Inflation in LOS

[thailiketoo]

How can people keep saying it is cheaper to live in LOS than in the US? I think inflation has been awful in Thailand in the past 5 years and it is no longer cheap.

The only way to live cheaply in Thailand is to cut your lifestyle way down and think like a Thai.

US. Western food, electronics, cars, gasoline - everything Western is much cheaper and you can own land.

<deleted> is "cheap" about Thailand unless you want a 30 sm studio and dodgy food and water?

No not even close to being true. 1. Food is cheaper in Thailand. I can eat out at one of the best Thai/Farang restaurants in town, me and 3 ladies for under $20. 2. Food is cheaper at home too in Thailand because it comes to my door by way of food truck daily at no extra cost. 3. I came to Thailand because I like Thai food duh! Why on earth would anyone come to live in Thailand and want to eat Western food? One of the big reasons Thai women don’t like to leave Thailand is food!. When I go out to eat I feed Thai women. They eat Thai food. It is cheaper than the food I fed women in the West. The men who take Thai women to the Hilton or Marriot to eat the buffet are a bit off eh? The Thai women don’t appreciate it; why spend the useless cash. Thai food is cheaper in Thailand than Western food; for those who eat Thai food it is cheaper than food in the West. Again, I repeat if I liked dairy products I would have retired in Wisconsin. I like Thai women and Thai food so I came to Thailand duh! It just doesn’t make any sense to compare Western food prices for food in Thailand. One might as well say the West is more expensive than Russia because the caviar is more expensive in Utah. Do people in Utah eat a lot of Russian caviar? Do people in Thailand eat a lot of Black Angus beef? You want to compare food OK compare a basic dinner for you and three women from the nursing home in Portland and a basic dinner for you and three young women in Thailand. Compare a typical basic dinner meal at home in the US and Thailand. Starch, vegetable and meat. Thailand is cheaper when comparing the average Thai to the average American. Average meal out American; MacDonalds and Thailand Som tom. Thailand is cheaper. Compare average people to average people; average food to average food. Don’t stack the deck. I live in Thailand of course I live like a Thai. What did you think I lived like a African or Russian?

Electronics are cheaper in Thailand. I just bought a new desktop Acer computer; just the computer, keypad and little speakers. If you compare the software that came with it, the total was cheaper in Thailand. Yes I know…… yada yada yada. But the bottom line is it is cheaper in Thailand for my electronic needs.

Transportation is cheaper in Thailand. My transportation expenses in the US were close to $12,000 per year or about $1,000 per month. That included a car and insurance and gas. In Thailand they are about $100 per month. I don’t need a car in Thailand. Stickman that expat Icon doesn’t have a car and neither do I. Taxis and buses are dirt cheap and get me anywhere I want to go. It is one of the big reasons I came to Thailand. I am old and didn’t want to drive anymore. Transportation in Thailand is 90% cheaper for me than in the West.

I didn’t want to own land in the US and I don’t want to own land in Thailand. I owned a condo in the US and I own a condo in Thailand the difference is, the price I paid for grounds upkeep of my US condo is the total price I pay for my Thai condo. Again Thailand wins by 90%. I live like a king on SS in Thailand and have not had to touch my principle. In the US my SS barely made my car payment and kept my grass cut. Thailand is not just a little cheaper it is 90% cheaper.

You can say that you think Thailand might be more expensive for you. OK. Don’t come. I know it is much cheaper for me; I live here. Something you should realize. I live in Thailand. I don’t have to keep up with you or live like you live in the USA. I don’t live there anymore. I know how much I spend every month. I know how much the doctor costs and I know how much my insurance costs. I know what cost me 500 baht 10 years ago still costs me 500 baht today. I take a taxi the same distance every day. It has cost me the same for the past 6 years. My personal expenses have gone down quite a bit in the last 5 years because of things the doctor told me not to do anymore. I used to spend a thousand baht a day drinking and smoking. I used to spend a fortune back in the States keeping my family in the style they deemed appropriate for our social status.

It is coming up on one of my biggest savings period of the year; Christmas. Darn, it used to cost me a fortune now; almost nothing. Don’t tell me I have dodgy food and water because I don’t. I can afford anything I want anytime I want it.

[rgs2001uk]

How can people keep saying it is cheaper to live in LOS than in the US? I think inflation has been awful in Thailand in the past 5 years and it is no longer cheap.

The only way to live cheaply in Thailand is to cut your lifestyle way down and think like a Thai.

US. Western food, electronics, cars, gasoline - everything Western is much cheaper and you can own land.

On a budget? Buy this house in the really nice little town of Hereford Texas which is a cattle ranch and wheat community. HERE and your payments including property taxes and insurance would be only $390 (12,000 baht) per month, and the sellers should accept $70k for the house in this market. You'd need $15k down which is just about 465K baht, or much less than LOS requires for a retirement extension.

Click through the pictures. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, underground utilities, nice street, curbs, sidewalks, and the water is safe to drink. The sanitary sewer works, plumbed into the sewer line in the street. It includes the land.

