What's your monthly cost to live in Thailand?

[AYJAYDEE]

Yep made an expensive mistake by deciding to attend law school after the age of 40. I know, I know stupid decision! I am on a special repayment plan though that is based on income , so I will carry this debt for 15 more years or death whichever comes first. I am 52 Other than that though life is swell :-) Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

wow! oh well it appears you can retire early at any rate! good for you. I went at age 59. may I say you probably wont need as much as you think you do. i sure never regretted going early.

[beachproperty]

beachproperty... If This Happened to you in California. Number1) You are a loser 2)You probably left your family there to avoid child support. 3) You Are A drunk 4)The police in the USA are looking for you now. 5) If you can't make it California you are a BUM!!!!

Allucero ....all the name calling and badmouthing is not going to make your pathetic life in the US any better.....get a grip....

But since you didn't respond directly to what this post is about ......cost of living for you and is it more expensive or cheaper than Thailand?

I'll have to assume that my premise is correct as you are unable to respond other than by calling names ( a little childish don't you think.....OH you ARE a child ...well I stand corrected)

[thailiketoo]

I won't go into numbers but I lived single, small town, Or. USA. Here, married, no children, rural. I spend about !/3 here than I did in the States.

I don't even need to know specifics. If you are living in rural Thailand and now married for 1/3 what you spent as a single in The States you are nowhere near living the same lifestyle surrounded by the same amenities.

That's OK. There's nothing wrong with that and it works very well for some people. But there is no way that rural Thailand compares even close to "small town Oregon, USA" in any way. It can't possibly be apples and apples.

There is Nothing in rural Oregon that would remind you of rural Thailand for lifestyle. LINK TO PICTURES OF SMALL TOWN OREGON.

I enjoy small town Thailand, even Isaan so I hope you are happy and if so, good for you.

You are so right. There are many parts of rural America. I used to live in Yell country Arkansas. It’s a dry county except for the coke machine in front of Wilmadean’s country store. That machine is chocked full of shine. Wilamadean’s uncle is the deputy sheriff, ya know. You might recognize yell county as it’s the place where they shot that famous American movie, “True Grit.” Now we have lots of amenities in Yell county, only nice folks live there ya know. We have a school and a general store and a local motel of which I’ll enclose some photos of Ola one of the big cities in Yell county.

When you figure out how silly it is to compare all of Thailand to one small area of one State in the USA let me know. Rural America in Arkansas or the rust belt is poverty. On the West coast it is rich folks. Try to compare areas where the land is the same price.

How much does an acre cost around you? How much does a new house cost around you? Now find a place like that in Thailand and compare. Rural America is not one place it is rich and poor and in between. Do you need a car in rural Thailand? Maybe yes maybe no. Do you need a car in rural USA almost always yes. I can be in rural Thailand and still get to Pattaya (Sin) or Chiang Mai (Culture) in just a few minutes on a bus. Can you do the same thing for the same price in the US from Las Vegas (Sin) or San Francisco (Culture)? No.

Try and find a city in the USA that has the number and variety of restaurants that are in Pattaya along with the night life and ladies of the night and shopping. There is none. Good bad, warts and all it is unique and you can still be in rural Thailand for a 20 baht bus ride.

Thailand is unique. You can't compare it to the USA. But you go ahead and try. Tell me a city in the USA that is the same as a Thai city. All the big things should be the same, land prices, industry, agriculture, housing and so on.

You keep saying how great Oregon is. I lived there. The drunk indian loggers in town on the weekends drove me crazy. Beautiful clear streams but you can't drink the water because of that beaver parasite.

[timtscott]

Thanks AYJAYDEE!!!. I can retire at age 55 with a monthly income of about $2500 after taxes. After my student loan payment I will have about $2300 to live on in LOS. I will need health insurance in Thailand. I am considering teaching the first couple of years just to have a little extra income and ease myself into full retirement. I am single with no kids and have no immediate plans to re-marry. I have about $30 k in the bank I am hoping to pad that a bit more before I retire. In addition, I have about $160k in deferred comp that I will turn into an annuity when I turn 65 or so. I won't be eligible for social security, but will be able to get pension related health care at age 60 and Medicare at 65. I live a pretty simple life. Not a big drinker but do like to hang out. So I am hoping to have enough income to live a quiet life in Chaing Mai without much stress. How do you enjoy life in Thailand? Any advice for a future neighbor? :-)

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Edited October 28, 2013 by timtscott

[istinspring]

Huh you compare Thai vs US !!! Now imagine how better here if you compare it with Russia. In russia police is f. terrible, if you live in city like St.Petersburg or Moscow for long time you gonna scare them for sure. Medicine? Declared to be free, but actually not. If you want to have "not bad" healthcare you'll pay lot. Another few reasons includes high prices for everything (high even for Euro dudes), Putin, growing numbers of muslims and crime in big cities, corruption, cold weather, terrible roads and community transport etc. So for good ru-dudes who have any sort of internet related income Thai (or asia in general) is 100% better than motherland.

