JASON THAI

My rent is about 18 to 20k a month depending on electricity usage. I don't think that's much for BKK either, up in KK now you can rent a single room for 5k or a house for 10k. But BKK is massive so you need to live as close your workplace as possible.

I throught I posted this on the Isaan forum, so it looks like most of these post are based on people not living in Issan and don't have a clue ?

Brucefarang.

We live in Isaan in a small village convenient for Tesco's and my farang food. There are 6 of us-Yai and Pota- my wife, myself and two children aged 4 and 12. We run a Vigo and regularly spend a night in Udon at a resort with a swimming pool (and a kitchen) my wife is an excellent English/Thai cook and so we eat in-with just occasional trips to KFC or McD's. We have a small farm (6 acres) which supplies us with rice and market garden produce which we eat/sell in the local market.

Our budget per month is dependant on a 4 or 5 week month -7000BT a week (4000 for her housekeeping and 3000 for me -diesel is always at least a 1000 and clothes come out of the rest as well as the 1000 for the resort weekends)- - 3000 baht for bills-now going to 4000- -330 gas, 300 water (mains) 700 internet and between 1600 and 2600 for electricity depending on time of year-(we have one AC in the bedroom)-we use our water pump daily in the dry season for the farm which is beginning to negate a/c savings as I put in more irrigation pipes.

This equals 28000 + 4000 bills= 32000 Baht in a four week month and 35000 +4000 bills in a 5 week month. Annual total 32000 X 8 and 39000 X 4= 412,000 pa.(34,330 average calendar month)

We live well on this although I do spend more on farm development_-fruit trees-which should (hopefully) bring in an income in a couple of years time.

Notice we run a car -couldn't do without it- a real boon for all the family and ideal for carting farmstuff about.

Hope this is helpful.

Thank you for your detailed post, so looking at this I can get by as I don't have a pick up ?

We all live very differently! i am often asked how its possible to live on 15,000 baht a month inc rent! The answer is " very easily " but i don't drink or smoke! Drinking will " inflate your budget " to extreme levels.

Also Why rent or buy a motorbike? why not buy a Bicycle? or even " walk " Most people i have noticed in Thailand who have motorbikes in Thailand ( thai & farang ) are just " bloody lazy! " who needs a bike to travel 3 KM down the road when you can walk! ( and much better for you! )

Also if you are in a relationship with a thai lady and she is working then she must contribute to the monthly bills!

I have quite a few friends in Thailand all live with there Thai ladies ( who are working ) and all of them " split the monthly bills 50/50 " which is the best way! ( but of course if you are living with a lady who is working and she " refuses " to pay her half of the bills then it's " quite obvious " she perhaps isn't that interested in " YOU " and more interested in having her life " financed by a farang " .........

M x

Well said thank you

Medical insurance is a must and a decent plan (including repatriation) will be 2k a month.

Thats a good price where did you get insurance from ?

eat street food and get your lazy 22 yr old to get a job and support him or herself. You might just then survive on that money but I doubt it. good luck

Like 4 pages and finally some real good advice, the brats should both work.

What you expect a 9 year old to work, <deleted> start to read the topic and not jump in half way with crap advice

When I was 9 I cut lawns and delivered newspapers even though my father was not on a shoe string budget. There is so much crap advice on here <deleted>.

This will be hard to do in Issan lol

Are you sure there are no village fees?

We pay a whopping 300 Baht a year for rubbish collection and (new) street lighting (not in Isaan mind).

No we burn are rubbish 5555

What about costs for rubbish collection, cess pit emptying , A/C maintenance, medicines, unplanned events etc?

Rubbish collection, I am going to live in a village not in a condo so free, ces pit 120 baht year, AC 1200 baht a year, unplanned events well thats umlimited depending on what happens !

