Can't afford to live in Thailand anymore

[hhgz]

"Can't afford to live in Thailand anymore"

Then, assuming you are an adult, you can move without either your parent's, or our, permission.

[fey]

is canada still cheaper if you get married and neither of you are employed?

are you using bkk or phuket as the comparison. you need to scout other areas. your numbers look off.

doing currency conversions hardly justifies a move unless your a trader or a millionaire moving funds around. its what your earning that really matters.

your also never comparing apples to oranges. cheaper is not free in my experience. in most cases you are trading an immediate discount for problems in other areas that can come back to bite you financially long term. for example, corruption, scams, less competent health care, the list goes on. like gambling, the longer you play the more chance you have at losing from house odds.

Edited January 30, 2015 by fey

[georgemandm]

Money isn't everything. Go wherever makes you happiest.

So wrong money is everything you would not be were you are if you had no money try and buy food with no money I just can't understand why people say money is everything

[AYJAYDEE]

Money isn't everything. Go wherever makes you happiest.

So wrong money is everything you would not be were you are if you had no money try and buy food with no money I just can't understand why people say money is everything

that makes us even as I cant understand what youre saying either

[Beetlejuice]

Money isn't everything. Go wherever makes you happiest.

Perhaps in your world, but not in the real world. In the end it all boils down to money. Nice words and happy thoughts won`t provide a roof over the head or put meals on the table.

Firstly the OP has to financially evaluate his situation. If he is not able to support himself long term in Thailand then he has no choice but to either return to his home country or elsewhere where he can work and make a living.

If the OP has no job or tangible assets in his own country, than bringing his girlfriend or future wife back with him is also going to be out of the question. Only option is that he and his now present girlfriend decide on where they actually want to be for their futures and then work at it. Meaning working hard to acquire a home and assets and if that will take several years, than so be it, otherwise if one partner or the other is not prepared to wait until their situations become applicable for marriage, then the relationship cannot be viable and is doomed from the start.

That`s the reality of the situation.

[Berkshire]

Live in Canada and find a Canadian GF/wife?

Possible, but it would be an ass thing to do.

The bigger issue is that I have nothing in common with a typical Canadian woman.

Not judging, but it is what it is.

Understand. Most "normal" Thai girls would much prefer to live in Thailand. It's the screwed up ones from dysfunctional families that want to leave. So at least you have a normal one--that's good. Tough situation. If she's making a decent salary, the two of you should be able to make a go of it in Thailand, even if your job doesn't pay all that well. Unless you have some great career prospects in Canada. I've always felt that working/slaving away in the west and retiring in Thailand was the way to go. But hey, you would know best your own circumstances.

your generalizations are ridiculous. i know plenty of thais from very good families that love living in my home country and would never think of going home to live!

Generalizations are much more helpful than bringing up exceptions to the rule. Most normal Thai girls (i.e., those not just interested in your money) want to live near their family, friends, food, language, culture, etc. Thai girls are not like Filipino girls, many of whom are desperate to leave the PI. Thai girls born and raised overseas are different and are probably more farang than Thai. But if your thing is to try and find a Thai girl who'd prefer to live overseas, go for it. Knowing how most Thais love their families more than life, I'd be just a little curious to know why they'd want to leave them.

[impulse]

Money isn't everything. Go wherever makes you happiest.

Perhaps in your world, but not in the real world. In the end it all boils down to money. Nice words and happy thoughts won`t provide a roof over the head or put meals on the table.

All the money in the world can't buy happiness.

But just $10 less than you need to pay the bills this month- can make you miserable.

[dotpoom]

Will the "long term benefits" keep you company during the nights (and days)?

Edited January 31, 2015 by dotpoom

[maidee]

and i tought canada had one of the biggest concentration of asians ...

[daveAustin]

Op, did you consider working at home intermittently, saving up and potentially out-riding the low C dollar?

[BudRight]

Money isn't everything. Go wherever makes you happiest.

Nobody said it was 'everything.' You're pretending that it is nothing - an expensive luxury.

[slipperylobster]

Money isn't everything. Go wherever makes you happiest.

You can average it out by not buying anything here. Just try it out for one year...renting a nice house. I looked at prices in places like Toronto....it is indeed cheaper here...especially up North. You can rent a decent home in Chiang Mai for far less that in Toronto. I know the food is less...if she eats local products. If you both eat Canadian priced food, it would be the same here for the same quality...but restaurant are cheaper.

So I think you can try it, and see what makes you happy, and not spend as much as you would in Canada...for this one year attempt. Do not let her invest money in land....it is inflated right now...(My opinion)

[gopis108]

Basically have a little patience-it is like the BC weather-if you dont like it wait 10 minutes and it will change-similarly the currency fluctuation.

[Stradavarius37]

Find another future wife, or <deleted> and stay here to keep your future wife happy.

[ggt]

I feel your pain bro...faced with a similar dilemma awhile back...weighed my options and long term pros and cons...

