Is Thailand Really Cheaper For You ?

[poanoi]

That's an easy one for me to answer, <deleted> Walking Bacteria Stew

Edited May 29, 2012 by poanoi

[Ulysses G.]

Hookers arent part of most people's life.

They are In South East Asia.

[Spoonman]

Hookers arent part of most people's life.

In Thailand, hookers are a part of most mens lives.

If they were as cheap and available in the rest of the world, they would be too.

I must not be "most men", hookers here on the grand scale of things rate at about 1% for me and most of all my work colleagues (I say most as they generally do not come up in conversation).

[Hostile17]

So there you have it. Your saving on hookers.

Hookers arent part of most people's life.

Do you even bother reading? I've told you multiple times that even taking the sex workers out of the equation, my lifestyle is much cheaper than it would be back home.

You can use weasel words like "decent level of lifestyle" and define it however you like to match up with your preferences, but don't think that your definition applies to more than a small number of posters here, as has been made clear by many others besides myself.

Give it up, you're wrong if you're trying to generalize.

Your lifestyle.

Does not mean that the country is cheaper.

The topic asks if thailand is cheaper. It's not. It's just the lifestyle you chose that is cheap.

If people posted real pictures of what they rent instead of blabbing about the number of rooms, we'd see dumps that would be burned to the ground in the west

[SimonD]

...

If people posted real pictures of what they rent instead of blabbing about the number of rooms, we'd see dumps that would be burned to the ground in the west

You're not from Wales by any chance, are you?

[cooked]

...just a naive person, sir, why did you choose the name Hostile? Aren't those the ones that the cowboys used to shoot on sight? You may have a good standard of living here, I wonder if it's the same as you would have back home. Take a deep breath now, when you answer, remember that you are talking to a fellow human being and not necessarily a f***** idiot. And try not to snarl or use words like blab, ignorant or stupid in your answers, that is very rude indeed, goodness me. I can be rude on occasion if needs be but I try to keep the unpleasant side of my character under control, I'm sure you can manage that too.

[onionluke]

...just a naive person, sir, why did you choose the name Hostile? Aren't those the ones that the cowboys used to shoot on sight? You may have a good standard of living here, I wonder if it's the same as you would have back home. Take a deep breath now, when you answer, remember that you are talking to a fellow human being and not necessarily a f***** idiot. And try not to snarl or use words like blab, ignorant or stupid in your answers, that is very rude indeed, goodness me. I can be rude on occasion if needs be but I try to keep the unpleasant side of my character under control, I'm sure you can manage that too.

It's probably just a teenage thing . Pouty 16 ? Rebel 15 ? Know it all 18 ? Gad help us .

[brit1984]

If people posted real pictures of what they rent instead of blabbing about the number of rooms, we'd see dumps that would be burned to the ground in the west

We pay 250k baht/month for a 600 SQM detached house in central Bangkok

In central London, a property like this would rent for + 1 million baht/month

[SimonD]

Don't feed the trolls, Brit84.

Play with them, yes.

But don't feed them.

What next? Personal photographs on demand?

[cooked]

very nice house though, droool. We may be going off topic slightly here...

[Hostile17]

If people posted real pictures of what they rent instead of blabbing about the number of rooms, we'd see dumps that would be burned to the ground in the west

We pay 250k baht/month for a 600 SQM detached house in central Bangkok

In central London, a property like this would rent for + 1 million baht/month

you're still comparing with one of the worst countries in the western world.

You could get similar house in one of canada's larger cities for the same price. Better standard in the house though.

Keep in mind central bangkok is huge, living in a 6km away suburb in canada is pretty much the same as the subway comes through.

Personally i know that the same exact house would cost about 150k baht in westmount montreal. An area for rich people of english decent.

infact i know of one buddhist laotian temple in montreal who has a similar house to yours, for about 80k per month. Little larger but no pool. couple corners away from the subway.

Edited May 29, 2012 by Hostile17

[HardenedSoul]

Must be a way to ignore posts from this sucka

[nocturn]

I guess Montreal is behind other canadian cities(except vancouver which is suposed to be amazing to live in) and a few other cities because of who makes the list(snobs and fat bloggers who've never left their small town). But pretty much any canadian city will be cheaper than bangkok/pattaya/phuket and offer everything in better quality. Also you're never more than 35mins by car from an amazing scenery/trekking spot/top notch mountain anywhere in canada.

