How Many Falangs In Thailand Are Broke?

[patongpanda]

Some people come to Thailand with plenty of money and lose it all. Some people come with nothing and make a life here. Some people base their life around the idea of one day moving to their place in the sun, when conditions of right, but for many this day will never come. Some people live in the now.

I am always broke haha..

I found your post very informative thanks. I have been a lot happier since I started living beneath my means (in the UK) and I mean to continue that in Thailand. I came here with nothing so it is not too unobtainable.

Does anyone watch that soap opera on Thai TV? There's an American dude with long hair he just chills out and grows vegetables. He seems kind of self-sufficient. I bet he is on less than 17000. The Thais seem to like him.

[Kerryd]

Steady on there gunnyd. I live in a nice townhouse for 2,000 THB a month. It's no shithole. Our cable television is 400THB a month and we do have 50+ channels. It depends on what part of the country you live in. Mind you I do pay 2,600 for my ipstar.

I guess you can say it's still a matter of different strokes for different folks. Some people can get by nicely for less money than others. Others expect a much higher standard of living, and have to pay for it.

I'm currently renting 2 Thai-style apartments (2,500 pm each) and had a door installed between them. Better than a hotel room and gives me a place to store my stuff when I'm away working. Water and cable run me about 250 pm, and electricity used to be about 3,000 (dam_n air-con ). Another 1,100 a month for my internet/phone connection. Not sure what I spend on food, probably as much as the rest put together. Then there's the "entertainment" expenses (a movie now and then, maybe some bowling or "other" activities)

Then again. I don't live here full-time (dam_n that "working for a living" schtick I still have to do). I'm expecting that, when the time is right, I will find a place I like and buy it. I'll have a nice nest egg in the bank, and (assuming I don't spend most of my waking hours in a bar) I should be able to get by on my pension quite nicely. It's all a part of that "thinking for the future" bit that so many others seem to forget, until one morning they wake up and see the exchange rate has taken a slight dip and they wonder how they will be able to afford to eat that day.

[ilyushin]

I'm broke, but much better off than people with loads.

Spare a bundle?

[tahaan]

Clear signs of rationalisation here. You can't afford western luxuries so in order to protect your psyche from the damage of admitting the failure you've become you rationalise, probably subconsciously, that you don't like those things anyway. The evidence that this is a psychological defence mechanism and that you're merely protecting yourself psychologically from the trauma of your failure is that you boast in detail about the luxuries that you CAN afford such as the internet 1MB no less and 50 - FIFTY cable TV channels.

There are a lot of western luxuries I have chosen, probably subconsciously, that I no longer like or am happy to do without. Not because I can't afford them but simply because I can't be arsed to look for them. The Lotus/Big C/Makro car park and check out or their equivalent back home was one of the reasons I chose to come here and try something different. Oh, and by the way, I'm more than happy with the moral choice made when ditching UBC. You may say I was protecting myself from the trauma of failure but I'd argue it was a psychological defence mechanism deployed to stop them taking the mick for a crap service!

yours, sinking ever further and further into poverty and faliure ...

[rewket]

lol braggin about cheap 50+ channels..

cable tv is TERRIBLE..

every channel is dubbed in kazhakastianian or whatever

the reception is terrible and the english content is like 5 channels and just one of these has movies, which are pretty awesome i gotta say, all the old funny movies play there.

UBC is def the only way to go.

2700baht a month must be a real shithole, like worse than the low rent places in western countries for people on social help. by 1000.

the cheapest decent thing u can get in bangkok is a small studio for maybe 7000baht in ratchada.. xcept if u live far from everything which means you are ruining your quality of life because if u decided to live in a big city, that means u want to live in it, not 40mins away from it by bike(not motor. tooe xpensive for you)

im in a 3.5bedroom HOUSE for 16 000 and everybody thinks im sick lucky to get it this cheap in phuket and my friends had a 15 000 baht townhouse (4bedroom, 3storey) in ekkamai area.. that was pretty insane and really not normal.

anyone living with less than 30 000 a month is definitly sacraficing a LOT of needed luxuries.

[percy2]

Some of these posts bemuse me.

Just because somebody is paying a small amount for something why denigrate them? I love a deal , don't you?

