Anyone Live Like A Thai...

[Bangyai]

How many farang live a basic Thai lifestyle in Bangkok? Who here lives on, say, 15-25k baht a month? Average Thai incomes are 6-10k maybe, so it's perfectly possible to live on even less.

So who does? How easy is it?

Reading peoples tight arse responses in this thread, I am bemused as to what (Foreign nationals) people actually do with their boring lives apart from spend "2900 bt a week" etc..

Title should be renamed: "Anyone Live like a Tramp"... clearly a few people do!

You obviously missed the threads titled "Thailand on $1 per day" and " can I live on $5 a day in BKK"

This poster is frugal but not totally nutz

in response to cudaproject

may be boring to some , but not me , i get to watch my daughter grow up in a safe clean environment ,

have you anything to say that helps hans, re title on the thread , are are you just bored and flaming

if these pics of where i live is your idea of living like a tramp , i must disagree with you profoundly

Totally agree. I don't feel I'm " living like a tramp "at all. Living in the suburbs is, as one poster already pointed out, a lot cheaper than living downtown. If you're only here for a couple of months and staying in the Sukhumvit area its bound to be expensive. Eating out every night, a few beers in bars, taxi rides everywhere, a few hookers along the way....thats gonna be expensive. I live in a nice village surrounded by fields and fruit orchards and lots of canals. I can cycle around deserted roads without worrying about pollution. The local restaurants are half the price of what you would pay downtown and the people hard working and friendly. I have more money but don't feel like bringing it all to Thailand in case I ever get bored and want to move on.

[ajarnmark]

I used to work for an International University in Thailand and making on average a-not-very-handsome monthly salary after teaching 7 groups (not teaching English, of course). My expenditures when I was in Bangkok were:

4,500 for my studio apartment (newly built in a good neighborhood)

1,200 on average for monthly electricity bill

1,500 for internet, telephone, cell phone and water

3,000 for food and transportation (I cook almost all the time at home)

2,000 for anything such as going out, food, any emergency etc.

12,200 total expenditures

I do not drink much, do not smoke at all, so almost nothing for that. Covered in social security so no expenses for medicine or dental care etc.

[bkkjames]

I used to work for an International University in Thailand and making on average a-not-very-handsome monthly salary after teaching 7 groups (not teaching English, of course). My expenditures when I was in Bangkok were:

4,500 for my studio apartment (newly built in a good neighborhood)

1,200 on average for monthly electricity bill

1,500 for internet, telephone, cell phone and water

3,000 for food and transportation (I cook almost all the time at home)

2,000 for anything such as going out, food, any emergency etc.

12,200 total expenditures

I do not drink much, do not smoke at all, so almost nothing for that. Covered in social security so no expenses for medicine or dental care etc.

No offense mate, but I couldn't (and wouldn't) live like that. Rather be called a farang.

[pauls2979]

How many farang live a basic Thai lifestyle in Bangkok? Who here lives on, say, 15-25k baht a month? Average Thai incomes are 6-10k maybe, so it's perfectly possible to live on even less.

So who does? How easy is it?

Reading peoples tight arse responses in this thread, I am bemused as to what (Foreign nationals) people actually do with their boring lives apart from spend "2900 bt a week" etc..

Title should be renamed: "Anyone Live like a Tramp"... clearly a few people do!

You obviously missed the threads titled "Thailand on $1 per day" and " can I live on $5 a day in BKK"

This poster is frugal but not totally nutz

in response to cudaproject

may be boring to some , but not me , i get to watch my daughter grow up in a safe clean environment ,

have you anything to say that helps hans, re title on the thread , are are you just bored and flaming

if these pics of where i live is your idea of living like a tramp , i must disagree with you profoundly

Totally agree. I don't feel I'm " living like a tramp "at all. Living in the suburbs is, as one poster already pointed out, a lot cheaper than living downtown. If you're only here for a couple of months and staying in the Sukhumvit area its bound to be expensive. Eating out every night, a few beers in bars, taxi rides everywhere, a few hookers along the way....thats gonna be expensive. I live in a nice village surrounded by fields and fruit orchards and lots of canals. I can cycle around deserted roads without worrying about pollution. The local restaurants are half the price of what you would pay downtown and the people hard working and friendly. I have more money but don't feel like bringing it all to Thailand in case I ever get bored and want to move on.

thanks bangyai

thought i was the only one

sounds great where you live

[zorro1]

How many farang live a basic Thai lifestyle in Bangkok? Who here lives on, say, 15-25k baht a month? Average Thai incomes are 6-10k maybe, so it's perfectly possible to live on even less.

