Cost Of Living

[jack31]

Compared to the UK, Thailand is still a bargain basement, but Thailand is catching up.

In Britain it's the household bills that is the crippler, in Thailand it is the food and drink.

I speak regularly to family and friends in the UK on Skype. It seems food prices in Britain and Thailand roughly work out about the same per month.

Electrical goods in Britain, many are actually much cheaper compared to Thailand. Clothes in Thailand are cheaper, but of lower quality and don't last as long.

Also entertainments, nightlife in many cases is now more expensive in Thailand than social in the UK.

12 years ago, my family and I could live here in Chiang Mai, comfortably for 8000 baht per month, these days we are struggling on 26000 baht.

I don't dare think about the next 12 years.

hi sassienie i agree with most of your your sentiments but "food in thailand is a crippler". hhmm not so sure man you live there i dont. what in particular is the crippler in terms of food. i know alcohol in tourist areas is dear but the food? i have been to los 15 times and will be emmigrating to surin in 2 years. my tg wants to grow all our own fruit / vegetables / rice which will obviously help enormously but am interested in hearing what you have got to say. cheers

[Martian]

Almost half way to 188 posts!

[Bizz]

There will be many items cheaper very soon in los .

With china looking for outlets for its mountain of products that it can not sell to western country's

[lazygourmet]

This is something i forgot, thailand's food is definately not good for your body.

Been here over a year, im in my young 20's and keep in shape.. yet for the past 6months i have energy only 5hours a day.

I did some bloodtest. Iron levels, non existant, vitamin deficiency, creatinine levels non existant. list goes on and on..

No red meat here and the vegetables dont bring in enough nutriments that my far from frail body was used to in the west, even the milk doesnt give me enough calciums, my elbows and knees are killing me i have to spend over 5000baht a month in supplements here to have close to survival levels... and i eat tons of veggies, pork, chicken and drink 400baht of milk a week.

im also lacking all the minerals from the water.

so thats 5k on top of everything, since i didnt need that in canada.

As far as having fresh seafood near a resort.. well of course u dont get that for 20$ in the USA. but who the F wants to eat seafood everyday? It's far from healthy and what? you think seafood is clean in thailand? most of it is frozen and imported from places where theres no waste regulation.. so all your seafood is full of toxic products, so its definately not an 'advantage' over western countries.. although you can live in a sea province(cape code usa, new bruinswik canada) and get cheap seafood all year round without toxic waste embeded in it

Anyways i give up, you cant talk about standards of living when half the forum are poor and trying to condition themselves to like living like an homeless person... They try to make normal people feel bad about getting high-end products..

Yes live one life the cheapest you can, dont enjoy soft bath towels you just want to remove the water right?, dont enjoy quality tasty food(rice and chicken is enough right?), dont enjoy LCD tv's.. burn your kid's eyes with the old round TV.. its just images right? list goes on and on.

what a load of nonsense you come out with monkey boy......i have read some of your posts and i ask myself why the <deleted> do you stay in los?

your sentiments about seafood being unhealthy.....off course seafood is healthy, Its one of the best sources of protein, essential oils (fatty acids), and health-boosting nutrients. Shellfish is also v.good for you its low in fat and high in protein and minerals too. Thats probably why your feeling tired as you dont eat enough of it. you moan about lack of minerals in water, the water in los i can not comment on but you can get minerals from other sources other than water.

your vegetables sentiments - well i aint even going to waste my time on a knob like you because i think you post nonsense on here just to get a response from other bm. go back home you sad <deleted> wit

Or get a job at California Wow, the boss is a (w)healthy Canadian...

He should be able to give him some "life" advice and maybe free proteins!?!

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

I do not think canadianmonkey is so far out of line , he does tend to stretch things some what and rants on , but that is the Canadian way .

I first started visiting Thailand for the 6 winter months because the weather tended to be a little more gentle to my body , not because it might be less expensive , or for the cheap sex , or because i hated Canada or its government or any of the other trivial things many rant on about . I finaly moved here because i enjoyed it and slowly became acustomed to things i did not like and ignored them .

Cost of living staying within the bounds i had lived in Canada , cost me more money even without the convenience of my own transportation , $1,000.00 was sufficient in Canada and allowed me to save the air fare to fly to Thailand , same same in Thailand cost me $1,500.00 living in substandard accomodation than i had lived in my whole life .

