any budget retirees enjoying Bangkok? Is it still viable? (after covid of clurse)

[Grecian]

I'm in the uk. Considering retiring to Thailand. It's been a while since I was enjoying Bangkok.

I'll be on the budget end of incomes. Around 55k a month. any western guys choosing to retire in Bangkok on that type of money these days?

Too little for Bangkok?

Personal experiences welcome.

what part of bkk doable? (With mrt or bts)

[chalawaan]

Bangkok hasn't been 'budget' since I was a Christian lad praying for bargirls. (My prayers were answered. They converted me into a noble shaggage). If you're similarly afflicted, Pattaya was cheaper. But as recovery sputters into life, I think you'll find BKK will be livelier and faster to recover than the coast. Maybe some deals too, but for how long who knows. It is sad to say for the suffering, but the longer and deeper the economic damage, the happier tourists/expats will be, value wise at least.

A good place to find no BS price comparison answers is numbeo.com

[RichardColeman]

Living in Bangkok to me holds about as much enticement as living in central London. It's always a nice place to visit , but you're always glad to leave it !

[Metapod]

55k is enough to live and enjoy BKK but it ultimately depends on your lifestyle and needs.

 

What does retirement look like for you and have you been to bkk before?

[HappyExpat57]

55k and Bangkok? That would be a shoestring budget. No nice accommodations, not much money for travel, more of an existence than a happy, carefree retirement. On that amount I'd consider Jomtien or Bang Saen beach as a better choice.

[Mike Teavee]

Up until 3 weeks ago I lived in the On Nut Area (Ideo Verve, right next to On Nut BTS station) & if I were to go back to Bangkok would happily live there again. 

 

Budgetwise how long is a piece of string? But my basic monthly spend was around the 67.5K (bearing in mind this was during the lockdown when everything was closed so there was nowhere to spend any money).... Here's roughly what that looked like...  

• 20K for Rent (You can find a small place for 10K about 800m from the BTS, maybe they'll have a shuttle bus)
• 5K for Utilities (3.5K of this was for electric, remainder for water, internet, mobile & Netflix - You can probably do this for 1.5K if you don't mind doing without AC) 
• 15K Stipend for GF (I wanted her to give up her job in a mall 2 hours away so I cover the salary she was earning there - You can pay 0 for this) 
• 25K for groceries (A lot of guys spend around 1/2 of this but eat out more so lets say 15K in total) 
• 2.5k Health Insurance (You can spend 0 but I wouldn't recommend it)
• 1K Visa (I use an agent for convenience but you could budget 200THB pm to do it yourself)

So I guess could be done for around 27K (10K rent, 1.5K utilities, 0k GF, 15K gorceries/eating out, 200 THB Visa) but personally on 55K I would look to live somewhere else (Dark Side Pattaya, Udon Thani etc)...   

 

How are you planning on meeting the Visa requirements? Will you put 800K in the bank or use an Agent (If the latter, your Visa fees are going to be around 1,250THB pm). 

[AlexRRR]

On 9/20/2021 at 2:30 PM, Mike Teavee said:

Up until 3 weeks ago I lived in the On Nut Area (Ideo Verve, right next to On Nut BTS station) & if I were to go back to Bangkok would happily live there again. 

 

Budgetwise how long is a piece of string? But my basic monthly spend was around the 67.5K (bearing in mind this was during the lockdown when everything was closed so there was nowhere to spend any money).... Here's roughly what that looked like...  

• 20K for Rent (You can find a small place for 10K about 800m from the BTS, maybe they'll have a shuttle bus)
• 5K for Utilities (3.5K of this was for electric, remainder for water, internet, mobile & Netflix - You can probably do this for 1.5K if you don't mind doing without AC) 
• 15K Stipend for GF (I wanted her to give up her job in a mall 2 hours away so I cover the salary she was earning there - You can pay 0 for this) 
• 25K for groceries (A lot of guys spend around 1/2 of this but eat out more so lets say 15K in total) 
• 2.5k Health Insurance (You can spend 0 but I wouldn't recommend it)
• 1K Visa (I use an agent for convenience but you could budget 200THB pm to do it yourself)

So I guess could be done for around 27K (10K rent, 1.5K utilities, 0k GF, 15K gorceries/eating out, 200 THB Visa) but personally on 55K I would look to live somewhere else (Dark Side Pattaya, Udon Thani etc)...   

 

How are you planning on meeting the Visa requirements? Will you put 800K in the bank or use an Agent (If the latter, your Visa fees are going to be around 1,250THB pm). 

