Moving to Thailand

RafPinto · May 7, 2022

25 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Where did the chicken come from? Did it cross the road?

From the sea.
A seachick.

spidermike007 · May 7, 2022

It depends alot on your lifestyle. We like to travel domestically, and take overseas trips often. We like to dine out alot. We live in a nice house. Drive a nice car. I would not want to be living on less than 100,000 baht a month. Just do not want to spend my life counting every baht.

bkk6060 · May 7, 2022

20 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Just do not want to spend my life counting every baht.

Well said.

RafPinto · May 7, 2022

6 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Well said.

I prefer to count myself than having someone counting/spending for me and the extended family.

The Oracle · May 7, 2022

17 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Hey Chris, straight out of Sydney in 2015.

So from my experience, also married to my Thai wife 15 years, it goes something like this and sorry, it is long, but it does cover things others might not have picked up.

1} Don't tell the banks you are moving overseas, just tell them you are going on an extended holiday and make sure your cards have at least 2 years on them before the dates on your cards expire.

Make sure the bank makes a note that you will be overseas so you can access your account and make transactions, they will need your mobile number to be able to send you a code each time for certain transactions, so make sure you get that right first up.

Have more than one account in Aus and also set up a Wise account for any future fund transfers you want to send her to Thailand, i.e. from your bank in Aus to your Wise account, then onto your bank in Thailand, note Wise will charge you if you leave more than the threshold amount in that account, I think it's 20k and they charge something like 1.65% a month, yes a month, so only put money in there when ready to transfer to your Thai account.

2} Retain an Aussie address and make sure everyone has it, banks, Medicare, etc, an address like a good mates address and a PO Box for all your mail to go to, your mate can have a key and you can make your annual fee payment online provided you register and provide your email address, also get your mate to be a signatory with the post office for any parcels that may come your way while you are over here.

3} I return every 2-3 years, note, don't go over 4 years, I haven't gone over 4 because you will will need to use your Medicare card before the 5 year mark otherwise they will cancel it and for you to get that card back, you need to re-establish your residency, and that can take up to 6 months living in the land of slavery.

So make sure your Medicare has at least 5 years on it before you come, you can say you lost it and they can send you a replacement before you leave, remember to tell them of your new address, i.e. your mates address and your PO Box.

I once renewed my card from here online as it was about to expire....lol, I said I lost it and they sent me a new one to my PO Box and I picked it up from my mate when I went back and used it to see the Dr, the 5 years starts again each time you use it.

4} Vodaphone have a $20 365 day recharge card where you can use that for the banks to send you the code to, that is what I do, make sure you turn on roaming and make a note when to renew the $20 365 day card online and you will be fine, remember to put on roaming and have it charged daily, whatever you do, don't answer it if it rings and don't make any calls from it or you will run out of credit real fast....lol. There is no charge for reading your text messages that the bank sends you with their code for you to use.

5} Let the electoral roll know you won't be voting unless you intend on keeping your Australian Residency for tax purposes, otherwise you can't vote as a non-resident and if you are going to be a non-resident for tax purposes let them know otherwise try getting out of the $1,000 fine for not notifying them, I went through this, fortunately they tried it on me, but I had copies of everything, so stuck it right up them.

6} If you have a property, talk to your accountant as there have been some recent changes to the tax laws regarding Capital Gains Tax and that may cost you more than you think, trust me, it's very ugly.

7} Renew your drivers licence because you cannot renew it from here online, although I do believe different states have different rules, in NSW you can't, so make sure you get as many years on it that you can, it all depends on your age, under 44 is 10 years, over 44 is 5 years, again that's for NSW.

Next will be to get your Thai drivers licence here, pretty straight forward.

8} If your on any prescription meds, get 12 months worth if you can as they are expensive here compared to Aus

9} I did mention to you to talk to an accountant regarding property, if you don't have any, but have super or money laying around, you want you accountant to tell you how best to invest so you earn some $'s on it, if you retain residency, you will pay tax, if you become a non-resident for tax purposes and invest it in the ASX you won't pay any tax on fully franked shares and there is no Capital Gains Tax, so you may want to cover this area

10} If your not old enough to get the pension, you would be aware that you need two years in Aus to make it portable, i.e. to receive it here, i.e. if your looking to receive the pension in a few years time. If your already getting it, disregard what I said.

11} Cost of living all depends on how many of you there are and who you want to support, if it's just you and the Mrs, you should be ok on 50k baht a month, eating good foods and imports excluding any holidays, and private health cover policies. This will assume your house will be debt free and your car paid off.

11} Others might have mentioned private health cover here is expensive and goes up with age, so if you do decide to get one, maybe look at one that has deductibles, the higher the deductible (you pay) first in the event of hospitalisation, the lower the policy.

I am sure you will work it all out when it comes to building, just remember, the golden rule, only invest as much as your prepared to walk away from, I say that with respect to your wife. You see a lot of guys lose a lot of money here because they wear their hearts on their sleeves and trust their wives with their finances, huge mistake in my opinion, love is one thing, finances is another.

Anything more you need to know, let me know and best of luck on your new home, sooner or later you will find out how much the Australia you left behind will hate you, because you escaped the slave trade IMO.

