How Do You Make A Living In Thailand?

[sgunn65]

I was in the British Army for 25 years and retired at

40... just enough for a pension.

Absolute <deleted>. You joined the army at 15 years of age.

Soundman.

soundman, i can see an apology coming, if fabianfred left the army in 1991, after 25 years service, that means he enlisted in 1966, as far as i can remember, the school leaving age in 1966 was still 15 years of age.

Yes I can confirm that. My son (who is currently on active service in Afghanistan) joined the Junior Army at 16 years 3 months. He has almost 4 years service now but his pension entitlement did not start until he joined the regulars at 17.

he may have needed his parents permission to join up, and his active service years probably didnt start until he was 18, so he would have left with a 22 year pension.

i may be mistaken, but from what i remember it is still possible to join the armed forces today at 16 years old with parents permission.

no doubt another poster will come along and confirm if my memory is right or wrong

[Dakhar]

make my living day by day

[blizzard]

get on the online poker bandwagon. not hard if you so inclined. make more than average thai worker.

red star poker. lots of silly players. but could use more.

Edited June 4, 2007 by blizzard

[soundman]

I was in the British Army for 25 years and retired at

40... just enough for a pension.

Absolute <deleted>. You joined the army at 15 years of age.

Soundman.

I enlisted in 1967 at the age of 15 as an army apprentice and spent two years learning my trade in Carlisle... 1969 posted to Sharjah with The Life Guards

pensionable service runs for 22 years from the age of 18... if joined before that age

Looks like my <deleted> are in the vice. From the many posts on the subject I stand corrected.... I had no idea you could enlist in the military at that tender an age - or take a pension so young. 40 Years old - thats when a man is in his prime....

Cheers,

Soundman.

[fabianfred]

I was in the British Army for 25 years and retired at

40... just enough for a pension.

Absolute <deleted>. You joined the army at 15 years of age.

Soundman.

I enlisted in 1967 at the age of 15 as an army apprentice and spent two years learning my trade in Carlisle... 1969 posted to Sharjah with The Life Guards

pensionable service runs for 22 years from the age of 18... if joined before that age

Looks like my <deleted> are in the vice. From the many posts on the subject I stand corrected.... I had no idea you could enlist in the military at that tender an age - or take a pension so young. 40 Years old - thats when a man is in his prime....

Cheers,

Soundman.

we are all fond of our own opinions and like to stand by our guns in the face of opposition...

... but it takes a real man to admit he is wrong

you are such a one

[LinkPopularity]

To be comfortable here you need an income of at least 100K baht a month. That gives ample cushion to save money for a rainy day.

You can of course live like a rural thai person on 6K a month but that's not an appealing option for most.

And of course foreigners have come here and become monks for 30 years. Which is fine but I imagine even being a monks requires some income.

it's how you use the owrds ...

you can live very comfortable with 20K ... very comfortable !

question is how much luxury you need !

[LinkPopularity]

To be comfortable here you need an income of at least 100K baht a month. That gives ample cushion to save money for a rainy day.

You can of course live like a rural thai person on 6K a month but that's not an appealing option for most.

And of course foreigners have come here and become monks for 30 years. Which is fine but I imagine even being a monks requires some income.

BS !

you can live very comfortable with 20K ... very, very comfortable !

the question is how much luxury you need !

[Pepe']

I don't I live in San Diego. But for one month per year I help Many Thais make their living and glad to do it...

[HB2010]

Not sure if this should be a separate topic, but I need some advice. Can I survive living in Thailand, in a middle class way ( I'm from the USA), with 4.1M baht in a savings account paying 5.05%? I would be paying monthly, just for an apartment and my Thai partner is wanting to pay our utilities, internet, food each month from his salary. We might be living in Hua Hin. He will be sending to his mother on a monthly basis a part of his salary. I also receive from a trust, dividends paying 40,000 Baht quarterly and I'll receive another 4.1M Baht in 4 years. I'm over 50, so I can't get a job. Any advice? Thanks!

