Cost Of Living

[maccaroni man]

my brother lives in a resort area of Colorado he has 5 acres or 15 rai of land he is selling it today at a fair profit for 5k dollars per rai. If a person could by land in samui for 35k dollars a rai. they brag about such a good deal. an average american quality house (not excutive home) has been priced in samui for more than 300k dollars for years!???? the average cost of a meal in samui (not thai) is at least 20.00 dollars this is almost 2x more than in the states. So monkey man has some valid points. I find samui to be on par with the states some things are less but others are more.

having said this I would have a hard time leaving the weather and my pace of life in samui.

[yongli]

If you want to re-create Farangland in Thailand - why bother. Stay in your home country.

If you are doing a cost of living analysis don't forget to take into account water, electric, Council Tax (oops don't have that here), public transport costs, fuel costs.

Who the <deleted> cares what a tub of Nutella costs !!

After that, consider the wider issues like climate, culture etc.

If you want to live like a Farang and stay in Amari, Duisit hotels or rent for 20k p.m. and eat at westernised restaurants then you have to expect your budget to be higher.

I rent in a decent sized town for 2,500 baht p.m. fuel costs 200 baht p.w. food and drink (including eating out 5 times a week and visiting the local bar 5 times a week) 5,000 baht, haircut 40 Baht etc, etc

Hi Chaimai,

that sounds really reasonable and reminds me of my time in China. Now I am actually also spending quite a bundle, at least double of what I was spending before. At the end I guess big city life - i.e. Bkk lures one into spending. And you can get quite a few western things, you couldn't even imagine to get in China.

Where do you stay?

Yongli

[jack31]

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

You're the one who should go back to where you came from, as obviously you haven't got rid of your Western aggression.

You are just a foul mouthed ignoramus and judging by your lack of communication skills, I wager you are from England, someone who would be better placed in a Dagenham council estate rather than the LOS.

Monkey boy talks rubbish and i pointed that out to him so whats your problem?

Actually dont even bother replying because I am not even going to argue with you. Your probably some spotty little jumped up nerd who hides behind a pc.

If you really have a problem with me i land in Bangkok 1st Jan. We can meet and you can tell me to my face what you think of my communication skills and then we will see how big you are. jerk!!

Let me guess, he'll be able to recognise you by your shaved head, tattoos and Singha T-shirt?

dont drink singha or have tatts but i do have a bald head

[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.

At times I do feel like if I was Thai I could really be one easy street because the cost of labor is cheap here. I have many business ideas now that I am fairly confident would be successful, but how do you do business in Thailand when you are not fluent in Thai? There really are endless possibilities for those with the capital to fool around.

Plenty of foreigners have merged their ideas with local labor and have done quite well. Plenty more have fallen flat on their faces. It's like anything else really. I do agree that there are endless possibilities though... at least more so than in countries that are more developed.

Even myself, I employ a clerk that handles a lot of my paperwork for me because I am only semi-literate in Thai (grew up stateside) and tend to give business orders through her. Naturally all the financial strings though are in my own pocket to 'check/balance' the power I give her.

[mittheimp]

Struggle to believe any one could find thailand more expensive than a western country - unless they insist on eating western food all the time.

The only things i ever found more expensive in thailand were wine, cheese and internet.

so i guess its just the p1ssed up fat porn addicts that are struggling. Seem to be a lot of them though!

[Chaimai]

Struggle to believe any one could find thailand more expensive than a western country - unless they insist on eating western food all the time.

The only things i ever found more expensive in thailand were wine, cheese and internet.

so i guess its just the p1ssed up fat porn addicts that are struggling. Seem to be a lot of them though!

No - I think you will find that booze and sex compares VERY favourably with the West

[sassienie]

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

You're the one who should go back to where you came from, as obviously you haven't got rid of your Western aggression.

You are just a foul mouthed ignoramus and judging by your lack of communication skills, I wager you are from England, someone who would be better placed in a Dagenham council estate rather than the LOS.

Monkey boy talks rubbish and i pointed that out to him so whats your problem?

Actually dont even bother replying because I am not even going to argue with you. Your probably some spotty little jumped up nerd who hides behind a pc.

If you really have a problem with me i land in Bangkok 1st Jan. We can meet and you can tell me to my face what you think of my communication skills and then we will see how big you are. jerk!!

Yes I agree, Thai food is definately lacking in something.

Look what it`s done to this poor guy.

Edited December 5, 2008 by sassienie

[Pakeha]

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 .

Can you please explain this dumball. Where did your Doctor get qualified?

[BugJackBaron]

Wow. Can anyone say "please do not feed the trolls"? (Thai or Western!)

