Be Prepared

[BOS2BKK]

Another bright idea would be to move to a cheaper house/apartement, skip the car use a motorcycle instead. I live comfortable with 35K per month, as I think many other expats do.

Sounds like a pretty typical example of a human ATM being sucked dry. They play guilt better than an Irish nun.

My mother passed away not too long ago, and I got a modest estate settlement, which appeared to be a small fortune in Thai baht. I make a decent living, so I didn't need the money for anything. I put it to work for my future. My fiance saw some of the paperwork, and now suddenly the 15K a month apartment we have been living in for 3 years is no good, we need to move to a new place that costs 45K a month, and the 2 year old Vios she drives is not enough, she needs a new Fortuner. When I said it was too expensive, the reply was simply "but you have the money from your mum". She see's only the immediate rewards of what to her is an unbelievable sum of money but is, in the grand scheme of things, relatively little. My only saving grace (intentional pun) has been up to now she doesn't know how much I actually make, or I would have been spent into debt long ago. I am not a cheap person, and I have plenty of working years left, but I am trying to look towards making my retirement worry free, and maybe, with a little luck, even retire early. The very idea of budgeting for the future is impossible if a Thai woman has any say in how your money gets spent. It's not a dig, or an attack, it is just a simple truth.

Your mistake was showing her how much money you have as a lump sum. Thais are culturally conditioned to live in the present, they cannot generally conceive of the idea of making a lump sum last. To quell the drama in advance-This is not a derogatory statement, or an insult to the Thais. It is simply a fundamental cultural difference. The combination of fiscal irresponsibility, coupled with the incessant drive to keep up with the Jone's makes living on a budget possible only if your wife has no idea what your financial situation actually is. She needs to see only her allowance, and as far as she knows that is all the money in the world.

[nicky1982]

For me to live here only cost me around 28000 to 29000 per month and i live happy here ? i could never live like this back in the Uk and if i go out on a lads night out i only spend around 4000THB and always come home with change ...

Two Bedroom House 5000 THB Per month,

Electric Bill 3000 THB Per month,

Water Bill 300THB Per month,

UBC 2000 THB Per month.

3BB Premier 2700THB Per month,

Food 500thb a day cost me around 15000 Per month

Nicky

Edited August 7, 2011 by nicky1982

[rogerman]

haha what a lot of BS.....The biggest and best answer is to never marry a bar girl or hooker from Isaan....then you won't have to spend so much cash..... i've been here nearly ten years and doing very well on an income less than 30,000 baht/month

[nicky1982]

haha what a lot of BS.....The biggest and best answer is to never marry a bar girl or hooker from Isaan....then you won't have to spend so much cash..... i've been here nearly ten years and doing very well on an income less than 30,000 baht/month

totally agree with you ? I remember when i first came here i was living in Bangkok was dating a bar girl from issan cost me a fortune as she like going out with her friends some night's i was spending like 15000 plus crazy never be doing that again ..

[TravelerEastWest]

Gee some of you are harsh.

The guy is merely telling a story of what can happen when things don't go as planned and your comfortable retirement becomes less comfortable.

OP, you have bravely opened yourself up to all sorts of derogatory comments but I, for one, thank you for reminding me that no matter how well I may plan things that sometimes things out of my control can have a severe detrimental impact on future plans.

Good luck to you and I hope all turns out well.

Wallaby - very well said. The OP did not ask for advice - but in this forum he knows he will get it before he posted. I echo others in that you need to hold steady on the car as it will hurt your financial health which in turn will hurt everything else. Best of luck to you!

The discussion on budgets is relative. If you have a simple but comfortable house with new airconditioning (important as inverter ACs save money and new ones are quiet and clean etc..) 2 adults and 2 kids - with kids in a private Thai school you are looking at at least 80,000 baht per month - living a simple life - no car rarely eating out etc..

If you add a car and overseas vacations and so on which is fairly normal for a middle class life your budget very roughly will double or more.

Add in a top International school in Bangkok and as others have stated you are far above 200,000 baht per month. If you have more than 2 kids quite far above 200,000 per month.

