Thailand on 170,000 baht a month

[BangkokReady]

9 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

If that is the question you want answered , why did you put all that other info in your post ?

I think someone saw the "can I live on 40k per month" post and felt like sharing... ????

[JimTripper]

33 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

As an American, I do not know all the Britosphere secret handshakes about talking about money. Your various neurosis's about the Queen and class hierarchy or whatever are wholly of your own making.

 

In America, when we talk about money, we put a number on it. It's not a brag; it's a number that describes my specific situation.

 

Otherwise, it's a lot of faux-witty responses about how long is a piece of string? If I flat out fell into my good luck and freely admit it, that is the opposite of bragging. If I ask how to maximize that good luck and negotiate it, that's pretty much a standard life in Thailand post like I read here every day.

 

I'd be just as interested in what the lifestyle leap from 60K to 90K means to someone living on the ground as I am about the leap from 170K to 200.

 

5 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

Yeah, in your HOME My average trip to Southeast Asia has been in the 4-6 week range, with an outlier 6 months stay in Laos for a research thing I did. I know what things cost in general, but I never did anything higher end then the Marriot Buffet on Suk Road. OK, shoot me, I had the beverage supplement with it.

Just figure you will be over charged for everything with a gold chain around your neck (or around your mind and attitude).

 

So there really is no upper limit to the amount you will need or will require.

 

You will be scammed and over charged either until a). you run out of money, or b). it makes more financial sense to move elsewhere.

[LaosLover]

8 minutes ago, Thailand said:

Live in the sticks of Chiang Mai rent a nice three bed bungalow with garden that er indoors loves.

Drink mainly Chardonnay or Merlot as the mood takes, dine out on occasion but prefer home cooking.

Play golf three times a week. Support 2 of us, 2 dogs and a Cockatoo. Run a decentwell kep 4x4.

Less than 60K per month.

Golf, pets, car ownership are things we're running away from.

 

Would it be physically possible to spend triple your budget in Chiang Mai without getting involved with hard drugs and people trafficking? Keep in mind that we do like the odd bit of vintage Hilltribe textile.

[cdemundo]

9 hours ago, LaosLover said:

I.....I.....donnnn' unnnerstannddd.

 

He posits a situation, generally invites comments, and then he asks a question. At the end. Why?

 

I....I....don' understannnnddd.

If you haven't noticed yet AseanNow is not a place where the diplomatic services of members nations come looking for recruits.

 

You have have heard that AseanNow members in general are a bunch of bitter, nasty, envious, repulsive old men.

You may have heard that.

[LaosLover]

4 minutes ago, cdemundo said:

You have have heard that AseanNow members in general are a bunch of bitter, nasty, envious, repulsive old men.

 

We're posting on an Internet forum. That's akin to learning stage coach repair these days.

 

That they're even bothering to worry about if I'm a snob, or a windup merchant (as my ancient English friends might accuse) is actually very generous. But really, what else are they going to do? Seriously?

 

Thank you, fellow obsolete, glue factory-destined, no hopers, for being here and keeping the lights on.

[Thailand]

30 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

Golf, pets, car ownership are things we're running away from.

 

Would it be physically possible to spend triple your budget in Chiang Mai without getting involved with hard drugs and people trafficking? Keep in mind that we do like the odd bit of vintage Hilltribe textile.

You seem to be coming across as a rather sad confused person which I guess is not the original intent?

[Caldera]

10 hours ago, LaosLover said:

It's for 2 people (I am bringing my wife along, like a ham sandwich to a picnic).

At least you have a good sense of humor, which is very much needed when trying to make do in Bangkok on such a shoestring budget. Best of luck!

[ChaiyaTH]

You could take a gym membership that cost a bit more and get the trainer for free or do sessions at the same time.

 

Grab rides wont hurt that much, wine depends where you go. 

 

You can easily rent for -40k, 20k on grab, 10k on sports, 10k on cleaner is 80k a month.