[qwertz]

Gabriel, directly linked to what you need to earn is what you want to spend.

Go about it like many guys over there and you'll soon be struggling for readies.

If you get out a lot, maybe you don't need a palatial house.

But then you'll spend more because farangs are charged more.

However, your Thai partner should help to keep costs down.

If you're a homebody then you may need more space. Ergo, more rent/mortgage.

I'm used to modest living so I could manage very well on your suggested budget.

See what the others think.

[LinkPopularity]

Not sure if this should be a separate topic, but I need some advice. Can I survive living in Thailand, in a middle class way ( I'm from the USA), with 4.1M baht in a savings account paying 5.05%? I would be paying monthly, just for an apartment and my Thai partner is wanting to pay our utilities, internet, food each month from his salary. We might be living in Hua Hin. He will be sending to his mother on a monthly basis a part of his salary. I also receive from a trust, dividends paying 40,000 Baht quarterly and I'll receive another 4.1M Baht in 4 years. I'm over 50, so I can't get a job. Any advice? Thanks!

if my calculations are correct you get about 50.000 Baht per month ... that is more then enough !

of course we're all different, but if you think you don't have enough money, or need a lot of it etc. then you've probably never read any Buddhist books ... you don't have to become a hippie, but it's a very interesting philosophy that will help you to see the true value of life and it ain't money !

all those people on this forum going on about the minimum amount of money they need, should really read some more books, they don't need that money, they need more insight in life !

with 20.000 Baht every month you can already live very comfortable, so everything else you have extra is pure luxury !

Edited June 4, 2007 by LinkPopularity

[LinkPopularity]

anyway, back to the OP ...

I have something for you, it's not what I do, so I'm also not sure how much you can actually make with this, but I think it could be something good for you to get started ...

[MTW]

No, I don't think especially that 2 people can live in Thailand very well on this amount of money. You also have to take into consideration, the years that interest payments might be lower, the years the exchange rate sucks as well as some years you will have added expenses other than just the basics. Are you never going to buy a car? Never going to buy medical insurance? Do you ever want to buy a Newsweek magazine? Do you ever want to go and visit your parents or some people in your home country? From what money will you buy furniture, air cons, etc.

If you buy a mimimal house here that will take most or all of your savings. If you do not buy a house, you will be stuck paying inflated Thai rents for farangs, and your small amount of money will not keep up with inflation.

I would never suggest moving here with this amount of money, but other people live on much less than I do, so who can say??? It depends a lot on what you are used to living with.

[LinkPopularity]

No, I don't think especially that 2 people can live in Thailand very well on this amount of money. You also have to take into consideration, the years that interest payments might be lower, the years the exchange rate sucks as well as some years you will have added expenses other than just the basics. Are you never going to buy a car? Never going to buy medical insurance? Do you ever want to buy a Newsweek magazine? Do you ever want to go and visit your parents or some people in your home country? From what money will you buy furniture, air cons, etc.

If you buy a mimimal house here that will take most or all of your savings. If you do not buy a house, you will be stuck paying inflated Thai rents for farangs, and your small amount of money will not keep up with inflation.

I would never suggest moving here with this amount of money, but other people live on much less than I do, so who can say??? It depends a lot on what you are used to living with.

first of all, my parents are what you might consider 'rich', so I'm used to high standards of living !

Do I live with 20K ? No ! I spend more then that !

but I do know that my basic expenses are no more then 20K /month, evrything more I spend on luxury !

and yes a car is luxury !

I used to rent a house in Chiang Mai for 4.000 Baht, furnished, AC, fridge, even a washing machine etc, it was a big place with a big yard, very big ! and the gardener lived somewhere in the back for free, meaning he did the garden in return for the little house he had !

food ... 20 baht for a meal !

it all depends on your lifestyle, I don't need expensive clothes and sh!t like that to show of, I have my personality ;-)

anyway, it comes down again to the same thing ...

... you will be stuck paying inflated Thai rents for farangs ...

you just don't seem to know how to play the game ... I never pay farang prices !

