Has Anyone Noticed How Expensive It Is To Live In Isaan These Days?

[Hedghog]

There are two tricks that I have found at these Suprmarkets

1. The ring up items twice - you pay twice they benefit.

2. Items disappear (at least one from a trolley full. You don;t notice until you get home. where is that Ham I bought, It is back on the shelf and you have paid for it!!!

Clever tricks to keep the staff bonuses high (stock levels)

TIP -- Watch the cashier VERY closely. Speak some Thai. No Farrang TingTong

Nonsense

[scobie redux]

There are two tricks that I have found at these Suprmarkets

1. The ring up items twice - you pay twice they benefit.

2. Items disappear (at least one from a trolley full. You don;t notice until you get home. where is that Ham I bought, It is back on the shelf and you have paid for it!!!

Clever tricks to keep the staff bonuses high (stock levels)

TIP -- Watch the cashier VERY closely. Speak some Thai. No Farrang TingTong

Nonsense

No farang tingtong" indeed.

When westerners use that phrase to local Thais, do they not know that they might as well wear a sign around their neck saying "I get fleeced by bargirls; why don't you have a go as well?"

[Hedghog]

Outer Mongolia,is cheap.

But unfortunately doesn't have Tesco at present.

But maybe soon.

[Chittychangchang]

Try living in the U.K!

It's half the price of Thailand!

CCC

and rental properties in London are a fraction of those in Nakhon Nowhwere

London is a different ball game, there is no rhyme or reason to the prices there.

I meant for me personally it's cheaper to live in the U.K with school fees etc what they are.

CCC

[TheSpade]

It always seems to me the people who are claiming everything is so expensive here, it's cheaper in the West etc are comparing Western lifestyles, goods & products back home to Western lifestyle, goods and products in Thailand which clearly isn't a fair comparison.

Compare Western local stuff to Thai local stuff and it's always much cheaper in Thailand.

Obviously Western goods and luxuries have to be imported so they will be more expensive. Same as Thai food and products are pricey back home.

[Bender]

definitively cheaper back home than in Bkk, and nearly for all kind of products

_brand name cloths and electronics in Bkk is more exprensive.

_back home food at the supermarket is a hell cheaper, usually better quality but what really thrill me

is the huge choice. In western country you have the choice between 50 differents kind of pasta, 100 kind of sauce, 200 of mineral water....

It make the supermarket in Thailand completely pale, empty and overpriced.

[Thai at Heart]

Try living in the U.K!

It's half the price of Thailand!

CCC

I am not joking but living a normal life in the UK is not remarkably more expensive than Thailand these days. Throw in free hospitals and schools and it's about the same.

[MJP]

definitively cheaper back home than in Bkk, and nearly for all kind of products

_brand name cloths and electronics in Bkk is more exprensive.

_back home food at the supermarket is a hell cheaper, usually better quality but what really thrill me

is the huge choice. In western country you have the choice between 50 differents kind of pasta, 100 kind of sauce, 200 of mineral water....

It make the supermarket in Thailand completely pale, empty and overpriced.

I've just priced up a new Nikon camera system here and it's a third cheaper than the UK, saving of £3000.

If you try to live on the same things you did in the UK it will be more expensive here. You'll likely know how to live cheap in the UK, pasta is very cheap and if you were Thai you'd know how to live cheap in Thailand the same.

In the UK it's difficult to buy wholesale, it isn't difficult here with Makro.

[jbrain]

Try living in the U.K!

It's half the price of Thailand!

CCC

and rental properties in London are a fraction of those in Nakhon Nowhwere

Same as everywhere else in the world in London or somewhere else in Europe there are people that own their house, so no need to rent, and actually purchased it many years ago so the mortgage is paid off long time ago.

Now there are 2 ways of living in Thailand, that is living like the Thai's, or living the way you should live in your home country.

Since i have been a guest at your place in the past , so I know which way you prefer, and then Europe will cost a fraction of what Thailand cost.

Whenever I visit my home country I really surprised how little a pack of milk, or cheese, salami, wine,beer or whatever common food cost compared to Thailand.

