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

[HuskerDo]

5 hours ago, totally thaied up said:

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.

TTU - I hate to hear a comment like "I will be long gone by 75 I think. I am 49 now.". DON'T do that to yourself. It will become a self-fulfilling  prophecy. You have the means to take better care of yourself. Plan on sticking around until your money runs out. Perfect time to leave this earth. ????  

 

Best wishes to you!!  

Edited February 10, 2019 by HuskerDo

[HuskerDo]

5 hours 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!

 

"lives in a tent in the woods and bathes in the stream nearby".... imagine the poor unsuspecting folks downstream that might be using that water. YUUUUCK!!!  ????      

 

  

Edited February 10, 2019 by HuskerDo

[ZAKY]

The Thai Baht is going up, life is becoming more and more expensive. 

[daveAustin]

Ahh, the old I live on this, I couldn't possibly live on less than that ad nauseum. Comes around quite frequently on TV. Bottom line is Thailand has gotten relatively expensive fairly quickly such that, together with currency fluctuations/silly baht, it can be more expensive than home countries for essentials. When housing, medical, eating out equalises, look out.

[blazes]

10 hours ago, Cranky said:

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.

 

This is getting close to the four Yorkshiremen comparing notes on their early poverty...

 

[john ianson]

On 2/10/2019 at 5:58 AM, kannot said:

even more hilarious

Did anyone besides me notice that the cost of living for families in these cities is FAR higher than a single person ? That being the case WHY is a retirement visa for a single person double the cost of a family {marriage} visa here in Thailand ?

[BobbyL]

Apart from a round of golf yesterday I think I spent about 3000b last week. That included going to work Mon - Fri and dinner and a few beers out on Saturday night. I certainly don't call that expensive in Bangkok. 

[BritManToo]

10 hours ago, bowerboy said:

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.

I get half price on the MRT (senior), 21bht from one end to the other, hardly expensive.

[puukao]

21 hours ago, BritManToo said:

The more money you spend on your kids, the less they like you, and the less they visit you as you get older.

That seems to be a universal rule I've noticed in my lifetime.

It's probably because they need and want your money as a child.  When older, they have more money so they need you less.  

 

and then they play games to "get money for love."  

 

and then, not surprisingly, everyone hates everyone over money.

 

how i think it works:  play with your kid.  chess, sports, travel together, go eat together, experience life together.....that costs money, but you aren't just giving the kid money.

[puukao]

7 hours ago, HuskerDo said:

TTU - I hate to hear a comment like "I will be long gone by 75 I think. I am 49 now.". DON'T do that to yourself. It will become a self-fulfilling  prophecy. You have the means to take better care of yourself. Plan on sticking around until your money runs out. Perfect time to leave this earth. ????  

 

Best wishes to you!!  

and i hate to hear comments like, "plan on sticking around until your money runs out...."

 

what?  so no money, kill yourself?

 

OMG.....i'm afraid to ask what you think of the world's poor, as you live around the poor.  

 

 

[puukao]

1 hour ago, BobbyL said:

Apart from a round of golf yesterday I think I spent about 3000b last week. That included going to work Mon - Fri and dinner and a few beers out on Saturday night. I certainly don't call that expensive in Bangkok. 

budgets don't work "apart from a round of golf.....".  LOL>  if you spend money, you spend money.  Apart from eating....apart from traveling, apart from buying a car, apart from a new computer....LOL

[HuskerDo]

1 minute ago, puukao said:

and i hate to hear comments like, "plan on sticking around until your money runs out...."

 

what?  so no money, kill yourself?

 

OMG.....i'm afraid to ask what you think of the world's poor, as you live around the poor.  

 

 

Puukao - It was a joke. I meant I hope he lived a full life and when he leaves this world he will have had the perfect amount in the bank to last him until that day. Nothing mean was intended.

[BobbyL]

4 minutes ago, puukao said:

budgets don't work "apart from a round of golf.....".  LOL>  if you spend money, you spend money.  Apart from eating....apart from traveling, apart from buying a car, apart from a new computer....LOL

Good point. I suppose if you average out our rent, our car finance etc to each day then obviously I am spending money without realising it. 

 

We certainly don't live a cheap budget lifestyle here and spend far more on things like our rent, holidays etc than I would like. I reckon the point I was trying to initially make is day to day living in Bangkok can be extremely low, and anyone who says it isn't is living in a dream world unless they're out boozing every night.  

[CanuckThai]

Depending on your style of living and budget, the cost of living is the same or more expensive here.  Quality food, clothing, housing, medical/dental...no real difference.  If you want to live like a native, on a natives budget, it's an option for cheap living.   Cheap living can be found quite easily back in our home country's.  A <deleted> apartment in a <deleted> neighborhood, an old house in the middle of nowhere, discount grocery stores selling substandard fruits and vegetables, a case of 24 beer instead of a pub ( http://www.thebeerstore.ca/beers/sale ), aka living like a student.

