Is Thailand Getting Too Expensive?

[Forethat]

I built a house last year. It cost me £60,000 whereas if I built it 6 months before it would have cost £42,000

What can you do? Life goes on... I dithered....som nam na...

I'm still happy. Spend more time at home. I found gardening....

On the flip side, you can't buy a parking space for £60,000 in London.. and it's cold...and beer is nearly £4 a pint.. and ....and ...and...

You're absolutely right, that’s much cheaper in Thailand. Not to mention the risk and cost of having your car towed. The taxi to Park Lane alone is 500 Baht. I like the part where you're pointing out that it is cold, thank you for that!

And, in case you didn't notice, I didn't give you any <deleted> about the linguistic capabilities of my janitor, any x-girlfriends academic capabilities. And I definitely didn’t pester you with any irrelevant details about possible university degrees (something I will refuse to do since pulling of a stunt like that would make me look like a complete wanke_r).

[Birdman]

Just compare the costs of a 6 weeks vacation with rented car, all meals, simple hotel rooms, sightseeings, some shopping and so on from Paris through the Austrian/Swiss Alps to Venice with a similar trip from Chiang Mai to Singapore...

[Ulysses G.]

I definitely didn't pester you with any irrelevant details about possible university degrees (something I will refuse to do since pulling of a stunt like that would make me look like a complete wanke_r).

What, no detailed list of your higher educational credentials?

[Benjie]

I think that for most people cost comparisons are individual. You see when it comes to cars, for instance, I would argue that an E series Merc with driver is

That's probably where this discussion becomes meaningless, in case you haven't (and I presume you haven't) you should read my previous posts in this thread, then it would become clear that in this context - and every other context you can think of - you will not be able to save your carrots by refraining from eating potatoes.

Measuring whether this country is expensive in certain aspects is a simple thing, you take the price in, for instance Europe, and compare with the same item in Thailand. This seems to introduce a problem to some here, yourself included, who incist on making an adjustment to the comparison to make it favour the Thailand price. In this case, you add a driver. The real truth is that a driver is MUCH more expensive in Europe than in Thailand, and the car is more expensive here. MUCH more expensive. If your preference is to have a driver I will never be able to argue that you would be better of in Thailand than Europe, or you would at lest break even. But my point is, and it seems to be incredible hard for you guys to actually read and understand this fairly simple concept, that there are a lot of things that are more expensive in this country. The fact that you choose to buy something else doesn't make it any cheaper, sorry to break the illusion.

If we have to compare, we need to compare the same things. Read my previous posts and I'm sure it'll all come to you sooner or later.

Sorry but you won't get an equivalent education as ISB in the UK for free, You could likely get a similar level private education for less money.

You are taking the extremes, the most expensive school in Thailand, the most highly taxed car, Have a normal car like a CRV which costs exactly the same as the UK, a slightly less expensive private school and a maid/gardener. There probably isn't much in it.

[Forethat]

I think that for most people cost comparisons are individual. You see when it comes to cars, for instance, I would argue that an E series Merc with driver is

That's probably where this discussion becomes meaningless, in case you haven't (and I presume you haven't) you should read my previous posts in this thread, then it would become clear that in this context - and every other context you can think of - you will not be able to save your carrots by refraining from eating potatoes.

Measuring whether this country is expensive in certain aspects is a simple thing, you take the price in, for instance Europe, and compare with the same item in Thailand. This seems to introduce a problem to some here, yourself included, who incist on making an adjustment to the comparison to make it favour the Thailand price. In this case, you add a driver. The real truth is that a driver is MUCH more expensive in Europe than in Thailand, and the car is more expensive here. MUCH more expensive. If your preference is to have a driver I will never be able to argue that you would be better of in Thailand than Europe, or you would at lest break even. But my point is, and it seems to be incredible hard for you guys to actually read and understand this fairly simple concept, that there are a lot of things that are more expensive in this country. The fact that you choose to buy something else doesn't make it any cheaper, sorry to break the illusion.

