n00b

Well the living budget is 15,000 but that is including internet and electricity. I don't know exactly what that would cost me in Hua Hin or Cha Am so I assume the rent itself have to be 10-12k.

Do you mean your total monthly budget is 15k or is that just for housing, internet, and electric? Housing in a pit of a place is going to be a minimum of 8-10k, the cheapest internet package I know of is about 600 baht and if you use no A/C at all you can probably get by for 400 on electric. If that is your total budget it only leaves about 5k per month (or about 175 baht per day) for everything else i.e., food, drink, entertainment, transportation, etc.

I know some people who live here very cheaply in small places in mainly Thai neighborhoods and own no transport but walk, and use buses and motorcycle taxis to get around and even imo, living almost like a pauper still spend closer to double what you are talking about. I hope that is your budget for just housing, electric and internet and you have another 15k for other things or you'll not have a very fun life here.

I might have been a little unclear. I meant my regular living expenses. Rent, ectricity and internet. I assume 2000-2500 for electricity and 1000-1500 for internet which leaves 11,000-12,000 for rent.

Other money will be 25,000-30,000 a month.

Try to goggle: Sport Villa Hua Hin, Think it will suit you perfect

I had a look at it, thanks. Too be considered. I saw the town houses went for 12-15k. Might be room to put in some kitchen equipment there.

In Cha-am a condo under or around baht 10.000.- will be difficult, but a townhouse around baht 10.000.- is no problem. Hua hin is for sure much more expensive

How on earth does a condo become more expensive than a townhouse? Ah well, let's say I'm searching for townhouses and other sort of apartments then. I really thought small condos would be the cheapest thing next to a basement studio. Different country different values. Maybe it has something to do with security, view or location, I can't think of another reason one would chose to pay more for less space.

As neither you nor your partner have strong views on where to live, it might be better to travel around for the 6 months, including spending some time with her family.

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

That will cost considerably more money but is a better idea.

I reckon the OP would be better off deferring his trip for a couple of months in order to be able to forget about penny pinching and enjoy time with his gf.

She sounds a lovely lass by the way OP.

She is the best girl I've been with

And I'm not choosing to stick with her because I'm not able to get women in my home country. I actually prefer her to any women I've met, including those in my own country.

Problem with moving around is that I want to take language courses, I want us to communicate better. A 180 hour course for myself in Thai and some English lessons for her. That is mainly why I want to spend most of the time in one place. And I can enjoy my time with her without spending much money as she never asks me to buy her stuff I won't be going shopping every day either. She is grateful enough that I will provide for her needs and I do think she sees the long term picture and wants to come with me to my home country.

Though I am confident she has real feelings for me. Which is not unlikely as I am neither old, unattractive, abusive or cheating.

.

There is a very simple way to prove the point.

Treat her like you would a girlfriend back home, ie don't hand her or her family money for the pleasure of her company.

She'll either demontrate the truth of your confident belief or she'll exit stage left.

Eitherway you get to the truth of the matter and have more of your own cash to spend on your holiday.

Depends if the family needs GF financial contribution for day to day living - OP has already stated he doesn't want GF to work whilst staying with him

They need it. Her father is disabled and unable to work any more, and I have that confirmed with my own eyes for those who were about to suggest I shouldn't trust what she tells me. It's not a big loss for me to cut down on a few nights out each month in Thailand so she can get peace of mind. If I had a girlfriend back home in a similar situation I might have considered the same. Though back home they would get welfare so no need to. I'm not going to be cruel with her just to prove a point. If it was her money she would probably send half of it back home and live on a lot less. She is used to live on scraps and she knows my budget for this trip and she does not think it is too little.

I suggest you ask your girlfriend where she wants to live.

She is hopeless when I ask her about anything she wants. She just tells me "with you" when I asked her. Same as I asked her what she wants for birthday. Which is quite normal where I come from, you ask them what they want for present and you just give them exactly that, or just an envelope with money. I suggested I'll get her a small laptop, which she was happy about.

If it helps any, if you move up to Issan (Ubon, Khon Kaen, Nong Khai, etc.), then 11,000/month for rent is quite expensive. We have a nice 4bdrm house in a great neighborhood for 4500/month. If you're careful (ie. no air conditioning), electric can be as cheap as 1000/month. Internet for 7mbps down is 630/month from 3BB.