If you're broke rent out 1 of the bedrooms and bathrooms to a renter and live there nearly for free.

Now let's buy a used car. HERE I just grabbed the first dodgy looking real man's truck I saw. It's a 3/4 ton extra cab. The dealer wants 120,000 baht for it but I'll bet he'd take 90,000 baht. Wrong rig? There are thousands more out there and probably better.

<deleted> is "cheap" about Thailand unless you want a 30 sm studio and dodgy food and water?

Begs the question, what is it about Thailand that makes you want to come and live here, or have you decided against moving to Issan?

Issan <deleted>, going native are we?

[MJP]

I can't see where the inflation in Thailand is except for minced beef and pork and a bit on UHT milk. Everything else seems to be the same price it was three years ago in Makro/Tesco etc.

Oh, apart from cashew nuts which are a crazy price now.

[NeverSure]

How can people keep saying it is cheaper to live in LOS than in the US? I think inflation has been awful in Thailand in the past 5 years and it is no longer cheap.

The only way to live cheaply in Thailand is to cut your lifestyle way down and think like a Thai.

US. Western food, electronics, cars, gasoline - everything Western is much cheaper and you can own land.

On a budget? Buy this house in the really nice little town of Hereford Texas which is a cattle ranch and wheat community. HERE and your payments including property taxes and insurance would be only $390 (12,000 baht) per month, and the sellers should accept $70k for the house in this market. You'd need $15k down which is just about 465K baht, or much less than LOS requires for a retirement extension.

Click through the pictures. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, underground utilities, nice street, curbs, sidewalks, and the water is safe to drink. The sanitary sewer works, plumbed into the sewer line in the street. It includes the land.

If you're broke rent out 1 of the bedrooms and bathrooms to a renter and live there nearly for free.

Now let's buy a used car. HERE I just grabbed the first dodgy looking real man's truck I saw. It's a 3/4 ton extra cab. The dealer wants 120,000 baht for it but I'll bet he'd take 90,000 baht. Wrong rig? There are thousands more out there and probably better.

<deleted> is "cheap" about Thailand unless you want a 30 sm studio and dodgy food and water?

I'm from Texas. Tornadoes and hail storms in the spring. Hurricanes up from the gulf in the autumn. Hotter than Thailand in the summer. And ice storms in the winter. And State Farm Insurance doubling the cost of my mortgage with mandatory insurance. Thailand is still better.

It doesn't have to be Texas, and Texas is huge with many types of climates. I doubt if Hereford is subject to hurricanes. But the US is also huge with thousands of small towns like that, and any kind of weather you prefer. Certainly there are places that have never seen a hurricane or a tornado.

I picked one town and one house. I chose Texas because it has no income tax. For instance Idaho has both an income tax and a sales tax and I wouldn't look there. If you can't find an area and a climate in the US that you like, you must be really picky. Personally I don't care for the heat combined with the humidity in Thailand. Talk about rain and storms in Thailand, or smoke from burning or general air pollution... I walk down the street in most cities and smell raw sewage. People build "septic tanks" by digging a hole in the ground where it's known to flood. Wiring is dangerous.

So as much as you criticize something in the US, at least it is clean, safe, and sanitary. If you stay away from the worst of the inner cities such as Detroit it is beautiful. And if you are poor you can get free health care (Medicaid) or cheap health care if you are at least 65 (Medicare.)

You cannot live a Western lifestyle in LOS as cheaply as you can in the US. You can drop way down and live like a poor Thai more cheaply in LOS, and I have nothing against that if that's all one can afford. But apples for apples, the US is cheaper.

[NeverSure]

How can people keep saying it is cheaper to live in LOS than in the US? I think inflation has been awful in Thailand in the past 5 years and it is no longer cheap.

The only way to live cheaply in Thailand is to cut your lifestyle way down and think like a Thai.

US. Western food, electronics, cars, gasoline - everything Western is much cheaper and you can own land.

On a budget? Buy this house in the really nice little town of Hereford Texas which is a cattle ranch and wheat community. HERE and your payments including property taxes and insurance would be only $390 (12,000 baht) per month, and the sellers should accept $70k for the house in this market. You'd need $15k down which is just about 465K baht, or much less than LOS requires for a retirement extension.

Click through the pictures. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, underground utilities, nice street, curbs, sidewalks, and the water is safe to drink. The sanitary sewer works, plumbed into the sewer line in the street. It includes the land.

If you're broke rent out 1 of the bedrooms and bathrooms to a renter and live there nearly for free.

Now let's buy a used car. HERE I just grabbed the first dodgy looking real man's truck I saw. It's a 3/4 ton extra cab. The dealer wants 120,000 baht for it but I'll bet he'd take 90,000 baht. Wrong rig? There are thousands more out there and probably better.

<deleted> is "cheap" about Thailand unless you want a 30 sm studio and dodgy food and water?

Begs the question, what is it about Thailand that makes you want to come and live here, or have you decided against moving to Issan?

Issan <deleted>, going native are we?

