Is my landlady scamming me?

9 baht per unit is your first problem. The government rate for residential is around 4.7 baht per unit, so she's marking that up by almost double. A lot of condo owners in Bangkok do this with sub-meters, but 9 baht is on the high side even for that practice. Most places I've seen charge between 7 and 8 baht for sub-metered units.

If you're running the AC 8-10 hours a day in a 30 sqm room, a 5k bill at 9 baht per unit means you're using about 555 units of electricity per month. That's a lot for a studio. A typical inverter AC running that much would be maybe 200-300 units. So either your AC is ancient and guzzling power, or the meter is rigged. You can buy a watt meter from HomePro for around 500 baht and plug your AC into it for a day to check actual consumption.

Your friend paying 1700 baht probably has government rate electricity at 4.7 baht and a newer inverter AC. Even so, the gap between 1700 and 5000 is too wide to explain by rate difference alone. Ask your landlady for a photo of the main building meter and compare it to your sub-meter reading. If she refuses to show it, that's your answer.

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yeah 9 baht per unit is brutal, thats like double the govt rate. even with markup most condos cap at 7-8 baht, so shes really squeezing you. but honestly 5k total is still wild for a 30sqm studio even at that rate. your friend at 1700 prob has a newer inverter AC and pays 4-5 baht, but even then the math doesnt add up.

heres a trick - check if your AC has a label on the outdoor unit with the btu or wattage. a 12,000 btu non-inverter unit running 10 hours a day pulls about 12-15 amps, which at 220v is like 2.6-3.3 kw per hour. at 9 baht per unit thats 23-30 baht per hour, so 10 hours would be 230-300 baht per day, around 7k-9k a month just for AC. but if your AC is a 9,000 btu inverter, that same 10 hours might be 1.2 kw per hour, about 11 baht per hour, 110 per day, 3.3k a month. so 5k total with fridge and microwave is possible with a big non-inverter AC.

your landlady might be marking up the rate plus your AC is old and inefficient. ask her what model the AC is, or look

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damn, 9 baht per unit is straight up robbery. the legal rate for residential is like 4.7, so shes marking it up almost double. most sub-meter setups in Bangkok are 7-8 baht, so shes really pushing it. if youre running AC

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Krua Dok Mai Kao is solid but I've always found their som tam a bit tame on the pla ra. If you want the real funky version, try the shophouse spots along Soi Udomsuk 26, near the night market end. They pound it fresh with fermented fish that'll clear your sinuses, and it's like 60 baht. Different style from the On Nut places, more Lao-leaning.

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for som tam specifically i'd say the Isaan spots in Chatuchak are underrated, weekdays only though since the weekend crowd ruins the vibe. there's a stall near gate 2 that does tam pa with fermented bamboo shoots, super sour and funky, not something you see much in On Nut. if you're already heading north for Or Tor Kor anyway its worth the detour.

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honestly the som tam at Krua Dok Mai Kao is good but what got me hooked is their nam prik pla raa dip with the raw veggies, that funk hits way harder than the papaya does. think most people sleep on it cuz they just order the som tam and gai yang. also pro tip, go before noon on weekdays, after that teh pla ra gets milder cuz they batch it for the lunch rush

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