I am almost ready to Pull the plug and leave

[Expatthailover]

4 hours ago, baansgr said:

Eking out on 40k a single man. Me and three kids live very nicely on 30k a month, and we can even afford to go to Ramayana water park this weekend. Food, utilities just about everything except booze is cheap here.

Booze is far more expensive in bars in the west than it is in thailand.

Supermarket booze is pretty similar

[simoh1490]

5 minutes ago, Expatthailover said:

Booze is far more expensive in bars in the west than it is in thailand.

Supermarket booze is pretty similar

It depends, a decent bottle of French wine can be easily found here in supermarkets for five Pounds, that's only 200 baht - a pint of quality real ale in Weatherspoons is heavily subsidized at one Pound sixty, about the same price as a large bottle of Chang.

[NoshowJones]

39 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

I decided to go heavily into THB a couple of years ago so I'm OK for quite a few years. But much of my income is in GBP and of course the Pound has fallen massively against THB hence my income in THB terms is now much lower. This year I decided to use my UK emergency fund and buy a flat, with average property prices in the UK sitting at over 200k Pounds it was no easy task to find a decent flat for under half that amount. But I did, I found a perfectly lovely over 55's flat that ticks all the boxes and is very inexpensive to run and is located in a beautiful part of the country. I thought I might spend six months each year living in the flat and then return to our home in Thailand for the rest of the year but this has proved too hard on my wife and myself hence we're now going to rent out the flat. The flat will generate 450 Pounds net income every month which still leaves me under the UK personal allowance ceiling so this will make up the shortfall in my income. I would strongly recommend anyone in the OP's position who has some savings to think outside of the box when it comes to what they can buy and where and if able to do so, use that approach to help boost their income.

 

Note: for Brits wanting to go that route, the North of England still has plenty of good value but be sure you don't own property in Thailand before buying here otherwise the tax man takes a larger slice.

Who is going to be stupid enough to tell the UK taxman that he has bought a house in Thailand, or any other country?

[BritManToo]

4 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

The reality is that Thailand does not want the  impoverished retirees. ........... They are often without medical insurance, live a marginal subsistence existence and take up space that is more profitably allocated to short term visitors and a wealthier demographic..  

 

It is all relative. Some people are quite  happy living in poverty because they don't know anything else, nor desire to have a different lifestyle. They are fine with low quality living arrangements and poor quality  food.  However, for the vast majority of people, they wish to do more than to exist. They want to live comfortably and to have an enjoyable old age. They want clean water, proper facilities, good quality food, and a healthy environment. They want to be sure that they can access quality health care if something happens, and they don't want to worry about yaba fueled crazies in the neighborhood, or having to put up with noisy neighbors or living next door to Chester the Molester. 20-30-40,000 baht doesn't really get one that, despite all the claims to the contrary. A good quality home costs money. So does  food. So do quality clothes etc.   Claiming that all will be well  at 40,000 is an exercise in denial and self delusion. It won't be , nor can it be in today's Thailand.

 

14

Lots of us with loads of money living on 20-30k/month, I have no desire to spend any more.

Low quality living ......

Well I have a new 3 bedroom house in a gated community and my mortgage is 11k/month.

Just had 3BB round to install my new fibre, 100 down 30 up which has increased my monthly outgoings by 120bht (all upgrade costs free).

Had lunch in town at CMRU with my daughter and her friend (110bht for the three of us)

Now I'm about to start my afternoons' serious drinking while watching TV on my 55" UHD TV.

 

If you're spending loads, I'm betting you have a woman living off you.

 

[Guderian]

I'm sure the same thoughts as the OP has had have crossed the minds of many people with home currencies declining against the Baht (which includes most countries, except maybe Switzerland). Even if you've got enough money to continue living in Thailand at, say, 35 Baht/£, or 20 Baht/A$, or 30 Baht/

€, it represents very poor value for money compared with your home country and also many neighbouring countries. In effect, you're simply throwing money away simply to stay in a country with a heavily overvalued currency. You may have good reasons for doing that, family dependents and so on, but if not then why not just move on to greener pastures and see how you like it? You can always go back home if nothing works out for you.

