How Much Does It Cost To Live There?

[midlifecrisis]

I am hoping to move to Thailand. On another board two members posted that they spend 100,000 baht a month.

100K baht is approximately $2860 a month or $34,300 a year. That amounts to my take home pay in California where I spend $1,625 a month for rent in California, $100 dollars for food and all the other bills I have - I still can save if I am not extravegant.

I am thinking my first three years in LOS I will live on $15,000 to $20,000 from savings. Then I will receive $17,000+ a year in Social Security benefits and augment that with $5000 to $10,000 from savings.

I think my plan is doable. I need shelter, food, health insurance and internet access. I cannot go out partying often but that is not my reason for retiring, like I think it might be for the other two gentleman I mentioned.

I will say, I am starting in Pattaya (Jomtien) because that is what I know and it is an easy place for a farang to start. I realize it is expensive there compared to other places in Thailand.

What do you all think?

[grtaylor]

I am hoping to move to Thailand. On another board two members posted that they spend 100,000 baht a month.

100K baht is approximately $2860 a month or $34,300 a year. That amounts to my take home pay in California where I spend $1,625 a month for rent in California, $100 dollars for food and all the other bills I have - I still can save if I am not extravegant.

I am thinking my first three years in LOS I will live on $15,000 to $20,000 from savings. Then I will receive $17,000+ a year in Social Security benefits and augment that with $5000 to $10,000 from savings.

I think my plan is doable. I need shelter, food, health insurance and internet access. I cannot go out partying often but that is not my reason for retiring, like I think it might be for the other two gentleman I mentioned.

I will say, I am starting in Pattaya (Jomtien) because that is what I know and it is an easy place for a farang to start. I realize it is expensive there compared to other places in Thailand.

What do you all think?

I have a friend here who took early retirement, and who disciplines himself to live on 30,000 a month - 1,000 a day. He owns his own condo though, so his rent is zero. Rental would be your biggest outgoing so it depends how much you want to spend on that. I'm working, and there are many days when I spend less than 1,000.

G

[harrry]

You can do it but it may not be worth it in Pattaya. The biggest expense is not accomodation really it is food and possibly medicine and healthcare. You can rent a good appartment n CM for say 8000bt

food will cost an absolute minimum of 100b a day and more like 250 and healthcare and medicine is astronomical if you have to buy medicine. I pay 600harta month for basic medine for COPD. Health insurance is not cheap either and can be almos impossible to get if you are over 55.

[midlifecrisis]

I am hoping to move to Thailand. On another board two members posted that they spend 100,000 baht a month.

100K baht is approximately $2860 a month or $34,300 a year. That amounts to my take home pay in California where I spend $1,625 a month for rent in California, $100 dollars for food and all the other bills I have - I still can save if I am not extravegant.

I am thinking my first three years in LOS I will live on $15,000 to $20,000 from savings. Then I will receive $17,000+ a year in Social Security benefits and augment that with $5000 to $10,000 from savings.

I think my plan is doable. I need shelter, food, health insurance and internet access. I cannot go out partying often but that is not my reason for retiring, like I think it might be for the other two gentleman I mentioned.

I will say, I am starting in Pattaya (Jomtien) because that is what I know and it is an easy place for a farang to start. I realize it is expensive there compared to other places in Thailand.

What do you all think?

I have a friend here who took early retirement, and who disciplines himself to live on 30,000 a month - 1,000 a day. He owns his own condo though, so his rent is zero. Rental would be your biggest outgoing so it depends how much you want to spend on that. I'm working, and there are many days when I spend less than 1,000.

G

I should be ok then and better in 3 years when social security starts.

Thank you.

In time I may move to a less expensive area but I need to spread my wings first.

[Jungian]

I own my home, car, motorcycle, etc. and have no debt. I spend around 25,000฿ per month which includes my daughters school and many imported products we enjoy. I live basically the same life style I did in the USA but keeping in mind I don't hang out at bars or eat at extravagant places (very often).

[midlifecrisis]

I own my home, car, motorcycle, etc. and have no debt. I spend around 25,000฿ per month which includes my daughters school and many imported products we enjoy. I live basically the same life style I did in the USA but keeping in mind I don't hang out at bars or eat at extravagant places (very often).

May I ask where you live?

Edited May 11, 2009 by midlifecrisis

[surface]

$100 dollars for food

Seriously? $3 per day for food in Cali? $1 per meal?