Edited October 28, 2013 by istinspring

[AYJAYDEE]

Thanks AYJAYDEE!!!. I can retire at age 55 with a monthly income of about $2500 after taxes. After my student loan payment I will have about $2300 to live on in LOS. I will need health insurance in Thailand. I am considering teaching the first couple of years just to have a little extra income and ease myself into full retirement. I am single with no kids and have no immediate plans to re-marry. I have about $30 k in the bank I am hoping to pad that a bit more before I retire. In addition, I have about $160k in deferred comp that I will turn into an annuity when I turn 65 or so. I won't be eligible for social security, but will be able to get pension related health care at age 60 and Medicare at 65. I live a pretty simple life. Not a big drinker but do like to hang out. So I am hoping to have enough income to live a quiet life in Chaing Mai without much stress. How do you enjoy life in Thailand? Any advice for a future neighbor? :-) Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I dont live full time, we split our time between isaan and canada (my wife loves the climate)! lol but when we are there I find bicycle riding, village activities, swimming, once a week visits with farang at a small local resort, chores around the house, excercises, playing music, meditation etc to keep me content. as a teacher, you will be swept into the local culture at any rate you choose. i would warn you against all the single teachers that will have you in their sights though! lol. in the chiang mai area, there is so much to learn by attending courses. cooking, meditation, thai language, hill tribe volunteer work etc etc. probably good to do a TOEFL course before you go.

[beachproperty]

I won't go into numbers but I lived single, small town, Or. USA. Here, married, no children, rural. I spend about !/3 here than I did in the States.

I don't even need to know specifics. If you are living in rural Thailand and now married for 1/3 what you spent as a single in The States you are nowhere near living the same lifestyle surrounded by the same amenities.

That's OK. There's nothing wrong with that and it works very well for some people. But there is no way that rural Thailand compares even close to "small town Oregon, USA" in any way. It can't possibly be apples and apples.

There is Nothing in rural Oregon that would remind you of rural Thailand for lifestyle. LINK TO PICTURES OF SMALL TOWN OREGON.

I enjoy small town Thailand, even Isaan so I hope you are happy and if so, good for you.

You are so right. There are many parts of rural America. I used to live in Yell country Arkansas. It’s a dry county except for the coke machine in front of Wilmadean’s country store. That machine is chocked full of shine. Wilamadean’s uncle is the deputy sheriff, ya know. You might recognize yell county as it’s the place where they shot that famous American movie, “True Grit.” Now we have lots of amenities in Yell county, only nice folks live there ya know. We have a school and a general store and a local motel of which I’ll enclose some photos of Ola one of the big cities in Yell county.

When you figure out how silly it is to compare all of Thailand to one small area of one State in the USA let me know. Rural America in Arkansas or the rust belt is poverty. On the West coast it is rich folks. Try to compare areas where the land is the same price.

How much does an acre cost around you? How much does a new house cost around you? Now find a place like that in Thailand and compare. Rural America is not one place it is rich and poor and in between. Do you need a car in rural Thailand? Maybe yes maybe no. Do you need a car in rural USA almost always yes. I can be in rural Thailand and still get to Pattaya (Sin) or Chiang Mai (Culture) in just a few minutes on a bus. Can you do the same thing for the same price in the US from Las Vegas (Sin) or San Francisco (Culture)? No.

Try and find a city in the USA that has the number and variety of restaurants that are in Pattaya along with the night life and ladies of the night and shopping. There is none. Good bad, warts and all it is unique and you can still be in rural Thailand for a 20 baht bus ride.

Thailand is unique. You can't compare it to the USA. But you go ahead and try. Tell me a city in the USA that is the same as a Thai city. All the big things should be the same, land prices, industry, agriculture, housing and so on.

You keep saying how great Oregon is. I lived there. The drunk indian loggers in town on the weekends drove me crazy. Beautiful clear streams but you can't drink the water because of that beaver parasite.

Absolutely brilliant.....thank-you for proving my point......NO two cities, NO two countries are alike.....BUT we're not trying to compare cities or countries.......I only asked what does it cost you a month to live where ever that is (be it Thailand , America , Europe , Russia etc.) and how it compares to your Home coountry.

On your point of comparing cost of land (Thailand vs.........) and THEN comparing costs......Well I live on the outer edges of Bangkok...1 Rai is Baht 20,000,000 comparable to the same cost in San Francisco California for the same size land and outskirts of the city.

