Rogue33

In my opinion, someone need at least to have 55 000 to 60 000 bahts monthly to start to be able to afford a comfortable lifestyle in Thailand. Probably more if the person live in a popular tourist area like Phuket or in some areas of Bangkok or have a family. Probably way much less if you live in a small village, live alone, have a tight control over your expenses and don't spend much.

I lived myself for 3 years in a mid-size town of central Thailand and I lived a really comfortable lifestyle on a budget of 70 000- 80 000 bahts/month. We had a nice house, go to the movies once a week, eat out at good restaurant 2-3 times a week, shopping, small trips on the weekend, etc. Notice that I could have reduce my expenses by a good 15 000- 20 000 bahts/month by having a smaller car, renting a small apartment, not renting a motorbike and reducing my shopping/divert. expenses by a little bit.

This is a approx. breakdown of my expenses while I was there :

Location of a nice townhouse 8 000 bahts/month

Electricity, water and other bills 2 000 bahts/month

Internet : 650 bahts/month

Car 13 500 bahts/month

Gas for car/motrobike : 6 000 - 8000 bahts/month

Car insurance + car maintenance : 1 500 bahts/month

Motorbike : 2 000 bahts/month

Restaurants and food : 10 000 bahts/month

Activities : 8 000-10 000 bahts/month

Shopping and other expenses : 20 000- 25 000 bahts/month

In my opinion 100 000 bahts/month is a lot and could be easily reduced if needed.

Keeniau96 answer is right. Just go to a Bangkok Bank branch and tell them you want to do a wire transfer to your Canadian bank account to pay your credit card bills. They will ask you to fill a one page document and that's it. I did some transfers in the past and it's a fairly easy process if the amount transferred is less the 50k' $. When I did it I remember they asked me if I had a work permit but they didn't request it after I told the bank employee the amount and the reason I wanted to transfer money.

I would recommend the Samsung Galaxy Grand as another member suggested previously :

Large screen 5"

Good specs

Google Play (Android Market) : translation app, Thai-English dictionary

Have an internet browser so you can surf the net using your Wi-Fi connection

Reasonably priced around 11-12 000 baths if I'm right. You can purchase it at Samsung Store/Power Buy....

This is a link for the Samsung Galaxy Grand specs

http://www.samsung.com/th/consumer/mobile-devices/smartphone/android-os/GT-I9082MBATHL

IMO, she should contact a lawyer that can talk with the owner/police and negotiate a reasonable compensation. A good lawyer probably has experience with that kind of situation and will know how to handle it.

Seem like they are trying to make some money with her.

<<Once they got used to one brand though they could be a bit fussy with changes>>

True. My daughter always preferred the Dumex brand (orange bag/box) and when I tried another brand of formula with her, she always made faces and stop drinking pretty quickly. For that reason, I always continued with Dumex but just changed the formula stage as she grew up.

Usually Super Rich offer pretty good exchange rates. The currency exchange office is located in front of Central World in Bangkok. Maybe worth taking a look at them.

http://www.superrichthailand.com/new/map.html

I think that selling your bahts in UK isn't the best option, you will probably not get the best rate.

Doing a bank transfer will cost you fees here in Thailand and maybe for receiving the money in the UK. You need to verify this.

So if you are located in Bangkok, I would suggest to look with Super Rich.

Hope this help

I think you need to be on a Non-Immigrant visa or an extension of stay to be eligible for a Thai driver licence. This is from my personal experience and the information I got from my embassy.

I saw many posts that are suggesting that isn't possible to obtain a Thai driving licence on a tourist visa. Maybe a more advanced member can confirm this information.

I would recommend to buy an Asus laptop. Asus offer 24 months warranty on their laptop and some of their models come installed with Windows 7 or 8. Also their laptops are pretty reliable on the performance side.

They offer models starting at 14 900 baths with Intel i3 processor, 4GB Memory, 500GB HDD, Intel graphic card, dvd drive, HDMI, USB 3.0 and Windows 7 Premium. Models around 20 000-24 000 bahts come with a better processor, NVIDIA graphic card 1 or 2GB and more HDD space.