Water. 250 baht seems low. Do you have a lawn that needs watering during non-rainy seasons? Have a hot water tank? If no to both, then perhaps 500 baht a month will work. If you have a large yard (i.e., 75 sq. wa or more) with bushes & flowers & trees to maintain, I'd plan for 1,000 baht per month with the occasional 1,200 baht bill.

Internet. I doubt you'll get even a poor package for 650 baht, unless dial-up is still an option. 1,000-2,000 baht is the range you'll probably be dealing with.

We live in Ubon city in a housing development. Our land is 87 Sq wa and we have a lot of lawn and many shrubs which are watered up to 3 times per day at this time of the year. There is the 3 of us living here and our water bill per month never exceeds 250 baht.

We are on 3BB internet 10mb plan for 630 (incl VAT) with unlimited downloads. Never a problem with internet and I Skype and download movies all day.

Just adding my 2 cents worth

Now we have a guy that knows what he is talking about, I have only done a rough budget for water so I will go with 200 Baht, I am looking at TOT nanastation which I hope I can get in the sticks & will cost me 640 for 10mb

"Impossible" to LIVE on this amount with one child and one adult child and someone that drinks

every other day......I would say to LIVE you need to add 25K to you monthly budget....To just

get by.......add 10K per month.

Very good and I agree with you, the 26k is just for starters and I should be able to raise this to 40k after a year or 2, but it's interesting to see that it will cost more in Thailand than in the UK to live here according to some, either they do not live here or are very stupid 55555

A set of Mach 3 razor blades and 3 days of your food budget is gone already. Socks have gone up from 5 for 100b to 3 for 100b in the blink of an eye.

I hope any budget people are making isn't based on foreign income. When I came here 10 years ago people I met with income from the UK were getting around 70b to the pound. There were probably a few 65 yr olds coming over then with their pension, 1000 quid equalling 70k p/m in a cheap ol' Thailand. Paradise retirement.

10 years later and they're 75 yrs old only getting 53b to the pound in an expensive Thailand. Bet that isn't a nice unless their pension is at least 3000gbp p/m.

That is very true and unfortunately more and more expats seem miserable here because of living like peasants, having relationship problems and resenting anyone working or succeeding in LOS.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Yea they should come back to the UK and find out bad it's got and then go back to Thailand and think yea we are still better off !

Hi guys & girls just wondering if you think I will be ok with my budget when I come over to live here next year, I have a budget of around 26,000 Baht per month, I have a little brat (9 years old), grown up brat (22 years old) & wife to look after, here's what a rough idea is of my budget for a month this is for living in Non Sung in a village and not the city of Korat.

Rent (free) have 3 bedroom house already built.

Electric 2500 Baht, I have worked this out to be an average over 12 months, use 1 AC all the time with the other only used occasionally but in the cold season will just use fans.

Water 250 Baht per month.

Gas Bottles 1600 Baht a year, so about 150 Baht a month.

Phone Card 250 Baht a month.

Internet 650 Baht per month, hopefully can get air net package for 7mb or 10mb for the house

Food 9000 Baht per month, Eat western food for breakfast and Thai in the evening.

Drink 2600 Baht per month, Do not drink everyday just every second day

Travel 1400 Baht per month, Do not have a bike or car but just use the taxi service in the morning to go to the market to buy food (60 Baht per week) also do a couple of trips to Korat City in the month with a cost of 600 Baht per trip

Visa fees & Runs Yearly cost including travel & hotel 36,500 Baht, so 3050 Baht a month

4 Holiday Trips Travel costs are included in the visa runs, Hotel & spending money works out at around 13,500 Baht per trip (5 Nights per trip) so leaving 2500 Baht spending money per day after paying for hotel, I have also added the money I would spend per day in the village to the 2500 Baht budget above, this should work out to around 4500 Baht a month to cover the yearly cost.

School Fees, books & uniform 11,500 Baht per year so about 950 Baht a month, my son have been with me & the wife in the UK for nearly 5 nears now and can read & write English so I will not be putting him into an English program school, he can speak Thai so I just want him to learn to read Thai & learn Chinese, looking at 4500 per term for a school in Non Sung, with the remaining 2500 Baht going towards his uniform & books. I am not sure about this figure so if you guys do the same can you let me know how much you pay ?