[Jimjim]

Not sure if this should be a separate topic, but I need some advice. Can I survive living in Thailand, in a middle class way ( I'm from the USA), with 4.1M baht in a savings account paying 5.05%? I would be paying monthly, just for an apartment and my Thai partner is wanting to pay our utilities, internet, food each month from his salary. We might be living in Hua Hin. He will be sending to his mother on a monthly basis a part of his salary. I also receive from a trust, dividends paying 40,000 Baht quarterly and I'll receive another 4.1M Baht in 4 years. I'm over 50, so I can't get a job. Any advice? Thanks!

Yes, as others said, that sounds fine. You should have plenty of money if you live like an average person.

As for being over 50, you can work in Thailand if you get a job, work permit, and non-B immigrant visa. Nothing says you can't. You might want to try some teaching for a year if you get bored.

[HB2010]

Not sure if this should be a separate topic, but I need some advice. Can I survive living in Thailand, in a middle class way ( I'm from the USA), with 4.1M baht in a savings account paying 5.05%? I would be paying monthly, just for an apartment and my Thai partner is wanting to pay our utilities, internet, food each month from his salary. We might be living in Hua Hin. He will be sending to his mother on a monthly basis a part of his salary. I also receive from a trust, dividends paying 40,000 Baht quarterly and I'll receive another 4.1M Baht in 4 years. I'm over 50, so I can't get a job. Any advice? Thanks!

Yes, as others said, that sounds fine. You should have plenty of money if you live like an average person.

As for being over 50, you can work in Thailand if you get a job, work permit, and non-B immigrant visa. Nothing says you can't. You might want to try some teaching for a year if you get bored.

Thanks for all your advice/suggestions! I plan on renting for a long time. I've had the big homes and paid the huge property taxes and no more. I've sold most of my furniture, paintings, stuff I really had no use for. It boils down to people; familly and friends and not material stuff. I'll live like an average guy as I have this past year. It feels good!

As for working, I'll be on a retirement visa, not into those visa runs, so I can't get a work permit. Although, it would be nice to do something part time and getting paid. Some play money!

We will both save each month for those weekend snorkeling trips.

Thanks again for the advice.

[phibunmike]

Hi,

I haven't read the entire thread, so I apologise if this was covered elsewhere.

I see no harm in a 23 year old pursuing some of life's pleasures. I would also say to Ruperts that, contrary to his current opinion, there can still be a good life with lots of fun in one's 40's, 50's and beyond. If he doesn't see this where he lives, he will see it in an expat society.

But my idea was why not check out scuba diving, if that is of interest. Plenty of young people get work in dive resorts, make next to no money, have accommodation and perhaps food provided, and have an absolute blast. If you don't already have the right qualifications, you would have to get to at least dive master first, and then give it a try. Or save a bit in the UK, have a holiday in Thailand whilst doing the DM course, then continue to work for the place that trained you (not an uncommon scenario).

2 satangs....

Good luck

Mike

[wolfmanjack]

Wolfmanjack: I just reread you post.

Because you were so incensed by my words that you could not leave it well enough alone ???

I live in CM, and the cheapest massage is 120 bath and hour. Can you tell me where you get 30 baht an hour, and how you can possibly say that the most expensive is 70 baht??

I do not live in the city of chiang mai. I live in the province of chiang mai. It takes me a half hour to get to the city. Massages are much cheaper here. The 120 baht rates are for tourists. I go to the thai massage in the thai home. I get hair cuts for 20 baht and the guy does a good job. For anyone that wants to live on the cheap I would not live inside the city.

And a house for 3500 baht? Most studio apartments cost that much here.

Do you want me to post a picture of the house ? I can go take one especially for you.

I have rented a total of 3 houses in thailand before i built my own. The first one was in the san kam paeng area. 3 bedrooms 2 baths for 3,000 baht a month. the second house was by the airport lotus. 2 bedrooms 1 baht. 3,000 baht a month. The last house was in a moo ban within walking distance of the hang dong market. 2 stories, 110 square meters 3 bedrooms 2 baths. 3,500 baht per month. None of these houses required key money. The land lords did whatever maintenance that was needed.