Everyone i see defending thailand in most threads are either germans or from the UK.. Aren't these the 2 western countries with the worst/least culture? I have never heard anyone wanting to visit those countries for more than a week each, after that they've seen everything and are quite bored with it.

As a Canadian, I'd have to say you're full of merde. No city in Ca is cheaper than any city in LoS.

As for UK and Deutschland: ever heard of Shakespeare, Tallis, Elgar, Thomas Mann, Beethoven and Bach, to name a minuscule number of cultural icons by any global standard. (Granted there has also been Tony Bliar and Mr A Hilter.)

Whereas Canada can offer...erm....erm...well, how about, erm....

To argue as Hostile has that the UK and Germany have no culture is so farcical that it's not even worth addressing.

Canada has Mordecai Richler, fantastic novelist in my view.

Robertson Davies is better in my opinion.

[henry2109]

The Big Mac index is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity: in the long run, exchange rates should adjust to equal the price of a basket of goods and services in different countries. This particular basket holds a McDonald's Big Mac, whose price around the world is compared with its American average of $4.20. According to burgernomics the Swiss franc is a meaty 62% overvalued. The exchange rate that would equalise the price of a Swiss Big Mac with an American one is SFr1.55 to the dollar; the actual exchange rate is only 0.96. The cheapest burger is found in India, costing just $1.62.

However, it is not all about the exchange rate, it is rather about the living cost. Out of this index you can also read where life is cheap and where it is expensive. Before I moved to Thailand, I lived in Switzerland. In my view, the living cost in Thailand - for the same lifestyle - are approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of Switzerlands cost. So let us compare the price of a BigMac in some countries, all amounts in USD:

- Thailand: 2.46

- USA: 4.20

- Eurozone: 4.43

- Switzerland: 6.81

[MrRealDeal]

test

[brit1984]

Don't feed the trolls, Brit84.

Play with them, yes.

But don't feed them.

What next? Personal photographs on demand?

Don't worry, nothing too private about our place; we are going to use it for a business soon anyway so there will be photos all over the www...

[brit1984]

If people posted real pictures of what they rent instead of blabbing about the number of rooms, we'd see dumps that would be burned to the ground in the west

We pay 250k baht/month for a 600 SQM detached house in central Bangkok

In central London, a property like this would rent for + 1 million baht/month

you're still comparing with one of the worst countries in the western world.

You could get similar house in one of canada's larger cities for the same price. Better standard in the house though.

Keep in mind central bangkok is huge, living in a 6km away suburb in canada is pretty much the same as the subway comes through.

Personally i know that the same exact house would cost about 150k baht in westmount montreal. An area for rich people of english decent.

infact i know of one buddhist laotian temple in montreal who has a similar house to yours, for about 80k per month. Little larger but no pool. couple corners away from the subway.

I think Montreal is more comparable in size and national/global significance to Chiang Mai than Bangkok

Regardless I am surprised and impressed at how cheap Montreal is, according to you

Would you mind posting links or photos of these amazing houses with fantastic interiors?

[MrRealDeal]

What I was trying to find out was not if a Big Mack is cheaper but if people spent more money for reasons like ...their is simply more to do , they saved for a long period of time just to spend more later , They felt spending back home was a waste so they were frugal back home just so they could spend it here , ect ect ....

Seems as though the answer is an overwhelming NO ! lol

I guess I am the outlier because I do spend more in Thailand, and do it on purpose for the above reasons and a few more I guess.

Yeah things CAN be cheap but it doesn't mean that no one has changed to a more affluent spending lifestyle ...... Just pretty much no one on this thread I guess !

Anyhow thank you for the comments and taking the time to inform me about your way of life in Thailand.

It did help me, although not a scientifc sampling, to increase my belief that 99 percent of the people in the world are either spenders or savers and moving to another place thats less expensive rarely leads to savings in the bank but to spending pretty much 100 percent of what people spent before just on different or better things. You might think that's pretty obvious but you never know until you ask. I didn't hear anyone saying they lived in the same basic way so they could spend more on the grankids christmass gifts for example ! Or moved to save some to invest ect. That is what I mainly wanted to know.

And of course money is to be used to enjoy anyhow so it's not a suprise.

[brit1984]

The Big Mac index is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity: in the long run, exchange rates should adjust to equal the price of a basket of goods and services in different countries. This particular basket holds a McDonald's Big Mac, whose price around the world is compared with its American average of $4.20. According to burgernomics the Swiss franc is a meaty 62% overvalued. The exchange rate that would equalise the price of a Swiss Big Mac with an American one is SFr1.55 to the dollar; the actual exchange rate is only 0.96. The cheapest burger is found in India, costing just $1.62.