Even clothes, made in Asia, cost less than here.

Edited September 26, 2013 by jbrain

[GreenSnapper]

Most products I can buy in my home country are imports. The typical supermarket has 60-70% imports from other countries, often overseas. Still, a bottle of wine from Australia or Chile, travelling around the world, taxed, handled by high income staff, is 30% what I pay here.

And they sell quality there.

[jbrain]

definitively cheaper back home than in Bkk, and nearly for all kind of products

_brand name cloths and electronics in Bkk is more exprensive.

_back home food at the supermarket is a hell cheaper, usually better quality but what really thrill me

is the huge choice. In western country you have the choice between 50 differents kind of pasta, 100 kind of sauce, 200 of mineral water....

It make the supermarket in Thailand completely pale, empty and overpriced.

I've just priced up a new Nikon camera system here and it's a third cheaper than the UK, saving of £3000.

If you try to live on the same things you did in the UK it will be more expensive here. You'll likely know how to live cheap in the UK, pasta is very cheap and if you were Thai you'd know how to live cheap in Thailand the same.

In the UK it's difficult to buy wholesale, it isn't difficult here with Makro.

Camera's is known that they cost a multiple here of what they cost elsewhere, so I don't think your claim is valid.

As for wholesale, don't they have Makro in the UK ?

Do they have acid rain already

[MJP]

definitively cheaper back home than in Bkk, and nearly for all kind of products

_brand name cloths and electronics in Bkk is more exprensive.

_back home food at the supermarket is a hell cheaper, usually better quality but what really thrill me

is the huge choice. In western country you have the choice between 50 differents kind of pasta, 100 kind of sauce, 200 of mineral water....

It make the supermarket in Thailand completely pale, empty and overpriced.

I've just priced up a new Nikon camera system here and it's a third cheaper than the UK, saving of £3000.

If you try to live on the same things you did in the UK it will be more expensive here. You'll likely know how to live cheap in the UK, pasta is very cheap and if you were Thai you'd know how to live cheap in Thailand the same.

In the UK it's difficult to buy wholesale, it isn't difficult here with Makro.

Camera's is known that they cost a multiple here of what they cost elsewhere, so I don't think your claim is valid.

As for wholesale, don't they have Makro in the UK ?

Do they have acid rain already

Cameras are cheaper here. Some marginally, but some very much cheaper. I spend a lot on cameras and I know. Just today I priced up a Nikon full frame system with seven lenses and was very surprised how much cheaper it was.

They have wholesale in the UK, but you'll need a registered business with a VAT registration number to shop in any of them. UK supermarket prices have shot up over the past 12 months.

I think with regard to local wages, Thailand is brutally expensive.

[Bender]

definitively cheaper back home than in Bkk, and nearly for all kind of products

_brand name cloths and electronics in Bkk is more exprensive.

_back home food at the supermarket is a hell cheaper, usually better quality but what really thrill me

is the huge choice. In western country you have the choice between 50 differents kind of pasta, 100 kind of sauce, 200 of mineral water....

It make the supermarket in Thailand completely pale, empty and overpriced.

I've just priced up a new Nikon camera system here and it's a third cheaper than the UK, saving of £3000.

If you try to live on the same things you did in the UK it will be more expensive here. You'll likely know how to live cheap in the UK, pasta is very cheap and if you were Thai you'd know how to live cheap in Thailand the same.

In the UK it's difficult to buy wholesale, it isn't difficult here with Makro.

Ohh i beg to completely disagree with you...Its not only about pasta!

i am a heavy buyer, and buy with taste. Whatever its the last flat screen, new laptop, nice sound system, nice bedsheet, new running shoes....... anything is a hell cheaper back home: yes i do compare.

But if you mean in Thailand you have to live in the bush surrounded by buffalo and clean your ass with your finger to live cheap so you might be right, this place is cheap for you!

please provide a thai website link of this NEW CAMERA SYSTEM £3000 cheaper than in the UK, because i have a hard time to BELIEVE YOU.

