KhunLA

Is that any different from any other 'transactions'. Live within your means, and your negotiations. Why do you think the IMF loans are guaranteed/cosigned by USA and or Central Banking? The hook is in.

Yea, just shy of 4 kms away, and not much in between or a lot of concrete around us. Pineapple fields & coconut groves...

Sun is out, EV (car) is charging, ACs maintaining temp (13 & 24BTU), 2 frigs, laptops & 65" TV/monitor. Vid & photos for today @ noon. EV cable states 2.3kWh, so rest of the house is <2kWh, maybe. ESS not topped up yet, already produced/consumed, 24.3kWh / 18.9kWh Yesterday produced/consumed ... 38.4kWh / 38.4kWh Somebody woke up too early and made coffee

You can't do the average income, as that includes lots of millionaires, billionaires and high end professional salaries. Put that against the minimum wage and % of people living below the poverty level, and you realize how silly that number is. Fed min. wage is $7.25 = $15,080 a year People living below poverty level ... 37.9 million. More than 10% of population. Those average income numbers are BS, example: Average monthly income for TH ... Thailand 20,000 - 100,000 THB, IF they get 500 a day, that's only 11k a month (22 days) So 20k is BS, let alone 100k.

Unless you got a company pension, the average monthly USA Soc Soc pay out is $1,767, minus that $170, at least, for Plan B Medicare. Max SS pay out is only $3,822, if retired in 2024, at full retirement age. Typing at same time, except I'm much slower.

Agree, and does depend on a lot of factors: ... single or in relationship ... health ... own, or renting/buying We live on about ฿15k a month, but: ... no mortgage or rent, which would be ฿20k, and that's Nakhon Nowhere Same single house w/land (1/2 rai) would be 30-50k in metro/tourist area, if not more. Condo (120m²) would be 60-100k, guessing. ... no car payment ... ฿10-15k a month ... no electric bill ... ฿3.5-5k a month ... no petrol bill ... ฿4.5k a month ... no health insurance, ฿5-10k a month, IF, I could even find coverage at my age, and would be dropped soon anyway, as breaking another age barrier. ... we eat in, 95% of our meals, and prepped from scratch ... we don't drink alcohol So our 15 + 20 +15 + 5 + 4.5 + 10 more, and minimum now, knocking on ฿70k a month, without entertainment or O&As. O&As were 33 nights last year, so a few thousand baht a month more, with higher food cost for dining our. So 75k a month, with no surprises or one off purchases/hobbies. Bought a camera, selfie stick, and SDcard this week, was shy of ฿13k. Wife bought a cheap A$$ chipper/shredder for her compost, ฿8k. So toys start adding up. Won't mention my other 3 fancy camera kits, 4 action cameras (now 5), and 30 drones, 2 RC boats & 5 RC cars, along with sh!t load of batteries to power them Or the E-Motorcycle & ebike. So yea, you can live on 35k a month, but do you really want to. To do that legally, need to plop ฿800k in the bank, every year for a few months. Living in a 1 room condo/hotel room and sipping beers at 7-11 ... NO THANKS AND ... I consider myself thrifty & cheap Charlie some, most times. House, car, MB were far from expensive compared to what some expats spend here.

HEY ... I don't have $3k a month coming in (SS & pension), and far from failed. Hell of an oops fund though, and been retired since 45/46 yrs old. When I got to 'enough' .... I had 'enough' of the hamster wheel Actually, I had an easy life over there. But can always find something better to do than working 2 days a week for an employer. Hindsight, I should have bought a few more houses, and not liquidated anything. Would mean more income, and bigger oops fund. Which I really don't need anyway, but 3 or 5 more years wouldn't have killed me.

I'm really not too far, and just 160+/- kms S of you, depending if you're on top or below the park. Live in Ban Thung Khlet area, Amphur Muang, PKK. On topic ... as always. Temp 34, feels like 46 already. Means people running their ACs and big electric bills, if wanting to be comfy in their retirement.

Reading comprehension ... I didn't say it isn't possible, as we live quite well and way less than 35k a month. Although if had to add rent, electric, and petrol, would be around that 35k +/- mark. We live on 10-15k a month, if that I haven't touched my USA Soc Sec this year, and been living on my pittance of a pension ($357), for basic living expenses. We did do some one off, luxury shopping, but sold some jewelry we didn't need or worn in decades. Gold hitting 41k was too tempting.

Every sedan looks almost identical to each other. Take the badges off, and most would have a hard time telling you the make & models. Neta V has a distinct look, along with Ora Good Cat, and the MG ZS, well, the front grill, or lack of. Along with tail end of MG4. Most of the rest lined up, and I wouldn't have a clue.

Mine needed housing, so there's 15k a month right there for condo & utilities. Money well spent, as attended Thammasat, has a decent job, along with self employed/online shop, and bought a townhouse for investment (2.9M) and a silly priced condo to live in (5.9M). All at 25 yrs old last month. All without my assistance, financially, except attending Uni. When they're paid off in 10 yrs, she'll have retirement income without working. Local Uni (Udon Thani) was crap, and if attended there, might get a job at 7-11

If you have a Thai wife. Then a different ball game, though hopefully not trying to raise a family and give your kid (s) a proper education at a decent Uni. My daughter was spending 35k a month, all in, for 4 years while at Uni at Krung Thep, actually Pathum Thani, and that was considered on the cheap, compared to other Uni & COL elsewhere at different Uni, or location.