[exbelg]

buy her a 25.000 baht motorcycle... i've seen families of 4 on them (2 adults, 2 children)

as for dental, surely cosmetic, how did she look when you met her and how could she ever afford it without you as ATM machine

i fear once all your money is gone, the love will also soon be gone

and you will be forced back broke to your home country

sad but true

[charliebru]

This is a good post about what can happen and I do feel for your situation Cars are a problem. Everybody wants one but who hasn't heard stories about a girlfriend taking a runner after getting a car or the cost of accidents after the lady turns out to be to be not a very good driver. I went through the misery years ago of teaching a wife to drive and then pay for one accident after another to keep my insurance rates from going to the moon. Maybe us expats need to draw the line on cars. Transportation is cheap everywhere (except maybe Phuket) and I don't have or want a car or even a motorbike. Hate to say it but if your lady doesn't want to understand the financial facts; that is a very bad situation. I am retired and living comfortably in Chiang Mai on 35 to 40,000 per month. That allows me to set aside some money for those unforeseen things that will happen. <BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break">

[nicky1982]

I have a mate who pritty well off and also lives in Pattaya .. He meet an issan bar girl and you know how Thai girls like there gold ? Well he bought her some and was shopping in the new CentralFestival shopping mall last year ? she went missing i would say for around 5 /6 hours anyway he reported her missing to the mall security when he was there and could not find her ? So he ended up going home afew hours later she came home with no phone or gold ... She made up one of the most funniest stories i have ever heard like i went to the ladies toilets and some ladie put some cream on my arm and it put me to sleep hahaha .. Guess what he did the next day went out and got her more new gold and a new phone and his girlfriend he had before that also pritty much did the same too .... Some foreigners are so stupid here .

[scotbeve]

and talk about it or go home !

Nice to see there are compassionate people on TV......

Rather than seeking advice on TV, think he has illustrated even with decent forward planning, things can go down the toilet pretty quickly...

I can see this degenerating into bi-monthly Cheap Charlie thread, where are resident cheap charlies out do each other on who can spend the least....

So let me open the bidding....my monthly budget is THB 200,000/m and these days, I just dont know how to make ends meet these days in Thailand....

Indeed Soup!!! My living expenses are close to 300,000 per month and expect them to rise at least another 20% within 8 years. Oh well, time to suck it up.... Careful budget work to consider.

[dannyman]

Move back to ENGLAND !

[Shiver]

Geographically speaking, how close are you to the sister with her unaffordable truck? Perhaps they could share a truck between them and split the repayments? - generated from the business. This is bound to cause friction when their financial prowess inevitably causes 'ban chii' issues, that will cause a realignment of allegiance (sorry to sound cynical, but I've seen the movie too many times). When re-engineering something "Simplify then add lightness". You will have one less variable to have a headache over.

I'd like to mention a couple of things I've learnt here that may be a reminder even though you already knew them and forgot you knew them. I keep telling myself I'm going to print them on a small card to keep with me at all times, but never get around to it.

1. Thai people tend to be generous when they are able. It's when the crunch comes that you get the unexpected behaviour. There is a heirarchy to this as follows:

i) Children

ii) Parents

iii) Rest of family (siblings then cousin and equivalents, second cousin/aunty etc) - There might be some juggling of order here based on personal likes dislikes.

iv) Neighbours

v) Dog

vi) Farang Tirak

2. Remember or re-understand that although the wife may love the husband and the husband loves the wife, and it may even be an equitable relationship, there are two entirely different realities at play. By that I mean currencies of the game. Heirarchy of needs:

i) Gold/Land/House/Car

ii) Money

iii) Love

Those are different things to each party. For a Thai, the only time love will trump money is if the person in question has spent a long time in a society that values love more than money, and has little contact with the people living in the alternate society. The same may also be applicable (in reverse) to the farang, depending on their experiences that may or may not force them to learn different survival tactics over ideals. There is an exception to this rule, and that is if there is no family to exert influence over her. It's a life long debt she has to serve her parents. I've had first hand experience with this, when I had a GF (my girl *is* different, lol) where I made enough to be comfortable and live here 12 months of the year, but not enough to buy all the status junk that they feel they need. My call was that I thought I was doing well as a non-retiree to be able to live here without going back, and if she wanted more money then I'd have to go and live in UK which would be a deal breaker (I came here to make *my* life better, and secondly make the life better of anyone who had a connection to it). The discussions cease, but the family influence was too strong, and she was married within 6 weeks of the day I found out I wouldn't be seeing her anymore. I say this because it will be perfectly acceptable to her that you are away for most of the year (see above heirarchy), and pulling that card will likely find you being replaced. I know this will sound inconceivable, and to a Farang that would be the action of a cold cold reptile heart, but to them it's not about you, it's about practicalities and will be the obvious decision: "Farang have no money? don't believe him, find Farang that does. All Farang have money".

3. Thai people are hugely governed by 'face'. It will often be the cause of irrational decisions.

4. Thai people will always take the path of least disharmony. Conversely the farang will likely cause a lot of disturbance when he/she learns about something unfavourable to them, often proclaiming at the top of their voice "I want the TRUTH!". This will make all those around squirm with embarassment. It's important not to push this point too far as it could eventually lead to a machette job several weeks down the line.