I can tell you for a FACT.....its more expensive to live in San Francisco than Bangkok .....Housing being number 1.....A studio in a decent location in San Francisco is $1750 (Cheapest)......

Bangkok cheaper than San Francisco.....and I wouldn't be surprised if its cheaper than all the MAJOR cities in the USA.........Not Poedunk USA (good luck living there)

[rhodie]

If you believe that you can live in New York, London or Sydney cheaper than you can in Bangkok, then all I can say is you have not been to Bangkok!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

From a housing perspective, one of the things that's attractive about BKK is the wide range of available housing prices that are at least decent or better.

Depending on the location around BKK, you can find studio/one-room apartments for 4,000 baht per month or more that are perfectly fine for some folks. You can find nice apartments and condos that rent for the 15,000 to 30,000 baht per month range. Or you can go hog wild and spend 100,000 or 200,000 p/m or a rental or many millions on a home purchase. And all of that is in the same metro setting, without having to worry about your safety, most of the time.

In larger cosmopolitan cities in the U.S., it's easy to pay in the middle and upper price ranges. But if you start looking at anything that's especially affordable, I'm afraid it's often going to be at the price of your personal safety.

FWIW, I've heard San Antonio or Austin in Texas are nice, and San Antonio is on the U.S. News list above of affordable retirement destinations. Texas also is a no state income tax state. But I've never come anywhere close to visiting either of them.

Edited October 28, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[beachproperty]

Did a little Google.....found this site comparing cost of living in Thailand vs USA

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Thailand&country2=United+States

an example....San francisco vs Bangkok

You would need around 5,959.93$ (184,876.92฿) in San Francisco, CA to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 85,000.00฿ inBangkok (assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Consumer Prices Including Rent Index.

Guess what?...USA is MORE expensive to live.....(who would've thunk)...just as said by most of the posters here....thank-you to those who shared their finances with everybody.....it gives a perspective to our own monthly costs/

Edited October 28, 2013 by beachproperty

[FiftyTwo]

All be Told....MY point of view is that Thailand is Cheaper to live....and more certainly, for me, the quality of life is higher for the same price!

Yep, a lot of stuff in the west you have to pay for, want it (need it) or not.

Property tax, health ins, vehicle ins, communications tax, garbage collection.

No choice.

Here you can choose what you want to pay for.

[TheSpade]

i rent in fan room and walk and eat at 7. comes in at under THB 15000 not including visa and visa runs.

How much do you pay for a fan room out of interest? I've seen people on here before post that they pay up to 7k p/m for a fan room and I think that's a bit crazy considering I know people paying between 4-7k p/m for an OK airconned room walking distance to BTS stations.

If you believe that you can live in New York, London or Sydney cheaper than you can in Bangkok, then all I can say is you have not been to Bangkok!

Yeah that cracks me up as well. Bangkok can be expensive if you want it to be but also dirt cheap if you want it to be. Most the other places are expensive if you like it or not, no choice.

[TheSpade]

rent in fan room and walk and eat at 7. comes in at under THB 15000 not including visa and visa runs.

What do you pay for your fan room out of interest? Remember before a few people saying they'd paid up to 7k p/m for fan rooms out here which seems bizarre to me as know a few guys who have OK airconned rooms close to BTS stations for 4-7k p/m.

If you believe that you can live in New York, London or Sydney cheaper than you can in Bangkok, then all I can say is you have not been to Bangkok!

Indeed.

Bangkok can be expensive if you want it to be but it can also be dirt cheap if you want it to be where as in the other places you have little choice things are expensive whether you like it or not.

[Vo Nguyen Giap]

rent in fan room and walk and eat at 7. comes in at under THB 15000 not including visa and visa runs.

What do you pay for your fan room out of interest? Remember before a few people saying they'd paid up to 7k p/m for fan rooms out here which seems bizarre to me as know a few guys who have OK airconned rooms close to BTS stations for 4-7k p/m.

i pay extra for the freedom to vanish tomorrow if i chose. ie. only a few days in advance at a time, THB 250/DAY (no extra charges due) includes electricity, wifi, fans, hot shower, toilet, and cable tv, kitchen sink, double bed with bedding, large table, stools, bottled water, soap, toilet paper, bum-gun, at about 7 meters by 4 meters on the ground floor so no steps. by the month it IS 3500 baht with then extra for electricity and water. why not by the month? i find moving the best way to deal with unwelcomed lobs that can appear from nowhere and stay too long in a close environment. i keep my possessions mobile-able at short notice.

250-300 baht / day is fairly standard for self contained fan room outside bkk. still can find cheaper just as acceptable at 200/day or even less in a nice enough environment close to everything you need, if you know where to look. no i am not telling.

yes agree that paying by the month in bkk suburbs you can get a decent aircon place for THB 7000-ish, even less if you look.

i find acceptable people to deal with a more important factor than the actual room facilities and price.