300/day for groceries should be fine. Don't expect to eat anything imported though (cheese, wine, spices, bell peppers, lemons, etc.). Just six slices of swiss cheese will eat your daily food budget. For example, for me to make a nice chicken stir-fry for 4 people with enough for leftovers the next day, from the street market, I'm looking at:

3 (large) chicken breasts = 80 baht

broccoli * 2 = 80 baht

onions, garlic, peppers, carrots, baby corns, etc.. = 70 baht

rice or noodies = 30 baht, but lasts more than one meal

I'm already up to 260 baht there, and that doesn't include cooking oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, pepper, other spices, imported veggies I put in, something to drink, etc.

You also didn't include for the "extras" that always appear. Some family will come up for a visit, and you'll be expected to be a good host, provide a nice meal, some beers, etc.

Such extras might appear if we lived in something big enough to have visitors. And seeing as her father is not well to travel I don't think the immediate family is coming on visits. It would rather be us visiting them. A few weeks in Ubon is more like saving money. I spend under 1k baht a week last time I was there, being in a village with most dinners provided, not much to spend money on. Though I gave her father a 5k baht gift at the end of the trip, so a total of 500 a day. My groceries budget is based on me using 400 a day for groceries last time but buying a lot more than needed and things had to be left behind after the three weeks were done.

By the way, did you get that pricing in a city?

One condo? I really think there has been a misunderstanding on the word on my part. I will consider any apartments.

5k baht taken out of the budget for sending home to her family as her contributions when working was in the 2-5k range. I told her she doesn't need to work as I don't see 10k baht a month worth working longer hours than I have to work to get 15 times that. I'm supplying her with that now.

She's not really a little girl at 31 any more and I have met her parents and they don't have a problem with her being with me.

The laptop is so that we will have a better way to communicate than just through phone when I inevitably have to leave again. Last time I checked in the IT mall in Bangkok they sold laptops as cheap as 12k baht.

Is the east really that much cheaper? How about some average rental price figures for a 1 bedroom condo for the various places mentioned?

Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai is even cheaper?

Apart from rental prices and prices in bars and nightclubs (which I won't frequent too often) I guess the prices won't be different on anything that is standard retail goods in supermarkets. Of course, cheaper rent gives me more money to spend on other things.

Too bad you can't really eat seafood in any of these places and I have to eat malaria pills.

\

yes - it is cheaper.

http://tinyurl.com/6mfnrr6 as an example.

Farang food gets expensive quickly. She will most likely be quite happy eating somtam and street food for 30 baht a meal, so her side will be cheap as long as you do not make the mistake of feeling bad about tucking into a fat steak and chips at the same time. Food can be cheap. Outside of the hubs like BK, CM, HH, Pattaya, the types of bars and clubs you have experienced are very hard to find if they exist at all; the similar places are cheaper and priced towards people earning 10k a month for a family.

I've never taken malaria pills up there but might be different living there (jump onto the specific boards and ask the people that do live there what the score is). But seafood, well that's expensive, and you won't be eating it every night regardless of where you live but most places in Thailand you can get it (might not be that fresh though) and Makro will sort you out anyway.

You can get cheap places to live in Pattaya, but nothing else is cheap.

She does not even like western food so I won't feel too bad. I like Thai food too but I won't be eating it more than half the time, I need some variation. I do really like the shrimps and squids, maybe they have frozen ones in the supermarkets. It would be nice to have an oven capable of making a pizza in a couple of times a month. That is one thing I start to crave after a while abroad but I never found a pizza restaurant outside of Europe that makes edible pizza.

I wouldn't rule out the Pattaya area. Between Ban Amphur and Bang Saray are some condos right near the ocean that are quite cheap. About 20 minutes to Central Pattaya road and Suk. Lots of other options also. We live down near that area and love it. We do most of our shopping at the fresh markets, but Tesco and Makro are only a 10 minute drive. I walk on the beach 3-4 times a week. We get cool breezes. We only venture into Pattaya when we want to have fun. Like tonight, there's a big shindig in town and we headed into town. But normally, only go into town a few times a month.

East Pattaya is another option. Lots of inexpensive places there and lots to do. Just some thoughts....

I won't be renting any car so I prefer to have supermarkets within walking distance. Jomtien was okay but I am looking for somewhere else this time.