But troll feeding can be fun so....Are there are some things that are dearer here than at home?

Let's examine..

Food: even western food.. Breakfast for 60 to 120 baht...roughly 2 to 5 bucks..

I don't know what a "greasy spoon" breakfast in Canada would be now(I am told

Big chains now dominate, sad really) but I would be surpised if it were less than this..

Well I suppose if you are from Australia ..imported Australian beef will cost more..

duh. And wine..Yes he may have  point in that imported wines tend to be more expensive...

As for Thai food being insufficient to feed a healthy guy..what a laugh...sure some street stuff

is not that great and small..but if you look around you can see some pretty big meals

from 60 to 120 baht...

Accommodation:

 Getting a 1 bedroom apartment in Bangkok(which is almost required IF you need

a proper kitchen) anywhere close to BTS is usually in the 20,000 baht range.

So roughly 600 to 900 dollars. In Vancouver I am told 900 is what you must pay

if u want to be close to downtown...

 But that is Bangkok..if u live even 15 minutes bus ride out of the city

I am told a house can be rented for between 5000 and 10000 baht

And in many places in Thailand it is similar.

I can't imagine anywhere in Canada where you could do that...

 So I say OP has almost no case...

[Gippy]

I will help feed the trolls as well.

In Vancouver I am told 900 is what you must pay

if u want to be close to downtown...

I just moved from Vancouver to Bangkok. My 600 sq ft one bedroom apartment in downtown Vancouver was $1725 a month. It was being let for $1850 a month after I moved out.

But that is Bangkok..if u live even 15 minutes bus ride out of the city

I am told a house can be rented for between 5000 and 10000 baht

This is true. I live on the outskirts of Bangkok in Laksi to be close to our business, a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house costs us 8000 baht a month in rent.

[MeetJohnDoe]

Struggle to believe any one could find thailand more expensive than a western country - unless they insist on eating western food all the time.

The only things i ever found more expensive in thailand were wine, cheese and internet.

Do you actually live in Thailand or only come as a tourist?

The items you mention are indeed outrageously expensive in LOS vs. Farangland. Throw in all electronics, cars, many types of media (cable TV, newspapers, magazines), many airfares ($ 200 for 40 minute flight to Samui), clothes (well made ones...even locally made/branded ones and don't even get started on imported brands...cotton khaki pants US$ 37 vs. better made heavier fabric Gap khakis for $ 25). I could go on and on.

Like I said, you can save on rentals and condos, utilities are cheaper, taxes less, restaurants, and also "entertainment." So in the end, you probably come out even or maybe slightly ahead.

[patklang]

My standard of life is great here and i spend approx half of what i did in uk and i didnt have a gf and step son there.plus i was working 12-14 hours a day so all in all i have a wonderful life.

[Chaimai]

My standard of life is great here and i spend approx half of what i did in uk and i didnt have a gf and step son there.plus i was working 12-14 hours a day so all in all i have a wonderful life.

A very good summary of the overall difference between Thailand and the "home" country.

I no longer need to wear Saville Row suits so clothes are significantly cheaper - I am happy to wait for 'sales'where I can by shirts for 79 Baht and shorts for 159 Baht - all to what I would describe as M & S quality, perfectly adequate.

[kevkev1888]

dont enjoy LCD tv's.. burn your kid's eyes with the old round TV.

CRT TVs burn your eyes

[canadianmonkey]

dont enjoy LCD tv's.. burn your kid's eyes with the old round TV.

CRT TVs burn your eyes

Im sorry you cannot afford big LCD tv's. You can always goto a shop house restaurant and enjoy a poor thai's LCD TV untill you save enough to buy one in a year or so.

[Chaimai]

dont enjoy LCD tv's.. burn your kid's eyes with the old round TV.

CRT TVs burn your eyes

Im sorry you cannot afford big LCD tv's. You can always goto a shop house restaurant and enjoy a poor thai's LCD TV untill you save enough to buy one in a year or so.

.. and I wasn't 100% sure that you were a w&nker until that post. Now I am !

[kevkev1888]

dont enjoy LCD tv's.. burn your kid's eyes with the old round TV.

CRT TVs burn your eyes

Im sorry you cannot afford big LCD tv's. You can always goto a shop house restaurant and enjoy a poor thai's LCD TV untill you save enough to buy one in a year or so.

I have 3 ldc tv's in the uk. Here im not botherd as i watch very little tv, better things to do with my time.

What do you do to protect your eyes if watching a non lcd tv? Sunglasses????

