Weaker baht lowers Bangkok's cost of living

[BillyBobThai]

Looking for 42 to the USD$, 42,42,42.

[Pib]

Bangkok may have dropped in cost ranking relative to other cities on list, but that doesn't mean things got cheaper.

Every one of the cities could have got more expensive to live in, but each one would get more expensive at a different rate which shifts the city rankings around.

[Changoverandout]

Looking for 42 to the USD$, 42,42,42.

Back to 72/£ would rejuvenate me at least 12/13 years!

As would 12 THB 1 litre of diesel!!

[Pib]

Looking for 42 to the USD$, 42,42,42.

Back to 72/£ would rejuvenate me at least 12/13 years!

As would 12 THB 1 litre of diesel!!

Dream bigger than that...dream you "actually" got 12/13 years younger. Yes, dream BIG!

[Doc46]

Let me be the first to say bull.

Yea sounds like crap to me too;;; why is that most talk about $ Us?? Many of us people have different currencies to be exchanged,so we don't go by the almighty Us $ .We don't gain that much if anything at all !!

[bangkapi]

It's a race to the bottom with all fiat currencies.

Inflation is worldwide and all paper currenct eventually returns to the value of the paper it is printed on.

[khunken]

The Op is not about how much cheaper Bangkok is in comparison to London or anywhere else.

It says basically that a weaker Baht lowers Bangkok's (why only Bangkok?) cost of living. This is economic nonsense.

Everything imported becomes more expensive in Baht and subsidies (gas for example) have to be increased to prevent price rises.

[FangFerang]

Wow. This is genuine, minted, dyed-in-the-wool, bona fide .........propaganda.

It must taste good on a processed yellow cheese sandwich. That's not real healthy but, hey, we're talking fast food reporting lately anyway.

Does it come with a generally available condiment like gherkin pickle slices or green tomato?

Edited June 12, 2014 by FangFerang

[Thai at Heart]

Against the GBP is gone from around £1=48 baht to £1=54 baht, so that means I'm 12.5% better off. Most things I spend money on a pretty similar to a year ago.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business/market_data/currency/11/11678/twelve_month.stm

And USD has gone from around 31 to 32.5 baht, so that makes you Americans just under 5% better off, so not as good for you.

Most things I spend money on a pretty similar to a year ago.

It's clear that you spend money on different things than the majority here.

I've no idea. I think many on here just like to complain. Bangkok is so cheap compared to London that I'm still amazed after all these years. I know very many people that have been to Thailand and haven't heard anyone say it's not cheap. They all rave about how cheap things are. They only people I hear complaining are on this forum. Maybe some have forgotten what prices are like back home or maybe they're poor. Try some of the other cities higher u the list and then maybe you'll know what expensive is. Bangkok is not expensive at all.

Believe it or not, something's are cheaper back here. Competition on the high street is absolutely fierce and they don't have ridiculous import duties on things.

Not everyone wants to drink bitter and drive a Merc but if you do, doing it here is a bargain.

Even the police drive BMWs for gods sake. My wife noted the other day, Mercs and minis are like Camry's and civics here.

But in the UK they have 20% VAT. So little import duty, but make it up on sales tax.

The solution - don't buy imported goods. Why live in Thailand and buy imported goods. May as well stay at home and buy them. Many on here complain about Thailand but still live here. If home is so great, what are they all doing here? Oh I just remembered - complaining 24/7.

The price at the end is the issue , forget the tax. Even with 20% many things are cheaper .

[glcdc]

Thailand is not as cheap as everyone wants to believe, unless you're a scuzzy backpacker or dirty sexpat..to be honest i live in a 2 bedroom condo and pay relatively close to what i'd pay for same accomidations in a midwest city in America. Everything is cheaper relatively speaking but suppliment baht for usd reimbursement for time and you have cash money at end of.month equaling s ame same ..is that to.thick for.you to.get.your head around.??

[JesseFrank]

£4.75 for a bottle of wine.

950 THB for a 5 litre box of South African red in Nakhon Sawan Tesco.

190/£3.51 per litre so pretty similar to UK (ish)?

Very surprised as all imported stuff here is usually WELL overtaxed.

What Thai at heart was talking about was wine, where Mont Clair is fruit juice with added acid, which I wouldn't want to call wine actually.

There is a thread about Mont clair somehwere on this forum

Exactly, Mont Clare is terrible. There is a really good Chilean red at Big C for about 1200 fo 3 litres so a lot more but the SA 5 litre 13% is anything but fruit juice!

So if the South African isn't mont clair, then which one is it, as Mont clair is the only SA wine in 5 liter boxed i've ever seen here.

[ParadiseLost]

...

Maybe that's where we differ. I don't buy the same food as I used to buy back home, so can't really compare like for like. I bought mostly local food in UK and buy mostly local food here. But dragon fruit in UK 4 years ago was over £2 (100 baht). Costs 10-20 baht here. Coconut in London £3-5. Here 10-20 baht. Or sometimes free straight from the tree. But those are cheaper here because they're imported into UK. Likewise UK food will be more expensive here than in UK.