5. Thais mistake generosity for stupidity. You can lose their respect by not fielding your half of the game, though they will still wai and smile since it's indoctrinated.

In my imperfect relationship with my GF, (I call her my maid, which displeases her, lol!) I call the money I give her, her salary, to emphasise constantly that it is finite, which is fairly generous but limited to what I can do without causing myself financial issues. I take care of her, and she takes care of her family. I don't take care of her family, because that way it would be a bottomless pit. When the daughter is the bread winner (albeit just taking it from the farang) then she has a lot more sway in the family matters, and it can be quite interesting to see how little they really need when it's coming from *her* salary. Actually my Thai 'family' - the ones who matter to me, aren't related to my GF at all, and they have been my family since before meeting my GF, simply because they were the 'family' of a farang friend. I've never met my GF's family. This was a wonderful accidental setup, bringing unplanned clarity to my responsibilities and management of affairs. I recommend everyone do a 'family swap', then they have no pull on you, and you can have a good relationship with your surrogate family, which allows some latitude in posturing and explaining to the neighbours that they won't be expecting a fortuner and 10 baht gold any time soon.

Sorry for rambling off topic. Just thought it might allow a re-frame of the situation and create a set up that serves both the purpose of protecting your funds, getting your wife to adjust her wishlist and/or her relationship with her sister in order to get the car she wants, without doing anything divisive with your own relationship.

[vpi78]

Another bright idea would be to move to a cheaper house/apartement, skip the car use a motorcycle instead. I live comfortable with 35K per month, as I think many other expats do.

Sounds like a pretty typical example of a human ATM being sucked dry. They play guilt better than an Irish nun.

My mother passed away not too long ago, and I got a modest estate settlement, which appeared to be a small fortune in Thai baht. I make a decent living, so I didn't need the money for anything. I put it to work for my future. My fiance saw some of the paperwork, and now suddenly the 15K a month apartment we have been living in for 3 years is no good, we need to move to a new place that costs 45K a month, and the 2 year old Vios she drives is not enough, she needs a new Fortuner. When I said it was too expensive, the reply was simply "but you have the money from your mum". She see's only the immediate rewards of what to her is an unbelievable sum of money but is, in the grand scheme of things, relatively little. My only saving grace (intentional pun) has been up to now she doesn't know how much I actually make, or I would have been spent into debt long ago. I am not a cheap person, and I have plenty of working years left, but I am trying to look towards making my retirement worry free, and maybe, with a little luck, even retire early. The very idea of budgeting for the future is impossible if a Thai woman has any say in how your money gets spent. It's not a dig, or an attack, it is just a simple truth.

Your mistake was showing her how much money you have as a lump sum. Thais are culturally conditioned to live in the present, they cannot generally conceive of the idea of making a lump sum last. To quell the drama in advance-This is not a derogatory statement, or an insult to the Thais. It is simply a fundamental cultural difference. The combination of fiscal irresponsibility, coupled with the incessant drive to keep up with the Jone's makes living on a budget possible only if your wife has no idea what your financial situation actually is. She needs to see only her allowance, and as far as she knows that is all the money in the world.

Sensible post. It is only relatively recently in Western comparison that Thais have been exposed to crass commercialism. From the looks of things they are doomed to repeat our same mistakes. I think the best one can do is try and moderate it as much as one can.

[vpi78]

For me to live here only cost me around 28000 to 29000 per month and i live happy here ? i could never live like this back in the Uk and if i go out on a lads night out i only spend around 4000THB and always come home with change ...

Two Bedroom House 5000 THB Per month,

Electric Bill 3000 THB Per month,

Water Bill 300THB Per month,

UBC 2000 THB Per month.

3BB Premier 2700THB Per month,

Food 500thb a day cost me around 15000 Per month

Nicky

That is so funny; only 28,000 Baht per month eh? Not many Lads nights out then judging from your arithmetic. I guess you can watch the rest of the partiers on cable and YouTube.

[WyattEarp]

You think so? My Thai wife speaks better English than that.

Are you speaking Thailish? (Nothing wrong it sound cool)

What Jeff says

Hospital free for Thai person. Thai person not NEED go private, but might WANT.

Difference between 'want' and 'need' with dental work. Work need usually cheap, work want cosmetic, expensive.

I find tell wife I NEED 40k per month for me, if can pay for you to then good, if can not pay for you to then goodbye.

(I also support MIL, teen step daughter and new son from that amount)

My lifestyle not low, but I live with what have, wife live with what have (Did pay for wife private room when have baby at Thai hospital, 3 night @800bht).

