Cost Of Living

[LivinLOS]

Not one person has mentioned medical insurances or costs.. I find most people who seem to post these threads lowball them..

To stay in a tourist area.. OK basic life, going out a bit.. 60k. Good lifestyle, going out a lot, some partying, occasional company from a lady of negotiable affection 80k ish.. Non stop flat out can easily be 120 - 150k. Those kinf od numbers for the Patong area, a bit less (but not much) for Kata to Kamala. If you do end up down in Nai harn / Rawai (gods waiting room) then nightlife isnt really going to be one of your big costs, for others they are thier major cost.

Oddly I dont do the partying thing much any more yet my costs of living have risen.. As I am no longer in a bar all the time I like to have a car, a house with a pool, some toys, travel a bit, etc etc.. These things are not needed for life but I didnt come here to merely exist on rice and draft chang.

[Naam]

Oddly I dont do the partying thing much any more yet my costs of living have risen.. As I am no longer in a bar all the time I like to have a car, a house with a pool, some toys, travel a bit, etc etc.. These things are not needed for life but I didnt come here to merely exist on rice and draft chang.

you don't say!

[chickencurry]

I don't think these threads are pointless - you do get a good broad idea of costs from them. I scoured this forum last year and figured we would prob be spending around 100,000 THB a month to live a good life here and been here 3 months now and the estimate was spot on. Like stuandchris, we're both falangs, mix Thai and western food, sometimes eat in, sometimes out. Actually found that we were hugely under budget on food/drinks costs but the aircon really whacks up the figure.

If you do without aircon (or minimal aircon) you can live a good life on a lot less I think. Some friend of ours live on 30,000 thb - smoke, drink, run a car but dont go out so often and use no aircon at all. All depends on what you can afford and what you are happy with.

this calls for an explanation i have a rather big and fully airconditioned home and spend approximately 2.5% of my total expenses (in Thailand) on airconditioning (A/C is ~50% of my electricity bill). therefore switching off all A/Cs and sweating would be more or less a drop in the ocean as far as savings are concerned.

Don't know if I can explain it - I've only been here 3 months. Our electricity bill for last month (a full month) amounted to 13.6 per cent of our total expense. We are assuming that the bulk of the electricity is the aircon. I don't know why yours is just 2.5 per cent - are you working? We are not working so aircon on most of the time. We are within our budget so no worries.

[LivinLOS]

13.6 % of your budget ?!?! And your spending +- 100k per month ?? 13k is a LOT of AC !! I mean like a HUGE amount..

Try acclimatizing to the temperature or you will forever be sweating and not adjusted.

[Naam]

13.6 % of your budget ?!?! And your spending +- 100k per month ?? 13k is a LOT of AC !! I mean like a HUGE amount..

not really that huge. most probably my future electricity bill (not a/c only) will be 13k for the months may till august. presently my average for the year is ~9,000 a month. but i think we misinterpretet the OP's mentioning of spending a 100k a month.

[Naam]

Don't know if I can explain it - I've only been here 3 months. Our electricity bill for last month (a full month) amounted to 13.6 per cent of our total expense. We are assuming that the bulk of the electricity is the aircon. I don't know why yours is just 2.5 per cent - are you working? We are not working so aircon on most of the time. We are within our budget so no worries.

aircon is used 24 hours a day with appropriate adjustments at night when a part of the house is not "lived in". how big is your home, at what temperature do you keep it and what is your unit price per kilowatt? any pool, pond, waterfall, fishpond, sprinkler pump, deep well, wine cellar, outside lighting, walk-in fridges?

[LivinLOS]

My biggest ever utils bill was 16k that included about 2-3k in water and I had guests over from Europe that just jammed the AC on flat out for days on end.. Plus it was on a large open plan space..

I know my pool pumps used a fair bit but 12 - 13k in AC use.. Well they must like it frosty.

[Naam]

My biggest ever utils bill was 16k that included about 2-3k in water and I had guests over from Europe that just jammed the AC on flat out for days on end.. Plus it was on a large open plan space..

I know my pool pumps used a fair bit but 12 - 13k in AC use.. Well they must like it frosty.

a/c in my case is presently not more than 50% of the total electricity consumption. as i mentioned this will go up to a total of 13k during the hot months of the year because we have just added another 140m² of airconditioned area. it is however not frosty in our house but a comfortable average of 26.5ºC. i am used to a/c since decades; at 27º i start sweating and at 25º i am shivering

[vanalli]

Well, my electricity bill is about 300 baht a month. I don't live in a house, obviously.