School Travel 500 Baht per month for school bus to pick him up and bring him back, total cost for year 4500 Baht based on 9 months a year schooling.

Medical Insurance Looking at getting the yellow house book and getting insurance from a government hospital, 2200 Baht a year, so about 200 Baht a month.

So looking at coming in at around 26,000 Baht a month, do you think this can work ?

I know I have not added anything for extras like clothing and so on, but the wife will have extra income coming in of around 3500/4000 Baht per month so this should cover this.

I've heard that my wife's friend had to pay 60,000 Baht fee to get her kid into a school in Ubon Ratchathani. Probably not applicable to a village situation but something to consider when living in a city.

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

I am not living in the city and this is most likely a cost to get into a EP school which I don't need as my son can read and speak English fine

26 to 30k Seems like a bit tight budget for four persons, but depending of life-style, and as many Thais can live for less it should be possible. However a few comments:

Electric:

2500 baht/month equals some 500 kWh. You may be able to save some 500+ bath reducing the use of aircon, the money may be nice in the other end, when you live on a tight budget. There should be other places you also can save electric, may be worth changing bulbs or some appliances.

Phone Card:

Think you shall count 300 baht/month.

Internet:

Think market price is 699 baht/month.

Food:

300 baht/day average with Western breakfast. I would think a bit in the low end for four people, as many food prices has gone up over the past few years – for example bacon 300/kg, 30 egg 90, pack of toast 35, ½kg butter 90, pork meat 200/kg, rice 30/kg, milk 40-45/l – however possible.

Drink:

A question of life-style, however 2600/15 is 175/day, a post I would look at for the benefit of others.

Travel etc.

I noted some poster mentioned a motorbike, may be worth considering if you can replace some funds to other posts. I’m not local at the Korat or Isaan area, so cannot contribute to school costs, however uniform/books may be more than 2,500 (I pay a lot more, but for an English Programme).

Medical Insurance:

I’m not sure you can count of the government card, much discussion and only a very limited number of people got it so far for one year. Talk about it’s a mistake to include farangs, was intended for migrant workers from Burma Cambodia and Lao only; a new proposal may come up this year with a higher fee. Everything stopped due to the demonstrations in BKK. Most health insurance begins at around 7,000 to 10,000 baht/year, however with a limited coverage; alternative keep/save some money in a special account for emergency and pay-as-you-go.

Wish you good luck with plans.

WOW thank you a great post

The living budget of 30K is only temp as I want to learn more Thai & other bits so I can fit in better without having to work, this should go up to 40K after a year or 2 when I go for a PT teaching position hopefully

I have an emergency budget of 15K GBP which I will use 1K on import tax for goods when I arrive and a short hol for the family, 4k doing up the house and buying stuff, this will leave me a budget of 10K GBP for emergencies (500K Baht) I will not be telling the UK that I am living in Thailand so I will be able for free NHS treatment for any serious issues and other benefits which I am not going into details about.

The 4k for doing up the house includes changing the ceiling tiles to a plaster board ceiling with low watage LED bulbs, we are currently using 18w bulbs for are light fittings so I agree there is money to be saved in th long run regarding electric, plus my body should get used to the heat and we can reduce the amount of use of the AC

As reagrds to the phone card I will still keep it at 250 Baht as we use a less than this sometimes

Internet 700 Baht yes I agree and will adjust my budget thank you

As reagrds to food this will be hard and somethng I need to still work on, 9K is fine if you only eat Thai food but throw in some Western food can make a big difference

I should be able to make some saving on drinks as you said 175 baht per second day which is enough for 3 big bottles which I will not be doing all the time

Thanks for taking the time to post

J

eat street food and get your lazy 22 yr old to get a job and support him or herself. You might just then survive on that money but I doubt it. good luck

Like 4 pages and finally some real good advice, the brats should both work.