The Zenbook and K46C series also have a nice slim design with aluminium casing.

You can find Asus laptop at Banana IT, IT City, JIB or other local computer shops.

Congrats

I would agree with PoorSucker, about 1 500-1 800 bahts/month.

I was buying Dumex formula at Tesco or Makro. About 220 bahts by bag and I usually used a few bags a month.

2-3 bags of baby diapers. I was buying Drypers 72 diapers pack at Big C.

Few bags of wipes (80 bahts/bag Big C brand)

You can save a few hundred bahts if you watch for promotion.

Using water instead of wipes is a good idea.

I got divorced and this is the mutual agreement we agreed regarding child support for my daughter

I'm giving 5 000 bahts by month until my daughter is 20 years old. Child support is payable until maturity in Thailand, so 20 years old.

This amount will be paid on a pro rata basis if my daughter is with me during the month. E.g. if I have my daughter for 2 weeks, I will only pay 2 500 baths to the mother. I will stop paying child support completely if my daughter moves with me.

I'm also giving 50 % of any medical or education expenses for my daughter. The mother needs to show me a copy of the bill via email and I show it to a Thai friend. If I think it's legitimate and reasonable, I give the money to the mother. I just want to make sure the money is spent on my daughter and know how she spend the money.

Beside that I buy clothes and toys for my daughter when I see her.

If I was you, I would avoid to give the extra money for education, medical and other expenses at the same time as the monthly child support amount just to make sure the money is really spent on your kid.

Usually the court will ask you to provide between 3 000 to 6 000 bahts of child support by month depending of your financial situation. IMO, 3 000 bahts is really low and I think 5 000-6 000 bahts plus 50 % of other expenses is more reasonnable.

You can marry at one amphur and get divorced at another one, no problem with that. I married in Bangkok and divorced in Korat. Everything went fine.

Mario is correct.

The foreigner male can marry as soon as he's divorced. The Thai lady needs to wait a certain period of time but there's some limitations to that.

The only thing is that the embassy of the male foreigner can see that he already requested an affidavit of freedom to marry in the past and ask to see the divorce documents to do some verifications before accepting to deliver a new affidavit of freedom to marry.

If I was you, I would do all the marriage procedures in Bangkok, more easy IMO. I did everything in Bangkok in 1 day but I'm not sure if this would be possible for all nationalities (some embassy requires appointment if I'm right) Many people do it in 2-3 days.

These are the procedures we went through during the day :

8am : We left our hotel to go to the Canadian embassy.

9am- Arrive at the embassy and start the process to get an affidavit of freedom to marry. Cost 1 500 bahts.

9:30am- Out of the embassy and take a taxi to the MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

10:30am- Arrive at the MFA and look to get the affidavit translated. We used the translation shop located on the 1st floor near the main entrance. Got the documents back 30-45 minutes later. Cost 300 bahts.

11am- We went upstairs to bring our documents and requested same day service. 800 bahts if I remember right.

2pm- We got the documents back and walk outside the MFA to take a taxi to the nearest amphur (Leksi or something like that).

2:15pm- We made all the photocopies necessary before heading to the department where they take care of marriage.

3:30pm- We were officially married and soon on our way back to our hotel to enjoy a nice evening together

The procedures are pretty simple and straightforward Just make sure to have all the appropriate documents with you. It can be done in 1 day but maybe better to do it in 2 days if you don't want to fell too rushed.

Best of luck with your marriage.

If I had to buy an Android tablet I would definitely go for a Nexus 7" 32GB model. IMO, a 7" tablet (screen) is great since you can easily bring it everywhere. I also find this size pretty good for reading. The internal storage at 32GB offer plenty of space to save books, music and some videos.

