Bangkok Second Cheapest City In The World - Oslo Most Expensive

[tjrd12]

If you want to scrounge like a local and eat poor quality street food and live in a dump then BKK is cheap...if you want ANY sort of Western lifestyle then BKK is VERY expensive...mostly due to the exchange rate and the fact that there is such a high tariff on imported goods...of course with the exchange rate you would think that we would get a brake on imported goods but that has been far from the case...

[balo]

I can confirm that Oslo is a very expensive city compared to Bangkok. I have lived in Oslo most of my life so its easy to compare.

Other than that I think the survey is not very accurate.

Now if someone could make a survey about beer prices I'm sure Oslo would still be at the top, 700 baht last time I went to a bar there.

Edited December 13, 2010 by balo

[zorro1]

Bangkok is cheap. I have 2 condos, the one I live in was 4.8mbht 74 sqm new, 5 min walk to nana bts. 2 min to villa.

Taxis are cheap! the bar next to soi8 was packed to the rafters yesterday selling 60bht beer and spirits. Cheap charlies is the same. Bts is cheap. food halls are cheap.

Just a 20 min ride in a cab in sydney is 1500bht.

same size condo in george st 4x the price.

You cannot buy spirits in the city for under 450bht (cheap pubs)

lets not even mention the ladies of the night

BKK is as cheap or expensive as you want it to be, how marvelous is that

[siamjj]

I can confirm that Oslo is a very expensive city compared to Bangkok. I have lived in Oslo most of my life so its easy to compare.

Other than that I think the survey is not very accurate.

Now if someone could make a survey about beer prices I'm sure Oslo would still be at the top, 700 baht last time I went to a bar there.

700 baht,ouch.thats alot of beer at 7-11,

[Pui]

Its generally accepted that when cost of living somewhere is discussed that cost of housing would play a big part.

San Francisco and New York are probably the most expensive places to live in the US. Considering the US has the highest GDP PPP on the planet it could not possibly rank so closing to Bangkok.

Having lived in San Francisco and Bangkok for the last 8 years I cannot see how they would be close on a list of expensive to cheap places to live.

The four cities leading up to Bangkok could not economically be further away.

27 New York

28 Shanghai

29 San Francisco

30 Dubai

31 Bangkok

Interestingly there is a distinct variable.

The division between rich and poor is huge in Bangkok Shanghai Dubai. So are they taking their sample group as the poorest?

The fact remains that the most expensive cities in the US cannot be so close in terms of "cost of living" as Bangkok.

[Pui]

Bangkok one of the cheapest cities to live in the world?

My guess is that this is accurate if you rent a very basic room with bath by the month and eat in noodle stalls and such. You can live very cheaply in Bangkok, but it is not much fun.

if you are suggesting this is accurate if you take the cheap option in Bangkok?

Where are the cheap options in San Francisco? Which just 2 away on the list?

[Ulysses G.]

There aren't any, but I am commenting on Bangkok, rather than SF.

[MacWalen]

Who writes those things? I don't believe that.

[MacWalen]

Bangkok is cheap. I have 2 condos, the one I live in was 4.8mbht 74 sqm new, 5 min walk to nana bts. 2 min to villa.

Taxis are cheap! the bar next to soi8 was packed to the rafters yesterday selling 60bht beer and spirits. Cheap charlies is the same. Bts is cheap. food halls are cheap.

Just a 20 min ride in a cab in sydney is 1500bht.

same size condo in george st 4x the price.

You cannot buy spirits in the city for under 450bht (cheap pubs)

lets not even mention the ladies of the night

BKK is as cheap or expensive as you want it to be, how marvelous is that

This is a comment I can agree with.

[Neonben]

They've only included 5 Asian cities, thats how they've come up with BKK being 2nd to last. If they included Phnom Penh, Vientiene, Hanoi, Dhaka, Manila and Jakarta think it would be very different.

[Ulysses G.]

All of them are more expensive than Bangkok in my experience.