I had aircon in the second house that i rented but only in the bedroom. my electric was always around 400-500 baht per month but that was with only 2 people. Do you want to know what my electric is now ??? I have 4 in my family plus 15 workers that live on the property which includes taking showers at least twice a day for each of them. No air in my house since it is well shaded and fans are enough. I do have aircon in my office. I also have quite a few machines that run 8 hours a day. Between my wife and kids all of the lights in the house are on all day. 2 TVs going all day. Refridge, hot water heater, and wash machine. My total bill is between 3,000 and 4,000 baht a month.

many of you that are living in town or in condos are paying much higher rates than you should be. My sister in law has several shops at the night bazaar. For 1 small shop they pay 1500 baht a month for only lights and a fan. No aircon. She is getting ripped off on electric as far as I am concerned.

As I said. Any one that wants to live on the cheap should not live in the city.

Many of us have to go for tourist visas, and even one trip, and one extension, will cost every three months what you pay in one year, if you plan it very cheaply.

WOW !!!!! You spend 20,000 every 3 months ???? How ??? I am not on a tourist visa.

Take a bus from chiang mai to maesai every 3 months. Around 500 baht round trip. Saves a lot. Even if you do the run every month it is only 500 baht for the bus and $10(340 baht) for the visa. If you pay in baht it is 500 baht so 1,000 baht every month is 12,000 per year. Why does the trip cost you 20,000 baht ?? I don't even spend that much when i go to Malaysia. Then again I don't party while I am there.

And 500 baht a month for clothes, for 4 people, with imported jeans?????

To be honest I am the only one that wears imported jeans. In 8 years i have purchased exactly 6 pair. I brought all of my clothes that I had in the USA with me when I moved. And I did state that in my previous post.This year is the first year that i have had to buy jeans and i bought 6 new pair at one shot.I am not the type of person that buys clothes to make myself feel good. The t shirt i am wearing right now is 15 years old. I have a lot of t-shirts. By the way you can get pretty good quality 100% cotton heavyweight tshirts in thailand for 120 baht if you know where to buy. Another poster mentioned he buys his shirts for 99 baht. My kids get cheap clothes and so does my wife. My kids because they are growing like a weed and are happy with the 39 baht t-shirts and shorts.They have more expensive clothes that My mother has sent them but they prefer the cheap ones with cartoon elephants and such. I know when my daughter gets older it will start costing me much more but that isn't the here and now. My wife buys cheap clothes because she likes a big variety. She buys most of them at the chinese market. The only items she spends a lot on in my opinion, are bras. i did buy my wife a bunch of GAP jeans that I got on sale at the factory outlet in seattle before i moved to thailand. She cut them all off to make shorts. After that i quit buying clothes for her.

I guess if you only buy one pair of jeans every eight years like you say for your sheets.

Why should i buy more sheets ?? they are not worn out !!! And no i did not buy my sheets with cartoon characters on them. One set has flowers and the other set is sort of checkered. the checkered set has a bottom fitted sheet with a flat top. the flower set is 2 flat sheets that my wife ties knots in the corners instead of just folding the corners under. I am sure they are not Egyptian cotton but who cares ?

And like I said. I brought a lot of jeans and shirts from the USA with me.

And no house repairs in 8 years? Even with the most well built Western home, I doubt that is possible unless you just decide not to do decent maintenance.

Maybe I am not doing decent maintenance. I have only painted my house once. My wife painted it once after that because she wanted a change. The saefco cement paint was only 240 baht a gallon. I have sprung a leak in the roof and I sent my worker up to fix it. My walls aren't cracked. My paint isn't peeling. What maintenance should I be doing ? My hot water heater still works. My fridge still works. I had my washing machine fixed once. it cost 900 baht. I have tile floors and the tiles aren't cracked. I am at a loss on what I am supposed to do for maintenance. Ohh Right I forgot. My kid broke one of my windows. That cost me something like 120 baht to fix. Not a big pain you see. (Pun Intended) My light bulbs do burn out once in a while but they do not cost much. I had to replace the starters in my lights once. I think they were 40 baht each. Again I am not a vain person. I do not have to change my furniture or the color of my house every year.