What you expect a 9 year old to work, <deleted> start to read the topic and not jump in half way with crap advice

It seem to be quite difficult to live like this. You always have to be careful about how you spend. Do you have lots of shoes, clothes, soap, shampoo etc etc? I don't see you put them in your budget.

<deleted> have you even read the OP then you will get an answer to this lol

How is the young boy going to take to growing up in a Thai village after growing up in the UK?

I see trouble brewing in that department.

He spent 4 years in the village and liked it and looks forward to going back

The other thing is most buildings are poor quality/ fittings cheap and nasty, expect continous repair bills, arn't air -con units around 30 000b for anything decent, again nothing is built to last, it's just patched up or another cheap replacement bought, and you can guess who is going to be expected to pay.

I have had my house for over 7 years not made of cheap fittings, I must have paid under 1k GBP over the last 7 years to keep it going , my aircon is fine and is serviced every 6 months

Looks like you need to make ground rules otherwise the family will walk over you

eat street food and get your lazy 22 yr old to get a job and support him or herself. You might just then survive on that money but I doubt it. good luck

If you read the other posts you may find out that she is already working and will pay her own way

Sorry to burst your bubble, once you are there, paying her way will not be happening, extended family will not be paying, you mentioned charging sister in laws children english, they will not be paying, you do not seem to understand what living with an extended rural family entails. Your budget looks good on paper but i can not see how a family can live on that. sorry if this is not what you want to hear.

i hope i am wrong, and wish you all the best. please keep us informed, maybe a blog or whatever the latest thing is,

What so you know my daughter lol she will pay her way and has done so in the past it won't be much but it's something & yes she even buys food for the family once in a while, yea I don't seem to understand what living with an extended family is like 5555 maybe you need to change your family as it looks like they are taking you for a ride and using you for all your money , you need to put your foot down and stop being a yes man and say NO lol not all Thai families are bad there are some good ones

A set of Mach 3 razor blades and 3 days of your food budget is gone already. Socks have gone up from 5 for 100b to 3 for 100b in the blink of an eye.

I hope any budget people are making isn't based on foreign income. When I came here 10 years ago people I met with income from the UK were getting around 70b to the pound. There were probably a few 65 yr olds coming over then with their pension, 1000 quid equalling 70k p/m in a cheap ol' Thailand. Paradise retirement.

10 years later and they're 75 yrs old only getting 53b to the pound in an expensive Thailand. Bet that isn't a nice unless their pension is at least 3000gbp p/m.

Well that's easy just don't were socks you will save 100 baht lol

Blimey, your an optimist aren't you.

Lets be positive please, that is what life is about is it not?

Jason, don't listen to these people that tell you that "the sky is falling down".

If you don't do it you will eternally live in regret.

GO FOR IT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AA64eCt2zs

Yeah sure great idea, if he was on his own go for it.

The difference is he is some sort of middle aged guy with a wife and a couple of kids in tow.

Whats the rush to come over here?

Thailand aint going anywhere, will still be here when his pension kicks in, if he actually gets it and the goalposts havent been moved, never mind the exchange rates and inflation.

Talk about abandonment of all responsibility.

Wait til he gets a bill for 15k for root canal treatment, 6k for a new water pump, etc etc etc

Bringing a little girl here to condemn her, why bother writing it, go for it.

25k per month to keep a family of 4.

Heres a tip, cancel your plans, come here for a holiday, keep your credit card in the UK and see how far you get on 25k per month.

Written from one who lives here and is well aware of costs.

edit, just read, my wife will have an income of 4k per month, <deleted>, I spend more than that on a night out.

If you are really so reliant on 4k per month, best of luck to you, you will need it.

What happens if your wife doesnt earn 4k per month?

What happens when the white envelopes appear?

What happens when the family hit her up for money?

