How many millions of baht does one need to retire in Pattaya?

[BritManToo]

Back to the OP, how much do you NEED to live in Pattaya ........

About 25kbht/month should be comfortable for a single retired person, then add more for female company, drinking and drugs.

 

[shdmn]

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Were they former navy seals or special forces?

What is that even supposed to mean?  Can't you just admit you are wrong instead of posting some lame attempt at deflection?  If you can't see that there are a lot foreigners around with money then you are blind.

[Celsius]

1 minute ago, PJ71 said:

Not really, you can send 2m or less overseas per time without any restrictions which soon adds up if you're doing it once a week or whatever.

 

Not on her account. The limit is 600,000b

[PJ71]

51 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I've rarely met any foreigners that managed better than finishing high school, or worked in better jobs than postman/painter/locksmith/insurance salesmen, or live in anything better than a cheap one room condo.

I don't know anyone that lives in a flea pit studio.

 

The cheap accommodation that you often mention is living amongst the middle or lower class Thais - no thanks.

[PJ71]

8 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

Not on her account. The limit is 600,000b

Even at 600K per transaction if she wants to send 3m it's only 5 transactions, not the end of the world.

 

OR

 

Transfer to your account and do it in two transactions.

[noobexpat]

54 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

 

This is a strange forum where everyone is rich, has big houses, young wives that love them for themselves, never pay for sex, were all educated and successful businessmen. Reality is, I've rarely met any foreigners that managed better than finishing high school, or worked in better jobs than postman/painter/locksmith/insurance salesmen, or live in anything better than a cheap one room condo.

 

You probably need to be in a nice condo development. Plenty of IT guys in mine amongst the retired blue collar guys.

 

I have a friend here who is an ex-postman.

[sidjameson]

47 minutes ago, shdmn said:

They are around.  I know a few of them.  Most seem to be trust fund babies though.  They usually try pass themselves off as being independently successful.  Pretending they made it all through investing or running a successful business or whatever, but I can usually see right through that.

Exactly. Guys claiming they are playing the stock market and within 10 seconds it's obvious they are just invested in the market,no way beating it. 

[shdmn]

16 minutes ago, sidjameson said:

Exactly. Guys claiming they are playing the stock market and within 10 seconds it's obvious they are just invested in the market,no way beating it. 

The other favorite one is guys pretending they made it all in crypto.  

[EVENKEEL]

Pattaya is an awesome place especially for poor retirees. For 10,000 baht you have rent in a beachfront condo with gym and pool, elec and water covered. Food is fairly cheap if you cook at home. Lots of ways to spend your day that aren't to expensive. Movie theater is like 240thb, bring your own snacks. A small cooler with beer for the beach with your friends.

 

I'm not putting a $$ figure on what's needed, but what a great place to end up if you only have your pension to live on.

[newnative]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Would point out there's plenty of houses in Thailand selling for 1-2Mbht, that's $30,000-$60,000US.

Not sure why you think the average expat would blow 10Mbht on a house in someone else's name, in a country they have no right to live in.

 

This is a strange forum where everyone is rich, has big houses, young wives that love them for themselves, never pay for sex, were all educated and successful businessmen. Reality is, I've rarely met any foreigners that managed better than finishing high school, or worked in better jobs than postman/painter/locksmith/insurance salesmen, or live in anything better than a cheap one room condo.

 

One question I do ask myself ....... all you guys that never pay for sex, don't take drugs, don't smoke, don't go to bars, don't drink alcohol ......... why are you all living in Pattaya? 

    Of course there are lower priced properties, both condos and houses.  As I have said many times, one of the great things about Pattaya is the wide variety of housing to buy or rent, at all price points--from less than a million baht to over 200 million baht.   Whether someone has the means to pay 10MB for a property has nothing whatsoever to do with whether he or she is a drinker, smoker, takes drugs, has a happy disposition, flosses, etc.  Totally irrelevant.   Also totally  irrelevant is whether or not you are meeting these people.  Just because you are, apprently not, does not equate to these people not existing.  I am also referring to Pattaya, not the boonies.

    You might find it strange that some expats are spending 10 million on condos or houses but that is the case in Pattaya, which, again, is what I was referring to.  I might also correct you that I never said, as you say I do, that I think the 'average expat' is doing this.   What I actually said was that there were 'significant numbers', and there are. 

