Pattaya Cost Of Living Keeps Going Higher

[Darrel]

Condo prices have crept up significantly. Hopefully long term pensioners etc have made plans regarding their lodging as Rent will start creeping up in line with hotel prices.

Condo prices are up? From when to when? I would say they are down.

And rents are definitely going down; there is already a glut of rental units, with thousands more to come over the next couple of years.

[Hooters]

Condo prices have crept up significantly. Hopefully long term pensioners etc have made plans regarding their lodging as Rent will start creeping up in line with hotel prices.

Condo prices are up? From when to when? I would say they are down.

And rents are definitely going down; there is already a glut of rental units, with thousands more to come over the next couple of years.

Checked out the price per sqm over the last 5 years? I always have a look at the various new condo mock ups around the shopping centres and yes new condo prices have risen both in Pattaya and jomitien however not sure about second hand but when the disparity is apparent they will fall in line also.

[Asiacat]

I've posted this before but it seems it is appropriate to this thread:-

Pattaya on the cheap;-

Cheap Charlie

Randolph Cohen a licensed money lender and pawn-shop owner countedout the £500 he had agreed to lend Charles Anderson and accepted the customer’sJaguar XK8 Convertible with log book and keys as security for the short termloan.

At a fortnightly interest rate of 5% which translated into awhopping 355% APR the shop’s proprietor was used to dealing with the desperaterather than the affluent. However with a car worth over £30,000 as security fora £500 loan it wasn’t a risk and after all business was business.

Charles took the money and then made his way to the nearesttube station for the ninety- minute journey to London’s Heathrow Airport wherehe was booked on a flight to Thailand for a well deserved two week break.

As soon as he had checked in and reached the departurelounge for flight BA009 direct to Bangkok Charlesbegan surreptitiously scanning his fellow passengers. He was looking for singlemale travelers who could be on their way to Pattaya. He needed to find two hecould share a taxi with once he had arrived in the Thai capital.

Charles always prided himself on being able to do with onedollar (or whatever the local currency happened to be) what others routinelyneeded two or three to do. His own code of ethics meant he would never steal orcheat anyone but that did not stop him from being creative, inventive or tocherry-pick in the way that he spent his money.

Once on the plane Charles located his economy class aisleseat and settled back for the 12 hour non -stop flight.

Ten hours into the flight Charles awoke and carefullystudied his diary. He had marked all the regular free buffets in red. Misty’son Wednesday, Champagne and Shark on Fridays and Secrets on Sundays. At thesebars Charles would be able to pick up a meal for the price of a draught Changand still be able to drink the Chang to boot.

When the plane touched down at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 15:40Thai time Charles had his hand luggage packed and was one of the first todisembark he half ran and half walked the three hundred metres or so to theThai immigration desks and then rather than join the queue he just waited .

Once the other passengers had reached the immigration queuesCharles set to work. Asking each single male traveler “Are you going to Pattaya?”and if the answered in the affirmative the second question was “Do you want toshare a taxi?” After asking eight travelers Charles had his two frugal cohortsand told them to meet him after they had cleared customs.

Once the three of had regrouped some forty minutes laterCharles told his new found acquaintances to follow him to the departure hallignoring the touts and taxi stands in the arrivals hall.

Charles knew that a taxi driver dropping someone off who hadtravelled from the coastal resort would me more likely to accept a lower thanthe going rate fare in preference to returning to his base in what would beotherwise an empty taxi.

The occupants of each taxi stopping at the arrivals hallwere greeted with Charles’s single question “Have you come from Pattaya?” Hefound what he was looking for at the fifth attempt. Charles offered 900 bahtfor the privilege of sharing the taxi driver’s return trip to Pattaya which wasgratefully accepted.

Three hundred baht each he told his new-found acquaintancesfor what others will be paying B1500 for.

