munslife

3 hours ago, Jaxxper said:

Good to see someone putting some thought in about what it costs to live and how they can tailor their lifestyle to a budget.

I probably planned in more detail than I needed to, and as such I now track my expenses at a higher level than the plan. ie just in broad categories. Some areas we overrun others we underun. All works out in the end. I would say don't budget to your last penny. Keep some in reserve for emergencies.

Anyway, hope your plan comes together. Good post. 

 

Thanks Jaxxper. Thats what I am trying to do by making a budget for my estimated cost of living. I found this forum very helpful with wonderful people talking about their experiences. Glad to know.

cheers!

On 4/3/2019 at 6:36 PM, rickudon said:

Ten years in Thailand (not Phuket). Food prices - meat, fruit have gone up a fair bit (up to 50% increase) but some items same price as 10 years ago. Basic meal prices maybe up 20%. So food inflation about 2% a year. Alcohol due to tax increases up about 30% in that time. Petrol, fluctuates but not really any different to 10 years ago. Transport fares - planes, trains, buses not much change, taxis and tuk-tuks up a bit (due to wage increases). Electric and gas up a little bit .....

 

Biggest change housing. Although hotel prices have not risen much (maybe 10-30%) Land and house prices have easily doubled. Although rents on existing houses may not have changed much (because rents tend to be fixed to give a rate of return on building cost, not house value) but new properties have much higher rents to reflect purchase/building cost.

 

Overall, say inflation rate is about 2% a year not counting houses ..... all in baht.

 

The 2 biggest issues are undoubtedly currency exchange rates and immigration requirements (although theoretically extensions do not cost anymore, rules on visas have changed a lot).

thanks for your reply!

7 hours ago, khunPer said:

Living expenses are like a rubber band, purely depending of life-style, but you seem to know that.

 

You can find the consumer price index for Thailand here, 2014 and 2015 equaled index 100, whilst 2013 was 98. Over a 10-year period the price-increase was in total about 18 percent (from about index 86 to circa index 102 now).

 

But its depending what you buy, or use, some prices has increased more than others; A few examples, based on my 15-18 years experience:

• One liter og fuel (gasoline) was just under 20 baht 15-18 years ago, today one liter gasohol fuel (E20 or gasoline with 10% ethanol) is around 25-30 baht; fuel is a few bath more expensive per liter on an island, due to higher transportation costs.
• Alcohol and cigarette prices has gone (way) up over 10-15 years due to increased taxes.
• Electricity seems pretty steady around 4 baht a unit (kWh).
• Some meat products has gone up by 50 percent in 15 years, meat prices change little up-and-down almost daily.
• Soft drinks are about same price as before, big bottle brand-name about 25-28 baht, others cheaper, for example Tesco's own brand sells for 19 baht (1.25l, so litter smaller than brand names) with "buy one, get one free".
• Rents are often a question of location and demand, you can still find nice bungalows for 10,000 baht and less a month when renting long-term – it was around same price level 15 years ago, but some has raised price more than others – there are not that many condos at Samui, but more are being build, most people stay in bungalows and villas.
• Dining out has in general gone up by 50 percent in average, however some places more; its a question of location, and tourist market, i.e. what tourists are prepared to pay, so dining in a typical tourist area, like Fisherman Village, is more expensive.

Cost of living, or a budget, is really depending of which life-style you are aiming for, and for how many people; are you alone, a couple, or a family with children in need of school?

 

Renting a bungalow, house, or villa, with 2 bedrooms can be anything from around 10,000 baht a month – you can still find nice places for that – and up to more than 100,000 baht a month on long term agreements.

 

Dining mainly Western food will often be at similar price level as in your home country or little more, whilst eating Thai food is relative cheap; however still depending of choice of menu, some seafood might increase the cost, as well as tender beef meat (like Tiger Cry).

 

Drinking wine is relative expensive, i.e. same price as in many Western countries, or in some cases even more, also beer can cost more. But that is not local to Samui, but Thailand in general.

 

Song thaews – or "baht bus" – haven't changed much in price over the years, whilst taxis are little (relative) more expensive than before, we have only had metered taxis on the island for about a decade. Car and Motorbike prices are pretty nationwide (for new vehicles), and the car-model I use is almost same price as years ago, whilst motorbikes seem to have increased. I think rental prices has gone slightly up, but the models available might also be newer, and in better condition, than back in the good old Samui-era; so are the roads, i.e. better, so you can feel "the better car" when driving...????