[MJP]

definitively cheaper back home than in Bkk, and nearly for all kind of products

_brand name cloths and electronics in Bkk is more exprensive.

_back home food at the supermarket is a hell cheaper, usually better quality but what really thrill me

is the huge choice. In western country you have the choice between 50 differents kind of pasta, 100 kind of sauce, 200 of mineral water....

It make the supermarket in Thailand completely pale, empty and overpriced.

I've just priced up a new Nikon camera system here and it's a third cheaper than the UK, saving of £3000.

If you try to live on the same things you did in the UK it will be more expensive here. You'll likely know how to live cheap in the UK, pasta is very cheap and if you were Thai you'd know how to live cheap in Thailand the same.

In the UK it's difficult to buy wholesale, it isn't difficult here with Makro.

Ohh i beg to completely disagree with you...Its not only about pasta!

i am a heavy buyer, and buy with taste. Whatever its the last flat screen, new laptop, nice sound system, nice bedsheet, new running shoes....... anything is a hell cheaper back home: yes i do compare.

But if you mean in Thailand you have to live in the bush surrounded by buffalo and clean your ass with your finger to live cheap so you might be right, this place is cheap for you!

please provide a thai website link of this NEW CAMERA SYSTEM £3000 cheaper than in the UK, because i have a hard time to BELIEVE YOU.

I agree for fancy imports here is very expensive, but that's because of the tax structure. For living to sustain life in basic comfort, it's cheaper here (if you're on a UK f income).

Anyway . . .

http://www.ec-mall.com/

Nikon D800e and a whole bunch of Nikkor lenses.

I can't get a D800E for less than £2349 in the UK. Found for 88,900 Baht here.

Edited September 26, 2013 by MJP

[jbrain]

I think with regard to local wages, Thailand is brutally expensive.

I think that's also the point the OP tried to make.

[MJP]

I think with regard to local wages, Thailand is brutally expensive.

I think that's also the point the OP tried to make.

Yes and that's the big worry.

In truth everything is going up everywhere. Yes, some places are cheaper for some things than other things and vice versa, but global quantitative easing and other factors are reducing the purchasing power of all paper money.

I'm not bothered about Mr. Benders running shoes, he can always wear them on the plane back from SPorts Direct, but for poor locals the cost of basics rising is a real problem.

[MrHammer]

It always seems to me the people who are claiming everything is so expensive here, it's cheaper in the West etc are comparing Western lifestyles, goods & products back home to Western lifestyle, goods and products in Thailand which clearly isn't a fair comparison.

Compare Western local stuff to Thai local stuff and it's always much cheaper in Thailand.

Obviously Western goods and luxuries have to be imported so they will be more expensive. Same as Thai food and products are pricey back home.

No, it is not a fair comparison. Most of the crap sold locally in Thailand does not have an equivalent in western countries, cause its so..wait for it...crap!

Thai local stuff is generally a couple of levels below western produced goods or japanese produced goods. Much of it can't be sold anywhere but Thailand because it is so low quality.

[Bender]

I agree for fancy imports here is very expensive, but that's because of the tax structure. For living to sustain life in basic comfort, it's cheaper here (if you're on a UK f income).

Anyway . . .

http://www.ec-mall.com/

Nikon D800e and a whole bunch of Nikkor lenses.

I can't get a D800E for less than £2349 in the UK. Found for 88,900 Baht here.

I was very intrigued by your fairy tale story so i make some search...