The price of this Nexus 7" 32GB is great considering the specs and considering other similar android tablet price. 10 900 bahts for the 32GB model.

http://www.shopat7.com/%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A7%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B0-IT/%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%AA%E0%B9%8C-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A7%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C/tablet/Asus/nexus-7-3g-32.html

I would go for the Samsung S3 mini if you have about 10 000 bahts to spend. You can see the specs of the S3 mini using that link :

http://www.samsung.com/th/consumer/mobile-devices/smartphone/android-os/GT-I8190RWNTHL

If you have around 19-20 000 baths to spend you can go for the Samsung Galaxy S3 model. Great phone, screen size is great and good specs. Only thing, the battery life isn't that great but you can always buy an extra battery for it. You can see the specs of the S3 using that link :

http://www.samsung.com/th/consumer/mobile-devices/smartphone/android-os/GT-I9300MBDTHL

If you are not in a rush you might want to wait for the Samsung Galaxy S4 I'm not sure when it's coming out in Thailand and would probably cost around 23-24 000 bahts with DTAC. You can see the specs of the S4 using that link :

http://www.samsung.com/th/consumer/mobile-devices/smartphone/android-os/GT-I9500ZWATHL

All the phones mentioned previously offer enough internal memory to download a good music library. You can also increase the memory by buying a SD card and insert it in the phone. Also, most of the time a SD card is provided with the phone.

You can download a good Thai dictionary using Google Play, they're many of them available. Look the one's that have the more positive feedbacks.

I forgot, one other option would be to find a company in Singapore that is looking for workers to go work for them in Thailand. I'm not sure of your field of work but this might be an option. If this is possible go for it!!!!

As a young guy I would advice you to keep your current job and start the procedures to bring your wife to Singapore. IMO, this is the best option if you plan to built a family with her. I'm pretty sure she can adapts to Singapore and she can always make trips to Thailand every now and then.

Based on personal experience here, it's really difficult for young guys to make a living in Thailand, even if you got a bachelor (or Master) degree and some professional experiences in your field. I think not impossible but really far from been easy. You also need to consider that many occupations are reserved to Thai people. E.g. Lawyer, accountant and on and on. There's always the possibility to teach English but most of the position pay between 30 000-40 000 bahts/month (maybe a little bit more if you got TESOL). IMO, not that much if you have a family, have a car payment to do, pay your rent, cover some of the family expenses and this without talking about putting some money away for the rainy days.

There's the possibility of doing business here but you need to have some money to open a business. Also, IMO, without having a good business plan, extended business management experiences, an extended knowledge of Thailand and doing business here (or a partner that does) this is a risky road. Even more for a young guy with probably limited savings (and no other income). There is no guarantee that you will make money and you might end up losing everything. Not good IMO if you have a family to take care of. I would suggest to consider that option only if you have a good amount of savings and that you are able to loose it without problem. Last thing, some small business (as a small food shop or a small clothes shop or something like that) will not generate a lot of income monthly and don't really worth the investment IMO.

So, IMO, you better stay in Singapore and take the appropriate measures so your wife can come live there with you. I'm pretty sure she can find a small job there once she adapted to her new country. When she's homesick, you can always plan a trip back to Thailand. This is the best option for stability IMO. Work in your home country with your wife, save some money and later on move to Thailand to retire.

Best of luck to you from another young guy

I got my 5 years Thai driving licence. This is the list of documents that I used to renew.

1-Copy of my passport;

2-Yellow book as a proof of residency. You can get this at your Amphur.

3-Medical certificate (50-100 bahts). You can get this at a clinic.

I also provided them my old driver licence.They asked me to do a reaction test. I paid around 500 bahts for the new licence. The whole process took about 15-20 minutes max.

I guess it depends.

I had once an accident where a Toyota Vigo rammed into my car (Nissan March) when I was going threw an intersection. Both car were damaged. Insurance companies came to the accident scene and police arrived later on. The police talked to both of us and then requested that we all go to the police station to fill an accident report. The police asked both of us to explain what happened and to do a drawing of the accident. The police listened to me first and then listened to the Thai guy. The police stop him short, said he was wrong and ask him to stop talking. The officer said that I had the priority because of green light and he should have wait before turning right into the intersection. They asked him to pay a fine of 400 bahts (if I remember right) and told him to learn how to drive. I was really surprise with the outcome to be honest and I was surprise how the officer listen to both our version of the accident and based his decision on this.