Eating , well , in my 6 month stays i lost 2/3 kg and i am not by any means overweight , my doctor told me that it was because of vitamin deficiency in Thai grown food . I started taken vitamins he suggested and sure enough , no more weight loss .

Please try not to harp on to people the way some of you tend to do , if you are on a small pension or low income in both your previous country and Thailand , i think it is much easier to evaluate the differences as it AFFECTS YOUR PERSONAL LIFE STYLE . When you are millionaires as many of you proffess to be , i guess a dollar or six here or there makes no difference what so ever .

This is something i forgot, thailand's food is definately not good for your body.

Been here over a year, im in my young 20's and keep in shape.. yet for the past 6months i have energy only 5hours a day.

I did some bloodtest. Iron levels, non existant, vitamin deficiency, creatinine levels non existant. list goes on and on..

No red meat here and the vegetables dont bring in enough nutriments that my far from frail body was used to in the west, even the milk doesnt give me enough calciums, my elbows and knees are killing me i have to spend over 5000baht a month in supplements here to have close to survival levels... and i eat tons of veggies, pork, chicken and drink 400baht of milk a week.

im also lacking all the minerals from the water.

so thats 5k on top of everything, since i didnt need that in canada.

As far as having fresh seafood near a resort.. well of course u dont get that for 20$ in the USA. but who the F wants to eat seafood everyday? It's far from healthy and what? you think seafood is clean in thailand? most of it is frozen and imported from places where theres no waste regulation.. so all your seafood is full of toxic products, so its definately not an 'advantage' over western countries.. although you can live in a sea province(cape code usa, new bruinswik canada) and get cheap seafood all year round without toxic waste embeded in it

Anyways i give up, you cant talk about standards of living when half the forum are poor and trying to condition themselves to like living like an homeless person... They try to make normal people feel bad about getting high-end products..

Yes live one life the cheapest you can, dont enjoy soft bath towels you just want to remove the water right?, dont enjoy quality tasty food(rice and chicken is enough right?), dont enjoy LCD tv's.. burn your kid's eyes with the old round TV.. its just images right? list goes on and on.

I suggest you leave before it kills you. Hurry sounds like you are sinking fast.

[balo]

The fresh food from the markets in Thailand are far better than what you get from any supermarkets in Europe.

And a lot cheaper, I always feel healthier after 2 months stay in Thailand.

But if you want to live on farang food then don't complain about the prices , you can afford it.

[LinkPopularity]

I would be very surprised if Tesco was selling chipped consoles, but perhaps you know better than I as I didn't buy it.

If you're right about Tesco selling chipped Wiis then I'm willing to concede I may be incorrect in my other statements.

I've never seen a Tesco selling video game consoles. They're usually in the little shops outside in the same complex. If Tesco is actually selling Wiis on its own at that price, that's expensive considering options elsewhere.

It was inside Tesco, not a little shop in the same complex. If I'd bought it I'd have paid at the regular Tesco checkout with any other Tesco goods.

Saying its expensive is exactly the point many of us have been making. I picked this as one example as Tesco in the UK sells it for 180 pounds which is about 9200 Baht. So in a cheaper environment, closer to the point of manufacture, with less VAT, Tesco charged 30% more!

This seems a pretty typical markup when comparing goods that are directly comparable between the west and Thailand.

Another one is 100% cotton T-shirts. A pack of 3 for £1.99 in ASDA in the UK. In Thailand there are cheap and nasty shirts for 89-99 Baht in Tesco, but the ones I saw that were comparable to the quality of the UK quality were 249 Baht for ONE!

If anyone wants to sneer at my fancy lah-di-dah tastes in wanting to buy a plain white cotton T-shirt and tell me to just go back to the West if I need a plain white cotton T-shirt so much and that they manage to live perfectly well and never even think of wanting a plain white cotton T-shirt and its a failure on my part to appreciate Thai culture and quality of life by continuing to desire to own a plain white cotton T-shirt, then go ahead, I'll be ignoring you and sticking obstinately to my western, materialistic, unassimilated desire to own a plain white cotton T-shirt.

get real, man !