After a very quick search:

nude body D800E

in europe, the price is around 2340 EURO http://www.eglobalcentral.fr/nikon-d800e-appareil-photo-reflex-numerique-boitier-nu.html

£1,966 or 98,000 baht

in Thailand at the power buy shop, the price is 99, 000 baht : http://www.powerbuy.co.th/ProductDetail.aspx?CategoryID=116&Brand=000253&Price=0&itemNo=PWB000194548

£2003 or 2388 Euro

SO SAME PRICE

so i was puzzled by the price that you have thrown and did translate the link you provide me;

http://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=th&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ec-mall.com%2Fproduct%2Fdigital-camera%2Fnikon%2F31958.html

and the price is :

• Insurance EC-Mall. Mosques, Body (cash) price 89900.00 THB
• Security Center Body (cash) price 93900.00 THB

I have no idea what its mean, or what you are buying but i have a hard time believing that you a price down from 99K baht to 89 Kbaht is 30 % discount

and let me add, if after 2 minutes web search i can get it for 99,000 in europe, I AM pretty sure if i go see a specialized dealer in UK i can get it for cheaper than in Thailand.

ps: so to TV members, you really have to be cautious when some folk throw some imaginative figure

[MJP]

I agree for fancy imports here is very expensive, but that's because of the tax structure. For living to sustain life in basic comfort, it's cheaper here (if you're on a UK f income).

Anyway . . .

http://www.ec-mall.com/

Nikon D800e and a whole bunch of Nikkor lenses.

I can't get a D800E for less than £2349 in the UK. Found for 88,900 Baht here.

I was very intrigued by your fairy tale story so i make some search...

After a very quick search:

nude body D800E

in europe, the price is around 2340 EURO http://www.eglobalcentral.fr/nikon-d800e-appareil-photo-reflex-numerique-boitier-nu.html

£1,966 or 98,000 baht

in Thailand at the power buy shop, the price is 99, 000 baht : http://www.powerbuy.co.th/ProductDetail.aspx?CategoryID=116&Brand=000253&Price=0&itemNo=PWB000194548

£2003 or 2388 Euro

SO SAME PRICE

so i was puzzled by the price that you have thrown and did translate the link you provide me;

http://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=th&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ec-mall.com%2Fproduct%2Fdigital-camera%2Fnikon%2F31958.html

and the price is :

• Insurance EC-Mall. Mosques, Body (cash) price 89900.00 THB
• Security Center Body (cash) price 93900.00 THB

I have no idea what its mean, or what you are buying but i have a hard time believing that you a price down from 99K baht to 89 Kbaht is 30 % discount

and let me add, if after 2 minutes web search i can get it for 99,000 in europe, I AM pretty sure if i go see a specialized dealer in UK i can get it for cheaper than in Thailand.

ps: so to TV members, you really have to be cautious when some folk throw some imaginative figure

Good job, I'll have a look. But all told the system in the UK came to £9000 to me and and just over £6000 here (once the 7% was claimed back at customs). Perhaps those are dodgy websites, I don't know but the one you have there I wouldn't buy from. PowerBuy is a lot more in any case.

Now try the Macbook index. Compare Thailand and UK Apple websites. I noticed a fair difference there too.

The most expensive place for expats who want to maintain a Western lifestyle is . . . Angola!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2013/07/28/the-worlds-most-expensive-cities-for-expats/

It all depends on what you call 'living'. I just have a hard time believing it's cheaper in the UK than Issan.

Edited September 26, 2013 by MJP

[Bender]

I agree for fancy imports here is very expensive, but that's because of the tax structure. For living to sustain life in basic comfort, it's cheaper here (if you're on a UK f income).

Anyway . . .

http://www.ec-mall.com/

Nikon D800e and a whole bunch of Nikkor lenses.

I can't get a D800E for less than £2349 in the UK. Found for 88,900 Baht here.

I was very intrigued by your fairy tale story so i make some search...

After a very quick search:

nude body D800E

in europe, the price is around 2340 EURO http://www.eglobalcentral.fr/nikon-d800e-appareil-photo-reflex-numerique-boitier-nu.html

£1,966 or 98,000 baht

in Thailand at the power buy shop, the price is 99, 000 baht : http://www.powerbuy.co.th/ProductDetail.aspx?CategoryID=116&Brand=000253&Price=0&itemNo=PWB000194548

£2003 or 2388 Euro

SO SAME PRICE

so i was puzzled by the price that you have thrown and did translate the link you provide me;

http://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=th&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ec-mall.com%2Fproduct%2Fdigital-camera%2Fnikon%2F31958.html

and the price is :