Considering you have nothing setup here at all, 35k a month (after the 5k contribution to the family) to have the type of entertaining and romantic trip you are talking about seems near impossible to me.

The only way I could see 1,100 bath a day for 2 people surviving here and trying to have some sort of social life is to stay with friends or family somewhere very cheap, which usually means somewhere where no other tourists, attractions and the like are close by. Otherwise a half decent hotel is going to burn up a lot of your daily budget before you've even factored in 2 meals a day, so your 1k probably won't even cover your basic food and lodgings for the pair of you. Yes, a Thai couple would make 400 to 800 bath a day between then and live but they have the support of family and friends and a house setup already.

I had a Thai style apartment in Bangkok until recently. About 4k a month including all bills and internet, but it was totally unfurnished and we have to pay about 10k deposit upfront.

Also, I'd be wondering if your Isaan lady is going to be happy living a basic existence on a shoestring budget when she was probably as well off before her faring bf came along. Girls with farang partners are expecting and assumed to be living some high life, she isn't going to want to go back and tell everyone in her village she just roughed it for 6 months. She will probably also want some savings or gold at the end of it, you can't just expect her to think the holiday and being with you is all she gets for 6 months of her time.

40-45k after other expenses

And this is not a "romantic trip", this will be trying to live together for a substantial time to find out if we can make it work together.

If 40k baht in Thailand equals 120k baht in Norway, as it is based on most prices, then it should work.

I'm calculating a budget.

Rent: 11,000 + Electricity: 2500 + Internet: 1500 = 15,000

Groceries: 9000 (2100 per week)

Transport: 3000 (might not be necessary if everything is within walking distance)

Dining out: 3000 (5-10 times a month)

Going out: 3000 (2 nights a month)

Clothes: 2000

Various Items: 2000

Other entertainment: 2000

Beer: 1140 (2 cases of Leo beer cans)

= 40,140, still leaves another potential 5k for rent depending on work.

Please don't paint everyone under the same brush. Even if she didn't truly love me I don't think every Thai woman can be short sighted enough to only think about short term monetary gains. She might even consider it an investment. If a woman from Thailand "wins me over" she could potentially end up in a country where someone cleaning floors for a living makes three times more than a doctor in her home country.

Though I am confident she has real feelings for me. Which is not unlikely as I am neither old, unattractive, abusive or cheating.

you seem to be on a rather low budget. Remember, Thailand is not cheap. The "top" locations like Krabi, Phuket, Hua Hin and Bangkok will eat up your money fast.

Go try Cha-Am, it is not as expensive as Hua Hin, I had rented a two story townhouse out there for 7000 BAHt per month until i moved on in 2010. There are some schools within reach to the Hua Hin side.

One big concern is, your northern born Thai GF will have difficulties in making ties with the local, if you try to live in the south. Exceptions bargirls with the same background. You mentioned in the Isaan you get bored after two weeks, please expect the same to happen to your Thai GF as soon as you settle at a beachside. An Isaan lady does not want to suntan ! She will never understand how you can enjoy sitting in a dirty chair at the beach, drink beer, behave lazy and most of all tanning your skin darker - as this makes you become low-class !

Don 't forget to be open ear and diplomatic in case this becomes all obvious.

Why not move into the next big town of her area ? Hey, Khon Kaen, Ubon Ratchathani, Korat . . all real good places , low budget, all amenities and more ! and schools !

Two story townhouse for 7k baht sounds amazing.

Ubon Ratchathani is something I am considering. The getting bored part is mostly about being in a village for too long. One concern is if her sisters or friends sees this as an invitation to move in with us. Good thing is we can visit her family once in a while without 10 hours on a bus each way. But I really do like the coast. I haven't been riverside in Ubon Ratchathani but if it resembles riverside in Phnom Penh in any way, it is certainly doable.

She has been okay without family and friends for two months before and I don't think that would be a problem. I would like to try for a bit longer and in one place to see if she can cope if I plan to take her to my home country. Where she certainly would be away from friends and family.

In that regard it would make sense to be as far away from Ubon as possible. Personally I am a bit sceptic about Cha Am as I may grow tired of it as well after a few weeks. Hua Hin looks like a better alternative as it is more of a city. I may dig into the coffers (i.e work more and spend less before I go) and add 5k to my rent budget if that is what it takes to find a place in Hua Hin. I am financing these 6 months with just over 2 months work so I know I don't expect to live like a king on that money but with prices being on average 3 times lower than back home I guess I will do okay. I am by the way spending less than 40k baht a month up here in one of the most expensive countries in the world now, living very spartan though.