Fair points but you do need to get your facts right first of all I only have 1 kid to look after, my wife's daughter works and will live with us and will pay her way, by the way I do have a emergency money of around 15kGBP which some can be used for maintenance of the house and other bits so I am not worried about that, I also have a TEFL cert so I can work if I want .

Also I have 26k not 25k and with the wife working will bring our budget to 30k per month plus she will get money from her daugther as well every month, I have also posted this subject on another forum and one guy is the same as me but with a car also and he gets buy on on less than 35k a month and is very happy

What the hell do you spend 4k+ on a night out in Issan on beacause I have have taken 14 people out for meal & drinks and the bill was less than 2500.

my wife aready has a job set up and if that goes tits up then she will get another like most people do.

When the white envelopes appear I do what I always do give and give 100 baht most Thai's just put 20 baht, but then again I know silly farangs that put 1000 baht and try to show off how rich they are

My wifes family are all working in Bangkok now and have good jobs, my wifes mother works and lives right next to us and has only ask me for money once in 12 years, which she paid back, so I am not worried about her family unlike some people I know who like hold parties and buy drinks for the guys in the village I stopped that years ago, When I was there last year some of her family came down to see us and they brought the food & drink which was the other way around when I first used to go up to the village to stay

And about my pension if your read I said it was a company pension not the state pension so why would the goalsposts move, I know the government has changed the state pension age for me I have to wait to I am 68 and I bet this will rise to 70+

Re company pensions - the goalposts have moved before - one used to be able to retire at 50, but earliest is now 55 - it could conceivably change again, under the pretext of 'we are all in this together'. Also, you are anticipating a lump sum which currently will be tax free - this is an area that will certainly come under scrutiny - in fact already is under scrutiny for so called 'fat cat' pensions - and one could envisage some form of tax being levied on lump sums in the future.

Just saying...

until

Yes I remember when they increased the age limit but they did give people notice I think it was 3-5 years before they changed the age limit, my pension is not over 1 million GBP which is somethng the governement are looking to tax, rememeber you also have your personal tax free allowance which is 10K from April so I should be fine and should not be taxed until I get my state pension on top but thats a long way off

eat street food and get your lazy 22 yr old to get a job and support him or herself. You might just then survive on that money but I doubt it. good luck

If you read the other posts you may find out that she is already working and will pay her own way

Well i have been living on a budget of 15,000 baht a month( " all in " ) which for myself living on my own is " more than enough"

Monthly Outgoings:

Rent 6,500 ( lovely condo with pool )

Water/ Elec 500

Daily Food etc 3,100 (100baht X 31 days)

Train Trips etc 2,000

Visa costs 1,300

Misc extras 1,500 ( mobile,supermarket etc )

Its so easy to live a cheap life in Thailand.I am out walking and on the beach in the sun most afternoons which is " FREE " and i travel quite a lot around Thailand on the train every month ( BKK to Hua Hin only 44 baht ) BUT i dont drink or smoke and have " no interest " in Bars.I eat fresh Thai food from the market every day.I have loads of hobbies and never get bored.but the great thing about Thailand is " The Outdoor lifestyle " .....

M

I take it you do not eat western food which would increase your daily food budget a lot, for me I still need to have my western breakfast in the morning and sometimes eat western food in the evenings so this does add up, BKK to Hua Hin 44 baht that must be 3rd class ?, would rather upgrade to second, also you must have to pay for hotels when you travel which is not in your cost ?

Great leave mother to he dogs and mess up the kids education completely for the sake of six years.

Yeah will fit in lol.

Hope it works out though, live the dream.