And as for people being "broke", What is "broke". Some people with the biggest debts have the grandest lifestyles. Think "The Donald"

I've also known people with vast net worth , but not two halfpenny's to rub their arse with.

I myself have swung from asset to cash rich and too and fro many times.

Maybe my annoyance with this thread is based upon my ignorance of how ignorant people are.

Cheers

[DP25]

the cheapest decent thing u can get in bangkok is a small studio for maybe 7000baht in ratchada.. xcept if u live far from everything which means you are ruining your quality of life because if u decided to live in a big city, that means u want to live in it, not 40mins away from it by bike(not motor. tooe xpensive for you)

Not really dude. A small studio is generally cheaper than that, 7k is on the expensive side for just a room. You can get a 2 bedroom in Ratchada withing walking distance of the MRT for under 10k per month.

I think a lot of people don't understand how ridiculously cheap things can be in Thailand. I don't think earlier poster who talked about a 2700 per month studio, 300 per month internet, and 100 baht cable is exaggerating at all. I don't think people understand how Thai style apartments work. They'll usually have shared internet and cable, and you pay a small monthly fee for access. They're usually very fast as well, as most Thai people are not heavy internet users, and they generally only browse web sites and don't do any heavy downloading or anything.

[bonviveur]

I see we are still equating money with happiness, I know a few guy who their western wife have taking them for everything, now leaving in a basement with hot plate but he the happiest I have ever known him.

It's all relative

[the highlander]

Some BMs attitudes on this thread stink IMNSHO!!

I did not read where spencer tries to take the moral high ground or state his way is the only way!!

To slag the man for living like a Thai in Thailand is beyond the pale!

Sure some of you need your overpriced creature comforts and gloat over your vast personal wealth but to call a mans home a sh*thole because you own a castle in a third world country reeks!!

If that's the prevalent attitude amongst falang towards all who live in accommodation that costs less than 3k a month then no wonder many Thais hate us.

[Pepe']

About 15 years ago or so I used to always hear that 50% of Americans were two pay checks away from being homeless.

The other day Hillary was speaking and mentioned that many American's were." one illness or one "layoff" from financial disaster.

I can't imagine being in these shoes in Thailand.

I almost retired there a couple of years ago but it didn't happen. Even though I wanted to and would have lived quite comfortably not needing to work.

Ah yes "the plans of mice and men often go astray."

Can't retire now but the best Veterans hospital is 10 minutes from my door in La Jolla where I've got full coverage for life, or the life of the VA, which ever comes first.

Still practicing medicine, partime and teaching alot. You could wind up in a worse place than San Diego I guess.

For now I look forward to my one month vacation next year with a short visit to my "ex-thai" family...

[bonviveur]

Some BMs attitudes on this thread stink IMNSHO!!

I did not read where spencer tries to take the moral high ground or state his way is the only way!!

To slag the man for living like a Thai in Thailand is beyond the pale!

Sure some of you need your overpriced creature comforts and gloat over your vast personal wealth but to call a mans home a sh*thole because you own a castle in a third world country reeks!!

If that's the prevalent attitude amongst falang towards all who live in accommodation that costs less than 3k a month then no wonder many Thais hate us.

Well said

[Pepe']

Some BMs attitudes on this thread stink IMNSHO!!

I did not read where spencer tries to take the moral high ground or state his way is the only way!!

To slag the man for living like a Thai in Thailand is beyond the pale!

Sure some of you need your overpriced creature comforts and gloat over your vast personal wealth but to call a mans home a sh*thole because you own a castle in a third world country reeks!!

If that's the prevalent attitude amongst falang towards all who live in accommodation that costs less than 3k a month then no wonder many Thais hate us.

Well said

----------------------

I tend to agree but even w/o these attitudes many Thai would probably hate us anyway...

[Fantasteak]

If i was living on a state pension I would much rather be living on it in Thailand than England.

[garro]

Some BMs attitudes on this thread stink IMNSHO!!

I did not read where spencer tries to take the moral high ground or state his way is the only way!!

To slag the man for living like a Thai in Thailand is beyond the pale!

Spencer said;

....why dont you just stay home if you dont like the real life/food/culture here?

i suppose some people only come for the women..which is as far as i am concerned stupid, as Thai women dont like farang they just like their money.

