How Much for a Decent Life in Thailand?

[Mike Teavee]

9 hours ago, Neeranam said:

It is in a sense. Those earning 40k a month will say that is enough for a good life here. In my experience it certainly is not. Those earning 200k will say they need that. 

I've experienced both limits and could get by on 40-50k but it wouldn't be much fun when kids got older. Also, I couldn't have a decent pension. I just cashed out my SS payment, only 180,000 for 15 years payments. I have to wait for 12 years until I get a state pension of 28,000 a month. I should be set, as I've been putting some away for a few year,s including Bitcoin and other cryptos. Bought Bitcoin at $1000($15,500 now). 

I'm assuming you've been paying AVCs while working overseas (should be able to pay at Class 2 rates which is around £155 per year rather than £800). 

 

35 years of payments for the maximum £9,100 pa (approx £760 pm), every year less than 35 reduces this by £260 pa (approx £22 pm),  less than 10 years and you get nothing.... 

 

Easy to check your contributions online... https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

 

 

Back to OP, I live in Bangkok with the GF & this year my monthly spend has ranged from 60k (during lock down) to 165K  (when we took a 3 week tour the islands), at a very high level my "Fixed" spend is 70K:-

• GF - 15K (I asked her to quit her job so we could travel/spend more time together, she was working in a mall 2 hours away, earning around this (with commission). 
• Rent - 20K
• Utilities around 5K
• Groceries/"Adhoc" - 30K (No alcohol, I don't drink at home, but I do buy a lot of cheese & beef  & spend about 4K pm on Korean sauces/spices)

Add in 10K per week going out for dinner, drinks with mates and it's easy to get to around 110K pm (my average for the 1st 10 months of the year is 113K but that also includes another 3 week holiday in March just before the lock down).

 

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by Mike Teavee

[Neeranam]

6 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

I forgot to add. Home built and paid for.

I assume on money you brought to Thailand.

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

I'm assuming you've been paying AVCs while working overseas (should be able to pay at Class 2 rates which is around £155 per year rather than £800). 

 

35 years of payments for the maximum £9,100 pa (approx £760 pm), every year less than 35 reduces this by £260 pa (approx £22 pm),  less than 10 years and you get nothing.... 

 I paid back 10 years at once, around 4 years ago and paying 155 quid a year. 

[Neeranam]

4 hours ago, sweetserenity said:

I am planning to buy a car myself, but only in the 60-100k baht range and was wondering how much the maintenance + insurance cost would be on such a car, 15years+ old. And 9.5k a month is with benzin included i assume since 12k a year for maintenance + insurance is 24k right?

Benzene is hard to get these days. Gasohol is not good for old cars.

Compulsory insurance is next to nothing, that and tax is maybe 2000 baht a year. My insurance and tax are 15k a year.

Cars over 15 years break down a lot, maybe keep 1000 baht  a month. I advise buy one at around 10 years old and you can sell it for not much less at 15 years old.

 

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Back to OP, I live in Bangkok with the GF & this year my monthly spend has ranged from 60k (during lock down) to 165K  (when we took a 3 week tour the islands), at a very high level my "Fixed" spend is 70K:-

• GF - 15K (I asked her to quit her job so we could travel/spend more time together, she was working in a mall 2 hours away, earning around this (with commission). 
• Rent - 20K
• Utilities around 5K
• Groceries/"Adhoc" - 30K (No alcohol, I don't drink at home, but I do buy a lot of cheese & beef  & spend about 4K pm on Korean sauces/spices)

Add in 10K per week going out for dinner, drinks with mates and it's easy to get to around 110K pm (my average for the 1st 10 months of the year is 113K but that also includes another 3 week holiday in March just before the lock down).

How much do you think you'd spend with teenage kids at school!? No car?

[youreavinalaff]

39 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I assume on money you brought to Thailand.

No. I arrived in Thailand with next to nothing 20 years ago. Have worked as a teacher since then. My wife has also worked and set up a small business for herself. We saved the money to build our house while working in  Thailand. 

[Mike Teavee]

6 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

How much do you think you'd spend with teenage kids at school!? No car?