If we have to compare, we need to compare the same things. Read my previous posts and I'm sure it'll all come to you sooner or later.

Sorry but you won't get an equivalent education as ISB in the UK for free, You could likely get a similar level private education for less money.

You are taking the extremes, the most expensive school in Thailand, the most highly taxed car, Have a normal car like a CRV which costs exactly the same as the UK, a slightly less expensive private school and a maid/gardener. There probably isn't much in it.

For your information, UK is not my home country; I agree with you if you say UK is a similarly expensive country when it comes to education. There are, however, countries where education is more or less free, even at University level, and according to international statistics even better than in, for instance UK. I will however, opt for a more expensive school in another country based on OTHER economical factors. You see, there are things in my home country that are as equally expensive compared to the equivalent in Thailand that was one of the reasons I came here in the first place. Pros and cons.

The reason I compared with the BMW, is because that is the car I bought - and still own - in UK. I also choose to compare suits, since I have noticed that there is an incredible difference in price on those. And finally, a membership at a golf club comparable with my UK golf club would cost a small fortune, not to mention the fact that each round would cost caddie fees and tips.

Those are the three items that I decided to replace with a cheaper alternative or simply not to buy because of the massive difference in price. I went for a Japanese car, I buy my suits during business trips to other countries and I don't have a membership at Alpine, Thai Country Club or Amata Spring (which can be noticed in my hcp).

In other words, I made exactly the adjustments that you propose yourself. If you read my earlier posts (here we go again...) you'll see that I am in fact highlighting exactly what you are now repeating, that by avoiding a couple of things you can live cheap in Thailand, but only then.

You used the word extreme, and I agree; the things above ARE extremely expensive, thanks for sharing my opinion.

Edited March 17, 2010 by Forethat

[neverdie]

^Instead of acting all whiney about it, why don't you pack up & take a hike......see what better options you can come up with and report back. Im not trying to be rude either, so don't go getting on your bike and all that.

[AnnyLing]

I built a house last year. It cost me £60,000 whereas if I built it 6 months before it would have cost £42,000

What can you do? Life goes on... I dithered....som nam na...

I'm still happy. Spend more time at home. I found gardening....

On the flip side, you can't buy a parking space for £60,000 in London.. and it's cold...and beer is nearly £4 a pint.. and ....and ...and...

You're absolutely right, that's much cheaper in Thailand. Not to mention the risk and cost of having your car towed. The taxi to Park Lane alone is 500 Baht. I like the part where you're pointing out that it is cold, thank you for that!

And, in case you didn't notice, I didn't give you any <deleted> about the linguistic capabilities of my janitor, any x-girlfriends academic capabilities. And I definitely didn't pester you with any irrelevant details about possible university degrees (something I will refuse to do since pulling of a stunt like that would make me look like a complete wanke_r).

Do you claim you are not a wanke_r because your Esarn girlfriend is uneducated ?

[Forethat]

I built a house last year. It cost me £60,000 whereas if I built it 6 months before it would have cost £42,000

What can you do? Life goes on... I dithered....som nam na...

I'm still happy. Spend more time at home. I found gardening....

On the flip side, you can't buy a parking space for £60,000 in London.. and it's cold...and beer is nearly £4 a pint.. and ....and ...and...

You're absolutely right, that's much cheaper in Thailand. Not to mention the risk and cost of having your car towed. The taxi to Park Lane alone is 500 Baht. I like the part where you're pointing out that it is cold, thank you for that!

And, in case you didn't notice, I didn't give you any <deleted> about the linguistic capabilities of my janitor, any x-girlfriends academic capabilities. And I definitely didn't pester you with any irrelevant details about possible university degrees (something I will refuse to do since pulling of a stunt like that would make me look like a complete wanke_r).

Do you claim you are not a wanke_r because your Esarn girlfriend is uneducated ?

I claim that a BMW is priced at 255% compared to the UK price. And I claim that an Italian suit and a bottle of champagne and a decent education is stinking expensive here.