Charles had already pre- booked his room B3200 for two weeksin the Canterbury Tales guest house on Soi Chaiyapoon. Whist planning his tripon the net he had seen that Dave the proprietor was offering rooms for B5,500for a month and figured that he may be willing to let a room for half thatperiod for a little over half the price.He had emailed Dave with his offer of B3, 000 for two weeks and wasn’tsurprised when Dave replied saying that he would accept B3, 200. He always letthem come back with a request slightly higher than his original offer. It waspsychological he understood that. He had to let the other party feel that theyhad achieved a small victory.

His first purchase after checking into his temporary homewas a six pack of bottled water for 25 baht from a shop a couple of doors upfrom The Canterbury Tales. No point in paying 7 baht a bottle for water from7/11 put them in the fridge tonight and they will be ice cold come tomorrowmorning. And besides that he could refill all six bottles for a total of 5 bahtfrom the aqua water machine around the corner on Soi Bukheaw.

He was disappointed to see that the Friendship supermarketon Pattaya Tai no longer stocked the Walking Street Journal. Fourteen copiesand thus fourteen free drink vouchers for Living Doll ago-go would have savedhim another B700 over the course of his holiday.

Charles had each night’s drinking carefully mapped out.Tonight it was Baby Doll (45 baht), Fun room (45 baht), Misty’s (50 baht providedhe got there before 10 p.m.) plus a free buffet which served as Charles’s mainevening meal. Lady drinks - no way, and as for tipping wasn’t that just a placein China?

This pattern repeated itself for the whole of his two weekholiday. After studying the Pattaya Trader’s list of go-go draught beer pricesand his own astute observations whilst out each night he had an encyclopedicknowledge of Pattaya drink prices, happy hour times and regular free-buffets. In addition he would dutifully check the PattayaSecrets message board business section for any one-off parties any of the barswere holding. Carefully planning his route and spending so as to maximize thereturn on his precious currency.

After an exhausting but enjoyable two week stay Charles returnedto London and immediately went back to Mr. Cohen’s pawn shop to repay theprinciple of £500 plus £25 interest.

Just out of interest the owner asked “ You don’t appearshort of a few bob. Why did you need totake out a loan in the first place?” “Doyou know anywhere else I could park a Jaguar convertible in secure parking incentral London for two weeks for just £25?” replied Charles.

[thaimate]

I first came in 2004. Yeah, falang food has crept up. Rents have crept up. Beer at bars has crept up. Baht bus no problem. Bus fares no problem. Plan tickets have crept up. But biggest increase has really been the exchange rate. In 2004, 44 baht for 1 USD. Today, 31 baht for 1 USD.

Condo prices have crept up significantly. Hopefully long term pensioners etc have made plans regarding their lodging as Rent will start creeping up in line with hotel prices.

Pattaya is changing fast! and its going to catch many off guard to be sure.

I cannot see how rents have gone up in the last 6 years ,my rent has decreased by 5000 baht ,so as to keep us ,just talking to a friend who said that his landlord put the rent up 1000 baht so they moved to a much nicer place 1000 baht less , everyone i know says that there is a glut and rents are falling ,ok food has risen a little but not much , what are we doing wrong ?

[Jingthing]

I've posted this before but it seems it is appropriate to this thread:-

Pattaya on the cheap;-

Cheap Charlie

Randolph Cohen a licensed money lender and pawn-shop owner countedout the £500 he had agreed to lend Charles Anderson and accepted the customer’sJaguar XK8 Convertible with log book and keys as security for the short termloan.

Perhaps a poll is in order. How many hundreds of times have we heard that stale, recycled story. I reckon most of our grandpas had a variation as well. Not funny anymore, but sad.

[Darrel]

Perhaps a poll is in order. How many hundreds of times have we heard that stale, recycled story. I reckon most of our grandpas had a variation as well. Not funny anymore, but sad.

I dont think it was ever funny or sad. Most of it is just sensible, though some of it is a little extreme.