 

General food budget 20k per person is 120k. 2x per week 4 stars including one wine bottle 40k is 160k.

 

Yeah if you design life that poorly it is gonna be tight indeed but that is mainly your own issue too. 

 

Both stick to following:

2k daily budget for all and everything except rent if wanting to waste 50k on rent (all included).

 

If the dinners and good wine are so frequent and important you are better off in Vietnam. Would cost a fraction, rent too.

 

For Bangkok? Lower your rent budget to 30k, easily possible for high end options too. Find a good wine to drink in your luxury home. 

 

No personal trainer and driver nonsense, why even needed, likely a good gym and pool etc in the condo anyway. Watch youtube pff.

 

Wine sessions like that gonna cost you 2k per time easily, thats 8k a week excluding the dinners. Ditch the wife i guess.

Edited June 12, 2022 by ChaiyaTH

[Sparktrader]

8 hours ago, LaosLover said:

I read the book, Very Bangkok, 3 times. And that guy's other book Very Thai, like six times. I even bought the expanded second edition. I wrote a book about the folkloric votive Buddha statues of Laos and got an award from their government. I also meditate in their vipassana style 3 times a day (I'm not a Buddhist). Not everyone is in Thailand for a girlfriend and a cheap plate of noodles.

 

Some people really are fascinated by Thai culture specifically and Southeast Asia in general. I wouldn't live in Spain for free. My wife is white. Yeah, I can still pull white. I promise not to rub it in.

 

To be in Thailand, pursuing my interests -with language skills, and the connections and opportunities that will come with being attached to a university- is a life long dream. I'll get an air purifier for my apartment. This forum has been very helpful with recco's.

 

Buying a car and going into the uber biz with someone I don't really know is the 100% opposite of what I'd consider useful advice. But thanks anyway.

Bragging about a white woman? 

[LaosLover]

3 minutes ago, Thailand said:

You seem to be coming across as a rather sad confused person which I guess is not the original intent?

The oh so conveniently ultra non-specific sad accusation (you SEEM to be coming across - too brit for words) is classic passive aggressive loserdom. The fake concern about cluing me in about my original intent is also pretty weak tea.

 

So nothing to share on the topic?

 

 

[Sparktrader]

4 hours ago, LaosLover said:

I'm talking about restaurants that would typically be rated 4 stars on Trip Advisor or Yelp.

 

And then I gave some named examples of popular such places in Bangkok.

 

As to ye olde Euro-snob ratings or Michelin or whatever, I have no interest or idea's.

 

Nor I'm guessing, do you. You're mad at something, but should mental clarity pass by your noggin, you will grasp that it aint me.

Best Thai is home cooking

[LaosLover]

2 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Bragging about a white woman? 

Former Homecoming Queen.

 

In the south, that honor never quite leaves you. Bless us with a Sheila-tale or two.

[Sparktrader]

Bangkok is great for singles. No idea why a couple would live there.

[Sparktrader]

Phuket be better for a couple or Chiang Mai. Bangkok is a dirty city. 

 

 

[LaosLover]

3 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Bangkok is great for singles. No idea why a couple would live there.

Everybody here came to Thailand like you and ended up married and as a late age parent in some backwater.

 

I'm bringing my own and skipping the kid part. That dead buffalo money is being spent on giant prawns instead.

[Sparktrader]

Just now, LaosLover said:

Everybody here came to Thailand like you and ended up married and as a late age parent in some backwater.

 

I'm bringing my own and skipping the kid part. That dead buffalo money is being spent on giant prawns instead.

So seafood. Better in Prachuap. More fresh. 

[Wagga]

8 hours ago, LaosLover said:

I've had the experience of getting a good driver in Bangkok and getting his phone number and tipping him up so he responds. One time, he took me out to an amulet market out in the burbs. We took a holy man out to Burger King.