I couldn't take a wife who only wanted an easy life and a free ride but really all she is waiting for is me to die so she can go home and make a house and marry the thai she has always told me is her little brother or cousin.

I know a guy he employs his wife's little brother...well that guy is her boyfriend really i found out about it...but i ain't telling the farang because he has to learn himself.

Yes, to slag Spencer off is beyond the pale. He is obviously the real deal, and we should all adopt his cliched views about Thailand, the Thai people, and the westerners who come here. How clever of you to realise this.

Edited April 14, 2008 by garro

[PhilHarries]

i make only 17000 baht a month dont work at all except on developing my website and taking the odd person to a temple for a tattoo and translating for them.

On this 17000 baht a month i live quite well only i dont have any savings.

And there's the killer, you are only one mo'cy accident, one fall down a pothole, one snake bite away from becoming a complete mess. Doesn't sound like you pay Thai taxes therefore the system here owes you nothing. Sure a local hospital may patch you up for free but what if you need further treatment or surgery?

If you are here illegally the immigration people will likely find you some accommodation even cheaper than your current 2700 Baht per month.

Assuming you are for real, and I have my doubts, and are truly happy in your new found lifestyle then good for you but I would suggest you may find that what is good fun now can rapidly lose it's shine. All it takes is one chance encounter and you entire world is turned upside down and you have no alternative plan.

[garro]

Philharris, I wouldn't worry to much about Spencer having a motorbike accident. I would imagine that he would view motorbikes as a bit too touristy and instead enjoys riding up and down the Khao San Road on his Thai-style tractor.

[Heng]

[My 2 room condo apartment costs me 2700 baht a month and have internet for 300 a month 1mb another 100 baht a month gets me 50 cable tv channels...

you sure are one rich farang. how can you afford all that luxury?

It's all relative. Change it to a 27,000,000 house, own an internet company that makes 3,000,000 a month, and owns a cable tv station.... and it'd still be considered less than well off to many folks.

[Heng]

...At the same time, the OP's situation is at the very least "living in the lap of luxury" compared to 3 billion or so people in the world.

[LinkPopularity]

I don't get all those negative remarks ...

that guy doing it with 17.000 baht seems to be doing alright to me

he wasn't bragging about his 50+ channels, he was just pointing out how ridiculous cheap it is, his point is that you don't need much money here to pay for some basic luxuries

I totally agree with his starbukcs point of view, if you pay 75 baht for a coffee, just to belong, to show you can afford it, then you're a looser, no matter how much money you got on the bank !

none of the people who made all these negative remarks seem to understand his main point; he's not working, except on his website, so he's probably getting his money from running advertisements on his website

the fact that he has plenty of time to expand his website probably means that in no time he'll be making more money then the whole bunch of frustro's together!

... I used to be in his situation a few years back ( read -> very happy with little money, working on websites) and now I'm making huge money ... totally legal and taxes paid !

I have a luxury villa, a swimming pool, 50 inch TV etc ... but I still think Starbucks is for suckers !!

Edited April 15, 2008 by LinkPopularity

[garro]

Linkpopularity said;

"I don't get all those negative remarks ...

that guy doing it with 17.000 baht seems to be doing alright to me"

I suppose it depends on your definition of what all right is. If you believe that living in cloud-cuckoo-land while believing in cliched stereotypes is all right then maybe he is. I don't agree. Nothing to do with how much money he spends, but more to do with how he views the world and his place in it.

[hanibal7]

Nothing wrong with a simple life but 17,000 a month,????

now thats what you call simple.

[bendix]

Hippy dippy bullshit. There is no glory in poverty, and it takes a hel_l of a lot of skill to fail live on the breadline not only in the west but in Thailand also.

I know a 48 year old Dutch guy who has been living here for years. Since I met him 4 years ago his story is one of perpetual decline. When I first knew him he was manager of a well-known music venue in lower sukhumvit on around 70,000 a month, but he got fired for 'sampling the goods.' Since then he's had about eight jobs, each one worse than the next - bar manager in Soi Cowboy (two months), Soi 33 bar manager (three months), worked for a printing company (a month) . . Just recently he's been fired from a bar manager job in Cambodia.