For me... London rent £2,000 for 1-bed place. Bangkok - similar condo £500. So a saving of £1,500 a month. Water - cheaper, Electricity - cheaper. Coffee in a cafe - cheaper. Local fruit and veg - cheaper. Beer - cheaper. Public transport - cheaper. Nice restaurant £100 in London, £20-30 here. Petrol - cheaper here. Car insurance - cheaper here. I've heard that cars and schooling are more expensive, but I don't have kids or a car, so doesn't affect me. I spend under £2K a month here in total. In UK I spent £4-5K a month for a similar lifestyle. So for me it's definitely cheaper.

What's more expensive for people that think it's more expensive here? Apart from imported stuff, I really can't think of anything that's more expensive. Seriously. Please enlighten me

I love Thai food, which is one of the reasons I moved here, so maybe save there while others buy imported food.. Never been inside a Makro store, so no idea of their prices.

The problem comparing apples to apples is nothing to do with the price of the apple, but rather the percentage of disposable income it takes to purchase said apple.

To live and work in London you must earn around say 20.000 GBP? To compare that to a decent Thai salary in the equivalent position, NOT an expat job is to know the truth...

My guess is few employed Thais are earning in excess of a million baht. More likely 150,000 Baht. So as you are earning 10 times the salary in London, are prices 10 times more expensive? Not by a long shot...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index

Edited June 12, 2014 by ParadiseLost

[UbonRatch]

I'd love to give some examples but can't be too assed.

Take it from me... general vegetables are, at market prices, equivalent to uk. However, if you venture into a supermarket like Lotus or Big-C you can forget UK prices, they are left for dead by expensive Thai prices.

Take a look at clothes. In Asda, you can buy jeans for 4 quid, or shirts for 3 quid. If you dare look in Lotus or Big-C they start at over 450 B. That's 9 quid, and your average is 600B. The latest range by Lotus is F&F, and their average shirt is 600 B, and trousers 700 B. That's 12 and 14 quid, respectively, for cheap crap same as Asda or Morrison's.

On top of that, most Farang who work here receive a salary 1/3 of that of the UK, and that's where the relativity steps in on a large scale. The UK and Thailand are completely different in social set-up. For example, teachers in the UK start on 24K... = OVER 1,1 MILLION Baht... whereas the average teacher here receives 400K Baht - if lucky. Thus, relatively speaking, there is no way Thailand is cheap when living here, compared to the UK.

Of course holiday makers are going to say Thailand is cheap... they are looking at it with Western salaries. It is by no means difficult to live here but, in essence, the majority of goods here are more expensive than European and UK prices.

[PhilipCook]

No wizard required to know this, simply look at the exchange link on scb and change date to june 2013. If they want comparison to look even prettier they could go back to feb/mar 2013 when the baht was at 28.5/1usd.

[belg]

weaker baht ?

i heard from a friend that the new menu of restaurant fuji is everything + 50 to 70 baht

[Chris Lawrence]

If the baht is down doesn't that mean the cost of living is higher for locals. Ah, it says expats? Why didn't they put that in their heading? If you are feed cr#p you are going to talk cr#p? Nation way to go

[Benmart]

Let me be the first to say bull.

The alternatives are certainly available for me to move on. I don't have chain anchoring me down.

[Benmart]

Thailand is not as cheap as everyone wants to believe, unless you're a scuzzy backpacker or dirty sexpat..to be honest i live in a 2 bedroom condo and pay relatively close to what i'd pay for same accomidations in a midwest city in America. Everything is cheaper relatively speaking but suppliment baht for usd reimbursement for time and you have cash money at end of.month equaling s ame same ..is that to.thick for.you to.get.your head around.??

I prefer not to engage in name calling.

I live quite comfortably in a one bedroom apartment with a pool, gym, etc. and I find it's 1/2 of what I would pay in my California homeland. Electric and water are 1/3 of my US bill.

I am fortunate to have pensions that are sufficient to do more than just exist and if that changes, I will move on and not burden anyone with my negative and derogatory comments.

Live and Let Live

Edited June 12, 2014 by Benmart

[Thai at Heart]

Thailand is not as cheap as everyone wants to believe, unless you're a scuzzy backpacker or dirty sexpat..to be honest i live in a 2 bedroom condo and pay relatively close to what i'd pay for same accomidations in a midwest city in America. Everything is cheaper relatively speaking but suppliment baht for usd reimbursement for time and you have cash money at end of.month equaling s ame same ..is that to.thick for.you to.get.your head around.??

I would say, that property in Bangkok is virtually to a pound exactly the same price as where I am living now in the UK. Not London, but not the back end of beyond either.