 

In Mexico, you have to be careful that your new best friend driver doesn't become your burglar up the road. Which is my second question: how do you vet people? How do you hide your wealth? How much notice does a 170K person draw from the locals? Should I downgrade to a 30K apartment to avoid problems? 

** "How do you hide your wealth?"

 

Stop mouthing off about it on a public forum for a start will help.

[LaosLover]

6 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Phuket be better for a couple or Chiang Mai. Bangkok is a dirty city. 

 

 

Looked at Phuket old town, but it seems to be mainly an insta-gram photo site these days. Chiang Mai is about 25% likely since we live in mountains, in the US and Mex, and love them. Plus the uni.

 

But ultimately, after being in a small town forever (where we live, it's 45 people) we want a real city. And if you have money, no place feels all that dirty.

[LaosLover]

1 minute ago, Wagga said:

** "How do you hide your wealth?"

 

Stop mouthing off about it on a public forum for a start will help.

More impotent whining and implausible passive aggressive-pretending that posting here has any real life effect.

[Thailand]

17 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

The oh so conveniently ultra non-specific sad accusation (you SEEM to be coming across - too brit for words) is classic passive aggressive loserdom. The fake concern about cluing me in about my original intent is also pretty weak tea.

 

So nothing to share on the topic?

 

 

My share is that is that you are trolling but I have been wrong in the past.

[Sparktrader]

Chiang Mai way better if you love mountains. Fly to Bangkok once a month.

 

Honestly Bkk is great for a week or two. After that just a big dirty city.

[Sparktrader]

Nong Khai has access to Laos and mountains to the west. Airport in Udon.

 

 

 

 

[FritsSikkink]

6 hours ago, LaosLover said:

A four star restaurant in Bangkok to me means a $100 check for 2, not dining at at roof top bar and ordering caviar. I never ate in a Michelin starred restaurant that was worth the money. I'd be most frequently eating in shophouse restaurants or at home. We grow our own Thai basil and even made a foray into home made padaek; the thought of making my own food from the market excites me.

 

I'm looking for a one bedroom apartment with a pool and good furniture in a decent neighborhood, say 5-7 BTS stops from downtown, not a penthouse in Thong Lo. Suggestions would be welcome. What's the new Ari? I spent a couple of weeks a little north of Banglaphu and liked it.

 

I see gyms on line where you can get a block of training sessions for $10-20 per session. Private Thai lessons seem to run about $10 an hour. As explained, I do not need a dedicated, round the clock driver. Medical pot is not essential, but posts here lead me to believe it's around $150 a month, after the doctor charge.

 

We've travelled a lot in SEA and usually spend about $100 a day for the two of us, or $200 if we're eating large, which I hardly would want to do every day. I'd like to do the pricey tour to the Myanmar Himalaya's  but, most of my traveling around would be of the Pai-variety. Not a beach person at all. And yes, I know going in that the Myanmar Himalaya's are probably going be a bit of a rip off and a letdown.

 

I've also read here that barring rent, costs in the provinces are not that much diff; a trip to the western-style grocery store costs the same and so does a cab or a bowl of noodles.

 

The 100K a month lifestyle described above sounds fine to me, and if I went berserk and tossed in another 30K for fine dining, it looks like I'm still in range.

 

Simply presenting what I've researched so far does not constitute trolling or not listening to the advice so graciously given here.

 

It seems to be a very split message here: you can live very well on 60K, but 170 not so much. And I could also def. stretch to 200K

I don't understand your star system but this is the menu of an average steak restaurant: Menus – El Gaucho Thailand

[Gecko123]

2 hours ago, LaosLover said:

I am willing to suffer the dire deprivations you cite just to be near some pretty impressive Buddha statues.

 

But if half that amount had me eating sushi as many nights as I wanted in Mexico, I'm guessing it won't be that grim in Bangkok. 

 

I am glad that comprehension-challenged posters here enjoy so much support. Let them at least have that. While I wallow around in a pile of money.

