wanttoescape

Hi all, hope you can help.

1)I will be retiring to the LOS in the next 2yrs, twice married leaves no house left but an apprx pension of £50k lumper and £1000 monthly, I have been told this is more than enough to settle and live in LOS to a reasonably high standard. Often reading blogs on here suggest otherwise.

Will be settling in Issan probably Nong Khai, any advice greatly appreciated. GF has land so that may help a little.

2)Does it pay to have a bank account in LOS or keep my uk one? I have noticed no one buys by cheque how do you pay for large purchases?

3)Any help with cost of living.....building a house....buying a car......

ALL ADVICE & HELP GREATFULLY RECEIVED

I have been asking for this same advice recently, so I will pass on what was so graciously provided to me by some members of this forum. I don't know the conversion for british currency, so I will just give a list of expenses in baht:

Electric 2000

Ipstar satellite internet 1600

UBC Cable TV 1500

Phone 700

Water 500

Diesel 2000

Car insurance 1500

Road tax 300

Groceries 2500

Miscellaneous 7000

These items, of course, can vary greatly depending on your lifestyle. This list should be a good starting point. The miscellaneous is for booze, dining out, etc. This budget assumes you own your own home and have no rent or car payments. If you require medical insurance, you can get a quick quote from links on the forum home page. I have been told that in my situation (wife and young daughter), I could live comfortably on 25000 baht per month in the Surin area (or most areas of Isaan for that matter). Anything above that is just icing on the cake. Good luck on the move, I wish I could say I would be there within 2 years.

wanttoescape

Soidog - Your family situation is similar to mine. I have 4-yr old daughter who will start school next year, doesn't speak much thai yet (we still live in US). Want to move to Surin area where my wife's grandma lives, but probably will be looking to buy or build home there. I plan to work (maybe teach english?) but not sure how that will work yet. I know this is off topic of original thread, but saw you were logged in and wanted to ask: what do you estimate will be a decent living allowance if already own home in rural area close to surin, no rent,etc. I have estimated 10000 to 15000 per month from reading other threads. Just trying to plan financially for the move.

Jason (wanttoescape)

Sorry, totally screwed up the end of my previous post. From reading other threads, I have estimated monthy living cost as 20000 to 25000 baht. Is this a reasonable estimate? No rent, no private school tuition, no car payments.

Thanks all, very helpful. I will continue with my Thai lessons and then adjust to the local dialect when we get there.

Can anyone tell me how much different are the khmer and issan languages/dialects from thai that is spoken in BKK? I am attempting (with very slow progress) to learn thai from a CD and books, but don't want to waste time if there are large differences as we plan to live in isaan (surin).

First thanks to you guys so far for your very interesting input I want to praise you for intrigrating with the family:

OK , since this turned out to be a nice thread I decided to ad my story.

Myself , wife & 5 year old daughter live in lower Buriram province about 20 minutes from NangRong or NongKi.

Soidog - Your family situation is similar to mine. I have 4-yr old daughter who will start school next year, doesn't speak much thai yet (we still live in US). Want to move to Surin area where my wife's grandma lives, but probably will be looking to buy or build home there. I plan to work (maybe teach english?) but not sure how that will work yet. I know this is off topic of original thread, but saw you were logged in and wanted to ask: what do you estimate will be a decent living allowance if already own home in rural area close to surin, no rent,etc. I have estimated 10000 to 15000 per month from reading other threads. Just trying to plan financially for the move.

Jason (wanttoescape)

Gentleman, on a related subject, are there any of you who have experienced life in Nong Khai as it is an area in which I would be interested in knowing more about.

I am currently living in New Zealand and have got to like the Thai way of life over two years of visiting there, and have thought of retiring there at age 59. However I am not too keen on the constant "nightlife" which I have experienced in the likes of Patong, although the constant heat.

So a couple of questions: -- has anyone had experience and living in Nong Khai and are there temperature variations in that part of Thailand with regard to seasons and day and night temperatures?. Philnz

The Thai government has climate info at the website below.

http://www.tmd.go.th/program/tour_show_eg....mp=Northeastern

The table will tell you avg hi and lo temps, rainfall, and other climatic stats for each month in selected provinces.

Don't worry about the language: kids learn new languages really fast.

Don't worry about the schools: even in Surin people have a saying: "Thank goodness for Mississippi."

good one fxm... thanks to you and Boo for the help... hope to see you all soon...

Come on into our Den............................there is no International schools as such, but there are a lot of Farangs living here with children in school. Pop into our establishment for a chat when you get here. Link at the top of every Isaan page. cheers

Hi Lampard - Thanks, we'll pop in during our visit. Good to hear that there are other farang children in the school system, up until now, only heard negative things about the educational level, etc, etc.... We are looking for a lifestyle change, tired of the US "rat race" and stress, stress, stress... My username says it for me, I'm 35 and want to enjoy the second half (if I make it that far). You're from the UK? It seems (by reading this forum) that most farangs there in the Surin area are former UK residents. Look forward to meeting you.

Hello - I am new to the Forum, this is just my 2nd post. My wife is a Thai national living in the US for 25 years. Most of her family lives in Surin. We now live in Mississippi, USA and are seriously considering a move to Isaan (most likely in or near Surin). My only real concern about the move is our 4-year old daughter and how difficult it might be for her to start school there while learning a new language. She speaks a small bit of Thai now with her mother and grandmother, and I'm sure she will pick it up much quicker than I will. Can anyone offer information on the grade school curriculum and school structure in the Surin area? Do they teach English at the grade school level? I would be perfectly happy putting her in the public Thai school system if it would suit her. I have also heard of the international schools, but don't know much about them. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Also we will be visiting Surin in November, if anyone would be willing to meet, have a beer, and discuss life in Issan.

Want to Escape (but still have some questions)

Thanks for the welcome Kayo.

This is my 1st post to the forum. I will try to limit the length as there are a million questions I would like to ask. Quickly, my wife is a Thai national living in the US for 25 years. Most of her family lives in Surin. Does anybody have experiences of living in Surin and can provide general info especially as it relates to raising a family there? (we have a 4-yr old daughter). Also I have read on the Thai embassy web site that the spouse of a Thai national is eligible for at least a non-immigrant visa, or maybe even permanent residency. Can anyone confirm this through their own experience?