Great advice.

And one more bit to add to it. Be prepared for bureaucratic stupidity and inefficiency. The rules were made when Thailand was dragged kicking and screaming out of the 14th century in the 1960s and 70s. And nothing has changed except since around 2014 on how to get more money from the filthy foreigners.
The things you have to do here are mind-blowinging inefficient and double, triple, even quadruple handling a sheaf of paper you could trip over only for it all to be entered into a computer as well and then have a hand-written carbon-paper receipt given to you.

I've been here full-time six years; the last three as an O-A (I'm 53) retiree. With the massive changes to health insurance premium costs, the 800k lying useless in a bank account until I die, and the ever-increasing requirements to stay here, I'm pulling up stumps at the end of the year. I live comfortably, have a car, motorbike ( I rent my accommodation) and multiple TVs and computers along with my furnishings I brought from Australia.

Been coming here since 2010 but I moved to an isolated place very similar to the "10km from Roi Et" except I'm "80 km from Phetchabun". I'm also a beer-drinking Australian. But here? No English. No other foreigners. Which WAS good. Now disgruntled ex-employees of now-bankrupt foreign pub owners are returning, bringing their bigotry with them, and the belief that all foreigners are the cause of The Plague. The village's perception of me has changed to an uncomfortable level of disquiet and distrust because according to their returned daughters I (being the sole foreigner) am to blame for everything since January 2020 and their loss of job. I won't put what I've been called (I speak Thai although the women and men returning from Down South don't know that) but it is getting bad.
I've been threatened with a machete, and had a mango thrown at me by some bloke telling me to, er, "go away with much haste you undesirable person" in a quite impolite manner ????
Along with the continued blame-shifting on TV every night at 1800, the poison is seeping, albeit slowly to this once quiet haven.
I'll be making the most of my car over the next six months to see as much as I can an especially get to Chiang Mai again and to drive down toward Phuket.

I spent a lot of time, money, and emotion here but I'm not going to die of old age here as I once thought.

Gecko123 · May 7, 2022

@Adumbration

I'm not buying your claim of living on 170 baht/day.

I'm not going to go through every expense category, but let's just look at transportation. You said you have 2 vehicles and 2 motorcycles. Full insurance coverage on my 10 y/o pickup truck this year was 11,874 baht or 32 baht a day. New tires every 5 years cost 24,600 baht. Daily cost over 5 years = 13.5 baht. Motor oil is 220 baht per liter now. Even if you're doing every last repair yourself, you still have to buy the parts.

Even if you only drove 5,000 km a year total (all 4 vehicles) 5,000 km/20 km/liter = 250 liters/yr x 35 baht/liter = 8750 baht /year = 24 baht/day.

Summary: Full insurance on 1 car = 32 baht/day; cost of tires on ONE car amortized over five years = 13.5 baht/day; oil and oil filter for oil change every 6 months = 3055 baht/yr or 8.4 baht/day; gasoline = minimum 24 baht day. That's 78 baht daily maintenance costs for ONE car, and that's if you barely drive anywhere. If you come back and say you have bare minimum liability limits and no physical damage coverage on your vehicles, well, you've got to set aside reserves for the possibility that you're liable for an at-fault accident or your car gets totaled. And let's not forget annual smog tests & vehicle tags (on your 4 vehicles)

Your 170 baht per day is for a month where your only expenses are food and shelter, and you don't go any where or buy anything else. That 170 baht figure can't include average costs for vehicle operating expenses, public transportation, clothing, shoes, vacations, reading resources, phone, internet, dental care, medical care, medications, medical insurance, car insurance, self-insurance reserves, visa renewals, bank fees, household appliance replacement and repair, house maintenance and improvements, gifts, charitable donations, postage, tariffs on imported goods, home entertainment subscriptions, gardening and fishing implements and supplies, boat repairs, etc.

Over the last 20 years, my ALL-TIME lowest annual cost of living was 180,572 baht in 2008 (financial crisis). Did not spend any money unless absolutely necessary; tons and tons of deferred expenditures. Total stay at home hermit lifestyle. No car, no motorcycle, no computer, no TV. No housing expenses. Budget was supplemented with vegetable gardens and fruit orchards as well. Painful frugality. That works out to 484 baht/day. Sorry, but that's why I find your claim of 170/baht per day next to impossible to believe.

4MyEgo · May 7, 2022

13 minutes ago, The Oracle said:

The things you have to do here are mind-blowinging inefficient and double, triple, even quadruple handling a sheaf of paper you could trip over only for it all to be entered into a computer as well and then have a hand-written carbon-paper receipt given to you.

I guess this is your mindset has to be tested, e.g. I have been on the marriage extension 5 years, 1st year IO pushed us to go for the retirement route upon our application for the marriage extension, however I made sure the next year we received what I originally applied for, the marriage extension, and ever since that time, they keep changing the rules, although I have always had the ace up my sleeve with additional docs etc, but the last one broke the camels back so to speak.