I would say that many people did not come to Thailand with the idea of living this frugally.

Up to them. No where did I say that a person has to live the way I do. I only pointed out that one can live. If you read another post from a while back I went into great detail on how a person, if they choose to and they did a little research before they bought or leased any land, could live very cheaply and ssstttrrrreettttccchhhh their income so it lasts to the end of each month. This involved growing some of your own food which I and several others do.

I admit that I do not have the money to go to Phukhet every couple of months on a budget of 35,000 per month but i get by and my point was that if I can get by with a family of 4 then he should be able to do so as a single person. Just so you understand. I choose to live this way right now so that my kids will have a future. I own my factory. The only thing I owe money on is my truck. All of the extra money i make goes back into the factory or into the farm. If I have an extra 20,000 baht I buy wood to stock pile for a new house. Or I invest in more plants. the money i make from the ag goes back into the ag. If every thing goes right by the time my kids are graduated from college they will not have to work. This is one of the reasons I get so pissed off when they change the visa rules. Every thing I make goes back into thailand except the 35,000 baht a month I choose to pay myself.

Take a look. Others are doing it also. They also agree that the average person does not need a maid or gardener.

Toptuan wrote.

I'm spending 10k per month in Isaan and saving another 25k.

Every calendar quarter I save enough money to travel anywhere in the world...which I do.

Personal priorities really do affect your financial level of satisfaction, don't they? rolleyes.gif

pokoal200 wrote

I realized now that we live in different kind of Word. Just out of interest. I have been teaching for two years, job is great, kids from 8-14 years are great, no problem at all. Just out of interest I give you my budget:

About

2000 baht a months – food (for two people)

4000 baht a month transport (two people- car and motorbike)

1000 baht a months – house expenditure, electricity etc.

500 bath a month – telephone

500 baht and insurance

1000 bath a month for clothes that is in excess. Tea shirts 99 baht.

Laundry? Have a washing machine

Gardener?.....God fun if you try yourself.

Pet food? They eat leftovers

Dog grooming?????

Maid? = what for? We can clean the house ourselves

Cosmetics? Gym membership? Golf? Spa treatment? What’s that? Nature, sea is free

Farang magazines- have computer, can find any news I want.

Vitamins? There is so much cheap fruit and vegetables, you think you need them?

Language lessons? Wife is a Thai teacher, but I think I am getting to old, my memory is slipping

[Neeranam]

Why should i buy more sheets ?? they are not worn out !!! And no i did not buy my sheets with cartoon characters on them. One set has flowers and the other set is sort of checkered. the checkered set has a bottom fitted sheet with a flat top. the flower set is 2 flat sheets that my wife ties knots in the corners instead of just folding the corners under. I am sure they are not Egyptian cotton but who cares ?

I had to buy a new bed last month for my eldest daughter as she is a 'big girl' now and can sleep in her own room. Therefore, I had to buy some 'Minnie Mou' sheets with pillow cases - cost a fortune(10,000). I had to buy a baby seat for my car and other baby accesories, which also cost a fortune(15,000). My car insurance had to be paid(6000) and new tyres(12,000). School fees were also due(9000). Kinda hard when my salary is only 30,000 and my car repayments are 7,000, rent 3000, etc etc. Like ALL things in Thailand - there are ways round ALL difficulties. I need supplementary income, which is easy to find after living her for 13 years. I need 40,000 a month to live in Khon Kaen very comfortably. If I didn't have kids, I'd need about 30,000.

It's a lot 'easier' to make a living here than my home country. Our new maid only gets 1000 a month!

[Naam]

gentlemen,

does it make sense to get hot over who is spending what amount for whatever expenses?

