Source: Google images
Hi all. I'm back. I went to a short vacation to Hatyai and just got back last night. Well, I don't think I will share photos from that vacation because of the silly policy of privacy that I've been applying since day 1 (but with many leeways and leaks, ah just let them go).
Actually I'm not interested to go to Thailand but I'd consider if it's free. So finally it happened. Someone paid for my tour fee so I just went ahead with it. It was all pre-planned since end of 2018. So despite all that, I'd like to be prepared. I usually would find out a few things from surfing the net, blogs, youtubes and even reviews and the things that I wanted to find out were:
1. What to eat and where
2. How much things cost compared to MYR
3. What to buy that are not available elsewhere
4. What travelers love about the place from their experiences
Since Hatyai was not even in my bucketlist, I decided to take it easy. Come to eat, eat and eat! I didn't intend to do some serious shopping since I think I know where to get my favourite stuff. If you guys don't know already, I'm a Shopee crazy shopper. I love Shopee so much cos I could buy anything that most of them I could never never find around my place. So what else in Hatyai not available in Shopee? So thats why I was not into the shopping idea but then I still brought a sufficient amount of money in both currency since I didn't want to get left out if it was really really cheap there, WHAT IF, right?
From the blogs that I read, they did say they bought many stuff there but hard to find those who made a commentary on HOW CHEAP are the goods in Thailand particularly in Hatyai. Of course, from the currency, we all know we are ahead of Thailand but then you can't really compare that way. Just because you know the Thais are flocking to work to Malaysia, well, maybe once upon a time our currency was much stronger.
I'm a person who values money because I know how hard it is to earn it. So I will only spend on things that are worth it. So finally when I landed Hatyai, I finally found out the truth after all the researches. The truths are:
1. I thought street foods are easy to find in Thai. We still need to get in the right area to be able to see a lot of choices. Even in the crowded market like Kim Yong, I didn't see those street foods just everywhere. I said to myself, How far should I walk to find the street foods ah? Maybe I could blame this on our tour guide for not assisting us enough with the location of the street foods for they are not just everywhere.
2. Just like Malaysians, the sellers have different price for the tourists. Same with them. But then it took away the impression that Thailand with lower currency, Malaysians can shop like mad. It's NOT TRUE. They have some nice bags with owls and elephants on them which we don't really find everywhere here in Sabah, but they are not made of leathers of what. They are meant as souvenirs and not exactly the bag that you use daily to work. The bags that I was interested, was RM50 and above. Still affordable but it's not cheap! I could spend double the money and got one branded imported bag here in Sabah. The first shop that I made big purchases was at this shop selling snacks. I took 7 packs and already 960 Baht which is around RM129 (since 1000 Baht is RM135). I mean, SNACKS! Most of them are familiar snacks just with different packing with some Thai letters but hey, what is the meaning of having higher currency when the same items can be bought with cheaper price or maybe just the same. So, why do I travel so far just to buy something that cost the same? Hello? This is not America. This is Thailand bah! Hahaha
3. I planned to spend anyway since I already changed the money to Baht. I least I wanted to buy shoes, nice clothes, a bag that I can bring to work, a good quality purse...yeah at least all that. But when I entered the shops nearby the hotel, I didn't like most of the bags. The ones that I thought was okay cost 2000 - 3000 Baht. When it's not yet the perfect one in terms of colour and size. Which means I need to prepare more than 3000 Baht (which is RM400 plus) just to get the bag that I really like. Crazy right? I'm the type of person who buys a bag because it's lovely. I don't expect to use the same bag for too long. So, spending too much on a bag is a no no to me. The same with blouses. The nice blouses we can get around 300 Baht but still not so much choice that I like. I was torn between the price and the item. When the price is already in my range, I couldn't find exactly what I like. In other word, it's not worth it.
I did buy some blouses which were on sale (but there was only 1 shop that offered some discount. So I bought them hastily cos I could give them as souvenir if I don't want to wear them. Or else I might end up not spending my Baht if I refused to buy the items on discounts. On the finak nite, I planned to just buy anything to use all my Baht but still, I failed since our free time was during nightime and most of the shops were closed. Lack of choice I really couldn't force myself to buy anything anymore!
So I ended up with some 2100 Baht balance. A bit frustrated cos I got no bag, no purse (Errr...I already have them all but I mean, I'm a tourist I should get a new bag from the country of the lower currency, don't you think? Hehe) So now I'm back in Sabah, I went to sell back my Baht and got RM281.40. I forgot about my handbag mission cos I didn't actually need it desperately. Suddenly I thought, eh, What if the mission is not yet over? I still could spend all my baht value on my items but with some strategy. I could use the RM to buy the bags! I went to Servay Premiere and went to the branded ladies handbag and they cost around RM200 - RM400 BUT they have some 20%, 50%, 70% and even Best Buy prices. Easily, I picked on handbag RM369 with 70% discount, and a purse of RM339 with 50% discount and the bill was RM274.40! Don't you think I still made the Baht worked for me? Hahahaha
So now, I'm considered happy and I would like to rebrand my Hatyai trip as "fruitful" cos until yesterday, I was quite frustrated with many things about the trip. I was so tired and still brought limited stuff home. The stuff that I spent my Baht on are:
1. 7 snacks from the local snack shop + 2 packs of peanut snacks
2. Meals from 2 restaurants for lunches
3. Foods from the street for 3 nights for supper (I never finished them)
4. Drinks from 7 Eleven
5. 2 Hatyai kid shirts for my nephews
6. 2 Hatyai adult shirts for my bro and dad
7. 6 blouses
8. Keychains, fridge magnets, lil purses with Hatyai on it
9. Monobo jelly sandals for my lil feet...hehe
10. Oh forgot, 1 Haytai tshirt for myself too. Hehe
11. 1 bag with elephant print on it (for myself too)
12. All coins donated to the Church during mass
13. I got charged 35 Baht for taking a mineral water from the hotel's fridge. Hahahaha
14. Street kuih the early sellers were selling on our last morning there. Most of them were selling kuih with some pork inside it. I was left with one choice. The little koci-like wrapped kuih with no filling. Just 50 Baht but a lot of them. That was worth it.
Like I said, Hatyai trip could get low points from me. But since my friends were asking about the trip, I decided to compile some videos from the trip and they were so impressed with it! Suddenly I think back all the places we went to, it wasn't all that bad. I mean, I managed to hilight the good things in the video, they all thought it was a wonderful journey and already asked me about the next trip if they could join. Even my mom said it she likes the video so much! Well, who am I to say No, right? Hehe. It's so strange. Sometimes when you thought it's bitter, it is but then it runs out of bitterness. Now only you can feel the sweetness. Oh, I decided this trip is indeed Fruitful.
I wonder if I can get another sponsored vacation like this. *giggles
Thank you God for the safe journey!
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