How am I leaving my mother to the dogs as I will have other family members to look after her and she has known for a long time now that I will be going to live in Thailand and has accepted this and wants me to move on with my life, I do have backup money to visit the UK every year

What are you on about messing up the kids education, He can speak both English & Thai but can only read & write in English, I want him to learn to read & write in Thai before he gets to old as it will be hard for him, kids at a young age pick things up quicker and the school which he will be attending will also be teaching him Chinese so by the age of 12/13 he will be able to speak, read & write in Thai, English & Chinese. If I was to keep him in the UK until he has finished school what do you think would happen to him when he gets to Thailand and cannot read or write Thai ? what sort of job will he get ? how will I be able to use the money he has in his child trust fund to send him to Collage/Uni in Thailand if he cannot read or write

Don't post things you don't know what you are talking about

Interesting thread and I agree with most that has been said. My view is by what the OP wants to do he can survive on 12000 thb a month so the extra can be used to improve his standard of living. The cost that were put down such as electricity would be no more than 650 thb (withoutAC) a month and water about 60thb . if you cook at home the cost of food would be a lot less than 9000 thb. The one thing that could cause a big problem is inflation which could be bad here in the next few years . So there is only your capacity to live in the village. Some people love it others cannot handle it but you have to live there for a time to find out about yourself. All I can say is you have it all worked out so you will not have any problems. As far as the company pensions go , they can change the goal posts on them . they alter the tax system. So wish you all the best

The longest I have stayed in the village is 4 months which I enjoyed and did not get bored and have had over 30 trips to the village over the last 12/13 years,it's so strange seeing all the kids all grown up now.

I don't think I could go as low as 12k, the highest electric bill we have had was 1900 which was in April 2008 with only 1 AC, now we have 2 AC and 1 more large TV and 3 computers so would expect a cost of around 3000 -3500 in the hot months of April/May but in the cold months in Dec/Jan this should come down to 1000 as we will just be using fans and not AC so I have gone for a average of 2500 per month but I think I can get this cost down.

Water I think will be around 250 maybe 200 as we use a washing machine to wash our clothes maybe I should get the wife to hand wash instead to save money 5555.

We only eat out 2/3 times a month and spend most of the time cooking at home so I have only gone with a rough figure of 9000, I think I could save a little bit here but as I like to eat western food sometimes which cost a lot here could push this up, but I do buy in bulk from Thai wholesellers which works out better than buying from Tesco Lotus,7/11 & Big C on certain items, my wife also has a Makro card and there prices seem quite good.

Inflation is a big concern you are correct but hopefully interest rates will rise in the UK in 2015 which will help push the £ up a bit, but I will make cut backs if I have to as I said before in another post 1 or 2 less beers a week goes a long way and it's good for your budget & health

You need a degree to work In a government or private school. Sure they might still employ you without, but you will then be working illegally without a work permit.

Different rules for Universities. They can take into consideration work experience.

Attitudes change when your living here full time especially those of the family members. It is believed we have a limitless self filling pot of gold. I accept you are not a novice re all things Thai and hope your dream comes true BUT expect the unexpected.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I fully undersand they thinking we have all the money in the world, but as my wife has been living in the UK for almost 5 years now she knows how expensive it is and has explained this to her family ,which I think they now understand, when they come to visit us it's all about sharing if I buy some drinks they will also buy some in return which is a lot different to when I first came here and I was buying everything

Yes this worries me a bit about the work permit but I have not heard of any horror stories when people get cought but I may be wrong here.

Just to add to the above.. He advised that he was still considered full time and gonna work permit..

H advised that when he interviewed for the position the school advised him I the low salary... But rather than just turning them down, he countered with this idea to the school admin...

He told them he would accept the position and the salary offered, on the condition they could schedule all his classes during 3 days a week and that he would not need to come to the school on the days he did not have any classes...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This sounds like a very good idea, I was planning of getting a PT teaching job, which a friend of mine done in Ubon and he got paid 10k a month for 2 days a week. My 2 sister in laws also want me to teach there children English (3 of them) I was looking at doing this over the weekends for a few hours each day so this would bring in a little extra as I will charge them by the hour but not much as they are family, this is why I don't want a FT positon in a school otherwise I will not have anytime to myself and be working 7 days a week, but I like the idea about 3 days a week with FT hours will have a look into this thanks again for the advice