However, it is not all about the exchange rate, it is rather about the living cost. Out of this index you can also read where life is cheap and where it is expensive. Before I moved to Thailand, I lived in Switzerland. In my view, the living cost in Thailand - for the same lifestyle - are approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of Switzerlands cost. So let us compare the price of a BigMac in some countries, all amounts in USD:

- Thailand: 2.46

- USA: 4.20

- Eurozone: 4.43

- Switzerland: 6.81

Indeed, I think I mentioned the Big Mac index earlier in the thread

It is a great way to objectively compare living costs between different countries

In Thailand, one can buy a Double Big Mac for less than a Big Mac in the UK

[theblether]

What I was trying to find out was not if a Big Mack is cheaper but if people spent more money for reasons like ...their is simply more to do , they saved for a long period of time just to spend more later , They felt spending back home was a waste so they were frugal back home just so they could spend it here , ect ect ....

Seems as though the answer is an overwhelming NO ! lol

I guess I am the outlier because I do spend more in Thailand, and do it on purpose for the above reasons and a few more I guess.

Yeah things CAN be cheap but it doesn't mean that no one has changed to a more affluent spending lifestyle ...... Just pretty much no one on this thread I guess !

Anyhow thank you for the comments and taking the time to inform me about your way of life in Thailand.

It did help me, although not a scientifc sampling, to increase my belief that 99 percent of the people in the world are either spenders or savers and moving to another place thats less expensive rarely leads to savings in the bank but to spending pretty much 100 percent of what people spent before just on different or better things. You might think that's pretty obvious but you never know until you ask. I didn't hear anyone saying they lived in the same basic way so they could spend more on the grankids christmass gifts for example ! Or moved to save some to invest ect. That is what I mainly wanted to know.

And of course money is to be used to enjoy anyhow so it's not a suprise.

From my relatively limited experience you can live cheap or you can live expensive, up to you however!!! You can live cheap and enjoy it, unlike most places in the West.

You can get a functional room, make it as clean as you want it to be, and eat plenty of delicious food every day and still get change out of 10,000 baht every month. You walk outside into some beautiful scenery, lovely weather, and content yourself with your surroundings.

Before people start flaming me, there are plenty of Thais living on less than 10K a month, it can be done. The difference is here you would get some joy out of it, living in most Western countries on that kind of money you would be impoverished and miserable.

Just sayin'

[brit1984]

What I was trying to find out was not if a Big Mack is cheaper but if people spent more money for reasons like ...their is simply more to do , they saved for a long period of time just to spend more later , They felt spending back home was a waste so they were frugal back home just so they could spend it here , ect ect ....

Seems as though the answer is an overwhelming NO ! lol

I guess I am the outlier because I do spend more in Thailand, and do it on purpose for the above reasons and a few more I guess.

Yeah things CAN be cheap but it doesn't mean that no one has changed to a more affluent spending lifestyle ...... Just pretty much no one on this thread I guess !

Anyhow thank you for the comments and taking the time to inform me about your way of life in Thailand.

It did help me, although not a scientifc sampling, to increase my belief that 99 percent of the people in the world are either spenders or savers and moving to another place thats less expensive rarely leads to savings in the bank but to spending pretty much 100 percent of what people spent before just on different or better things. You might think that's pretty obvious but you never know until you ask. I didn't hear anyone saying they lived in the same basic way so they could spend more on the grankids christmass gifts for example ! Or moved to save some to invest ect. That is what I mainly wanted to know.

And of course money is to be used to enjoy anyhow so it's not a suprise.

I think a few people did mention that they are saving more in Thailand than they would be back home

In general though, as you pointed out, most posters have said they have a better lifestyle here

I have a better lifestyle here and save more (or will do after the contract ends for the place we rent in London)

The most interesting revelation of this thread, in my opinion, is how cheap it (apparently) is in Canada

[MrRealDeal]

Canada has huge diversity as well , I ended up in chinatown once and the gas pumps were in Chineese ! City, country, French, speaking english ect ..... It's a pretty cool country overall

[Hostile17]

The Big Mac index is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity: in the long run, exchange rates should adjust to equal the price of a basket of goods and services in different countries. This particular basket holds a McDonald's Big Mac, whose price around the world is compared with its American average of $4.20. According to burgernomics the Swiss franc is a meaty 62% overvalued. The exchange rate that would equalise the price of a Swiss Big Mac with an American one is SFr1.55 to the dollar; the actual exchange rate is only 0.96. The cheapest burger is found in India, costing just $1.62.

