I Want To Live In Hua Hin

[trigger571]

I live in Phuket and have no idea on the cost of living in hua Hin. However, I suspect that it may cost around the same. The point however is this. It really depends on you and your lifestyle. When I first move to Thailand two years ago I came over with GBP4,000 and around 1400 Euro a month. I found myself a furnished small house to live in at 7,000 baht rent, I don't drink and don't smoke. I ate out at a Farang restaurant once a week, ate at Thai street shops half of the rest of the week and cooked the other half.

Wife eventually got a job too (20,000 Baht) so now we live on an average 60,000 Baht living in a lovely house at 18k, bought a car on loan and all the usual stuff.

Dude, if you want to make it here, you can if you are careful. Invest your 50,000 pounds wisely. Live on the rent and that other 10k here without going mad and you can certainly make it.

[kujirasan]

I give you my experience in Thailand, about 5 years ago, basic wage was then 6000 baht a month! I rented a 2 bedroom house for 6000 a month as well in Nonthabury, Pak Kret, I shopped in the traditional Thai market, prices were ridiculously cheap, beef was sold by the Muslim women , and mutton did not exist, fish, prawns etc were very cheap, I used lot of rice, and bread was backed by a Vietnamese family nearby , very cheap, I don't consume alcohol or smoke and never ate out side, I comfortably lived on $200 a month, my salary was $(US)10 000 per month including allowances etc and nearly saved all of it. I was transferred to UBON and the cost there was 30% less than, I never got involved with Thai ladies etc, guess that would have been a cost!!!! If you could abstain from monotonous indulgence in the amber brew , given that you are British, and sucking piss at the Pub is part of the life style, that may be a problem, otherwise if you could manage to live away from Bangkok, or major cities and stick to Thai food, you should survive well, I met an American who lived out side UBON in village with his Thai wife, he told me had he lived in USA, he would have to collect cans and bottles to have made ends meet. As starting business, I would caution against, as small business are notorious for failure, first settle down then see how things pan out! believe me if you could give up alcohol you be saving money and improving your health as well!

I do wish you best of luck and hope all works well, go for it, and you will enjoy it, I went to School in Seven Oaks, Kent, never forget to those lousy cold winters, non of that in Thailand! Good Luck and God bless!

[Jez130]

I have just spent 12 Months at a Thai school in Thailand. I travelled all over and as much as possible and this is what I found. You can live there for 20k a month or 300k a month! Depending on where you live and what you do of course.

I think 600 Gbp a month would be very possible in one of the Northern Cities such as Udon etc. But Hua Hin is very expensive in comparison.

You can rent a 3 bed house in Udon for 7k a month and I mean a decent fully furnished place as well.

Udon and Khon Kean are great Cities much better than BKK or Pattaya I think. My g/f has a business in Udon and makes 35k net profit a month, her friends shop makes 80 to 100k net profit a month!

You are not relying on the falang high and low seasons there either as you are mostly selling to the local Thai's. More and more big industrial business is moving to Khon Kean because of the floods and uncertainty in BKK. It's got bars clubs and thousands of students! Their Central festival shopping centre is bigger and better than the one in Pattaya.

I met someone living in Karasin on 7,000 baht a month! He had been there for 4yrs!

[tfbpa]

Everything is possible and all depends on the lifestyle you want to have.

We live in Hua Hin with our son and I actually made living cost calculations last week.

Here they are:

Fixed monthly costs:

Car lease 10,757

Family insurance 8,333

Son nursery 2,500

Garden maintenance 3,000

Swimming pool maintenance 2,500

House/project maintenance 2355

Car insurance 1,250

House insurance 833

Insect repellor 292

Internet home 1190

TOTAL 33,010

Variable Monthly expenses

Dinner for 2 21,000

Eating Son 9,000

Breakfast/lunch Me 7,500

Car fuel 5,402

Clothing everybody 5,000

Electricity 4,000

Breakfast/lunch Wife 3,000

Motorbike fuel 729

House/project water/electricity 500

TOTAL 56,131

Which comes down to a ABSOLUTE TOTAL 89,141, which does not even include rent, with rent it would be around 115.000 THB per month

Now we do live in a nice house and I do eat a lot of farang food, BUT in above calculations is not one cent for alcholol or bar girls included or rent for that matter, which is of course very important. All that is extra, if something breaks down, extra, if you want to go on holiday, extra, if you need visa, extra, if you play golf or any other kind of sport, extra. Basically everything is extra.

