Cost Of Living In Thailand - Our Actual Monthly Spend

[letitbe]

300/meal @ 15 meals/month = 4500

Dry & canned food, plus that "Cesar" stuff for the little guy = no idea

Dry food = 1200/month

Canned = 80/can * 20 cans = 1600

Cesar = 43/month * 30 cans = 1290

TOTAL: 4100/month

Treats = say 2000/month

yaa hep (flea & tick medicine you put on the back of their neck) = 2 times/month @ 450 = 900/month

Shampoo, flea powder, etc. = 400/month

Vet visits + medication = They're not sick every month, so average it out at 1000/month

TOTAL: 12,900/month

You spend more than double my monthly family food bill (five people) on your dogs !!!!!

you spend less feeding your family than i do feeding my chickens, goats and cow but eggs are great goats milk makes great yogurt and cow gives us all we need for expensive cheese and the rest. Our dogs get the leftovers and cost nothing to feed and love the cheese and yogurt but not keen on surplus eggs.

[brit1984]

I think those who spend little but criticise those who spend lots are jealous.

I think those who spend lots but criticise those who spend little are jealous.

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

[cooked]

total BS and totally stupid. 1 month weve monitored our spending for 10 years and with 2 kids at good school, medical, trips abroad, 2 cars and rest its not possible for less than 250,000 baht a month. Our elec bill alone is near 10,000 but we do have 8 air cons. We go out about once a month and if we go out ot eat its around 1,000 baht for 4 of us. Weve just spent 40,000 replacing 2 air/cons, 30,000 on a minor medical op for one of our children, paid 32,000 for a new set of tyres for one of our cars and 210,000 for 4 return air tickets to USA and thats in 1 month. Not a typical month but this is just total crap.

I used to live in a leaking box at end of sewer and ate shit .......... but these days thnak god I can live like a proper human being. Now if I lived with my mother in law thai style I can live fine in middle of nowhere for 10,000 baht or less a month for 4 of us. We do however choose to live a western lifestyle here while still doing a lot of thai things and that is often far more expensive than in west.

deary deary me we are getting into a state aren't we?

You are insulting a lot of people writing stuff like this and on top of that you are making yourself look like an idiot. It's ok if you feel like you need to live much better here than you would in the shit hole - is that the right word? that you came from or rather emerged from.

I won't go into the details of how I live with my wife but we do ok. You are talking about a budget that would see you very well indeed in Geneva, one of the most expensive towns in the world.

I don't hate people that claim to need huge insane sums to live (and thereby inflate their own importance in their own eyes) and don't see why you should come to Thailand with the the intention of living like a Westerner and then boasting about how much you have to spend here. Maybe if guys like you could keep the hate and venom and denial of facts out of your sermons, maybe other people could take you seriously.

[letitbe]

not this shit again - it coasts from 5000 baht to 500,000 baht + a month depending on your lifestyle. If your expecting here to be cheaper forget it. YOu will learn if you have kids are older want a western lifestyle you can live for same in west. Ok all you who live in a shithole and live like kings on 20,000 a month start talking crap as usual. To live a nice life here with house and cars paid and no school fees or serious medical bills will be for a couple around 100,000 baht a month or same as in UK and caveat is you've paid for house and no school fees or large medical costs. Ok youll have a maid here which you wont have in west but standard of life will be much same. WIth wife 2 kids and rest youll need 150,000 +

1/2 million thb a month? Now you are just being silly. That is nearly 200,000USD a year.

no shitting you we know people who spend that here and for uk its only around 120k gbp a year and when we lived in UK or USA knew people spending double that and more. We never spent it not want to but I assure you its not silly. I guess youve never been in a restaurant here costing 40,000 baht + for a party of 4 and thats with just normal wine but I assure you they exist. I also guess youve never met anyone paying 120,000 baht + a month rent but we know 2 couples paying that and school fees at top school in BKK is around 100,000 baht a month for 2 kids not that we can afford that or anything like that. We spend 200-250,000 baht a month live very well but not Hiso lifestyle with most going on education for 2 kids and a lot on my medical costs.

[letitbe]

total BS and totally stupid. 1 month weve monitored our spending for 10 years and with 2 kids at good school, medical, trips abroad, 2 cars and rest its not possible for less than 250,000 baht a month. Our elec bill alone is near 10,000 but we do have 8 air cons. We go out about once a month and if we go out ot eat its around 1,000 baht for 4 of us. Weve just spent 40,000 replacing 2 air/cons, 30,000 on a minor medical op for one of our children, paid 32,000 for a new set of tyres for one of our cars and 210,000 for 4 return air tickets to USA and thats in 1 month. Not a typical month but this is just total crap.

