Thailand forum

well, I don't know, all depends what you had to pay for the apartment anyway and where it was located.

Normally I use apartments which include everything, so you only have to pay that arranged amount. Apartment in Udon Thani is about 4000-7000 baht (included air con, tv, hot shower, twin bed, fridge) But I guess it's gonna be more in total in Phuket.

With location I meant that you probably pay more in tourist places like Phuket, Koh Samui, BKK, Chiang Mai,... then in more rural places. Don't think the electricity will be different in other places.

Still a fair amount of money I think you paid there. maybe could have gotten it down a bit if you speak thai though . Wouldn't bother about it, definitely a good price for tourists.

@svendj - I could understand the price being higher overall if I was paying a set amount for the whole shebang; room, water, power all inclusive. But in this case the water and power were itemised seperately.

Speaking Thai would have only confused my landlord - he was a Brit

A Brit who hadn't been at this very long. He didn't have access to the meter and hence couldn't get the before and after readings. He pretty much just took a guess at what he thought the bills would be and took it out of my deposit. Said he'd give me the difference, if any, when he was able to get access to the meter or see the bills. I believe they come at the start of the following month, although he couldn't confirm that despite having owned and lived in properties here for over two years.

I can't imagine the difference will add up to more than $20-$40, so I'm asking about prices here to see whether it's worth following up on the next time I'm in Phuket.

@C'Bob - A guesthouse in Patong told me electricity was 6thb per unit. Also, I did notice most of the appliances have 5 star ratings. Although as I write this there's an old box in my room with no stickers of any kind, unless you count the moth eggs. Wonder how much juice that one sucks up.

@SBE - True enough. I can get by just fine with a fan. I always thought A/C was a necessity, but having been around in my share of Southern Thailand guesthouses I can see it's just a waste of money/electricity.

I've moved out of the place I was staying where I had bills to pay separately, but the landlord said he'd give me the difference between the guesstimated amount he charged me and the actual amount when he knew what it was. He couldn't read the meter for some reason and won't know the amount until he checks the bill.

I imagine I'll be back in Phuket on my way to Bangkok later on, so I was trying to ballpark the likely refundable amount and judge whether it'd be worth going to collect or not.

In future I will absolutely opt for fan over A/C when renting an apartment for a month or more.

@errik - I only do that with the Bar Girls