After returning to collect he marriage extension on the day they said to, i.e. clearly stamped in my passport, they said they didn't receive it and that they would call me when they get it. I just drove an hour 20, so had to drive and hour 20 back home, and of course as soon as I got home they called me, ok, you can come back now, yeh right thanks, I did the next day, so I have put the 800k into a fixed account and will apply for the retirement extension next year, so over the changing of rules and their reluctance to do their job, guess the marriage extension being checked by an external division means they have to cross their T's and dot their i's as opposed to issuing the retirement extension on the spot without anyone checking the paperwork.

20 minutes ago, The Oracle said:

Been coming here since 2010 but I moved to an isolated place very similar to the "10km from Roi Et" except I'm "80 km from Phetchabun". I'm also a beer-drinking Australian. But here? No English. No other foreigners. Which WAS good. Now disgruntled ex-employees of now-bankrupt foreign pub owners are returning, bringing their bigotry with them, and the belief that all foreigners are the cause of The Plague. The village's perception of me has changed to an uncomfortable level of disquiet and distrust because according to their returned daughters I (being the sole foreigner) am to blame for everything since January 2020 and their loss of job. I won't put what I've been called (I speak Thai although the women and men returning from Down South don't know that) but it is getting bad.
I've been threatened with a machete, and had a mango thrown at me by some bloke telling me to, er, "go away with much haste you undesirable person" in a quite impolite manner ????

I can't say that I have experienced anything like the above, maybe it has to do with me being married to a Thai and I'm always smiling to those who pass me in the village, at home in the front, or in the street or at a shop, store, that said, I don't expect Thai's to be friendly to me, took me a while to get used to even my sister in-law who comes over for 5 minutes a day to sponge off the Mrs, not even a hello or acknowledgment that I'm there, and I discussed this with the wife who assured me this is how Thai's are, they don't greet like foreigners greet, she spent 9 years in Aus with me so she knows how we greet, and being European, she would always cringe when visitors would come over and kiss her on each cheek, I would laugh ????. So I make it a point to always go to where my sister-in-law is and say hello, say her name and how are you, she will reply with er, ok, that's the best she can do with a smile, so no skin off my nose, as for the in-laws when I see them, it's the chin up and the chin up back at me with a smile, I also make some jokes with hand gestures or other and they laugh, probably think I'm a dipstick, but always get them to smile.

I sense the shyness, and perhaps the uncomfortableness of most not being able to speak out lingo, or know how to greet us, but a smile or a chin up does go a long way, that said, I am sure their is some jealousy and that comes with the lack of education in my opinion, not forgetting it is part of human nature for some too.

I have been here about the same as you and sure it got hard in the beginning but I am right at home now, and do my absolute best to drop the ball when they throw it at me, i.e. I won't play the game, I don't want to, so each time the ball ends up on the ground, I don't let anything get to me anymore, all I have to do is think if I had to go back to where I came from and I start to feel as if I want to vomit.

Thailand is not perfect, but it is very affordable for me and my family, I have no neighbours too close around me, lots of greenery surrounding us, nice big comfortable house that I can sit in all day without feeling the heat most days until really hot summer days.

I guess what I'm trying to say, it's all about the mindset, and if you can't get to it, then you will fail, for me, I have found it and that has made a huge difference for me, in other words, not interested in who, what, when, it's me, my family and what happens within our boundaries, so I won't allow the mind to upset me because some Joe wants more paperwork or I have to do a 90 day online report, I just accept it's not perfect, neither is Australia, albeit it more prettier, but also a Nanny State and an expensive one at that, I mean who pay $5 for iceberg lettuce.......crickey, if you think the grass is greener back there, good luck with that.

BritManToo · May 7, 2022

24 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

and I discussed this with the wife who assured me this is how Thai's are, they don't greet like foreigners greet,

I ignore them and they ignore me ........ that's perfect.

BritManToo · May 7, 2022

1 hour ago, Gecko123 said:

Summary: Full insurance on 1 car = 32 baht/day; cost of tires on ONE car amortized over five years = 13.5 baht/day; oil and oil filter for oil change every 6 months = 3055 baht/yr or 8.4 baht/day; gasoline = minimum 24 baht day. That's 78 baht daily maintenance costs for ONE car, and that's if you barely drive anywhere. If you come back and say you have bare minimum liability limits and no physical damage coverage on your vehicles, well, you've got to set aside reserves for the possibility that you're liable for an at-fault accident or your car gets totaled. And let's not forget annual smog tests & vehicle tags (on your 4 vehicles)

I just get government minimum insurance, and there's no requirement to service anything.

I think my last tax/insurance/test on my 20 year old pickup was a total 5,000bht.

On the m/c it was more like 500bht.

MAF666 · May 7, 2022

32 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I guess this is your mindset has to be tested, e.g. I have been on the marriage extension 5 years, 1st year IO pushed us to go for the retirement route upon our application for the marriage extension, however I made sure the next year we received what I originally applied for, the marriage extension, and ever since that time, they keep changing the rules, although I have always had the ace up my sleeve with additional docs etc, but the last one broke the camels back so to speak.