I really can't believe that you don't understand that stating that Thailand is more ex[ensive then the west is just plain ridiculous ...

ever heard of import taxes?

don't buy imported goods! that's all there is to it ...

reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend from the home-country some time ago; I explained how much I paid for our house; he was also surprised, as it didn't seem that much cheaper then the house he bought ... in the middle of f*cking nowhere !!! I laughted my ass off ... there's no way he can compare his house with mine, even if it was just for the amount of sun-hours

if you want to compare prices (in my case), it's just plain ridiculous to compare them with a stupid village where nobody really wants to live, a place where people only live because they just got stuck there ... compare it with Monaco, Knokke Le Zout, Saint-Tropez and other kind of high end absolutely gourgeous places ... because that's where I live, in a place that cost about the same as my friends pay for in the home-country, but 10 times better in every way !!

[livinthailandos]

very interesting points that various people have made, for a farang you would have to give up a lot to live a thai life style at least in my opinion, maybe some good points are in decent order

1. Electric rates, I admit living in a big house 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms at 1800 square feet, I love my air condition when its hot in thailand, i pay about 5000 baht a month for electric now compare than to my tiny 1 bedroom apartment back in the U.S. at 600 square feet I was paying 150 USD a month to run my electric and air condition, so for electric much cheaper here than back home

2. Price of water utilies still cheaper here than back in the U.S.

3. Seeing a doctor whenever I'm sick I can see a doctor, get medicine, get treated for less than 25 dollars, I had to buy generic brand drugs in U.S. because there cheaper and cannot afford brand name, for health insurance was paying about $180 a month back home and rarely ever used it

4. Car insurance I paid in the U.S. about 40000 for just my honda civic, here I drive a Toyota Corolla and for one year car insurance I pay 18000 still much cheaper than home

5. You can eat cheap if you know where to look, you can eat cheap in the U.S but only by buying junk food at mcdonalds, jack in the box etc, at least here I get healthier food for about the same price, my examples I go eat beef noodle soup with rice, and drink water my cost less than $2 dollars must be better than eating mcdonalds food for that price

6. Lifestyle here, once in a while still like to eat western food, most of time eat thai food, have different lifestyle here have actually lost 20 pounds and still losing more weight

7. ok so this doesn't count, I love the thai movie theature here I am willing to pay for my big recliner seat after all I want to enjoy a movie and be comfortable and relaxing as possible.

Downsides

1. internet infrastructure is bad I pay more here than back home for less speed than I get home I realize that, I can pay $20 dollars in U.S. to get the same about of speed I get here at $40 dollars but considering the USA is going to start using internet caps at least so far I still have unlimited internet here for now

2. I miss my cable back home dislike using satelittle get more bargin for amount of channels back home than here but at least have some form of cable

3. Consumer electronics back home always seems to have better deals than here its the truth.

4. finding clothes, pants, shoes that actually fit is hard, A XL here is NOT the same as a XL in the U.S. clothes here of course are made for the thai people i understand that, thats why I buy as much clothes back home and bring them here

I do agree with most of farang here I want to live a good lifestyle I admit that.

[FarangFatal]

THIS THREAD IS A HOOT! fCKUHEADS! BIG C , LOTUS, CARRE FOUR ARE ALL CHEAPER THAN COSTCO IN AMERICA. <deleted>, I BUY ALL OF MY OFFICE SUPPLIES, TOILETRIES, AND TONS (TONES) OF STUFF IN LOS AND BRING BACK TO THE US.... OK, HIT THE TOURIST SPOTS AND YOU'LL GET REEMED... COMPARE THE PRICES OF FOOD AT THE BEACH FRONT RESTURANTS IN PATONG TO THOSE ON NANAI ROAD..... KHAO JAI! 300 METERS FROM THE BEACH THE FOOD IS MORE THAT HALF PRICED! NANAI BBQ, 149 BAHT ALL YOU CAN EAT! SOMTIMES I ENVITE ALL THE GIRLS AT MY FAVORTI BAR TO EAT AT 5 PM..... 2000 BAHT IS WHAT YOU'D SPEND FOR A GOOD GRIND FOR 2 ON THE BEACH. THIS THREAD IS

ABOUT ARE YOU FARANG OR FOOL? THAILAND IS FAR CHAPER IN MOST AREAS, I HAVE TO SAY TAHT IS LIVE 9 ABOUT HALF OF THE TIME0 IN ONE OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE PLACES IN AMERICA. THE WAY I HEAR IT THE BRITS AND SCANNIE FOLKS ARE GETTING HOSED ON THE COST OF GOOD LIKE THE SUN SHINES EVERYDAY. BTW, HE SUN SHINES IN BOTH MY SPOTS EVERY DAY!

