Real Exchange Rate For an Expat

[JamesL1972]

Hi everyone,

 

What would you all say the true exchange rate is? Living like an expat, not a Thai.

 

It’s been floating around 40 baht to £1 for a while now. But I just don’t think I get £1 worth from my 40 baht.

 

For example, Poundland in the UK is the equivalent to a 40 baht shop. I couldn’t dream of going into Villa and picking up a slab of Dairy Milk for 40 baht. Or a box of PG Tips for 40 baht. Those 2 at Villa would cost about 400 baht.

 

So my question is, how much baht would you need to get the same amount of things £1,000 would get you in UK?

 

It should be 40,000 but I have a feeling it’s closer to 80,000....

All opinions welcome...

[blackcab]

If you want to compare imported products and you choose to shop in Villa, which can be one of the most expensive shops in Thailand then nobody will be surprised you are not getting value for money compared to shopping in the UK.

 

You wouldn't be able to buy a portion of Thai food in the UK for £1, but it's easy to do in Thailand for 40 baht.

[JamesL1972]

That's why I stated living like an expat. Not everyone enjoys eating 40 baht street food.

[bert bloggs]

Just buy local produce ,tea is cheap dont eat dairy milk ,all imports are expensive ,petrol is very cheap ,our maintainance charge is about 3000 baht a year,rubbish collected twice a week ,take everything ,how much would council tax be back home? horses for courses ,we do spend a bit more than 40k a month ,but nowhere near 80k 

[Moonlover]

Have you bought any fuel just lately @JamesL1972?

[bert bloggs]

1 minute ago, JamesL1972 said:

That's why I stated living like an expat. Not everyone enjoys eating 40 baht street food.

so why live here? integrate ,eat local food ,its your home ,or are you a (tourist expat?0

[Henryford]

Cigarettes in Thailand 60 baht, in the UK 500 baht. Petrol in the UK 50 baht a litre in Thailand 18. You win some lose some.

[JamesL1972]

Please pay attention to the living like an expat part. I'm fully aware there are cheap products available in Thailand. If your only input is "ciggies are cheaper here" then please don't comment.

[Henryford]

Don't expats smoke? most of my expat friends do.

[OneeyedJohn]

If you don't like the comments then don't start pointless, waste of time threads.

Find something better to do.

[Moonlover]

12 minutes ago, JamesL1972 said:

That's why I stated living like an expat. Not everyone enjoys eating 40 baht street food.

And there you go again. What does 'living like an expat mean?'

 

I and many others live a simple village life and have never been anywhere near a Villa supermarket.

 

Others live in grand houses or penthouse apartments and live the high life. And there are many hues in between. There is no 'one size fits all' when it comes to 'living like an expat'. 

 

[bert bloggs]

2 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Don't expats smoke? most of my expat friends do.

gave up smoking when they hit about 2 shillings for 20 ,wow ,that was a long time ago ,mind you i used to like  home rolled ciggies called marua,marijuna ,or something like that????

[luckyluke]

Stay here in Thailand permanently since 2000.

I don't eat Thai dishes.

I cook myself, so buy Thai meat, vegetables, fruit...is rather cheap.

Imported cheeses, ham, salami, chocolate...are quite expensive.

But total more-less same amount I monthly spend when I am on visit in Belgium. 

I rent an apartment when I am in Belgium and also cook there.

[VocalNeal]

James,

 

Go and look in Maakro one day and compare. As has been said Villa is , if you wish, the Waitrose of Thailand.

[CharlieH]

"I just don’t think I get £1 worth from my 40 baht."

 

I would say you get more ? and certainly a better standard of living to boot. That's why the majority of expats are here to start with.

Not as good as the 65 when I first came but still better than the UK for sure.

[tgw]

30 minutes ago, JamesL1972 said:

That's why I stated living like an expat. Not everyone enjoys eating 40 baht street food.

I guess many expats living in Thailand do enjoy 40 baht streetfood. I do.