Now as said before, everything is possible and YES, you CAN live on 30.000 THB per month. My friend is also living in Hua Hin and everything included, also rent and really everything he does, his monthly cost of living is around 15.000 THB per month. But that is for one person, but for 2 person the cost is less then double, so I KNOW it is possible to live in Hua Hin as a couple on 30.000 THB per month.

In the end it all comes down to your preferences and lifestyle.

Good Luck and Enjoy!

[AllanB]

80k/month near Khorat: 4 people (incl. varsity student and 15yr- old), own land, own house, 2 cars; cost positions very similar to many of the above-mentioned. I join others of this thread "Th. is no cheap country at all" still very much worth-while living here and AUD 0.90 for diesel should not be the only high-light of our stay!

your "own business" in Th. would surely be something which you would not include in your financial master plan...! Too many odds re: success / failure and a big visible pot for "start-up and running cost" but invisible leaks of the meager monthly profit

80k seems a good figure to me too, unless you want to watch every satang. When you retire it is important to have a little more than you need, if you are on a tight budget to begin with it will only get worse.

Also the property letting market is getting more difficult every year, with more properties up for letting as no one wants to sell. I am back in the UK now making sure my houses are in tip-top condition for the diminishing student numbers. Either that or drop the rents, either way business in all sectors is difficult.

[Billmont]

A mixed bag of advice as usual and understandable as people have different standards and financial commitments. I firmly believe that as a rough guide you should equate your UK living costs with what you will need in Thailand to maintain a similar standard of living and remember in the UK you have various free safety nets such as medial care, unemployed and sickness benefits, housing assistance, low income support, child support and so on, none of these amimals exist in Thailand. You fall on bad times in Thailand and you are on your own. It is difficult to be in dire straits in your own country, in a foreign country it is more than desperate. In Thailand you should be able to aways put some money away each moth for the unexpected medical costs because at sometime you will need to use this money. Sods law ditates that if you are prepared it does not happen, no savings and you will trip over the neighbours cat and break a leg. In general it is cheaper to live in Thailand than the UK but not much, however there is the opportunity to 'exist' in Thailand, cheap local food, no hot water, no aircon, grow your own, however 'The Good Life' is not for everyone and is hard at best.

The UK Overseas Landlord act now states that you must pay tax on rental income even if you are non resident but at £600 per month it will not exceed your personal allowance. If you get further rental income you could set up a trust agreement with your wife (if she qualifies for a UK personal allowance) (also a risk if your marriage hits the rocks) and then your personal allowances double.

Setting up a business is easier said than done and are seldom really successful. Take a small restaurant for example, if you want Farangs to attend you must be in an area where they live usually a big town or city and then the rent of usch aplace is much higher. it is no good expecting Farangs to travel to a remote area to dine although this does happen but takes time to develop. You must be able to provide Farang and Thai food, Ferangs will not come if their wife cannot eat and Frange food will be the bonus and the Thai food the bread and butter. Will you wife be a good business woman or will friends, relatives eat for free and the business becomes an expense rather than a source of income.

Best to keep your capital and not buy a condo, you will need your capital in part to secure a 'retirement' or 'marriage' visa although you monthly income can be used as well. If things go wrong or for whatever reason you need to return to the UK you will have enough capital to return to the UK and have enough to get re-established. If you choose to live in the sticks, perhaps near your wife's family you could eventually build a small comfortable house for about £10,000.

Best to visit for a longish holiday and live in the area that you think would be suitable bearing in mind would your wife be happy to live hundreds of miles away from her family, if so think of the costs of regular home visits, phonecalls etc. This will give you a good idea if the proposed new life would be a good as expected when living off a limited income. I do however wish you all the very best and providing you have realistic expections and can happily live off your limited income life in Thailand can be very enjoyable and indeed much better than living in the UK providing your savings safety net remains secure..

[RedOctober]

Thailand yes, Hua Hin I don't think so.