[Darrel]

Checked out the price per sqm over the last 5 years? I always have a look at the various new condo mock ups around the shopping centres and yes new condo prices have risen both in Pattaya and jomitien however not sure about second hand but when the disparity is apparent they will fall in line also.

Any readjustment will be downwards not upwards, I suspect.

[Hooters]

I first came in 2004. Yeah, falang food has crept up. Rents have crept up. Beer at bars has crept up. Baht bus no problem. Bus fares no problem. Plan tickets have crept up. But biggest increase has really been the exchange rate. In 2004, 44 baht for 1 USD. Today, 31 baht for 1 USD.

Condo prices have crept up significantly. Hopefully long term pensioners etc have made plans regarding their lodging as Rent will start creeping up in line with hotel prices.

Pattaya is changing fast! and its going to catch many off guard to be sure.

I cannot see how rents have gone up in the last 6 years ,my rent has decreased by 5000 baht ,so as to keep us ,just talking to a friend who said that his landlord put the rent up 1000 baht so they moved to a much nicer place 1000 baht less , everyone i know says that there is a glut and rents are falling ,ok food has risen a little but not much , what are we doing wrong ?

I live in BKK but I frequent Pattaya including this coming weekend, its always nice to get a break from BKK madness.

Hmmm I remember professor Julias Sundermilla talking about vacuums and how they can not be sustained. So that leaves the question ..will pattaya start a stronger downturn which will lead to a property implosion? I think not..... In my opinion only.

[tropo]

I cook for myself now. Saves loads.

You can spend a lot of money cooking for yourself if you prefer imported ingredients.

[tropo]

prices at fuji have gone up a fair bit too, about 10-20%

Yes - I skip Fuji in favour of Sukishi in Central. Very similar Japanese food but the price hasn't hiked up.... yet.

[tropo]

thaimate.

re ... prices have risen ,but not a lot especially compared to how high they have gone in Britain judging by my trip home earlier this year.

i noticed the same in april

petrol in england ... then @ 135 a litre ... now ?

petrol here .. 40 baht or about 85 pence a litre : )

dave2

Petrol isn't that much cheaper here than Australia. Last month in Oz I was paying an average of about 46.5 baht per litre.

[anon8]

After being away for few months this year, I can't say Pattaya has become more expensive. I always rent, so sure, right now property owners are cashing in since lots of Bangkok residents rented the whole town few weeks ago. But that's over now, bkk peeps are returning home and things are back to normal.

Pattaya is as cheap as it was in 2003, cost of living here has not risen at all, it is still a super cheap to live here.. I cant think of a single thing that has gone up in price in 8 years, condo prices excluded

[CGW]

^ Rye sense of humour my electric bill was 1,200 Baht in 2003, closer to 6,000 now at least beer is the same price

[tropo]

After being away for few months this year, I can't say Pattaya has become more expensive. I always rent, so sure, right now property owners are cashing in since lots of Bangkok residents rented the whole town few weeks ago. But that's over now, bkk peeps are returning home and things are back to normal.

Pattaya is as cheap as it was in 2003, cost of living here has not risen at all, it is still a super cheap to live here.. I cant think of a single thing that has gone up in price in 8 years, condo prices excluded

You were getting a very good exchange rate in 2003. Probably nearly 50% more than present day using the USD as a yardstick. Add that to the price increases (you must have a very bad memory if you can't think of one price increase in 8 years) and there's a huge difference between cost of living now and 8 years ago.

