Now and then I find a place to stay that actually feels like a home. One such place is the Asha Guesthouse in Bangkok. In fact, I like it so much that I have stayed there every time I have visited Bangkok since I found it. So what is so special about the Asha Guesthouse? Well it’s no single thing, instead it is a combination of features which make this such a cool place to stay.

As a place to stay for the budget traveller, the price is surely pleasing. A basic fan room costs only 350 Baht per person per night, an air conditioned room is only 100 Baht more, at 450 Baht per person per night. This is an excellent price for Bangkok.

The facilities here are first rate, a small swimming pool takes up part of the restaurant area, open from early morning until late at night. The restaurant serves a mixture of western dishes and tasty Thai food. Prices for food and drink here are also quite reasonable, especially if you stick to the Thai food.

There are laundry machines that can be used for free, just bring your own detergent, and the TV room has a large selection of DVDs which are also free to watch. There is even a free gym, outfitted with a variety of equipment. Access to such a large selection of free amenities make this place incredibly good value.

The rooms are clean, although all have a shared bathroom, they could do with a coat of paint but that’s not to say they are dirty, just a little run down. The bathrooms are cleaned several times a day and are kept spotless. Every room has a balcony of it’s own, very useful for smokers as there is a no smoking policy in place within the rooms. Security is good, as each door is fitted with brackets for visitors to use their own padlock, along with the standard room lock.

What really makes the Asha Guesthouse a special place to stay when visiting Bangkok, especially for budget travellers and backpackers, is the huge amount of advice the staff and owners hold in their heads about Bangkok and Thailand in general. You can throw your guidebook away when you stay here, you wont need it.

So, to sum up, the Asha Guesthouse is a great budget travel choice if you are visiting Bangkok. It is in the neighbourhood of Saphon Kwai, and is only a few minutes walk from the closes Skytrain station, making access to all of the attractions of Bangkok quick, cheap and easy.

Thailand can be an incredible location for a budget travel trip, although some people will tell you that it is way past it’s prime in this respect. This is simply untrue, sure the areas that are frequented by hordes of package holiday makers each year, such as Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui are not cheap, but if you stay outside of these zones, budget travel in Thailand is still a viable option.

Below are five tips, designed to help you keep the cost down when visiting Thailand, these are far from the entire story when considering Thailand as a budget travel destination, but they are a good starting point.

1. Stay away from the tourist areas, these areas include Koh Samui, Phuket, Pattaya, Krabi, Hua Hin and  Bangkok. Don’t be afraid to find somewhere off the beaten track for your visit, the Thai people are friendly and they find the language barrier fun. Why not try somewhere like Prachuap Khiri Khan? Which is a Thai holiday town, complete with stunning beaches, all at a fraction of the cost of westerner holiday areas.

2. Eat where the Thai’s eat. So many westerners visit Thailand and eat only western food, this is expensive and it also means you are missing out on one of the highlights of any visit to Thailand, namely the food. Night markets and street stalls offer incredibly good value and tasty food. Restaurants that sell a mixture of traditional western dishes and Thai food will seldom excel at either, and will usually be more expensive. For good Thai food, follow your nose, most of it is cooked in the open air and served on plastic tables.

3. Sleep where the Thai’s sleep. Avoid obviously western biased hotels and resorts. There are many old Chinese hotels in Thailand, these offer incredible value, with TV, fridge, air conditioning and hot water for as little as $10 per night.

4. Fly everywhere that you can, budget air fares are incredibly low in Thailand, why use the bus or train when you can take a plane flight for less and save your valuable time? Often domestic air fares are significantly lower than both bus and train tickets. For those who would rather travel by land, consider the overnight sleeper trains, excellent value as they save the cost of a night in a hotel or hostel.

5. Arrange travel insurance before you arrive. Just in case things go bad, travel insurance will make sure any medical or hospital bills are paid for, remember health care is not free in Thailand, even for the Thai’s.

So there we have it, five ways to keep the cost of your visit to Thailand down to a minimum. Thailand is an amazing place to visit, and it is still very possible to see much of it on a thin budget.

Just where is Prachuap Khiri Khan anyway?

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