[BFD]

I've been keeping detailed records of my spending for the past few months, just to see what I can cut down on. I've been able to send home roughly 25000 baht per month to pay off that pesky student loan, but after that it roughly works out like this:

Rent/Utils: 22000

Food: 11500

Drink: 16000

Transport: 3500

Misc (gifts): 10000

Obviously, there are some pretty clear ways to cut back on this stuff, but I'm much better off financially than I would be if I were back in Edmonton, Alberta. When I factor in the cultural and climate benefits, this place wins hands-down.

Anyone else have their breakdowns to compare?

BFD!

[MJP]

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

You're the one who should go back to where you came from, as obviously you haven't got rid of your Western aggression.

You are just a foul mouthed ignoramus and judging by your lack of communication skills, I wager you are from England, someone who would be better placed in a Dagenham council estate rather than the LOS.

Monkey boy talks rubbish and i pointed that out to him so whats your problem?

Actually dont even bother replying because I am not even going to argue with you. Your probably some spotty little jumped up nerd who hides behind a pc.

If you really have a problem with me i land in Bangkok 1st Jan. We can meet and you can tell me to my face what you think of my communication skills and then we will see how big you are. jerk!!

Yes I agree, Thai food is definately lacking in something.

Look what it`s done to this poor guy.

[dave9988]

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.

At times I do feel like if I was Thai I could really be one easy street because the cost of labor is cheap here. I have many business ideas now that I am fairly confident would be successful, but how do you do business in Thailand when you are not fluent in Thai? There really are endless possibilities for those with the capital to fool around.

Plenty of foreigners have merged their ideas with local labor and have done quite well. Plenty more have fallen flat on their faces. It's like anything else really. I do agree that there are endless possibilities though... at least more so than in countries that are more developed.

Even myself, I employ a clerk that handles a lot of my paperwork for me because I am only semi-literate in Thai (grew up stateside) and tend to give business orders through her. Naturally all the financial strings though are in my own pocket to 'check/balance' the power I give her.

Big business is way more efficient in the USA and everything has been done already. There are dozens of little niches that can be filled in Thailand. Just think how many times someone here asks "does this product or service exist in Thailand?"

The internet too. I am sure that there are thousands of website concepts that have yet to target the Thai market.

[Birdman]

It depends on where you live, in my home area many of the Westerners are renting nice quality homes for around 5,000 Baht per month, all the fresh produce at the local markets which is super fresh is very cheap, fruit and veg in season will be around 10 - 15 Baht a kilo, Fresh Chicken and Pork from the shops is between 65 - 110 Baht per kilo.

Compare those prices to back home.

Your home area? - Udon Thani? or Kampheng Pet?

[Chaimai]

Obviously, there are some pretty clear ways to cut back on this stuff, but I'm much better off financially than I would be if I were back in Edmonton, Alberta. When I factor in the cultural and climate benefits, this place wins hands-down.

BFD!

The climate and culture are HUGE factors in the equation.

Everyone has to have a reason to come here. I doubt that you would intentionally come toThailand if it was demonstrably more expensive than your 'home' country or other alternative destinations.

Better people than me have said it - "If you don't like it (or only want to whinge about it) - GO" Leave it to those who can recognise, and adapt to, it's imperfections in the knowledge that there are no immediately recognisable alternatives.

[canadianmonkey]

Obviously, there are some pretty clear ways to cut back on this stuff, but I'm much better off financially than I would be if I were back in Edmonton, Alberta. When I factor in the cultural and climate benefits, this place wins hands-down.

BFD!

The climate and culture are HUGE factors in the equation.

Everyone has to have a reason to come here. I doubt that you would intentionally come toThailand if it was demonstrably more expensive than your 'home' country or other alternative destinations.

Better people than me have said it - "If you don't like it (or only want to whinge about it) - GO" Leave it to those who can recognise, and adapt to, it's imperfections in the knowledge that there are no immediately recognisable alternatives.

Almost all of you people who say 'go if you don't like it', which is a kid's mentality, are usualy the people with not much money who are compromising and have no idea what a normal western lifestyle is.

Ohh democrat president in the USA, Go if you dont like it

Ohh old teachers in highschool, Go if you don't like it

Ohh gay pride parade in your home town, Go if you dont like it..

i could go on and on forever with other stupid 'go if you dont like it' nonsense.

Always amazes me that the farangs who spend 20k baht a month in here think the thais appreciate them and that us who pay 2x to 10x that ammount everymonth are losers that should go back home. Im pretty sure this country hates our money and loves your satangs.

[patklang]

why is it always about money.i could live inm udon,nong khai,korat,kheon khen etc and all are cheaper than pattaya but its not cos i cant afford pattaya,maybe a nicer life,so you get a life monkey and stop boasting

btw my income is about 100k a month and cant spend it all.