Now tell me the sad truth, you didn't read any of the previous posts but instead decided to give me and everyone else here proof (so called hard fact) in black and white that you didn't?

[sarahsbloke]

That sad truth about all these types of thread is that nobody truely compares like with like.

If you compare local fruit prices in the UK with local fruit prices in Thailand, then I suspect Thailand will be cheaper.

If you compare a UK comprehensive to a Thai school from the King, then Thailand is slightly more expensive but not by much.

University in Thailand is much cheaper than University in the UK .... UK Uni about 15,000UKP a year (750000bht)

Want to compare a locally built 4x4 in Thailand with a locally built 4x4 in the UK ...... Thailand is a lot cheaper

Trying to compare luxury imported goods is just silly.

When you move to a foreign country you have to adapt yourself to local lifestyle to some extent.

Just comparing one item, a house, and Thailand is about 1/4 the price of anywhere in the western world.l

How about a second item to compare, a pretty girl 20 years younger than her husband .... one of these costs a fortune in the western world.

Final item to compare, having a child, in the western world it costs a man his house and half his income for 20 years, plus half his pension forever.

(50 percent divorce rate, so a pretty good chance of that expense happening)

Edited March 18, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[richieudon]

BJ

Living on Phuket, over the last few days I've been really thinking about living costs here compared to the UK (with the plummeting exchange rate).

Rental accommodation is far cheaper here as is eating out, but I'm struggling to think of anything else!

Any suggestions of other living expenses that are cheaper here in Phuket would be greatly appreciated to cheer me up!

Are you insane? Laundry, tailoring, having something fixed, hair cuts, movies... I could go on all day.

[richieudon]

Absolutely agree with you 100%

I am an expert in the exact costs of living in Thailand.

Down to the satang.

No I'm not Scottish.

If you are established here with a house, I can tell you now it's much, much cheaper than the UK as an example. You don't have all the taxes here for a start. All the permit fees. All the government costs. If you shop efficiently it's cheaper. Utilities are way cheaper. If you smoke it's an eighth of the cost.

Now, those of you on holiday here, eating and drinking out and doing whatever it is you do, of course it's more expensive . . . but you're not comparing apples with apples.

[whistleblower]

I built a house last year. It cost me £60,000 whereas if I built it 6 months before it would have cost £42,000

What can you do? Life goes on... I dithered....som nam na...

I'm still happy. Spend more time at home. I found gardening....

On the flip side, you can't buy a parking space for £60,000 in London.. and it's cold...and beer is nearly £4 a pint.. and ....and ...and...

if you go to a pub here its 4 quid a pint!! Most of the English/Irish style pubs in Bangkok charge 180bht for a pint of heineken/tiger plus govt tax (and some service charge) Thats 4 quid!!!

[richieudon]

That's why I drink Leo at 70 baht for a large bottle in my local bar, that's about £1.40 compared to £4 in my local in London. I know Bangkok is more expensive, especially in the tourist areas but there are still places there where you can get a beer for 50 baht sort of equivalent to Weatherspoons in UK which is probably £3 a pint...

I built a house last year. It cost me £60,000 whereas if I built it 6 months before it would have cost £42,000

What can you do? Life goes on... I dithered....som nam na...

I'm still happy. Spend more time at home. I found gardening....

On the flip side, you can't buy a parking space for £60,000 in London.. and it's cold...and beer is nearly £4 a pint.. and ....and ...and...

if you go to a pub here its 4 quid a pint!! Most of the English/Irish style pubs in Bangkok charge 180bht for a pint of heineken/tiger plus govt tax (and some service charge) Thats 4 quid!!!

[LivinLOS]

ok do it in reverse, how would you live in your home country on the money you spend here? That should change your perspective a little bit.

And how much do you earn there ??

My last year living in Europe I was making high 6 figures after tax in my 20's.. Euros not baht !!

Comparing cost out output without looking at opportunity of input is just silly.

[LivinLOS]

and last not least having all their expenses (and more) covered by not paying any income tax?

tell me where to send the certificate

But Naam, really wealthy people pay little tax.. Blind offshore trusts are easy and cheap.

