Retirment - Just How Cheap Is South East Asia?

[cheynewalk]

I was just pondering this topic over a cold Bintang with the owner of the guesthouse where I stay in Bali a few days ago. I know a lot of potential retirees out there on limited incomes often wonder about this themselves.

The guesthouse where I stay has cheapper rooms with just fan and cold water shower for about 1.7 million rupiah ($190 US)/month. They are quite ok with free wireless internet, serviced daily and include water and electricity. There is a communal kitchen around the garden, access to a swimming pool next door, heaps of books to read and 5 mins walk to the beach. If you add on to that say 50,000 rupiah/day ($6 US)for food (eating locally), fruit, water, tea and coffee you have basic daily expenses of around $13 US. Upping that amount to the lofty sum of $20/day would also get you a newspaper, large bintang beer and foot massage daily as well. Not bad for a simple, cheap retirement on the beach.

Of course these are only on the ground daily costs, you would have to add in visas, airfares, health/travel insurance which i would estimate at about $2,000 per annum. So not a bad life for around $7,000 - $9,500/year or $600 - $800/month. Well within the range of most western pensions, I would think.

Basic costs like these are similar for Chiang Mai in Thailand, where I also spend about half my time, though you don't have the beach of course.

Bali is, in my opinion the cheapest beach resort area I have visited in SEA with all the conveniences that go along with that. Just as an example my girfriend and I dined out at a sort of middle class indonesian type restaurant (not tourist) last night. I had a large bintang beer, chicken sates in peanut sauce, nasi goreng with fried salty fish, fried kangkung (a green spinach like vegetable), she a mango juice, whole sliced fish poached in a pungent, spicy broth of tamarind, chillis, ginger and garlic with rice on the side. The price for this delicious filling meal for both of us? 90,000 rupiah, about $10.50 US!

Edited September 23, 2011 by cheynewalk

[KED]

Although I live in Bangkok due to work, I often visit Bali because I really like it there (thanks to Air Asia sales, also). If you think Bali is cheap - you should travel to Java - Yoyga / Solo / Semarang - even cheaper than Bali. I think the main thing is to stay away from the really touristy areas and eat at the warungs where the locals eat - food is great and less than RP 20,000.

Alcohol (besides local beer) is more expensive in Indonesia than Thailand. Both at a club or bar and at the stores as well. In Bali, depending on the area you live, if you are obviously, non-asian you get a constant cat-call for "transport" or other services from locals which can really be unnerving after the 1,000th time.

I enjoy Bali because it has a nice balance between western tourists and Balinese and Javanese who come to the island for work. However, I also enjoy traveling in other areas of Indonesia in both Java and Sumatra where tourists are fewer in number but locals are still very friendly.