I will never move to Thailand. I have it too good in the US, and there are many things I have that I don't want to get rid of. I have a 50's Schwinn bicycle collection I don't want to get rid of via Ebay. I of course have guns and reloading equipment and a firing range on my property. I have cars and a pickup I couldn't replace. I am spoiled.

But the next time I visit Thailand I am going to rent an apartment so I have a place to go to on visits, and so that I can keep some things there. If I can figure out how to do it legally, I'm going to buy a pickup and leave it there. Otherwise I will continue renting a car when I visit.

If after one year of renting I find I'd rather be somewhere else in Thailand, I will move and rent another apartment for a year, paying in advance.

I will continue to visit a couple of times a year and see my friends and enjoy myself, and then go back to home in the US.

[MJP]

How can people keep saying it is cheaper to live in LOS than in the US? I think inflation has been awful in Thailand in the past 5 years and it is no longer cheap.

The only way to live cheaply in Thailand is to cut your lifestyle way down and think like a Thai.

US. Western food, electronics, cars, gasoline - everything Western is much cheaper and you can own land.

On a budget? Buy this house in the really nice little town of Hereford Texas which is a cattle ranch and wheat community. HERE and your payments including property taxes and insurance would be only $390 (12,000 baht) per month, and the sellers should accept $70k for the house in this market. You'd need $15k down which is just about 465K baht, or much less than LOS requires for a retirement extension.

Click through the pictures. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, underground utilities, nice street, curbs, sidewalks, and the water is safe to drink. The sanitary sewer works, plumbed into the sewer line in the street. It includes the land.

If you're broke rent out 1 of the bedrooms and bathrooms to a renter and live there nearly for free.

Now let's buy a used car. HERE I just grabbed the first dodgy looking real man's truck I saw. It's a 3/4 ton extra cab. The dealer wants 120,000 baht for it but I'll bet he'd take 90,000 baht. Wrong rig? There are thousands more out there and probably better.

<deleted> is "cheap" about Thailand unless you want a 30 sm studio and dodgy food and water?

Begs the question, what is it about Thailand that makes you want to come and live here, or have you decided against moving to Issan?

Issan <deleted>, going native are we?

I will never move to Thailand. I have it too good in the US, and there are many things I have that I don't want to get rid of. I have a 50's Schwinn bicycle collection I don't want to get rid of via Ebay. I of course have guns and reloading equipment and a firing range on my property. I have cars and a pickup I couldn't replace. I am spoiled.

But the next time I visit Thailand I am going to rent an apartment so I have a place to go to on visits, and so that I can keep some things there. If I can figure out how to do it legally, I'm going to buy a pickup and leave it there. Otherwise I will continue renting a car when I visit.

If after one year of renting I find I'd rather be somewhere else in Thailand, I will move and rent another apartment for a year, paying in advance.

I will continue to visit a couple of times a year and see my friends and enjoy myself, and then go back to home in the US.

This, in my opinion, is the model way of 'living' in Thailand.

[kikoman]

Guesthouse.....gotta admit ....love reading your intellectual gobbly gook! Yes I did a cut and paste (how childish of me)

But since I am a ignorant self-made man (Still love learning though as I admit, I know very little.......its the people who think they know everything that really aren't so smart because they have closed their minds)

So Back to my point:

In layman's terms ...inflation notwithstanding....It's cheaper for me to live the "same" lifestyle here in Thailand then in the West. I know that may be TOO simple for you to understand ....but I'm trying.

I try not to argue with intellectual's as there is no winning and I really don't care about winning or losing....Just saying my opinion....

Guesthouse you seem to like formula's and Theories etc.

Best one I EVER learned was the KISS theory ...."Keep It Simple St---d"

beachproperty

You are right, "In Layman's terms" it is much cheaper to live in Thailand than the US!

Some will keep reading into your post, what they assume you said, not in fact what you posted?

Cheers:

[AYJAYDEE]

Yeah there is inflation here.....but so what?.... ITS EVERYWHERE!...

Still cheaper to live here than in the States or Europe. AND great weather, great food and great people!

My guess is you do not understand the differential inflation rates between your cost of living as an expat in Thailand and inflation rates back in the old country.

A differential measuring the gap in interest rates between two similar interest-bearing assets. Traders in the foreign exchange market use interest rate differentials (IRD) when pricing forward exchange rates. Based on the interest rate parity, a trader can create an expectation of the future exchange rate between two currencies and set the premium (or discount) on the current market exchange rate futures contracts.

Change "interest rates" to "inflation rates"

And your Point is ?

Mine was that its still cheaper to live in Thailand than it is in the West.

It is a matter of horses for courses.

When my kids were young, it was a lot cheaper to live in Thailand. Now they are of an age, throwing in school fees and needing to find stimulating things for them to do, UK is cheaper.

Went to pizza hit last night. Large pizza with unlimited salad. 13.95

700 baht. What is it going for in pizza hut in Thailand? Not significantly less. If you are happy to eat pad Thai and somtaam every day it's cheaper.

If you want something better, Thailand is catching up with the west very rapidly.

pizza hut is better than thai noodles and papaya salad?? lol

[kikoman]

How can people keep saying it is cheaper to live in LOS than in the US? I think inflation has been awful in Thailand in the past 5 years and it is no longer cheap.