[wolfmanjack]

To Wolfmanjack:

I am not sure what your point is? My point is exactly what i said. If my family and many others that have posted here can live on 35,000 baht per month or less then a single person should have no problems doing so. Toptuan lives on 10,000 per month.My other point is that many of the items you mentioned are luxuries for most.

I stated in my post something about "it depends what you are used to, what your standard of living is, and where you live." This goes without saying. Some people think that a million dollars per year is not enough and others get by on almost nothing.

Re many of the costs that you mentioned as "set up costs" well the OP, as I remember is a young man and I don't believe he has the money to buy a house, auto, furniture, and business with his savings. And some of these things are not just set-up costs, as I expect I will have to buy another car before I die, as well as other things since I lost a whole house full of furniture, washing machines, air con, everything in a house basically, when 9 months after I moved here, my house was flooded and everything sat in 6 feet of water for 3 days. Even without that problem, I expect to have to replace furniture, computers, etc., sometimes.

Sorry to hear about your loss. With a little planning on his part and the warning in advance from you the OP should be able to avoid that scenario. I made it a point to build my house on high ground. Even then I built it 1 meter higher than than grade level. The thais that live close by thought I was nuts. They said the water will never get that high. They were right. It hasn't even reached my first step yet. I wasn't taking any chances though. As far as getting another car, when I am finished paying for this one i can use it for a down payment on a new one and keep paying the 10,000 per month. Or I could just keep this one going and save the 10,000 per month. Or whatever I need to do at the time. I never owned a brand new car until I came to thailand.

You seem to be living on a very frugal budget. I am glad you have that discipline. I did have a maid in the USA, and especially have one here, as well as a gardener, because I did not come here to clean and work all day in this heat. I would prefer to earn a higher rate of pay than a maid or gardener, and spend most of my time working, and pay others to do work I don't like to do.

You are lucky and one of the privileged few among some others on this board. Most people in this world never have a maid or gardener. i myself came from a very poor family and had to do these things just to have food in my belly. So did my brothers and sisters. I would find it no hardship if i had to do so here. As it is i have workers that come and do my planting and weeding when my factory is slow. With your electric bill and aircon your maid does not clean in this heat either i would venture to say.

Some people have a washing machine, but some people live in apartments and do not so therefore have to pay to get the clothes washed.

that is their choice. A thai made cheap washing machine is only a few thousand baht. When we first married my wife washed the clothes in a wash basin. Then I bought a cheap washer. Then I bought an expensive washer. The same with the fridge. If we wanted something better we saved for it.

And I am sorry to say, but living on 30,000 baht a month, for 4 people, would hardly get you set up money, if you were to come here as a young person to start your life.

I was not making 35,000 a month before i moved here. I only started making that after i moved to thailand. I worked 7 days a week 12 hours a day to make enough money to open my own business in the USA. I continued to work to support the business while my father helped me run it. Then I sold that business for enough to build my factory and house. When I first came i used red cars to get around. When my wife became pregnant i bought a car for 100,000 baht.

Also i was not spending 35,000 baht a month then either. It was only my wife and I. i was able to live on a lot less back then so i had extra money. By the time my second child was born i sold the 100,000 baht car and bought one for 200,000 baht. Isn't it obvious that i did not have 10,000 baht a month payments until i bought my new truck ? Therefore I had 10,000 per month extra that i could save for a down payment. Many of the items i listed as setup cost can be purchased gradually. He is only one person and if he wants to blow all of his money in the bars then that is up to him. If he wants to live on 10,000 a month like toptuan and use 20,000 a month to furnish his place then that is up to him also. It depends on what he wants in live but it can be done.

And medical bills and health insurance are not the same thing. I paid $350 a month for medical insurance in the USA and often had bills of $1000 a month that were not covered by insurance. While I know the bills are not that high here, insurance does not cover everything.

