Indonesia. What a contrast!

[sidjameson]

Op whats your daily budget? Most places are lovely given enough money.

[Bournville]

How does the cost of living stack up with Thailand?  
 
My Thailand in baht per month:
Rent 3/2 modern home...... 8,300 
Water + Garbage pickup.....    300
Power (fridge, 2 A/C units, washer,
fans all rooms,water heaters... 2,000
Food, clothing, paper,toiletries 6,000
Entertainment............................  2,400
                                          19,000.
Roughly $635. USD per month.
 
How about Bali?

Good for you. I live very well in Bali. A comfortable healthy life usually costs more. Anywhere.

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[Bournville]

Looks stunning !
https://www.google.com/search?q=Ubud&rlz=1C1CHBF_enTH839TH839&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwis1P-hroviAhU76XMBHWkyC54Q_AUIDigB&biw=1536&bih=792
 

Yes. Exactly. I rented a bungalow near some terraced rice fields...with a pool.. 700 usd. Per month. Paid one year in advanced.. 550 usd... 10 minutes on a mb to Ubud center. Lovely people. Lovely traditions. Lots of culture

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[Puchaiyank]

20 minutes ago, Bournville said:

Good for you. I live very well in Bali. A comfortable healthy life usually costs more. Anywhere.

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Lifestyle is healthy...air pollution is now a problem...

[DaRoadrunner]

Could we have more useful info here please

1. What does it cost to rent an apartment?

2. Can you actually own a house?

3. What's the cost of living compared to Thailand?

4. What's medical care like?

5. What entertainment is there of the female variety?

6. Nightlife?

7. Food?

[gk10002000]

11 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Terimah Kasi.

apa kabah

[uhuh]

4 hours ago, DaRoadrunner said:

Could we have more useful info here please

1. What does it cost to rent an apartment?

2. Can you actually own a house?

3. What's the cost of living compared to Thailand?

4. What's medical care like?

5. What entertainment is there of the female variety?

6. Nightlife?

7. Food?

Are you asking about Bali, especially Kuta/Denpasar, or the rest of Indonesia?

 

3. Bali is an Australian holiday hub,  but still cheaper than Thailand.

Java, Sumatra is almost 50% cheaper than Thailand.

Kalimantan is more expensive than the rest of Indonesia. 

 

4. Medical care in Denpasar is good for very simple things. It is poor for everything not routine. Do not go there if you are not healthy. 

Medical care in the rest of Indonesia is mostly very poor, in Jakarta it is sometimes good. 

Medical care in Thailand is much, much better. 

 

5.,6. Prostitutes for foreigners are easily available in Denpasar and Jakarta. In other places,  they may be difficult to find.

 

One of the biggest differences between Indonesians and Thais are the people: if you are used to Thais and meet Indonesians you realize how hard working,  efficient,  diligent, punctual, westernized Thais are in comparison. 

 

 

[GreenerGrass]

18 hours ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

"Latin America...Dangerous and police at every corner". 

A gross exaggeration. I've been all over S. America and throughout Colombia many times. You've been to Colombia yet you don't know how to spell it?

Both South & Central America are extremely dangerous especially if you have a fair complexion with blue eyes. If latin complexion you can make an effort to blend in but you will need street smarts. Columbia which was already bad has recently had a spike in violent crime/kidnappings  due to the problems, illegals/ refugees etc from Venezuela. Brazil is another hot spot and has been for many years for violent crime. Personally I would recommend staying far away from both Central/South America unless you very very good street smarts! I spent 5 years in South America and feel secure I have a good idea what I'm talking about with regards to this area. 

[VocalNeal]

I don't understand the OP he claims to live in Indonesia but lives in Bali. They are like chalk and cheese. 

 

[Farang99]

19 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Terimah Kasi.

Bersama sama

[fred110]

How much is the 60 day visa? 

[Mangkhut]

Indonesia is great me thinks too. Bali - not so much, at least the lower southeastern part of it as someone mentioned earlier in this thread, pollution and superugly shopping malls full of McDonalds, Starbucks and other cholestrol doublers are not in my definition of great or nice or attractive.

 

I have travelled extensively in Indonesia, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, West Timor, Sulawesi and some smaller islands too as for example the Comodo islands, Siberut island. And I have to say its fantastic! The nature, scenery, the cultural and gastronomic diversity, the friendliness of the people etc etc. 

Even the local cops who I was warned about were beyond friendly, I was somewhat lost on my motorbike travel in northern Sulawesi and contacted some local police to ask for help and directions - and they took me to their bbq party and feed me well, then followed me to a hotel which I didnt have to pay for. Such a thing wont never happen in Thailand.