 

Due to some major supermarket chains have opened on the island, like BigC, Makro, Tesco-Lotus and Tops, there are competition on food prices, so many, or most, are same level as everywhere in Thailand. Some times the super market chains are cheaper than the local markets with some products, other times the markets might have a better offer. Its like living everywhere on a budget, you'll need to check prices and find the right places to shop various products. Also chains like HomePro and Power Buy, and others, makes hardware competitive, so Samui is not that different in price, even being an island.

 

There are other recent topics about living expenses on Samui, but in general its mentioned to be dependent of life-style.

 

From my personal experience, we use about the same as always – i.e. for the last 10+ years – but we might be little more selective in our choices now, however cannot feel it. What matters in inflation so far is mainly currency exchange rates, when income originates from abroad. My "salary" has gone 20 percent down over the last 10 years. Furthermore, in my home country, I could get 6 percent, even 7 percent, interest from secured bonds (as secure as money in the bank with guarantee) 10-15 years ago, today I'm happy with around 3 percent in combined dividend and bond interest outcome, so my income from savings in foreign currency is about 50 percent down, and loss of exchange rate is 20 percent down, so I'm only having 40 percent of what I used to get a decade or more ago, and furthermore taking into consideration an average Thai consumer price index rise of 18+ percent. Currency exchange is an factor to calculate with, if you're depending on foreign income; and British folks seem to have lost even more than me, in currency exchange deviations.

 

Welcome to Samui, if your chose that...????

wow that was an awesome reply with lot of clarity. thanks a ton!

I completely get your point on cost of living. It will vary a lot from person to person and for different families. Of course for us it will be just 2 of us (no kids;)

We have been to Samui couple of times and fell in love with the place. I agree that with all the new super markets prices are very competitive. 

I have also received similar reply from other forum members that prices have not increased much but the exchange rate has varied a lot making things worse for everyone. How do you think we can overcome that? By transferring a huge chunk of savings in Thai bank? do you think its a good idea to do that?

Also since you mentioned few points on cost may I ask you if you can throw some light on average cost of living for a couple (not too much extravaganza...) with just a decent simple living will cost on Island?

I was estimating somewhere close to 1200 to 1500 USD per month for a decent living (50% home cooked and most of the time eating outside like locas...). Dont know if you have some different idea based on your years of experience. 

Thanks again for your response

cheers! 

7 hours ago, PoorSucker said:

My experience is that I pay less now than 20 years ago. 

With experience you know how to haggle and where to shop,some knowledge in Thai makes wonders. 

Nowadays you have Tesco, BigC, Makro that has the same prices as the rest of Thailand. 

thanks for your reply.

thanks you so much guys fro your reply. I understand that in my calculations i should consider currency fx fluctuations and should not be as much concerned as absolute increase of prices in thaibhat.

thanks

Thanks you so much for your reply. I see that prices have gone up but over a very longer period of time based on your experience. I also got to know from other forum on concern over strong bhat. 

Thanks again for your reply and look forward to follow more of your advice.

Cheers!

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to estimate my cost of living in the Phuket island for near future and am looking for references from people who have been living there for sometime. I want to know your overall experience with increase of prices in condo rentals year on year and also general inflation for things like food, transport, etc which we need in our daily life. Of course I know it varies from person to person and place to place but if you have been eating or living in same lace over years probably you can give me an idea how the prices have gone up.

This will help me to understand the price increase levels and I will be able to better estimate my future expenses.

I am trying to do this analysis for few places like Samui, Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai etc. IF there is already a topic on this then please guide me.

Thank You in advance for your support.

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to estimate my cost of living in the Samui island for near future and am looking for references from people who have been living there for sometime. I want to know your overall experience with increase of prices in condo rentals year on year and also general inflation for things like food, transport, etc which we need in our daily life. Of course I know it varies from person to person and place to place but if you have been eating or living in same lace over years probably you can give me an idea how the prices have gone up.

This will help me to understand the price increase levels and I will be able to better estimate my future expenses.

I am trying to do this analysis for few places like Samui, Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai etc. IF there is already a topic on this then please guide me.

Thank You in advance for your support.