Wasn't going to say anything, but you are starting to sound like someone self-soothing after suffering hefty losses in their stock, bond or crypto portfolio. No worries; we all use the forum to self-soothe from time to time. That's what we're here for.

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by Gecko123

[Sparktrader]

On a 170,000 budget Id choose Phuket.

Airport

Beaches

Boat trips

Khao Sok nearby

Nightlife

International food

Muay thai

Shows

 

Fly to bkk or cm for something different

 

Phuket be great to live. Some nice drives in the south.

 

Kamala, Kata or Karon is where I would live.

 

 

[FritsSikkink]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It seems your definition of "a Thai person" is very limited. There are lots of Thai people out there who spend a lot more than only 170k per month.

He only knows poor Thais.

[LaosLover]

27 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

You could take a gym membership that cost a bit more and get the trainer for free or do sessions at the same time.

 

Grab rides wont hurt that much, wine depends where you go. 

 

You can easily rent for -40k, 20k on grab, 10k on sports, 10k on cleaner is 80k a month.

 

General food budget 20k per person is 120k. 2x per week 4 stars including one wine bottle 40k is 160k.

 

Yeah if you design life that poorly it is gonna be tight indeed but that is mainly your own issue too. 

 

Both stick to following:

2k daily budget for all and everything except rent if wanting to waste 50k on rent (all included).

 

If the dinners and good wine are so frequent and important you are better off in Vietnam. Would cost a fraction, rent too.

 

For Bangkok? Lower your rent budget to 30k, easily possible for high end options too. Find a good wine to drink in your luxury home. 

 

No personal trainer and driver nonsense, why even needed, likely a good gym and pool etc in the condo anyway. Watch youtube pff.

 

Wine sessions like that gonna cost you 2k per time easily, thats 8k a week excluding the dinners. Ditch the wife i guess.

Thank you for your generous reply.

 

My bit of YouTubing suggests that you get a lot more for 50K rent then you do for 30K rent. And the extra $576 a month is not a meaningful amount to us.

 

She likes box wine, at home, with a true crime video summoned up on Youtube. That South African plonk we order by the glass in a place like Sunrise Taco's will cover it. Ordering a bottle of wine in a restaurant is not something we do more than 4 times a year. I covered my limited needs for car service and personal training elsewhere here (a couple of times).

 

Liked Vietnam well enough, but it is def sanuk-deficient. Not to mention Buddhist-lite. Our meditation teacher studied with the great Ubon sage, Ajan Chah. We love the specific Thai spiritual flavor and moving to be in the the thick of it is something we can't wait to do. People here complain that their mates believe in ghosts. We'd be happy to listen to Thai people talk about ghosts all day long.

[Sparktrader]

4 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

He only knows poor Thais.

I knew a rich Thai. Gangster.

[LaosLover]

11 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

I don't understand your star system but this is the menu of an average steak restaurant: Menus – El Gaucho Thailand

I.....I..... don' understannnn TripAdvisor or Yelp ratings. Help meeee.

 

Been to El Gaucho, we're talking about a notch down.

[Sparktrader]

2 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

Thank you for your generous reply.

 

My bit of YouTubing suggests that you get a lot more for 50K rent then you do for 30K rent. And the extra $576 a month is not a meaningful amount to us.

 

She likes box wine, at home, with a true crime video summoned up on Youtube. That South African plonk we order by the glass in a place like Sunrise Taco's will cover it. Ordering a bottle of wine in a restaurant is not something we do more than 4 times a year. I covered my limited needs for car service and personal training elsewhere here (a couple of times).

 

Liked Vietnam well enough, but it is def sanuk-deficient. Not to mention Buddhist-lite. Our meditation teacher studied with the great Ubon sage, Ajan Chah. We love the specific Thai spiritual flavor and moving to be in the the thick of it is something we can't wait to do. People here complain that their mates believe in ghosts. We'd be happy to listen to Thai people talk about ghosts all day long.

Phuket 25k 2 bedroom condo with pool near beach.

 

Why would you want to live in Bangkok?