 

But in all fairness - there are negative things about Indonesia as well. The road standards are lightyears behind Thailand. For example the trans-Sumatran highway road is a very narrow twolane road, were each lane is so narrow that a bus or a truck have to drive with their outer wheelpair in the opposite lane for long distances as its simply not any space for the whole vehicle in one lane.

Also the road standards in general are often horrible, potholed and rutted roads as main roads. Not to mention the traffic, just on Java it lives twice as much people as in Thailand on 1/4 of the landsize of Thailand. I remember a couple of years ago media reported about a huge traffic jam in the outskirts of Jakarta - and that traffic jam lasted 3 whole days. Several people died in that traffic jam as they were completely stuck - no chance to get out of it, no water, no medicines and no chance of an ambulance to reach them in the middle of the jam! If you call traffic jams in BKK or even CM bad you should think about that. 

Not to mention all the suicide drivers - I can assure you its faaar worse than in Thailand and I have tens of thousands of kms on a motorbike both in Indonesia and in Thailand as well - so I know what Im talking about.

 

Prices - well as the thai baht is getting stronger and stronger Indonesia certainly has an advantage. In general I found Indonesia to be a bit cheaper for most things, depending of what things or services you compare.

 

English skills - well they might be good in the tourist area of Bali, but you dont have to go far from that area to find that english is almost non -exisiting! 

Indonesian language is however as mentioned earlier on probably easier to learn than thai. Its written with western letters and its non tonal. 

But remember that only around 10 % of indonesians speak bahasa indonesia as their main language. 90 % do speak it as their second language though.

 

Visas - yes you can get a 60 day visa that can be extensioned up to 4 times of 30 day each. But you need an indonesian national to be your sponsor and you will need to go to the immigration office 4 times each for one extension. You will easily be relatively locked up for 1-2 weeks in this process. 

And from my understanding - even if you are married to an indonesian citizen you still cant stay in Indonesia more than 6 months pr year. 

 

Food - in Bali the food is fantastic and cheap. And in other main areas of tourism as well. But out in the remote parts of Indonesia your food choices often come down to noodles or rice, some places even without any meat to add. Maybe eggs if youre lucky. For that thing I would prefere remote Thailand to remote Indonesia. 

 

All in all - I still like Indonesia a lot and would love to travel more there and spend more time there, but move there - nah Im not so sure about that.

[HaleySabai]

Ah,the honeymoon...its such a fluffy & fuzzy period when the world just seems sooo perfect....until ????

 

At this point I'd go almost anywhere to get out of ChiangMai...really,ANYWHERE has to be better than the no#1 most polluted city in the world....????

 

Best of luck in Bali - it is a fascinating culture and apparently wonderful if you are a Cougar in heat.

[alyx]

20 hours ago, Bournville said:

OK smarty pants... Yes.. A typo... Yes I was there... One more thing about expats in Bali... They are not as miserable and have thier heads buried in the sand. Not a gross exaggeration at all... I've lived it... No thanks

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No Both terms are used, hence not  a spelling mistake but rather a preference.

this being said, I totally disagree with your statement regarding Colombia/Columbia  ( I do not know Ecuador ) : I felt OK, safety wise, in that country ( Capital, Medellin, Cartagena)

[alyx]

And actually almost bought a flat  ( to tell you how fine I was ) when I visited 4 years ago 

[Bournville]

I don't understand the OP he claims to live in Indonesia but lives in Bali. They are like chalk and cheese. 
 

What? Seriously? Bali is an island. An island in Indonesia! Stay in Thailand. You might get lost.

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[Bournville]

i'm glad you are happy now, but if truly happy i don't think i'd be reading this thread. 
 
therefore, 99% odds you will be back in Thailand under a new username
 
seems like you have a connection here that cannot be broken.  
 
when you come back to thailand, can you wire me 1 million baht for being right?  thanks 

You might very well be correct. It's an infatuation for the time being. But, comparing my first thoughts on Bali compared vs. Chaing Mai I would say I'll be in Bali / Indonesia for "a while".

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[VocalNeal]

Quote

What? Seriously? Bali is an island. An island in Indonesia! Stay in Thailand. You might get lost.

 Clever but no. Bali is yes an island but its culture is more Hindu than the bulk of Indonesia. Bali is a holiday resort. 

Sure Pattaya is in Thailand but it is hardly typical. Phuket is in Thailand but hardly typical. 

 

Still I suppose many live in Pattaya and think they live in Thailand!

