Poll Regarding Expat Expenditure In Thailand

[chiang mai]

In Phuket for the past four years we would easily spend 120/130k a month, now in Chiang Mai for the past eight weeks and we spend around 80k a month. A range of 50 to 90k sounds to me like it would capture 80% of folks although it's unlikely to include many of the Phuket and possibly Bangkok crowd.

[meatboy]

looking at some of the figures quoted this poll must be for tourists apart from my the first 2years in thailand ,living in retirement what would the average expat spend 60-70k a month on[must be the extended family]

if you golf and want to play reasonable courses 2-3 times per week tha could be anything from 3-9k per week or 12 - 36k per month then plus all of the other expenses.

me i would rather go fishing 100bht all day.

[craigt3365]

Actually Honda are pretty well known for needing expensive parts as only the genuine thing available, unless that's changed in the last couple of years whereas Benz parts quite cheap certainly in proportion to cost of the car.

Meanwhile back on topic, education for your children can send those figures off the stratosphere, is that a basic living expense or a major item. I must admit I didn't really include it in either, if I sat down and added it up it would probably bump me off the poll!

For sure...glad I don't have kids. International schools are big bucks. And I would think you would have to add that in as it is a cost of living here. Right?

[DP25]

looking at some of the figures quoted this poll must be for tourists apart from my the first 2years in thailand ,living in retirement what would the average expat spend 60-70k a month on[must be the extended family]

30k for the girlfriend(s), 30k for the him to live on

[chiang mai]

Rent 22,000

Car 5,000

Elec/Water 2,500

Internet 875

UBC 1,555

Spend 42,000 - that's THB 1,400 a day to cover petrol, groceries, entertainment, travel, clothes, medical, car insurance, doesn't seem excessive.

[IMA_FARANG]

Bruce.

Some data for you:

I am now retired and moved to Thailand to live with my Thai family about 1 year ago.

I do not pay rent so my daily epenses are low...between 1000 and 2000 baht a day.

There are 7 Thais in my family, 3 of them working and contributing to the family expenses, besides myself...8 people total. One of the Thais is a teenage grand daughter, now in school.

About 5 years ago I purchased and renovated a Thai house for the family to live in, where we all live now. That is the bulk of my large expenses in Thailand.

Since my Thai wife now owns the house, I have no rental expenses to speak of here now.

Although I have only actually lived on a long term basis in Thailand for about a year now, since I retired, I have been supporting my Thai family financially since 1980 by working outside of Thailand and visiting them 2 or 3 times a year while working outside of Thailand.

I have no idea exactly how much I have put into Thailand in those 31 years but I would estimate 40,000 to 50,000 baht a month.

[JAFO]

Lots of things can jack up your expenditures. Health care/meds, car and payments, house/maintenance, maid, kids, etc. It adds up fast!

Hmm.

No health problems (yet), no car, no house or maintenance (currently I rent, and even when I do buy it will be a condo so no expenses there either), no maid (someone does all that in my monthly rental), no kids.

I don't see how I could spend more than 1000B a day even if I wanted to, except by becoming an alcoholic.

And you forgot to list the really big source of increased expenditure, and I don't have one of those either: no wife.

^ Darrel's assessment describes my living lifestyle here in Thailand. I did have a motorcycle purchase of about 100k bht. I have lived here nearly 4 years. I too would struggle to spend 1000B a day. I have been dating an independent older Thai gal who works, has her own car, own place and she pays for a lot when we go off and do things. My average is 500 to 600b a day and I live very very well and am in no way limiting myself.

Marriage with Sin Sot, accompanied with a few fledglings, add a house, Monthly inlaw pay outs, probably more western needs to achieve the creature comforts and visits back and forth to the home country I bet the numbers escalate nearly exponentially and the dream of living abroad affordably is quickly lost for most.....

I have always wondered how many original retirees who moved here have to subsidize their retirements and go back to work either here or are forced to have to travel back and forth to their home countries to make ends meet?

[wandrinstar]

Whats it got to do with anybody who earns what. Who cares anyway, only the lefty liberal whingers.

[Gumbo]

100k a month EACH!... Far out.

Obviously some costs are the same such as rent and power while food, drink and visa would not be but I doubt I could spend half that even though I live alone.. unless I was just giving money away.

Rent and power are definitely not the same. If you have a huge home, it's going to cost a bunch more...especially with kids in each room watching TV and playing their Wii.