Edited October 28, 2013 by Vo Nguyen Giap

[beachproperty]

i rent in fan room and walk and eat at 7. comes in at under THB 15000 not including visa and visa runs.

"air on 8 hours a day everyday" noted that you posted this in october so this is just pure waste to satisfy face.

admitted i have three(3) fans going 24hrs but its included in rent. but fans are more for air quality not temp controll. thailand stinks if you havent noticed.

wifi also included in rent as is cable tv that i dont watch. not in the big smoke or a tourist ghetto by choice. been here long enough to know my way around. could easily do around THB 10000

with minimal extra effort or lifestyle change, but what the heck give cat another goldfish.

not a member of the alcohol or drug dependence groups.

Air on 8 hours a day is for when we sleep at night....Live in Bangkok so have to close the windows at night so don't hear all the noise (barking dogs, some cars) I'm not Thai, so I could give a hoot about "saving face" .....reality is it gets hot so I turn the air on (but not real low ....24)

Anyway thanks for posting ....like to seeing how different people live different lifestyles!

[beachproperty]

Huh you compare Thai vs US !!! Now imagine how better here if you compare it with Russia. In russia police is f. terrible, if you live in city like St.Petersburg or Moscow for long time you gonna scare them for sure. Medicine? Declared to be free, but actually not. If you want to have "not bad" healthcare you'll pay lot. Another few reasons includes high prices for everything (high even for Euro dudes), Putin, growing numbers of muslims and crime in big cities, corruption, cold weather, terrible roads and community transport etc. So for good ru-dudes who have any sort of internet related income Thai (or asia in general) is 100% better than motherland.

You would need around 83,462.36฿ (85,575.56руб) in Bangkok to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 140,000.00руб inMoscow (assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Consumer Prices Including Rent Index.

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Russia&country2=Thailand

[amykat]

Loptr....

My expenses were from Calif....Also remember that I INCLUDED my Federal TaX Bite....take that out and my expenses were $3500/month

You say yours are $3000....Where is that?

and ....what's the break down

Rent? ( or house payment with taxes and insurance)

Utilities?

Food?

Transportation?

Med. Insurance?

Cable

Cell phone

Entertainment and miscel..

I agree that your budget is only middle class in the US, and don't know who or what people are comparing to, who try to claim this is upper middle class, as it definitely is not! But I guess this may depend on if you live in one of the cheapest states, and have 2 kids and a spouse, or only are single. In California, as a single person, this is surely, ONLY middle class, and barely that in my opinion.

However, I wonder about your Federal taxes? Those should be the same here, since you are due to pay them, if you have the same income. ...only state taxes should be saved by living in Thailand. But you didn't include that as a cost.

I think medical insurance is a huge cost, or savings, depending on your situation. If you have a job, and that is included as part of your benefits, as most middle-class jobs do, than that is a big savings. Also, if you have no chronic health costs, that is a good savings in life, no matter where.

For those of us, who would have to pay for insurance, and who also (like me) have a chronic condition, which has cost me a large amount of money, each and EVERY month of my life, since my mid-20s , that can be the difference between a good life, a middle-class life, or a broke life, with the same amount of money. So, for me, being self-insured, and paying for my costs as I go, is still less than just my co-pays before in the US, even without adding the cost of insurance. This is somewhat due to the fact that I can also just go to a pharmacy and order what I want, without paying a doctor every month for a visit and a prescription.

But if you don't have these particular problems, your savings by living here, should be much less. Also depends on if you have kids going to private schools or no kids, etc. Well, we are all different. I wish I didn't save so much by living here and could go back to the US!!

[beachproperty]

Loptr....

My expenses were from Calif....Also remember that I INCLUDED my Federal TaX Bite....take that out and my expenses were $3500/month

You say yours are $3000....Where is that?

and ....what's the break down

Rent? ( or house payment with taxes and insurance)

Utilities?

Food?

Transportation?

Med. Insurance?

Cable

Cell phone

Entertainment and miscel..

I agree that your budget is only middle class in the US, and don't know who or what people are comparing to, who try to claim this is upper middle class, as it definitely is not! But I guess this may depend on if you live in one of the cheapest states, and have 2 kids and a spouse, or only are single. In California, as a single person, this is surely, ONLY middle class, and barely that in my opinion.

However, I wonder about your Federal taxes? Those should be the same here, since you are due to pay them, if you have the same income. ...only state taxes should be saved by living in Thailand. But you didn't include that as a cost.

