cost of living Chaing Mai/provinces

[Clive]

Good morning .
Can anyone please tell me if it is possible to live a comfortable life in Chaing may or similar for 1 adult and 2 children (not including school costs) on £1500 a month?
Thank you

[allane]

By my reckoning, yes. That is B 65,000/mo.

Assumptions:  1 adult requires B 30,000 (30% of that is allocated to housing & utilities; i.e. B 9000)

each additional minor @ 60%: =   36,000

                                              Total   B 66,000 

 

Rule of thumb for housing & utilities:  Can not exceed 30% of gross income, so maximum  B 19,500/mo.  Allowing B 1500/mo. of that for the utilities, that leaves B 18,000/mo. for the housing.

 

Here is another way to calculate it. Comparing Thailand with my country (Canada), I use a factor of 3.5.

Cost in Canada/3.5  = cost in Thailand. So, take your cost of living in the UK, divide it by 3.5 and convert to baht.

If you are presently living in an expensive area of London, perhaps divide by 4.

[Kwasaki]

Yes.

[DGS1244]

With a simple answer to your question is YES especially if you live out of town.  A nice 2 bed bungalow for 5,000 Baht/month Utilities 1,500 Baht excluding TV. Some of the assumptions mentioned previously look like guesses to me.

[sammieuk1]

Yes on half that but not to many frills with 1 child was much easier before the pound fell off the cliff . 

[simoh1490]

Some numbers to get you started, others can comment and you can amend as necessary:

 

Asume, per month:

 

Rent = 9,000 (should get you something nice)

Electric = 2,500 (average) (ours averages 1,400 month but we're well insulated, new appliances etc, LED's, and have no kids)

Water = 200 (we're 100 month)

Internet = 650 (TOT)

Groceries/supermarket = 10,000 (we're about 8k but includes imported food)

Petrol/Diesel = 3,000 (1,600 kms month, Vigo)

Vehicle insurance = 1,200 month (15k year)

Medical Insurance = ?

Entertainment = ?

Clothing = ?

Dental Care = ?

Mobile Phone = ?

Eating Out = ?

 

[Rimmer]

Moved to Chiang Mai Forum

[OmarZaid]

Yes

[chingmai331]

Many 2nd hand clothing shops in/near CM.  And best of all, no need for mittens, woolen caps, long underwear and the like.

 

Kid schooling very costly here, if good English instruction wanted.  

 

At 65K baht per month, you can survive  but will soon dislike all the pinching and scraping you will need to do to avoid loans.

 

What kind of visa can you get?  Retirement? Then you will need a large bag of cash up front.  No working here, except special cases.

 

If wife not Thai then life in the suburbs very boring with hardly any social life for farangs.

[THAIPHUKET]

Looks very reasonable

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[masuk]

2 minutes ago, chingmai331 said:

Many 2nd hand clothing shops in/near CM.  And best of all, no need for mittens, woolen caps, long underwear and the like.

 

Kid schooling very costly here, if good English instruction wanted.  

 

At 65K baht per month, you can survive  but will soon dislike all the pinching and scraping you will need to do to avoid loans.

 

What kind of visa can you get?  Retirement? Then you will need a large bag of cash up front.  No working here, except special cases.

 

If wife not Thai then life in the suburbs very boring with hardly any social life for farangs.

I'm on the same sort of income, minus a few bills to pay in Oz.  I would not like to be supporting two kids and having to get them used to cheaper Thai food.

I'd be concerned about education for the kids, tho' no ages have been mentioned.    Forget using air con if you want to save money, unless it's one bedroom for an hour or two before bed.

Also, Western kids like swimming here (most Thais can't) so think about a pool and costs.

You're going to need to cook of course.

[thaibeachlovers]

Assuming you are depending on changing sterling to baht, while it may be possible to do so now, what happens if the pound falls even more against the baht? You'd need to take that into consideration.

My home country currency has lost 3 baht in value in the past year or so.

[elektrified]

1 hour ago, simoh1490 said:

Some numbers to get you started, others can comment and you can amend as necessary:

 

Asume, per month:

 

 

Water = 200 (we're 100 month)

 

 

Water 100-200 per month???