    Pattaya has lots of housing projects with some homes in them going for 10 million baht and up.  And, there are a number of higher-end condo projects that also have condos in that price range.  Usually, these condo projects have the foreign quota filled, so about half of the buyers for these condos were foreign buyers.  If there were not buyers for properties at this higher price point, they would not be continuing to be built.  A number of the new housing projects, as well as some newly announced and just-built condo projects, are also on the higher, rather than the lower, end.  Again, referring to Pattaya.

     Finally, why people choose to live in Pattaya--in 2MB properties or 200MB properties or anything in-between--has been discussed a number of times on the Forum, with a thread just a few weeks ago, if I recall.  For my spouse and me, Pattaya simply checks more of the boxes of the things we want in a place to live than anywhere else in Thailand.  I suspect your location does the same for you.

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, newnative said:

Finally, why people choose to live in Pattaya--in 2MB properties or 200MB properties or anything in-between--has been discussed a number of times on the Forum, with a thread just a few weeks ago, if I recall.  For my spouse and me, Pattaya simply checks more of the boxes of the things we want in a place to live than anywhere else in Thailand.  I suspect your location does the same for you

OP title ....... NEED ......... not WANT.

[KhunLA]

14 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

OP title ....... NEED ......... not WANT.

yea ... need ...

... if married ... 0.4M

... if not married ... 0.8M

[newnative]

4 hours ago, WhatsNext said:

 

Very true i have a house myself in Hua Hin and this is paid in cash of course, i do know some guys that borrow on their wife's name. However what i mean to say is that this is certainly not the majority of the expats in Thailand. Quite a lot of them don't have the 800k THB in the bank for the retirement visa  and live on a basic EU pension which can be anywhere from 900 to about 1200 Euro if you are single. 

 

Like everywhere there are rich(er) and poor(er) people around, and in my years in Pattaya i certainly didn't get the impression that the majority had a lot of cash lying around. Most retirees live in places like the Markland, rooms in soi bukhao and condo's in Jomtien like the VT series. Rents are 12-20k and the rest is spend on drinking, girls and hanging out with the boys.

    Certainly there are plenty of retirees in the places you have mentioned.  But, there are also significant numbers in other places, including a variery of higher-end housing projects on the Darkside--with more being built, and in the more expensive condo projects that have been built in the past few years, with the trend for new condos decidely more upscale than the no-frills VTs of yesteryear. 

    The Cove, Northpoint, Baan Plai Haad, Northshore, Aeras, Zire, The Palm, Arom Wongamat, Cetus, Andromeda, Reflection, and others come to mind.  Copacabana, for example, has an average price of about 123,000 baht a sqm.  Arom Wongamat is at 163,000 baht.   VT5 goes for just 52.000 baht a sqm.

[newnative]

40 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

OP title ....... NEED ......... not WANT.

I was responding to your question of 'Why are you all living in Pattaya?', not how much money is needed to live here.

[Pattaya57]

I've been retired almost 6 years now, live most of each year in Pattaya on visa exempts, holidaying the rest of the time

 

Never had more than 250k baht in Thai bank so I guess that's all you need

 

[EdrigoSalvadore]

 

1 hour ago, newnative said:

    Certainly there are plenty of retirees in the places you have mentioned.  But, there are also significant numbers in other places, including a variery of higher-end housing projects on the Darkside--with more being built, and in the more expensive condo projects that have been built in the past few years, with the trend for new condos decidely more upscale than the no-frills VTs of yesteryear. 

    The Cove, Northpoint, Baan Plai Haad, Northshore, Aeras, Zire, The Palm, Arom Wongamat, Cetus, Andromeda, Reflection, and others come to mind.  Copacabana, for example, has an average price of about 123,000 baht a sqm.  Arom Wongamat is at 163,000 baht.   VT5 goes for just 52.000 baht a sqm.

My friend bought a condo last year in Pattaya for 8k per sqm. Flybird. He's very happy and has renovated it to western standard for less than 100k.

[BenStark]

1 hour ago, Pattaya57 said:

I've been retired almost 6 years now, live most of each year in Pattaya on visa exempts

 

Please reserve your space in the visa forum for your next topic, titled, I was denied entry because IO says I'm not a tourist

[Pattaya57]

1 minute ago, BenStark said:

 

Please reserve your space in the visa forum for your next topic, titled, I was denied entry because IO says I'm not a tourist

Worked well so far, 270 days in 2023 and 225 in 2024....would be cheaper to live in Patts all year round though if I got a visa

[BenStark]

3 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

Worked well so far, 270 days in 2023 and 225 in 2024....would be cheaper to live in Patts all year round though if I got a visa

 

You say you retired, why you can't get retirement visa?