After returning to collect he marriage extension on the day they said to, i.e. clearly stamped in my passport, they said they didn't receive it and that they would call me when they get it. I just drove an hour 20, so had to drive and hour 20 back home, and of course as soon as I got home they called me, ok, you can come back now, yeh right thanks, I did the next day, so I have put the 800k into a fixed account and will apply for the retirement extension next year, so over the changing of rules and their reluctance to do their job, guess the marriage extension being checked by an external division means they have to cross their T's and dot their i's as opposed to issuing the retirement extension on the spot without anyone checking the paperwork.

I can't say that I have experienced anything like the above, maybe it has to do with me being married to a Thai and I'm always smiling to those who pass me in the village, at home in the front, or in the street or at a shop, store, that said, I don't expect Thai's to be friendly to me, took me a while to get used to even my sister in-law who comes over for 5 minutes a day to sponge off the Mrs, not even a hello or acknowledgment that I'm there, and I discussed this with the wife who assured me this is how Thai's are, they don't greet like foreigners greet, she spent 9 years in Aus with me so she knows how we greet, and being European, she would always cringe when visitors would come over and kiss her on each cheek, I would laugh ????. So I make it a point to always go to where my sister-in-law is and say hello, say her name and how are you, she will reply with er, ok, that's the best she can do with a smile, so no skin off my nose, as for the in-laws when I see them, it's the chin up and the chin up back at me with a smile, I also make some jokes with hand gestures or other and they laugh, probably think I'm a dipstick, but always get them to smile.

I sense the shyness, and perhaps the uncomfortableness of most not being able to speak out lingo, or know how to greet us, but a smile or a chin up does go a long way, that said, I am sure their is some jealousy and that comes with the lack of education in my opinion, not forgetting it is part of human nature for some too.

I have been here about the same as you and sure it got hard in the beginning but I am right at home now, and do my absolute best to drop the ball when they throw it at me, i.e. I won't play the game, I don't want to, so each time the ball ends up on the ground, I don't let anything get to me anymore, all I have to do is think if I had to go back to where I came from and I start to feel as if I want to vomit.

Thailand is not perfect, but it is very affordable for me and my family, I have no neighbours too close around me, lots of greenery surrounding us, nice big comfortable house that I can sit in all day without feeling the heat most days until really hot summer days.

I guess what I'm trying to say, it's all about the mindset, and if you can't get to it, then you will fail, for me, I have found it and that has made a huge difference for me, in other words, not interested in who, what, when, it's me, my family and what happens within our boundaries, so I won't allow the mind to upset me because some Joe wants more paperwork or I have to do a 90 day online report, I just accept it's not perfect, neither is Australia, albeit it more prettier, but also a Nanny State and an expensive one at that, I mean who pay $5 for iceberg lettuce.......crickey, if you think the grass is greener back there, good luck with that.

We live a very similar lifestyle on a 10 rai organic farm in the Chanthaburi highlands, in our 3rd year. Married for 16 years, on a marriage visa. Keep b400k in the bank and b1900 pa for extension. We have no debts or gambling habits.

Our 15 year old son attends distance learning in Oz, cost this year $360. Great value for an International education.

Fixed costs are PEA and AIS. Always less than b3000 pm.

We harvest rainwater.

Have not needed to install aircon. The house is based on the Darwin K house eco design, and has surpassed our expectations on livability. Currently 22c-24c of a night, fans have been sufficient.

1 rai dam with Tab Tim and Catfish. We stocked it 2 years ago with 8000 finglings. So far it is like the "Magic Pudding"

Ducks provide eggs and meat. Breeding Redclaw crayfish for the BBQ.

2 rai of veg garden, and we also grow mushrooms.

Medium term we expect a useful income from 100 Durian trees, and 50 each of Mangosteens, Mangoes, Avocado's, Kratom, Bamboo and other trees.

The farm provides most of our food and provides ~b12k pm in sales of excess produce. Bartering produce with neighbors rounds out our food requirements.

The farm income is enough for frosty Leo's and b40 meals.

This life is not for everyone.

Retiring after working for 40+ years in the corporate world my only regret is that we did not make the move 10 years earlier...

Could not imagine ever living in Darlinghurst (Sydney) again...

4MyEgo · May 7, 2022

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I ignore them and they ignore me ........ that's perfect.

Each to their own.

Adumbration · May 7, 2022

5 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

@Adumbration

I'm not buying your claim of living on 170 baht/day.

I'm not going to go through every expense category, but let's just look at transportation. You said you have 2 vehicles and 2 motorcycles. Full insurance coverage on my 10 y/o pickup truck this year was 11,874 baht or 32 baht a day. New tires every 5 years cost 24,600 baht. Daily cost over 5 years = 13.5 baht. Motor oil is 220 baht per liter now. Even if you're doing every last repair yourself, you still have to buy the parts.

Even if you only drove 5,000 km a year total (all 4 vehicles) 5,000 km/20 km/liter = 250 liters/yr x 35 baht/liter = 8750 baht /year = 24 baht/day.