So who does? How easy is it?

Reading peoples tight arse responses in this thread, I am bemused as to what (Foreign nationals) people actually do with their boring lives apart from spend "2900 bt a week" etc..

Title should be renamed: "Anyone Live like a Tramp"... clearly a few people do!

You obviously missed the threads titled "Thailand on $1 per day" and " can I live on $5 a day in BKK"

This poster is frugal but not totally nutz

in response to cudaproject

may be boring to some , but not me , i get to watch my daughter grow up in a safe clean environment ,

have you anything to say that helps hans, re title on the thread , are are you just bored and flaming

if these pics of where i live is your idea of living like a tramp , i must disagree with you profoundly

Totally agree. I don't feel I'm " living like a tramp "at all. Living in the suburbs is, as one poster already pointed out, a lot cheaper than living downtown. If you're only here for a couple of months and staying in the Sukhumvit area its bound to be expensive. Eating out every night, a few beers in bars, taxi rides everywhere, a few hookers along the way....thats gonna be expensive. I live in a nice village surrounded by fields and fruit orchards and lots of canals. I can cycle around deserted roads without worrying about pollution. The local restaurants are half the price of what you would pay downtown and the people hard working and friendly. I have more money but don't feel like bringing it all to Thailand in case I ever get bored and want to move on.

Hmmm you post is a paradox. Of course you will be bored living on the outskirts, not that its wrong however judging by your post you may have set yourself up for failure. Depends why your there and if its just to save money then it will be tough as your on the outside looking in. Im not judging you its just my humble opinion

[Super Hans]

Interesting point. Are you talking rent inclusive? If not then cant see why its not doable considering you can get a descent meal at say Robinson's downstairs for 35 bht and cheap charlies soi 11 caters to , well... cheap charlies all drinks except wine 60 bht and no tipping you pay up front. Now if you like to eat at the Landmark Hotel and get your girlie's from soi 33 ,BKK can be considerably more expensive than Sydney, London and on par with NYC

Yes, rent included. There are plenty of studios available in the 3-6k a month range.

That's the toughest part of the equation. Home is non negotiable and couldn't live in 3k studio although age is a factor so no worries if your in your teens although I'm not sure why your asking as it appears you live in Bkk

I am back in the UK now, and it's cold and crap. The economy's gone tits up big style and jobs are scarce, so I'm thinking it's better to be broke in Thailand than England.

I know I can live cheaply in Bangkok, just not sure how cheaply. I worry about the strength of the baht against the ever sliding pound. If the pound continues its nosedive, 15k-25k/month may have to be range I'm thinking of. I'm more interested in people that can live this frugally long-term - a few months is easy enough, but wonder how easy it is to sustain the lifestyle over a year or two.

[Bangyai]

How many farang live a basic Thai lifestyle in Bangkok? Who here lives on, say, 15-25k baht a month? Average Thai incomes are 6-10k maybe, so it's perfectly possible to live on even less.

So who does? How easy is it?

Reading peoples tight arse responses in this thread, I am bemused as to what (Foreign nationals) people actually do with their boring lives apart from spend "2900 bt a week" etc..

Title should be renamed: "Anyone Live like a Tramp"... clearly a few people do!