OK, YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP ON THE VINO AND PROCESSED DAIRY PRODUCTS, U BETTAH OFF! MAI PEN RAI. MAI OW POM PUAY1 BETTER FOOD AND SEXERCISE! I'LL TELL YOU WHAT IS VERY CHEAP IN THAILAND COMPARED TO TO WHINEIE PISSY FARANG BOOM-A-MATIC UNIOTS, OR DO I NEED TO SAY MORE. IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO LIVE IN THAILAND THERE IS ALWAYS AFRICA!

NOT TO MENTION THOSE WHO LIVE IN ISSAN. I PUT ON A FEED FOR 14 PEOPLE INCLUDING BOOZE AT THE SURIN MAJESTIC HOTEL AND IT WAS A WOOPING 75USD

THIS THREAD IS A REAL HOOT! A FOOL IN PARADISE OR JUST ANOTHER DUMB FARANG!

Edited December 5, 2008 by FarangFatal

[Gary A]

Some of these posts are WAY out in left field. I had a condo in Florida and the monthly maintenance fee was $175 (6,125 Baht) per month. My condo here is $17.50 (600 Baht). The average cost of electricity in the US is about 10 cents per KWH. Here it is 3.5 B or about 10 cents per KWH. Water bill and sewage in the US was about $26 (910 Baht) a month. Here my water is 3 Baht per cubic meter or less than 30 Baht per month. I don't remember the property tax but here I pay no property tax. First class car insurance in the US was about $1,600 (56,000 Baht) a year and that was six years ago. I don't know what it is now. That insurance policy had a $1,000 deductible clause. First class insurance (no deductible) here is about $428 (15,000 Baht) per year. I had health insurance in the US but prescription drugs have a $20 copayment per prescription. Blood pressure drugs cost me $60 per month (3 X $20) and my blood pressure was NOT under control. Here I take 10 mg of an ACE inhibitor. They come 100 20 mg foil wrapped tablets in a box for 325 baht. I take a half tablet a day. Less than 50 B per month. As far as fresh food costs, it is not reasonable to even try to compare prices.

As far as myself, if costs were identical, I'd still stay here. This is my home and I love my life style. Farang style, Thai style? What's that? define it. I live MY style. That means that I live exactly as I choose.

Edited December 5, 2008 by Gary A

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

As far as myself, if costs were identical, I'd still stay here. This is my home and I love my life style. Farang style, Thai style? What's that? define it. I live MY style. That means that I live exactly as I choose.

Well said Gary agree completely.

[Heng]

Cost of having a driver, housekeeper, and nanny... (not to mention just about any kind of employee there is) about 16,500 Baht a month (or about US$ $470). Our one Indonesian maid working illegally in Texas: about $1100 a month, and that was about 20 years ago!

Cost of living is not so different if your idea of 'cost of living' is only comparing baskets of processed/manufactured goods.

Try finding ways to "buy" time in many other countries in the world. It can be very very expensive if you compare to how much less it costs here.

so thats 16k each or for the set of 3?

It's for all three (although they didn't come in a set). 6,500 for my driver, 5,500 for our nanny, and 4,500 for our housekeeper... although we do have housekeepers that make a bit more (but no more than 6,000 a month) that take care of my folks and their folks place. It depends on whether they are Lao, Karen, Thai, etc.; how old they are; how long they've been with us, and how many responsibilities they have.

Thailand, or just about anywhere else in the world will of course seem more expensive if you have your income frozen at a certain level whether because of retirement or because you are barred from the local business or job market by local labor laws and quite often cultural barriers. I'd be whinging about the cost of Nutella as well if I was still making the 35-45,000 a month I was making back in 1997. It's easy to fall into the Jimmy Buffett syndrome and lose years to 'wines and cheeses + cool summer breezes.' But let's not forget that even while sipping margaritas and smoking Thai stick, Jimmy still grows his business empire each year.

[ronz28]

Cost of living depends on the source of your income. For example if it is in Australian dollars, during the last 120 days, the exchange rate has gone from about 33 baht to the Australian Dollar down to 23 baht which amounts to an effective 43% increase in your cost of living in Thailand. Those wild swings in the exchange rates make it hard to budget when your income is derived outside of Thailand.

[Birdman]

Many things are cheaper here then in the West, some are more expensive. No need to complain about that. If your budget is low, than live with that or adapt to that or...go to India!

Edited December 5, 2008 by Birdman

[Soutpeel]

some are more expansive.