The only way to live cheaply in Thailand is to cut your lifestyle way down and think like a Thai.

US. Western food, electronics, cars, gasoline - everything Western is much cheaper and you can own land.

On a budget? Buy this house in the really nice little town of Hereford Texas which is a cattle ranch and wheat community. HERE and your payments including property taxes and insurance would be only $390 (12,000 baht) per month, and the sellers should accept $70k for the house in this market. You'd need $15k down which is just about 465K baht, or much less than LOS requires for a retirement extension.

Click through the pictures. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, underground utilities, nice street, curbs, sidewalks, and the water is safe to drink. The sanitary sewer works, plumbed into the sewer line in the street. It includes the land.

If you're broke rent out 1 of the bedrooms and bathrooms to a renter and live there nearly for free.

Now let's buy a used car. HERE I just grabbed the first dodgy looking real man's truck I saw. It's a 3/4 ton extra cab. The dealer wants 120,000 baht for it but I'll bet he'd take 90,000 baht. Wrong rig? There are thousands more out there and probably better.

<deleted> is "cheap" about Thailand unless you want a 30 sm studio and dodgy food and water?

Hereford,Texas right across the border from Clovis New, Mexico, it may be a nice town as you say, but the smell from all the feedlots is overpowering, Many people would choose not to purchase property there because of that very reason, the overpowering smell of cow manure.

Just my personal experience and opinion.

Cheers:

[NeverSure]

How can people keep saying it is cheaper to live in LOS than in the US? I think inflation has been awful in Thailand in the past 5 years and it is no longer cheap.

The only way to live cheaply in Thailand is to cut your lifestyle way down and think like a Thai.

US. Western food, electronics, cars, gasoline - everything Western is much cheaper and you can own land.

On a budget? Buy this house in the really nice little town of Hereford Texas which is a cattle ranch and wheat community. HERE and your payments including property taxes and insurance would be only $390 (12,000 baht) per month, and the sellers should accept $70k for the house in this market. You'd need $15k down which is just about 465K baht, or much less than LOS requires for a retirement extension.

Click through the pictures. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, underground utilities, nice street, curbs, sidewalks, and the water is safe to drink. The sanitary sewer works, plumbed into the sewer line in the street. It includes the land.

If you're broke rent out 1 of the bedrooms and bathrooms to a renter and live there nearly for free.

Now let's buy a used car. HERE I just grabbed the first dodgy looking real man's truck I saw. It's a 3/4 ton extra cab. The dealer wants 120,000 baht for it but I'll bet he'd take 90,000 baht. Wrong rig? There are thousands more out there and probably better.

<deleted> is "cheap" about Thailand unless you want a 30 sm studio and dodgy food and water?

Hereford,Texas right across the border from Clovis New, Mexico, it may be a nice town as you say, but the smell from all the feedlots is overpowering, Many people would choose not to purchase property there because of that very reason, the overpowering smell of cow manure.

Just my personal experience and opinion.

Cheers:

With all due respect, I don't think you got the point. I already said that if someone doesn't prefer that area there are thousands of similar small towns in the US in rural areas with a complete variety of weather and terrain.

I made it clear that I just picked one at random in a state which has no income tax. The US is huge, so take your pick.

[kikoman]

The attached chart shows inflation in Thailand over the last two years.....Doesn't seem really high ( average about 3%/year)....as mentioned earlier cost of the same groceries two years ago is much more expensive than the inflation that is shown by the chart! In general we have all noticed the higher prices from street food going from 25 baht to 30-35baht, to workers wages being increased (which has to be passed along...resulting in higher prices)

Now I'm no economist....but isn't there a "real life" inflation standard (the shopping cart gage for example....take the same groceries 2 years ago and price them against the price now)....rather than what ever standard economic formula the government uses (the source for the chart is the Bureau of Trade and Economic indices, Ministry of Commerce, Thailand)...

Inflation slow down? for me....I wouldn't think so with all the growth and Asean Economic thing occurring in a few years.

Reality....Thailand IS costing more...but for me I can live with it for now....just hope it doesn't get too out of hand

When I moved to Thailand the exchange rate was 44 baht to the U.S. dollar, the cost of living was much less expensive, you have to admit the cost of living has increased.

In that 12 year time frame I lost 25 % of my real purchasing power, my dollar does not buy what it used to not due to the inflation rate in Thailand but by the economic crisis in the US and the devaluation of the U.S.dollar,

That devaluation has hurt my spendable income more that inflation in Thailand!

As you would say "In layman's terms"!

Cheers:

Edited October 26, 2013 by kikoman

[jbrain]

\

My reason for saying this is that my wife and I found a two year old receipt for our main weekly shop, like most people we are creatures of habit, particularly in the food and household consumables we buy.

Comparing this two year old bill with the bill from our most recent shop we found the inflation between the two to be over 15% in two years. Nothing had gone down and some foods had gone up 20% or more.