2 eggs, toast, coffee for breakfast, PB&J for lunch, bologna and cheese for dinner?

[Tyke]

I own my home, car, motorcycle, etc. and have no debt. I spend around 25,000฿ per month which includes my daughters school and many imported products we enjoy. I live basically the same life style I did in the USA but keeping in mind I don't hang out at bars or eat at extravagant places (very often).

I find this extremely difficult to believe. I am a single retiree living in Bangkok, with a Thai partner who pays the bills for electricity, water, cable TV and internet (I know how lucky I am!). I pay 35000 baht in rent and we don't go out much at all and we eat in mostly. I calculated the other day that I spend around 100,000 baht per month including rent but that does not include major purchases like holidays etc. It is double what i will get soon as a pension, although I can cover it with savings. But I really don't know where it all goes - I have no medical insurance to pay or any debts to pay off so 65000 goes on everyday living expenses.

[G54]

Cutting your cloth to suit always helps.

sometimes I can quite easily get away with 25k p.m.

As an example:-

Internet 700 (2 meg)

Cable tv 350 p.m.

Electric 7 - 800 p.m.

Food 4 - 600 p.w. (Pork, Chicken breasts, all my vegetables etc. from the market).

Rent 3,000 p.m. (3 bed house)

LPG / 98 Oct 2,000 p.m.

Telephone 800 p.m.

Restaurants +

Nights out 4 - 5000 p.m.

comes to abt 15K

Extra expenses on top for a variety of things. If I want to go out for the day / weekend. Buy clothes. Take the kids / g/f out. Help the g/f out with some expenses.

I cook at home a lot. D/l movies from the internet. Own my car. Pay standard rates for electric, water etc. So it is do-able.

100K per month? I'd live like royalty here for that much.

[Penkoprod]

Places like Pattaya, and possibly Phuket, are becoming on a par expenditure wise with some home countries, or, in fact a whole lot more expensive to live there for some items. Living out in the sticks of Nakon Nowhere would be doable on a third of what you need in these places.

Having said THAT, all this talk of needing multi hundreds of thousands should be taken with a LARGE pinch of salt. Like G54 said above.....cutting your coat according to your cloth is by far the best approach.

Penkoprod

[longstebe]

I own my home, car, motorcycle, etc. and have no debt. I spend around 25,000฿ per month which includes my daughters school and many imported products we enjoy. I live basically the same life style I did in the USA but keeping in mind I don't hang out at bars or eat at extravagant places (very often).

I find this extremely difficult to believe. I am a single retiree living in Bangkok, with a Thai partner who pays the bills for electricity, water, cable TV and internet (I know how lucky I am!). I pay 35000 baht in rent and we don't go out much at all and we eat in mostly. I calculated the other day that I spend around 100,000 baht per month including rent but that does not include major purchases like holidays etc. It is double what i will get soon as a pension, although I can cover it with savings. But I really don't know where it all goes - I have no medical insurance to pay or any debts to pay off so 65000 goes on everyday living expenses.

100,000 baht is what someone would spend on a months vacation in Thailand.You live there.Somethings not quite right.I'm not telling you how to spend your money or anything like that but that seems way off.

[true blue]

last july i transfered from uk 6000pounds, to my bank account in chiang mai, which already had 2000pounds in it. i own my own car condo, and wife,we eat out every night have ubc, and my bank balance today is about 1000quid

[patklang]

You can do it but it may not be worth it in Pattaya. The biggest expense is not accomodation really it is food and possibly medicine and healthcare. You can rent a good appartment n CM for say 8000bt

food will cost an absolute minimum of 100b a day and more like 250 and healthcare and medicine is astronomical if you have to buy medicine. I pay 600harta month for basic medine for COPD. Health insurance is not cheap either and can be almos impossible to get if you are over 55.

Harry,you can get private medical health for over 55 easy and its about 14,000 baht a year which covers one for 1,000,000 baht.Health care and medicine astronomical????,where do you live,the usa???

The poster can live here for 10,000 baht a week if he is own his own and without a condo/house and have a decen life.

[PoorSucker]

This one is easy.

The Thai immigrations have calculated it for you.

To get extension of stay based on retirement you must have either.

1.) Proof of income of not less than Baht 65,000 per month

2.) Account deposit with a bank in Thailand of not less than 800,000 Baht.

