What a great thread.

My wife owns her house and has a car: we do very well on my ฿46000.- a month in Buriram.

However I have seen nice town houses for rent here for ฿2500./ to ฿4000, fill your freezer, like we do once a month for ฿3000.-, petrol and transport ( we travel a lot) ฿8000, health insurance ฿5000, bits and pieces maybe ฿5000.-. Still leaves you ฿20 000 for beer..

Me and my girlfriend both lived happily on less than $1000 p/m here in Phuket for a long time. Now we both earn quite a bit more than that, but still don't feel the need to spend much more than $1500 p/m between us. Agree with the previous post about the North being cheaper.

Still leaves you ฿20 000 for beer..

... I'm not much of a drinker...

was a sort of joke, sorry

Still leaves you ฿20 000 for beer..

... I'm not much of a drinker...

was a sort of joke, sorry

mine, too!

Drop the scooter idea is all i can say..many risks and potential trouble involved. When clued up on public transport you can go all over for 100bht or so.

Even from Bangkok to Pattaya by van/bus is not expensive and no risk of being dead

err,well, slightly less risk anyways

Chiang Mai is pretty cheap and has everything you're after...

Maybe not hi-speed internet though but they do have the internet round those parts.

Hi NeverSure,

Since no one mentioned this place, just west of Bangkok, 2 - 3 hours away, Kanchanaburi. Good, friendly, cheap and most of all the country side with all its splendid views for you to see.

Two Rivers ect. ect. http://www.pbase.com/win13/muang_kan

The food is also good over here and not expensive to eat out.

Win

You can actually achieve a decent enough life in BKK for this amount.

B5,000 - Clean room with hot water and free WiFi

B8,000 - Groceries and sundries

B1,500 - Utilities (if you keep the air-con use to a minimum)

B14,500

This would leave you with approx B15,000 to achieve your life. Using buses and boats rather than taxis will keep your transport costs low (but might test your patience). That said I bought a Suzuki 125 3 years ago (5 year old bike at the time) for B15,000 and that little thing is still churning along. With the B800-1,000/month on fuel, the B2,300 per year on insurance and B200/month on basic maintenance (anything else is wasted on BKKs roads as your bike will take a beating) brings the monthly transport cost for 3 years to B1,800/month.

I don't think you are interested in Bangkok, but just making the point that it is possible to live in the capital city with this kind of budget if you are going to stay away from Western trappings, bars, etc.

And when you need to go to a hospital your screwed

My wife is from Loei a great little place 140 km NW from Udon Thani and will probably retire there when the time comes but would not hesitate to relocate to Udon Thani.

A really good sized town that has all the ammenities that you need both Western and Thai.

Add me to that list. I am planning a trip up to Udon Thani around new years and I have been looking at decent hotels. What a difference from Phuket. I can get a very nice room for under 3000 baht and have seen acceptable hotels in the 1500 baht range. In Phuket, for the similar quality I would pay 10-15,000 baht. I have been doing cost comparisons and I can live quite well for at least 1/2 of what it would cost in Phuket. I can even have access to all the domestic staff I desire with no problems. There are western facilities, access to health care, a decent flight schedule and friendly people. I would venture to say that I won't have the taxi/tuk tuk issues in Udon Thani that I get in Patong. If I get lonely for the beach, I could fly off to one for a weekend stay in a hotel, and still have an overall lower cost of living in Udon Thani.

Hi NeverSure,

Since no one mentioned this place, just west of Bangkok, 2 - 3 hours away, Kanchanaburi. Good, friendly, cheap and most of all the country side with all its splendid views for you to see.

Two Rivers ect. ect. http://www.pbase.com/win13/muang_kan

The food is also good over here and not expensive to eat out.

Win

Nice relaxed vibe about the place

Definition of young, please? Even a cute mid 40's 'young thing' can make it into your wallet, if you assume, that this is a 'interested older lady', because....!

....and a cute mid 40's 'young thing' can sometimes appear as someone much, much younger to the farang eye, where a mid forties farang lady usually looks like a mid forties.......or fifties.....

Edited September 26, 201213 yr by uptheos

You can actually achieve a decent enough life in BKK for this amount.

B5,000 - Clean room with hot water and free WiFi

B8,000 - Groceries and sundries

B1,500 - Utilities (if you keep the air-con use to a minimum)

B14,500

This would leave you with approx B15,000 to achieve your life. Using buses and boats rather than taxis will keep your transport costs low (but might test your patience). That said I bought a Suzuki 125 3 years ago (5 year old bike at the time) for B15,000 and that little thing is still churning along. With the B800-1,000/month on fuel, the B2,300 per year on insurance and B200/month on basic maintenance (anything else is wasted on BKKs roads as your bike will take a beating) brings the monthly transport cost for 3 years to B1,800/month.

I don't think you are interested in Bangkok, but just making the point that it is possible to live in the capital city with this kind of budget if you are going to stay away from Western trappings, bars, etc.

And when you need to go to a hospital your screwed

come on man, a 5k room is the pits. this guy wants a place to live like home, not a flophouse.

The wife wants me to buy a house in Ubon Ratchatani for us to retire to!!! Been there 3 times for holidays, Its what to do on the 3rd day and so on!!!

why not live a comfortable beach life? As someone said, don't be a miserable cheap Charlie, have a plan to keep you mind functioning, to keep you busy at least. Above all, respect the locals and enjoy the life.

Edited September 26, 201213 yr by fish fingers

I don't need much except hot and cold running water (shower), electricity, a way to do basic cooking, high speed internet and a scooter. I have no interest in a big city or the sex trade. I'm not much of a drinker. I don't need to party or hang out in bars.

If all above is you: Wherever you want, in Thailand.

Ok, the Internet is limiting it a bit, but 1500US$/~45.000 Baht gives you everything you need, under the posted guideline.

I know people, earning only 30-35.000, but living a 'hang out in bars' life in Phuket. Probably the/one place with the highest living costs, in Thailand.

As far as I know, the infamous "Bangkok Hilton" is about the cheapest place to stay long term

The wife wants me to buy a house in Ubon Ratchatani for us to retire to!!! Been there 3 times for holidays, Its what to do on the 3rd day and so on!!!

Besides the retirement issue, wouldn't she want you to buy a house there, anyway?

I don't need much except hot and cold running water (shower), electricity, a way to do basic cooking, high speed internet and a scooter. I have no interest in a big city or the sex trade. I'm not much of a drinker. I don't need to party or hang out in bars.

If all above is you: Wherever you want, in Thailand.

Ok, the Internet is limiting it a bit, but 1500US$/~45.000 Baht gives you everything you need, under the posted guideline.

I know people, earning only 30-35.000, but living a 'hang out in bars' life in Phuket. Probably the/one place with the highest living costs, in Thailand.

As far as I know, the infamous "Bangkok Hilton" is about the cheapest place to stay long term

Only, if you don't need/want protection, in there!

why not live a comfortable beach life? As someone said, don't be a miserable cheap Charlie, have a plan to keep you mind functioning, to keep you busy at least. Above all, respect the locals and enjoy the life.

why not live a comfortable beach life? As someone said, don't be a miserable cheap Charlie, have a plan to keep you mind functioning, to keep you busy at least. Above all, respect the locals and enjoy the life.

Werte would the cheapest beach resort be? Been to Bang saen and it was not that cheap, But must be somewhere on the coast line thats cheap to live

Rayong?

I guess it should be Naratat Beach, Narathiwat. Land isnt too expensive there and it isn't as dangerous as many has thought.

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