I used to live in a leaking box at end of sewer and ate shit .......... but these days thnak god I can live like a proper human being. Now if I lived with my mother in law thai style I can live fine in middle of nowhere for 10,000 baht or less a month for 4 of us. We do however choose to live a western lifestyle here while still doing a lot of thai things and that is often far more expensive than in west.

deary deary me we are getting into a state aren't we?

You are insulting a lot of people writing stuff like this and on top of that you are making yourself look like an idiot. It's ok if you feel like you need to live much better here than you would in the shit hole - is that the right word? that you came from or rather emerged from.

I won't go into the details of how I live with my wife but we do ok. You are talking about a budget that would see you very well indeed in Geneva, one of the most expensive towns in the world.

I don't hate people that claim to need huge insane sums to live (and thereby inflate their own importance in their own eyes) and don't see why you should come to Thailand with the the intention of living like a Westerner and then boasting about how much you have to spend here. Maybe if guys like you could keep the hate and venom and denial of facts out of your sermons, maybe other people could take you seriously.

ive lived in Zurich and a decent apartment therein centre costs years ago around 200,000 baht a month and that was not something special. Just do a google on rents in London chelsea, new york, top BKK places. Are you for real thinking 500,000 baht or so is a lot. I cant afford that anymore but I know lots of people who spend that and more. Your a complete idiot sorry to say. Who cares what you think im giving real facts which is not what you need to live but if you or anyone thinks your going to live like kings here on peanuts you are brain dead.

[brit1984]

For clarification...

There are people in Thailand spending zero baht per month.

There are people in Thailand spending millions of baht per month.

[GreenSnapper]

For clarification...

There are people in Thailand spending zero baht per month.

There are people in Thailand spending millions of baht per month.

Some sophisticated philosophical insights here......

[PaullyW]

Spend about 70,000 Baht per month on average.

Only 15K is apartment. Most if actually food. Like halfway decent (but grossly expensive) imported Australian beef. I can't develop a taste for that "Soi cow" Thai beef. Tastes like beef jerky.

[ChiangMai101]

What about deodorant, feminine hygiene products, skin care, a bit of make up, some clothing, a visit to the hairdresser, mozzie repellant, insecticide, shoes, handbags, massages, a manicure.... telephone calls...

[cooked]

Right, idiot maybe, but not a complete idiot.. I no longer live in Zürich but I know about the kind of apartments you can rent there for this kind of money. Let me repeat some of the words that you have used here: 'complete idiot', 'bullshit' and 'brain dead'. Try to put your arguments in a rational fashion so that you don't merely arouse aggression in people that are trying to discuss things with you.

I never said you can live like a queen, as you obviously are, on much less, I would have said if I had thought it worthwhile, that you can live well enough on much less. If you answer, let's keep any future insults out of it, shall we?

[letitbe]

For clarification...

There are people in Thailand spending zero baht per month.

There are people in Thailand spending millions of baht per month.

spot on and people spending zero cant understand people spending 50-100,000 and people spending 1 million cant understand how anyone can live on less which is why these threads are total BS

[Jayman]

For clarification...

There are people in Thailand spending zero baht per month.

There are people in Thailand spending millions of baht per month.

spot on and people spending zero cant understand people spending 50-100,000 and people spending 1 million cant understand how anyone can live on less which is why these threads are total BS

What's BS is how you have taken over this thread. The OP is showing what they actually paid (according to them). What's so BS about that?

[letitbe]

Right, idiot maybe, but not a complete idiot.. I no longer live in Zürich but I know about the kind of apartments you can rent there for this kind of money. Let me repeat some of the words that you have used here: 'complete idiot', 'bullshit' and 'brain dead'. Try to put your arguments in a rational fashion so that you don't merely arouse aggression in people that are trying to discuss things with you.

I never said you can live like a queen, as you obviously are, on much less, I would have said if I had thought it worthwhile, that you can live well enough on much less. If you answer, let's keep any future insults out of it, shall we?

ok so you know people can spend 500,000 baht a month easily instead of saying thats silly. So trying to claim some people here dont spend 500,000 a month is being an idiot brain dead and rest. And yes when I lived in Zurich 500,000 baht a month a mere what then would be around 2500 pound a month would not get you much of a place or pay a fraction of bills but to be fair you did get around 4 swiss franks to gbp then. YOu cannot live here for a good western standard with a family and 2 kids in bangkok or any major city in Thailand on less than around 150-250,000 baht a month. Thats unless your sending your kids to a crap school, eating mama noodles most of the time or living in a shall we say not so good place and riding a motorbike, dont ever go on holidays and dont have a maid and no air/con no steaks no decent booze. Need I go on. You might live on peanuts but some of us if we can prefer to live quite well while not in jet set category and 150,000 baht a month does not put you anywhere near a HiSO life

Is that clear enough explanation and apologies but im totally pissed off with the I live like a king on 2 baht a day brigade or I live great with my 2 wifes, 3 kids and rest on 40,000 baht or less total crap.