Re-think your location an you may be able to do it but do you really want to?

Do you think you could live as the rural Thai does?

If you are simple, and are looking for a simple life you can do it but you must unlearn your western habits and expectations first.

Or wait, and make more money and try again in a few years.

Good luck either way!

[Amras]

Still can't believe people say you NEED 80-110k per month to live in Thailand. People LIVE on that in Melbourne, and Melbourne is much more expensive than anywhere in Thailand. I'd say that 50k would be a comfortable life style without going overboard on things. There is certainly no way you need upwards of 80k per month to live, considering people live in the west on that.

I spend about 1000-1500 ish per week on food and we cook ourselves often and eat healthy and fresh food. I seriously have no idea where some of you come up with the amounts you spend.

[oneday]

I haven't read all the replies here, but I'll put in my two-cents or is it pence.

I live a very comfortable life in Pattaya on 65,000 baht a month. That has been my average over the last 8 months in my detailed expense tracking and that accounts for EVERYTHING, including car insurance, health insurance for me, cable TV, internet, electric, water, a car we rarely use and two motorbikes. We live in a rented townhouse for 15,000 a month.

If I were to move back to a 5000 baht a month room, not go out at night, buy all our food at a grocery store and give my girl no money (she does have her own job) then I could probably live on 45,000 baht/mo comfortably.

The verdict: you would be living on a very fine edge and spending any of your hard earned savings to set your lady up in a business would scare the hell out of me unless you have a guarranteed business plan for success.

[OriginalPoster]

Keep 50k in the bank, interest will give you about 5000baht per month. £600 a month = 29000baht

Total income about 34000 per month.

5000baht interest per month on 50k principle is 1% per month. Where are you getting that?

[botti]

2 pages already and no further info from OP. Most of the advice here is realistic.

My 2 baht:

No, you can't do it on what you have, or think you will have.

Budget at least 90k per month for the 2 of you. Forget about setting something up for the wife.

Are you going to provide the cash for setting up?

You would not believe how fast the money goes.

Its not just rent, car, motosai, food, clothes, utilities.

Its insurance, furniture, repairs, you name it.

Some more information on what you and your wife are planning would be good.

Why Hua Hin, for example? How old is your wife and what background does she have (education, work experience etc.)?

What background do you have?

this is the most common sense reaction in this forum so far....

Don't even start to plan coming to Thailand before having more to live (survive) here. And don't believe the guy who's spending so little electricity with a 500 sm house. Ridiculous

[tfbpa]

Keep 50k in the bank, interest will give you about 5000baht per month. £600 a month = 29000baht

Total income about 34000 per month.

5000baht interest per month on 50k principle is 1% per month. Where are you getting that?

I am guessing he was talking about GBP's. 50.000 GBP which is around 2.500.000 THB and at 2.5% interest per year that is about 5.208 THB per month.

[ice4351]

I have lived here 8 months now. You can live well on $2000 or 60,000 baht. Can live here for less depending on where you live in terms of rent or if you buy?

Mark

[email protected]

[wotaplonker]

what's interesting and uncomfortable about this post, for readers like me who have visited Thailand several times (saving up and denying myself pleasures here in the UK in the meantime) and may have had dreams of eventually retiring over here, is that it will always remain a dream.

its obvious from the posts of experienced expats that it costs much more than the average schmuk like me will ever be able to afford.

Regardless of the pleasant Thai weather, beaches, etc it would be hell to be in Thailand and be skint. and living 'the life' i.e girls, golf, massages, fine food etc etc on a daily basis (is there anyone who really lives that way?) is only for the very rich.

also i dont know if its been mentioned in other posts but there is no divine right that will keep exchange rate at 48-50 =£1, when i first visited it was 73, high old times, ok it could actually go up steeply if the baht collapses !!! but the trend now is down, just imagine it being below 40, the average punter with a smallish pension would be a tad troubled i fancy?

