Cost of living in Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai among the highest in ASEAN

[JAG]

1 hour ago, kiteman9 said:

Or 65,000 baht each month, which you can spend.

But then you would have to sack the gardener!

[newnative]

6 hours ago, hansnl said:

For what it is worth, an Isan family of two, children live elsewhere.

Electricity.    5000

Water.            500

Police.          1000

Wife pocket.  10000

Car/motorbike 1000

Food and drink 10000

Insurances.     5000

Internet.         1500

Phones.            500

House maintenance 5000

Say a total of 40,000 a month

 

 

  I'm curious why the electricity is so high. My partner and I live in a large 3 bedroom condo. We run the ac every night and sometimes during the day, plus an air cleaner., run ceiling fans and floor fans, clothes washer and dryer, tvs, computers, etc., and our electric bill is never more than 1000-1200 baht a month.  

[Odysseus123]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

What's hilarious about that.

 

I live in rural Thailand with a family of 6, i.e. 2 adults and 4 kids ranging from 4 to 14 and my budget is based on 60,000, but more so 100,000 baht when you add running a car, house, car and private health cover insurance, private school fees, (not international level), modest holidays and that's without rent, fortunately my wife own my house, furnishing, motorbike, car and the shirt off of my back ????

 

A post that tells the truth!

 

My calculations were (hidden costs included)  80,000 baht per month but I'll go with a 100,000.

 

Those on 40-60 will go to the wall..and do.

 

 

 

[dallen52]

5 hours ago, Christophers200 said:

A UK state pension even if paid at full rate(approx. £6,700pa) would not fund a protracted stay in Thailand.

Even the Aussies have problems with their pensions alone funding schemes. 

Simply impossible. 

About $450 aud a week.

Significant more than the British one, but still doesn't meet the basic retirement figures of $65,000 monthly income..

[cedel]

In 15 years in Thailand, I had the opportunity to travel in many places in Thailand, touristic or not, but I stay based in Pattaya.

I cannot tell now for CM as I have been only 1 time only 4 or 5 days 15 years ago.

What I can say for sure is that the cost of living in Pattaya is much cheaper than in BKK, and than in many other touristic cities in the south of Thailand like Phuket, Krabi, and (I've heard but never been in Koh Samui).

If I compare with BKK street restaurants are slightly cheaper. Although also in Pattaya minimum prices have gone already a few years ago UP +33%...from 30 baht to 40 baht...Ok, you will say, it is ONLY 10 baht...but it is +33%.e of For the rents, condos, hotels, it's also cheaper in Pattaya.

And for the nightlife, it is MUCH cheaper in PATTAYA than in BKK.

In Bkk, in many night clubs (Levels, Havana, etc..) you have to pay an entrance fee of 300 baht/p in the week or 400 baht/p in the week-end (including 1 drink). Price of a whysky or rhum/coke or wine or cocktail vary from 250 to 350 or 400 baht...

In Pattaya, every nightclub is free entrance, in the best ones (like IBar/Insomnia Club), you have a discount card and get a beer for 120 or 130 baht, a whisky-coke or vodka for 140 or 150 baht...a bottle of Benmore Scotch Whiskey or 100Pipers Scotch whiskey with ice and 4 mixers I pay 1190 baht with discount card in Ibar/Insomnia walking street...and I also get of course 10% of everything paid in points on my card to spend later in drinks or food...

Of course, it is harder to meet/find business people or non-prostitute/freelancer thai girls in Pattaya night clubs than in Bkk night clubs...but on the other hand, I would say that in Thailand night clubs, prostitutes are everywhere...Also a lot in Phuket.

In other words, to meet "good ladies" in a night club in Thailand, I would probably have much more chances in Bkk or in Chiang Mai or in Khon Kaen than in Pattaya (where all the girls from the bars or go-go bars come after their bar is closed if they still want to find customers...or just enjoy with friends) and probably the same in Phuket as I remember.

[JAG]

4 hours ago, luckyluke said:

Not the cheapest choices, but my decision and my money. 

Absolutely so. Your choices, and very good luck to you.

 

But it is all about choices and needs - you don't actually need to pay a gardener 6K a month, or give your wife a massive allowance. 

 

These threads seem to crop up every couple of months, and always boil down to:

 

[luckyluke]

^

I didn't understand a word, but I have to confess that I am Belgian.

[4MyEgo]

19 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

A post that tells the truth!