[LivinLOS]

Trying to compare luxury imported goods is just silly.

When you move to a foreign country you have to adapt yourself to local lifestyle to some extent.

Depends on if you consider 'luxury' to be the norm or not.. I personally think of porshes and ferraris as 'luxuries'.. Bentlys and the like as real luxury.. But a mid level BMW 5 series ?? No thats just a normal well made car.

Almost anything related to low skilled labour is cheaper here. No question. But almost anything that is imported, by virtue of inefficient supply chains, higher import taxes and corruption in systems isnt. If you live on local produced things only, its cheap, if you buy international quality items then its less so.

So that said it takes an awful lot of 30 baht noodles to make the difference in buying one range rover. The fact is it only takes one or two big ticket items to skew the picture. Many expats I know putter around on their auto scooter, live in a one bedroom rental apartment, and say how cheap it is, but to afford the lifestyle they left back home ?? Suddenly they cant.

[LivinLOS]

I built a house last year. It cost me £60,000 whereas if I built it 6 months before it would have cost £42,000

What can you do? Life goes on... I dithered....som nam na...

I'm still happy. Spend more time at home. I found gardening....

On the flip side, you can't buy a parking space for £60,000 in London.. and it's cold...and beer is nearly £4 a pint.. and ....and ...and...

if you go to a pub here its 4 quid a pint!! Most of the English/Irish style pubs in Bangkok charge 180bht for a pint of heineken/tiger plus govt tax (and some service charge) Thats 4 quid!!!

300 plus for guiness..

My tipple is 150 baht a can..

[sarahsbloke]

So that said it takes an awful lot of 30 baht noodles to make the difference in buying one range rover. The fact is it only takes one or two big ticket items to skew the picture. Many expats I know putter around on their auto scooter, live in a one bedroom rental apartment, and say how cheap it is, but to afford the lifestyle they left back home ?? Suddenly they cant.

I live in a 3 bedroom bungalow out here 140UKP a month, with utils and internet included, 165UKP a month

In UK I lived in 4 bed house, 1000UKP a month, with utils, internet and council tax, 1,300UKP a month

Both in rural area about 15-20km from nearest big town.

Savings of over 55,000bht a month (or 660,000bht a year)

I could buy a new Toyota 4x4 every year with just that saving alone!

[Forethat]

So that said it takes an awful lot of 30 baht noodles to make the difference in buying one range rover. The fact is it only takes one or two big ticket items to skew the picture. Many expats I know putter around on their auto scooter, live in a one bedroom rental apartment, and say how cheap it is, but to afford the lifestyle they left back home ?? Suddenly they cant.

I live in a 3 bedroom bungalow out here 140UKP a month, with utils and internet included, 165UKP a month

In UK I lived in 4 bed house, 1000UKP a month, with utils, internet and council tax, 1,300UKP a month

Both in rural area about 15-20km from nearest big town.

Savings of over 55,000bht a month (or 660,000bht a year)

I could buy a new Toyota 4x4 every year with just that saving alone!

Believe it or not, if you employ a trilingual cook and a bilingual gardener, you might get a BMW for that money.

Hard fact!

[Heng]

How about a 'urination' contest section in the forum? It seems one is much needed.

Pity those who have to look at the price tag/cost of anything.

*sound of p|ss laden Lodestar whooshing by overhead*

[Colonel_Mustard]

My life in Thailand is probably not much cheaper than it would be in Europe but it's the lifestyle I have chosen so no complaints. It's a country where you can live pretty much as cheaply or as expensively as you wish.

Thailand is obviously becoming more expensive but whether or not it is becoming too expensive depends on each individual's circumstances.

[Gary A]

One thing not mentioned is the difference between retired expats and expats trying to raise a family. It is insanely expensive to give kids a quality education. I have to say that Thailand is a great place to retire but an expensive place to raise a family if you are concerned about your children getting a quality education.