Good luck

Edited August 7, 2012 by wotaplonker

[crickie]

For a single person:-

Rented fully-furnished studio condo in Hua Hin Soi 7 8,500

Electricity (averaged over a year) 2,000

Internet and mobile phone usage 1,000

Monthly laundry package 600

Groceries and household consumables, including food for make-your-own breakfast and lunch 8,000

Dine-out evening meals 9,000

M/cycle maintenance, rego and insurance 300

M/cycle fuel 800

BUPA sickness and accident insurance (Thailand only cover) 1,300

Monthly allowance for clothes bits and pieces 2,500

Total 34,000

Without rent (own the condo) but with a (less than) monthly condo fee of 1,000 = 26,500

Maybe consider Chiang Mai as it appears to be much cheaper. We're here only for three months so we have no car/motorcycle costs and our travel insurance covers medical costs but I've been keeping a tally on our spending as we too would like to live here, if only for 6 months a year and want to know that we can actually afford it. The spending so far has averaged monthly for two persons:

Monthly condo rental: 12,000 baht

Electricity and water: 1700 baht

Food and household goods for daily breakfast/lunch and dinner 4-5 nights a week plus wine and beers: 8000 baht

Lunch, dinner and drinks in restaurant 2-3 nights a week, daily coffees out and occasionally drinks in bar: 9000 baht

Transport (songtaews): 1000 baht

Miscellaneous, eg clothing, manicures/pedicures, massages, clothing, phone credit: 5500 baht

Total: 37,200

I feel that we're living very comfortably and not missing out on any luxuries. If we wanted to cut back, we could by shopping more at local markets rather than supermarkets, less massages/manicures.

[bluecheesefan]

I am on the outskirts of Bangkok and stay with my girlfriend in her mother's home. I get about 30k baht a month to pay the bills. I do not own a car, but we have access to two motorbikes. The house is unconventional... essentially a cement structure with a roof and garage style doors in the front. I deal with constant mosquitoes in the area and sleep with a mosquito tent. I PAY ZERO RENT. Electric is 1,000 baht a month and internet with phone is 700 baht. No cable television. I use a slingbox that is hooked up to my brothers cable in the USA to watch television on my computer in Thailand. My girlfriend has a small store in the front of the house that sells beer and lao liquor and chips etc. I must go to Bangkok every three months for visa trips to immigration. I take Thai language lessons from a school in Bangkok online so I can remain at home and that provides me with a visa. I go out 3-4 times in Bangkok every 6 months. The rest of the time I stay home. All of that said, with food, beer, incidentals, medicines, travel costs to and from the city and grocery stores, visa costs, school costs... and buying a few american food items... I BARELY make it on 30k baht a month. In truth, you have to "live" on about 10-15k because of the bulk payments that go out for the visa and school fees. I couldn't imagine trying to do that in Hua Hin. I am with the others, if you have any plans of going out etc. you need to plan very carefully and consider a way to generate additional income. The shop my girlfriend has does okay in terms of a cash flow. A 5 baht bag of chips generates a little less than a baht of profit and a bottle of Leo beer is about 7 baht. So, it helps a little with the money, but is no cash cow. If you are wanting to go out on the town at all... don't do this move. If it is the simple life you want... then plan and be careful. I used to live in Bangkok and was single. The money was enough then, but adding the GF has significantly cut my ability to live like before. Anyway, good luck!

[PaulHamon]

My Thai wife and I lived 10kms from Hua Hin town (half way to Cha-am) in 2 room condo (it's cost was 10,000 Baht, with pool and large patio looking out over the ocean). We did our monthly expenditure recording for 4 months when we first moved there, 50,000-60,000 Baht per month was our average... this did not cover my insurance or any travel overseas, no did it cover my costs of visa for Thailand.

[Balance]

Here is the budge for myself and my thai wife in Chiang Mai. I have 60K from Social Security and 30 to 60 from investments. We can live on 50K if we watch what we do. We do not go out much. My wife does not eat farang food and I decided to eat Thai diet. I agree with others, very very tough to start a business here, even if you Speak Thai very well. You have to find a niche that does not compete with local Thai businesses. Lots of people try, most fail. You perhaps can teach English, and you might make 30K a month, but it is a full time job and if you are doing it correctly, it will be very demanding.

Best of luck to you.