[brahmburgers]

this list is the biggest crock of <deleted> I have ever read....How do these people get it SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wrong, I mean seriously this list isnt even remotely close to FACT...

I agree. The list is very poorly concocted, but the conclusion, as written in the headline, is even more asinine. Since there are roughly 2,000 other major cities in the world, then according to the list, Bangkok is more expensive than 1,965 of them.

Closer to reality: Bangkok has items which are more expensive than many other places. Because Thailand in general has no thrift shops and nearly no 2nd hand shops, many things are more expensive than, let's say NYC. A thrift shop in any American city has clothes, furniture, appliances, luggage, hi-fi's, computers of decent and sometimes like-new quality for a small fraction of the cheapest Bkk has to offer for the same items. When I travel to the US, I stock up on clothes because I can get them cheaper than Thailand. Same for toys and digital items - much of which I give away as gifts when I return to Thailand.

[HC82]

Those rankings are terribly inaccurate.

New York -14.5%

[richard_smith237]

Benjamin Disraeli: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."

We can pretty much make anything appear the way we want with clever manipulation of the source data when obtaining statistics.

Include wine, imported cheese etc and Bangkok becomes comparatively more expensive, include only locally obtained products and local labor and Bangkok becomes significantly cheaper.

The data is only as good as the source information.

IMO Stats and articles such as this are simply 'Published Trolling'...

[lubbkis]

Londons only Real rip offs nowaday are mainly centered on Transport and Elect-Gas supply costs...Trains,Buses,petrol, etc..and I recon most staples ...food,White goods Flat screen tellys and of course booze even in pubs is now CHEAPER than Bangers...Local £2.10 a pint..with special nights at £1-30.....and we also have the 99p shops everywhere.

...also last and not least with a bit of jumping about R/T flights with some budgie companies are and can be had from..@ £350 quid...incl Tax...

Well, travelling in London costs nothing, on all public transport except taxis once you are over 60 so I guess that is a rip off on the young. I could buy about three times as much square footage in Silom as I have in Shoreditch if I sold my cramped condo, so despite recent corrections I still think London property is quite expensive. At least one "Thai" restaurant in walking distance is run by Bangladeshis so that might be classed as a rip off as they miss some of the authentic Thai vegetables and herbs. I agree the cost of heating viz-a-viz air conditioning is certainly a rip-off London side.

Here in London if you buy the house/flat/condo you don't have to be a particular nationality to hold the title but look at your service charge if it's a flat or condo, or maintenance costs if you have to call a plumber.

[Bard]

very surprised at seeing Sao Paolo up there.

Where would Zurich or Geneva rank?

I feel that the following ranking is more accurate:

http://www.finfacts....ostofliving.htm

Your link is more correct, I work in Luanda, Lived in Thailand for 11 years and now live in Norway. Luanda is by far much more expensive. The first post is a very limited amount of cities in the world and is missing loads of the really expensive places in the world. Also it must be based upon hotel, food and drinking as many prices like real estate, electronics, insurance cost, loans, school, etc must be missing as my total living cost in Thailand was higher in LOS than it is in Norway. How? international school cost about 20,000,- US$ per kid per year, health insurance for the family which will not be cancelled if you get sick (like a Thai insurance) is not cheap either. Food cost for keeping a western lifestyle is also NOT cheaper in Thailand than in Europe or US, I am not talking about buffalo beef in a restaurant, but say buying cheese, good bread, wine and so on for a normal lifestyle at home is actually very expensive in Thailand. Renting a proper sized nice house or apartment is also very expensive in Bangkok, it's more expensive than living in a hotel room so all in all I believe the survey was a pure tourist survey, and in this case Bangkok is a very cheap capitol to visit in the World hands down. Oslo must be one of the most expensive, not as expensive as Luanda but way up there.