Some people seem to want to emphasize that a BMW is much more expensive here. How many expats do you think drive Mercedes or BMW's? No doubt they are quality vehicles but why would anyone on a limited budget want to buy one?

I am retired and want for nothing. I give my wife 25,000 baht a month for household expenses. Clothing is NOT an important item for me. She buys my clothes with her budget as well as my cigarettes. I drink beer a couple times a week and she does NOT pay my bar bill. I'm comfortable in T shirts and shorts. I hate to wear shoes and refuse to go to fancy restaurants where I have to dress respectably. I DON'T have to impress anyone and dress comfortably to suit myself.

I do buy unneeded toys because I can afford them and enjoy them. We have a car, truck, two tractors and a motorbike. The car was a stupid unneeded purchase but I wanted it. The one tractor is another toy with a blade, tiller and plow. My wife was upset when I bought that but it is MY toy and I like to play with it.

If not for my toys, we could easily live on 30,000 baht per month. Our home and small farms are paid for and I rent out my condo. Counting the condo income makes it a third less than the 30,000 per month. Could I live in the US as well as I live here for 30,000 baht per month?

[chiang mai]

1. My dear Klingon, as an accountant...

2. Expensive, in this case, is a measurement of price level between Thailand and another country. What YOU are describing, is the level of expensiveness in relation to another item based on the condition that you have a certain amount of money.

1. i am not an accountant but a retired physicist/mech.eng. and global investor who was used his whole life to deal with facts.

2. i am not interested in academic discussions which do not concern 99% of Farangs living in Thailand (no matter whether they have money or are living just above minimum existence level). if i feel like having an academic discussion i will ask my wife to give me another boring lecture in anthropology or one of the other breadless arts she got a summa cum laude degree.

3. what i learned in this forum is that it's futile to discuss living conditions / expenses / lifestyle in Thailand with people who have never lived here for an extended period of time and who judge Thailand based on years living in Königswusterhausen, Germany or Liverpool, UK or Redneck City, Alabama.

Well, you've managed to fool me, that's for sure, and to be honest, probably everyone else here. So far, you haven't provided any hard facts at all. What you HAVE provided is a lot of irrelevant details about yourself, your wife, and hers and yours driver. And as if that wasn't enough; even your gardener linguistic abilities.

It is obvious to everyone who actually read our posts that I am the only one who's made attempts to actually provide this "hard fact" you mention.

As far as I'm concerned, if by bragging about your money, your investments, your cars and your success in avoiding to pay taxes in any country AND your wife's alleged academic abilities and knowledge in anthropology, you think that you are contributing to a discussion that concerns 99% of farangs that live in Thailand you are one of the following:

1. An imbecile

2. Pulling my leg

3. Not serious

The only thing that is for sure is that regardless of the answer to the question above, you are:

1. Wasting my time

2. Wasting everyone else's time

3. Still not providing any hard facts

So far I have provided details and empiric facts that clearly show that there are several items that are very, if not extremely, expensive in Thailand compared to my home country (and many others). Cars priced at 255% compared to UK, cost for education at a level that could finance an entire village in Thailand for years compared to the same education for FREE in your home country. And you still claim that as long as your gardner speaks two languages, the car is cheap??

Pardon my French, Klingon, despite the bilingual abilities of your gardner, the only language YOU seem to be capable of, is Gibberish, and I that is one of the languages I don't speak.

If your observations and research on cost comparisons is as robust and healthy as your observations and research on posters profiles, I'd suggest strongly that you've got much of all of this, very wrong!

[britadders28]

without a doubt thailand is getting too expensive, heard many people moaning including locals.

after going to thailand after langkawi in malaysia you really see the difference, thailand is expensive and you get all the rip off and scams which you dont get in langkawi.

[Benjie]

So that said it takes an awful lot of 30 baht noodles to make the difference in buying one range rover. The fact is it only takes one or two big ticket items to skew the picture. Many expats I know putter around on their auto scooter, live in a one bedroom rental apartment, and say how cheap it is, but to afford the lifestyle they left back home ?? Suddenly they cant.