On Nut area? you think your living in heaven?

 

Dont go the route of paying your TGF anything, they lived just fine before you arrive and will do just fine long after your gone,  if your a non or moderate drinker your good to go, otherwise 32B from 7/11 against 90/120 in a bar,  get use to eating Thai more often and cut back the cooking as its just cheaper to eat out in Thai food courts found in almost every shopping centre and i mean the Thai ones not the Farang food courts, you often will find both in a Mall....

[Mike Teavee]

3 hours ago, AlexRRR said:

On Nut area? you think your living in heaven?

 

Dont go the route of paying your TGF anything, they lived just fine before you arrive and will do just fine long after your gone,  if your a non or moderate drinker your good to go, otherwise 32B from 7/11 against 90/120 in a bar,  get use to eating Thai more often and cut back the cooking as its just cheaper to eat out in Thai food courts found in almost every shopping centre and i mean the Thai ones not the Farang food courts, you often will find both in a Mall....

• Can I ask which part of Bangkok you live in? - I think On Nut is a good balance between being close enough to the center of Bangkok but not being in the thick of it so have no problem recommending it, & might go back to live in Bangkok in a couple of years so am genuinely interested (1/2 have it in my mind I will stay around the Riverside area but I've never lived there & think it's more expensive so didn't think I could recommend it to the OP)
• I pay my TGF a stipend because I asked her to give up her job so we could go live/travel together (I love to travel & even with all the travel restrictions in 2020 we still managed to spend around 100 nights away from home), alternative was for her to do a 2 hour commute each way 6 days a week or not live/travel with me. 
• My GF loves to cook so we eat at home more because that's what she loves to do, suits me as she's a good cook + I love Korean food & it's not easy to find something for her if we eat out at the places I like as she's not a fan.

 

I agree with you that If I were trying to do it on a lower budget then I would adjust all of the above (starting with the fact that I wouldn't choose to live in Bangkok) but I'm happy with what I'm spending so choose to do it this way 

 

 

[AlexRRR]

1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

• Can I ask which part of Bangkok you live in? - I think On Nut is a good balance between being close enough to the center of Bangkok but not being in the thick of it so have no problem recommending it, & might go back to live in Bangkok in a couple of years so am genuinely interested (1/2 have it in my mind I will stay around the Riverside area but I've never lived there & think it's more expensive so didn't think I could recommend it to the OP)
• I pay my TGF a stipend because I asked her to give up her job so we could go live/travel together (I love to travel & even with all the travel restrictions in 2020 we still managed to spend around 100 nights away from home), alternative was for her to do a 2 hour commute each way 6 days a week or not live/travel with me. 
• My GF loves to cook so we eat at home more because that's what she loves to do, suits me as she's a good cook + I love Korean food & it's not easy to find something for her if we eat out at the places I like as she's not a fan.

 

I agree with you that If I were trying to do it on a lower budget then I would adjust all of the above (starting with the fact that I wouldn't choose to live in Bangkok) but I'm happy with what I'm spending so choose to do it this way 

 

 

Not worried about your other spend its your location and 20,000 for a condo in On Hut.......i think its the pitts...aussie slang for a dump.....20,000 to live there is gees.....and i do know that area...

[Mike Teavee]

37 minutes ago, AlexRRR said:

Not worried about your other spend its your location and 20,000 for a condo in On Hut.......i think its the pitts...aussie slang for a dump.....20,000 to live there is gees.....and i do know that area...

Then you'd know that staying in a 2Br 1 bth corner unit as close as you can get to a BTS station (Ideo Verve) for 20K (Pre Covid pricing, I took the unit in 2018) is a good deal & you'd know the building is anything but a dump...  

 

Again, where do you live & how much do you pay so we can compare apples with unicorns. 

 

Edit: Can get 1 of the smaller 2br'/1bth units for 15K at the moment (I could have stayed in mine for the same but wanted a change so moved to be closer to the beach/sea)  https://www.hipflat.com/projects/ideo-verve-sukhumvit-tpmbtn but if you're retiring somewhere, it's probably not a good idea to base your rent on Covid Pricing as this is unlikely to last beyond the next 2-3 years... 

 

FWIW the Unit I moved to rents for 45-55K pm in non-covid times & I'll be out of here the moment the landlord asks for > 30-35K pm... Figure I've got 2 years by which time I'll be ready to move anyway. 

