Is Thailand really getting more expensive?

[SiSePuede419]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

Keeping fiat currency in this current money-printing insanity is insane.

Riiiiiiight. ????

 

Throwing away a hard drive with half a billion in crypto?

 

"Perfectly sane" /

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/12/13/half-a-billion-in-bitcoin-lost-in-the-dump&ved=2ahUKEwjWnZCEtYP1AhXZUGwGHWpFC_EQFnoECAQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3aVr-aZPXK_KL9jblclq61

 

Funny, but I never had a bank throw the money in my account in a dump. ????

 

[SiSePuede419]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Mince pies, no mince in them.

Here in America, we feed suet to the birds, not people.

[BritManToo]

9 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Here in America, we feed suet to the birds, not people.

Eat suet, it's the dogs bulls <deleted>!

[SiSePuede419]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Eat suet, it's the dogs bulls <deleted>!

How long do you want to live?

 

I want to live to age 100.

 

No <deleted> like suet if you want to join the Century club.

 

That's the pregnant with twins club, die early 50s club.

[WinterGael]

On 12/26/2021 at 12:56 PM, BritManToo said:

How can your mortgage repayments have gone up when the interest rates have reduced from 6.25% to 4.75%? Mine is down from 11,900bht to 9,000bht.

 

My internet is the same as it always was 590bht +VAT

Although I do pay an extra 35bht now for HBOGo.

Electricity and water are the same price they always were.

As to the mortgage, I've asked my wife the same thing.  Also, why we are not paying 13.9% interest from GHB.

 

As for water and electricity, there's been posts about the rise in prices on here already, so I was expecting that.  

 

 

[WinterGael]

On 12/26/2021 at 11:33 AM, NorthernRyland said:

I was gone from Oct 2020 to Oct 2021 and I swear standard Thai food has gone up from 35-40 a plate to 40-50 a plate in just that single year. Anyone else seeing this? I never used to get 50 baht plates of things like fried rice + fried egg but now I'm seeing this commonly.  When I ask the Thai's I know they get strangely defensive and make excuses about how pork is more expensive now etc...

 

These are huge year on year increases I haven't seen before. Same thing is happening in the USA so I can only assume the governments deficit spending is resulting in real and enduring inflation now. Scary times ahead if you ask me.

Don't worry, I had to go back to Canada in January 2020, came back in December 2020.  First time my wife ordered out I was like, "What do you mean 100 baht per bag?"  Used to be 60 baht from same restaurant. 

[Nemises]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Thailand is still reasonable. It used to be cheap. Has not been cheap for a long time. But, it is still reasonable. I know people who pay 10,000 baht a month for newer 3 bedroom houses in nice towns. In major cities in the US? $2500-4000 a month. That is 130,000 baht!

 

I had my motorbike seat recently redone on my scooter. 400 baht. A friend of mine had similar work done in the US. $275.

 

I recently had a guy come over and insulate my ceiling. I bought the insulation and paid him 2000 baht for labor. In the US? $800 and up.

I recently had an electrician do some work on the house. Nearly a full day of work. Paid him 1000 baht. In the US? $800 and up.

 

An oil change for my scooter costs me 200 baht, with Castrol oil. In the US? $75.

 

When I travel here I stay in nice four star hotels in Bangkok. 1100-2000 baht. In the US? $130 for a crappy motel. $200 and up for a half way decent room.

 

I eat well here. In a smaller town you can get a three course meal for 200-250 baht. In the US? 2000 baht and up, plus tax and a nearly mandatory 15% tip. I get more gratitude here for a 20 baht tip, than a $20 tip in the US! 

 

I visit the emergency room here to visit a specialist, and with x-rays I am out the door for 2000 baht. At a private hospital in the US? $2000. At a private clinic. $200 or more. 

 

Friends of mine, who are single, enjoy the company of a young, beautiful woman for a couple of hours, for 2500 baht. In the US? $800 an hour now for a fairly surly pretty, with alot of "rules and regs". And mostly fake cosmetics. Not fun, at all. More like boot camp. 

 

I could go on and on, all day long. We live at a level here, that we would never be able to live at, in the US, in most of Europe, in Oz, or in crazy overpriced Canada.

 

Yes, the raleatively high baht is an annoyance. And yes things are more expensive than they used to be. But, it is very relative.

 

 

Nice post. BTW how much for a 1hr foot or Thai massage in the US?

 

100 baht here. 
 

 

[DJ54]

On 12/25/2021 at 2:39 PM, Airalee said:

Tawney port

That’s a good one for sure..! Now I’m might have to get some with this nippy weather..

[ujayujay]

Import Goods are getting more expensiv as the Baht still suffer! Agricultural Thai Food ( Eggs, Rice etc.) are allways still near same, except there is a run for Thai Rice, because, exporting it, gives more profit for Thai Producers, because is cheaper then ever for the most Countries.....This is called "The Market"

[ChaiyaTH]

I know some of the places I visited (coffee, massage, food) that became quite more expensive while adding nothing in value but at the same time new shops opened or other ones I found still sell it for the same low prices as it was in like 2012. What did change mostly IMO is that many nice cheap street food places are gone, same with fruit shake places and the like, and they are now in shops for double the price, can still find it by driving around but it can be frustrating to leave your own area just for that so I generally pay more.