[anon8]

If u pay 3 baht per unit, it should be same as it ever was. If u renting, sure, they are asking 10baht per unit now. Just rent where they still ask 7 baht unit, as they try to charge u in most rental places. There is this disturbing trend to charge 10baht per unit, kindly ask them to fukc off at those places with their 10 baht unit, and insist on 7, 7 is farang rental rate per unit

[fredob43]

If u pay 3 baht per unit, it should be same as it ever was. If u renting, sure, they are asking 10baht per unit now. Just rent where they still ask 7 baht unit, as they try to charge u in most rental places. There is this disturbing trend to charge 10baht per unit, kindly ask them to fukc off at those places with their 10 baht unit, and insist on 7, 7 is farang rental rate per unit

I agree on the rent bit, you can still shop around and get one that suit's. But in the last month or so you will find that the price for beer in most bar's has gone up by up to 30%. Food a little less but it's well up. As of last weekend it was. And please don't use that old adage get it in 7/11 and drink at home. I always thought a place to live is where you can indulge in some of the sight's on the odd occasion. If you cant afford to enjoy your life why live there ???

Re Mr Chops post he can live on 200bt a day now let me see rent 3000b a month = 100bt a day + electric water the one fried egg a few scrap's of veg out of the local dustbin what a silly fool of course it can be done. Even better if you get a tent.

Edited November 24, 2011 by fredob43

[thaimate]

If u pay 3 baht per unit, it should be same as it ever was. If u renting, sure, they are asking 10baht per unit now. Just rent where they still ask 7 baht unit, as they try to charge u in most rental places. There is this disturbing trend to charge 10baht per unit, kindly ask them to fukc off at those places with their 10 baht unit, and insist on 7, 7 is farang rental rate per unit

I agree on the rent bit, you can still shop around and get one that suit's. But in the last month or so you will find that the price for beer in most bar's has gone up by up to 30%. Food a little less but it's well up. As of last weekend it was. And please don't use that old adage get it in 7/11 and drink at home. I always thought a place to live is where you can indulge in some of the sight's on the odd occasion. If you cant afford to enjoy your life why live there ???

Re Mr Chops post he can live on 200bt a day now let me see rent 3000b a month = 100bt a day + electric water the one fried egg a few scrap's of veg out of the local dustbin what a silly fool of course it can be done. Even better if you get a tent.

A tent? pure luxuary ,when i was young a cardboard box was all we had to live in.

[CatCage]

If u pay 3 baht per unit, it should be same as it ever was. If u renting, sure, they are asking 10baht per unit now. Just rent where they still ask 7 baht unit, as they try to charge u in most rental places. There is this disturbing trend to charge 10baht per unit, kindly ask them to fukc off at those places with their 10 baht unit, and insist on 7, 7 is farang rental rate per unit

I agree on the rent bit, you can still shop around and get one that suit's. But in the last month or so you will find that the price for beer in most bar's has gone up by up to 30%. Food a little less but it's well up. As of last weekend it was. And please don't use that old adage get it in 7/11 and drink at home. I always thought a place to live is where you can indulge in some of the sight's on the odd occasion. If you cant afford to enjoy your life why live there ???

Re Mr Chops post he can live on 200bt a day now let me see rent 3000b a month = 100bt a day + electric water the one fried egg a few scrap's of veg out of the local dustbin what a silly fool of course it can be done. Even better if you get a tent.

A tent? pure luxuary ,when i was young a cardboard box was all we had to live in.

A cardboard box!! Luxury!! All we had were a paper bag!!

[thaimate]

If u pay 3 baht per unit, it should be same as it ever was. If u renting, sure, they are asking 10baht per unit now. Just rent where they still ask 7 baht unit, as they try to charge u in most rental places. There is this disturbing trend to charge 10baht per unit, kindly ask them to fukc off at those places with their 10 baht unit, and insist on 7, 7 is farang rental rate per unit

I agree on the rent bit, you can still shop around and get one that suit's. But in the last month or so you will find that the price for beer in most bar's has gone up by up to 30%. Food a little less but it's well up. As of last weekend it was. And please don't use that old adage get it in 7/11 and drink at home. I always thought a place to live is where you can indulge in some of the sight's on the odd occasion. If you cant afford to enjoy your life why live there ???