She will never understand how you can enjoy sitting in a dirty chair at the beach, drink beer, behave lazy and most of all tanning your skin darker - as this makes you become low-class !

In my opinion, the people who do this, are, to begin with. No harm her knowing the reality of the situation.

OP - You're money will go a lot further and you will truly understand your GF if you try it out in the East. Why not find a city their and give it a go? Kalasin? Khon Kean? Roiyet? All have a fair amount of Farangs knocking about.

You're in a fix though; 40k a month is not a great deal. Have you told your GF the limitations of your budget and does she realise that the laptop is a one off gift or could she have the impression that it is only the start? On this basis getting away from the folks will be a good idea perhaps. As she can move so easily sounds like she does not work. Even two weeks with the family will dent your savings as well so perhaps cut that one short. You might also be expected to pay something to the family before the allow their little girl to move off with a Farang for 6 months. Lots to consider.

Chiang Mai or Rai or Koh Chang would be my best guess to eak out your budget.

Cha Am as well but as mentioned, the only friends she will pick up are other Issan girls and in those regions, they might well be working girls.

5k baht taken out of the budget for sending home to her family as her contributions when working was in the 2-5k range. I told her she doesn't need to work as I don't see 10k baht a month worth working longer hours than I have to work to get 15 times that. I'm supplying her with that now.

She's not really a little girl at 31 any more and I have met her parents and they don't have a problem with her being with me.

The laptop is so that we will have a better way to communicate than just through phone when I inevitably have to leave again. Last time I checked in the IT mall in Bangkok they sold laptops as cheap as 12k baht.

Is the east really that much cheaper? How about some average rental price figures for a 1 bedroom condo for the various places mentioned?

Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai is even cheaper?

Apart from rental prices and prices in bars and nightclubs (which I won't frequent too often) I guess the prices won't be different on anything that is standard retail goods in supermarkets. Of course, cheaper rent gives me more money to spend on other things.

Too bad you can't really eat seafood in any of these places and I have to eat malaria pills.

Well the living budget is 15,000 but that is including internet and electricity. I don't know exactly what that would cost me in Hua Hin or Cha Am so I assume the rent itself have to be 10-12k.

Okay thanks. I can forget the built in oven, maybe there will be room to put one in.

Looking to rent a condo from early September in Cha Am or Hua Hin. I will apply for an education visa and will most likely stay six months. If the condo building is near some of the language schools that would be preferred. Looking for anything under 10k a month with standard electricity and water rate. Might consider house/townhouse if I find the security good enough. Preferable to deal with owners directly. Anyone planning on renting out anything soon or have some tips on how I should go about finding such a place when I get there?

I would also know if there is a large price difference. Is Cha Am really cheaper than Hua Hin and how much of a price difference are we talking about?

I do need a language school to get an education visa. I will do some search on Krabi as another alternative.

How about rental prices there?

The time for my arrival in Thailand is coming up in less than two months. I'm about to order plane tickets soon and I have not yet decided on where to stay. My girlfriend is from a village in the east. I won't survive more than two weeks in a place like that without going insane so we need to stay somewhere with more to offer. I also want to learn Thai, and get an education visa so the place to settle would need a language school.

My budget after plane tickets, language course, a laptop for my girl and other predetermined expenses will be around 40k baht per month.

I would ideally like as comfortable a living as possible for my limited budget in a nice location. I have previously been to Phuket, Pattaya and Bangkok. I don't want to live in Pattaya or Phuket, too much of you know what there plus living expenses are probably higher than other places in Thailand, at least for Phuket. I would like to be close to the coast or a river, Bangkok could be an alternative if I could find something cheap riverside, I think I would feel trapped between all the skyscrapers otherwise. I have thought about Cha Am or Hua Hin, I do prefer the coast, maybe since I have always lived near the coast. I am sure there are other coastal alternatives as well.

Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai or Ubon Ratchathani (the cities) are the inland alternatives I have considered.