I think medical insurance is a huge cost, or savings, depending on your situation. If you have a job, and that is included as part of your benefits, as most middle-class jobs do, than that is a big savings. Also, if you have no chronic health costs, that is a good savings in life, no matter where.

For those of us, who would have to pay for insurance, and who also (like me) have a chronic condition, which has cost me a large amount of money, each and EVERY month of my life, since my mid-20s , that can be the difference between a good life, a middle-class life, or a broke life, with the same amount of money. So, for me, being self-insured, and paying for my costs as I go, is still less than just my co-pays before in the US, even without adding the cost of insurance. This is somewhat due to the fact that I can also just go to a pharmacy and order what I want, without paying a doctor every month for a visit and a prescription.

But if you don't have these particular problems, your savings by living here, should be much less. Also depends on if you have kids going to private schools or no kids, etc. Well, we are all different. I wish I didn't save so much by living here and could go back to the US!!

Your caught me!.....Your absolutely right about my taxes.....they are about the same and I DID

include them in the original estimate(first post)........... it was later adjusted...as indicated above.....

But I also failed to include Homeowners insurance....$100/month (another savings as home is self insured also) and probably a few others so the reality is with taxes I was paying approx. $5500/month

here in Thailand I am also medically self insured and it has saved me enormously, as have housing costs.....everything else is fairly comparable though.

I guess I can understand you missing the States and sorry to hear that.......as for me ...my wife is here and she and the family are my life....so nothing for me to miss in the States....

Hope it all works out for you

Edited October 28, 2013 by beachproperty

[istinspring]

Rent Per Month [Edit] [Edit] Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre 25,000.00 руб 15,379.79 руб -38.48 % Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre 18,000.00 руб 8,202.55 руб -54.43 % Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre 45,000.00 руб 35,886.17 руб -20.25 % Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre 30,000.00 руб 17,569.62 руб -41.43 %

Well the prices of apartments in Moscow is wrong ))) 1 bedroom in center 25k??? it's impossible, and if for 15k you can rent good apartments with furniture in Bangkok, in moscow you'll have very shitty and small room "Back to USSR" style far away from metro in crappy district.

Just checked real estate website, middle price for square meter in moskow (not in center) СРЕДНЯЯ ЦЕНА ЗА М2 194 075 РУБ.

About 200k not 70k like listed. (can compare easy because 1 RUR = 1 TBH)

One bedroom (in Russia 1 bedroom mean literally 1 bedroom, no hall) cost from 6 millions

http://realty.dmir.ru/msk/prices/ceny-na-kvartiry-v-moskve/

Edited October 28, 2013 by istinspring

[beachproperty]

If you believe that you can live in New York, London or Sydney cheaper than you can in Bangkok, then all I can say is you have not been to Bangkok!

You would need around 6,425.08$ (199,305.95฿) in New York, NY to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 85,000.00฿ inBangkok (assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Consumer Prices Including Rent Index.

You would need around 86,084.86฿ (1,715.59£) in Bangkok to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 4,000.00£ in London(assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Consumer Prices Including Rent Index.

You would need around 6,867.78A$ (204,236.02฿) in Sydney to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 85,000.00฿ in Bangkok(assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Consumer Prices Including Rent Index.

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Thailand&city1=Bangkok&country2=Australia&city2=Sydney

[myluckythai]

I live out in the country, Northeastern part of Thailand, and my cost of living here with the wife and 2 daughters are exactly the same as i pay back home in Holland. I do not own a car for this which i did have back home, do have a well covered healthinsurance for the whole family and rent a home here. I use a fair amount of internet and have 2 motorbikes. My total living costs are about 35 K to 40 K baht a month. I find it to be rather expensive in comparing to some years ago yes. But the only difference for this money is i do live in a great house, but then again do not have a car here. shopping costs for food are the same as in Holland. I feel a person from holland should at least think in the same numbers as living easy back home.

Fair enough.....I have Dutch friends here that might disagree with you (ie regarding costs being exactly the same for Thailand and Holland)

but have no reason to doubt you....thanks for the post!

without my family it would be much cheaper indeed. for food i find some things to be much cheaper but others to be much more expensive, and hey i don't want to live all like a thai. have some thing i need/want the farang way. housing is much cheaper. Insurance just a little . i can imagine there are ways to live cheaper . give up some luxuries and send the kids to a thai governmentschool would save me a lot already. ( this i forgot to mention before). And off cours many people do not live for 1000 euro's a month in holland, but much more than that. the difference in feeling may be in this. i lived a pretty common life. no house owner so no big mortgage, didnot go out a lot and 'only' had one small car. haha. i know people who pay only 1000 already or more in mortgage . when you own a house , a big car and have kids in university or something 1000 euro is a joke.

Edited October 28, 2013 by myluckythai

[amykat]

Water, electric, internet? 1,000 a month??!!