 

[natway09]

I know I sound like a stuck record, but do not forget about proper healthcare costs in the budget

[buick]

i think you can do ok on 55,000thb/mo.  i live in bkk and spend alot more than that but much of it is for travel within southeast asia and back to USA once or twice a year.  if i just look at the bkk specific spending and don't include the 'waste' at cowboy and nana, that amount doesn't look all that bad.  pay 10,000thb/mo for rent and then have 10,000thb/week for food/drink/utilities/etc.  that assumes you do have some savings to rely on for emergencies. 

 

edit:  i've gotten used to cooking my own food due to the current 'conditions' and that really keeps the costs down.

[Skeptic7]

Can do, no prob. Love BKK... it's great! Good luck and enjoy! ????

[Pravda]

I live in Bangkok and I can tell you there are some great rental deals around. A place near me in ekkamai 47sqm, super modern, new, japanese toilet, bathtub 13,000 a month.

 

Regardless making any long term predictions is hard. I think the cost of healthcare will become unaffordable. I also think the choice of western amenities will diminish in favor of more....how to say...ethnic Chinese fare. Already many great restaurants disappeared. Perhaps the subway and mcdo will still be here. 

 

The older I get the more anal I become about food. Thai slop just doesn't cut it for me.

[JustAnotherHun]

If you want to keep a western like lifstyle 55k is by far not enough. But I know some people living happily even in Bkk with less than that.

Your problem on a small budget might be the compared to Europe faster rising living costs, the dangers of the exchange rates and the in future surely tightened immigration rules for retirees. 

[arick]

On 9/20/2021 at 2:35 AM, RichardColeman said:

Living in Bangkok to me holds about as much enticement as living in central London. It's always a nice place to visit , but you're always glad to leave it !

Please don't insult Central London. Even Bermondsey looks like W2 compared to bkk. Pork is up to220 a kilo in chiang mai now  

[Thingamabob]

On 9/20/2021 at 2:35 AM, RichardColeman said:

Living in Bangkok to me holds about as much enticement as living in central London. It's always a nice place to visit , but you're always glad to leave it !

Couldn't agree less, which only goes to show one man's meat is another man's poison.

[timendres]

Lived in BKK on 45K per month for several years no problem. That was not in any way austere, just being sensible. The most critical thing is not paying foreigner prices for rent. Then minimizing your trips to expensive restaurants and bars, and keeping the entertainment costs within budget. Right now, you could get a sweet first year of rent (likely to go up next year). Inflation would be my concern, mostly with regards to rent.

[wwest5829]

I have been able to have a comfortable retirement here in Chiang Mai on 65k a month. But I use the monthly income requirement of 65 K baht a month as I leave my retirement funds invested to produce income. As observed up to the individual but, I would recommend the required 65 k monthly income to test whether it is sufficient for keeping you happy with your life style.

[MrJ2U]

On 9/20/2021 at 2:35 AM, RichardColeman said:

Living in Bangkok to me holds about as much enticement as living in central London. It's always a nice place to visit , but you're always glad to leave it !

Great place to visit.

 

But true for many it's also nice when its time to leave.

 

 

[Freddy42OZ]

1 hour ago, timendres said:

Lived in BKK on 45K per month for several years no problem. That was not in any way austere, just being sensible. The most critical thing is not paying foreigner prices for rent. Then minimizing your trips to expensive restaurants and bars, and keeping the entertainment costs within budget. Right now, you could get a sweet first year of rent (likely to go up next year). Inflation would be my concern, mostly with regards to rent.

 

I'm paying 10K per month for a 50 sq/m 1 bedroom unit in a condo on Sukhumvit.  It's a 2 min walk to the BTS.  I've lived here 10 years and have never had any rent increase.   Nice pool nice, gym, great neighbourhood with plenty of shops and restaurants, including a decent TOPS Supermarket only 10 mins walk away.

I enjoy Thai food and I cook a lot myself, don't drink although do go out with mates to bars (when they are open).  Paying 40-60 baht for water or soda water in a bar when my drinking water at home is only 1 baht for 1500ml is a bit much though! 

Yes you can easily enjoy life in Bangkok on 55K a month.

[driver52]

On 9/20/2021 at 6:30 AM, Mike Teavee said:

15K Stipend for GF (I wanted her to give up her job in a mall 2 hours away so I cover the salary she was earning there - You can pay 0 for this) 

christ your bird costs you more than living in France for me (house paid for lol)

[yimlitnoy]

My average cost of living calculated on the last 2 years living alone with my wife near Sathorn Road and living in a THB 10,000/month apartment with electricity bill of THB 1,800/month.  I have been in Thailand for 41 years.