 

But try to buy one kilo of mangoes for 1 GBP in the UK....

[Expattaff1308]

Dont compare makes life so much easier.

[chuang]

32 minutes ago, JamesL1972 said:

That's why I stated living like an expat. Not everyone enjoys eating 40 baht street food.

Then don't complain ????

[CharlieH]

Lunch for Two in air-con modern Cafe = 130 baht total. 

So its not street food, try the same or near for 3.50 in the UK 

 

 

 

[BobbyL]

If you want to buy solely imported western products, then yes you will pay far more than 40,000THB. You basically answered that in your opening post. 

 

Living like an expat doesn't involve buying solely western produce. I live a very easy expat lifestyle here and some weeks might spend 4000THB at the supermarket buying things like cheese, good coffee, snacks, imported olive oil, sausages etc. Other weeks, maybe only 1000 - 2000THB if I am just buying the essential stuff like vegetables, pasta, meat etc. 

 

[BritManToo]

52 minutes ago, JamesL1972 said:

So my question is, how much baht would you need to get the same amount of things £1,000 would get you in UK?

Buying a new 3 bedroom house on a 90% mortgage = 285 pounds/month (inc council fees).

No need to compare the value of any other items.

[Pravda]

1 hour ago, Henryford said:

Cigarettes in Thailand 60 baht, in the UK 500 baht. Petrol in the UK 50 baht a litre in Thailand 18. You win some lose some.

 

That's a win to you?

[1FinickyOne]

1 hour ago, JamesL1972 said:

a box of PG Tips for 40 baht.

isn't that a British tea? How could it be cheaper here then back home? 

 

you gotta go apples to apples... 

 

for example... how much is the television tax there and here? 

 

how about a foot massage? etc..

[CharlieK]

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

James,

 

Go and look in Maakro one day and compare. As has been said Villa is , if you wish, the Waitrose of Thailand.

Waitrose of Thailand would be Tops!

[seajae]

living like an expat?, we all are expats and live here, I still buy western food at times but eat a lot of local food because its great and cheap. Bought heaps of stuff over the years, paid almost 3 times as much for a BBQ than I would in Australia when I first got here but accepted it as it had to be imported and taxed, same as anything from overseas does when it went to Australia. Its the same with food, wine, cheese etc, you want imported food you will pay the extra so you cannot use that as a comparison in money value sense, for that you have to compare the same products  in each country, as mentioned houses here are so much cheaper it isnt funny, same with petrol and a lot of machinery. I bought a honda brush cutter and 2" water pump here for $650 for both, in Australia it would have been $800 just for the brush cutter and around the same for the pump, clothes are way cheaper and food prices are excellent, top restaurants selling "expat" food are very comparable to western countries and even cheaper, of course you want to buy from just the most expensive shops you will pay more but buying from supermarkets etc prices are fine. I buy top cuts of beef imported from Australia & NZ and prices are virtually the same as they were there, vegetables are a lot cheaper as is fruit, mangosteens were $3  each in Australia, here I get a big bag of them for the same price, same with all other fruit and  it tastes a lot better, looks to me you are just looking for something to whinge about as most expats in here will disagree with you, living here is a lot cheaper than living back home

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, CharlieK said:

Waitrose of Thailand would be Tops!

So what is Villa? M&S?

[CharlieK]

8 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

So what is Villa? M&S?

Fortnum & Mason. 555

[transam]

If you go to a Rolls Royce showroom and ask how much is a service, they will tell you, "You can't afford a Rolls Royce Sir".

Seems you can't afford LOS.......????..............................????

.

[whiteman]

so many cheap charlies on here you only live once

[luckyluke]

11 minutes ago, whiteman said:

so many cheap charlies on here you only live once

 

Everything is relative.

 

I stay now and then in Bangkok/Thonglor for a month or more.

 The price I paid there is nearly the double I paid here at MaxxCity, for the same surface.

 

People living permanently in Thonglor, may consider the people living in Pattaya as cheap charlies.