Yeah, pull the other one.

The wifi is free with the apartment as well as cable TV.

My electricity and water is not more than 1,000B per month total and I pay double the Government rate.

I spend a good part of the day in the coffee shop and my apartment is rarely that hot so aircon isn't needed most the time.

Wow, where do you live? Is it in Thailand? Because I do use aircon 80% of the time, and to be comfortable I would use it 98% of the time. And I live in an area that is supposed to be cooler than most. In fact, most of the time that I DO use aircon, I am still not comfortable, as my aircon cannot seem to really cool down my house to a temp I would like. For example, like now, it is somewhat cool at night, but my house is still much hotter, and even with aircon going 20 hours of the day/night, I cannot get my bedroom to be the same cool temp as the low nighttime temp, due to the cement holding the heat.

You must have picked an excellent building and city as well! Good for you! Or you just happen to comfortable with 35 C and humidity or more?

But why do you spend so much time in a coffee shop? That seems strange to me, I do spend most of my time in my house. But if you spend so little on water and electric, you must have nearly nothing in your place, no refrig, no hot water? or what??? especially if you are paying double the electric rate, that is like me me paying 300 a month or so ...to compare? I have never had a month so cheap, in 9 years, and including months that I don't use aircon, and maybe including months I am not even in my house/in Thailand at all !!

What is your secret location?

[beachproperty]

I live out in the country, Northeastern part of Thailand, and my cost of living here with the wife and 2 daughters are exactly the same as i pay back home in Holland. I do not own a car for this which i did have back home, do have a well covered healthinsurance for the whole family and rent a home here. I use a fair amount of internet and have 2 motorbikes. My total living costs are about 35 K to 40 K baht a month. I find it to be rather expensive in comparing to some years ago yes. But the only difference for this money is i do live in a great house, but then again do not have a car here. shopping costs for food are the same as in Holland. I feel a person from holland should at least think in the same numbers as living easy back home.

Fair enough.....I have Dutch friends here that might disagree with you (ie regarding costs being exactly the same for Thailand and Holland)

but have no reason to doubt you....thanks for the post!

without my family it would be much cheaper indeed. for food i find some things to be much cheaper but others to be much more expensive, and hey i don't want to live all like a thai. have some thing i need/want the farang way. housing is much cheaper. Insurance just a little . i can imagine there are ways to live cheaper . give up some luxuries and send the kids to a thai governmentschool would save me a lot already. ( this i forgot to mention before).

Hey I feel for you......My kids are grown up and out of school ....but when that was an expense it was a big part of my budget...

found the following statistic on the internet.....interestering

Cost of living in Amsterdam (Netherlands) is 149% more expensive than in Khon Kaen Thailand

https://expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/khon-kaen/amsterdam

[myluckythai]

I live out in the country, Northeastern part of Thailand, and my cost of living here with the wife and 2 daughters are exactly the same as i pay back home in Holland. I do not own a car for this which i did have back home, do have a well covered healthinsurance for the whole family and rent a home here. I use a fair amount of internet and have 2 motorbikes. My total living costs are about 35 K to 40 K baht a month. I find it to be rather expensive in comparing to some years ago yes. But the only difference for this money is i do live in a great house, but then again do not have a car here. shopping costs for food are the same as in Holland. I feel a person from holland should at least think in the same numbers as living easy back home.

Fair enough.....I have Dutch friends here that might disagree with you (ie regarding costs being exactly the same for Thailand and Holland)

but have no reason to doubt you....thanks for the post!

without my family it would be much cheaper indeed. for food i find some things to be much cheaper but others to be much more expensive, and hey i don't want to live all like a thai. have some thing i need/want the farang way. housing is much cheaper. Insurance just a little . i can imagine there are ways to live cheaper . give up some luxuries and send the kids to a thai governmentschool would save me a lot already. ( this i forgot to mention before).

Hey I feel for you......My kids are grown up and out of school ....but when that was an expense it was a big part of my budget...

found the following statistic on the internet.....interestering

Cost of living in Amsterdam (Netherlands) is 149% more expensive than in Khon Kaen Thailand

https://expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/khon-kaen/amsterdam

that's just because the dutch government want to cut disablity checks and pension checks as it is so called cheap living in Thailand . the ones having those kind of incomes don't need so much money haha. no just joking. (although?) I'm not sure about these numbers. i lived cheap in holland compared to many 2 income households and 'educated'earners. But living of say 600 euro with a family in thailand as our government stated ones on television, i find it hard to believ. my brother spends 5000 a month on his Household in holland so... yeah there are differences. that is why i left holland. i am amongst the poorer ones there and found it hard to get ahead of that. And one footnote. living in Amsterdam is to be compared to living in Bangkok. A lot more expensive than other places in Holland

Edited October 28, 2013 by myluckythai

[amykat]

I live out in the country, Northeastern part of Thailand, and my cost of living here with the wife and 2 daughters are exactly the same as i pay back home in Holland. I do not own a car for this which i did have back home, do have a well covered healthinsurance for the whole family and rent a home here. I use a fair amount of internet and have 2 motorbikes. My total living costs are about 35 K to 40 K baht a month. I find it to be rather expensive in comparing to some years ago yes. But the only difference for this money is i do live in a great house, but then again do not have a car here. shopping costs for food are the same as in Holland. I feel a person from holland should at least think in the same numbers as living easy back home.