[Super Hans]

I have difficulty with the idea that Phuket is more expensive than anywhere else in Thailand. The groceries at Tesco and in the local markets in Phuket are the same price, more or less, as in the Tesco's and local markets in say Chiang Mai, Buriram or anywhere else in Thailand. The cost of water, electricity, UBC, road tax, car insurance, petrol, cigarettes, clothes and goodness knows what else is priced the same here in Phuket as anywhere else. Eating out in Phuket CAN be more expensive as can the price of a beer in a tourist bar and female companionship (so I'm told). Property rentals CAN be more expensive also.

I for one spend the same amount every month living in Patong as when I used to live in Chiang Mai - my rent is 5k higher but I now have a sea view and a house instead of a condo - broadly it all trades off to be even. Turn the question around slightly and ask where would it be easier to spend a large amount of money every month, Chiang Mai, Buriram or Phuket and Phuket of course wins hands down because there is far more choice here.

Surely you jest? CM is cheaper than chips! Phuket is a rip-off IMO. I would say living in Pattaya doubles your desposible income and CM quadrouples it. You can get a *decent* room in CM for 2.5k a month - try finding that in Phuket!

For some reason I'm fascinated by the difference in prices of laundry, of all things. 50b/kilo in Phuket, 35b in Krabi and Samui, 30b Pattaya, as low as 20b in CM. Internet prices also vary widely throughout the country - 2b min on Phi Phi (understandably, perhaps), 40-60b/hour Phuket, 20-40b Pattaya, 15-30b CM. I'm not sure why price differencials are so pronounced.

[chiang mai]

I have difficulty with the idea that Phuket is more expensive than anywhere else in Thailand. The groceries at Tesco and in the local markets in Phuket are the same price, more or less, as in the Tesco's and local markets in say Chiang Mai, Buriram or anywhere else in Thailand. The cost of water, electricity, UBC, road tax, car insurance, petrol, cigarettes, clothes and goodness knows what else is priced the same here in Phuket as anywhere else. Eating out in Phuket CAN be more expensive as can the price of a beer in a tourist bar and female companionship (so I'm told). Property rentals CAN be more expensive also.

I for one spend the same amount every month living in Patong as when I used to live in Chiang Mai - my rent is 5k higher but I now have a sea view and a house instead of a condo - broadly it all trades off to be even. Turn the question around slightly and ask where would it be easier to spend a large amount of money every month, Chiang Mai, Buriram or Phuket and Phuket of course wins hands down because there is far more choice here.

Surely you jest? CM is cheaper than chips! Phuket is a rip-off IMO. I would say living in Pattaya doubles your desposible income and CM quadrouples it. You can get a *decent* room in CM for 2.5k a month - try finding that in Phuket!

For some reason I'm fascinated by the difference in prices of laundry, of all things. 50b/kilo in Phuket, 35b in Krabi and Samui, 30b Pattaya, as low as 20b in CM. Internet prices also vary widely throughout the country - 2b min on Phi Phi (understandably, perhaps), 40-60b/hour Phuket, 20-40b Pattaya, 15-30b CM. I'm not sure why price differencials are so pronounced.

No I don't jest, really, it all depends how you chose to live. The point that I make is that the basic cost of living in each of the locations I mention is roughly the same, with the exception of real estate costs. To make a proper comparison it's important to separate the costs in any of the locations between those that you have to spend in order to maintain a preferred standard of living and those costs that you chose to incur to maintain your lifestyle. For example, I suspect my laundry costs are cheaper than any of the ones you mention because I have my own washing machine, ditto the internet costs because I have a landline. As for finding a decent room for 2.5k month in Phuket, no can do. Bu there again, unless you are a native from a rural village I doubt that you can find a decent room, by western standards, anywhere in SE Asia for the price you mention. On the other side of the equation however is that the air in Phuket is cleaner and the views are very appealing and I am likely to live much longer here than you will living there, all things being equal.

[WOOHOO]

Don't want to sound too biased, because obviously I am. Everybody loves their own place in Thailand for their own reasons, because at the end of the day we're all different, but surely everybody from Chiang Mai, Pattaya, BKK, etc, can't seriously compare these places like for like. Weather it's your cup of tea or not, nowhere in Thailand has the geography, scenery, beaches, bars, restaurants, marinas, shopping centers, go-kart tracks, motocross tracks, spas, 5 star hotels, art galleries, International schools, elephant trekking, Diving scene etc, etc, all in the same place. (there's a lot more that could have gone on that list, but I got the sense people were nodding off) There's even a bit of Thai culture & history to be had in Old Phuket Town, (Isn't that right HB ) The point is, you get what you pay for, so we will always pay a little bit more, but we're still getting the bargain of a lifetime.