You obviously missed the threads titled "Thailand on $1 per day" and " can I live on $5 a day in BKK"

This poster is frugal but not totally nutz

in response to cudaproject

may be boring to some , but not me , i get to watch my daughter grow up in a safe clean environment ,

have you anything to say that helps hans, re title on the thread , are are you just bored and flaming

if these pics of where i live is your idea of living like a tramp , i must disagree with you profoundly

Totally agree. I don't feel I'm " living like a tramp "at all. Living in the suburbs is, as one poster already pointed out, a lot cheaper than living downtown. If you're only here for a couple of months and staying in the Sukhumvit area its bound to be expensive. Eating out every night, a few beers in bars, taxi rides everywhere, a few hookers along the way....thats gonna be expensive. I live in a nice village surrounded by fields and fruit orchards and lots of canals. I can cycle around deserted roads without worrying about pollution. The local restaurants are half the price of what you would pay downtown and the people hard working and friendly. I have more money but don't feel like bringing it all to Thailand in case I ever get bored and want to move on.

Hmmm you post is a paradox. Of course you will be bored living on the outskirts, not that its wrong however judging by your post you may have set yourself up for failure. Depends why your there and if its just to save money then it will be tough as your on the outside looking in. Im not judging you its just my humble opinion

Er....not sure what you mean. Believe me...I should be so lucky to get bored ! As I said, I live in my girlfriends house. I enjoy gardening and D.I.Y and the countryside so I always have plenty to occupy myself. When I was young I thought that gardening and D.I.Y. were boring. I spent every cent I had getting paraletic and womanising it up to the max.Nearly killed myself . I never thought I would get bored of that. But after living here a couple of decades I guess I got older and chilled out. As for being on the outside looking in ? I've only been living in the ' burbs for 2 years. I've lived in Sukhumvit, Pahonyothin , PetchburiRoad , Ramkamheng, Prakanong, Rachtewi....in fact most downtown locations.Now I'm sick of the congestion etc so I don't want to be on the ' inside ' looking out anymore.

As they say, different strokes for different folks.

[t.s]

which thai?

[sabaijai]

How many farang live a basic Thai lifestyle in Bangkok? Who here lives on, say, 15-25k baht a month? Average Thai incomes are 6-10k maybe, so it's perfectly possible to live on even less.

This is kinda a ridiculous number, and not accurate for Bangkok. Lowest end, entry level jobs may earn 6-10k, but...that's lowest end entry level. I believe a true average for Bangkok is somewhere in the mid 20k range.

Taxi drivers make more than this, motorcycle taxi guys make more than this, all those shop owners you see everywhere make more than this...

Think about it...a motorcycle taxi, getting lets say an average of 3 trips an hour at 30 baht, 90 baht an hour. He works 10 hours a day....900 baht a day. He works 24 days a month, 21,000 baht a month.

I very much doubt your figures. Either way, they'll almost certainly be in a family unit, which'll drag the "average" down somewhat.

I'm talking about a single farang, who survives on 15-25k a month.

You can squeak by on 20-25K a month, any lower I can't quite imagine unless you're sharing accoms with other folks. Know several farang who survive at that level.

[zorro1]

How many farang live a basic Thai lifestyle in Bangkok? Who here lives on, say, 15-25k baht a month? Average Thai incomes are 6-10k maybe, so it's perfectly possible to live on even less.

So who does? How easy is it?

Reading peoples tight arse responses in this thread, I am bemused as to what (Foreign nationals) people actually do with their boring lives apart from spend "2900 bt a week" etc..

Title should be renamed: "Anyone Live like a Tramp"... clearly a few people do!

You obviously missed the threads titled "Thailand on $1 per day" and " can I live on $5 a day in BKK"

This poster is frugal but not totally nutz

in response to cudaproject

may be boring to some , but not me , i get to watch my daughter grow up in a safe clean environment ,

have you anything to say that helps hans, re title on the thread , are are you just bored and flaming

if these pics of where i live is your idea of living like a tramp , i must disagree with you profoundly

Totally agree. I don't feel I'm " living like a tramp "at all. Living in the suburbs is, as one poster already pointed out, a lot cheaper than living downtown. If you're only here for a couple of months and staying in the Sukhumvit area its bound to be expensive. Eating out every night, a few beers in bars, taxi rides everywhere, a few hookers along the way....thats gonna be expensive. I live in a nice village surrounded by fields and fruit orchards and lots of canals. I can cycle around deserted roads without worrying about pollution. The local restaurants are half the price of what you would pay downtown and the people hard working and friendly. I have more money but don't feel like bringing it all to Thailand in case I ever get bored and want to move on.