 

My calculations were (hidden costs included)  80,000 baht per month but I'll go with a 100,000.

 

Those on 40-60 will go to the wall..and do.

 

 

 

If they are supporting a family, agreed, if single 40k-60k manageable, although 40k would be an existence I wouldn't want in my retirement years as a single bloke, i.e. should be living it up, within reason of course, one babe every two weeks or so...lol.

[chainarong]

Just like other places in the world and what of the locals wages, just like else where in the world stagnated. 

[Odysseus123]

I see that we are on the same page.

 

However I don't entirely agree about single/40,000 because my observations were that they either lived like peasants from one pension check to the other or they used up their savings..

 

All hell broke out if they got sick-or even worse-acquired a girlfriend.

 

Either way,they are done for now.

[brokenbone]

i'll be dead long before i would 'pay for wife',

or any woman for that matter.

i also have all but stop drinking altogether,

and have no insurance, and barely drive at all.

but i still have no clue how i could possibly

pay less than 20k a month before rent.

only thing i can think of is various treatments

vs pain i pay some 6k for per month,

and always eat out or take away, no exception

[Cranky]

9 hours ago, KittenKong said:

It all depends on what you do. If you like drinking wine in trendy bars in the company of avaricious Thai women then Bangkok could cost you several thousand Baht per day. Personally I would not be seen dead in anything trendy and would much rather sit at home on my own listening to my own music and enjoying the view from my condo window, with a big bottle of Asahi beer on the table. Net cost about 70B per evening and leaves me with nothing more to be desired.

Even eating out in Bangkok can cost a fortune or a pittance, depending on where you go and how sensible you are.

Sounds like fun, a whole bottle of Asahi.  I'd rather live at the bottom of a lake in a cardboard box than Bangkok on a budget.  At least 10k baht a day to do it justice.

[Ajarnbrian]

Johnny Expat, who arrives in a city with little local knowledge but no financial worries may end up paying these prices. Those who don`t insist on expensive accom favoured by westerners, who happily eat local food and take local transport can easily live well enough on much less. 

[stanleycoin]

2 hours ago, luckyluke said:

^

I didn't understand a word, but I have to confess that I am Belgian.

Thats ok,  us Brit's don't as well.  as they are from Birmingham uk.  

 

2 hours ago, JAG said:

 

 

 

[puukao]

as a math reminder......paying off the house isn't the same as saying, "no rent, so zero per month."  one month (day) you paid say 5,000,000 baht, so it would make sense to average that out.....  if you live in the house for 15 years, then we are still talking about 2,800 per month.  and we all know there are many, many, many more expenses with a house.

 

then we can talk after you sell the house....er, i mean your wife's house.  lol

[totally thaied up]

2 hours ago, dallen52 said:

Even the Aussies have problems with their pensions alone funding schemes. 

Simply impossible. 

About $450 aud a week.

Significant more than the British one, but still doesn't meet the basic retirement figures of $65,000 monthly income..

I get $AUD644 per/fortnight as an Aussie Pension- I need to add $200 a month extra from my savings so we can have a good enough life here. Living like this, my savings will run out at 120. I will be long gone by 75 I think. I am 49 now.

 

My wife earns half decent money depending on the contracts she gets for work, so I don't give her family or herself any money. She had her own house before I met her, so that was just an added bonus. 

 

I spend $US1300 a year (and these costs each year will go markedly up) for my health insurance. I have to add another 15,000 for car insurance.

 

About every 10-12 years I will need a new car. I will trade in my old one for a half decent price. Every five years I will need a new PCX 150.

 

Thailand is not cheap, far from it yet it depends on how you want to live.

[vinegarbase]

That can't be! Don't burst my bubble! I heard it from good sources how cheap Thailand is compared to my home country! I it heard from a reliable Farang source here in Thailand, he eats 30/baht pad thai three times a day, sits in the AC in the mall when it's hot, rides a bike everywhere he needs to go to save on transportation and lives in a tent in the woods and bathes in the stream nearby. Living the dream!

 

[totally thaied up]

1 minute ago, vinegarbase said:

and bathes in the stream nearby.

One day it will be acid rain... ????

[FritsSikkink]

13 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"...The website said the monthly costs for a single person to live in Bangkok was 21,017.40฿ without rent..."

 

21,017 a month WITHOUT rent? What the hell do people do in Bangkok that is so expensive?

 

I live on Koh Samui, modestly but comfortably, for around that much including rent.