[Pattaya57]

6 minutes ago, BenStark said:

 

You say you retired, why you can't get retirement visa?

I can, but don't need to. I like travelling and don't want to send 800k baht to Thai bank for crap interest (and don't want to waste 25k on agent funded visa)

 

[Keeps]

14 hours ago, noobexpat said:

I expect to hit 100m baht in mid 50's. 

I may peak at 200m before i need to commence an investment draw-down strategy because i will have decades of cash reserves.

I'm pre-inheritance too and the old folks have +£1m so...

Do you have any self awareness whatsoever? Do you ever read your posts before you hit the submit button?

[noobexpat]

31 minutes ago, Keeps said:

Do you have any self awareness whatsoever? Do you ever read your posts before you hit the submit button?

 

Just assume its all lies and fiction. 

 

[newnative]

3 hours ago, EdrigoSalvadore said:

 

My friend bought a condo last year in Pattaya for 8k per sqm. Flybird. He's very happy and has renovated it to western standard for less than 100k.

Nice Pattaya had a place that fit your friend's needs.  I have found that I can find what I want, too, even when what I want has changed--that's one of the reasons I like living in Pattaya.

[kinyara]

7 hours ago, shdmn said:

Where are you renting a 3 bedroom house for 10k?  No way in Pattaya anywhere near the beach.

 

Context matters, you can't just make blanket statements like that as if rent is similar no matter where you live.  Single guys generally want to be in Pattaya closer to the action and near the beach,  and that costs more.

 

I may be wrong but I think he lives in Chiang Mai, which is why he couldn't tell you.

[shdmn]

4 hours ago, EdrigoSalvadore said:

 

My friend bought a condo last year in Pattaya for 8k per sqm. Flybird. He's very happy and has renovated it to western standard for less than 100k.

Flybird is a dump.  Probably even worse than Nurun.  Certainly not worth bragging about at any price. 

 

 

 

[gearbox]

10 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Would point out there's plenty of houses in Thailand selling for 1-2Mbht, that's $30,000-$60,000US.

Not sure why you think the average expat would blow 10Mbht on a house in someone else's name, in a country they have no right to live in.

 

This is a strange forum where everyone is rich, has big houses, young wives that love them for themselves, never pay for sex, were all educated and successful businessmen. Reality is, I've rarely met any foreigners that managed better than finishing high school, or worked in better jobs than postman/painter/locksmith/insurance salesmen, or live in anything better than a cheap one room condo.

 

One question I do ask myself ....... all you guys that never pay for sex, don't take drugs, don't smoke, don't go to bars, don't drink alcohol ......... why are you all living in Pattaya? 

According to the US statistics the median net worth of the 65-74 years age group is $409k. If that seems low it is because a lot of millionaires moved to Pattaya

[In Full Agreement]

On 1/11/2024 at 7:24 PM, Furioso said:

Sliding downhill for the rest of your life is no way to live. 

 

 

That would depend a lot on how far you have to slide.

 

Also the OP doesn't mention if his friend  will have any kind of income rentals,  dividends or interest from banks and etc. 

 

He mentions the SS system and free government hospitals.     Where would that be?

 

 

[PJ71]

1 hour ago, shdmn said:

Flybird is a dump.  Probably even worse than Nurun.  Certainly not worth bragging about at any price. 

 

 

 

Absolute toilet.

[jacko45k]

12 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

Worked well so far, 270 days in 2023 and 225 in 2024....would be cheaper to live in Patts all year round though if I got a visa

I don't mean to put you on edge, but post covid lassitude......at some point, immigration will get back to the pre-Covid mentality, not allowing those with many exempt entries back into Thailand, say flying in on Air Asia.....If lucky, they were let in one last time with a warning to get the right Visa type.

 

By the way, there has not been 225 days in 2024 yet!

[Pattaya57]

53 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

 

By the way, there has not been 225 days in 2024 yet!

Oops I jumped a year ahead. Was 270 days in 2022 and 225 days in 2023