 

Cambodia would be my choice at the moment, it used to be simple to stay there long-term using annual business visas, not sure if that's still the case but I've got a mate who's been living in Snooky for ten years and he has no problems staying there. The economy is dollarised so at least you know where you are in the currency markets, not like Thailand where absolutely nothing seems to have a negative effect on the rock-solid Baht. I enjoy good wine and beer and the price of both in Thailand is ludicrous. Another 10% or 20% drop in my home currency and the prices will become madness. Don't get me wrong, I've been visiting Thailand since 1983 and living here since 2004 and I've enjoyed myself greatly, but all good things must come to an end. In the 80's I used to spend a lot of time in Singapore and had friends and family living there. I don't go there any more, the place has become far too expensive, and there's no reason I can see the way the currency markets seem to view the Baht that Thailand won't end up the same way.

 

 

[transam]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Lots of us with loads of money living on 20-30k/month, I have no desire to spend any more.

Low quality living ......

Well I have a new 3 bedroom house in a gated community and my mortgage is 11k/month.

Just had 3BB round to install my new fibre, 100 down 30 up which has increased my monthly outgoings by 120bht (all upgrade costs free).

Had lunch in town at CMRU with my daughter and her friend (110bht for the three of us)

Now I'm about to start my afternoons' serious drinking while watching TV on my 55" UHD TV.

 

If you're spending loads, I'm betting you have a woman living off you.

 

At 110bht for three l hope the mat you all sat on was swept this year...?

[AlexRich]

The Philippines is closer to Thailand economically (though poorer) and has some decent malls ... I like the sound of Cebu. The added advantage is that English is widely spoken. The visa situation is much easier and from what I can tell you can find reasonable accommodation relatively cheaply. I’m going to have a look when next in SE Asia.

 

Alternatively, find a cheaper area of Thailand and go through your budget line by line and look for alternatives, and ways to save money. Currencies fluctuate and are hard to predict, but you might find yourself leaving and a year down the line the Thai Baht weakens?

 

[AsiaHand]

Cambodia might be a better option for Charlies of low funds, as Vietnam would be too expensive for you. 

[fifelad55]

Think about what will happen if you nave a stroke and no-one to look after you

 

Alan

 

 

[Sheryl]

I live most of the time in Australia on not much more than THB40,000 per month and I live OK. I'm able to live better in Thailand on around THB25K per month, although I don't have to cover rent when I'm here.  I don't need a lot of money to feel OK:  I'm happy if I have a quiet place to live in, OK neighbours, clean water, clean air (not always possible in Thailand), and good food, plus access to a lap pool and gym. 

 

As for insurance, I am covered in Oz, and travel insurance covers me when in Thailand, but if I lived in Thailand on a full time basis, health insurance would be beyond me. In any event, I'm still healthy and try to stay away from doctors and medication through exercise, attitude and dietary intake, I figure that's the best insurance I can take out.

 

I have a friend who has church subsidised housing in a large NSW country town. Her rent on a 1BR unit in a mostly owner-occupied complex is $115 per week and her pension is, I'm guessing, around four times that amount. It's possible to live in Australia on the age pension, but not if you're paying market rent.

 

What keeps me from living in Thailand most of the time is that once I lose Australian residency I need to live six months back in Australia in order to access Medicare, although I'm not sure how tough that line is in practice. My choice is to keep my Australian residency and keep coming here as a visitor, don't know how long I can stay commuting, though.

 

To the OP, if I were in your shoes, I'd stay where I am. Maybe it's a matter of prioritising, but I think living in Thailand on a modest income is very do-able. I don't see any shame in not having insurance beyond self-insurance, some well known Australians (Paul Keating is one of them) put the money for insurance premiums aside, instead of taking out private health insurance, and use that money to pay their own way in the private health system. I don't see anything wrong with that.  

There is nothing wrong with that (as long as you have a plan for what to do when/if the finds set aside are exhausted). But that is not what most "self insured" expats in Thailand do and unlikely to be what the OP does/can do. Rather, they are both without insurance and without significant savings. In other words, uninsured and unprepared in the event of a major illness or accident.

 

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

[timendres]

One thing to keep in mind is that currencies rarely move in a single direction forever.

At some point, it is likely that the AU$ will recover relative to the THB.

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, Ban Phe Dezza said:

Judging by some the Posts please excuse me for living

I was asking fellow Pensioner Aussies and Brits who might be in the same situation or had genuine advice to offer I should have just kept my thoughts to my self Moderators i think we should close the Post 

Firstly, I do believe there have been some good suggestions on this thread, although a few have decided to veer off a little, but that's always the case on these threads.