[colinneil]

1 minute ago, elektrified said:

Water 100-200 per month???

Easy to have water bills less than 200 baht.

Our water bill is never over 200, and we use it sometimes watering the garden.

 

[elektrified]

1 minute ago, colinneil said:

Easy to have water bills less than 200 baht.

Our water bill is never over 200, and we use it sometimes watering the garden.

 

O.K.

 

Ours has never been less than 425 over the last 11 years; usually around 485 and even more during the hot season when we water the garden usually twice a day and shower frequently. Our neighbor's bills are more like 600-800 but they have bigger gardens than we do.

[colinneil]

Just now, elektrified said:

O.K.

 

Ours has never been less than 425 over the last 11 years; usually around 485 and even more during the hot season when we water the garden usually twice a day and shower frequently. Our neighbor's bills are more like 600-800 but they have bigger gardens than we do.

How many people in your home?

Here there is me and the wife, who showers 2/3 times every day.

I use the water for chickens/turkeys/rabbits/fish.

The bill that came 3 days ago, is for 108 baht.

[puffy]

I live out in the suburbs and have 2 children. My basic outgoings per month are 66k, which covers bills,transport, food, education, with some going out money also included, however this does not include unforeseen expenses, which there are always some. Factor in birthdays, other occasions, trips, holidays, getting sick, either hospital or medicine, and emergency money. I earn around 90k a month and am lucky to be able to save 10k a month. 65k is doable but right on the cusp, without much being put aside for a rainy day. If I was you I would look at way to boost that figure by 15k a month, then I think you will be much more comfortable.

[simoh1490]

21 minutes ago, elektrified said:

Water 100-200 per month???

Our water bill is consistently around 106 baht per month, every month, it's never over 110 baht - two people, two showers each per day. laundry two/three times per week and then whatever gets used for cooking/cleaning. We use klong and well water for the garden and the car wash for the cars. It sounds like it might pay you to put in a shallow well, you can 15 metres for 16k plus another 5 k for a pump and pipework, only usable for the gardens however.

Edited November 18, 2017 by simoh1490

[BuddyDean]

What I see is many underestimating the living costs for kids.  It's kind of like going gambling. and giving kids money for the arcade....cost a lot more than nickel slots.  "Fashion" is heavily taxed here, and unfortunately, that includes basic cross trainers.  Growing kids could need new clothes at a much faster rate.  If they can't eat Thai food; there goes the grocery budget.  Tops is basically double what I am used to paying.  Some condiments maybe four times more.  Wine/cheese?  Obscene.  Beef?  Cheaper to worship it; than eat it.  There are some great alternatives, but many can't make the change.  9000 per month for three puts you in a place, where you will have a lot of transport expenses.  Look at the bright side, your kids won't have to see you bring home bar girls...you won't be able to afford it.  Trips home?  You could spend three months worth on a two week trip home.

Edited November 18, 2017 by BuddyDean

[simoh1490]

Shopping at good quality local markets for veg, meat, poultry and fruit is the cheapest route and the produce is usually very high quality, it's perfectly safe but you need to get your mind right first before shopping for meat there.

 

Then Makro bulk buys for other household items, a 2kg block of Australian or US cheese from Makro is decent quality and can be cost-effective, just cut it up and freeze it. Thai Beef, yuk, Thai pork however is nearly always excellent. Tesco and Big C for clothes, reasonable quality at a reasonable price. Wine, I've never found anything decent at a reasonable price, just boxes of stuff you might use to scrub the driveway with and the word wine written on the side of the box!

[bazza73]

The short answer is yes. Longer answer is maybe, because it depends on what the OP regards as a reasonable standard of living.

You can rent a reasonable house further out from Chiang Mai for under 10,000 baht/ month. Scooters are inexpensive. Small used car for adult plus two kids, with reasonable mileage, 300K -400K. Do your own cooking with produce from local day markets, cheap. In the hotter months, about 2000 baht a month for aircon. Internet can be had for 350 baht/month, WiFi only.

Unexpected expenses ( e.g. dental implant, hospital etc.) can quickly wreck a budget, so the OP needs some cash in reserve as well - say 500,000 baht.