Summary: Full insurance on 1 car = 32 baht/day; cost of tires on ONE car amortized over five years = 13.5 baht/day; oil and oil filter for oil change every 6 months = 3055 baht/yr or 8.4 baht/day; gasoline = minimum 24 baht day. That's 78 baht daily maintenance costs for ONE car, and that's if you barely drive anywhere. If you come back and say you have bare minimum liability limits and no physical damage coverage on your vehicles, well, you've got to set aside reserves for the possibility that you're liable for an at-fault accident or your car gets totaled. And let's not forget annual smog tests & vehicle tags (on your 4 vehicles)

Your 170 baht per day is for a month where your only expenses are food and shelter, and you don't go any where or buy anything else. That 170 baht figure can't include average costs for vehicle operating expenses, public transportation, clothing, shoes, vacations, reading resources, phone, internet, dental care, medical care, medications, medical insurance, car insurance, self-insurance reserves, visa renewals, bank fees, household appliance replacement and repair, house maintenance and improvements, gifts, charitable donations, postage, tariffs on imported goods, home entertainment subscriptions, gardening and fishing implements and supplies, boat repairs, etc.

Over the last 20 years, my ALL-TIME lowest annual cost of living was 180,572 baht in 2008 (financial crisis). Did not spend any money unless absolutely necessary; tons and tons of deferred expenditures. Total stay at home hermit lifestyle. No car, no motorcycle, no computer, no TV. No housing expenses. Budget was supplemented with vegetable gardens and fruit orchards as well. Painful frugality. That works out to 484 baht/day. Sorry, but that's why I find your claim of 170/baht per day next to impossible to believe.

I didn't read your post in detail. Not wasting my time with naysayers. However I have third party property only insurance on my cars. The policies are with AXA. I recall the last time I renewed one it was circa 2,200 THB but I would have to get the policy out of my safe to be sure. In any event I am certainly not going to waste that time and effort on you.

Adumbration · May 7, 2022

6 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

Where did the chicken come from? Did it cross the road?

Actually I swapped one of my neighbours a nice queenfish that I caught for 2 of his gai ban.

Adumbration · May 7, 2022

7 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Thx.

But I have to disagree with you there.

The trip to the Dr back in Aus costs me $55 after Medicare pays me back around $35, it works out to be about $20 out of my pocket for me or 500 baht.

My Dr prescribes me with double strength meds, e.g. instead of 40mg, I get 80mg and cut them in half, that way I get 6 months worth which is the max he will prescribe me, but it works out to 12 months worth once I cut them in half.

I have done the math and it works out to be $403 cheaper or 10, 000 baht savings for me compared to buying them here.

Also when ordering here, I don't buy them over the counter, I do it on LINE or by email and buy 6 months worth which they courier to my address for 35 baht.

I got this down pat, trust me.

So have I. If you read my post history you will see that I have an incurable chronic genetic blood disease. But both our situations and drug requirements are no doubt vastly different.

The huge cost for me back in Oz was not the fee of the doctor but the time that I wasted to go and see him. I had my own consultancy and even way back then my day rate was $1400 a day. In Thailand my time is no longer worth that sort of money, but it is still my most valuable asset.

Just one example. How much time and money would you spend arranging a course of T shots in Australia, and getting the weekly injections.

You can walk straight into the wholesale pharmacy here and buy a pack of six (I think it is six....might be ten?) vials for around 1000 baht and six syringes with needles for 4 or 5 baht each. Job done.

Andaman lab has a blood test package that checks just about everything including chest xray for 990 baht. You can add on specific additional tests for just a few baht. AND....you can check whatever you want whenever you want. You don't need some 23 year old GPs permission. And you don't need to go back to GP so he can read the results to you...

So...for day to day medical requirements (GP type stuff) Thailand is streaks ahead both in cost but also in empowering your own self management of your health.

Adumbration · May 7, 2022

15 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

salaam w'alaikum brother. you got a spare bedroom for when I come visit? ????

I am not a muslim, neither is my GF. But we have a lovely life in the village here. No drunken fools, and no drunken farangs. Very soft islam here also, when I go out to sea all night fishing several of my mates that go out (both in my boat and their own) are muslim. But only one of them stops fishing to pray (at about midnight??? and just on dawn). I must say that I have more male muslim friends than non muslim. I don't drink so that is a good match right there. I have a number of very good muslim friends (two of them are very high up in the government there) down in Malaysia.

Gecko123 · May 7, 2022

1 hour ago, Adumbration said:

I didn't read your post in detail. Not wasting my time with naysayers. However I have third party property only insurance on my cars. The policies are with AXA. I recall the last time I renewed one it was circa 2,200 THB but I would have to get the policy out of my safe to be sure. In any event I am certainly not going to waste that time and effort on you.

Your 170 baht a day figure is meaningless if you aren't including all of your living costs, including those which occur at irregular intervals. If you're only paying 2200 baht for car insurance, I can only guess that you have the lowest possible liability limits, something like 15,000 baht per person/30,000 per accident, effectively uninsured.

If you buy a car for 400,000 baht and use it for 10 years, the car is costing you 40,000 baht a year to own over that 10 year period. I'm not a naysayer. I just keep careful track of my expenses. The only difference between your financial lifestyle and mine that I can determine is that you can catch seafood, and where I live I can't. I eat a lot of seafood and I spent about 39,000 baht on it in 2021, mostly for high end sardines, anchovies, prawns and salmon. There's just no physical way that I could get down to 170 baht a day, and I think if you tracked your expenses more carefully, you would find the same is true for you.