And I'm sure that while noticing the 15% increase in the total of the bill , it wasn't possible to figure out how many of the items on that receipt had decreased 10-15% in volume over the same period of time, because the first step is to reduce the volume before rising the price.

[AYJAYDEE]

How can people keep saying it is cheaper to live in LOS than in the US? I think inflation has been awful in Thailand in the past 5 years and it is no longer cheap.

The only way to live cheaply in Thailand is to cut your lifestyle way down and think like a Thai.

US. Western food, electronics, cars, gasoline - everything Western is much cheaper and you can own land.

On a budget? Buy this house in the really nice little town of Hereford Texas which is a cattle ranch and wheat community. HERE and your payments including property taxes and insurance would be only $390 (12,000 baht) per month, and the sellers should accept $70k for the house in this market. You'd need $15k down which is just about 465K baht, or much less than LOS requires for a retirement extension.

Click through the pictures. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, underground utilities, nice street, curbs, sidewalks, and the water is safe to drink. The sanitary sewer works, plumbed into the sewer line in the street. It includes the land.

If you're broke rent out 1 of the bedrooms and bathrooms to a renter and live there nearly for free.

Now let's buy a used car. HERE I just grabbed the first dodgy looking real man's truck I saw. It's a 3/4 ton extra cab. The dealer wants 120,000 baht for it but I'll bet he'd take 90,000 baht. Wrong rig? There are thousands more out there and probably better.

<deleted> is "cheap" about Thailand unless you want a 30 sm studio and dodgy food and water?

I'm from Texas. Tornadoes and hail storms in the spring. Hurricanes up from the gulf in the autumn. Hotter than Thailand in the summer. And ice storms in the winter. And State Farm Insurance doubling the cost of my mortgage with mandatory insurance. Thailand is still better.

It doesn't have to be Texas, and Texas is huge with many types of climates. I doubt if Hereford is subject to hurricanes. But the US is also huge with thousands of small towns like that, and any kind of weather you prefer. Certainly there are places that have never seen a hurricane or a tornado.

I picked one town and one house. I chose Texas because it has no income tax. For instance Idaho has both an income tax and a sales tax and I wouldn't look there. If you can't find an area and a climate in the US that you like, you must be really picky. Personally I don't care for the heat combined with the humidity in Thailand. Talk about rain and storms in Thailand, or smoke from burning or general air pollution... I walk down the street in most cities and smell raw sewage. People build "septic tanks" by digging a hole in the ground where it's known to flood. Wiring is dangerous.

So as much as you criticize something in the US, at least it is clean, safe, and sanitary. If you stay away from the worst of the inner cities such as Detroit it is beautiful. And if you are poor you can get free health care (Medicaid) or cheap health care if you are at least 65 (Medicare.)

You cannot live a Western lifestyle in LOS as cheaply as you can in the US. You can drop way down and live like a poor Thai more cheaply in LOS, and I have nothing against that if that's all one can afford. But apples for apples, the US is cheaper.

its not always what one can afford. many prefer the thai lifestyle to the north american/european lifestyle. they dont look on it as "dropping way down".

[kikoman]

Neversure,

Under stand your point,

But when I lived in the U.S. I opted to live in the City of Tucson, Arizona, never considered living in a small town or anywhere else in the states, and I did as you said "so take your pick" and I picked a way less expensive country, Thailand.

It is not considered dropping down, More like dropping up! Contrary to western thought money is not the only factor one considers in making lifestyle decision, being happy with the choice you made while living, the type of life you desire!

Cheers:

Edited October 26, 2013 by kikoman

[beachproperty]

How can people keep saying it is cheaper to live in LOS than in the US? I think inflation has been awful in Thailand in the past 5 years and it is no longer cheap.

The only way to live cheaply in Thailand is to cut your lifestyle way down and think like a Thai.

US. Western food, electronics, cars, gasoline - everything Western is much cheaper and you can own land.

On a budget? Buy this house in the really nice little town of Hereford Texas which is a cattle ranch and wheat community. HERE and your payments including property taxes and insurance would be only $390 (12,000 baht) per month, and the sellers should accept $70k for the house in this market. You'd need $15k down which is just about 465K baht, or much less than LOS requires for a retirement extension.

Click through the pictures. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, underground utilities, nice street, curbs, sidewalks, and the water is safe to drink. The sanitary sewer works, plumbed into the sewer line in the street. It includes the land.

If you're broke rent out 1 of the bedrooms and bathrooms to a renter and live there nearly for free.

Now let's buy a used car. HERE I just grabbed the first dodgy looking real man's truck I saw. It's a 3/4 ton extra cab. The dealer wants 120,000 baht for it but I'll bet he'd take 90,000 baht. Wrong rig? There are thousands more out there and probably better.

<deleted> is "cheap" about Thailand unless you want a 30 sm studio and dodgy food and water?

Begs the question, what is it about Thailand that makes you want to come and live here, or have you decided against moving to Issan?

Issan <deleted>, going native are we?