Re Mr Chops post he can live on 200bt a day now let me see rent 3000b a month = 100bt a day + electric water the one fried egg a few scrap's of veg out of the local dustbin what a silly fool of course it can be done. Even better if you get a tent.

A tent? pure luxuary ,when i was young a cardboard box was all we had to live in.

A cardboard box!! Luxury!! All we had were a paper bag!!

luxury, before that it was a hole in the road.!!!

[gk10002000]

Here comes the Monty Python script: "we were so poor..., Used to go home and get up three hours before going to bed and go to work.

[Tolley]

Costs are rising everywhere not just Pattaya.

Still if i compare Pattaya to Australia it is very cheap and most especially for housing.

You can live reasonably well on 60k a month in Pattaya and still have a life.

YOu cant do that in Australia so if you are getting near retirment age and have limited funds Pattaya is still going to look good compared to living in Oz.

[CGW]

After being away for few months this year, I can't say Pattaya has become more expensive. I always rent, so sure, right now property owners are cashing in since lots of Bangkok residents rented the whole town few weeks ago. But that's over now, bkk peeps are returning home and things are back to normal.

Pattaya is as cheap as it was in 2003, cost of living here has not risen at all, it is still a super cheap to live here.. I cant think of a single thing that has gone up in price in 8 years, condo prices excluded

You are being serious? we obviously have Very different lifestyles, EVERYTHING has gone up in price, I live in my own home electric prices have risen vastly, gasoline prices have doubled, gas prices are up 70%, I thought I had seen some ridiculous statements made on this forum but yours has jumped to #1

Yes it is still afordable, but prices have risen, maybe it is cheaper or more expensive than other places in the world, I dont know as have lived here for the past 22 years..............

[BartPattaya]

I've posted this before but it seems it is appropriate to this thread:-

Pattaya on the cheap;-

Cheap Charlie

Once the three of had regrouped some forty minutes laterCharles told his new found acquaintances to follow him to the departure hallignoring the touts and taxi stands in the arrivals hall.

Charles knew that a taxi driver dropping someone off who hadtravelled from the coastal resort would me more likely to accept a lower thanthe going rate fare in preference to returning to his base in what would beotherwise an empty taxi.

The occupants of each taxi stopping at the arrivals hallwere greeted with Charles's single question "Have you come from Pattaya?" Hefound what he was looking for at the fifth attempt. Charles offered 900 bahtfor the privilege of sharing the taxi driver's return trip to Pattaya which wasgratefully accepted.

Three hundred baht each he told his new-found acquaintancesfor what others will be paying B1500 for.

Why not taking the 124 baht bus trip from Suvarnabhumi to Jomtien bus station and take a baht bus for 10 baht to second road and then take a walk? Charlie didnt do his homework

[MB1]

If u pay 3 baht per unit, it should be same as it ever was. If u renting, sure, they are asking 10baht per unit now. Just rent where they still ask 7 baht unit, as they try to charge u in most rental places. There is this disturbing trend to charge 10baht per unit, kindly ask them to fukc off at those places with their 10 baht unit, and insist on 7, 7 is farang rental rate per unit

I agree on the rent bit, you can still shop around and get one that suit's. But in the last month or so you will find that the price for beer in most bar's has gone up by up to 30%. Food a little less but it's well up. As of last weekend it was. And please don't use that old adage get it in 7/11 and drink at home. I always thought a place to live is where you can indulge in some of the sight's on the odd occasion. If you cant afford to enjoy your life why live there ???

Re Mr Chops post he can live on 200bt a day now let me see rent 3000b a month = 100bt a day + electric water the one fried egg a few scrap's of veg out of the local dustbin what a silly fool of course it can be done. Even better if you get a tent.

Yes the price of beer did go up in certain places but is the reason beer went up in price because of the floods, wholesalers put the price up of what stock they had/could get and bar owners had to pay more for the product which meant in many cases the price went up to the customer (supply and demand), only thing is that this is Thailand and when supply gets back to totally normal and production and distribution is back to normal after the floods, will the price of beer (and other things ) go back down to the price they were before the floods, I have my doubts but time will tell.