Or so our US collegues tell us....everything bigger and better in the US...

Edited December 5, 2008 by Soutpeel

[Gary A]

some are more expansive.

Or so our US collegues tell us....everything bigger and better in the US...

Most of the people are CERTAINLY bigger and I don't mean taller. I don't know about better.

[MeetJohnDoe]

Cost of living depends on the source of your income. For example if it is in Australian dollars, during the last 120 days, the exchange rate has gone from about 33 baht to the Australian Dollar down to 23 baht which amounts to an effective 43% increase in your cost of living in Thailand.

I knew there had to be a reason I didn't mail back my USA passport during the dark-years of the Bush regime...thanks to this mentally challenged individual's destruction of the world financial system, the US$ has strengthened markedly against the baht during the same time.

[mgjackson69]

If someone is coming here expecting to live a "Western lifestyle" at 3rd world prices, they are going to be disappointed. Same for those who think they can stay here (or anywhere for that matter) long-term and live every day as if they are on vacation.

If you want to live in the same manner as in the West, why come here?

Most Thais do just fine without A/C...why does the farang living here need it? My house does have A/C in one bedroom...it has been used exactly two nights this year, when my mother visited from USA. Even she did not want it after a couple of days. Even in USA, I only use A/C because the combination of climate (Omaha, NE...very humid in summer) and housing construction (wood frame/sheetrock/carpet everywhere) demands it in order to keep everything inside from being constantly damp.

Most Thais do just fine without all of the processed and ready-made crap food that we think we need in the West...why would the farang live here and eat the same garbage? With all of the fresh food available in the markets, who needs a big grocery store?

Perfectly serviceable electronics are available at decent prices...and how many televisions and stereos does one need?

Serviceable clothing is readily available and not expensive.

My biggest gripe has been the non-availability of decent hand tools, specifically wrenches....so I brought those from USA.

I am not suggesting that everyone live in a wood shack out in the rice paddies...but a bit of compromise and learning to live with a bit less can lead to a more than adequate existence here.

You know something , people like myself do not care how 'The Thais ' live , too many of them live in shacks and go in the jungle to dig a hole as a toilet , many do not know what a decent wholesome , vitamin filled meal is . The food is low quality because they never leave land 'In fallow ' to recover , they just simply spray all kinds of garbage fertilisers on them . They do not use aircon in the sticks because they cannot afford to and they were born into the hot sticky humudity any way , but because they eat such a healthy diet , as soon as the teperature drops 10 degrees ,there are all kinds of them getting sick and dieing from flue and lung ailments , read that on TV . DO NOT TAKE THIS AS A SLAM AGAINST THAI PEOPLE , it is not , it is fact of how a huge number of them live .

You can make all the excuses you like about why you want to live like a Thai in a wood hut in a rice paddy and consume their food , that is your perogative , i do not wish to just live an adequate EXISTANCE , i want a LIFE . I moved to Thailand because of the almost constant temperatures were better for my bodily function , but i do not wish , nor do i intend , to compromise my living standards which are not high anyway , so i can proudly proffess to all and sundry that i have assimilated to the ancient thai life style . I am proud of my heritage , spent 6 years on active service to prove it , i am not prepared to compromise that either , so many of you so easily forget , you are whom you are and what you are able to do in life BECAUSE of your heritage and good education etc , why knock it continuosly ? I am on vacation on a continuing daily basis , i worked to pay my way from the age of 10 and i will not be denied the privelage i earned to do it , i also have my opinion on living life the same as you do , so please do not get on your high horse about how fantastic the place you live in is when you had to compromise your life style to live it .

No high horse...people can live with what they are comfortable with. If someone wants to come to Thailand and live exactly how they did in their home country, up to them. But to whine about "high cost of living" while maintaining that same standard is a bit ridiculous.

I do not consider any of the adjustments that I have made to be a compromise or "downgrade"...more like getting rid of unneeded baggage.

I never said I had "assimilated to the ancient thai life style" (your words), nor do I have any desire to do so...just that I have been able to make a few adjustments and am doing just fine. If I wanted to run the A/C 24 hours per day, I could afford to do so.

If you are here only for the climate, surely there are plenty of other places you could go that would offer the same, with a culture and standard of living that would be more suited to you.

[HorseDoctor]

Prices of used cars is outrageous, as are taxes on wine, cheese other imported foods.