It was with regard to couples. All the houses in this small group have a couple in them except mine but none of them pay additional rent. An aircon'd bedroom for 1 or 2 is going to cost the same though it could be argued that a second person would require the aircon to work slightly harder. Still only one fridge to power. There would be higher usage due to double the number of showers and a higher volume of laundry.

So with a static outgoing of around 8k from a budget of 40k would leave me over 1000 Baht per day. Two home made Thai meals, some wings or ribs for the evening over say four large Changs is going to come to 250 Baht? Maybe 300. What am I going to spend the other 700 on?

Maybe I'm just lucky in that I can live wherever I want, eat and drink whatever I want and it just happens to be very cheap.

[JAFO]

I think one thing that needs to considered with this poll is it will raise eyebrows of some who live with less by design where as others came over here and wanted the big house, 2 cars, wife, children and many western comforts. To each his own. Who is anyone to judge. Unfortunately polls like this are so broad it will open up numerous debates and rebuttals about peoples personal lifestyles. If the info posted can be somewhat relied on, it is interesting. It gives a few people an idea if they are on track to their plan or way out of line.

As I posted earlier, I would be curious of the stat depicting the number of people who have moved here(excluding people under a companies umbrella) with the intention of living an affordable lifestyle then found themselves quickly living like they did in their home country and had to go back to work either here or leaving behind the family to make ends meet and send money. I have met in my travels quite a few folks that ran out of money very fast but by then had a wife and child here and life became quite complicated. Some are spending $7 to $10K a year in travel expenses alone back and forth while they work in the their home country.

I have found you can easily blow a wad of cash here, and fast. On the surface it all seems so inexpensive, and a great majority of it is, but if you cannot shed some of the western living needs you have grown accustom too it is actually a lot more expensive to live here. Cars, motorcycles are more then the US upwards 25 % for a basic car, If you require that high end car it can be 3 to 5x more. Heck a Toyota minivan converted is $125K. The car and motorcycle accessories are way over US prices. Houses in some areas are substantially more per sq ft. Condo's are smaller and more per sq ft. Western food is always way more. bicycles, all western sport supplies. Any good liquor is 25 to 30% more, Furniture and beds and linens are the same, 25 to 30% more then US prices. Being here full time on a companies nickel some 5 years ago, on my off hours I took notes and did a pretty comprehensive comparison as I planned to retire here and was curious. Having lived here now for awhile on my own nickel and retired it is definitely something you have to watch. Prices are rising quickly.

On the other side of the coin a very affordable and fun life can be had and enjoyed. It takes discipline and a lot of commitment to change but in the end you are miles ahead. I did not move here to have to work or slave away. Thailand has a lot of Pro's and Cons. Now if you are one of those few with millions then it simply does not matter, live it up.

Edited August 31, 2011 by JAFO

[gmac]

I think one thing that needs to considered with this poll is it will raise eyebrows of some who live with less by design where as others came over here and wanted the big house, 2 cars, wife, children and many western comforts. To each his own. Who is anyone to judge. Unfortunately polls like this are so broad it will open up numerous debates and rebuttals about peoples personal lifestyles. If the info posted can be somewhat relied on, it is interesting. It gives a few people an idea if they are on track to their plan or way out of line.

As I posted earlier, I would be curious of the stat depicting the number of people who have moved here(excluding people under a companies umbrella) with the intention of living an affordable lifestyle then found themselves quickly living like they did in their home country and had to go back to work either here or leaving behind the family to make ends meet and send money. I have met in my travels quite a few folks that ran out of money very fast but by then had a wife and child here and life became quite complicated. Some are spending $7 to $10K a year in travel expenses alone back and forth while they work in the their home country.

I have found you can easily blow a wad of cash here, and fast. On the surface it all seems so inexpensive, and a great majority of it is, but if you cannot shed some of the western living needs you have grown accustom too it is actually a lot more expensive to live here. Cars, motorcycles are more then the US upwards 25 % for a basic car, If you require that high end car it can be 3 to 5x more. Heck a Toyota minivan converted is $125K. The car and motorcycle accessories are way over US prices. Houses in some areas are substantially more per sq ft. Condo's are smaller and more per sq ft. Western food is always way more. bicycles, all western sport supplies. Any good liquor is 25 to 30% more, Furniture and beds and linens are the same, 25 to 30% more then US prices. Being here full time on a companies nickel some 5 years ago, on my off hours I took notes and did a pretty comprehensive comparison as I planned to retire here and was curious. Having lived here now for awhile on my own nickel and retired it is definitely something you have to watch. Prices are rising quickly.