[DP25]

These threads are hilarious. There are always a couple 1-2 percenters that seem down right ANGRY that not everyone is spending $10,000 per month in Thailand, and barely scraping by at that! Some people seem out of touch with how 95% of the population lives, not just in Thailand, but in their own country as well.

[letitbe]

spot on and people spending zero cant understand people spending 50-100,000 and people spending 1 million cant understand how anyone can live on less which is why these threads are total BS

What's BS is how you have taken over this thread. The OP is showing what they actually paid (according to them). What's so BS about tha

because they are missing out as some have posted tons of things so its just BS.

[letitbe]

These threads are hilarious. There are always a couple 1-2 percenters that seem down right ANGRY that not everyone is spending $10,000 per month in Thailand, and barely scraping by at that! Some people seem out of touch with how 95% of the population lives, not just in Thailand, but in their own country as well.

i know exactly how 95% live but its not life its slavery IMO

[letitbe]

These threads are hilarious. There are always a couple 1-2 percenters that seem down right ANGRY that not everyone is spending $10,000 per month in Thailand, and barely scraping by at that! Some people seem out of touch with how 95% of the population lives, not just in Thailand, but in their own country as well.

These threads are hilarious. There are always a couple 1-2 percenters that seem down right ANGRY that not everyone is spending $10,000 per month in Thailand, and barely scraping by at that! Some people seem out of touch with how 95% of the population lives, not just in Thailand, but in their own country as well.

have you ever considered that 99% of wage salves who spent all their lives ending up on 5,000 or 500,000 a month a month or more are still not caught 100% in same serfdom they have already been in. The fact that many think because they have escaped their servitude and can scrape bye on 30,000 baht or so here is IMO silly. Which is why this thread is BS. The problem is so many think they can come here live well on nothing and then post BS saying how well they live on 30,000 a month for 1 month or even 1-2 years is simply stupid. AS many have pointed out you are doing no favours claiming this is anything other than bare living. In 20 odd years here ive seen to many forang fall into that trap and then to late regret it bitterly later. I have friends in UK and USA who live on less than 30,000 baht a month and are perfectly happy but id not choose to live like that. Of course in USA and Uk at moment if youre paid your house since properly tax in UK is nil if low income (council tax paid by government mostly), free schools, free medical, free buses and rest you can also live fine as a single or couple on that. Wait a bit and tell me in 10-15 years you can live cheaper here you cant if you want a western lifestyle.

[tombkk]

A bitching contest has been removed from sight. Please keep it civil.

Taking the mod hat off now, this is my personal opinion:

Fact is (and not only in Thailand) that some people need more, others less money to lead a life that they themselves enjoy.

[balo]

It is the same discussion over and over again.

My budget in Bangkok is 30k , with everything included , rent, electricity, internet , food, drinks. I do not own a car or bike. I do not own a dog or a cat.

Still I feel I live a good life, eating out almost daily , not only Thai food.

I pay extra for health insurance, visas and travel. Thats it. Still a good life.

[Darrel]

The OP gave some interesting details about his expenditure and lifestyle, but I am curious about his income and the legal conditions of his stay here.

He doesn't seem to be of retirement age and doesn't seem to qualify for a marriage visa (both of which would require income or capital anyway).

So I'm wondering if he works officially and has a WP, or works unofficially and gets tourist visas in neighbouring countries (what will be do after a year or so of those? and what about the cost of border runs?), or has an ED visa (what about the cost of that?) or maybe he just has some money put by. If it's the latter, I'm wondering what he will do if/when that runs out?

I'm retired here so my visa costs next to nothing and I dont have to do border runs etc. I spend under 14KB on accommodation (nice sea-view condo, aircon on much of the time but set to a sensible level), and probably about the same again on everything else (eating out every day twice a day, sometimes for 60B sometimes for 500B, beers in, beers out etc). But I have enough money in the bank to pay for this for far longer than I could possibly live for.

[Darrel]

No rent. Own house.