Drinking, SOME dining and hotels are cheap in Bangkok, but it only reflects the price for tourism not the price to actually live there under the exact same standard of living. If you compare same standard of living with a family you quickly see the prices vary very little and as crazy as it may seem Europe and US beats Thailand easily. Luanda is extremely expensive a normal house will set you back 5 million $, interest rate is 33% on houses, a cheap dinner is 100$ and every item is horrendously expensive, say a cheap bic lighter will set you back 5$. Then again there is no tourists to speak of, mainly oil and diamond workers who get the costs paid for by the companies.

[Ulysses G.]

Drinking, SOME dining and hotels are cheap in Bangkok, but it only reflects the price for tourism not the price to actually live there under the exact same standard of living.

I'm not sure that is relevant. Of course you have to tailor your purchases to where you are living. Everything does not cost the same thing everywhere in the world.

[witold]

Posting such crapptastic piece of Spam on TV News should be grounds for a temp ban.

hehehe...

[DonGato]

very surprised at seeing Sao Paolo up there.

Where would Zurich or Geneva rank?

I feel that the following ranking is more accurate:

http://www.finfacts....ostofliving.htm

100% agree with this other source... If Thailand is cheap, then San Jose (Costa Rica) it's all given... we can really feel the difference and you can ask also anyone coming from the US... it isn't cheap at all!... The baht is getting strong everyday, however, prices in baht for everything do not change!!!

Edited December 13, 2010 by DonGato

[radiochaser]

29 San Francisco -16.2%

30 Dubai -16.2%

31 Bangkok -19.8%

Uhhh, average home price in San Fransisco is still over $800,000.

That's 24 million Baht. And Dubai separates the two -ranking just above Bangers?

meh

The U.S. Government considers the San Francisco Bay area to be the most expensive area to live in the United States. This is based on cost of housing. More than even Hawaii and Alaska. To offset this, the government pays employees 'locality pay' (allegedly to make up the difference in the higher income the non- government workers earn vs. the lower income the government workers earn for an equivalent job.)

As a former government employee I was transferred from the San Fransisco area to Pennsylvania, given a promotion and my yearly income decreased $5000.00 the first year because of the loss of the 'locality pay'!

When I bought a house out there in California, a 1400 square foot house in the city I worked in, averaged 300-500 thousand dollars (yes, a 200 thousand dollar difference for a 1400 square foot house). Twenty miles away, it was about 180-200 thousand. Thirty five miles away where I bought my house, a 1400 square foot house with a lot big enough to build three houses was about 140 thousand dollars. My house was 50-60 miles from San Francisco and was a 1 1/2 to 3 hour commute! Only a 35 to 46 minute commute to where I worked.

[Jaggg88]

Ban Nawai is even cheaper.

Not sure it qualifies as a city with 700 inhabitants.

You need to have a 711 to be an official 'City'

[oldsailor35]

Ban Nawai is even cheaper.

Not sure it qualifies as a city with 700 inhabitants.

Well i know a guy who lived in Ban Kruat ! he has recently moved, i dont know wether it was the excessive cost of living or just another woman !

[DickFarang]

The range of cities spans from +35.3 % to -26.9 %, which means 135.3/73.1 = 1.85 or that Oslo is not even double as expensive as Mumbai.

Hard to believe.

[DickFarang]

Ban Nawai is even cheaper.

Not sure it qualifies as a city with 700 inhabitants.

You need to have a 711 to be an official 'City'

In my soi alone there are at least 4 7-Elevens, 1 Family Mart, 1 Fresh Mart, 1 small Tesco and 1 small Tops.

The Dark Side must be a big city.

[DickFarang]

very surprised at seeing Sao Paolo up there.

Where would Zurich or Geneva rank?