• Insurance EC-Mall. Mosques, Body (cash) price 89900.00 THB
• Security Center Body (cash) price 93900.00 THB

I have no idea what its mean, or what you are buying but i have a hard time believing that you a price down from 99K baht to 89 Kbaht is 30 % discount

and let me add, if after 2 minutes web search i can get it for 99,000 in europe, I AM pretty sure if i go see a specialized dealer in UK i can get it for cheaper than in Thailand.

ps: so to TV members, you really have to be cautious when some folk throw some imaginative figure

Good job, I'll have a look. But all told the system in the UK came to £9000 to me and and just over £6000 here (once the 7% was claimed back at customs). Perhaps those are dodgy websites, I don't know but the one you have there I wouldn't buy from. PowerBuy is a lot more in any case.

Now try the Macbook index. Compare Thailand and UK Apple websites. I noticed a fair difference there too.

The most expensive place for expats who want to maintain a Western lifestyle is . . . Angola!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2013/07/28/the-worlds-most-expensive-cities-for-expats/

It all depends on what you call 'living'. I just have a hard time believing it's cheaper in the UK than Issan.

let stop it here, and let conclude the thai seller is taking you for a ride... you just dont know what quality lenses you are buying.

Few years ago, one of my colleague did need to replace his glass lenses. So he get hoya lenses for 5000 baht( or 8000 ).

And he was bragging how much its a good deal in BKK, and back home is more expensive.

Listen, i swear, after one month one the lenses started to have scratch. HE brought them back to the shop.

And there, they were surprised to see him back....... they certainly thought he was a tourist and back home already.

And to make it more ridiculous, the seller started to argue, the scratch are due to the sand........ sand in Bangkok

and i tease for weeks his hoya lenses were made in Buriram .... exactly like your £6000 stuff, wake up!

[MJP]

Bender, apologies, I left a very expensive lens and a flash out of the Thai calc. My bad! It's still cheaper but not that much cheaper. Think you just saved me a real load of expensive aggravation.

Yes, at this level I'd sooner have manufacturer extended UK warranty.

[MAJIC]

This should settle the Tesco UK prices with Tesco Lotus Thailand,and go some way to find out which Country is the cheapest for Supermarket Groceries,remember to X the UK prices by 50 (bahts at present,rough exchange rate)

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/favourites/default.aspx

[snake24]

The basic answer to the OP's thread is that thailand is coming up as a country. I suggest you relocate to an african country. Wasn't there a country zimbabewe that had almost a few billlions just to buy an egg once? Sure you can be a trillionaire over there but i heard they somehow closed down that currency and such places are dangerous as hell. Africans will just rob you blind.

I don't know maybe go to cambodia or laos or burma. Burma should be the most repressed country in the region. Once it kicks off well then that's it. Try papua new guinea but it's hard to find places like thailand where the ppl are poor and you can stretch your dollar and be safe. Places like papua you can stretch your currency but crime rate and violence is so high.

[Thai at Heart]

The basic answer to the OP's thread is that thailand is coming up as a country. I suggest you relocate to an african country. Wasn't there a country zimbabewe that had almost a few billlions just to buy an egg once? Sure you can be a trillionaire over there but i heard they somehow closed down that currency and such places are dangerous as hell. Africans will just rob you blind.

I don't know maybe go to cambodia or laos or burma. Burma should be the most repressed country in the region. Once it kicks off well then that's it. Try papua new guinea but it's hard to find places like thailand where the ppl are poor and you can stretch your dollar and be safe. Places like papua you can stretch your currency but crime rate and violence is so high.

Ah, but when the salary levels of the local employees, it shows that margins are very significant.

Throw in consumer protection, consumer complaints, legal protection associated with spending money, Thailand is getting expensive beyond its real value.

[GreenSnapper]

Don't buy expensive cameras here. They may sell you used stuff or returned, refurbished wares. For full price of course. This includes the big "reputable" shops in the malls. A Thai "warranty" means, nobody cares and you may wait 1-2 months being repaired.