There is more to this calculation (and also to that of a renter).

If you rent you dont pay for maintenance, depreciation, property tax, common fees etc. Also you may earn interest on the value of the property you are living in because you have put the equivalent sum into the bank. I earn just under 4% on the money I have in the bank here, and I pay just under 4% of the asking price of my condo as rent. And my owner pays all the building fees.

If you buy you lose the interest you might have been getting at the bank, you assume all the maintenance costs for yourself, you pay the property taxes/common fees if applicable, you may (or may not) benefit from an increasing capital value of the property or indeed you could be hit with a decreasing capital value. But you dont pay rent.

[KNJ]

Why oh why does it always come down to these same old arguments.

Let’s try and differentiate and get a sensible view on this.

Being single is cheaper and allows more options than being married.

Being married with children of school age will be expensive.

If you are an expat employee with benefits you can live like a king and the company will pay for housing, schooling and a car.

If you are an expat employee with benefits paid in cash, you have it made. ( when I was in BKK for 4 years in the late 90’s my housing allowance paid for the condo in a little over two years,( and car in less than a year ) – which was part financed by a mortgage from a Thai bank )

If you are not an expat employee those items are going to cost you a lot, probably ( school almost certainly ) than your native country

Next if you are self sponsoring ( no expat company benefits ) a lot depends on your family status, as well as your perceived lifestyle you desire

Singles and couples have it the easiest, the most choice over lifestyle.

Let us not ignore initial set up costs, moving, medical, car purchase, rent payment furniture visa, bank deposits ( for retirees ).

Let us not also forget those costs which are one time once a year for example insurance, car, house and medical and maybe visa runs, school fees, the list goes on

Then there are adhoc things, overseas trips, clothes etc.

Then there are the more non essentials, fishing trips, golf ( lose 100 balls a year and that is another 200USD ) let alone teh playing cost, cinema, presents ( wedding, xmas etc )

In terms of food there are those happy to live almost 100% Thai cuisine, others 100% western, and everything in between

Then housing. If you are married to a local lass or want your own condo or house then that is a big set up cost, plus maintenance, BUT no rent each month, Bearing in mindthat the rental proce is a small percentage of teh value of teh property that is why many choose to rent rather than buy.

What constitutes suitable housing is part decided by location and budget part by lifestyle choice.

If you are a single guy then a small apartment at 5000 THB a month is fine, but if you are married with two kids wanting to go to international school and be close to that, then a 4 bedroom house with swimming pool in Phuket or BKK is going to be 100 000 THB plus.

The point is we have a mixture of all of these in terms of TV posters.

Just accept it as what it is.

Those who are happy to live a local lifestyle with minimal insurance, and basic transport ignoring annual, adhoc costs can live cheaply. I fear that for some posters that is dictated by minimal cash reserves ( read small British pension only – not inflation linked ) For this same group of people inflation is a very real issue, especially as people live longer ( pleasant lifestyle in Thailand ) things will become more difficult, if that is all they have.

For others many times the huge costs are company sponsored, lest forget that. For others who have money, whether earnt, investments, inheritance or whatever do not feel jealous, they have it so deal with it. It is theirs to do as they please. If they have sufficient at some stage in their lives to spend 250 000 THB a month without touching teh initial capital then good luck to them. It only requires assets of 2 MUSD to generate that income safely. That may sound a lot, but someone selling a house in London or New York, someone who has invested early in life in long term saving plans, someone who has inherited it is not that much in reality.

Please stop bickering and think about this whatever your personal situation

[GreenSnapper]

spot on and people spending zero cant understand people spending 50-100,000 and people spending 1 million cant understand how anyone can live on less which is why these threads are total BS

What's BS is how you have taken over this thread. The OP is showing what they actually paid (according to them). What's so BS about tha

because they are missing out as some have posted tons of things so its just BS.

Why must you be so angry?

I'm in a similar boat as you. While I have no wife/kids, I need 100K in Bangkok, not including travel/shopping. And that is by far not a HiSo lifestyle. Actually in many ways my quality of life is well below that when I lived in Europe.

BUT: when I was younger, and came the first time to Asia, I lived like a beggar, stayed in the most crappy places you can imagine, only ate street food, only used cheapest public transport, never drunk beer (too expensive).... and had a lot of fun!

This young OP couple is just doing the modern version of it. It is an adventure for them as it was for me at that time. Actually they lead a much more luxurious lifestyle than what I had in my early years in Asia. They have a house, car, even a quality dog. Quite above mere existing.

So bear with them. They surely have a lot of fun, but some day it will become boring and they will move on with their lives. As we all have done.