On the other side of the coin a very affordable and fun life can be had and enjoyed. It takes discipline and a lot of commitment to change but in the end you are miles ahead. I did not move here to have to work or slave away. Thailand has a lot of Pro's and Cons. Now if you are one of those few with millions then it simply does not matter, live it up.

Wise words indeed!

I came here 10 years ago as an early retiree with what I thought was plenty of cash to last me until the will to live ran out! Without having depleted my resources with any huge extravagancies I now find the need to budget exceedingly carefully if I am to last until my retirement pension from the UK kicks in in another 10 years.

[chiangmaibruce]

Hi folks

1. Just wanted to clarify that my intention in running this poll is in no way meant to be judgemental. Personally I don't care at all how much people are able to, and/or or choose to, spend in Thailand.

In Thaivisa there are occasional debates about "how much do expats really contribute to Thailand?" ... that we "over-rate our contribution to the country" etc etc. Clearly there are both positive and negative, tangible and intangible, impacts of foreigners living in Thailand. This poll just nibbles away at the positive/tangible aspect .. in the (apparent) absence of good hard stats. If we can have some sensible discussion along the way - such as Jafo's contribution above - then all the better ... but no need to get catty

2. It would be great to get some more people voting in the poll - out the moment I see only 125 people out of 920 viewers have voted - guess people are shy

3. It would also be great to get some feedback about my paper on expat numbers in Thailand (linked on page one of this thread) ... via either posting or PM

4. Finally, me as a "lefty liberal whinger"? ... ewwww .... not even on one of my bad days. I'm over here to the right of the Sun God

[tmd5855]

The average expat here I think spends 60-70k a month from what I've read. Some poorer members may not report due to shame, some richer guys may report due to bragging.

Some guys simply lie.

That's a stupid statement if ever I've seen one. 60/70k a month maybe easily in BKK if you live the high life, slightly less in other major cities. Much less out in the sticks! Shame/bragging??

Showing ignorance there Chops, sry.

It is not a stupid statement.

I am at least a 100k+ a month person. I am out every day/night and have a great time living here in Pattaya these past 7 odd years?

[nickmanchester2]

i love talking about living expenses for some strange reason

rent 2 bed 2 bath 62sqm pool side apartment in hua hin - 13,300b

bills inc internet 2800b

food - shop at villa for a few things - maybe 4000b

eating out - 6000b

entertainment - 8000b

car insurance, petrol, valeting 4500b

i live alone

38,600b a month

[Jingthing]

2. It would be great to get some more people voting in the poll - out the moment I see only 125 people out of 920 viewers have voted - guess people are shy

The same people come back multiple times to read the comments, view the results, etc. So your premise is flawed as you can only vote ONCE.

[onionluke]

Up in the MacBoontery - for a family of three .

With no rent and the motor paid for - 25000K -30000K that allows for a modest lifestyle with a couple of nights out for dinner in town and the odd visit to the big bad smoke (Ubon) to engage in idle banter and ale drinking .

[chris2004]

i love talking about living expenses for some strange reason

rent 2 bed 2 bath 62sqm pool side apartment in hua hin - 13,300b

bills inc internet 2800b

food - shop at villa for a few things - maybe 4000b

eating out - 6000b

entertainment - 8000b

car insurance, petrol, valeting 4500b

i live alone

38,600b a month

I think this is very good if you can live on 25k a month (excluding rent). My budget is similar but there are many other small things which seem to add up. Mobile phone, condo maintenance, birthday/xmas presents, dentist, pharmacy,laundry,clothes, visas, small household items. For me that adds another 10k a month onto the budget. The big one of course is women, some months it is as much as the rest put together. How do you budget for that?

[gmac]

i love talking about living expenses for some strange reason

rent 2 bed 2 bath 62sqm pool side apartment in hua hin - 13,300b

bills inc internet 2800b

food - shop at villa for a few things - maybe 4000b

eating out - 6000b

entertainment - 8000b

car insurance, petrol, valeting 4500b

i live alone

38,600b a month

I think this is very good if you can live on 25k a month (excluding rent). My budget is similar but there are many other small things which seem to add up. Mobile phone, condo maintenance, birthday/xmas presents, dentist, pharmacy,laundry,clothes, visas, small household items. For me that adds another 10k a month onto the budget. The big one of course is women, some months it is as much as the rest put together. How do you budget for that?

