How Much To Live In Thailand ?

[Gary A]

Kind of fun and pretty accurate calculator:

http://www.retiredexpat.com/living-in-thai...-calculator.php

[smartecosse]

need to get another aprtment, i'm paying wwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much according to that

[soundman]

Using the calculator i came up with a figure of 184,296B per month!!! A good exercise but not that accurate.. As I don't spend anywhere near this per month. (However, fairly close on some items)

A bit of fun to run through different scenarios.

Soundman.

[think_too_mut]

deleted by TTM

Edited April 2, 2007 by think_too_mut

[farangsay]

Interesting.

While costs for accommodation seem to vary according to location those for

beer and "companionship" seem to be constant nationwide.

Also the latter seems to be costed at 6495b/month on a once-a-week

basis. This seemed a strange number as the probable multiple of 4.3

weeks in a month produces a unit cost of 1510b. Maybe the people

behind this have done exhaustive (exhausting?) research and have

averaged their findings.

I sense real dedication to keeping the public informed.

[toptuan]

Upcountry calculations are right on the money! In fact I just sent the link to a friend in the West who is contemplating moving here, and had just asked about monthly expenses. Great tool. I happened to correspond quite a while ago with the creator of this tool while it was in development, and can testify that he did his homework!

I surmise that abnormal totals are just that--you probably entered some wildly abnormal factor or misread an instruction on one of the fields, and didn't notice it. Otherwise it should be, as my Brit friends say, "spot on!"

[jdinasia]

need to get another aprtment, i'm paying wwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much according to that

and I am paying far too little for my basic house near the beach!

but all in all it is probably not tooooooo far off

[PeaceBlondie]

It came up with a monthly cost of HALF what my records show I've spent from Dec. through March.I'll go back and adjust the food, or something. Actually, it came close to a number of main factors, such as rent and electricity.

[sfokevin]

Using the calculator i came up with a figure of 184,296B per month!!!

A bit of fun to run through different scenarios.

Soundman.

Assume you were high on the Golf & Companionship quotient?...

[jayenram]

The one item that appeared well out for up country is rent.

According to the calculator, renting a small house 'up country' should cost Bht 15,000 p.m. I know of no-one around here who pays more than Bht 5,000 p.m.

I'd also dispute the cost of "cheap beer". The calculator uses Bht 35 per 'drink' which I assume is a pint (640 ml) bottle. I'd better speak to the F*t G*t on this one.

[naka]

Didn't work for me.

The drinks per session box stopped at 6 ... That's right Six.

Naka.

[PeaceBlondie]

Also, the drinks section had no option for Pepsi Max. Boyfriend bought me 40 more 1.25 liter bottles last night at about 22 baht per bottle. That should keep me for 2 or 3 weeks. But the housing was pretty close for Chiang Mai outskirts, small house, tight budget. Counting the moo baht maintenance fee, we're paying 7,000 baht for two bedrooms, two toilets, big sala, etc.

Overall, it's a nice attempt. But, unless you already know what you're spending, you might be unaware of 8,000 or 18,000 of unlisted expenses per month. It still only calculates 60% of my spending, after I plug in the obvious expenses they don't list.

[thaihome]

No option in housing for owning condo or house, but I guess you can just subtract the rent from the budget tehy give you. Also, in the activity section should be a place to enter yearly golf membership fees in addition to each time cost.

Most other things were pretty accurate.

TH

[youthnasia]

Does Companionship/week (1 time) really cost 6,495 THB??

[soundman]

Didn't work for me.

The drinks per session box stopped at 6 ... That's right Six.

Naka.

Or maximum seven companions per week. (Now where's the emoticon for that??)

Soundman.

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

What about the line 'companionship' ... :D

only in Thailand are you asked to budget for paying for sex! May I suggest that if you filled this line in, you fall under the well-documented 'unwanted' category of expats.

[Gary A]

What about the line 'companionship' ... :D

only in Thailand are you asked to budget for paying for sex! May I suggest that if you filled this line in, you fall under the well-documented 'unwanted' category of expats.

I wondered about that. Is being married free?

[Thaddeus]

What about the line 'companionship' ... :D

only in Thailand are you asked to budget for paying for sex! May I suggest that if you filled this line in, you fall under the well-documented 'unwanted' category of expats.

I wondered about that. Is being married free?

It most certainly isn't

And I'm overspending by 66 Baht a month

[Gary A]

What about the line 'companionship' ... :D

only in Thailand are you asked to budget for paying for sex! May I suggest that if you filled this line in, you fall under the well-documented 'unwanted' category of expats.

I wondered about that. Is being married free?

It most certainly isn't

And I'm overspending by 66 Baht a month

Total Monthly Budget 24,308

The interesting thing is that it estimated my monthly rent at 7,500. I don't pay rent. I give my wife 20,000 baht per month and she pays all the regular household bills. Am I giving her too much?

[Thaddeus]

I'd say that's about right Gary.

(saying it very quietly so as the 'you can't live on that' brigade don't hear)

[LivinLOS]

Does Companionship/week (1 time) really cost 6,495 THB??

1 time per week.. Total bill in a month..

The calculator actually gave a figure that is almost precisely what my actual budget should be each month (I do tend to blow over my specified budget.. Things I consider off budget expenses) it was basically 1k baht out.. Not bad for estimate.

However it overstated my rent by a major factor, understated utilities and other bills by a lot.. Also the great intangibles seem to be what eats a lot of budget for me..

All that said impressed by the fact that after balancing out ups and downs it actually hit my budget spot on..

[blizzard]

judging by the looks of many of the long time companions id say about 7,ooo a week is just about right.

[Wellyoudidask]

Kind of fun and pretty accurate calculator:

http://www.retiredexpat.com/living-in-thai...-calculator.php

Cost me 100.000GPB between 2000 and 02, i went a little crazy !

[expatgaz]

Says I need 157,000 Baht a month.A little high I reckon.Mind you it put my rent at 60,000 a month and I own so I guess it's around 100,000 which is pretty accurate.

[Juzrelax]

Didn't work for me.

The drinks per session box stopped at 6 ... That's right Six.

Naka.

Hahaha, I agree, 6 drinks........It must refer to the drinks you have before you leave the apartment to go to the pub!

[Juzrelax]

What about the line 'companionship' ...

only in Thailand are you asked to budget for paying for sex! May I suggest that if you filled this line in, you fall under the well-documented 'unwanted' category of expats.

In the words of George Costanza.....'Using a parking garage is like sex, why pay for it, when if I apply myself I might get it for free'

Edited April 30, 2007 by Juzrelax

[corkscrew]

Kind of fun and pretty accurate calculator:

http://www.retiredexpat.com/living-in-thai...-calculator.php

You are right...pretty accurate.

[klikster]

I ran across this by accident and wondered if the folks who had honest criticisms of the factors I used can suggest what what my errors might be. I'll be more than happy to correct anything substantial.

To answer one post .. yes, lots of research .. including 12 years here full time .. living in the North, Bangkok, Pattaya, Central Coast .. and genuine help from a couple of guys on the forum.