[totally thaied up]

65000 a month is doable but then if you have not got decent hospital insurance and cannot afford to cover in cash a hospital bill, it is very hard, and I could not do it.

 

We own our own house, and my wife owns valuable rice cropland almost on the edge of the city, so we are pretty safe. I spend 45,000 a month. My family trust pays both my wife's and my health insurance. I keep 400,000 in a bank for my visa an never touch it. I live pretty much Thai and I like it.

 

The only thing my wife does is makeup spaghetti and chilli con carne once a month for me an freeze it.

 

The most significant thing is coverage of hospital or an accident. If you cannot cover that if something substantial happens to you say like a heart attack or road accident, you're in big trouble.

 

65,000 is doable but you would need to be careful with the kids as that to me is an unknown factor. 

 

[lexilis]

I would up the housing budget to at least 15k Bt, especially if you have kids. Finding a place you would want to live in at a good location fairly close to town for 9k is not as easy as some imply. Also if have buy a car it will have to be with cash. I think that a foreigner just moving to Thailand is not likely to get financing. DO NOT plan on using a motorcycle with your kids on board. 

[simoh1490]

The costs/prices contained in the following link are, for the most part,  pretty accurate:

 

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Thailand

[chickenrunCM]

1 hour ago, elektrified said:

O.K.

 

Ours has never been less than 425 over the last 11 years; usually around 485 and even more during the hot season when we water the garden usually twice a day and shower frequently. Our neighbor's bills are more like 600-800 but they have bigger gardens than we do.

we have a restaurants with 2 toilets and our apartment and 2-300 guests a day who using the toilet, and 3 people take shower every day and we have 400 avarage

[chickenrunCM]

1 hour ago, puffy said:

I live out in the suburbs and have 2 children. My basic outgoings per month are 66k, which covers bills,transport, food, education, with some going out money also included, however this does not include unforeseen expenses, which there are always some. Factor in birthdays, other occasions, trips, holidays, getting sick, either hospital or medicine, and emergency money. I earn around 90k a month and am lucky to be able to save 10k a month. 65k is doable but right on the cusp, without much being put aside for a rainy day. If I was you I would look at way to boost that figure by 15k a month, then I think you will be much more comfortable.

i guess your kids going to thai school, but in the case of the OP i guess they are foreign so they not speaking thai, and then any international school is about 30.000 thb/month/kid. I pay in Chiang Mai avarage more than 30.000 thb/ month for my 16 year old son, then more than 10.000 for living for him.(food, drink, motorbike, clothes, pocket money)

with foreign kids you can´t live with 65000 thb, with thai kids may be. And why living in Chiang Mai when then live outside 25 km, you need then a car what add the costs you save with cheaper rent.

We are living in the moat with our own bussines, gas we have may be 1500 thb if you live outside (what we did before) your gas is more 7-10.000 if you have to come to town every day.

You can live a nice life with 65000 thb, if you not going out often and buy only what you need, but the kids make the differnece, education costs a very high in Thailand, or you let your kid be dump for the rest of their life and send them to a thai school.

[thenewgoo]

I suggest you look at the rental prices in CM. 5000-9000 B a month doesn't seem to get much these days. 

[simoh1490]

Just now, thenewgoo said:

I suggest you look at the rental prices in CM. 5000-9000 B a month doesn't seem to get much these days. 

Not inside the moat perhaps but if you consider the larger Chiang Mai, it's not difficult. We live in Mae Rim which is twenty minutes away from the centre in off peak traffic and decent housing at around 9k a month is easily done - ditto san sai and doi saket, it's just in the centre where things are expensive.

[BuddyDean]

What you save in rent will be taken back in transport costs and accident risks.

Edited November 18, 2017 by BuddyDean

[simoh1490]

4 minutes ago, BuddyDean said:

What you save in rent will be taken back in transport costs a d accident risks.

That's not my experience and I've been living here for over 15 years, accident-free.

 

And the sample budget I posted earlier included 3k a month for diesel which more than covers my almost daily trips into Chiang Mai (22kms). 

Edited November 18, 2017 by simoh1490