[pomchop]

There are many products that I simply do not buy or use during my annual six months in Thailand because they are imported and cost way way more than in the usa....examples...peanut butter, cheese, wine. But I have never had any problems finding local Thai products to fill the gap and in fact find that by changing my habits I discover a lot of local products that are a fraction of the cost and very good indeed as well as adding some variety to life and breaking me out of some usa habits. Then when I go back to USA I of course overindulge in wines/cheese etc as it is a fraction of the cost as in Thailand.

Never ceases to amaze me how many guys who live in Thailand for several months don't just give up the overpriced imports as for sure most of them are at absurd prices. Shopping at Villa markets can be a very expensive proposition in Bangkok but yet a lot of farangs choose to spend a lot of money there rather than change a few habits. I like peanut butter but I am not addicted to it to the point that I will pay six times as much for it in Thailand. Up to you.

[Stargeezer9889]

Thailand may be expensive for expats to live there from other countries, but it

must certainly be a lot more expensive for the Thailand people, if that is so.

Compare their wages versus your pensions or money you live on. Talk to a bunch of

Thai people that you know, then you will see how much the costs have gone up

for everyone! Some of my Thai family say mai pen rai, but there are some who say

that they are having a harder and harder time to stay above the poor class in the country.

I have often wondered how the Thai baht has been able to get along so well for so long, compared to the US dollar, for a number of years now.

I am just glad that my Canadian currency has been keeping up. Does anyone remember 1975.

I remember very high interest rates back then, and it was when I was young and trying to

pay for my vehicle and rent and such.

[NongKhaiKid]

Against the GBP is gone from around £1=48 baht to £1=54 baht, so that means I'm 12.5% better off. Most things I spend money on a pretty similar to a year ago.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business/market_data/currency/11/11678/twelve_month.stm

And USD has gone from around 31 to 32.5 baht, so that makes you Americans just under 5% better off, so not as good for you.

Most things I spend money on a pretty similar to a year ago.

It's clear that you spend money on different things than the majority here.

I've no idea. I think many on here just like to complain. Bangkok is so cheap compared to London that I'm still amazed after all these years. I know very many people that have been to Thailand and haven't heard anyone say it's not cheap. They all rave about how cheap things are. They only people I hear complaining are on this forum. Maybe some have forgotten what prices are like back home or maybe they're poor. Try some of the other cities higher u the list and then maybe you'll know what expensive is. Bangkok is not expensive at all.

Believe it or not, something's are cheaper back here. Competition on the high street is absolutely fierce and they don't have ridiculous import duties on things.

Not everyone wants to drink bitter and drive a Merc but if you do, doing it here is a bargain.

Even the police drive BMWs for gods sake. My wife noted the other day, Mercs and minis are like Camry's and civics here.

But in the UK they have 20% VAT. So little import duty, but make it up on sales tax.

The solution - don't buy imported goods. Why live in Thailand and buy imported goods. May as well stay at home and buy them. Many on here complain about Thailand but still live here. If home is so great, what are they all doing here? Oh I just remembered - complaining 24/7.

The price at the end is the issue , forget the tax. Even with 20% many things are cheaper .

The problem with buying locally made goods is poor quality and lack of reliability which means having to replace them regularly so the cost can mount up to the same as one imported item.

As examples last year I had to buy 4 nylon holdalls as with all of them the zippers broke and the panels between the side pockets and the main body of the bad ripped and could not be stitched. NO, the bags were not packed to excess.

In the last 6 -8 weeks I have had 3 locally made electric mossy killers as each failed for quicker than they should.

[pjmansions]

this time last year baht dropped to about 44 baht to the GBP now its at about 54 so my pocket is very healthy with about 13,000 baht per month extra and have the added perk of not living in Bkk so my money goes lot further

[stoli]

It is so easy to go back, find a day last year where the baht was the weakest, and then compare against one day this year. Stock brokers do this all the time. Example: They will tell you that if you owned stock A 8.5 years ago, your money would have grown 700%. They don't mention that if you had invested 10 years ago, you would be down 40%. Pick a date from the past that makes you look good. (Dates are for example only, but you can get the idea!)

[stoli]

"The baht makes products cheaper, despite higher prices for daily needs such as groceries, fresh produce, drinks and tobacco, clothing, services and eating out."

Slight contradiction there... !!

No contradiction. It's saying prices have gone up but they're cheaper now than 12 months ago for most expats because we've gained more from currency movement than we've lost by price rises.

Jeez, you guys have a tough time with simple facts.

Apparently simple facts are difficult for you to understand. If my USD has increased in value by 3.8%, and inflation has gone up 10%, how can I be better off? Can you remember what prices were last year compared to this year? I certainly can.

[Redhawk]

Let me be the first to say bull.

I say the second half ..it!

[Redhawk]

..... I got several bahts in exchange 2 years ago, in the value of 100....,.€ up now my piece suffers a loss of 6 to seven Baht if I would exchange again, is this making my life cheaper, as all the prices raised too from gasoline to food, the inflation makes it even worse!

Edited June 13, 2014 by Redhawk