[tombkk]

Some off-topic posts and replies have been removed from sight.

[samsiam]

I think those who spend little but criticise those who spend lots are jealous.

I think those who spend lots but criticise those who spend little are jealous.

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

I think you spent to much on your iphone

[brit1984]

I think those who spend little but criticise those who spend lots are jealous.

I think those who spend lots but criticise those who spend little are jealous.

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

I think you spent to much on your iphone

I think your jealous

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

[Gary A]

When I was single and living in Jomtien, I spent about 40,000 baht per month of which most was for entertainment. I own my condo so I paid no rent.

Now I really don't know what it costs because I live in my wife's house and she calculates the household expenses at 25,000 per month. I give her 30,000 so she has some spending money. She pays all the utilities including my Internet, food, buys our clothes and my cigarettes. I pay my own bar bills which likely average about 1,000 baht per month. I used to rent out my condo but now use it for my occasional visits to see my Jomtien friends. It's great to have a nice place to stay rather than staying in a hotel. I would hate to have to live within a budget and as it works out, living exactly as I choose, I spend about half my monthly pension incomes.

I am now self insured as far as my health insurance. My policy could not be cancelled because of my age but nothing was said about pricing me out as far as the premiums. I feel pretty safe because I have my 401K pension plan as a nest egg.

[tinfoilhat]

It is the same discussion over and over again.

you have just stumbled on to the definition of thavisa in general and the general forum in particular.

[tinfoilhat]

Why oh why does it always come down to these same old arguments.

Let’s try and differentiate and get a sensible view on this.

Being single is cheaper and allows more options than being married.

Being married with children of school age will be expensive.

If you are an expat employee with benefits you can live like a king and the company will pay for housing, schooling and a car.

If you are an expat employee with benefits paid in cash, you have it made. ( when I was in BKK for 4 years in the late 90’s my housing allowance paid for the condo in a little over two years,( and car in less than a year ) – which was part financed by a mortgage from a Thai bank )

If you are not an expat employee those items are going to cost you a lot, probably ( school almost certainly ) than your native country

Next if you are self sponsoring ( no expat company benefits ) a lot depends on your family status, as well as your perceived lifestyle you desire

Singles and couples have it the easiest, the most choice over lifestyle.

Let us not ignore initial set up costs, moving, medical, car purchase, rent payment furniture visa, bank deposits ( for retirees ).

Let us not also forget those costs which are one time once a year for example insurance, car, house and medical and maybe visa runs, school fees, the list goes on

Then there are adhoc things, overseas trips, clothes etc.

Then there are the more non essentials, fishing trips, golf ( lose 100 balls a year and that is another 200USD ) let alone teh playing cost, cinema, presents ( wedding, xmas etc )

In terms of food there are those happy to live almost 100% Thai cuisine, others 100% western, and everything in between

Then housing. If you are married to a local lass or want your own condo or house then that is a big set up cost, plus maintenance, BUT no rent each month, Bearing in mindthat the rental proce is a small percentage of teh value of teh property that is why many choose to rent rather than buy.

What constitutes suitable housing is part decided by location and budget part by lifestyle choice.

If you are a single guy then a small apartment at 5000 THB a month is fine, but if you are married with two kids wanting to go to international school and be close to that, then a 4 bedroom house with swimming pool in Phuket or BKK is going to be 100 000 THB plus.

The point is we have a mixture of all of these in terms of TV posters.

Just accept it as what it is.

Those who are happy to live a local lifestyle with minimal insurance, and basic transport ignoring annual, adhoc costs can live cheaply. I fear that for some posters that is dictated by minimal cash reserves ( read small British pension only – not inflation linked ) For this same group of people inflation is a very real issue, especially as people live longer ( pleasant lifestyle in Thailand ) things will become more difficult, if that is all they have.

For others many times the huge costs are company sponsored, lest forget that. For others who have money, whether earnt, investments, inheritance or whatever do not feel jealous, they have it so deal with it. It is theirs to do as they please. If they have sufficient at some stage in their lives to spend 250 000 THB a month without touching teh initial capital then good luck to them. It only requires assets of 2 MUSD to generate that income safely. That may sound a lot, but someone selling a house in London or New York, someone who has invested early in life in long term saving plans, someone who has inherited it is not that much in reality.

Please stop bickering and think about this whatever your personal situation

cheers, it depresses me that you had to put in such an effort to point out what should be obvious to all.

[chops]

How people get by on such small sums? I need at least 500 baht daily for food. Anything less and I'm starving!