Fair enough.....I have Dutch friends here that might disagree with you (ie regarding costs being exactly the same for Thailand and Holland)

but have no reason to doubt you....thanks for the post!

without my family it would be much cheaper indeed. for food i find some things to be much cheaper but others to be much more expensive, and hey i don't want to live all like a thai. have some thing i need/want the farang way. housing is much cheaper. Insurance just a little . i can imagine there are ways to live cheaper . give up some luxuries and send the kids to a thai governmentschool would save me a lot already. ( this i forgot to mention before). And off cours many people do not live for 1000 euro's a month in holland, but much more than that. the difference in feeling may be in this. i lived a pretty common life. no house owner so no big mortgage, didnot go out a lot and 'only' had one small car. haha. i know people who pay only 1000 already or more in mortgage . when you own a house , a big car and have kids in university or something 1000 euro is a joke.

Wow, "Myluckythai",

You are doing so well on that amount of money in Thailand ...I guess that is why you must feel "lucky." I think you must be comparing living a single life in Holland to a life with a wife and 2 kids, as costing the same, because I can't believe that 4 people could barely buy food/utilities in a Euro country for this same amount as your whole life here?

Anyway, congrats for getting by on such amount of money!! That must take discipline and a good frame of mind! Be proud of yourself!

[myluckythai]

I live out in the country, Northeastern part of Thailand, and my cost of living here with the wife and 2 daughters are exactly the same as i pay back home in Holland. I do not own a car for this which i did have back home, do have a well covered healthinsurance for the whole family and rent a home here. I use a fair amount of internet and have 2 motorbikes. My total living costs are about 35 K to 40 K baht a month. I find it to be rather expensive in comparing to some years ago yes. But the only difference for this money is i do live in a great house, but then again do not have a car here. shopping costs for food are the same as in Holland. I feel a person from holland should at least think in the same numbers as living easy back home.

Fair enough.....I have Dutch friends here that might disagree with you (ie regarding costs being exactly the same for Thailand and Holland)

but have no reason to doubt you....thanks for the post!

without my family it would be much cheaper indeed. for food i find some things to be much cheaper but others to be much more expensive, and hey i don't want to live all like a thai. have some thing i need/want the farang way. housing is much cheaper. Insurance just a little . i can imagine there are ways to live cheaper . give up some luxuries and send the kids to a thai governmentschool would save me a lot already. ( this i forgot to mention before). And off cours many people do not live for 1000 euro's a month in holland, but much more than that. the difference in feeling may be in this. i lived a pretty common life. no house owner so no big mortgage, didnot go out a lot and 'only' had one small car. haha. i know people who pay only 1000 already or more in mortgage . when you own a house , a big car and have kids in university or something 1000 euro is a joke.

Wow, "Myluckythai",

You are doing so well on that amount of money in Thailand ...I guess that is why you must feel "lucky." I think you must be comparing living a single life in Holland to a life with a wife and 2 kids, as costing the same, because I can't believe that 4 people could barely buy food/utilities in a Euro country for this same amount as your whole life here?

Anyway, congrats for getting by on such amount of money!! That must take discipline and a good frame of mind! Be proud of yourself!

not sure what u mean, But no it was with the whole family . i have tro admit it was just a lttle over 1000 euro but not a lot. And hey we have free Insurance for the kids in holland. you get a reduction in rent in the form of taks paybacks, if you earn a little, the same thing goes for the healtinsurance for the adults, money back. you get money from the government for taking care of your kids and i had a wood burning firestove that safed me some. believ it or not there are people actually living of less. and it ain;t great no.....one example. a taxi driver in my city earns a basic income of 900 and some euro's. the rest he has to make in tip which he is taxed for ahead, no matter if he makes m or not. how many tips you get you think after they just payd 50 euro for a sh**ty short ride? you can get extra money up to some 1100 euro to get the minimum salary that is determined by law

Edited October 28, 2013 by myluckythai

[Spoonman]

Water, electric, internet? 1,000 a month??!!

Yeah, pull the other one.