Learn to live within budget, teach wife to live within budget. Else find cheaper wife or send wife to work.

Very few Thai have money manage skill, never think beyond next week. This you job.

Yes she will run you out of money if you let her, then most likely she move on.

I see this happen to foreigner many time. Foreigner with limited money can be very silly.

Sorry no sympathy, 40k a month more than most Thai family have.

(Do have sympathy for you medical expense, but find cheaper drug, change eating habit to control diabetes)

(current rate 48bht to pound, why you get 46?)

PS

2YO Honda Click 25,000bht

New Proton 4 door auto 460,000bht (9k UKP)

If not rich person don't buy 750,000bht car

[WyattEarp]

Everyone has different expectations and standards of living they will accept , I really get tired of those that brag about how much they have or how little they can live on here in thailand, do you really think anyone gives a shit about you besides yourself ??? The op just threw out some advice for others on living here, thats what forums are all about, sharing info. get over yourselves and hopefully some people will read this and think\plan more before they leap into the jungle of thailand.

Exactly.

+1

[tracker1]

What is interesting , is that I have not seen much mention .comparing living here to living in your home country. I am an an Aust. old age Pensioner. living solely on my Govt. Pension. I own nothing in Oz. .If I went back there, I would be homeless. Rents, now ,are astronomical. As a single man, I would be up sh+ t creek.Food costs .now are awful. I went back in 2005 to apply for the pension.Ended up having to stay ,at Govt.s orders for 2 more years ,after the pension was approved, before it became portable.Had awful difficulty surviving economically. The only way I could drink beer was to brew my own. In 30 months I went into a pub ONCE. I did something for a friend and he took for a counter lunch.Food wise, I knew when to look for food stuffs I wanted, by looking for their "useby" date.When they were generally on SPECIAL- discounted by 50 %.Lived in a caravan on a farm.No toilet( had a shovel) , no shower. - built my own solar powered one. No good on cold days. So cold ,most days ,did not get out of bed until about 11.00. Hate the cold. Never acclimatised to being back in Oz. Came back to Thailand - one week. WAS. NEVER,EVER, Do I want to go back. Thank You Very Much.!!!!!!.Love the climate. love the food. both Thai and farang. Love my little town ,Love my conveyance.Go to our local bar about 3 times a week. Happy to see Yingluck. in a position of power ,Hope she succeeds. Happy with the Govt. health system here. Have been treated very well. My house ,3 bedrooms ,rent B2,500. Very comfortable. Don't have "air" .Don't need. House is quite cool. Electricity about B1,000 per month , water B120 per month . Very affordable. I can save money on my pension .here. Not a "pattaya" type .Have a fascination with electrical appliances, sadly(they all cost). Have a freezer, fridge ,microwave, convection oven. Boilo. toaster , rice cooker .deep fryer ( my stepkids love it),blender. Go to Makro ( have card) about every 3 months ,stock up. Whoops, sorry forgot: my Hot Water heater- hate cold showers, and a Washing machine.There you go. Did drink a lot of wine while I was in Oz, $10 for a 5 litre cask( on special ).Good wine, cheap price.Enough ,she cried. !!!Think I am happy her ? YOU BETCHA.

[raven0099]

Interesting postings here, 300000 baht a month by one guy , jesus ! what are you livng in a palace ?

A question to the OP , have you considered going back to work ?

You could work six months in UK then go back for six months in Thailand , maybe not possible for you but just a suggestion depending on your age ?

In my experience finance and loans have always been a bad idea or me, best to stay away from HP , unless you get a very good low interest deal.

Would it not be possible for you to sell the property you are living in and rent somewhere in a cheaper area , use your capital from the house sale to pay off any finance and buy a good quality secondhand car ,

Cut out any unneeded spending , what luxurys could you do without that are hitting you financially ?

[tracker1]