I don't know about that so much. My wife handles that. i know that when my wife had her surgery the only thing the insurance did not cover were the meals that I ate while staying in the room with her. She was in for almost a week and the surgery bill with private room was only 30,000 baht. Insurance paid. As far as i know there are no deductibles on our insurance like the policy i had in the USA. The last time my son had an infection in his foot i did not even turn it in to the insurance. I just went to the local hospital. the service of digging out the piece of wood that caused the infection and medicine was only 600 baht. I just paid it and did not bother to collect from insurance. A friend of mine stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks from dengue fever. His insurance paid for everything plus he made a profit. His policy allowed for so much per day for room and meals and that is what they paid even though the bill was not as much as the allowance. He pays 40,000 per year though.

Even regarding what you paid for your sheets? 1600 baht for a king size bed, not with cartoons as the decoration, all cotton, with a top sheet? I doubt it.

I fail to see where I wrote that my sheets had cartoon characters on them ? Nor did I say they were all cotton. they work fine for me though. Since most english teachers are making around 25,000 per month i can not see spending that much on sheets let alone more than that like you said.

I think you said 500 baht I believe for electric? You must not have aircon and that is a must for a lot of people in this climate.

no i do not have aircon in my house. My bedroom and living room have fans, are well shaded, and have plenty of windows for cross ventilation. I live in the trees not in the city. The 500 baht was based on previous bills when I did live closer to town and had aircon in the bedroom. I have never had central air all through the house.

And I don't think an auto is a luxury for most farangs. And if that is under set-up costs, why do you have a monthy payment for your car?

I said that for bkk it was a luxury. Since I live in the country it is necessary. i also said it CAN be under setup cost. I did not say it had to be. You can include it in your budget if you do not have the funds to buy one when you get here.That is what i did. If you live in the city you do not need one. there are red cars or tuk tuks every where all hours of the day and night. I have to have one because the yellow cars quit running after 6pm and there are no tuk tuks. If my kid has an accident I have to be able to get them to the hospital.

However I was trying to give an idea of other costs that can come up, not just what the most frugal farangs can live on.

Ok. I admit that was a good idea. But some of the items that you posted are not a necessity and would fall into the wealthy class. I have read many many posts by people from the wealthy class that say you need 100,000 per month minimum to live here. It seems to me that some of these people are trying to keep thailand for themselves. The fact of the matter is i live a much better life here on 35,000 per month than what i could afford to in the USA. I also live much better than most of my friends do working full time jobs at home. I am saving for the future and they are living day by day.

[wolfmanjack]

double post due to slow internet

Edited June 5, 2007 by wolfmanjack

[wolfmanjack]

Why should i buy more sheets ?? they are not worn out !!! And no i did not buy my sheets with cartoon characters on them. One set has flowers and the other set is sort of checkered. the checkered set has a bottom fitted sheet with a flat top. the flower set is 2 flat sheets that my wife ties knots in the corners instead of just folding the corners under. I am sure they are not Egyptian cotton but who cares ?

I had to buy a new bed last month for my eldest daughter as she is a 'big girl' now and can sleep in her own room. Therefore, I had to buy some 'Minnie Mou' sheets with pillow cases - cost a fortune(10,000). I had to buy a baby seat for my car and other baby accesories, which also cost a fortune(15,000). My car insurance had to be paid(6000) and new tyres(12,000). School fees were also due(9000). Kinda hard when my salary is only 30,000 and my car repayments are 7,000, rent 3000, etc etc. Like ALL things in Thailand - there are ways round ALL difficulties. I need supplementary income, which is easy to find after living her for 13 years. I need 40,000 a month to live in Khon Kaen very comfortably. If I didn't have kids, I'd need about 30,000.

It's a lot 'easier' to make a living here than my home country. Our new maid only gets 1000 a month!

Yes I agree things can get hairy every once in a while. It did for me in the USA also.

How old is daughter ? Mine is 5 and she still will not sleep in her own bed. It will probably be that way until they are 12 years old. I think it might have something to do with my wife telling them there are ghosts in the house.

