapy you are in fact using only US $50. The tip after an oil/soapy/foot massage can be B/. 200-500 which means US $3-12....
Any "special service" -NOT get confuse with a TIP- can be B/.1,500-2000 (US $40). This "special service" is the one you can find at massages places like Baron's for instance where the price for the EXTRAS is usually agreed upon beforehands.
Thus, when you gave B/.500 to the sister of your TG you gave her in fact US $12 only. But for them that means a lot. Why? Consider that Government Officers in LOS get no more than B/.10.000/month (US $250) you see? Salesmen/woman are around US $120/month....that's harsh, very harsh....
I suggest that your "mental bank note" when you are in LOS can be B/.1,000 (US $25). A taxi within Bangkok rarely will be over B/150 (US $4 only)!!!!! Remember, B/.500 is a lot of money for a TG. They are more than welcome with a tip like this at any beer bar, GG-bar, etc. If you talk on the FEES for her services, that's another story and its something you have to agree upon in advance. The tip is something that comes afterwards the service.
FEw more examples:
Dinner at MK x 2-3 people: B/.600 (15 US);
TAXI B/. 150 (4 US);
Coke B/. 11 (0.25 US);
Whiskey JW Black 7-11 B/. 1.000 (25 US);
Whiskey JW Black Disco B/.3.000 (75 US);
etc. etc.
Hope this helps.
(Edited by pinga at 4:47 pm on July 26, 2002)
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 4:44 am on July 26, 2002
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bkkz
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Here is a bit of comparison for you, got this from a member living in LA.
Sunset Salon
Haircut, Facial & Body Treatment.
10am - 10pm
5161 west Sunset Blvd, unit B
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Phone: 323-665-6545
This is a house converted to massage place. Really lovely Thai girls that give you Thai traditional massage (like the one at Wat Pho) and then some extras. The price is reasonable to LA prices: $50 for the massage and $50 for the extras. They have four Thai girls, two Isaan girls and two Thai-Chinese (White) girls.
So, there you go. US$ 100 for Massage and HJ or BJ. That's 4,000 B!
I have also added Cost of Living in Bangkok here.
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:42 am on July 26, 2002
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seubeu
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Hey, TD, how's it hangin', bro?
I'd personally use two different yardsticks, one for Thais and one for visitors. Expats are a different animal, they'd need another set of yardsticks, since they would fall into two categories, the well compensated expat (usually by company dictate) and the less well compensated expat, who has chosen to live in Thailand.
But back to the first case. The average Thai makes about 4-6,000 baht/month. This is a bit higher, but not by much, in BKK, than "upcountry". So if you consider that the average American makes about $2-3,000/month, then that should be your scale for them. Let's take the high end in both cases, and you get a ratio of about 20:1 (I rounded down). In other words, the bar girl you are paying B2000 to just made about $1,000 in US equivalent. It's enough for her family back home to live off for a month, assuming that they are subsistence rice farmers. But wait, you say, that's not fair, I know people that make much more than B6,000 / month in Bangkok. Sure you do, but on average, that's the best that an Isaarn girl will make in the big mango, unless she's gone pro. In fact, I'd submit that most will make substantially less. The girls I've known that have worked in restaurants, saloons and the such usually pull in less than B4,000 month (often 2-3,000) and then sometimes must pay back to their boss for rent and incidentals (they usually live in a sort of dormitory upstairs or a house owned by the khun nai (boss)).
For visitors, it's probably somewhere around the lower end of your scale. Think of the typical "basket of goods" that a visitor to Thailand would consume: hotel, meals, sightseeing, massage, snacks and drinks, souvenirs. While all of these are good deals, it's weighted toward the hotel. The very good hotels are almost on a par with a medium sized US city. If you go down to a 3 star place, you're still probably around $40-50/night, hardly economical. At the lower (but still nice) end of the range you get to around B1000-1500, or about $25-35/night at today's exchange. Fair, good value, but hardly cheap. Note: I am using Bangkok prices, to throw in Phuket, Koh Samui or Ubon would confuse things considerably. Meals can range from dirt cheap (I've had delicious B15 phad thai just off Silom) to almost dear, particularly if wine or other heavily taxed imports are consumed. A bottle of beer at 7-11 is around B20-30, but who drinks at 7-11? Beer in the bars is around 60-110+ baht, depending on where you quaff your thirst. If you drink the hardstuff then you're spending more. So, if you count $2.50 for a beer, plus a nice tip, then that's cheaper than LA, but it's about what I'd pay in a downscale place in Ohio. Net, if you tend to stick to where the locals go and play you can do it on the cheap, but if you start to live like the (rich) expats and drink in Christies, then you will spend as much as you did back home. So I'd say at best around 3 or 5:1, but then again you're probably having more fun than back home anyway*.
(TD, I know that Hawaii cost of living is higher than most other USA, I assume you can convert as needed)
*And I didn't even factor in the cost of getting there, which should be pro-rated over the length of your trip.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 5:11 pm on July 26, 2002
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