[rogercw]

I live in View Talay 1 on the fringe of Jomtien where you want to settle. My rent is 10,000 a month and utilities bring that up to about 15,000 total. Before I moved a Thai girl in with me I lived fine on 500 baht a day for a total of about 30,000 baht a month for actual living expenses. Of course drinking and barfining made the final total of baht spent per month a lot higher. This is three years later so figure maybe 35,000 a month if I got rid of the girl nowadays. Anything above that is voluntary.

The folks who need 100,000 a month are those who have more bucks and are used to living well. I am sure if Donald Trump decided to settle in Pattaya he would feel he could not possibly get by on less than a million baht a month.

As has been posted many times before you can live like a poor Thai by renting a fan room with no air conditioning for 3,000 baht a month and eat from the food carts. Total cost less than 10,000 baht a month. You can get a three bedroom condo in a nice palce with a great view and a live-in cook and maid and live well for 200,000 baht a month. Somewhere in between you can find something good enough for you for what you can afford.

[garro]

I legally earn 30,000 THB a month and between my wife, son and I we spend about 20,000 THB a month. I have been living on this amount for almost eight years. I have a car and cable television. My biggest expense is my internet package. It is possible to live happily on this amount, and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. My expenses are kept low though due to the fact that I live outside BKK & tourist areas, don't drink, and don't eat expensive food.

Edited May 11, 2009 by garro

[harrry]

[.Harry,you can get private medical health for over 55 easy and its about 14,000 baht a year which covers one for 1,000,000 baht.Health care and medicine astronomical????,where do you live,the usa???

The poster can live here for 10,000 baht a week if he is own his own and without a condo/house and have a decen life.

I made a typo on the amount for medicine. It is actually 6000baht a month for my Seratie and Spira and ventolin.....the three major medicines for COPD>

[harrry]

The poster can live here for 10,000 baht a week if he is own his own and without a condo/house and have a decen life.

I live here quite well on 30000 baht a month excluding medine and health and I am paying rent in CM but I do not haunt bars but I eat fairly well and buy books.

[Jingthing]

You will need more like 20,000 USD per year to live a reasonably pleasant life in Jomtien, including rent. That would not include very much of the local honey.

[patklang]

I find it difficult to spend more than 10-12,000 baht a week.Got my own house/car/motorbike/and pay yearly for medical health and half term for half decent private school for 8yo stepson.

I go out twice a week and we go for a nice meal at least once a week and got ubc,adsl etc etc,even insurance for my house.

It amazes me how one can spend 100,000 baht a month unless you rent a big condo and hire a big truck monthly,and drink like a fish.Of course i can go and spend more on farang restaraunts and drink 250 baht a pint guiness but what is the point,i am in Thailand not uk and i dont love the stuff that much that i have to pay crazy money for.

My old man used to say,look after the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves,a good education for me,as i wouldnt change if i was mega rich.

[Penkoprod]

Harry,you can get private medical health for over 55 easy and its about 14,000 baht a year which covers one for 1,000,000 baht.Health care and medicine astronomical????,where do you live,the usa???

The poster can live here for 10,000 baht a week if he is own his own and without a condo/house and have a decen life.

Got any links to this health coverage?

And, does it cover pre-existing conditions?

Penkoprod

[patklang]

Harry,you can get private medical health for over 55 easy and its about 14,000 baht a year which covers one for 1,000,000 baht.Health care and medicine astronomical????,where do you live,the usa???

The poster can live here for 10,000 baht a week if he is own his own and without a condo/house and have a decen life.

Got any links to this health coverage?

And, does it cover pre-existing conditions?

Penkoprod

Dont think any healthcare covers pre-existing conditions.

I use Axa healthcare and i am in Pattaya,been with them over 5 years with no claims.Also the expat club has one which is about 16,000 a year and i have seen Bupa have a package for expats up to 70 yo it hink.

[canincm]

I live in Chiang Mai, have 2 motorbikes and a one bedroom apartment. I make about 20,000 baht a month and live comfortably on that.

[Jingthing]

I live in Chiang Mai, have 2 motorbikes and a one bedroom apartment. I make about 20,000 baht a month and live comfortably on that.

Pattaya is more expensive.