[MTW]

Dear Wolfmanjack,

Thanks for writing a nice letter, explaining everything without sounding rude, like I probably did.

I sometimes feel that everyone here is attacking me and get defensive. I respect you a lot that you can come here, earn money and support a family and live in a disciplined way, since I can not do most of those things.

I had the idea that I could live here a lot more cheaply than I have been able to, some of it due to problems I didn't expect, (actually I should say most of it), and some of it has been due to the $ dropping a lot and inflation here, but mostly for farang type of things, like rent. I have recently bought a house, and the lost money from investment income, minus taxes I would have had to pay, makes the house almost free compared to the ridiculous rents I have been paying in CM.

I have recently wished to be gay, then I could get a Thai wife, because they are surely good to have if they are nice women, and can help you a lot. Without that I find it necessary to have a maid, but I did have one three days a week in Los Angeles, and have one here for the whole month, for the price I paid for one day in LA. Because I have a lot of pets, this helps me save money for pet boarding as I do travel a decent amount.

And I cannot anymore just go to Burma for a visa, but have to travel and get tourist visas every few months. This adds up to a lot of money, but I try to make them into vacations I want to take so I get more bang for the buck. However, it costs a lot of buck.

As far as sheets, I cannot find any cheap sheets here that are just one color, cotton, and have a top sheet, and have spent basically $500 a set from Robinsons, on sale, for a king size bed, and I need more than one set per bed since I don't have a clothes drier here and even getting them washed takes several machine loads and then time to dry in nature.

Personally, if I didn't have some basic aircon, I wouldn't live in Thailand as I find the heat hard to take. I spent at least 4000 a month for electric, for a house that doesn't have added fees to it, and my house seems to always be at least 30-33 degrees even with it on, which is not comfortable for me. But since I rent houses, I get people giving me aircons that are 20 years old, or too small for the room, and have terrible or no insulation. I said I bought a house, but I haven't moved in yet, and there I can do whatever I want and hope it will be better.

I also have medical expenses that not everyone has, although I would expect most people to have some, since most of us are a little older.

I think the 5 different ways I try to make my 5 dogs flea and tick free probably costs me more than most people spend who have kids in international schools, plus I have 3 parrots. Cages, toys and things are not so cheap for them.

And to be honest, I had a super large, 6 figure income before I came here, and still have a pretty decent income altough I am trying to save most of it for the future. So, in my mind, I have been cutting back, and cutting back, and can't see where I can cut back anymore. Although surely other people could see where I could cut back.

I am happy to hear that you have a nice life here, and that you are able to earn money here, and have kids, etc. If I had to do that, I would be on a plane back to the US in a minute because I am not that strong in Thailand.

[Jet Gorgon]

MTW, I am starting to doubt your legitimacy.

[bendix]

You're not the only one.

Funny that she apologised if her post sounded defensive. Jeez, 119 of her 120 posts have been defensive.

[MTW]

Well, I don't know why Jet Gordon. I can give you references of people who post here, and also have known me since I moved here 3 years ago.

What exactly are your doubts?

[Jet Gorgon]

You sound like a nice person, MTW, but crikeys, you gotta air every syllable of your grief here? Ya, send me the reference papers, please.

PS, Bendix, you actually counted?

Edited June 8, 2007 by Jet Gorgon

[MTW]

Gee Bendix, I think if you had actually read my posts, you would not be saying what you are saying. Maybe you have only read SOME of my posts. Many of them are quite normal. What did my income previous to coming here make some people crazy, since that is the only new info I posted about myself.

I went to graduate school in my country, law school to be exact, and most of us are not to poor. But since I love animals and this was my hobby and I did a lot of charitable work, I turned this into my career, and bought an emergency animal clinic in Los Angeles, then married a vet who worked there. We made quite good money. One of the posters here has met my husband as well as knowing me pretty much since I got here.

I am really getting sick of defending myself, and it you think I sound defensive, maybe you should ask yourself why, not me.

[bendix]

Awwwww, give me a hug and shut up MTW :-) Let's be friends.