Hmmm you post is a paradox. Of course you will be bored living on the outskirts, not that its wrong however judging by your post you may have set yourself up for failure. Depends why your there and if its just to save money then it will be tough as your on the outside looking in. Im not judging you its just my humble opinion

Er....not sure what you mean. Believe me...I should be so lucky to get bored ! As I said, I live in my girlfriends house. I enjoy gardening and D.I.Y and the countryside so I always have plenty to occupy myself. When I was young I thought that gardening and D.I.Y. were boring. I spent every cent I had getting paraletic and womanising it up to the max.Nearly killed myself . I never thought I would get bored of that. But after living here a couple of decades I guess I got older and chilled out. As for being on the outside looking in ? I've only been living in the ' burbs for 2 years. I've lived in Sukhumvit, Pahonyothin , PetchburiRoad , Ramkamheng, Prakanong, Rachtewi....in fact most downtown locations.Now I'm sick of the congestion etc so I don't want to be on the ' inside ' looking out anymore.

As they say, different strokes for different folks.

Get the picture now, you mentioned bored and thought because of location. Maybe i should get out of sukhumvit and save myself before its to late.

[MrHammer]

This is kinda a ridiculous number, and not accurate for Bangkok. Lowest end, entry level jobs may earn 6-10k, but...that's lowest end entry level. I believe a true average for Bangkok is somewhere in the mid 20k range.

Taxi drivers make more than this, motorcycle taxi guys make more than this, all those shop owners you see everywhere make more than this...

Youre way, way off mark. Taxi drivers and Motobikers for sure dont make more than 10K a month unless they are the farang scamming kind!

The starting salary for a policeman in BKK is 5000 thb for seven days a week!

The average bachelors degree entry level job pays 10000-15000 baht, check out some thai job websites.

Anything more than that and youre required several years of experience and/or a masters degree.

I very much doubt your figures. Either way, they'll almost certainly be in a family unit, which'll drag the "average" down somewhat.

I'm talking about a single farang, who survives on 15-25k a month.

I live for 35-40K at the moment, which is no problem at all. I could live for 25-30 K and have done. I dont work regular job though and im young. Eat out and in, buy stuff i need, go out twice a week splitting bottles.

What you can not do on that budget is travel, have a car or big motorcycle, go to sukhumvit bars (you know the kind), or pay for the girls im dating. Also accomodation is limited.

I would not want to live for that money if i had to work though, at least 60K then would be enough.

Edited September 3, 2008 by MrHammer

[MrHammer]

As I have posted on here a few times before, my brother-in-law is a taxi driver in BKK. Yes, he may work 10 hrs a day and 6 or sometimes 7 days a week but he pulls in around 50-60k baht a month... No chit as I know for sure since I have loaned him the down payment to buy the new taxi he drives. He averages between 1500 and 2000 'a day' (Actually a night as this is when he drives. Can cover more ground/fares with the lower traffic times) and then he rents his taxi to his cousin for 500 baht a day when he is sleeping.

No offense buddy, but your brother in law is obviously a scammer overcharging drunks. Does he hang out at Kao San?

Ill tell you why. A 100 baht ride takes at least 20-30 minutes in BKK. That means he whould be driving nonstop fully charged 10 hours a day doing nothing but 100+ rides.

So my conclusion, he is a scammer.

[dingdongrb]

As I have posted on here a few times before, my brother-in-law is a taxi driver in BKK. Yes, he may work 10 hrs a day and 6 or sometimes 7 days a week but he pulls in around 50-60k baht a month... No chit as I know for sure since I have loaned him the down payment to buy the new taxi he drives. He averages between 1500 and 2000 'a day' (Actually a night as this is when he drives. Can cover more ground/fares with the lower traffic times) and then he rents his taxi to his cousin for 500 baht a day when he is sleeping.

No offense buddy, but your brother in law is obviously a scammer overcharging drunks. Does he hang out at Kao San?

Ill tell you why. A 100 baht ride takes at least 20-30 minutes in BKK. That means he whould be driving nonstop fully charged 10 hours a day doing nothing but 100+ rides.

