Is Thailand Value for money

[JimTripper]

That's true in any cheap country. You are not being invited in just to be nice or for magazine photo's and giving the country what it wants is not optional. Get real.

 

 

[Celsius]

7 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

 

It seems you have a very limited view of Thailand. Maybe visit some luxury condominiums and shopping malls. That should convince you it is possible to live in luxury in Thailand.

And there are many great restaurants out there.

And let's not forget all those beautiful girls and women. Where else can you go into a restaurant or shopping mall, and you see plenty of them all the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice facilities.....chicken farm condo where you can't swing a cat. Made for middle class Thais to feel rich.

 

Perfect material for those broke YouTubers claiming you can live in Bamgkok on 1000 USD a month.

 

Meanwhile buses burning with kids inside and world class traffic accidents that make it truly 3rd world.

Edited 2 hours ago by Celsius

[retarius]

At the moment it is extremely poor value for money. Inflation was used as a mechanism to raise prices and now prices of imported goods are going to go up again because of the high baht. Compared to other Asian markets I don't see any bargains in Thailand. Hotels were cheap (very cheap) but the last time I stayed in a hotel it was 3500 baht for nothing special (except it was clean). Labour was cheap.....we have 3 staff and I pay 400 a day each, I like to pay a little above minimum, but we are away for half the year so I am paying wages and don't know what work I am getting for the money or whether we could make do with 2 people. 

I eat western food....I hate Thai food with few exceptions....and western food is very expensive....cheese is ridiculous, steaks are pretty vile (tough as leather), pork and chick good and reasonable. Fruits were cheap but have crept up in price in the supermarkets such that we but fruit on the markets now. 

I should add that I have not been to the UK or US for a few years. The last time I went was in 2019, before COVID....I could not believe the prices for clothing and especially food. The only reasonably priced grocery was in Lidi or Aldi, I might have a heart attack next time I go there. 

Edited 2 hours ago by retarius

[KannikaP]

4 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

Nice facilities.....chicken farm condo where you can't swing a cat. Made for middle class Thais to feel rich.

 

Perfect material for those broke YouTubers claiming you can live in Bamgkok on 1000 USD a month.

 

Meanwhile buses burning with kids inside and world class traffic accidents that make it truly 3rd world.

Don't exaggerate. It was ONE bus, totally unnecessary though.

[KannikaP]

Just now, retarius said:

and now prices of imported goods are going to go up again because of the high baht

Please explain.

 

[Celsius]

 

5 minutes ago, retarius said:

I eat western food....I hate Thai food with few exceptions....and western food is very expensive....

 

Me too. I truly dislike Thai food unless it is from a place like Savoey.

 

And it is not that Western food is expensive. I can not even find 5% of stuff that is available in Canadian supermarket.

Edited 2 hours ago by Celsius

[gearbox]

15 hours ago, Celsius said:

Is Thailand a good value for money - if you have money?

 

In my opinion it was always bad value, even 11 years ago when I moved and cad$ was worth 30 baht.

 

Thailand always wants to take all while giving nothing in return. Actually they will take it even more.

 

They want to tax you, but give you no benefits. As a matter of fact, still report to us every 90 day like a criminal.

 

They want to give you LTR visa, but you have to invest millions, while still giving you nada besides tome tax benefit that may or may not hold up in the future.

 

They want to sell you a long term tourist visa for 30,000 usd.

 

Is 😺 and 🛕 really worth it.

 

This place would be a hard pass with anyone who has brain.

Thailand is fun, like most of SE Asia. Don't torture yourself thinking every minute whether you are getting value or not. Enjoy life, Carpe Diem. If you don't enjoy it here the world is big enough.

[gearbox]

27 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

 

Me too. I truly dislike Thai food unless it is from a place like Savoey.

 

And it is not that Western food is expensive. I can not even find 5% of stuff that is available in Canadian supermarket.

They have to pay me to live in Canada. Life is too short to spend it in a freezer.

[Celsius]

3 minutes ago, gearbox said:

They have to pay me to live in Canada. Life is too short to spend it in a freezer.

 

Life is too short to be whining about UK and AUS pensions yet every month there is a whining and whining thread about it.

 

Yea... Thailand is great until you run out of money. Then back to NHS as soon as you get sick.

 

 

[gearbox]

19 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

Life is too short to be whining about UK and AUS pensions yet every month there is a whining and whining thread about it.

 

Yea... Thailand is great until you run out of money. Then back to NHS as soon as you get sick.

 

 

Indeed, life is too short to be whinging about pension, it is what it is, stuff mostly beyond pensioner's control. They should find a way to enjoy life with what they have. Thailand has plenty to offer.

Edited 1 hour ago by gearbox

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Celsius said:

Nice facilities.....chicken farm condo where you can't swing a cat. Made for middle class Thais to feel rich.

 

Perfect material for those broke YouTubers claiming you can live in Bamgkok on 1000 USD a month.

 

Meanwhile buses burning with kids inside and world class traffic accidents that make it truly 3rd world.

 

So, according to you, if there are poor and middle class people in a country and bus accidents happen, then there can't be rich people who live a luxury life at the same time. Interesting.

 

 

[Cameroni]

5 hours ago, theblether said:

 

 

For your average Brit access to the NHS is worth a minimum of 100,000 baht a year. 

 

 

 

More than double that actually, the average Brit costs the NHS £4,188 a year.

 

But it costs each UK taxpayer  £5838 each year. 

 

If you're not in the UK you're not paying these £5838 in most cases.

 

If you look at the true value you have to look at true cost as well. The NHS is not for free.

 

In actual fact, if you're outside of the UK and not paying UK tax and national insurance, you're clearly in the green as regards loss of NHS services to start with.

 

You then need to look at your health insurance options in Thailand, which have become fantastic with insurance providers for expats like Genki for example. 

 

So actually people who live in Thailand can pay a LOT LESS than 5833 pounds for health insurance now and get more services for what they pay. Don't forget the NHS does not pay all treatments and does require payments in some circumstances as well.

 

 

Edited 48 minutes ago by Cameroni

[Cameroni]

1 hour ago, retarius said:

I eat western food....I hate Thai food with few exceptions....and western food is very expensive....cheese is ridiculous, steaks are pretty vile (tough as leather), pork and chick good and reasonable. Fruits were cheap but have crept up in price in the supermarkets such that we but fruit on the markets now. 

 

Yes, if you eat Western food that can be expensive. I can't live without top quality bread, quality Lomo Iberico or similar, nutella, good steak (which means buying Austrailian btw) , croissants, Boursin, Gouda, Swiss chocolate, french green beans etc, and those are by far the biggest items in the groceries list.

 

However, I still pay only half of what I paid in the home country for groceries.. So groceries are exceptionally good value in Thailand.

 

Then in terms of electricity bill, even running the aircon non stop I pay one tenth of what I paid in the home country, water bill is also one tenth. So also exceptionally value.

 

I live in a new-build  4 bed house with swimming pool and pay 560 USD, so again, exceptional value..

 

Almost everything is great value in Thailand.

Edited 38 minutes ago by Cameroni

[actonion]

16 hours ago, couchpotato said:

Such rubbish...

why?