 

I decided to investigate a few other countries in case things "turned sour" here in Thailand, and not necessarily because of the financial situation, however the outcome is fairly similar.

 

I found that I could probably live in Cambodia, although not so sure about Phnom Penh, but quite probably in Siam Reap and I did investigate Sihanoukville but couldn't take to it for some reason.

 

Vietnam was another location and to be honest I haven't investigated it deeply, but from what I did see of it, it's an option.

 

Have been back to NZ on many occasions and decided that as an OAP, life would be far too dull once having tasted the vibrance of Patong/Phuket although all things considered, I could probably afford to do it.

 

So back to your main points; if the annual retirement extension is causing you problems, then as others have suggested, there are ways around it. If your concern is about the exchange rate, then there's nothing much you can do about that because exchange rates do what they always do and that is they fluctuate.

 

You could consider moving to another part of Thailand where the rents are cheaper as is often the case with the food and I also considered this, and for my money Chiang Rai would be an option for me, although it is short of vibrancy, it does have lots of other things going for it.

 

Another poster suggested that you compiled a list of your outgoings to see if there was anywhere that you could save some money and I think that's a good idea.

 

[Enoon]

 

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20150408-bhutans-dark-secret-to-happiness

 

 

[ReneTH]

1) The visa situation can be resolved in many creative ways (if any problem at all in the first place).
2) It is easily doable to live a really comfortable life with the 40k baht.
3) All you have to do is not take bar girls more than a few times a month (if desired at all).
4) Have some drinks at home before going out to a bar (if drinking a lot) and not too often as well.

What is the problem at all really? Unless you want to live the hardcore party life multiple days a week, there isn't any I can imagine. You can easily have an average of 1k baht a day in spending money after rent etc, which would even cover daily beers at the bars (half would even still allow you doing so).

P.S. I personally think that the baht will be less strong again in the mid term future, pretend you only have 35k already and save that difference in the mean while.

Edited September 5, 2018 by ReneTH

[simoh1490]

I think the OP's right to consider where his exchange rate floor is and to decide what his active plan B should be, what if the currency keeps on falling, it's better to plan and potentially act now at leisure rather than to be forced to act later in haste.

[ReneTH]

7 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

I think the OP's right to consider where his exchange rate floor is and to decide what his active plan B should be, what if the currency keeps on falling, it's better to plan and potentially act now at leisure rather than to be forced to act later in haste.

Well, I doubt it be better in neighbouring countries then as well... Even if the 40k decreased 15% more, he still be fine (if using a different path to obtain the visa as of financial proof).

But if any, I guess i would switch between Cambodia, Laos and Thailand for averages and fun.

Edited September 5, 2018 by ReneTH

[Colabamumbai]

Similiar situation with the Canadian dollar down 25% to the Baht over the past years. Can cover my extensions with additional saved funds. No where to go. Cambodia can be nice but everything is in U.S. dollars, including ATM's.

[ReneTH]

I mostly wonder what the OP likes in terms of lifestyle, current location etc. if being worried.
Always love to help out being creative and get the most value for money in Thailand.

[Sprigger]

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I know a couple of Thai families living quite well on 10k/month (and paying rent and uni fees for their kids out of that).

As for health care, some of us aren't constantly ill, my last visit to a doctor was 4 years back for a few stitches after a crash (about 1,000bht). I live well on 20k/month + house loan repayments.

I've not had any health insurance since I left the UK.

Yes and one bout of not too serious illness, will deplete you financially. And a serious illness will totally wipe you out. Wise up cheap Charlie 

[wgdanson]

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

The flat will generate 450 Pounds net

The British Consulate letter for income is based on the GROSS income you show, not NET.

[simoh1490]

1 minute ago, wgdanson said:

The British Consulate letter for income is based on the GROSS income you show, not NET.

The income I mentioned is not for visa purposes, it's just spending money, I have plenty of baht stashed away so the visa is not an issue.

[simoh1490]

28 minutes ago, ReneTH said:

Well, I doubt it be better in neighbouring countries then as well... Even if the 40k decreased 15% more, he still be fine (if using a different path to obtain the visa as of financial proof).

But if any, I guess i would switch between Cambodia, Laos and Thailand for averages and fun.

Not at 70 years of age you wouldn't.

