Fellow Canadians .. More Bang For Buck ?

[driedmango]

I am trying to remember 5 years ago, my first trip to thailand . It seems our money goes further now I almost remember 25 baht to the dollar.

But I guess prices have gone up in Thailand ? But they have in Canada too..

[Scottythai]

Well I have been here for just over 5 years. when i first came it was 32 baht to a 1 then it fell to 26 baht to a 1 now it sits at 31 but things have gotten a bit more costly. Either way its still miles cheaper than Canada

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

For me, living in Southeast Asia and mostly Thailand the last 2 1/2 years, the exchange rate for the Canadian dollar is pretty bad because the baht is so strong. At KBank today, you get 28.8 for bank notes and 29.2 for wire transfers. I remember it being in the high 30.xx and 31.xx's over this same period. I am having to wait to transfer some big money now. Just an example, moving $25,000 now gets me only 730,000 baht at 29.2. That same Canadian dollar amount at 31.5 gets me 787,000. That's a big difference of 57,500 baht.

And yes, at the same time, prices for many things are up, and westerner preferred products especially are ridiculously high. Example, a kilo of good quality coffee is $17 to $27 (500 to 800 baht). In Cambodia, it's $6 to $7 (180 to 200 baht) for equal quality. Strip bacon is 500 to 650 ($17-$22) a kilo but in Cambodia it's almost half that. For the same Thai brand!

Edited February 20, 2013 by Kaoboi Bebobp

[rene123]

I don't worry about it because there is nothing I can do about it anyway. However, I do know value for my money spent. If I concentrate on living low profile like most average Thai person does then I can live comparitively cheap. If I want high cost imported items then I'm going to pay more than I would in Canada. I'm currently in a Thai hotel that costs me the same as I would pay for internet, cable TV and telephone in Canada each month. But, I'm only a transient who stays here for 6 months during Canadian winters. If I eat Thai food in a street cafe it's cheaper than I can even purchase western food and cook meals for myself in Canada.

[canuckamuck]

It is 10 years for me, and I can't remember it being over 34.

2012 was pretty good on average. It was sad to see it sink below 30 recently.

Edited February 20, 2013 by canuckamuck

[ajahnlau]

I can remember exchanging at 17@$1.00

[lovelomsak]

I can remember exchanging at 17@$1.00

I remember that well too. It sat around 18 for years. I thought after 1998 it would sit at 28 for ever. So look at the 30 and 31 baht per dollar as bonus times.

[kennedy]

I remember years ago going to Canada from the states when Canadian dollar was much weaker. Even so, everything was more expensive compared to the states. Exchange rate wasn't a factor. I guess Thailand would be the same, not counting western products.

[mike123ca]

I've been fortunate to be able to leave my asserts and rrsp's back in Canada,

since, I'm way too young to collect on my old age pension, In the meantime

I'll keep on working here in Thailand.

When it's time to retire, then the hard questions will have to be answered.

[canuckamuck]

I've been fortunate to be able to leave my asserts and rrsp's back in Canada,

since, I'm way too young to collect on my old age pension, In the meantime

I'll keep on working here in Thailand.

When it's time to retire, then the hard questions will have to be answered.

Yeah like, where the hell did my pension go?