Balance

Rent small 3bd,2b with farang kitchen 8,500

Electric Includes Air Con 2,100

Moo ban water, trash pick up, clean streets 750

Car Ins 708

Wife's health Ins 1,833

Food Includes 1,000 or so for Singh 12,000

Internet 1,000

Doctor visits and Meds 500

Car Repair 500

Holliday set aside 3,000

Personal for my wife 10,000

Gas for car 2,000

Cable 2,100

Odds and Ends 5,000

49,992

[maxman71]

I personally would not try to make a go of it in LOS on the OP's budget, although it is possible as others have done it. Big Question is: For how long have they been able to survive on such a budget???

It wouldn't take much of an emergency for his funds to evaporate into thin air.

The Thai gov't has estimated a foreigner on a retirement visa needs THB 65,000/mo to live somewhat securely in Thailand, and I think that is low.

I would target a steady cash flow of more like THB 100,000 per month + a good stash of savings/investments in the home country as well as in Thailand. I've been here 7 years and that formula has worked well. For me at least.

[xavierr]

Don't let people convince you that it is not enough. With the amount you have you can live in Thailand in a Spartan way. You may want to do away with luxuries and live a simple lifestyle. It has its charms and advantages. Your wife will also be happier here.

Edited August 7, 2012 by xavierr

[saroq]

Yep you want at least twice as much income coming in to have a chance. Don't forget that as you get older you'll need increased medical and extra money to take care of things like lifestyle purchases (a car, holidays. TVs etc). You may be eager to leave home but you'll soon tire of living in Thailand with limited ways of making an income and often working a lot more to make a lot less. You don't have enough. My advice start to learn swing trading and after a year or two or learning and being successful in a paper trade account put your 3 million baht into a trading account. Assuming you can learn to be successful 3 mill will be plenty to generate a comfortable income from swing or day trading.

[bluecheesefan]

I should add that going out is where your money will disappear in a flash... going out that is in the party sections of BKK or any city. Consider this:

5 normal sized bottles of Heineken per person @ 90 to 110 baht each = Avg of 1,000 baht.

The 5 drinks you buy for the bar girl (or the friend of your wife that becomes the 3rd wheel) that sits with you and the wife will cost you 100 to 160 each = 800 baht.

5 games of pool @ 30b = 150 baht.

Public transportation taxi = 200 baht on the light side.

Food - dining out at a decent restaurant for two = 1,200 baht.

Small hotel room = 900 baht a night.

Cigarettes @ 80 baht a pack = 240 baht for two smokers.

Incidentals like water soda, snack food, lunch can be as high as 1,000 baht, but if frugal = 500 baht

SIM card money for your phone = 50 baht

Total for a night in Bangkok with the wife/girl friend = 5,040 baht.

This is a one night trip to BKK. For me I add transportation to the city and back of about 800 baht. I do go to a cheaper hotel though that has no internet, but it clean for 600 baht a night. However, I don't stop at 5 beers. Just one slip up on a night out can lead to a total budget failure. If you have 30k baht to live on you can easily be looking at being down to 20k for the month just because you buy a few too many drinks to keep the night lively and fun. You have to be extra extra careful. I ran out of money two months ago. My GFs biz was not bringing in as much money. We have been borrowing from Mom and friends to just make it through until my next check. I would suggest you live near family that can help you out in case things go badly one month. It just takes one month to start a chain reaction of problems.

Again, it is possible to live an extremely simple life. I hope you like a lot of thai meals. I have gotten by on using a BBQ to cook fish and other meat and my GF has gotten good at producing more western type meals for me. And I eat some of the more traditional thai food. Just remember to avoid the glittering lights of the downtown party districts.

[fredob43]

Second post all you have to think about is it's Hau Hin, let's assume he has 29 thou bt a month and he get's away with just 9 thou for rent and electric/water that will leave him with 20 thou = 666bt per day or 333bt each, in english that's under £7. and you think they will be able to by food, clothe's, toiletrie's, transport, insurance, phone, ++++ for that. Sorry but not on your life, no matter how frugal you are. Exist maybe but not live. Buddha forbid one of them ever get ill. It's a no brainer.