I live in a 3 bedroom bungalow out here 140UKP a month, with utils and internet included, 165UKP a month

In UK I lived in 4 bed house, 1000UKP a month, with utils, internet and council tax, 1,300UKP a month

Both in rural area about 15-20km from nearest big town.

Savings of over 55,000bht a month (or 660,000bht a year)

I could buy a new Toyota 4x4 every year with just that saving alone!

Your electric, water, internet, phone line and gas comes to around 1,100 baht or so a month? That hardly seems credible, the phone line on itself must be 200 baht or so before you even add on the cost of the internet.

[Forethat]

If your observations and research on cost comparisons is as robust and healthy as your observations and research on posters profiles, I'd suggest strongly that you've got much of all of this, very wrong!

Well I certainly hope so, I can’t live with the idea that I have been fed with this irrelevant crap only to learn that I was in fact completely delusional when I read a couple of posts where the entire social structure and educational level of a minor neighborhood was used as an argument in a discussion regarding the price on a German car. I agree, hopefully it never happened, but since it’s still there in black and white I have serious beliefs that it actually did.

[BigWheelMan]

The big question, is Thailand becoming too expensive? Depends on what kind of lifestyle you enjoy most.

Although I am in my late 50s, I'm certainly not old and decrepit and still like to party.

The main attraction for me in Thailand is the social and nightlife, wine women and song that are unaffordable and unattainable for me in the UK. But now because of price increases and the dwindling bank exchange rates, social has become a rare luxury, so I am having to stay home more and doing not a lot more than if I had stayed in the UK.

I agree with some posters that we can live in Thailand for far cheaper than in the West, but for me, the fun lifestyle that Thailand was renowned for, is rapidly disappearing.

So yes, we are able to live in Thailand for cheaper, but with less quantity and quality, so really it`s becoming less.

Some of us maybe content, but for others who are now finding what they enjoy most is limited due to expense, life can become very dull here.

Edited March 23, 2010 by BigWheelMan

[connel707]

For me, i have no choice really but to visit Thailand, so that my family can visit their family. Although i love Thailand, sometimes i wish i could change my holiday destination but that wouldn't be fair on the Mrs.

So what will i do? I'll carry on going to Thailand and having a good time but i won't splash out on luxury items that i usually would have.

It's the same for me here in Saudi. 6 months ago there was 7.4 Riyal to the Pound and now it's about 5.4. This has meant that many ex pats are not buying new cars and laptops and electronic goods etc. Say a car would have cost 100,000 Riyal, 6 months ago this would have equated to about 13,500 pounds, now it's 18,500 pounds. No thanks, i'll keep what i've got for the moment and the same ethos will apply when visiting Thailand.

Why would any ex-pat live in Saudi Arabia... not for the women or cheap drink... are you crazy to suggest ex-pats living in Saudi..??? Must be Glasgow Rangers fans...

[connel707]

Still cheap as chips!!!!!

Yeah.... but who the frig wants chips...

[connel707]

I bought all my electronics in Aus before I left, I saved a small fortune by doing so.

The only thing I notice that is still cheap is taxis. PTL

40kms for 300bt !

Once again, just in the last 6 or 7 months, the little aussie battler, the Australian Paeso has dropped from 32.** to 24.**, straight up that has made everything 25% dearer. Interestingly fuel has fallen by about that much....so to fill up (& convert the tank back to Aussie $) I am still spending roughly the same amount. Its a bad thing to do, constantly think about the exchange rate, especially at a level of 32 for the Aussie, because that was too high. I remember years ago only getting 20 baht to the Aussie....so I guess its just how you look at it.

I know one thing, the cost of living in Australia is very high & I imagine GD that the price of some electronic gear there may actually be going up now, as it will be dearer to import with the fantastic new Australian Paeso.

Wheres Australia.... Oh right ...that place... Does any-one live there anymore.. I heard the city of London has a bigger population than the whole continent... but then again, they are always taking the pi*ss, so I should say the whole "in" continent...