[Neeranam]

I legally earn 30,000 THB a month and between my wife, son and I we spend about 20,000 THB a month. I have been living on this amount for almost eight years. I have a car and cable television. My biggest expense is my internet package. It is possible to live happily on this amount, and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. My expenses are kept low though due to the fact that I live outside BKK & tourist areas, don't drink, and don't eat expensive food.

Aint it strange ho a single older guy with a lifetimes experience needs can't live comfortably on say 50,000 a month.

I earn more now but in the past we survived EASILY on 35,000 month in Khon Kaen.

3,000 rent - 3 bedroomed house

3,000 school fees for elder daughter

7,000 car repayments

3,000 internet, electricity, water

1,000 phone

5,000 for things like nappies, milk and other things babies and young kids need

3,000 petrol

1,000 swimming lessons

3000 tennis membership, golf

I'd say we ate VERY well on about 200 baht a day.

Why one earth would you want to stay in a city(Pataya) that attracts the dregs of Thai society(and others) and charges you a fortune for it?

Forgot to say, I don't drink alcohol, take drugs, or have a sexual addiction

Edited May 11, 2009 by Neeranam

[Jingthing]

This one is easy.

The Thai immigrations have calculated it for you.

To get extension of stay based on retirement you must have either.

1.) Proof of income of not less than Baht 65,000 per month

2.) Account deposit with a bank in Thailand of not less than 800,000 Baht.

Sorry, no, no, no.

There is no relation to immigration requirements and what it costs you to live here. People live in different places in Thailand, have different needs, and some of us OWN our housing so there is no running housing cost.

Also, to prove my point, there is no requirement to actually TRANSFER in that full amount (income and bank account or combo) every year. You only have to transfer in what you need and there are people living here on 10K baht per month or 15K including a cheap rent. Sounds dreadful to me though ...

For the bank account you do have to show 800K in there every year, but they don't care if its mostly the SAME 800K every year ...

Edited May 11, 2009 by Jingthing

[kenai]

My wife and I have been living on around $800-1k per month since arriving in January; our car is paid, we rent a 2 bedroom house. We might live more like a comfortable Thai then an average farang here but I have no problems with it at all. We still live comfortably.

I buy some farang foods/beer at the stores and we go out to eat 1-2 times a week. We travel some, go to movies, swimming etc. We have also made purchases such as a new couch, bed, fridge etc..on this budget.

As others have said Pataya cost more. Have you spent some time there, do you have friends there? Just curious why your thinking of starting there. I don't see it as being any more farang friendly then Chiang Mai.

I personally would not want to live in Pattaya, BKK or Phuket for more then a few weeks. But that's just me.

Edited May 11, 2009 by kenai

[midlifecrisis]

$100 dollars for food

Seriously? $3 per day for food in Cali? $1 per meal?

2 eggs, toast, coffee for breakfast, PB&J for lunch, bologna and cheese for dinner?

sorry, that is per week

[F1fanatic]

I have found the different replies on this thread v interesting.

I retired out here and have found that rent and HEALTHCARE are by far the biggest expenditure.

Obviously it depends on where you live and the type of accommodation you will accept. In a tourist area a) some accommodation is v cheap, but let in all sorts of creepy crawlies that, personally, I don't wish to share my home with! and some cheap accommodation is a terraced concrete block in the middle of a built up area - fine if you are out at work all day, but otherwise??

It also depends on how you want to live. It's not as easy as you might think to get used to a far lower living standard! (And bear in mind that all those little luxuries like tea, coffee, wine, bread and any other farang food cost far more here than at home!)

Personally, I'm always v impressed with those who live on around 30,000 baht a month (but then I live in a tourist area and pay rent).

My experience is that excluding rent and healthcare, I need around that amount to cover living costs and I don't go to bars, restrict myself to 2 bottles of wine a week, and socialise with friends at home. (I do buy a lot of farang food though!)

Be careful, its not as cheap as you think it will be - at least not in my experience.

[Jungian]

I own my home, car, motorcycle, etc. and have no debt. I spend around 25,000฿ per month which includes my daughters school and many imported products we enjoy. I live basically the same life style I did in the USA but keeping in mind I don't hang out at bars or eat at extravagant places (very often).

May I ask where you live?

Sansai Noi about 7 km outside of the city. Nice peaceful and quiet, all of my neighbors are middle class educated Thai's that speak fairly good English and are warm and invinting.