I feel that the following ranking is more accurate:

http://www.finfacts....ostofliving.htm

Your link is more correct, I work in Luanda, Lived in Thailand for 11 years and now live in Norway. Luanda is by far much more expensive. The first post is a very limited amount of cities in the world and is missing loads of the really expensive places in the world. Also it must be based upon hotel, food and drinking as many prices like real estate, electronics, insurance cost, loans, school, etc must be missing as my total living cost in Thailand was higher in LOS than it is in Norway. How? international school cost about 20,000,- US$ per kid per year, health insurance for the family which will not be cancelled if you get sick (like a Thai insurance) is not cheap either. Food cost for keeping a western lifestyle is also NOT cheaper in Thailand than in Europe or US, I am not talking about buffalo beef in a restaurant, but say buying cheese, good bread, wine and so on for a normal lifestyle at home is actually very expensive in Thailand. Renting a proper sized nice house or apartment is also very expensive in Bangkok, it's more expensive than living in a hotel room so all in all I believe the survey was a pure tourist survey, and in this case Bangkok is a very cheap capitol to visit in the World hands down. Oslo must be one of the most expensive, not as expensive as Luanda but way up there.

Drinking, SOME dining and hotels are cheap in Bangkok, but it only reflects the price for tourism not the price to actually live there under the exact same standard of living. If you compare same standard of living with a family you quickly see the prices vary very little and as crazy as it may seem Europe and US beats Thailand easily. Luanda is extremely expensive a normal house will set you back 5 million $, interest rate is 33% on houses, a cheap dinner is 100$ and every item is horrendously expensive, say a cheap bic lighter will set you back 5$. Then again there is no tourists to speak of, mainly oil and diamond workers who get the costs paid for by the companies.

I have to agree that cheese and especially wine is extremely expensive compared to prices in the EU.

[davejonesbkk]

Well from my perspective I can keep my two maids, the mortgage, the cars, my kids and wife and the office and all the overheads to run them all and still be at USD500 a week. Can't do that in any US, European or Australian city. I doubt you could do that in Mumbai either. Bangers has a thumbs up in my eyes.

Holy sh*t really?? Thats only $2k USD a month! I have no wife, or kids or car or mortgage and pay the maid just to clean the condo once a month and I burn through the same amount without even blinking!

[DickFarang]

Well from my perspective I can keep my two maids, the mortgage, the cars, my kids and wife and the office and all the overheads to run them all and still be at USD500 a week. Can't do that in any US, European or Australian city. I doubt you could do that in Mumbai either. Bangers has a thumbs up in my eyes.

If USD 500 a week or slightly more than THB 60,000 a month is enough to pay for 2 maids, a wife, children (plural), an office, cars (plural), all overheads and moreover a mortgage, then you must be eating crap.

[DickFarang]

Well from my perspective I can keep my two maids, the mortgage, the cars, my kids and wife and the office and all the overheads to run them all and still be at USD500 a week. Can't do that in any US, European or Australian city. I doubt you could do that in Mumbai either. Bangers has a thumbs up in my eyes.

Holy sh*t really?? Thats only $2k USD a month! I have no wife, or kids or car or mortgage and pay the maid just to clean the condo once a month and I burn through the same amount without even blinking!

Guess he forgot a zero.

[OZinBKK]

this list is the biggest crock of <deleted> I have ever read....How do these people get it SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wrong, I mean seriously this list isnt even remotely close to FACT...

No one has mentioned but is this survey taking into consideration the average wages of the cities if you live there because if not I wonder if they pulled a rabbit out of the same hat they picked the names out of?

Price Runner is owned by the bane of the internet Value Click. There is a CONFLICT OF INTEREST because Price Runner is financed by its advertisers.

It's just part of the Value Click Media business model. This survey means nothing. It's tainted, biased, garbage,

Surveys like this must be done by disinterested 3rd parties to be credible.

[Pib]

All "PriceRunner" does is compare prices of products - mainly electronics.

So what the survey is actually saying is that Bangkok is the second cheapest city (from 32 chosen cities) to buy electronics.

PriceRunner is big in doing comparisons/surveys on electronics but they also surveys other products...other products like mentioned in the news articles. Some googling on PriceRunner will pull up other news articles/PriceRunner surveys where PriceRunner compared everyday items in countries/cities across the world. Don't know how accurate their surveys are, but based on this particular news articles I don't think they are too accurate when comparing everyday living expenses/costs.