The location is important but of course I want to get my 40k baht worth as much as possible. I want to know where I can find a condo/apartment under 10k for six months rent. It should have a proper kitchen (not just microwave and water boiler) and one or two bedrooms, if the bathroom has a tub that is a plus, if the kitchen has an oven that is also a big plus. Finding this information from most listings seems to be difficult, I also suspect the prices on listings are higher than what you could get looking elsewhere.

I want it closely located to supermarkets, the beach/riverside and a language school. It's a bit difficult to get all this information through simple Google search so I'm asking here.

Would be nice to know about the places I have mentioned and how they compare in cost of living, also if you have any alternatives that I could look at (preferably coastal/island). Any information would be much appreciated.

Thanks for the information guys. I am actually thinking about the education visa now. Is it really as simple as registering with a language school and you get the visa?

I will of course attend the course as well, getting my money's worth and learn some Thai.

Then I just have to find out if Turkish Airlines tickets are as easy to change as Qatar Airways tickets. I was looking at both and they had a price difference of about 5k THB. I flew with Qatar Airways last time but their prices have gone up a little, at least when paying with Norwegian kroner.

I am planning to buy a 90 day ticket with return trip and just change the return flight if I get the ED visa.

I think it would be confusing for a foreigner to learn Swedish as a base for Norwegian. Much easier for a Norwegian to learn to understand Swedish and the other way around than for someone who just learned to speak a little bit of one of the languages.

Though the spoken language is more difficult to understand I think even Danish would be a better substitute because more words are the same.

But I really just want to get her a Norwegian course. If that's not possible without living in Patong, Pattaya or smog infested Bangkok I will think of an alternative.

One alternative is of course for me to go for an ED visa and learn Thai. Would make sense to stay a bit longer, maybe six months. Will only have equivalent of 300-350k left after tickets. Seemed more suited for a 3-4 month trip.

My budget would be reduced to 50k a month and I have to figure out if that could even work. Anyone here managing on that little a month?

Would it be possible for you to teach her yourself? (I presume this is your gf.)

That would require me to learn more Thai first.

I think your best bet would be to locate and purchase your learning materials, proceed mostly in self-study mode, then attempt to locate a native Norwegian speaker to help with pronunciation feedback. Unfortunately most Norwegians that would be willing to do so at a reasonable hourly rate would live in Pattaya, less so in Phuket, maybe Hua Hin? But hardly anywhere else.

I am a native Norwegian speaker. The "maybe Hua Hin" part is something I would like to find out more about.

Are there no fellow Norwegians on here that might now?

Thank you, but as I understand it a visa has to be used within 90 days, and both entries. If I apply in Norway for a double entry visa, that will have to be done some time before I travel. Then I can use the first entry of course, but I won't be able to use the second because it will be more than 90 days since the embassy here gave me a visa approval.

Another issue that comes to mind is plane tickets. I mean, I actually have to buy the tickets to apply for a visa. Scary if the visa does not get approved and I have bought the ticket already. I don't know if I can get a booking without paying anything.

Also wondering if I have to buy a return ticket within 90 days, then change it later with the airline.

I am going to apply for a tourist visa for 60+30 days, and I was wondering about the possibility of doing a visa run once the 90 days is up. Can I then take a flight to another country and back and get 30 more days? I've read something about 90 days per 180 days but I am not sure about this.

Alternatively, could I possibly apply for another tourist visa once the 90 days are up? And would I have to go to another country then as well?

I am wondering where to find a Norwegian language course in Thailand that also happens to be a nice place to stay for a few months. My girl will be attending. I would like there to be some quality and I would like to find out if it exists in any of the following places. Hua Hin, Koh Samui, Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Jomtien. I might consider Phuket or Pattaya, but not my first choices. If there were a Thai course in the same language school that ran simultaneously that would be perfect.

Any suggestions?

I'm not too familiar with the prices in America but compared to Norway the prices in Thailand are in general 3-5 times lower.

Of course it's not cheap if you start comparing to Africa, but I would much rather go to Thailand. I found most things in Cambodia were just slightly cheaper than Thailand, apart from alcohol and tobacco which was much cheaper in Cambodia.

For the price of one beer in a bar in Oslo I could get drunk beyond repair in Phnom Penh bars. In Thailand, I would say slightly buzzed.

Her friends are as inexperienced with how email works as she is.

I was just wondering if anyone was proficient in translation from English to Thai. Alternatively I could try to search for a paid translation service but that would involve transferring money from savings to use account which is currently in $0