[thaibeachlovers]

I cook for myself now. Saves loads.

You can spend a lot of money cooking for yourself if you prefer imported ingredients.

Yes. Even a can of imported soup costs more than a meal at a cheap restaurant.

[Hooters]

After being away for few months this year, I can't say Pattaya has become more expensive. I always rent, so sure, right now property owners are cashing in since lots of Bangkok residents rented the whole town few weeks ago. But that's over now, bkk peeps are returning home and things are back to normal.

Pattaya is as cheap as it was in 2003, cost of living here has not risen at all, it is still a super cheap to live here.. I cant think of a single thing that has gone up in price in 8 years, condo prices excluded

You are being serious? we obviously have Very different lifestyles, EVERYTHING has gone up in price, I live in my own home electric prices have risen vastly, gasoline prices have doubled, gas prices are up 70%, I thought I had seen some ridiculous statements made on this forum but yours has jumped to #1

Yes it is still afordable, but prices have risen, maybe it is cheaper or more expensive than other places in the world, I dont know as have lived here for the past 22 years..............

+1

[Darrel]

Why not taking the 124 baht bus trip from Suvarnabhumi to Jomtien bus station and take a baht bus for 10 baht to second road and then take a walk? Charlie didnt do his homework

That's how I do it also. However it's not so good if you arrive outside of service hours, or if you just miss the bus and have to wait a couple of hours, or if you live somewhere way off the bahtbus route.

The other cheap option is the Bell minibus: it's door to door, no matter where you live in town.

Edited November 24, 2011 by Darrel

[Darrel]

Yes the price of beer did go up in certain places but is the reason beer went up in price because of the floods, wholesalers put the price up of what stock they had/could get and bar owners had to pay more for the product which meant in many cases the price went up to the customer (supply and demand), only thing is that this is Thailand and when supply gets back to totally normal and production and distribution is back to normal after the floods, will the price of beer (and other things ) go back down to the price they were before the floods, I have my doubts but time will tell.

None of the supermarkets I use increased beer prices at all. That implies that the wholesalers didnt either.

So anyone charging more is probably just profiteering.

[Upnotover]

Yes the price of beer did go up in certain places but is the reason beer went up in price because of the floods, wholesalers put the price up of what stock they had/could get and bar owners had to pay more for the product which meant in many cases the price went up to the customer (supply and demand), only thing is that this is Thailand and when supply gets back to totally normal and production and distribution is back to normal after the floods, will the price of beer (and other things ) go back down to the price they were before the floods, I have my doubts but time will tell.

None of the supermarkets I use increased beer prices at all. That implies that the wholesalers didnt either.

So anyone charging more is probably just profiteering.

Some maybe, but over on the Darkside all of the wholesalers have increased prices lately, without any consistency, some have one beer, others have another, some have none at all.....but just lately some have started reducing prices, so perhaps things will return to normal in the not too distant future.

[Naam]

You are being serious? we obviously have Very different lifestyles, EVERYTHING has gone up in price, I live in my own home electric prices have risen vastly, gasoline prices have doubled, gas prices are up 70%, I thought I had seen some ridiculous statements made on this forum but yours has jumped to #1

Yes it is still afordable, but prices have risen, maybe it is cheaper or more expensive than other places in the world, I dont know as have lived here for the past 22 years..............

electric prices have not risen since six years. depending mainly on consumption the price varies slightly because of a surcharge. i paid ~4 Baht for 1kWh in 2004 and that's exactly what i am paying now. gasoline prices are strongly dependent on the international price for crude oil which has been fluctuating wildly no matter what a bottle of beer costs in Pattaya.

by the way, it's beyond my grasp that some people consider the price of beer as a part of "living cost"