I had another accident in Bangkok. This time a speeding brand new Honda Accord rammed into my car coming from nowhere. My car was seriously damaged and same with the other car. My insurance company came to the accident scene and the Thai guy didn't have any car insurance. My insurance called the police to come over because of that. A police officer came to the accident scene. My insurance company was talking with the police officer when this girl arrived to the accident scene. She talked with the Thai guy that was implicated in the accident and then made a phone call. She talked for a few minutes before handing her cellphone to the police officer. The police officer talked for a few minutes before hanging up. He then say that everybody need to go to the police station to fill a report. Once arrived at the police station, the police didn't ask us to make a report or anything like that. They just gave a paper to my insurance company and say that it was my fault and that the insurance company should cover the damages to both cars. Pretty weird ??? I tried to ask questions but they just insisted that I sign the paper. I talked with the insurance guy and he told me to sign the paper. Once I got out of the police station, the insurance guy told me that this guy was wrong and didn't have any car insurance (he should have been held responsible of the accident and should pay for the damages) but the problem is that him or someone close to him (probably that girl) had connections with some police officers.

So in Thailand, I guess the outcome in an accident could be different if the other person has connection with the right people. I find this totally crazy. Would it have been any different if I have been injured during the accident ? Would he had just walk away without any consequences ? I'm pretty sure the answer to that is yes. Scary IMO.

You can take a look at this link for some information regarding customs tariffs for the item you are looking to import

http://igtf.customs.go.th/igtf/en/main_frame.jsp

The customs tariff seem to be 40 % as another member mentioned previously. You need to ad another 7 % for VAT on top of this. But I guess it's really up to the customs officials to decide how much they will really charge you

If the company ship the watch to you using FedEx or DHL you might end up paying more, as many experienced when using their services. The best option is to use regular post service (USPS, Canada Post...) so you can avoid extra costs.

Another good idea, as mentioned by another member, is to ask the vendor to send you the watch as a warranty replacement.

I agree with other members. If you looking for 1st class, you should definitely take the Eastern and Oriental Express train from Bangkok to Singapore.

You can find information here http://www.orient-express.com/web/eoe/eastern_and_oriental_express.jsp

Hope this can help you

I'm located in Phitsanulok and I'm not aware of any private schools that are providing Thai language courses for foreigners...but they might be.

As another member specified previously, I think the best option would be to contact Naresuan University in Phitsanulok. Maybe Naresuan University offers Thai language courses for foreigners or can provides you some information. I know they offer Thai cooking courses and Thai massages courses for foreigners so they're chances they offer Thai language courses as well.

Good luck with your search

Hi arnondagan

I faced the same situation

I was on a NON O extension of stay based on marriage before and I divorced. When you divorce you need to know that your extension of stay is cancelled automatically, so you need to advise immigration right away. If you don't you are on overstay from the day you divorce. When you go to immigration they will let you apply for a 7 days extension for 1 900 bahts in order to leave Thailand and go to another country to secure another visa.

Personally, I didn't know this and I advised the immigration 35 days after I divorced. I had to pay an overstay fine of 17 500 bahts + 1 900 bahts for the 7 days extension. So close to 20 000 bahts in total. So I just hope you knew about this or you will face the same situation and you will have to pay 500 bahts a day for overstaying and this up to 20 000 bahts maximum. If is the case, just stay calm, go to immigration, explain your situation to the officer and the most important thing have the money ready to pay the overstay fine + 7 days extension. They will stamp your passport saying that you overstay your visa but it will also say that you cleared the overstay fine. You will be able to get another visa, so no overstress with this.

IMO, you should either go for a retirement extension if you qualify for this or an ED Visa if you have an interest in learning Thai language.

Good luck

Thanks for the info Pib.

I can confirm what Jusme is saying. You don't pay any bank fees if you use your Canadian debit card @ AEON ATMs. In other terms, you don't have to pay the 150 bahts fee that you pay at most ATMs in Thailand. You just pay what your Canadian bank or credit union is charging you for an international withdrawn, so yes about 3 $ CAD in most case.

In the other hand, I'm not sure if you get the best exchange rate using AEON (compare to Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn). Also, regarding withdrawing limit. I'm not sure about the limit but I know you can at least withdrawn 20 000 bahts (based on personal experience).