I will never move to Thailand. I have it too good in the US, and there are many things I have that I don't want to get rid of. I have a 50's Schwinn bicycle collection I don't want to get rid of via Ebay. I of course have guns and reloading equipment and a firing range on my property. I have cars and a pickup I couldn't replace. I am spoiled.

But the next time I visit Thailand I am going to rent an apartment so I have a place to go to on visits, and so that I can keep some things there. If I can figure out how to do it legally, I'm going to buy a pickup and leave it there. Otherwise I will continue renting a car when I visit.

If after one year of renting I find I'd rather be somewhere else in Thailand, I will move and rent another apartment for a year, paying in advance.

I will continue to visit a couple of times a year and see my friends and enjoy myself, and then go back to home in the US.

That explains it ALL!!! ....a 50's Schwinnn bicycle collection .....AND ....Guns.....GO Sarah Palin!

[Thai at Heart]

Yeah there is inflation here.....but so what?.... ITS EVERYWHERE!...

Still cheaper to live here than in the States or Europe. AND great weather, great food and great people!

My guess is you do not understand the differential inflation rates between your cost of living as an expat in Thailand and inflation rates back in the old country.

A differential measuring the gap in interest rates between two similar interest-bearing assets. Traders in the foreign exchange market use interest rate differentials (IRD) when pricing forward exchange rates. Based on the interest rate parity, a trader can create an expectation of the future exchange rate between two currencies and set the premium (or discount) on the current market exchange rate futures contracts.

Change "interest rates" to "inflation rates"

And your Point is ?

Mine was that its still cheaper to live in Thailand than it is in the West.

It is a matter of horses for courses.

When my kids were young, it was a lot cheaper to live in Thailand. Now they are of an age, throwing in school fees and needing to find stimulating things for them to do, UK is cheaper.

Went to pizza hit last night. Large pizza with unlimited salad. 13.95

700 baht. What is it going for in pizza hut in Thailand? Not significantly less. If you are happy to eat pad Thai and somtaam every day it's cheaper.

If you want something better, Thailand is catching up with the west very rapidly.

pizza hut is better than thai noodles and papaya salad?? lol

Not the point. Eat all of what's available.

Going out for pizza is a bit of a treat for the kids, in Thailand or in the UK. I have eaten Thai food for 18 years, sometimes it's nice for a change.

Point being, I like a little variety beyond somtaam and pad krapow. It's all very nice, but, eating street food every day can get a little tedious.

[AYJAYDEE]

but the fact is that eating thai style is still much cheaper than eating western style.

[zydeco]

How can people keep saying it is cheaper to live in LOS than in the US? I think inflation has been awful in Thailand in the past 5 years and it is no longer cheap.

The only way to live cheaply in Thailand is to cut your lifestyle way down and think like a Thai.

US. Western food, electronics, cars, gasoline - everything Western is much cheaper and you can own land.

On a budget? Buy this house in the really nice little town of Hereford Texas which is a cattle ranch and wheat community. HERE and your payments including property taxes and insurance would be only $390 (12,000 baht) per month, and the sellers should accept $70k for the house in this market. You'd need $15k down which is just about 465K baht, or much less than LOS requires for a retirement extension.

Click through the pictures. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, underground utilities, nice street, curbs, sidewalks, and the water is safe to drink. The sanitary sewer works, plumbed into the sewer line in the street. It includes the land.

If you're broke rent out 1 of the bedrooms and bathrooms to a renter and live there nearly for free.

Now let's buy a used car. HERE I just grabbed the first dodgy looking real man's truck I saw. It's a 3/4 ton extra cab. The dealer wants 120,000 baht for it but I'll bet he'd take 90,000 baht. Wrong rig? There are thousands more out there and probably better.

<deleted> is "cheap" about Thailand unless you want a 30 sm studio and dodgy food and water?

I'm from Texas. Tornadoes and hail storms in the spring. Hurricanes up from the gulf in the autumn. Hotter than Thailand in the summer. And ice storms in the winter. And State Farm Insurance doubling the cost of my mortgage with mandatory insurance. Thailand is still better.

It doesn't have to be Texas, and Texas is huge with many types of climates. I doubt if Hereford is subject to hurricanes. But the US is also huge with thousands of small towns like that, and any kind of weather you prefer. Certainly there are places that have never seen a hurricane or a tornado.

I picked one town and one house. I chose Texas because it has no income tax. For instance Idaho has both an income tax and a sales tax and I wouldn't look there. If you can't find an area and a climate in the US that you like, you must be really picky. Personally I don't care for the heat combined with the humidity in Thailand. Talk about rain and storms in Thailand, or smoke from burning or general air pollution... I walk down the street in most cities and smell raw sewage. People build "septic tanks" by digging a hole in the ground where it's known to flood. Wiring is dangerous.

So as much as you criticize something in the US, at least it is clean, safe, and sanitary. If you stay away from the worst of the inner cities such as Detroit it is beautiful. And if you are poor you can get free health care (Medicaid) or cheap health care if you are at least 65 (Medicare.)

You cannot live a Western lifestyle in LOS as cheaply as you can in the US. You can drop way down and live like a poor Thai more cheaply in LOS, and I have nothing against that if that's all one can afford. But apples for apples, the US is cheaper.