Edited August 7, 2012 by fredob43

[hellodolly]

Hello Mr G.Tingtong - I hope you realise that your name means 'nuts' in Thai! - there is a lot of good advice given you in the replies to your query and I won't repeat it all. I have lived in Thailand in Bangkoka and Hua Hin for over 15 years and, setting aside Bangkok, ten years ago it used to cost me 55,000 Baht a month to live and the Baht was about 70/£, today I live in the same place (my own house) and it costs me about 80,000 Baht a month and the Baht is 48/£. The maths is not difficult; you are short of a bob or three!. Assuming you are going to come here and apply for a Retirement Visa you will also need to show either an income of 60,000 Baht a month or a deposit in the Bank of 800,000 Baht, which needs to be there at least 3 months before you apply. That figure is halved if you apply for a marriage visa (you have a Thai wife), but there are other snags to this one. Either way, you are going to find it difficult on the figures you gave. Bear in mind also that the UK tax man will still be after you if you continue to receive rental income from a property in the UK. Tthe best advice given was to come over here for a while and look at the lie of the land.

Excellent advice most people tend to over look the visa requirements. They must be figured in to the equation.

There is no if's and' or but's about it you can live here in Chiang Mai on 30,000 baht a month. Like has been pointed out you will not be living the high life.

There are two other things you must take into consideration.

1 What happens if your renter falls behind on the rent

2 The cost of living will go up and possibly the value of the Baht leaving you with even less than 30,000 baht.

Your wife might possibly start up a business and it may prosper leaving you on easy street or it may fail and you will lose money. It is not like you were only going to live ten more years. You must plan long term. Not based on today's prices.

There are a lot of expats living here who came over many years ago when the US dollar was at 45 baht and the British Pound. 70 or 80. Today they are just managing to scrape by and many have returned to where they come from. And some of the ones who did not return are making it because they bough there residences when there money was worth a lot more and have no rent to pay.

Edited August 7, 2012 by hellodolly

[firestar]

Your budget would be ok if you wanted to wing it here for a couple years. Longer term it isn't viable.

[EvilDrSomkid]

Considering this previous post by OP:

I smell a disaster coming.

[Alexpho]

I am a Lao American thats been doing my research on retiring in SE Asia, both in Laos and Thailand. It is obvious, the most important asset you can have is land. Prices are going up and up every year. My dream would be to buy a nice plot of land and start building from there. I am paying rent right now and realize that I am only throwing money away.

I would consider the Khong Kai area to retire in. Very peaceful.

[brianP]

Go the GREEN route! After 10 years in USA, the Thai wife finally agreed to come home. From welfare state California, we cut our expenses by over 3/4's. We found a never opened resort and home near the talay, got a LPG used Big M truck, 2 new motocys, dug a well, no water bill, make our soil mulch and planted trees and veggies, cut food bill, got cheap G-mm SAT.no monthly, full rain gutters and storage tanks for agro, go to non tourist local food markets and stalls, grow our own fruit(area is fruit capital), ride that bicycle all over in the early and late hours, try it sometime,.

And go to the fisherman villages before dawn and get the seafood fresh and cheap and right from the boats, learn from the locals/neighbors where in the jungles and roadsides these wild peppers/herbs fruits,nuts and leaves for cooking are free and abundant. For 200 baht make a small net and bucket for shoreline lek pla that are all over here, insulate, windows film treated,cfl lights and timers,solar panels(future task), Oh yeah, feed the local soi dogs and have free security. By finding a good rural area you like and not to far from the city, you can be creative in making things more comfy and less expensive and better. Also help the future earth too. Good Luck

[Frenchtouch]

[

BUPA sickness and accident insurance (Thailand only cover) 1,300

Could you tell me what BUPA is, please?

Edited August 7, 2012 by Frenchtouch

[NoshowJones]

Since the fine old days of 2006 when it seemed to be 75 baht to the £ and the living was good for expats on some brit income, I have since seen a good friend collapse and die from the stress of trying to keep up and stay out in Thailand, fearing return to the UK , due to burned bridges.

I love it East but please do not gamble, think shrewd, think logically.

Also as someone mentioned you really must budget for the expenses your wifes' family will require, it is just the way it is

If you hold back amazing how suddenly you'll feel alone

good luck,

danny

The wifes family have no right to expect you to take care of them financially personally, your wife yes, but not you.