 

I find myself somewhere in the middle, some would say a cheap charlie or "sticky".  I spend whatever needs to be spent without blinking.  But I don't throw or flash money (that's the cheap charlie/sticky presumption).  Easy enough to drop 15-20k on a day/night/weekend out, but we cook at home a lot of the time, limit the wat/family donations, and "loans" are limited to those that pay back.  My wife and family finally understand/appreciate that I work, just like they do.   What is spent now, won't be available when I decide/can retire.  

 

School for 1 (uniforms, books, supplies, plus kid daily cash)

2 Thai cells, wifi (1 CDN cell)

Vehicles- 2 car 1 MC (fuel, vehicle ins/maintenance)

Clothing

Grooming (hair/makeup/beauty products, massage etc)

Food,  (local and weekly market, plus weekly BigC/Tesco/Makro)

Food stalls/vendors, restaurants

Entertainment, travel, cultural events, family celebrations (sheesh....)

Dental, prescriptions (covered by wife, but prefer paying cash for private dental)

Medical (under wife's Thai gov plan)

Visa requirements

Rent/elec/water (compliments of Thai gov)

 

A bit of a rubber band, but on average, 50k a month.  Not having 50k/m and a buffer would be risky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dallen52]

On 2/10/2019 at 7:34 PM, DrTuner said:

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.

It comes down to the reasons for being here.

Mine were, work then retirement, then divorced, then falling in lust with a pretty Thai lady.

But recent events and a fair bit of returning travel to the UK and Australia (family) have convinced me that the UK is the cheaper option on an Australian pension. 

Australia is expensive unless you have free accommodation.

Thailand, well we are all discussing this presently.

The UK even on today's exchange rate is way ahead for food, accommodation, travel....

Obviously the British will not see it that way.

My pension drops to $880 a fortnight and is portable. Out of Australia  

A bit of bank interest on top.

 

Just crap weather in the UK..

[dick dasterdly]

On 2/10/2019 at 10:23 AM, Vacuum said:

Leather shoes don't last long in Thailand (humidity).

Neither do Nike running shoes...

[dick dasterdly]

On 2/10/2019 at 10:25 AM, Pravda said:

 

No Thai rich or poor in their right mind will pay 80k on rent a month. That's the market for rich Chinese and dumb expats (and perhaps expats on expat packages).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not true.

 

Admittedly I couldn't afford to pay 80,000 bht p.m rent - but some can, and it provides them with a far better house/location than they could afford to buy.

[dick dasterdly]

On 2/10/2019 at 7:15 PM, puukao said:

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

Again, everyone to their own.

 

I rent a house next to the beach, in a very quiet location.  There is no way I could afford to 'buy' the land in this location and build a house!  So I'm very happy to pay rent for something very close to my 'dream' ????.

[GinBoy2]

15 minutes ago, ScammedInThailand said:

You mean apart from the rampant corruption, vast numbers of ruthless criminals, scam artists and other assorted low-life scum?

Well I didn't say it was the only reason, but it is a big one.

Now this will get apologist trolls going, but I'm assuming given your username, you had some 'issues'

 

Now there are criminals, crime, low lifes everywhere.

 

The difference from my perspective at least, that for most of us, we start off with a basic moral code, then you tend to go through life assuming that people are generally good, honest, not gonna rip you off etc, until proven otherwise.

 

For Thai's it's almost exactly the opposite. Corruption is endemic, but without changing their core moral code, that most of us grew up with, I just don't know how you fix it

Edited February 12, 2019 by GinBoy2

[j8k]

On 2/10/2019 at 5:08 AM, luckyluke said:

Priorities are different from one person to another, one's age is also an important factor.

 

After 15+ years in Pattaya, I decided, being 70, to live in Thonglor ( not the cheapest area of Bangkok ).

 

I like also to eat Camembert, Brie, Reblochon, or any other French cheese, or/and Serrano, Parma, Black Forest, ham in the morning with my baguette.

 

Having a beer ( a few in fact ) in a nice air conditioned place, stylish service, soft Jazz music in the background is also  among my actual desiderata. 

 

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

 

 

You sound like a bit of an ass.

 

I'd imagine this is all made up, and your reality of fine dining is a cheese ham toastie and large leo from a 7eleven.

[j8k]

...Just for the record, I do like the toasties and will often treat myself to two, all washed down with one of Thailand's favourite Chang beers ????

Edited February 13, 2019 by j8k