I live better in Thailand than I did in a suburb of Dallas. And I do it with far less money. I'll criticize Thailand when I feel it deserves it, but in this instance the comparison is favorable for Thailand. I don't know how long you've been living in the panhandle, but I grew up in Texas and am well aware that no place in Texas is immune from tornadoes or hail storms (except maybe the gulf coast doesn't get hail). Wind storms and wildfires/grassfires (especially where you live) are a problem during the summer. No, you'll not get the direct effect from a hurricane but most of the state does have storm remnants wash through them after a hurricane. And everybody in Texas pays higher insurance rates for hurricanes, tornadoes, and especially hail storms. Sooner or later you will get a hail storm and when those globes of grapefruit sized ice come falling from the sky and through your roof, house and car windows, you'll see way costs are so much higher for insurance--not to mention property taxes (even with the over 65 or disability freeze). The good news is you're probably free and clear from any accident at Commanche Peak.

[David48]

My OP seems to have gotten sidetracked somewhat so I will repeat my main question that I threw out in my OP...........

"I have no confidence in government figures on inflation but I can guess that the inflation is at least 5 to 10% and wonder if it will slow down at some point??

Your thoughts???"

Still wondering if it will 'slow down at some point'.

We all know that it's a global situation, but as I mentioned, 20+ years ago there was no obvious inflation like there is now.

The OP asked ...

"I have no confidence in government figures on inflation but I can guess that the inflation is at least 5 to 10% and wonder if it will slow down at some point??

Your thoughts???"

All this talk of Texas and the like doesn't really respect the OP or his question.

Out of respect to the OP, can refocus debate back to his question.

[beachproperty]

The attached chart shows inflation in Thailand over the last two years.....Doesn't seem really high ( average about 3%/year)....as mentioned earlier cost of the same groceries two years ago is much more expensive than the inflation that is shown by the chart! In general we have all noticed the higher prices from street food going from 25 baht to 30-35baht, to workers wages being increased (which has to be passed along...resulting in higher prices)

Now I'm no economist....but isn't there a "real life" inflation standard (the shopping cart gage for example....take the same groceries 2 years ago and price them against the price now)....rather than what ever standard economic formula the government uses (the source for the chart is the Bureau of Trade and Economic indices, Ministry of Commerce, Thailand)...

Inflation slow down? for me....I wouldn't think so with all the growth and Asean Economic thing occurring in a few years.

Reality....Thailand IS costing more...but for me I can live with it for now....just hope it doesn't get too out of hand

Jaideeguy......I wholeheartedly agree.....that's why I posted the above. If fact I even later posted a lead to another thread so this SPECIFIC topic of cost comparisons could be explored further....

As I stated earlier...the government figures seem to to biased in not showing the whole truth about inflation..Flawed economic model???? maybe?

but the reality appears to be that in Thailand inflation is becoming a bigger and bigger problem......AND only seems to be getting worse.

IMHO

[David48]

From an economic perspective ...

Thailand Inflation Rate The inflation rate in Thailand was recorded at 1.42 percent in September of 2013. Inflation Rate in Thailand is reported by the Bureau of Trade and Economic Indices, Ministry of Commerce, Thailand. Thailand Inflation Rate averaged 4.62 Percent from 1977 until 2013, reaching an all time high of 24.56 Percent in June of 1980 and a record low of -4.38 Percent in July of 2009. In Thailand, the most important categories in the consumer price index are Food (33 percent of total weight), Transportation and communication (27 percent of total weight) and Housing and furnishing (23.5 percent of total weight). Others include: Health care (7 percent); Recreation and education (5 percent), Electricity, fuel and water supply (5 percent) and Apparel and footwear (3 percent).

Here

What we see seems to be at odds with the above graph, but sometimes our perceptions and reality are not aligned.

A declining Thai Baht will make imports more expensive.

Changes in government policy such as increases in the alcohol tax have a direct effect on the price paid, thus inflation.

.

[jaideeguy]

My OP seems to have gotten sidetracked somewhat so I will repeat my main question that I threw out in my OP...........

"I have no confidence in government figures on inflation but I can guess that the inflation is at least 5 to 10% and wonder if it will slow down at some point??

Your thoughts???"

Still wondering if it will 'slow down at some point'.

We all know that it's a global situation, but as I mentioned, 20+ years ago there was no obvious inflation like there is now.

The OP asked ...

"I have no confidence in government figures on inflation but I can guess that the inflation is at least 5 to 10% and wonder if it will slow down at some point??

Your thoughts???"

All this talk of Texas and the like doesn't really respect the OP or his question.

Out of respect to the OP, can refocus debate back to his question.

FINALLY SOMEONE HAS RESPONDED TO MY OP!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for pointing that out David.

Does no one read the OP before they post?? All this bickering about which state is cheaper and comparing costs in Kalamazoo vs Nowheresville does NOT address my OP which clearly and simply asks " Will it slow down at some point??"

We all agree that inflation is real and obvious [and global] and it does go in cycles and it's arguable whether we can get the same bang for our buck as we get for our baht.........depends on your lifestyle.