However, it is not all about the exchange rate, it is rather about the living cost. Out of this index you can also read where life is cheap and where it is expensive. Before I moved to Thailand, I lived in Switzerland. In my view, the living cost in Thailand - for the same lifestyle - are approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of Switzerlands cost. So let us compare the price of a BigMac in some countries, all amounts in USD:

- Thailand: 2.46

- USA: 4.20

- Eurozone: 4.43

- Switzerland: 6.81

funny enough, a bigmac set is the same price in most mcdonalds in thailand than in canada if you dont count the tax

keep in mind you get more fries/coke in canada than here as well.

[Hostile17]

Canada has huge diversity as well , I ended up in chinatown once and the gas pumps were in Chineese ! City, country, French, speaking english ect ..... It's a pretty cool country overall

dont forget, the hookers are the same price for all the upstanding men who seem to be posting in this thread.

Edited May 29, 2012 by Hostile17

[theblether]

Canada has huge diversity as well , I ended up in chinatown once and the gas pumps were in Chineese ! City, country, French, speaking english ect ..... It's a pretty cool country overall

dont forget, the hookers are the same price for all the upstanding men who seem to be posting in this thread.

Obsession by Hostile17,

[KeyserSoze01]

seriously whats with the reading comprehension levels of 2 year olds among thaivisa members?

You live in the middle of nowhere. You'd get the same thing in the middle of utah or nebraska for the same price. If you need to cut some prices down, you get a mexican to do it.

and cmon those who say you can fix up a rental. It's a rental. It's not yours. Fixing someone's elses house for a year or 2? hell no.

Delusion of the sexpat i call it.

You can say you love living in thailand, but you cant say its cheaper. Those who close their eyes and justify their reason to live here as the cheaper cost are here for the girls and nothing else.

Rubbish, or <deleted> if you like. Blinkered or what.

At least he lives up to his namesake.

[theblether]

seriously whats with the reading comprehension levels of 2 year olds among thaivisa members?

You live in the middle of nowhere. You'd get the same thing in the middle of utah or nebraska for the same price. If you need to cut some prices down, you get a mexican to do it.

and cmon those who say you can fix up a rental. It's a rental. It's not yours. Fixing someone's elses house for a year or 2? hell no.

Delusion of the sexpat i call it.

You can say you love living in thailand, but you cant say its cheaper. Those who close their eyes and justify their reason to live here as the cheaper cost are here for the girls and nothing else.

Rubbish, or <deleted> if you like. Blinkered or what.

At least he lives up to his namesake.

Someone should sign him up for the " Art of Being a Good Troll " class, maybe I'll buy it for him for his Christmas

[brit1984]

Canada has huge diversity as well , I ended up in chinatown once and the gas pumps were in Chineese ! City, country, French, speaking english ect ..... It's a pretty cool country overall

dont forget, the hookers are the same price for all the upstanding men who seem to be posting in this thread.

How do you know?

[Ulysses G.]

just having sex with a better looking girl than you can usualy get is not that fun.

I suspect you haven't had relationships with many women

Hence all the deluded beliefs.

[boogie]

The Big Mac index is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity: in the long run, exchange rates should adjust to equal the price of a basket of goods and services in different countries. This particular basket holds a McDonald's Big Mac, whose price around the world is compared with its American average of $4.20. According to burgernomics the Swiss franc is a meaty 62% overvalued. The exchange rate that would equalise the price of a Swiss Big Mac with an American one is SFr1.55 to the dollar; the actual exchange rate is only 0.96. The cheapest burger is found in India, costing just $1.62.

However, it is not all about the exchange rate, it is rather about the living cost. Out of this index you can also read where life is cheap and where it is expensive. Before I moved to Thailand, I lived in Switzerland. In my view, the living cost in Thailand - for the same lifestyle - are approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of Switzerlands cost. So let us compare the price of a BigMac in some countries, all amounts in USD:

- Thailand: 2.46

- USA: 4.20

- Eurozone: 4.43

- Switzerland: 6.81

funny enough, a bigmac set is the same price in most mcdonalds in thailand than in canada if you dont count the tax

keep in mind you get more fries/coke in canada than here as well.

How can you not count the tax ! What you pay is what you pay .They'd be even cheaper in Canada if you don't count the cost of the burger , the fries and the coke !