Cut out the women......works for me!

[GreenSnapper]

Cut out the women......works for me!

Most people are here for the culture and scenery anyway.

I heard......

[naboo]

Once rent and bills are paid (15k Baht/month) I spend 5000Baht per week, usually 2000Baht by Friday then 3000Baht at the weekend.

So I guess about 750B per day plus bills of 500B per day. Soon I'll be purchasing a car, so I'll be adding 10k Baht per month to the bills. As yet, I've ought two motorbikes at a total cost of 115k Baht.

In addition, I will be looking to continue my pension contributions in the near future. Would these be a daily expense? Surely an investment, not an expense, but a necessity for those of us earning a living here.

I don't think a poll like this can ever truly predict anyone's cost of living, everyone is different in terms of wants and needs.

Edited September 1, 2011 by naboo

[kerryk]

Joke for breakfast, 8 baht. Mama for lunch 8 baht.

Ya dong happy hour 5 baht a shot, 50 baht (10 shots of Ya dong will get you where you are going). Soup and vegetables and pig innards dinner. 20 baht. Live with an English teacher, rent free, government pays electricity and water. 31,755 baht per year.

[andrewbkk]

Joke for breakfast, 8 baht. Mama for lunch 8 baht.

Ya dong happy hour 5 baht a shot, 50 baht (10 shots of Ya dong will get you where you are going). Soup and vegetables and pig innards dinner. 20 baht. Live with an English teacher, rent free, government pays electricity and water. 31,755 baht per year.

Excellent!

But why are you paying 8 baht for Mama? I only pay 6 baht.

I also pay 3 baht per day to get my water from that machine over in soi 10.

What is Ya dong?

Edited September 1, 2011 by andrewbkk

[kerryk]

Joke for breakfast, 8 baht. Mama for lunch 8 baht.

Ya dong happy hour 5 baht a shot, 50 baht (10 shots of Ya dong will get you where you are going). Soup and vegetables and pig innards dinner. 20 baht. Live with an English teacher, rent free, government pays electricity and water. 31,755 baht per year.

Excellent!

But why are you paying 8 baht for Mama? I only pay 6 baht.

I also pay 3 baht per day to get my water from that machine over in soi 10.

What is Ya dong?

Ya dong is a spiced rice wine or moonshine. You can recognize the carts by three or four large ceramic jars where the beverage is dispensed from. Many of the formulas are hundreds of years old, so they say. In Ya dong restaurants it is normally served in a tea pot. You can still taste the good stuff three days after drinking it because it seems to stay in your system for a while.

[nickmanchester2]

i love talking about living expenses for some strange reason

rent 2 bed 2 bath 62sqm pool side apartment in hua hin - 13,300b

bills inc internet 2800b

food - shop at villa for a few things - maybe 4000b

eating out - 6000b

entertainment - 8000b

car insurance, petrol, valeting 4500b

i live alone

38,600b a month

I think this is very good if you can live on 25k a month (excluding rent). My budget is similar but there are many other small things which seem to add up. Mobile phone, condo maintenance, birthday/xmas presents, dentist, pharmacy,laundry,clothes, visas, small household items. For me that adds another 10k a month onto the budget. The big one of course is women, some months it is as much as the rest put together. How do you budget for that?

yeah, i am forgetting a lot of things aren't

ok, additional

phone credit - 1600b

visa run (converted to monthly cost) - (last month cost me maybe 5000b but I took a lady friend with me and stayed over in Ranong for 1 night) - 1666b (5000b for the trip, but 1666b monthly cost)

women was included in the entertainment of 8000b a month - I have started using thailovelinks and find that it works out cheaper than using bars girls, so have stopped seeing bar girls now - only problem is that i will probably get my genitals chopped off at one point by one of these girls for being a butterfly - then life will be cheaper again - thailovelinks - 300b a month

[bkkjames]

Joke for breakfast, 8 baht. Mama for lunch 8 baht.

Ya dong happy hour 5 baht a shot, 50 baht (10 shots of Ya dong will get you where you are going). Soup and vegetables and pig innards dinner. 20 baht. Live with an English teacher, rent free, government pays electricity and water. 31,755 baht per year.

Kerry all this time i thought you were Australllian mate, not English.

[kerryk]

Joke for breakfast, 8 baht. Mama for lunch 8 baht.