Now, let's return to the OP........." Will it slow down at some point??"

[AYJAYDEE]

My OP seems to have gotten sidetracked somewhat so I will repeat my main question that I threw out in my OP...........

"I have no confidence in government figures on inflation but I can guess that the inflation is at least 5 to 10% and wonder if it will slow down at some point??

Your thoughts???"

Still wondering if it will 'slow down at some point'.

We all know that it's a global situation, but as I mentioned, 20+ years ago there was no obvious inflation like there is now.

The OP asked ...

"I have no confidence in government figures on inflation but I can guess that the inflation is at least 5 to 10% and wonder if it will slow down at some point??

Your thoughts???"

All this talk of Texas and the like doesn't really respect the OP or his question.

Out of respect to the OP, can refocus debate back to his question.

FINALLY SOMEONE HAS RESPONDED TO MY OP!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for pointing that out David.

Does no one read the OP before they post?? All this bickering about which state is cheaper and comparing costs in Kalamazoo vs Nowheresville does NOT address my OP which clearly and simply asks " Will it slow down at some point??"

We all agree that inflation is real and obvious [and global] and it does go in cycles and it's arguable whether we can get the same bang for our buck as we get for our baht.........depends on your lifestyle.

Now, let's return to the OP........." Will it slow down at some point??"

yes

[jaideeguy]

55 posts and finally a three letter reply!! 'Yes' and why do you say that Ayjaidee??

[AYJAYDEE]

55 posts and finally a three letter reply!! 'Yes' and why do you say that Ayjaidee??

because it always does. but more specifically, the rice subsidy will come off at some point

[impulse]

I get the sense that some of the guys arguing here are closer than they think.

My example would be that the lifestyle that I lived in Texas (golf 12 months a year, water skiing, ocean fishing, etc) would have been a lot more expensive in Wyoming.

And the lifestyle I lived in Wyoming (fly fishing for trout, snow skiing, and mountain hiking) would have been a lot more expensive in Texas.

That doesn't mean the cost of living in either place was inherently higher or lower. And, though the published inflation rates were the same, if the price of snowmobiles went up more then the price of bass boats, the cost to pursue a Wyoming lifestyle went up faster than the Texas lifestyle.

The lifestyle I live in Thailand is probably cheaper than the style I lived in Texas or Wyoming, but it doesn't include water skiing, or snow skiing or baseball games, or concerts, or 1000 mile weekend road trips or.... I realize those are pretty poor examples, but they illustrate the point.

I get the sense that the cost of living a Thai lifestyle is going up slower then the cost of living an expat lifestyle in Thailand, but I have no basis to prove that.

That said, I never trust any government's inflation numbers because they play fast and loose with the "basket of goods" they're comparing year to year, and even faster and looser with the prices they use to compare those baskets. And I guaranty you, my monthly purchase are very different than a representative "basket of goods" for a Thai family of 4.

Edited October 27, 2013 by impulse

[nycjoe]

I have lots more road behind me than ahead. By the time things get tight. I'll be way gone.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[beachproperty]

The attached chart shows inflation in Thailand over the last two years.....Doesn't seem really high ( average about 3%/year)....as mentioned earlier cost of the same groceries two years ago is much more expensive than the inflation that is shown by the chart! In general we have all noticed the higher prices from street food going from 25 baht to 30-35baht, to workers wages being increased (which has to be passed along...resulting in higher prices)

Now I'm no economist....but isn't there a "real life" inflation standard (the shopping cart gage for example....take the same groceries 2 years ago and price them against the price now)....rather than what ever standard economic formula the government uses (the source for the chart is the Bureau of Trade and Economic indices, Ministry of Commerce, Thailand)...

Inflation slow down? for me....I wouldn't think so with all the growth and Asean Economic thing occurring in a few years.

Reality....Thailand IS costing more...but for me I can live with it for now....just hope it doesn't get too out of hand

Ahhhh .....Jaydeeguy....I feel a little left out on the backslapping .....Although I probably was at fault for the sidetrack ....I DID try to get back to the original post ...and in fact answered it directly......with my opinion of course ....a few times.....

I guess you missed the part of my post that says .....".Inflation slow down? for me....I wouldn't think so with all the growth and Asean Economic thing occurring in a few years."...Oh well .....I'm a newbie....guess being overlooked is part of being that.....oh well.

Edited October 27, 2013 by beachproperty

[zydeco]

55 posts and finally a three letter reply!! 'Yes' and why do you say that Ayjaidee??

Probably such a brief answer because that is all there is to it. A trend is a trend until it isn't. Back in the day I used to visit stock message boards, someone would always ask, "do you think this stock will continue to go up." Same answer there as here, stocks go up until they don't. No number of charts, tea leaves, economic reports, or official projections mean anything at all. So, yes, inflation will slow when it slows.

[jaideeguy]

Yes Beachproperty you did provide an 'official' graph and altho I read the graph with a big grain of salt, I hope that your prediction of future inflation proves wrong, but thanks anyway for staying on topic.