What is interesting , is that I have not seen much mention .comparing living here to living in your home country. I am an an Aust. old age Pensioner. living solely on my Govt. Pension. I own nothing in Oz. .If I went back there, I would be homeless. Rents, now ,are astronomical. As a single man, I would be up sh+ t creek.Food costs .now are awful. I went back in 2005 to apply for the pension.Ended up having to stay ,at Govt.s orders for 2 more years ,after the pension was approved, before it became portable.Had awful difficulty surviving economically. The only way I could drink beer was to brew my own. In 30 months I went into a pub ONCE. I did something for a friend and he took for a counter lunch.Food wise, I knew when to look for food stuffs I wanted, by looking for their "useby" date.When they were generally on SPECIAL- discounted by 50 %.Lived in a caravan on a farm.No toilet( had a shovel) , no shower. - built my own solar powered one. No good on cold days. So cold ,most days ,did not get out of bed until about 11.00. Hate the cold. Never acclimatised to being back in Oz. Came back to Thailand - one week. WAS. NEVER,EVER, Do I want to go back. Thank You Very Much.!!!!!!.Love the climate. love the food. both Thai and farang. Love my little town ,Love my conveyance.Go to our local bar about 3 times a week. Happy to see Yingluck. in a position of power ,Hope she succeeds. Happy with the Govt. health system here. Have been treated very well. My house ,3 bedrooms ,rent B2,500. Very comfortable. Don't have "air" .Don't need. House is quite cool. Electricity about B1,000 per month , water B120 per month . Very affordable. I can save money on my pension .here. Not a "pattaya" type .Have a fascination with electrical appliances, sadly(they all cost). Have a freezer, fridge ,microwave, convection oven. Boilo. toaster , rice cooker .deep fryer ( my stepkids love it),blender. Go to Makro ( have card) about every 3 months ,stock up. Whoops, sorry forgot: my Hot Water heater- hate cold showers, and a Washing machine.There you go. Did drink a lot of wine while I was in Oz, $10 for a 5 litre cask( on special ).Good wine, cheap price.Enough ,she cried. !!!Think I am happy her ? YOU BETCHA.

Can you tell me how you get the Australian pension do you do the return trip thing every 6 month or is there a cheaper way to transfer money to thailand the fees and exchange rate eats into my money Thanks

[afarang]

What is interesting , is that I have not seen much mention .comparing living here to living in your home country. I am an an Aust. old age Pensioner. living solely on my Govt. Pension. I own nothing in Oz. .If I went back there, I would be homeless. Rents, now ,are astronomical. As a single man, I would be up sh+ t creek.Food costs .now are awful. I went back in 2005 to apply for the pension.Ended up having to stay ,at Govt.s orders for 2 more years ,after the pension was approved, before it became portable.Had awful difficulty surviving economically. The only way I could drink beer was to brew my own. In 30 months I went into a pub ONCE. I did something for a friend and he took for a counter lunch.Food wise, I knew when to look for food stuffs I wanted, by looking for their "useby" date.When they were generally on SPECIAL- discounted by 50 %.Lived in a caravan on a farm.No toilet( had a shovel) , no shower. - built my own solar powered one. No good on cold days. So cold ,most days ,did not get out of bed until about 11.00. Hate the cold. Never acclimatised to being back in Oz. Came back to Thailand - one week. WAS. NEVER,EVER, Do I want to go back. Thank You Very Much.!!!!!!.Love the climate. love the food. both Thai and farang. Love my little town ,Love my conveyance.Go to our local bar about 3 times a week. Happy to see Yingluck. in a position of power ,Hope she succeeds. Happy with the Govt. health system here. Have been treated very well. My house ,3 bedrooms ,rent B2,500. Very comfortable. Don't have "air" .Don't need. House is quite cool. Electricity about B1,000 per month , water B120 per month . Very affordable. I can save money on my pension .here. Not a "pattaya" type .Have a fascination with electrical appliances, sadly(they all cost). Have a freezer, fridge ,microwave, convection oven. Boilo. toaster , rice cooker .deep fryer ( my stepkids love it),blender. Go to Makro ( have card) about every 3 months ,stock up. Whoops, sorry forgot: my Hot Water heater- hate cold showers, and a Washing machine.There you go. Did drink a lot of wine while I was in Oz, $10 for a 5 litre cask( on special ).Good wine, cheap price.Enough ,she cried. !!!Think I am happy her ? YOU BETCHA.

Can you tell me how you get the Australian pension do you do the return trip thing every 6 month or is there a cheaper way to transfer money to thailand the fees and exchange rate eats into my money Thanks

No, I use ATM. I wait and take the max allowed per transaction, B20,000. The conversion is done by the Oz banks ( a lower rate than if done by a Thai bank ,about B 1 per $. The charges are approx. Au$25 per withdrawal + Mastercard fee of Au$ 5. Oz banks NOT kind !!!! to pensioners doing conversions. They are far too hungry.+ the Thai banks stiff you for B150 each time

Edited August 7, 2011 by afarang

[tombkk]

Thanks Olaf,

I didn't allow my wife to co-sign the loan... unless of course she did so behind my back. I really hope that she didn't because the sister is bound to mess up on the payments sooner or later.

If you are legally married, your wife cannot sign anything without your counter-signature, so I hear from married couples.

IMHO you are being taken advantage of. It may be your wife's sister, it may be your wife playing weak and being unable to resist her sister, but most likely I would say it is up to your wife to just relay her sister's wishes or to be on your side and try to save money.