A lot more than I do now!!! Though as I'm retired & so don't have to live in Bangkok, I probably wouldn't live here if I had kids.  If forced to put a number on it I would say an extra 40-50K per child to cover (middle level) schooling + some additional expenses, I think I would spend much less going out for dinner/drinks with my friends so some of my current expenses would reduce & would guesstimate a budget of around 180K pm assuming 2 kids.

 

The stairs to the BTS Station are about about 15 feet away from the pedestrian gate of my condo block so I don't bother with a car,  I got out of the habit of owning one when I lived in Singapore so haven't owned one for approx 12 years, but I always said that the only reason I would get a car there (& in Bangkok) would be if I needed it for work or had kids, so add on an extra 20K pm for a car (would buy the car for cash) & we're at around 200K (& me looking for a job!) 

 

I know some guys can live on a lot, lot less than this & some guys can spend this just on their kids schooling (friend of mine spends 150K for his 10 & 8 year old to attend an international school in Rayong, but he's still working so can afford it)

 

FWIW I used to spend approx (equivalent of) 160-200,000 THB pm when I was living in Singapore & around 90,000 of this was for rent, but again no kids & no car and TBH once rent is out of the way you can live quite cheaply in Singapore (I certainly earned more & paid less tax there than I would have in the same role in Thailand). 

  

 

[sweetserenity]

2 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Benzene is hard to get these days. Gasohol is not good for old cars.

Compulsory insurance is next to nothing, that and tax is maybe 2000 baht a year. My insurance and tax are 15k a year.

Cars over 15 years break down a lot, maybe keep 1000 baht  a month. I advise buy one at around 10 years old and you can sell it for not much less at 15 years old.

 

Do you have any websites besides one2car that i could look at? and thanks a lot for this vital information..

[youreavinalaff]

5 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

A lot more than I do now!!! Though as I'm retired & so don't have to live in Bangkok, I probably wouldn't live here if I had kids.  If forced to put a number on it I would say an extra 40-50K per child to cover (middle level) schooling + some additional expenses, I think I would spend much less going out for dinner/drinks with my friends so some of my current expenses would reduce & would guesstimate a budget of around 180K pm assuming 2 kids.

 

The stairs to the BTS Station are about about 15 feet away from the pedestrian gate of my condo block so I don't bother with a car,  I got out of the habit of owning one when I lived in Singapore so haven't owned one for approx 12 years, but I always said that the only reason I would get a car there (& in Bangkok) would be if I needed it for work or had kids, so add on an extra 20K pm for a car (would buy the car for cash) & we're at around 200K (& me looking for a job!) 

 

I know some guys can live on a lot, lot less than this & some guys can spend this just on their kids schooling (friend of mine spends 150K for his 10 & 8 year old to attend an international school in Rayong, but he's still working so can afford it)

 

FWIW I used to spend approx (equivalent of) 160-200,000 THB pm when I was living in Singapore & around 90,000 of this was for rent, but again no kids & no car and TBH once rent is out of the way you can live quite cheaply in Singapore (I certainly earned more & paid less tax there than I would have in the same role in Thailand). 

  

 

40-50k per child per.....month? Year?

[vukovar77]

From my point of view it is very possible to have really good life here for 30 K if You can speak language and You can eat domestic food .In general decent and wealthy people are not 

talking about spending 100-200 K per month or so. These people have mostly some frustrations and can not socialize well. So they need "big money talk" to feel better ,cos. many flaws .

[bkk6060]

100,000 a month girls, golf, travel and fun.

[BTB1977]

With a wife and kids 100,000+ a month.  Too bad your wife can't contribute.  Better luck next time. 

[luckyluke]

" Decent " is a very relative concept.

 

For instance, I like daily a " decent " breakfast,

 

this consist of an Espresso from a machine, French, soft cheese, and German or Italian ham.

 

For others it involve a M-150,  a Khao-Pad Kai.

 

Thus both "decent",

only the cost is different.

[Neeranam]

5 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

40-50k per child per.....month? Year?

This would be per month if they went to international school. 

 

My kids, more like 10k a month/child for average EP schools in Isarn, plus extras like 40k a year flights, clothes etc. 