[fredfromalaska]

but then again.

if one doesnt like it here, why do they stay? it is a foreign country. to some they never staisfie, just born complainers. nowhere is ther a perfect place to live.

[jdinasia]

Almost all of you people who say 'go if you don't like it', which is a kid's mentality, are usualy the people with not much money who are compromising and have no idea what a normal western lifestyle is.

Ohh democrat president in the USA, Go if you dont like it

Ohh old teachers in highschool, Go if you don't like it

Ohh gay pride parade in your home town, Go if you dont like it..

i could go on and on forever with other stupid 'go if you dont like it' nonsense.

Always amazes me that the farangs who spend 20k baht a month in here think the thais appreciate them and that us who pay 2x to 10x that ammount everymonth are losers that should go back home. Im pretty sure this country hates our money and loves your satangs.

Are you now suggesting that you are crying about the price of towels and cable TV (and exaggerating said prices) because you see yourself as rich?

I concur with the simple fact that if this is not a place you love then you should move to a place that you love!

I think that you lost everyone with your president/teachers/gay pride parade attempts at analogy.

Why anyone would live in a place that they can't adjust to and do not love is beyond me!

[mittheimp]

Struggle to believe any one could find thailand more expensive than a western country - unless they insist on eating western food all the time.

The only things i ever found more expensive in thailand were wine, cheese and internet.

Do you actually live in Thailand or only come as a tourist?

The items you mention are indeed outrageously expensive in LOS vs. Farangland. Throw in all electronics, cars, many types of media (cable TV, newspapers, magazines), many airfares ($ 200 for 40 minute flight to Samui), clothes (well made ones...even locally made/branded ones and don't even get started on imported brands...cotton khaki pants US$ 37 vs. better made heavier fabric Gap khakis for $ 25). I could go on and on.

Like I said, you can save on rentals and condos, utilities are cheaper, taxes less, restaurants, and also "entertainment." So in the end, you probably come out even or maybe slightly ahead.

Not anymore, but i did for 3 years. That was 5 years ago so maybe things have changed!!! Have domestic flights gone up a lot? They used to be very cheap - and international flights were certainly cheaper when bought from Thailand.

Edited December 6, 2008 by mittheimp

[Birdman]

This whole issue "cost of living in Thailand" is very bizarre. Because the financial spectrum of TV members bent from people, who think all the time about saving costs, even with street vendors, to people, who never think about that, even if they buy things for millions.

So the whole threat is a mixture of personal views of ways of life in Thailand unconscious depending on their financial status. This can never work!

It should be subdivided into "cost of living in Thailand", if your budget is xxxx or xxxxx or xxxxxx Baht per month

Edited December 6, 2008 by Birdman

[dave_boo]

why is it always about money.i could live inm udon,nong khai,korat,kheon khen etc and all are cheaper than pattaya but its not cos i cant afford pattaya,maybe a nicer life,so you get a life monkey and stop boasting

btw my income is about 100k a month and cant spend it all.

You could always remit the balance into my bank account.

However, current budget for the family is 85 000 THB per month.

Largest portion of that goes toward the truck payment (24 000).

Next is the motorcycle's payments (12 000).

Schooling for two brothers (10 000).

Rest (39 000) gets 'eaten' up in food costs, general shopping, etc. House is paid for, and as long as I have internet I can entertain myself. Medium sized LCD TV and UBC keeps the rest of the clan occupied. One brother finishes school same time the motorcycles are paid off, so less than a year from now it will only be 68 000, and two years from now it will only be 45 000. It's wonderful living in the country and only having foreign food hunger pains a couple of times a week.

[Birdman]

why is it always about money.i could live inm udon,nong khai,korat,kheon khen etc and all are cheaper than pattaya but its not cos i cant afford pattaya,maybe a nicer life,so you get a life monkey and stop boasting

btw my income is about 100k a month and cant spend it all.

You could always remit the balance into my bank account.

However, current budget for the family is 85 000 THB per month.

Largest portion of that goes toward the truck payment (24 000).

Next is the motorcycle's payments (12 000).

Schooling for two brothers (10 000).

Rest (39 000) gets 'eaten' up in food costs, general shopping, etc. House is paid for, and as long as I have internet I can entertain myself. Medium sized LCD TV and UBC keeps the rest of the clan occupied. One brother finishes school same time the motorcycles are paid off, so less than a year from now it will only be 68 000, and two years from now it will only be 45 000. It's wonderful living in the country and only having foreign food hunger pains a couple of times a week.

hey, brother, that is your budget. In Thailand some Farangs can do with 20.000 others with 200.000......................