You pay for the mortgage and the house will never be yours. You paid for her setting up a business, but most proceeds go to the sister and your wife still depends on you. Your wife wants a driving licence and a fancy car (or any car), why does she even bring this up?

I know a few Thai-Foreign couples, and Thai people are perfectly capable of making ends meet, even telling the farang where they could save money!

It all sounds very much like she will drop you the moment you have run out of money. I'm sorry if I got it wrong, but this is what it sounds like. Asking for a car even though you have explained that the funds are not sufficient is the give-away. Even a second-hand car (unless it makes economic sense to drive the clothes from her business to a market where she can make more money than having her sister involved).

I apologize for this post, we don't know each other and you did not ask for my advice. Yet, you published your life situation on this forum, and I feel compelled to warn you, as I have seen several farangs going down and being dropped after their wives (or GF's) had exploited their life's savings. I'm not saying that your wife will do that, I only only saying it sounds like such a situation from the little knowledge I have.

[tracker1]

What is interesting , is that I have not seen much mention .comparing living here to living in your home country. I am an an Aust. old age Pensioner. living solely on my Govt. Pension. I own nothing in Oz. .If I went back there, I would be homeless. Rents, now ,are astronomical. As a single man, I would be up sh+ t creek.Food costs .now are awful. I went back in 2005 to apply for the pension.Ended up having to stay ,at Govt.s orders for 2 more years ,after the pension was approved, before it became portable.Had awful difficulty surviving economically. The only way I could drink beer was to brew my own. In 30 months I went into a pub ONCE. I did something for a friend and he took for a counter lunch.Food wise, I knew when to look for food stuffs I wanted, by looking for their "useby" date.When they were generally on SPECIAL- discounted by 50 %.Lived in a caravan on a farm.No toilet( had a shovel) , no shower. - built my own solar powered one. No good on cold days. So cold ,most days ,did not get out of bed until about 11.00. Hate the cold. Never acclimatised to being back in Oz. Came back to Thailand - one week. WAS. NEVER,EVER, Do I want to go back. Thank You Very Much.!!!!!!.Love the climate. love the food. both Thai and farang. Love my little town ,Love my conveyance.Go to our local bar about 3 times a week. Happy to see Yingluck. in a position of power ,Hope she succeeds. Happy with the Govt. health system here. Have been treated very well. My house ,3 bedrooms ,rent B2,500. Very comfortable. Don't have "air" .Don't need. House is quite cool. Electricity about B1,000 per month , water B120 per month . Very affordable. I can save money on my pension .here. Not a "pattaya" type .Have a fascination with electrical appliances, sadly(they all cost). Have a freezer, fridge ,microwave, convection oven. Boilo. toaster , rice cooker .deep fryer ( my stepkids love it),blender. Go to Makro ( have card) about every 3 months ,stock up. Whoops, sorry forgot: my Hot Water heater- hate cold showers, and a Washing machine.There you go. Did drink a lot of wine while I was in Oz, $10 for a 5 litre cask( on special ).Good wine, cheap price.Enough ,she cried. !!!Think I am happy her ? YOU BETCHA.

Can you tell me how you get the Australian pension do you do the return trip thing every 6 month or is there a cheaper way to transfer money to thailand the fees and exchange rate eats into my money Thanks

No, I use ATM. I wait and take the max allowed per transaction, B20,000. The conversion is done by the Oz banks ( a lower rate than if done by a Thai bank ,about B 1 per $. The charges are approx. Au$25 per withdrawal + Mastercard fee of Au$ 5. Oz banks NOT kind !!!! to pensioners doing conversions. They are far too hungry.+ the Thai banks stiff you for B150 each time

Tell me about the 2 year stay to get the old age pension and if you have to return every 6 months like I have been told Im not in thailand yet or 65 but working towards it

[Tolley]

Good post by the OP highlighting the need to plan very carefully when you are thinking of retiring especially in a foreign country.

My rule of thumb has always been if you can't afford to retire in your home country you shouldn't consider retiring in Thailand.

Reading this thread there seems to be a whole lot of farangs living very precariously on amounts from 25k-4k baht per month. It wouldn't take much of a change in exchange rates combined with rises in cost of living in Thailand for you to be really hurting.

I certainly wouldn't fancy living in near poverty in Thailand as a foreigner.

If I was the OP I would start looking at ways to make more money. While others here are saying you should be able to live on 40k and you should budget i go the other way and say you need to make more money and start thinking serioulsy now before you are completely stuffed. Exchange rates are more likely to get worse and the cost of living in Thailand is probably going to get higher as Thasis aspire more to a western type lifestyle.