 

PS To be fair, I neither smoke nor drink; those are two of the more expensive habits...

 

 

They have nice meals with some nice drinks. Go to shopping malls and buy a whole range of stuff. It is no problem to spend 100K+++ without rent.

[DrTuner]

Yes, if you live to Euro standards Thailand is more expensive than Europe, I guess around 25% more. Drop to somchai level and it can be cheap.

[stanleycoin]

45 minutes ago, vinegarbase said:

That can't be! Don't burst my bubble! I heard it from good sources how cheap Thailand is compared to my home country! I it heard from a reliable Farang source here in Thailand, he eats 30/baht pad thai three times a day, sits in the AC in the mall when it's hot, rides a bike everywhere he needs to go to save on transportation and lives in a tent in the woods and bathes in the stream nearby. Living the dream!

 

it is cheap if you come from Norway. 

When was the last time you bought a round of 7 people a pint at Oslo airport. 

 

 

 

 

[rumak]

12 hours ago, KiChakayan said:

Don't see what's hilarious there. Numbeo is an excellent resource, that reconciles inputs collected from its users. 

Just to give an idea for a family of 4 in issan:

"Wife allowance" 20 k

Health insurance + deductibles 25k

Electricity/water             6k

Police (red box + other) 1k

School                         4k

Cars Ins+petrol+main      8k  

Gardener                       6k

Internet                         1k

So we are at 81k without even mentionning food/wine/clothing/holidays etc...

 

Bottom line is for a normal middle class life I'll need 200k, since we are still improving the house I am still denting my savings. and I have given up on the pool.

I can see instantly a way to cut your monthly costs by 20k baht

[Sticky Wicket]

5 minutes ago, rumak said:

I can see instantly a way to cut your monthly costs by 20k baht

Where are the mia noi expenses? Personally I always include a bit extra to cover those incidentals. It's just the prudent accountant in me

[rumak]

2 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

Where are the mia noi expenses? Personally I always include a bit extra to cover those incidentals. It's just the prudent accountant in me

Usually its 5000 for the wife........and 15000 for the mia noi   ????

[bowerboy]

Myself, wife and 2 kids took the BTS from Asok to Ekamai....no cheap fare for the kids, they have to pay full fare. The cost was 160 baht (40 baht each). That is far more expensive than public transport in Melbourne, Australia.

 

If we wanted to use the swimming pool (and a pretty crap one at that) at a nearby golf course then it is 150 baht each (again no concession for kids). Again that is way more expensive then the world class aquatic center in Melbourne.

[chama]

Funny the article didn't point out any of the less expensive locations and the associated prices. 

[Lupatria]

The laser pointer on the farangs head says a lot ????

[thomago]

15 hours ago, KiChakayan said:

Don't see what's hilarious there. Numbeo is an excellent resource, that reconciles inputs collected from its users. 

Just to give an idea for a family of 4 in issan:

"Wife allowance" 20 k

Health insurance + deductibles 25k

Electricity/water             6k

Police (red box + other) 1k

School                         4k

Cars Ins+petrol+main      8k  

Gardener                       6k

Internet                         1k

So we are at 81k without even mentionning food/wine/clothing/holidays etc...

 

Bottom line is for a normal middle class life I'll need 200k, since we are still improving the house I am still denting my savings. and I have given up on the pool.

Fully agree with you. I'm living in Phuket in a nice villa with wife, 2 school-going kids (international school), 2 housekeepers, 2 cars, gardening service, pool service, ongoing maintenance & repairs, etc. Whilst we don't live frugally, we don't live lavishly. Our monthly costs exceed the 200K you mentioned for living a normal middle class life in Isaan.

[flyingtlger]

I know a person from Australia that lives in Bangkok and survives on 100 Baht a day.

He purchased a condo and is desperately trying to sell it for almost double the price he paid (good luck there).

He explained to me how he would buy a meal and split up to make 2 meals and sometimes 3 meals. 

He will only eat one meal a day and does his best to free load beer and food from people he knows. 

As a result, everyone is starting to avoid him

He buys groceries in bulk. 

He does not have a car (rides a bicycle), does not use A/C and free loads wi-fi from local shops. 

I give him credit for being very frugal however I would not want to live his lifestyle....

 

[utalkin2me]

These numbers always amaze, until I hang out with other people and I realize they do in fact spend this much. Most of it seems to go to unnecessary crap. The more you spend, the more you have to work.