473geo · May 7, 2022

Interesting topic, I find the largest expense in our household is me ????

So if I don't over extend on my part of the grocery shopping life is considerably less expensive ????

bkk6060 · May 7, 2022

8 hours ago, RafPinto said:

I prefer to count myself than having someone counting/spending for me and the extended family.

Well sure. If you have created financial commitments and a bunch of baggage best to keep track of things.

4MyEgo · May 7, 2022

2 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

There's just no physical way that I could get down to 170 baht a day, and I think if you tracked your expenses more carefully, you would find the same is true for you.

Totally agree, just drove 20 minutes to get my haircut at the Mumma and Pappa's store, 100 baht for haircut, 70 baht for two small beers, there's 170 baht, not including the fuel, wear and tear of the vehicle, insurance and registration, and of course maintenance.

Adumbration · May 7, 2022

2 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

Your 170 baht a day figure is meaningless if you aren't including all of your living costs, including those which occur at irregular intervals. If you're only paying 2200 baht for car insurance, I can only guess that you have the lowest possible liability limits, something like 15,000 baht per person/30,000 per accident, effectively uninsured.

If you buy a car for 400,000 baht and use it for 10 years, the car is costing you 40,000 baht a year to own over that 10 year period. I'm not a naysayer. I just keep careful track of my expenses. The only difference between your financial lifestyle and mine that I can determine is that you can catch seafood, and where I live I can't. I eat a lot of seafood and I spent about 39,000 baht on it in 2021, mostly for high end sardines, anchovies, prawns and salmon. There's just no physical way that I could get down to 170 baht a day, and I think if you tracked your expenses more carefully, you would find the same is true for you.

I haven't read my policy for years. I just renew it each year with AXA and with the same agent. All done via email and bank transfer. The new policy arrives in the post and I put it in the safe. Haven't even opened the envelope. I actually inherited the policy (and the agent) from the original owner of the vehicle. As I said previously, it is third party property only, no fire or theft. I recall that the damage to property is in the millions and per person is 600,000.

With regard to my expenses, that is for consumables including food that i buy and don't catch or grow. As I said in my original post it does not include one off expenses such as car repair and the like. I does however include my power and my internet. I use unlimited data sim that works out at about 6 baht a day. As I have posted elsewhere on this forum I have also set up my own filtration system and filter my town water which comes from a nearby lake that is very clean and has no surrounding agriculture or businesses. I have three stages ceramic, block carbon and activated carbon. The ceramic can be cleaned so has an indefinite life span the block carbon and GAC filters are circa 50-60 baht each on shopee and I replace them every six months as it is only me and the girl here. My town water bill last month was the highest ever. It was 102 baht including 20 baht meter rental. It jumped 20 odd baht this month because I bought some Kratom seedlings for fun and have put them in the little garden area I have just made out the back of my house.

The Oracle · May 7, 2022

7 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

I guess this is your mindset has to be tested, e.g. I have been on the marriage extension 5 years, 1st year IO pushed us to go for the retirement route upon our application for the marriage extension, however I made sure the next year we received what I originally applied for, the marriage extension, and ever since that time, they keep changing the rules, although I have always had the ace up my sleeve with additional docs etc, but the last one broke the camels back so to speak.

After returning to collect he marriage extension on the day they said to, i.e. clearly stamped in my passport, they said they didn't receive it and that they would call me when they get it. I just drove an hour 20, so had to drive and hour 20 back home, and of course as soon as I got home they called me, ok, you can come back now, yeh right thanks, I did the next day, so I have put the 800k into a fixed account and will apply for the retirement extension next year, so over the changing of rules and their reluctance to do their job, guess the marriage extension being checked by an external division means they have to cross their T's and dot their i's as opposed to issuing the retirement extension on the spot without anyone checking the paperwork.

I can't say that I have experienced anything like the above, maybe it has to do with me being married to a Thai and I'm always smiling to those who pass me in the village, at home in the front, or in the street or at a shop, store, that said, I don't expect Thai's to be friendly to me, took me a while to get used to even my sister in-law who comes over for 5 minutes a day to sponge off the Mrs, not even a hello or acknowledgment that I'm there, and I discussed this with the wife who assured me this is how Thai's are, they don't greet like foreigners greet, she spent 9 years in Aus with me so she knows how we greet, and being European, she would always cringe when visitors would come over and kiss her on each cheek, I would laugh ????. So I make it a point to always go to where my sister-in-law is and say hello, say her name and how are you, she will reply with er, ok, that's the best she can do with a smile, so no skin off my nose, as for the in-laws when I see them, it's the chin up and the chin up back at me with a smile, I also make some jokes with hand gestures or other and they laugh, probably think I'm a dipstick, but always get them to smile.

I sense the shyness, and perhaps the uncomfortableness of most not being able to speak out lingo, or know how to greet us, but a smile or a chin up does go a long way, that said, I am sure their is some jealousy and that comes with the lack of education in my opinion, not forgetting it is part of human nature for some too.

I have been here about the same as you and sure it got hard in the beginning but I am right at home now, and do my absolute best to drop the ball when they throw it at me, i.e. I won't play the game, I don't want to, so each time the ball ends up on the ground, I don't let anything get to me anymore, all I have to do is think if I had to go back to where I came from and I start to feel as if I want to vomit.