BTW My absolute bare minimum for retiring in Thailand and I would live in Pattaya is between 120-150k per month.

[rgs2001uk]

Thanks Olaf,

I didn't allow my wife to co-sign the loan... unless of course she did so behind my back. I really hope that she didn't because the sister is bound to mess up on the payments sooner or later.

If you are legally married, your wife cannot sign anything without your counter-signature, so I hear from married couples.

IMHO you are being taken advantage of. It may be your wife's sister, it may be your wife playing weak and being unable to resist her sister, but most likely I would say it is up to your wife to just relay her sister's wishes or to be on your side and try to save money.

You pay for the mortgage and the house will never be yours. You paid for her setting up a business, but most proceeds go to the sister and your wife still depends on you. Your wife wants a driving licence and a fancy car (or any car), why does she even bring this up?

I know a few Thai-Foreign couples, and Thai people are perfectly capable of making ends meet, even telling the farang where they could save money!

It all sounds very much like she will drop you the moment you have run out of money. I'm sorry if I got it wrong, but this is what it sounds like. Asking for a car even though you have explained that the funds are not sufficient is the give-away. Even a second-hand car (unless it makes economic sense to drive the clothes from her business to a market where she can make more money than having her sister involved).

I apologize for this post, we don't know each other and you did not ask for my advice. Yet, you published your life situation on this forum, and I feel compelled to warn you, as I have seen several farangs going down and being dropped after their wives (or GF's) had exploited their life's savings. I'm not saying that your wife will do that, I only only saying it sounds like such a situation from the little knowledge I have.

I ask myself if a Thai man would stand for the shit the OP is enduring?

Of course he wouldnt, the OP needs to learn he is head of the family, not the sister, its up to the OP to take the lead.

These people were surviving before the OP appeared on the scene and will survive long after he has gone.

The OP needs to do whats best for him, and if the little lady wants to follow fine, if not walk, conflict avoidance and no more sleeples nights.

[afarang]

Tracker . The 2 year stay is only for those who are applying for the old age pension, and have NOT been a permanent resident in Oz, for a minimum of 2 of the last 5 years before applying.Who also live in a country which does not have a reciprocal agreement with Oz, such as Greece, Italy and Canada, etc..If you have lived in Oz for that minimum time , your pension is instantly Portable. I hadn't, so was forced to spend that minimum 2 years living in Oz, before my pension became legally portable and I could return to Thailand. And I hated it.!!!The 6 months thing has nothing to do with Old Age Pensioners. Rest assured ,I have not been back to Oz.since Aug 2007and have no desire to do same. I am not sure ,if it still applies,but IF you were on a DISABILITY pension, you had to return to OZ every 6 months.To prove you were still entitled to a disability pension.Nothing whatsoever to do with Old Age Pensioners.

[UphillStruggle]

You don't seem that knowledgeable about investment. No one living off investment income keeps the bulk of their funds in low return bank instruments.

Just in the US there are secure bond funds that deliver 5% and higher returns not to mention those less risk averse still invest in dividend stocks such as AT&T which has appreciated in value 10% over the past few years despite the recent minor correction and pays a dividend of +5%.

As far as fuel goes, the global oil market is based on the US$. As the US$ lowers in value versus other currencies, e.g., the Thai baht, the price of oil in baht terms lowers. This filters down to the pump price which has been lowering recently, especially diesel where this week the Thai government reinstated a 60 satang surcharge to the pump price keeping the retail price of diesel basically at 30 Baht per liter.

But then you don't seem to be a car owner/driver in Thailand either.

The stock markets have been kept afloat by QE which devalues currencies. Is the 5% a year gross enough to cover the rise in real inflation and dollar depreciation - do you feel richer?

I am not a car owner in Thailand but have read lots of posts about people complaining about rising costs in general.

Why does the minimum wage need to go up 70% if everything is so hunky dory? That in itself will create further inflation.

[tailspin]

if she was smart she would asked to be paid a commission for special services....or set up a union to negotiate a better package

In my imperfect relationship with my GF, (I call her my maid, which displeases her, lol!) I call the money I give her, her salary, to emphasise constantly that it is finite, which is fairly generous but limited to what I can do without causing myself financial issues. I take care of her, and she takes care of her family. I don't take care of her family, because that way it would be a bottomless pit. When the daughter is the bread winner (albeit just taking it from the farang) then she has a lot more sway in the family matters, and it can be quite interesting to see how little they really need when it's coming from *her* salary. Actually my Thai 'family' - the ones who matter to me, aren't related to my GF at all, and they have been my family since before meeting my GF, simply because they were the 'family' of a farang friend. I've never met my GF's family. This was a wonderful accidental setup, bringing unplanned clarity to my responsibilities and management of affairs. I recommend everyone do a 'family swap', then they have no pull on you, and you can have a good relationship with your surrogate family, which allows some latitude in posturing and explaining to the neighbours that they won't be expecting a fortuner and 10 baht gold any time soon.