And then ther's the " Farang" tax which has one paying up to %100 or more on services ( if you don't have a Thai partner to negotiate for you )

This is govt policy on parks, etc

Thais seem to forget that there is now a global network and info is getting out about

how foreigners are viewed and treated.

The events of last week have thrust this onto the front page news ... Wouldn't want to be involved in any tourist industry .

Very glad I did not invest here...

If you stay, rent cheap and bring electronics with you.

Clothes are cheap as are fresh foods

[mgjackson69]

As far as myself, if costs were identical, I'd still stay here. This is my home and I love my life style. Farang style, Thai style? What's that? define it. I live MY style. That means that I live exactly as I choose.

Agreed...many seem to think if you live somewhere other than your home country you must:

1) Live exactly as you did "at home"

or

2) Go native

I think either option is unrealistic.

Adjust and adapt. Live how you want.

[Ulysses G.]

Clothes are cheap as are fresh foods

Not for us fatties - unless you make them.

[canadianmonkey]

people talking about A/C, you realise that in the west. you can run your A/C 3hours and the house will stay cold for a long while.

In thailand you have to run it for 10hours before it settles due to lack of knowledge in isolation.

The funniest thing i found in my house is, all shower floors are tilting towards the backwall instead of the drain... That's so clever, makes the floor rot.i live in a upscalish development.

So far the only people who've said thailand is cheaper have used the word compromise...

Why compromise? Why should you cut on your joys? This is a third world country and companies are overpricing their stuff by 3-4x just to look cool and westernized which resulsts in thailand being WAY more expensive than many western countries, canada being one of them. Then they slap you with visa rules for their citizens which makes you stay half a year longer just to get your girl a visa.

[swain]

I think your right, back to Canada you should go. All the more Thailand for me!!

[Gary A]

people talking about A/C, you realise that in the west. you can run your A/C 3hours and the house will stay cold for a long while.

In thailand you have to run it for 10hours before it settles due to lack of knowledge in isolation.

The funniest thing i found in my house is, all shower floors are tilting towards the backwall instead of the drain... That's so clever, makes the floor rot.i live in a upscalish development.

So far the only people who've said thailand is cheaper have used the word compromise...

Why compromise? Why should you cut on your joys? This is a third world country and companies are overpricing their stuff by 3-4x just to look cool and westernized which resulsts in thailand being WAY more expensive than many western countries, canada being one of them. Then they slap you with visa rules for their citizens which makes you stay half a year longer just to get your girl a visa.

That's interesting. You live in an upscale development in a shoddily constructed house? You are obviously compromising by living in a cheaply built house. If you were to build a decent house, it could be insulated and the water would actually run down the drain.

[canadianmonkey]

Thailand does not offer decently built houses. 5 star hotels and resorts could of been made by 5year old gnomes aswell.

They just hide it with imported furniture and flower pots/paintings/colors that stop you from focusing.

It doesnt bug me though, just find it funny that condos and houses that sell for 10mil and over are usualy pretty crappy.. But of course theres some exceptions.

[patklang]

Canada is much better,i suggest you go back,especialy when its winter,happy days and bye bye.

[Heng]

Thailand isn't a construction company. If you're on site during construction, even 5 year old gnomes can build whatever you want to specification... been there, done that, ...but then you'd probably be complaining how your house was overpriced and over cost in terms of building materials.

[JAS21]

people talking about A/C, you realise that in the west. you can run your A/C 3hours and the house will stay cold for a long while.

In thailand you have to run it for 10hours before it settles due to lack of knowledge in isolation.

The funniest thing i found in my house is, all shower floors are tilting towards the backwall instead of the drain... That's so clever, makes the floor rot.i live in a upscalish development.

So far the only people who've said thailand is cheaper have used the word compromise...

Why compromise? Why should you cut on your joys? This is a third world country and companies are overpricing their stuff by 3-4x just to look cool and westernized which resulsts in thailand being WAY more expensive than many western countries, canada being one of them. Then they slap you with visa rules for their citizens which makes you stay half a year longer just to get your girl a visa.

That's interesting. You live in an upscale development in a shoddily constructed house? You are obviously compromising by living in a cheaply built house. If you were to build a decent house, it could be insulated and the water would actually run down the drain.

Well, we have been here full time for nearly two years and love it.

The car was much much more expensive than in the UK.

