KhunLA

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.

Thailand doesn't have the equipment, knowledge or experience to build such a project. TH seems to have a problem building simple roadways without them collapsing, before even used. They/TH, just recently managed to keep their slow A$$ trains from derailing almost monthly, as they did days past, and not that long ago.

No comet, too many trees & hills at the horizon on W side of house ... but, here's that Full Moon ...

Geez, it's even a crosswalk with illuminated signal ... W T F Luckily the pedestrian bounced up, instead of getting run over.

Open wide, that a girl ...

I've sliced & dice deer, venison sausage, aroi mak mak, so nothing in a slaughterhouse is going to upset me. Killing something, plant, mammal, fish, bird, it's life, and all creatures do it to survive. You don't kill ... you die Paying someone to do it for you, makes no difference.

Agree, most useless to me, and I use ... ... Gmaps, for restaurants & hotel info. ... Booking.com on PC, cross reference of Gmap haven't book anything in years with them ... Gtranslate on PC, when home, though rare ... Lazada & Shopee, on PC at home ... Charging station (CS) app/mapping for EV Gmap is only one I really need, as wife has CS info on her phone. CS apps to use, not really to find or get info about.

Not a fan of avocado & almond farms, as they kill a lot of bees in the process. As if they need help being killed off already.

That's only a concern, if & when you are on a motorbike. So fairly irrelevant to the other 71.8+ million people who didn't die on a scooter. I feel just as safe here, if not safer, than any country I've lived or been to. And I've had way more close calls on motorcycles in the USA, than in TH. Nobody seems to respect motorcyclist in the USA.

eating anything is murder. you want to live ... you kill ...

Hotels need a "No Stay" list, same as the airlines "No Fly" list ... Since TH has and 'All Welcome/Stay' policy. She should have been deported already.

Yep ... TH wasn't invited last year, so there's that. EU, US (not UK) will dominate all things in the EU, US & UK, but not the rest of the world. That's CH's playground. Those days of domination are over. Threats & intimidation (US & EU's SOP) don't work as well as help & assistance, CH's SOP

Countries are tired of being bullied by USA, as it only seems to serve the USA, raising the COL in non USA countries. WAKE UP BRICS is definitely the way to go for TH, although already having decent trade agreement with CH, and other countries, whether TH honors them or not. As long as no FTA with USA, I'm happy, as would do nothing but raise prices of things in TH, if honored by TH.

There's a full moon tonight ... if wanting a howling session ..

Yes, getting that now with every tab opening, though clicking one 'X" is better than clicking the endless and repetitive ones you'll get without an ad blocker. I don't even bother with AN on my phone, as they are so annoying. Don't know how people would even bother viewing AN on a phone of tablet.

BEVs are real cars. Almost every industry has govt support. Without govt support, many things wouldn't be affordable for many people. On the flip side of that, govt taxes to provide provide products/services, puts many things out of reach for some people. Many people own MBs because they can't afford cars. Domestic excise tax on our Mazda 2 (2012 ?) rebated) was 100k baht, bringing the real price down to 415k vs 515k sticker price. Is it fair that the tax might put the car out of the price range for some people, to provide service for something else/other people may or may not use. Energy companies get subsidized, car companies get subsidized, businesses get tax breaks (incentive/enticed) for opening/operating in certain areas. If not many things would be more expense, or not even available. It's a complex web, and you can't cut one without cutting all, just because you don't use, buy or like a service or product. The top 6 auto makers in CH, of which 4 are 'state owned', aren't technically subsidized, I think, they just aren't profit driven (except when exported), hence the competitive pricing. Don't think a state owned factory needs to subsidize itself. Oil companies get subsidized, and have made windfall profits, so where is the fairness there. Reality is ... this product cost this amount, buy it or not ... UP2U, don't over think it. Forcing me to smell your exhaust, not that's an issue, which will be resolved, but not in my lifetime.