Sorry for rambling off topic. Just thought it might allow a re-frame of the situation and create a set up that serves both the purpose of protecting your funds, getting your wife to adjust her wishlist and/or her relationship with her sister in order to get the car she wants, without doing anything divisive with your own relationship.

[ozzydom]

No, I use ATM. I wait and take the max allowed per transaction, B20,000. The conversion is done by the Oz banks ( a lower rate than if done by a Thai bank ,about B 1 per $. The charges are approx. Au$25 per withdrawal + Mastercard fee of Au$ 5. Oz banks NOT kind !!!! to pensioners doing conversions. They are far too hungry.+ the Thai banks stiff you for B150 each time

This post has been edited by afarang: Today, 14:11

Why dont you look at opening a Thai bank a/c and having Centrelink deposit your pension directly to it.That way you cut out Oz bank charges.

Your pension will be converted by Centrelink at the exchange rate prevailing and transmitted in Thai Baht.It will be depositted in your Thai A/c on the fourth working day after pension day.

If you withdraw from the branch your a/c is with with the ATM they provide ,they are no charges at all.

Centrelink pay all transfer charges .

[vpi78]

You don't seem that knowledgeable about investment. No one living off investment income keeps the bulk of their funds in low return bank instruments.

Just in the US there are secure bond funds that deliver 5% and higher returns not to mention those less risk averse still invest in dividend stocks such as AT&T which has appreciated in value 10% over the past few years despite the recent minor correction and pays a dividend of +5%.

As far as fuel goes, the global oil market is based on the US$. As the US$ lowers in value versus other currencies, e.g., the Thai baht, the price of oil in baht terms lowers. This filters down to the pump price which has been lowering recently, especially diesel where this week the Thai government reinstated a 60 satang surcharge to the pump price keeping the retail price of diesel basically at 30 Baht per liter.

But then you don't seem to be a car owner/driver in Thailand either.

The stock markets have been kept afloat by QE which devalues currencies. Is the 5% a year gross enough to cover the rise in real inflation and dollar depreciation - do you feel richer?

I am not a car owner in Thailand but have read lots of posts about people complaining about rising costs in general.

Why does the minimum wage need to go up 70% if everything is so hunky dory? That in itself will create further inflation.

You are so naive. Some currencies have risen and some have fallen. It is a zero sum game. Do you understand?

Yes, I do feel considerably richer. I bought assets in Thailand 5 years ago and just by currency that investment has appreciated by more than 40%.

You do also understand that the minimum wage discussion is about politics ... right? It has nothing to do with economics just like it has nothing to do with economics in the West.

[UphillStruggle]

You are so naive. Some currencies have risen and some have fallen. It is a zero sum game. Do you understand?

Yes, I do feel considerably richer. I bought assets in Thailand 5 years ago and just by currency that investment has appreciated by more than 40%.

You do also understand that the minimum wage discussion is about politics ... right? It has nothing to do with economics just like it has nothing to do with economics in the West.

Well done on buying your Thailand assets 5 years ago but hindsight isn't what the OP was talking about. I think it was more about the situation now regarding interest rates and currency.

Of course the minimum wage is politics but the effect will be economic.

Have a pleasant day

[nicky1982]

For me to live here only cost me around 28000 to 29000 per month and i live happy here ? i could never live like this back in the Uk and if i go out on a lads night out i only spend around 4000THB and always come home with change ...

Two Bedroom House 5000 THB Per month,

Electric Bill 3000 THB Per month,

Water Bill 300THB Per month,

UBC 2000 THB Per month.

3BB Premier 2700THB Per month,

Food 500thb a day cost me around 15000 Per month

Nicky

That is so funny; only 28,000 Baht per month eh? Not many Lads nights out then judging from your arithmetic. I guess you can watch the rest of the partiers on cable and YouTube.

Nah some of use have to work 6 days a week also cant be assed with it these days bar girls drive me nut can just sit down and have a beer like what u can do back home also doesnt help being 6ft 1 blonde hair and blue eyes and if i had a pound for everytime i head handsome man can i go home with you i would be even more well off then i'm already i'm .. i'm also 29 and very responsible these days and i dont see the point pissing away money when i can buy and do other things with my money .. i'm not like the average joe who live here every day in the bars and clubs ...