Cost Of Living

[frizzy1]

Hi,

We are seriously thinking about moving to Phuket for good but wanted to know how much we should budget for living.

We plan to buy a property with our hard earned cash so we will not have any mortgage/rent payments.

Our plan is to sell our house in the UK and use the equity (approx £7.5m THB) to purchase two properties in Thailand - one to live in and one to rent.

Can anyone tell me what the rental market is like in Thailand - would it give sufficient income to live off? We will also have £500 a month rental income from England.

Finally, what about Visa's - which one should we go for? Have heard that there is a crackdown on Tourist Visas and that you are only allowed a max of 3 runs before leaving the country for 6 months - so what is the alternative??

Any assistance appreciated as we just want to leave horrible UK!!!

K....

[Family Values]

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[Patong Bob]

Have a look at the visas, and living and working in Thailand topics in this forum. You will find plenty of advice there, many things come into play, including your age, if you are married to a Thai lady, or supporting Thai children, or if you are going to own a company. Far too much for me to answer comprehensively.

Note that you just cannot buy a property in Thailand although you can lease it long term. Also note that in Phuket land titles are notoriously dubious.

Good luck.

[LivinLOS]

I would think it would be tough to live totally on one rental property income alone...

Rentals are usually cheap at the low and mid end of the market but very high at the top quality end of the market.. Trying to rent a modest villa or place with a pool for example for 'sane' amounts is hard.. Similarly places around Patong have high rents as the tourist price pushes everything up hard.

[kandt]

K,

Seriously thinking of moving to Thailand is very popular but without some serious homework by yourself prior to your travelling; you are bound to end up like many others, frustrated and angry towards the Thai people, which by and large are completely innocent. Living in Thailand is very cheap, but Phuket is on the more expensive side compared to other places in Thailand, because of the close proximity to tourism. Before you travel to Thailand get yourself a visa in UK that can be converted in Thailand to a longer stay. Even in Europe (EU) you will not be allowed to stay on a tourist visa, so don’t be naïve.

Start renting a bungalow when you arrive and feel your way around. The price is from Baht 5,000 to 12,000 depending on your requirements. Find your location of preference and contact a lawyer. This may cost you some money but they are well spent. Count on that it will take you up to one year to get everything arranged sensibly.

Good luck