I saw him back in Bangkok recently. Literally no money and no prospects, and living in his GF's one room apartment with her and two kids. Unbeknownst to her, he knocked up some Cambodian tart while over there, and recently stole 5000 from his Thai GF to start a new life in Cambodia.

Pathetic, but I suppose he's found his natural level.

[geriatrickid]

Poverty sux. I don't know how westerners can handle living as a "Thai". Sorry but I have real issues where I can't get A/C or be able to have access to a flush toilet where I can dispose of the TP, or be able to shower in a non mold covered area. When I was younger I was stuck in forest areas in sweltering heat being devoured by flies that grabbed chunks of my flesh, and of having to poop in a mud hole. I swore I would never live like that again. How can anyone get romantic when the copulating partner reeks of BO? This glorification of living on the cheap is just an excuse for not being able to live better.

However, the real definition of being broke in Thailand is not having a loved one. To be here and not have love is paucity at its zenith................I think my dog loves me, so I dodged a bullet on this snotty response.

[klikster]

It's all relative. Change it to a 27,000,000 house, own an internet company that makes 3,000,000 a month, and owns a cable tv station.... and it'd still be considered less than well off to many folks ..

.. especially the TV "elite" ..

[klikster]

How can anyone get romantic when the copulating partner reeks of BO?

However, the real definition of being broke in Thailand is not having a loved one.

What I find interesting about this thread is not so much about how folks live and on how much they live. The intriguing aspect is the extent of creative examples they cite in order to project their own oversimplified reasoning.

As for the comments above.

1 - Soap and water are not only available, but damned cheap.

2 - Once you have related "loved one" to "broke", you may well be moving in that direction,

klikster .. who has s**t in the woods on many occasions.

[burman]

There is always arguments with these topics because some people do not get their money's worth.

eg.

256/128k true ADSL around 1000 a month

A 1mb True ADSL connection is around 600 baht a month where I live.

Edited April 15, 2008 by burman

[midasthailand]

Some people come to Thailand with plenty of money and lose it all. Some people come with nothing and make a life here. Some people base their life around the idea of one day moving to their place in the sun, when conditions of right, but for many this day will never come. Some people live in the now.

I am always broke haha..but to live in Europe in the snow eating farang food and no temple round the corner to go to and speak with the monks, no Pad kaprao

or Gaeng Thai (แกงใต้) no going waddling in the stream catching fish (ทอดแหจับปลานิน) and maybe a million other things then i just couldn't live.

i make only 17000 baht a month dont work at all except on developing my website and taking the odd person to a temple for a tattoo and translating for them.

On this 17000 baht a month i live quite well only i dont have any savings.

I can understand someone who comes here lives in a beer bar, starbucks kfc and the pizza hut would prefer to go home and make money than live here broke, as they live the same western life here as they do at home...

but i cant eat that stuff i eat only thai food and for me a pad kaprao with a fried egg on top costs me 15 baht or 2 curries on rice i get for 20 to 25 baht

I also cant live without this food i dont eat bread and all that farang bull it isnt tasty and also expensive.

A coffee in starbucks costs 60 baht (uff what a waste thats 3 square meals for me which are much more delicious than a coffee)

I always wonder why some farang copme here as some people pack their tins of beans, marmit/vegemite, and all their other "home copmforts" and live on that when they are here...what is the point of being here if you cant adapt to the lifestyle and have to need your stuff from home country.

This is like taking your country with you.....why dont you just stay home if you dont like the real life/food/culture here?

i suppose some people only come for the women..which is as far as i am concerned stupid, as Thai women dont like farang they just like their money.

I couldn't take a wife who only wanted an easy life and a free ride but really all she is waiting for is me to die so she can go home and make a house and marry the thai she has always told me is her little brother or cousin.

I know a guy he employs his wife's little brother...well that guy is her boyfriend really i found out about it...but i ain't telling the farang because he has to learn himself.

Broke in Thailand? yes! But it is still better life than being middle class in Europe.

How many people in europe can afford a prawn and lemon grass soup every day eating out?

Even your average Thai can afford to eat fresh fish, prawns and lots of other lovely stuff on a "Broke" budget.