No consumer protection and no service to speak of.

Been there, done that.

[Naam]

Try living in the U.K!

It's half the price of Thailand!

CCC

and rental properties in London are a fraction of those in Nakhon Nowhwere

I must admit, though, that London apart the UK does seem relatively cheap at the moment for SOME things at least. I was up in the Sheffield / Manchester area in August and was amazed at the price of rental properties in a nice developed part of Manchester - around the quays area. Not cheap by Thai standards, but not hideously expensive in a London / HK way that I was paying for the last 4 years.

Supermarket food is very cheap too . . especially when you consider that competition means most of the chains are doing buy one get one free type promos.

Of course, things like fuel, power, taxes, rates and all the modern must haves like cable tv are prohibitively expensive compared to Thailand.

Compared to Germany i think that cable tv, internet and mobile phone is quite expensive for what you get in Thailand. And compared to the average Thai income the prices for some things are more than ridiculously high.

16Meg Internet flatrate, phone flatrate for landline and mobile calls, sim card with flatrate including mobile internet, flatrate calls to 38 foreign countries, Galaxy S4 or Iphone 5 included for only 1900B in Germany

What do i get in Thailand? 1000B for my crappy 13Meg True online, 1000B for my crappy True 3G XXL sim with NO phone included. Thats 2000B already and i don´t have all that other free stuff included. True HD Platinum 2.155B, omg. The same or not much less of what it is at home (depending on the provider).

Like already mentioned, food in Germany is also cheap as hell, even local made products in Thai supermarkets aren´t really cheaper than stuff back home. I mean things like meat, bread, rice, not the fancy stuff. Some things in Thailand are really really expensive and i would like to know why. Of course you can live very cheap here but i still don´t get it why many basic things are so out of this world compared to the average income here.

And as a fan of Thai street food i have to say that the prices incrase and the quality sinks, or both. Some dishes for 50-60B are made of cheap crap meat and rice. A real shame for Thai food. My last Grapaow Muu Sapp was a real shame, the meat consistet of some mashed bones and the cheapest crap rice.

income tax including solidarity tax and church tax ~45% and what's left taxed with 19% tax on goods and services makes Germany indeed a cheap paradise.

i can hardly wait for the day when they send my ashes back to the Vaterland. unfortunately i won't qualify for an iPhone then.

[I knew this would happen]

Oh come on, but there are many benefits too. What does Thailand give me for all those taxes which are actually very high too? A lousy infrastructure, most basic healthcare, a rotten education system, absolutely no social security, trash everywhere and no maintainance for whatever is government owned, when you´re in trouble and you don´t have children or a loving family you are DOOMED! Just look in BKK how many guys are out in the street at night looking in the trash for some usefull stuff. I gladly pay (paid) my taxes back home because i could see for what they were used for (or wasted sometimes). Of course after all Thailand might be cheaper, but if you do a summary of what you get for free back home it isn´t that much. And maybe you are a retiree suppoorted by exactly this evil taxes now living in Thailand and moaning about the Vaterland. If i´m wrong, i apologize. I´m not ranting about LOS now, i just want to state the facts according to me, ups and downs have to be accepted everywhere. We still got the great food, weather and that Thainess and lifestyle that we all love and hate as a big +

Dismissed Mr Worf

So the summary is that Thailand doesn´t have a real middle class yet and the whole market is more focused on the "poor" and a cheap life is only possible 1-2 classes lower than a westerner. And that increase on the streets is all Yinglucks fault so Thailand feels expensive now

[dannyman]

Do you know where ESSAN is "i knew this would happen"

[I knew this would happen]

Yes i do, like everyone does too who compared the Isaan with London or somewhere else.

[scobie redux]

Cheaper? More expensive? Who cares?

For me, I love living in Thailand and would gladly pay more than in the UK for the privilege. And - yes - I chose my words deliberately. To be able to live here is a privilege, and if cheese or wine is more expensive back home, then so be it. The benefits far outweigh the disadvantages.