[Neeranam]

5 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

For others it involve a M-150,  a Khao-Pad Kai.

 

20+ years ago it was Mama noodles and Sang Thip. 

[luckyluke]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

20+ years ago it was Mama noodles and Sang Thip. 

 

Still popular stuff.

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, vukovar77 said:

From my point of view it is very possible to have really good life here for 30 K if You can speak language and You can eat domestic food .In general decent and wealthy people are not 

talking about spending 100-200 K per month or so. These people have mostly some frustrations and can not socialize well. So they need "big money talk" to feel better ,cos. many flaws .

I remember writing similar things when I joined this forum. Things change, good luck. 

Looking back, I was living in a horrible house for 3,000 a month and driving a 50,000 baht car, which I had borrowed the cash. Living hand to mouth is not fun, regardless of what I told myself, and others. 30k a month is NOT enough to live a decent life. For a few years you could get by if single. 

 

[Neeranam]

5 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

 

Still popular stuff.

Never see it these days. 

[Neeranam]

25 minutes ago, BTB1977 said:

With a wife and kids 100,000+ a month.  Too bad your wife can't contribute.  Better luck next time. 

That's funny. When I met my wife, I was seeing a rich bird. Had a red plated BMW and her own shop on Khao San Road. Love has nothing to do with money. 

[Mike Teavee]

5 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

40-50k per child per.....month? Year?

Per month, most of it for a (1/2) decent school.

 

I should stress that I'm guessing here & basing my guess on the fact that one of my friends pays 150K pm for his 2 kids to attend a very good international school.  As mentioned he's still working so can afford this but only has 1 option for an international school near to where he works, I'm retired & at 54 don't want anymore kids but could easily up sticks & move to where decent schooling was available at a more affordable price if I had to. 

  

 

 

 

[Neeranam]

15 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Per month, most of it for a (1/2) decent school.

 

I should stress that I'm guessing here & basing my guess on the fact that one of my friends pays 150K pm for his 2 kids to attend a very good international school.  As mentioned he's still working so can afford this but only has 1 option for an international school near to where he works, I'm retired & at 54 don't want anymore kids but could easily up sticks & move to where decent schooling was available at a more affordable price if I had to. 

  

 

 

 

That's a very good school. In Isarn, a half-decent school costs around 100k a YEAR. 

[Neeranam]

9 hours ago, sweetserenity said:

Do you have any websites besides one2car that i could look at? and thanks a lot for this vital information..

Sorry, no.

I'm looking at a Mazda 2 for my daughter. I saw a 6 -year old one for 250,000 baht. this is a decent car and will not have monthly repair bills like an older one. 

[Mike Teavee]

28 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

That's a very good school. In Isarn, a half-decent school costs around 100k a YEAR. 

I've just checked the School Fee structure on their website & have misunderstood him when he said 150K per month for both girls schooling fees, the approx annual fees are:-

• 500K pa basic tuition fees 
• 78K pa English as an additional language fees (Interestingly when we visited to pick the kids up, all the kids were playing & chatting with each other in English, some having to translate for their mums - his kids are already tri-lingual & he wants them to start learning Mandarin) 
• 22K pa for School meals (lunch & snacks)

So approximately 600K pa per child which is 50K per month rather than the 75K I thought he said... Add on Uniforms, School Projects (they were building a hovercraft when I visited), School Trips etc.... & it's easy to see how this can get to > 60-70K per child pm easily. 

 

As mentioned, this is in Rayong so I would imagine the equivalent in Bangkok to be higher than this, for anybody who's interested I came across this site https://www.edarabia.com/thailand-school-fees/ with a list of schools & basic fees... 

  

 

I'll stick by my estimate of having a kid would cost me an additional 40-50K per month.... And with that I'm off to price up a vasectomy!

 

 

Edited November 11, 2020 by Mike Teavee

[Caldera]

Teachers in my home country cannot afford to dine out at the best restaurant in town once per week. Why would a foreign teacher in Thailand expect to be able to do that? Sure, there are some who can, but most cannot, so maybe a more sensible approach would be to compare apples with apples: What kind of lifestyle would those who think about coming to Thailand have in their home country? Different people, different answers - different conclusions regarding the viability of such a move!