Edited September 5, 2018 by simoh1490

[alzack]

Hi well I know full well your situation with declining pension income. I am British and for the reasons you set out we  returned to live in UK  2 years a go now, ( I was in Thailand since 1998).  As you, my income was going down and down each month. I lost 40%  in the period 2004 to 2016 when we returned. Now much better off, free schools for my kids, free health,free buses,help with rent, help with council tax, full child tax credits (which   i could not get in Thailand)  Full increase in Pension rises  (which     i could not get in Thailand) it was hard to get back into the system, as no credit record not having lived in uk for so long, but now much better off, and the pound continues its free fall . Good luck to you

alzak

[wgdanson]

5 minutes ago, alzack said:

Hi well I know full well your situation with declining pension income. I am British and for the reasons you set out we  returned to live in UK  2 years a go now, ( I was in Thailand since 1998).  As you, my income was going down and down each month. I lost 40%  in the period 2004 to 2016 when we returned. Now much better off, free schools for my kids, free health,free buses,help with rent, help with council tax, full child tax credits (which   i could not get in Thailand)  Full increase in Pension rises  (which     i could not get in Thailand) it was hard to get back into the system, as no credit record not having lived in uk for so long, but now much better off, and the pound continues its free fall . Good luck to you

alzak

All those things you mention are not FREE. They are/were paid for by UK TAXPAYERS, who now in their twilight years cannot get a decent pension.

[BritManToo]

11 minutes ago, Sprigger said:

Yes and one bout of not too serious illness, will deplete you financially. And a serious illness will totally wipe you out. Wise up cheap Charlie 

62 years old now, one serious illness leading to three nights in a Thai hospital, total cost 4,000bht.

My next big illness will be death, hopefully, that will be free.

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

 

You could consider moving to another part of Thailand where the rents are cheaper as is often the case with the food and I also considered this, and for my money Chiang Rai would be an option for me, although it is short of vibrancy, it does have lots of other things going for it.

 

 

Chiang Rai is quite vibrant if you know where to look. It's actually more central to a number of attractions than Chiang Mai, although admittedly the bar scene is a lot smaller.

[nickmondo]

5 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

How did your car, bike  and condo get paid for? You paid for them right?

Put those costs into a monthly basis over their lifespan. It irks me when people talk of their minimal expenses, but then add, I have a car, condo  and bike. That puts you  into a different socio economic demographic than someone who only has 30K a month. You have assets with value. they do not. 

What does a modest decent secure condo go for today? 10 million baht?  Let's say someone has been living in a condo for 10 years and we value the condo in today's value, this works out to about 80,000 a month. If one stays longer, the incremental cost is less, if one is a new owner, it is considerably more. Even if it is a budget condo at 5 million, that still works out to  40,000 a month if 10 years old. The point being that many of the people saying they have  limited budgets, do not, and are far wealthier than they realize.

 

Quality food, is not the processed stuff chock full of sodium  and additives that we know is not good for us. Its the produce sourced from the produce vendors who are not using  the dangerous pesticides that are restricted elsewhere. It is the poultry  purchased from the butchers who do not purchase from the monopoly which relies on hormones and antibiotics and who don't inject water into the carcasses during processing to plump them up. It is the fish purchased from retailers who obtain fish from clean zones, e.g. not the klong, and it is bread from  bakers who don't destroy the  dough with sugar, corn syrup and other crap. And mostly it is being able to maintain a western quality lifestyle eating things like smoked  wild salmon and not the disgusting farmed salmon.

 

 

10 million baht for a modest condo?  I dont think one knows what one is talking about.!

Dont get me started on the rest of your drivel

[alzack]

13 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

All those things you mention are not FREE. They are/were paid for by UK TAXPAYERS, who now in their twilight years cannot get a decent pension.

I HAVE PAID UK TAX SINCE 1958 mate full 44 years and still pay

Edited September 5, 2018 by alzack

[alzack]

15 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

All those things you mention are not FREE. They are/were paid for by UK TAXPAYERS, who now in their twilight years cannot get a decent pension.

I HAVE PAID UK TAX SINCE 1958 mate full 44 years and still pay

[alzack]

17 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

All those things you mention are not FREE. They are/were paid for by UK TAXPAYERS, who now in their twilight years cannot get a decent pension.

I HAVE PAID UK TAX SINCE 1958 mate full 44 years and still pay