Ya dong happy hour 5 baht a shot, 50 baht (10 shots of Ya dong will get you where you are going). Soup and vegetables and pig innards dinner. 20 baht. Live with an English teacher, rent free, government pays electricity and water. 31,755 baht per year.

Kerry all this time i thought you were Australllian mate, not English.

Sorry I would have said living with an Australian teacher but there are not that many of them in Northern Thailand. I think there is a need for people to learn how to speak Australian but not many Thais agree.

[andrewbkk]

Joke for breakfast, 8 baht. Mama for lunch 8 baht.

Ya dong happy hour 5 baht a shot, 50 baht (10 shots of Ya dong will get you where you are going). Soup and vegetables and pig innards dinner. 20 baht. Live with an English teacher, rent free, government pays electricity and water. 31,755 baht per year.

Excellent!

But why are you paying 8 baht for Mama? I only pay 6 baht.

I also pay 3 baht per day to get my water from that machine over in soi 10.

What is Ya dong?

Ya dong is a spiced rice wine or moonshine. You can recognize the carts by three or four large ceramic jars where the beverage is dispensed from. Many of the formulas are hundreds of years old, so they say. In Ya dong restaurants it is normally served in a tea pot. You can still taste the good stuff three days after drinking it because it seems to stay in your system for a while.

Interesting.

I sometimes drink Siam Sato, which is a wine made from sticky rice. It's about 8% alcohol and costs 25 baht per bottle at 7-11.

I've often noticed that laborers and motorcycle taxi drivers buy a drink from "mom and pop" stores and those kiosks near shopping centers. The drink is usually served in an M150 bottle and costs 10 baht.

Would that be a wine or a spirit like Lao Khao?

[tartempion]

To clarify my input:

We spend about 40K max/month, two of us living together, noted your request "per person" thus indicated max 999/day, includes food, restaurant, clothing, petrol, car insurance. Don't maintain details.

Built a house (thus no rent) plus cars, motorbikes, furniture, spent 4million+ on "major items", live here near 10 years.

Edited September 1, 2011 by tartempion

[bkkjames]

Joke for breakfast, 8 baht. Mama for lunch 8 baht.

Ya dong happy hour 5 baht a shot, 50 baht (10 shots of Ya dong will get you where you are going). Soup and vegetables and pig innards dinner. 20 baht. Live with an English teacher, rent free, government pays electricity and water. 31,755 baht per year.

Kerry all this time i thought you were Australllian mate, not English.

Sorry I would have said living with an Australian teacher but there are not that many of them in Northern Thailand. I think there is a need for people to learn how to speak Australian but not many Thais agree.

Actually I was going on about your 'big-spending' not who you lived with.

[chiangmaibruce]

Oops, looks like our little survey made it into the media. This is freshly translated & hot off the newswire:

Ministry Secretary Somchai Huayai, announced today the results of a multi-agency investigation into movements of vast amounts of foreign-sourced capital into Thailand.

“To give an idea of the scale of the various transactions we have uncovered, I can tell you that we have already identified in excess of 14.26 trillion baht that have either been brought into the country by foreigners, or which otherwise result from the actions of foreign interests. We can only speculate as to what the foreigners involved are planning, but credible evidence suggest that they are acting in concert with the Cambodians in a systematic effort to de-stabilise the Thai economy. Movements of capital of this scale and magnitude pose a grave threat to Thai sovereignity, and we must act swiftly and decisively to remove ourselves from this danger”, said Mr HuaYai.

Apparently the final missing link in this plot was only uncovered this week after a Ministry operative was able to infiltrate a notorious online foreigner forum known as ‘Thaivisa’ in order to gather further vital evidence.

Mr Huayai closed today’s media conference with the observation that, “It was only in March this year that Suthep Thaugsuban, Deputy-Prime Minister at the time, stated that foreigners were not to be trusted. Today’s shocking announcement is certainly consistent with that notion, and is a strong reminder of the need for continued vigilance against those who would harm us”.

The Ministry released details of the mysterious foreign capital movements, which were as follows:

Type of capital incursion by foreigners (Value in Thai baht)

Annual spending by international tourists in Thailand (592,794,090,000)

Annual spending by resident foreigners in Thailand (164,250,000,000)

Annual investment by foreigners in Thailand (7,272,005,000,000)

Annual purchase of Thai exports by foreigners (6,176,302,050,000)

Annual remittance by Thais living overseas (55,792,000,000)

Total 14,261,143,140,000 baht

Further details available from the Ministry for Assigning Scapegoats: [email protected]