My 2 room condo apartment costs me 2700 baht a month and have internet for 300 a month 1mb another 100 baht a month gets me 50 cable tv channels...god i would have to work my ass off in Europe to keep all that together.

The broke thing isnt important as if you have a lot of money here then you either just blow it all on uinnecessary luxuries (ie starbucks) or some woman or thai guy syphons it out of you.

If you have nothing for them to take then they cant take it off you.

Clear signs of rationalisation here. You can't afford western luxuries so in order to protect your psyche from the damage of admitting the failure you've become you rationalise, probably subconsciously, that you don't like those things anyway. The evidence that this is a psychological defence mechanism and that you're merely protecting yourself psychologically from the trauma of your failure is that you boast in detail about the luxuries that you CAN afford such as the internet 1MB no less and 50 - FIFTY cable TV channels.

You may be fooling others, but you're not fooling yourself and the cognitive dissonance will eventually harm you mentally.

Many people who fail indulge in this kind of thinking. "Well I COULD be successful and have those things if I wanted them, but I don't want them anyway as they're really bad and the people who have them are fools and inferior to me for wanting them in the first place."

You'll either get bored of being poor and living with the stress that poverty brings and get decide to do something productive or you'll sink further and further into poverty and fall to a level that recovery is impossible. In Thailand its dangerous as its so easy to fall into the spiral of permanent unemployability as there'll be Thais ready to keep you company all the way down.

There is NO nobility in poverty. Not having luxuries when you can afford them is a moral choice. Not having luxuries because you can't afford them is just poverty and conveys no moral superiority in any way and trying to claim a moral high ground when you're actually standing in the gutter convinces no one.

Very well put, Sir/Madam!

[digitele]

Dear spencerdharmagrafix, are you delusional? You seem to be under the impression that you have somehow developed this special relationship with Thailand that others are not privy to. Let me share a secret with you, most new arrivals feel this way, but the sensible ones grow out of it, and they accept that it is mere fantasy.

To say that Thai women only go with western men for money and that they are all cheaters is a great insult to the women of this country and shows a very misogynistic attitude on your part. Some of us are married and have children with Thai women so your comments are quite nasty.

I can only assume that you are here illegally as I can't imagine how you would qualify for extended stay visas on 17,000. I would normally say that is your own business, but your post betrays a personality which deserves to have immigration hot on its tail.

Good one Mr Garro!

[toptuan]

Some of these posts bemuse me.

Just because somebody is paying a small amount for something why denigrate them? I love a deal , don't you?

And as for people being "broke", What is "broke". Some people with the biggest debts have the grandest lifestyles. Think "The Donald"

I've also known people with vast net worth , but not two halfpenny's to rub their arse with.

I myself have swung from asset to cash rich and too and fro many times.

Maybe my annoyance with this thread is based upon my ignorance of how ignorant people are.

Cheers

Well said!

I live in the third-poorest province in LOS. Yet, for two years in a row, our province has been found to to be the happiest province in Thailand (Ministry of Health annual surveys). Thailand is also the 31st happiest country in the word (TimeAsia poll). That's about 100 places ahead of affluent Japan and the USA. My immediate Isaan neighbors are dirt poor, but they daily evidence 100% more happiness than I ever witnessed in my upper middle-class neighborhood in the West.

A man's happiness and satisfaction does not consist of the things he owns.

Edited April 15, 2008 by toptuan

[toptuan]

Nothing wrong with a simple life but 17,000 a month,????

now thats what you call simple.

No, it's what you call "living in the right place."

My first year in Thailand (2003), I lived on exactly that amount while supporting a partner who was earning a degree at a university (on my baht). Lived comfortably and traveled domestically nearly every weekend with Thai friends. Saw most all of Thailand that first year, and even saved up for one trip to North America at the end of that year.

Anyone who wants to live higher on the hog than that, really wants to maintain a fully western lifestyle in Asia. If that's your preference, do it. But don't denigrate those who choose the lifestyle of the vast majority in their host country. In my opinion, it's a lot more care-free and less hassle. It also frees me to concentrate on life's priorities and not get bogged down in "maintaining the stuff" associated with that other lifestyle.

To each his own, without prejudice.

Edited April 15, 2008 by toptuan