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Is Tokyo cheaper than Bangkok?


Celsius

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The main issue for Japan is low birthrate.  Many working people truly cannot afford to have children. The number of homeless, hikikomori (people who have withdrawn from society) and people who have simply disappeared are growing.  I have distant Japanese relatives and they are some of the saddest people I have known.  One can eat cheap but to get a somewhat decent place to live in Osaka or certainly Tokyo is very expensive.  Just look at the cost of a decent hotel in a major Japanese city.

 

For me i prefer Seoul or Busan. 

Edited by sqwakvfr
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It depends on how you calculate. With the yen at 150 to the dollar, Japan seems a lot more inexpensive on a dollar basis. Plus, Japan has seen almost no inflation in the last 30 years. So you can live in Japan cheaply but on the whole it's still much more expensive than Thailand. In Japan, you need an income or at least 300,000 yen a month to live a basic lifestyle, which comes out to about 70,000 baht.

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4 hours ago, Dolf said:

Thais live on 10,000 baht

I wonder which Thais you're referring to.

 

Where I live the average would be less than half that. And then there's the children to feed ...

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1 minute ago, mfd101 said:

I wonder which Thais you're referring to.

 

Where I live the average would be less than half that. And then there's the children to feed ...

5,000 would be near impossible. 160 baht a day.

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10 minutes ago, Dolf said:

5,000 would be near impossible. 160 baht a day.

Haven't heard of the countryside? Isaan?

 

In my family's village there are many who earn 0฿ per day. They get by by begging, borrowing & stealing. And they're not all old people. Plenty of teenagers whose parents are incapable of supporting them ...

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6 hours ago, CANSIAM said:

Booked for August, loading up on Yen, great time to be buying..........

The 'shoulder' months are the best time to go, April and October.

 

No way is Tokoyo cheaper than BKK as a tourist, no comparison IMO.

 

I stayed at the Godzilla hotel in Shinjinku, very cool.

 

Food is fantastic everywhere.

 

Hope you enjoy it.

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15 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

The 'shoulder' months are the best time to go, April and October.

 

No way is Tokoyo cheaper than BKK as a tourist, no comparison IMO.

 

I stayed at the Godzilla hotel in Shinjinku, very cool.

 

Food is fantastic everywhere.

 

Hope you enjoy it.

First trip, staying Roppongi area unless I make a change.....cheers. 

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2024:

https://livingcostcost.org

  • "The cost of living in Bangkok is 42% less expensive than in Tokyo. Cities ranked 5960th and 3238th ($902 vs $1556) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Thailand and Japan, respectively."
  • The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Bangkok compared to 1.9 months in Tokyo. Bangkok ranked 1st best city to live in Thailand vs Tokyo ranked 1st in Japan"
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1 hour ago, Tom100 said:

In many ways, I think that Tokyo is cheaper on a quality-adjusted basis. 

First, the air, water and streets are very clean. This is important & valuable to me.

Second, Japanese food is cheaper there and better. For example, MaxValue is better there than in BKK.

Third, the city and national rail transport networks are fantastic.

Fourth, the climate is cooler & better! 

 

If Japan creates a retirement visa I will move there. 

I doubt the Japanese Government will. My favorite country is S. Korea and they have no long term visa’s except for marriage, employment or education visas at actual universities. At this point both Japan and S. Korea have enough wealth and income from exports of actual products that they are not in need of old foreigners to live there.  If Korea offered anything like Non Imm OA or even O Retirement I would be there fast.  I do believe both countries offer long term visa’s to certain wealthy foreigners.  My guess would be investing something like. $500,000 in real estate would be a start.  Now back to reality in LOS. 

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8 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Tokyo consistently ranks in the top ten most expensive cities in the world.   Not even close to the relatively inexpensive cost to live in Bangkok.

In 2000 it was expensive, but wages have been frozen in Japan for a very long time. Many Thais go to Japan on holiday now

Edited by FritsSikkink
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2 hours ago, Tom100 said:

In many ways, I think that Tokyo is cheaper on a quality-adjusted basis. 

First, the air, water and streets are very clean. This is important & valuable to me.

Second, Japanese food is cheaper there and better. For example, MaxValue is better there than in BKK.

Third, the city and national rail transport networks are fantastic.

Fourth, the climate is cooler & better! 

 

If Japan creates a retirement visa I will move there. 

Wow, an intelligent answer. As you say, very hard to make a direct comparison. Tokyo is more expensive than BKK, certainly, but pretty much everything you get is of significantly better quality (as you have stated). Hotels and taxi fares are the stand-out expensive items for me, rentals as well, rather unsurprisingly. Pretty much everything else is decent value. Of course, if you look at minor Japanese cities vs. central BKK, the latter starts to look rather over-priced.

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Having lived in Tokyo for over 2 decades and a frequent visitor to BKK. Tokyo is not cheaper than Bangkok. There is a growth of working poor in Japan but working poor means not being able to go to Tokyo Disneyland.  seldom eat out or travel overseas. The low income Japanese are not on the streets with begging bowls. Tokyo is cheap for overseas visitors due to the weak yen. Tokyo is cheaper than London, my hometown for sure. 

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You can eat in Tokyo similarly priced to Bangkok if you stick to the local, high-carb noodle and rice diet. Rents are generally much higher in Tokyo than Bangkok, but you can find something reasonably priced if you don't mind living in a closet. Public transport isn't too expensive there, which is good. The outdoor environment in Tokyo is much better, with more parks and outdoor things to do, but lifestyle in Bangkok, because it's a more international city, is probably more fulfilling overall. 

Edited by HugoFastor
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30 minutes ago, Sumiyoshicho said:

Having lived in Tokyo for over 2 decades and a frequent visitor to BKK. Tokyo is not cheaper than Bangkok. There is a growth of working poor in Japan but working poor means not being able to go to Tokyo Disneyland.  seldom eat out or travel overseas. The low income Japanese are not on the streets with begging bowls. Tokyo is cheap for overseas visitors due to the weak yen. Tokyo is cheaper than London, my hometown for sure. 


I wouldn't say the 50% devaluation of the Yen has made Tokyo cheap, but it's certainly made it more attainable for a tourist traveling to Asia for a week. 

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