 

USD 17,884 per year

USD 1,490 per month

THB 48,348 per month

 

So the point is: it can be done on your budget.

 

PS.  I live very well, I am near everything in BKK and, in addition, I give my wife THB 15,000 every month for her to keep.  Of course I have some savings for any unforeseen emergency.  If your life is miserable where you are then do not hesitate and fly in after the pandemic restrictions are over.  You will save on winter clothes. 

Of course have the THB 800,000 ready in a Thai bank time deposit account for your retirement "0" visa and maybe THB 200,000 in savings in the same bank.

[stickyrice2000]

55K is doable and adjustable depending on your needs.  Your spending habit will not be the same as when you're on vacation.  You can live within your mean.  Splurge some and save some.

[bkk6060]

I like Bangkok and would live there again.

Around 100 k a month was comfortable for a nice life there.

[Mike Teavee]

7 hours ago, driver52 said:

christ your bird costs you more than living in France for me (house paid for lol)

Jesus you must be living on the cheap if you can do it for < 400 Euros a month! House paid for or not it would cost me more than that in cheese alone.

 

But if you're offering me a swap for 400 Euros worth of French Red.... Where do you want her delivered to?

 

[Stargeezr]

Listen to the Song, One night in Bangkok.  It is a huge sized, polluted city. That is why you will see masks on

so many people, as some had to wear masks for the pollution, long before COVID come along.   Retire to South Pattaya, as in Jomtien Beach area, 

or in Hua Hin as it has 3 hospitals, 2 which are great. If you want to visit Bangkok from either of these places, it is just a bus ride or with Hua Hin, a                               bus ride or train ride away.

  You would find that the less pollution in retired life, the better. The cost of living may be a bit more  but the clean air and closeness to the ocean

would certainly off set the cost. Plenty of expats in either of those coastal cities. Just my advice.

Geezer

[Peterw42]

It appears many retirees require their accommodations be close to a BTS/MRT station, which I understand to a point, if you live at X and work/socialise at Y etc. Otherwise, why the requirement ?

Where are retirees going on the BTS each day, that they must have a station close by. 

I lived in BKK for a while, nowhere near a BTS station, and it was really cheap, no rent premium for being close to the BTS, cheap local food, local markets etc.

 

Even if you require access to the nightlife, catch a cab to the BTS.

 

 

 

 

[Mike Teavee]

17 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

It appears many retirees require their accommodations be close to a BTS/MRT station, which I understand to a point, if you live at X and work/socialise at Y etc. Otherwise, why the requirement ?

Where are retirees going on the BTS each day, that they must have a station close by. 

I lived in BKK for a while, nowhere near a BTS station, and it was really cheap, no rent premium for being close to the BTS, cheap local food, local markets etc.

 

Even if you require access to the nightlife, catch a cab to the BTS.

 

 

 

 

Whilst I agree with you interms of rarely needing to use the BTS,  the fact that you're near a BTS station means that you're close to restaurants/bars/shopping centers etc... as these tend to spring up  around the stations so you don't need it (I could go months where the only times I went up the BTS steps were to get to the Tesco Lotus superstore on the other side of the road). 

 

I did have a conversation with the GF about the fact that we were probably paying a 5K premium pm to be so close to the BTS & we hardly ever used it but when we looked at new condos around Bangkok we decided we still needed to be within 500m of a BTS or MRT station to have everything we needed on our doorstep. 

 

Now I've moved to Wongamat I take Bolt Taxis everywhere (Central Pattaya is approx 60THB away) but I need to as I no longer have 3 large shopping centers & 2 fresh markets on my doorstep (in fact we only have 2 Family Marts & 1 Lotus minimart since the 2 7/11 shutdown)... Where's the bloody BTS when you need it ????

 

 

[Espanol]

2 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

Retire to South Pattaya, as in Jomtien Beach area, 

or in Hua Hin

 

2 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

The cost of living may be a bit more  but the clean air and closeness to the ocean

would certainly off set the cost.

Actually I find Pattaya/Jomtien to be cheaper than Bangkok. 

 

And indeed better air, next to the beach, more beautiful, many good and cheap restaurants, good malls (even Terminal 21), hospitals, dentists and many things to do.

 

Perhaps Hua Hin can be boring after a couple of weeks and longer bus/train ride to Bangkok and Suvarnabhumi. 

 

After travelling most touristic places in Thailand, my bet for best retirement place is Pattaya. 

 

And you must realise that many Bangkok residents also choose Pattaya for weekends.