The wifi is free with the apartment as well as cable TV.

My electricity and water is not more than 1,000B per month total and I pay double the Government rate.

I spend a good part of the day in the coffee shop and my apartment is rarely that hot so aircon isn't needed most the time.

Wow, where do you live? Is it in Thailand? Because I do use aircon 80% of the time, and to be comfortable I would use it 98% of the time. And I live in an area that is supposed to be cooler than most. In fact, most of the time that I DO use aircon, I am still not comfortable, as my aircon cannot seem to really cool down my house to a temp I would like. For example, like now, it is somewhat cool at night, but my house is still much hotter, and even with aircon going 20 hours of the day/night, I cannot get my bedroom to be the same cool temp as the low nighttime temp, due to the cement holding the heat.

You must have picked an excellent building and city as well! Good for you! Or you just happen to comfortable with 35 C and humidity or more?

I would suggest your AC is farked then if it is not cooling your bedroom adequately.

According to the widget on my Desktop it is currently 27 degC here in Pattaya (feels warmer though) and when I got home from work 2 hours ago I put on the AC in my bedroom (it is set for 24 deg C) and checking it just now it is infact 24 degC in my bedroom.

Are you trying to freeze water in your bedroom ?

[amykat]

Dear Myluckythai,

I didn't mean anything bad of course. Maybe you are worried I am being sarcastic as many people here post in a negative fashion?

I did not think you survived as a family in Holland on about 1000 Euros ...but I guess you are saying you could, but due to subsidies and free certain things?

I thought you were spending about 1000 Euros in Holland, but came to Thailand, got a wife and kids and now spend about the same.

Frankly, IF you can get by on the same amount of money in Holland, it seems like you should go there/stay there, because your kids will get such a better education ...I think? You certainly cannot get private schools for 2 kids on your budget and are not getting health care included right? That might cost you nothing now, because nobody has a problem now, but free, very good schools, and guaranteed good, free healthcare, and other things being about the same, but maybe house not as good, seems like being in Holland would be a good deal for you and family.

If you don't like that deal, can I take your place in Holland, with my daughter? My grandparents were Dutch. Sounds like a good deal to me!!

[myluckythai]

Dear Myluckythai,

I didn't mean anything bad of course. Maybe you are worried I am being sarcastic as many people here post in a negative fashion?

I did not think you survived as a family in Holland on about 1000 Euros ...but I guess you are saying you could, but due to subsidies and free certain things?

I thought you were spending about 1000 Euros in Holland, but came to Thailand, got a wife and kids and now spend about the same.

Frankly, IF you can get by on the same amount of money in Holland, it seems like you should go there/stay there, because your kids will get such a better education ...I think? You certainly cannot get private schools for 2 kids on your budget and are not getting health care included right? That might cost you nothing now, because nobody has a problem now, but free, very good schools, and guaranteed good, free healthcare, and other things being about the same, but maybe house not as good, seems like being in Holland would be a good deal for you and family.

If you don't like that deal, can I take your place in Holland, with my daughter? My grandparents were Dutch. Sounds like a good deal to me!!

haha feel free to take the place. My kids don't go to private school here, but do have a farang teacher who has a small class of kids . it more expensive compared to thai schools but a lot cheaper than private school. I still have a health Insurance from holland and my wife and kids have one here you can upgrade to more extensive care as you wish. I left holland because my job ended there after many years and that is why i lived the last years on this low income. I had to start all over again and finding a good job is not that easy nowadays in europe. neither is starting a new business btw . If i have to start new i might as well do it here. I live a common live here too, but have all the nescessities a familie needs. don't drink, don't own a car , rent is cheap and buy little things i do not need. Holland still has many benefits of course , but my wife has an old mother here who needs the help of my wife now and so the choice was made for me by having to start new no matter where i live and having a mother in law that needed my wife to be here now. You are right when healthy and young one has little concerns, but they are there oh boy are they. i hope to be able to make a way here, but hey all of life is a gamble,

[Thai at Heart]

If you believe that you can live in New York, London or Sydney cheaper than you can in Bangkok, then all I can say is you have not been to Bangkok!

You would need around 6,425.08$ (199,305.95฿) in New York, NY to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 85,000.00฿ inBangkok (assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Consumer Prices Including Rent Index.

You would need around 86,084.86฿ (1,715.59£) in Bangkok to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 4,000.00£ in London(assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Consumer Prices Including Rent Index.

You would need around 6,867.78A$ (204,236.02฿) in Sydney to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 85,000.00฿ in Bangkok(assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Consumer Prices Including Rent Index.

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Thailand&city1=Bangkok&country2=Australia&city2=Sydney

Curious to know how much of that 85k is taken up with rent. Of you are single I could just about believe these numbers.