[Bournville]

What? Seriously? Bali is an island. An island in Indonesia! Stay in Thailand. You might get lost.

 Clever but no. Bali is yes an island but its culture is more Hindu than the bulk of Indonesia. Bali is a holiday resort. 
Sure Pattaya is in Thailand but it is hardly typical. Phuket is in Thailand but hardly typical. 
 
Still I suppose many live in Pattaya and think they live in Thailand!
You are making little sense. Clever? Uhmmm... no.. just factual. Geographically Bali is in Indonesia. As for how Bali is representative of Indonesia in general.. that a whole different topic.

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[edgarfriendly]

no mention of climate?

 

if its 40+ here surely its even hotter right on the equator...?

[edgarfriendly]

1 minute ago, oilinki said:

Actually it isn't. The hottest zones are located close to the tropical circles. 

 

While the Sun is in the zenith, it simply passes by the equator twice a year, but stays longer over the areas a bit south of Tropic of Cancer and north of Tropic of Capricorn. 

pics or it didnt happen

[BestB]

Grass always looks greener on the other side.

 

everything appears honky dory initially , it is only after you have lived in a country for a while one can make assertions of how good or bad it is.

 

thailand for most appears to be heaven initially , until you start living or working then perceptions change.

 

1 thing I have learned is that there is no heaven, every place comes with its positive and negatives 

[VocalNeal]

21 minutes ago, Bournville said:

 Clever but no. Bali is yes an island but its culture is more Hindu than the bulk of Indonesia. Bali is a holiday resort. 
Sure Pattaya is in Thailand but it is hardly typical. Phuket is in Thailand but hardly typical. 
 
Still I suppose many live in Pattaya and think they live in Thailand!
You are making little sense. Clever? Uhmmm... no.. just factual. Geographically Bali is in Indonesia. As for how Bali is representative of Indonesia in general.. that a whole different topic.

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Sorry my pedant alarm was turned off.

[Zyxel]

If you want to retire in Indonesia here is an interesting link: https://www.expat.or.id/info/retirement.html

 

From this site:

- Proof of medical/health Insurance, life insurance, and third-party personal liability insurance in country of origin or Indonesia.

- Statement to declare intent to employ an Indonesian maid and/or driver whilst living in Indonesia.

- Sponsor letter from the appointed travel agency, costs to be paid by applicant.

- Be advised that even on a retirement visa, you will be liable to pay Indonesian personal income tax on your global income, taxed at the rate of 5-30%, depending on your income.

[edgarfriendly]

forgot to quote...

 

meh!

[edgarfriendly]

8 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Sorry, no MRI machine available at the moment. 

 

Aaannd.. back to the topic...

jakarta - 33c (feels like 41c)

 

oh, and 70-90% RH

 

meh!

[CH1961]

19 hours ago, LennyW said:

everybody calling you "mate"

The OP like that ????

[ianezy0]

15 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

no POME prisoner of mother england

Wrong. GC was correct. I should know, I am one ????

[Krataiboy]

21 hours ago, Bournville said:

Yes. In Kuta... I used to live in Sydney.. Kuta seems to be a suburb of Sydney! 5555.. I m in Ubud for the time being... Lovely spot of heaven

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Wonder how much it has changed in the twenty or so years since I was there? Is Muni's restaurant (on the bridge) still there and serving delicious red and white rice wine with meals? 

 

I gather the traditional, inexpensive Balinese-style hotel right opposite, where I stayed during Nyepi, has been turned into a swanky, upmarket joint that costs several arms and legs. I used to eat my breakfast of tropical fruits and omelette served by a houseboy on a rickety balcony overlooking a river where local women would troop each morning to bathe and wash their luxuriant hair, as no doubt they had for centuries. Garden of Eden stuff.

 

My dominent memories of Ubud are the endless art galleries and exhibitions, and of the friendliness, good humour and innate curiosity of the mostly-Hindu inhabitants, and their seemingly endless and immensely colourful parades to and from  the town's tranquil semi-subterranean temple. Wonderful, safe walking for visitors, too, on footpaths across the surrounding hills.

 

Just recalling the sights, smells and sounds of the place, I'm tempted . . but they say never go back. And usually, in my experience, with good reason.

[White Christmas13]

48 minutes ago, whimsicalmike said:

you must be a pom. Typical pom trying to tell the Australians what the Australian slang means.

Pom is only part of it. The full terminology is Bloody Pommy Bastard

Fortunately I am not a pom I am Australian since 40 some thing years

and I do know Australian slang cobber I just don't want to be rude