All these YouTubers that say it's easy to come here on less than the retirement financials, are simply setting folks up for failure in the future. Those who researched and are intelligent enough, won't be relying on YT for financial & retirement advice, and or have problems with their retirement decision. Unfortunately, too many haven't a clue, and believe the BS.

Agree, but come here legally, and meet the financial, and hopefully, have an oops fund, or can pay for your own health insurance, with a policy that will actually cover you. Vid suggest 'today', you can live here on 35k a month. That's silly, as you can't even qualify for a visa. Add to that ... that's today. I got here in 2000, and inflation has been anywhere between 150-200% since then., and my COLA, have been less than 60% increase, 17.8%, the last 3 years. The exchange rate was 40, then as low as 29. Usually hangs between 30-33, most of my time here, though 35 & up, is nice when it happens, though short lived. Now is very nice, but if Trump gets in, and does a repeat of last administration, entering at 34, and leaving at 30 to $1. 35k is a stretch now, so what happens with 100% inflation over the next 10 year, and 10-25% lower exchange rate. That 35k ain't worth sh!t. For easy math, if the real inflation is 12% a year, then you'd be 10% poorer almost every following year. Biden is the exception, as 12 yrs prior, and less than 2% COLA, against inflation, and it sure as hell wasn't 2%. Those people don't shop where I do for the basics.

If you can qualify for a retirement visa, then no prob, all are welcome, and you should be able to afford a nice retirement. But if only 35k a month, staying here illegally, with no oops fund ... STAY HOME. Don't need another expat, making the news, arrested or needing a 'fund my stupidity' page in the news. I don't need to be painted with that brush

Nice, and it's the base model. Cost about the same as imported ICEV from JP. 513 kms range and WLTP is usually quite accurate, and that's easily 5 hrs on Thai roads, if you can manage an average of 80 kph, and with 6.1 sec to 100 kph 👍 Think y'all running out of reason not to go EV. BYD or Tesla ... pick one.

👍

At retirement age, you should own your house, abet, RE Taxes suck. Location dependent, could cost as much as rent here, sadly. I don't think TH needs more expats, using an agent to stay here Illegally, for just an existence, then getting sick and stiffing the hospitals with the bill. And TBH, who would want to live that life.

And they probably have Medicare if they get sick. My problem isn't that it can't be done, if planned correctly, it's that it's no problem living here on 35k a month, which doesn't even qualify for a retirement visa. Assumes you'll be renting, need health insurance, and apparently living in a 15 minute city, as you won't own a car, unless a beater with minimal insurance. We live on less than 35k, but a substantial investment for house, solar & EV, which eliminates most large monthly bills. And a wife helps to make that possible. If that's all one can muster up, is 35k a month, you need to stay in home country with your safety nets. At retirement age, I would hope most planned their life a little bit better than living month to month on the cheap, without a safety net.

I'll wait for rainy season to kick in before sipping or munching without AC. Yesterday was brutal, and washed down lunch with cold water. Little to no breeze in the shade (feels like HELL): That's 113F for you Yanks ... so that 2500 baht (internet/electric/water) monthly bills isn't happening either. If we had to pay for electric, that alone would run us 3k a month, at least.

Can do that also, but I've been here 20+ years, and not a noob, thinking I'll be eating good for 100-150 baht a day, everyday if moving to TH, in a metro area or surfside. And 3 lite 7-11 meals aren't going to carry me over for the day,, or eating in house every meal gets old quick. I need more substance. My lunch was at an AC'd coffee shop, and living on the cheap every day, isn't living. Actually inexpensive for what it actually was, along with tasty, but wouldn't call it a filling lunch or dinner. Was hungry a couple hours later.

Try paying for something when the internet is down or electric is out. Cash will always be King.

Another BS vid, and stopped watching when said you can live in TH on ฿35k a month, but visa requirement is ฿65k a month. Along with low cost of living, if you never use the AC, and live on ฿50-75 street food. Wouldn't call that living. As lunch today cost mw ฿300, and I'd call that a lite lunch. If you want to live out of 1 room, eat street food and sweat your butt off, yea, retire here cheap, but you'll need to plop ฿800k in the bank, or ฿65k a month income. The latter (65k) would provide a decent living, and quite comfy enough, location dependent.

I'm not ... as I'm treated better here, than when I lived in the USA. No nanny state, dictating every aspect of life. Most everything is cheaper. I seem to have more freedom to live the way I want. Not overly regulated, taxed, and immigration is a breeze. Healthcare inexpensive & accessible. Inflation is certainly less, and buying power, especially the last 3 years anyway, has increased, or at least kept up with inflation. THANKS JOE ... On Topic (as always) ... rail service to CH would be great, though don't know if I'll be around to take advantage of it. Will definitely test it out if I am, as that would be way too cool. I dread the airport hassles and thought of flying in the back of the bus anywhere, more than 1-2 hours.

Yea, I'm a cash guy also. Mainly because I don't want any apps on my phone, that I don't need. And for Immigration purposes, like to keep my bank account with as few deposits/withdrawals as possible. Which now is 12 deposits a year, and 3 or 4 withdrawals. Keeps my paperwork down. Transferring funds for every purchase would add about 5-10 transactions a month. Wife uses her account for transfers. My shopping is all cash. I do notice, people are getting better at it though. Phones out & ready, scan quickly and does seem to be a convenient process, for those wanting a record or not a fan of carrying cash.