We do have to keep in mind that the forex is the thing that changed in a negative way to most of us though, so in that way it is more expensive now. It is still cheap enough I guess all though some places with girls will never learn, I guess that is why the majority in CM closed down too.

[ChaiyaTH]

Have to add that many places still charge the same but portion sizes decreased. Where I used to buy just 1 thai dish with sticky rice I now often need to buy 2 of them, so actually that makes it double in cost.

 

I guess it never bothered me as my earnings went up over the years too. The students I know just make 2 meals out of 1 by adding mama noodles to it.

[spidermike007]

8 hours ago, Nemises said:

Nice post. BTW how much for a 1hr foot or Thai massage in the US?

 

100 baht here. 
 

 

Likely 2000 baht. 

[Grecian]

16 hours ago, KhunLA said:

 

 

Healthcare affordable and accessible.  Basically no RE Taxes for owners, so those 2 help keep money in your pocket.  The 2 major pluses for myself over living in the USA.

Two????? Aren't you forgetting the biggest bargain here?

The wife/gf/bf you got in your bed!

[newnative]

Been here 11 years, have not seen much of a rise in prices.  Certainly the COLAS  on my SS and pension have easily kept pace.

[Klonko]

Prices in Thailand do often not follow traditional economic patterns. New house across listed at THB 3.6m empty for two years, price increased to THB 3.8m, now about to be sold.

[thaibook]

On 12/27/2021 at 1:49 PM, spidermike007 said:

Thailand is still reasonable. It used to be cheap. Has not been cheap for a long time. But, it is still reasonable. I know people who pay 10,000 baht a month for newer 3 bedroom houses in nice towns. In major cities in the US? $2500-4000 a month. That is 130,000 baht!

 

I had my motorbike seat recently redone on my scooter. 400 baht. A friend of mine had similar work done in the US. $275.

 

I recently had a guy come over and insulate my ceiling. I bought the insulation and paid him 2000 baht for labor. In the US? $800 and up.

I recently had an electrician do some work on the house. Nearly a full day of work. Paid him 1000 baht. In the US? $800 and up.

 

An oil change for my scooter costs me 200 baht, with Castrol oil. In the US? $75.

 

When I travel here I stay in nice four star hotels in Bangkok. 1100-2000 baht. In the US? $130 for a crappy motel. $200 and up for a half way decent room.

 

I eat well here. In a smaller town you can get a three course meal for 200-250 baht. In the US? 2000 baht and up, plus tax and a nearly mandatory 15% tip. I get more gratitude here for a 20 baht tip, than a $20 tip in the US! 

 

I visit the emergency room here to visit a specialist, and with x-rays I am out the door for 2000 baht. At a private hospital in the US? $2000. At a private clinic. $200 or more. 

 

Friends of mine, who are single, enjoy the company of a young, beautiful woman for a couple of hours, for 2500 baht. In the US? $800 an hour now for a fairly surly pretty, with alot of "rules and regs". And mostly fake cosmetics. Not fun, at all. More like boot camp. 

 

I could go on and on, all day long. We live at a level here, that we would never be able to live at, in the US, in most of Europe, in Oz, or in crazy overpriced Canada.

 

Yes, the raleatively high baht is an annoyance. And yes things are more expensive than they used to be. But, it is very relative.

 

 

You seem to be keen on th efigure $800.  I am not sure where you live in the USA but I rent some two and three bedroom houses in Jacksonville, Florida, one of the top 50 cities in the USA and with good climate for $1200 to $1800.  Most of teh tradesmen I use charge $30 (low) to $50 an hour.  In Bangkok, Thonglor, plumbers to repair leaking ceiling in condo will set you back 1500-2000.

 

Hotels are cheaper in Thailand but petrol is cheaper in the USA.  VAT/sales tax is 7% in Thailand and in Florida (in the USA each state sets its own and many have 0%); personal taxes are the same - $0 in both places.

 

But, wherever one is, there will be advantages and penalties; no point complaining especially if the latter outweigh the former and one stays put.    

[SAFETY FIRST]

On 12/25/2021 at 10:52 AM, BritManToo said:

They had a freezer full in my local branch (Mae Rim) yesterday (and Italian sausages that I've not tried yet). Had two for my Xmas breakfast this morning (and lunch yesterday), as good as any pork sausage I've ever eaten.

 

 

 

Cool, proper snags

????

[cheapcanuck]

Yep, always has and always will.

[hioctane]

I haven’t read the whole thread, but I think what expats (that is most of the guys on here) really mean is that the baht has remained stubbornly strong and they are getting less for their money on their fixed income.

 

As a tourist, I only compare the cost of things as they were the previous time I went. Things are certainly cheaper than prepandemic. Foreign goods are slightly more expensive but that is because the cost of a lot of things have gone up around the world.