So my conclusion, he is a scammer.

Conclude what you will... He doesn't go to Koa San road as that is where all the bums and lowlifes hang out. Those folks rarely tip let alone pay the metered fare. And since when does taxis charge by the 'time'? I thought it was by the distance... Get you facts straight.

I tend to tip the taxi drivers more depending on the way they drive, the fact that they understood me before I could speak Thai, friendliness....

Years ago before the taxi rates went up I took a cab (before the subway opened) from Sofitel (Central Plaza mall) to Silom road where it typically took 1/2 hr the time of the evening I went. The fare then was around 110 baht and I gave most drivers 200 baht...... Don't think that all farangs are 'kei nil' as yourself or my BIL is a scammer.....

[burman]

He doesn't go to Koa San road as that is where all the bums and lowlifes hang out.

Who exactly? The boiler room boys, the drug dealers, the junkies, the whores, the johns, the peaodophiles, the farang beggars, the multitude of other scam artists?

You'll find many more bums and lowlifes in Sukhumvit and Silom.

[zorro1]

He doesn't go to Koa San road as that is where all the bums and lowlifes hang out.

Who exactly? The boiler room boys, the drug dealers, the junkies, the whores, the johns, the peaodophiles, the farang beggars, the multitude of other scam artists?

You'll find many more bums and lowlifes in Sukhumvit and Silom.

HEY! I resemble that remark

[balo]

I know a Filipino teacher earning 15k a month and he survives without any problems.

He lives outside of Bangkok and the rent for a small apartment is 3500. With kitchen and furniture.

Also with the neighbours he shares a Wireless Internet line for 500 Baht

Most of the food are cooked at home.

I think his life is rich even if he cant afford travelling around too much.

Edited September 3, 2008 by balo

[JimsKnight]

For me my big luxury is the aparment I stay in.

It's 9,000 baht a month but has all the trimings and is nice and quiet, even for Bangkok. It's with 5 minutes walk to the nearest MRT station and I've got no complaints so far.

I've budgeted for about 70,000+ per month but that is by no means set in stone, I usually aim for lower than that and manage about 35 - 50 k depending on what I'm doing.

Internet is rapido and the place is a new build, I may move on after 3 or 4 months.

People mentioned a problem with travelling, it's no problem if you travel by motorbike. Grab a pack and pack it and off you go. I just trailblazed from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and it cost me no more than 5,000 baht for a rip-roaring biker trip with stop-offs in every city and exploring what Thailands got to offer.

The key is to operate at a level you are happy in. If you swing low then you might start missing out on what's going on around you.

[samuibeachcomber]

i sure as hel_l don't. not in BKK. i did on Koh Phangan but here i spent about 10x what i spent there. i don't see how anyone can survive in bangkok on less than 60k but i guess they do!

I reckon if things got really tough you could live on 15000baht a month all up(ok not bkk) but here on the islans you could but it would n't be much fun.

[patklang]

The main problem with this post is that some people will not accept that there are so many lifestyles here and the so called farang money men are so far up their hairy ass that they are too his so to accept that some farang can and do live a reasonable life without having to go to the expensive night life that polluted bk offers.

we will have to start calling them chinese/farang hi-so kee nok now or the tefel brigade lol.

[thecatman]

I pay 10,000 Bt for my apartment in Lad Phrao (has pool and kitchen area) it's close to MRT and buses are plentiful. 1000 Bt for internet, 1600 for UBC, 150 Bt for water, and rarely over 1000 Bt for electric (I'm fortunate to be on the 'proper' rate). That little lot comes close to 14,000 Bt a month. I believe that I could get by on an average of 500 Bt a day to feed and entertain myself if I had to. That would add up to another 15,000 Bt a month adding up to a total of 29,000 Bt. I can honestly say I think that's doable. Fortunately I haven't had to put it to the test yet but I'm sure many others could and do live on this without any trouble.

[kenk3z]

How much is a nice studio shack by the railroad tracks?

Maybe I could beg enough in handouts at the BTS to make a go of full-time living in BKK.....

kenk3z