Thailand is not perfect, but it is very affordable for me and my family, I have no neighbours too close around me, lots of greenery surrounding us, nice big comfortable house that I can sit in all day without feeling the heat most days until really hot summer days.

I guess what I'm trying to say, it's all about the mindset, and if you can't get to it, then you will fail, for me, I have found it and that has made a huge difference for me, in other words, not interested in who, what, when, it's me, my family and what happens within our boundaries, so I won't allow the mind to upset me because some Joe wants more paperwork or I have to do a 90 day online report, I just accept it's not perfect, neither is Australia, albeit it more prettier, but also a Nanny State and an expensive one at that, I mean who pay $5 for iceberg lettuce.......crickey, if you think the grass is greener back there, good luck with that.

I was giving advice and a warning to a guy on how grotesquely inept the bureaucracy is in comparison to Australia One gets to learn to live with it but if Chris is coming here to retire, I wanted to warn him not to expect a level of service based on efficiency. Or logic, for that matter.

My mindset is fine. I don't care about 90 day reports or all that - I'm not in Bangkok or some province with a huge foreign population so I have to queue for hours to prove I'm still alive and give someone a job. I mean, for my two first visa extensions (yes, visa extensions, not extensions of stay, I was under 50) I had to drive almost three hours to another province because this one didn't have an Immigration office. It was what it was. Now it's an hour up the road; maybe a five minute wait; ask the guy how his daughter was going in uni (she's graduated now) get some stamps; go to Makro for some cheese and salami; and back home.

The ridiculous bureaucracy surrounds the complete lack of critical thinking in education. There's no written procedure for a foreigner renewing their driving licence but there IS for applying for one. I went through the whole Certificate of Residency thing three times in five years (2-year licence, 2-year licence, 5-year licence) because they don't recognise their own driving licence - issued at their very office, the scan of original photo for my 2017 licence was on their screen - as a form of identification. Or trying to get a Yellow House Book to then get a Thai (foreigner) aka "Pink" ID Card. "Sorry, you need to be married" because she couldn't find how to do it in her binder - she'd been at the Amphur for three days so she made it up.

No, that's just laughable.

The issue here is that after the initial three months or so in 2016 when I was stared at, things were great for years. I was invited to weddings and ordinations, I attended funerals, retirement parties, Songkran ceremonies at the river, and so on. Just a regular member of the community. The closing of the borders in March 2020 affected us little. However, the shutdown of entertainment in April 2021? People that had been away longer than I'd been here came back, bringing their disdain for the sex tourists and ignorant expats from Down South back.
And I'm the only foreigner for at least 40km that I know of so all the "dirty foreigner brought the virus here" <deleted> was rehashed. Very late year and about six weeks ago, we had two covid-related deaths. I was blamed by some woman with three-inch black-rooted blonde-dyed hair-gone orange with a thigh and a shoulder tattoo - in a 7-Eleven - that I had brought the virus to the village and killed the woman. Of course, she was yelling this in Thai and she assumed that, like most foreigners I've met here, I was too lazy to learn the language to understand her.

And, while you may be "married to a Thai" it means very little to Thais. I'm not married. But I speak the language - I don't rely on a filter of what is being said to, or about, me. I have been talking and cruising the morning and afternoon markets solo for six years. I've been invited to stall-holders' children's weddings (sure, probably in some way to get 500 baht in an envelope) but they went to the effort of giving me a printed invitation.
I was welcome here. I assimilated. There are no bars, restaurants, or pool halls.
It's a working village.
However, I do rent out half a house with the (head of the family) owner of a 4700 rai (yes, two zeros) rice farm with some portions (probably 50 rai or so, total ) set aside for pet projects like cucumbers and taro. I think one cousin may also grow 20 rai of corn.

What my point is, I have been outside the bubbles most foreigner create for themselves and travelled the country extensively. Although born in Australia, I grew up in a developing country before returning. There's no "socio-economic shock" for me.

And, as to your final point, I never said I was going to back to live "where the grass is greener" in Australia so I don't need luck. I'll probably end up in Cambodia near the Thai border or in Laos. But a holiday in the UK and Europe followed by a visit to Australia for the first time in three years is next.

Adumbration · May 7, 2022

9 hours ago, The Oracle said:

Great advice.

And one more bit to add to it. Be prepared for bureaucratic stupidity and inefficiency. The rules were made when Thailand was dragged kicking and screaming out of the 14th century in the 1960s and 70s. And nothing has changed except since around 2014 on how to get more money from the filthy foreigners.
The things you have to do here are mind-blowinging inefficient and double, triple, even quadruple handling a sheaf of paper you could trip over only for it all to be entered into a computer as well and then have a hand-written carbon-paper receipt given to you.

I've been here full-time six years; the last three as an O-A (I'm 53) retiree. With the massive changes to health insurance premium costs, the 800k lying useless in a bank account until I die, and the ever-increasing requirements to stay here, I'm pulling up stumps at the end of the year. I live comfortably, have a car, motorbike ( I rent my accommodation) and multiple TVs and computers along with my furnishings I brought from Australia.