The house was actually cheaper, quite a bit and the equivalent size to the one we had and it’s on the edge of BK. And yes, one of our drains is in the wrong place…the site supervisor was a wan--r of the first degree..must have been totally corrupt. We have had to replace the isolation..sorry insulation..in the loft and that had a huge effect on the temperature throughout the house. Have also had to fix loads of other niggley things.

Food and diesel are much cheaper than in the UK, even accounting for the recent nearly 40% exchange rate fall. Food here though is more expensive than two years ago, but we can both have an adequate meal in the local Mall for the equivalent of £2.

Hotels are much cheaper than the UK, although I see that Phuket prices are quite steep.

Imported goods are expensive, the wife’s shoes..wow.. Quality furniture must be on a par with the UK…that I got quite a surprise. However perfectly adequate furniture is available at a reasonable price.

Our thai maid is wonderful, she gets paid a month what in the UK you would only get a couple of days work for..if that and she does just about all the jobs around the house and garden, she has an easy life compared to many.

Our annual golf bill is at least double what we paid in the UK, that’s comparing like for like, it’s the cost of the caddies that does it.

I accidentally jumped a red light here, my wife got me off with 100Baht, couldn’t do that in the UK. We have no desire ever to return there.

As a final point, which would you prefer, snow or sun!!!!

[patklang]

people talking about A/C, you realise that in the west. you can run your A/C 3hours and the house will stay cold for a long while.

In thailand you have to run it for 10hours before it settles due to lack of knowledge in isolation.

The funniest thing i found in my house is, all shower floors are tilting towards the backwall instead of the drain... That's so clever, makes the floor rot.i live in a upscalish development.

So far the only people who've said thailand is cheaper have used the word compromise...

Why compromise? Why should you cut on your joys? This is a third world country and companies are overpricing their stuff by 3-4x just to look cool and westernized which resulsts in thailand being WAY more expensive than many western countries, canada being one of them. Then they slap you with visa rules for their citizens which makes you stay half a year longer just to get your girl a visa.

That's interesting. You live in an upscale development in a shoddily constructed house? You are obviously compromising by living in a cheaply built house. If you were to build a decent house, it could be insulated and the water would actually run down the drain.

Well, we have been here full time for nearly two years and love it.

The car was much much more expensive than in the UK.

The house was actually cheaper, quite a bit and the equivalent size to the one we had and it's on the edge of BK. And yes, one of our drains is in the wrong place…the site supervisor was a wan--r of the first degree..must have been totally corrupt. We have had to replace the isolation..sorry insulation..in the loft and that had a huge effect on the temperature throughout the house. Have also had to fix loads of other niggley things.

Food and diesel are much cheaper than in the UK, even accounting for the recent nearly 40% exchange rate fall. Food here though is more expensive than two years ago, but we can both have an adequate meal in the local Mall for the equivalent of £2.

Hotels are much cheaper than the UK, although I see that Phuket prices are quite steep.

Imported goods are expensive, the wife's shoes..wow.. Quality furniture must be on a par with the UK…that I got quite a surprise. However perfectly adequate furniture is available at a reasonable price.

Our thai maid is wonderful, she gets paid a month what in the UK you would only get a couple of days work for..if that and she does just about all the jobs around the house and garden, she has an easy life compared to many.

Our annual golf bill is at least double what we paid in the UK, that's comparing like for like, it's the cost of the caddies that does it.

I accidentally jumped a red light here, my wife got me off with 100Baht, couldn't do that in the UK. We have no desire ever to return there.

As a final point, which would you prefer, snow or sun!!!!

good post and have a good life.Hard to understand how some people(only uk) say its more expensive over here,amazing.

[Chaimai]

people talking about A/C, you realise that in the west. you can run your A/C 3hours and the house will stay cold for a long while.

In thailand you have to run it for 10hours before it settles due to lack of knowledge in isolation.

The funniest thing i found in my house is, all shower floors are tilting towards the backwall instead of the drain... That's so clever, makes the floor rot.i live in a upscalish development.

So far the only people who've said thailand is cheaper have used the word compromise...

Why compromise? Why should you cut on your joys? This is a third world country and companies are overpricing their stuff by 3-4x just to look cool and westernized which resulsts in thailand being WAY more expensive than many western countries, canada being one of them. Then they slap you with visa rules for their citizens which makes you stay half a year longer just to get your girl a visa.

That's interesting. You live in an upscale development in a shoddily constructed house? You are obviously compromising by living in a cheaply built house. If you were to build a decent house, it could be insulated and the water would actually run down the drain.