[Neeranam]

20 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

So approximately 600K pa per child which is 50K per month rather than the 75K I thought he said... Add on Uniforms, School Projects (they were building a hovercraft when I visited), School Trips etc.... & it's easy to see how this can get to > 60-70K per child pm easily. 

There are so many extras! 

Those here saying they could live a comfortable life on 40k are totally wrong.

This month I paid 6k for one kid's school trip to the beach. 7k for another's univerity/IELTS exams and 31k for a Macbook. Not counting monthly pocket money and toiletries. 

[Neeranam]

2 minutes ago, Caldera said:

Teachers in my home country cannot afford to dine out at the best restaurant in town once per week. Why would a foreign teacher in Thailand expect to be able to do that? Sure, there are some who can, but most cannot, so maybe a more sensible approach would be to compare apples with apples: What kind of lifestyle would those who think about coming to Thailand have in their home country? Different people, different answers - different conclusions regarding the viability of such a move!

The difference is the cost. We had pizza in the best Italian in town last Friday. 2000 baht/$70 for 4 people - 2 pizzas, one spaghetti carbonara, tomato bread starters, tiramisu, one gin and tonic, 8 cans of coke, two compilatory liqueurs, one large plate of chips. 2000

[allanos]

3 hours ago, vukovar77 said:

From my point of view it is very possible to have really good life here for 30 K if You can speak language and You can eat domestic food .In general decent and wealthy people are not 

talking about spending 100-200 K per month or so. These people have mostly some frustrations and can not socialize well. So they need "big money talk" to feel better ,cos. many flaws .

Well said! You're talking about their insecurities. They feel more "anchored" if they can come on the public fora and boast about high earnings, how they have "made it" in life. Many of us in the same league are more grounded, and are not motivated to do the same.

 

It is said that those who say that money can't buy happiness just don't know where to shop!

 

That said, one thing money cannot buy is "class". We have seen the evidence today.

[wolf81]

1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

I've just checked the School Fee structure on their website & have misunderstood him when he said 150K per month for both girls schooling fees, the approx annual fees are:-

• 500K pa basic tuition fees 
• 78K pa English as an additional language fees (Interestingly when we visited to pick the kids up, all the kids were playing & chatting with each other in English, some having to translate for their mums - his kids are already tri-lingual & he wants them to start learning Mandarin) 
• 22K pa for School meals (lunch & snacks)

So approximately 600K pa per child which is 50K per month rather than the 75K I thought he said... Add on Uniforms, School Projects (they were building a hovercraft when I visited), School Trips etc.... & it's easy to see how this can get to > 60-70K per child pm easily. 

 

As mentioned, this is in Rayong so I would imagine the equivalent in Bangkok to be higher than this, for anybody who's interested I came across this site https://www.edarabia.com/thailand-school-fees/ with a list of schools & basic fees... 

 

Seems in Hua Hin there's some decent schools at a bit lower price. It's what I'm considering for my daughter when she's a bit older. Might be a decent option for people living in Rayong with children. Seems you still get most of the advantages of a bigger coastal city (good schools, beach, international restaurants, cinema, etc...),  with lower price. Of course not a party town, so you'd miss out on that.

 

But currently living in the sticks and private school fees here are ~10.000 THB per 5 months for our 3.5 year old daughter.

 

Our monthly budget for the general stuff (food, clothes, local trips and restaurants, gasoline, electric, etc...) is at around 45.000 THB. We paid for house and car, so none of this budget is spent on paying back loans.

 

Some incidental stuff (health insurance, new furniture, etc...) might raise the average monthly budget to around 60.000 THB, I would guess. 

 

[Curmudgeonly59]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

two compilatory liqueurs

Ahh! Those fiendish compilatory liqueurs again! Lucky you're on a teacher's salary!

[Neeranam]

9 minutes ago, Curmudgeonly59 said:

Ahh! Those fiendish compilatory liqueurs again! Lucky you're on a teacher's salary!

I never drank them. Are you teacher?