Been coming here since 2010 but I moved to an isolated place very similar to the "10km from Roi Et" except I'm "80 km from Phetchabun". I'm also a beer-drinking Australian. But here? No English. No other foreigners. Which WAS good. Now disgruntled ex-employees of now-bankrupt foreign pub owners are returning, bringing their bigotry with them, and the belief that all foreigners are the cause of The Plague. The village's perception of me has changed to an uncomfortable level of disquiet and distrust because according to their returned daughters I (being the sole foreigner) am to blame for everything since January 2020 and their loss of job. I won't put what I've been called (I speak Thai although the women and men returning from Down South don't know that) but it is getting bad.
I've been threatened with a machete, and had a mango thrown at me by some bloke telling me to, er, "go away with much haste you undesirable person" in a quite impolite manner ????
Along with the continued blame-shifting on TV every night at 1800, the poison is seeping, albeit slowly to this once quiet haven.
I'll be making the most of my car over the next six months to see as much as I can an especially get to Chiang Mai again and to drive down toward Phuket.

I spent a lot of time, money, and emotion here but I'm not going to die of old age here as I once thought.

So just where do you plan to die?

Gecko123 · May 7, 2022

23 minutes ago, Adumbration said:

I haven't read my policy for years. I just renew it each year with AXA and with the same agent. All done via email and bank transfer. The new policy arrives in the post and I put it in the safe. Haven't even opened the envelope. I actually inherited the policy (and the agent) from the original owner of the vehicle. As I said previously, it is third party property only, no fire or theft. I recall that the damage to property is in the millions and per person is 600,000.

With regard to my expenses, that is for consumables including food that i buy and don't catch or grow. As I said in my original post it does not include one off expenses such as car repair and the like. I does however include my power and my internet. I use unlimited data sim that works out at about 6 baht a day. As I have posted elsewhere on this forum I have also set up my own filtration system and filter my town water which comes from a nearby lake that is very clean and has no surrounding agriculture or businesses. I have three stages ceramic, block carbon and activated carbon. The ceramic can be cleaned so has an indefinite life span the block carbon and GAC filters are circa 50-60 baht each on shopee and I replace them every six months as it is only me and the girl here. My town water bill last month was the highest ever. It was 102 baht including 20 baht meter rental. It jumped 20 odd baht this month because I bought some Kratom seedlings for fun and have put them in the little garden area I have just made out the back of my house.

Thank you for sharing additional details about your cost of living.

I have type 1 insurance which includes physical damage on the vehicle. I can't give you a break out for just the liability premiums because the bill doesn't itemize the premiums. The liability limits are 500,000 per person/10,000,000 per accident and 1,000,000 for physical damage to property. The policy also provides 200,000 baht life insurance for driver, and 200,000 baht per person up to 4 people. The total cost of the Viriyah policy is 11,873 baht.

My main purpose in providing these details is to alert other forum members to look at their policies and understand the limits provided. I had to make a special request to raise my limits to the above limits. Previously, they were much lower. I worry about the potential for being sued over policy limits in the event a 3rd party was injured. The reason I continue to carry physical damage on my vehicle even though it is now 10 years old is because of concerns about hit-and-run accidents or being hit by an uninsured driver.

sometimewoodworker · May 13, 2022

On 5/6/2022 at 1:27 PM, aussie chris said:

I would like to know in my retirement years what is considered a reasonable to good ex-pat monthly income stream provided from at home pensions, investments, or superannuation pensions to live on in these current conditions in Thailand?

You are getting some interesting numbers, to say the least. Our household expenses which excludes food but includes petrol, gas, water, electricity, insurance and a 10k maintenance fund is running at 32,000, our house is paid for, discretionary funds, food & support of family more than doubles that I seldom go out for a drink, we may go out to eat a couple of times a month.

our income is reasonable, we have a safety cushion of savings available. Going out drinking with any frequency will add 10,000 to 30,000.

BritManToo · May 13, 2022

On 5/7/2022 at 8:23 PM, Adumbration said:

So just where do you plan to die?

I don't plan to die at all.

Obviously at some point I will die, but I see no advantage in making any plans for it.

BritManToo · May 13, 2022

On 5/7/2022 at 8:14 PM, The Oracle said:

And I'm the only foreigner for at least 40km that I know of so all the "dirty foreigner brought the virus here" <deleted> was rehashed.

Obvious answers ........ 'dirty Thai sex workers spreading disease of many kinds'

To the hooker in the 7-11, 'gra-lee, mai supaap' would make the whole store laugh.

sometimewoodworker · May 13, 2022

On 5/6/2022 at 1:48 PM, Adumbration said:

Most will say I am lying about my budget

I absolutely would not say that. However I have lived long enough and worked hard enough to enjoy a comfortable life style in our dream home. I have no interest in living the way I would have to if our budget were not at the level it is.
I have lived on the kind of budget you say you have when I needed to.

Congratulations on finding a family that is happy to support your chosen lifestyle

Adumbration · May 13, 2022

12 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I don't plan to die at all.

Obviously at some point I will die, but I see no advantage in making any plans for it.

Good point. It is impossible to plan your way around the inevitable.

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