Back in home country now...living a good life with many benefits...I will miss "Thainess" though...It become a daily adventure to see if I could spot the scam/corruption before they got my baht...

Good Luck on whatever you decide...

[mettech]

I am also from Canada and noticed our exchange is going lower every day, but we still make better than the average Thai who get a 500TB pension monthly.

So by enjoying the local scenery and be realistic about doing budgeting will bring happy time.

Think about the cold weather and the three months so call summer and my feeling goes toward nice and hot weather all year round .

Thailand beats mexico or Florida as far prices of goods.

[chris2004]

Is it really cheaper to live in canada? i can't really believe that. Can you buy a detached house for $100,000? My costs living here in LoS are far below what i would pay in the UK.

[Dannyboy666]

Interesting. I've been back in my home country(US) for a while and doing some comparisons. I think most consumer prices are similar. Maybe a hair bit cheaper in the US due to WalMart. Only thing that in cheap in Thailand is the LOW monthly rent for studio apartments and the cheap restaurants. In the US I can't find any apartment for less than about $300 a month(10,000 baht) anywhere. But I can find good studio apartments for less than $150 a month in Thai. You can even find rooms for $50 a month in Thai still. So for me, Thai is still a bargain in the accomodation department. It's actually much for affordable to live in Thai for me. I've been priced out of my own country.

. San Francisco is $3500 a month for 1 BR, going out to eat, Astronomical...

You should count yourself lucky. In the UK, you will not get a one bedroom apartment for less that $750 a month. For Brits Thailand is very cheap.

[Champneys]

Money isn't everything. Go wherever makes you happiest.

You are so right SoiBiker. We control our own happiness. The money situation will turn around.

[Suradit69]

You can always try out Canada and if she can't stand it come back.

Since he's thinking about moving back to Canada for budgetary reasons, do you really think shifting households from Thailand to Canada and potentially back to Thailand again and asking his wife to give up a good job that may not be open to her again if she returns (and no certainty she could find similar employment in Canada) is sensible financial planning?

[stopthegreed]

I visited Thailand many times over the last 28 years. It was cheap then. And it was so full of Thainess.

I decided to settle there, over 9 yaers ago. It was cheap then, and still a lot of Thainess.

But i watched as it became more and more expensive, and see the Thainess dissapear.

So 12 Months ago, I decided to say goodbye. I now live in the Philippines. I have a lovely girl who speaks English, and is not money driven.

It is a cleaner lifestyle, and a lot cheaper. I am sorry to say, because I like Thailand, but it is just not the place it used to be, and I found myself continually checking prices and buying cheaper alternatives. Goodbye Thailand, and Good luck, your going to need it.

[ross163103]

I feel the same way as the OP, Thailand used to be cheap but I think I can live in my home country cheaper than here. Good luck to you if/when you make the move back. I'm exploring this optiion also but the ol' inertia thing is keeping me here.

[Jungle Jim]

Sounds like many that while living in Thailand you never ate Thai food. Lived on over priced expensive crap foreign food. Thailand too expensive ? Yea if your diet is booze and foreign food.

[NeverSure]

Is it really cheaper to live in canada? i can't really believe that. Can you buy a detached house for $100,000? My costs living here in LoS are far below what i would pay in the UK.

Can't say about Canada but in the US, yes. LINK

[Jungle Jim]

Hint : Thailand lost its Thainess because of mass tourism and too many obnoxious foreigners.

I visited Thailand many times over the last 28 years. It was cheap then. And it was so full of Thainess.

I decided to settle there, over 9 yaers ago. It was cheap then, and still a lot of Thainess.

But i watched as it became more and more expensive, and see the Thainess dissapear.

So 12 Months ago, I decided to say goodbye. I now live in the Philippines. I have a lovely girl who speaks English, and is not money driven.

It is a cleaner lifestyle, and a lot cheaper. I am sorry to say, because I like Thailand, but it is just not the place it used to be, and I found myself continually checking prices and buying cheaper alternatives. Goodbye Thailand, and Good luck, your going to need it.

[maswov]

I don't understand how the exchange rate makes it too expensive to live here compare to places like Canada, US and many European countries. Especially in the case when you have local income to hedge against the exchange rates. I heard all these same sob stories a few years ago when the baht rallied. The cost of living is still much cheaper here even though the home currencies don't go as far as they did a year ago.

When compared to places like Philippines where the economies are similar, the fluctuations could make or break you.

[KhnomKhnom]

Take your Thai wife to Canada and here are the possible, and only, results......

-She hates it especially the winter, and flies home.

-Under the pressure of massive change, she becomes Westernized and no longer recognizable.

-Under the pressure of massive change, she goes insane, requiring famous Canadian hospitalization.

Thai women are like some flowers that thrive only in one atmosphere. Take them out of that and they wither one way or the other. You came here to get a THAI wife, not just any woman, and now she is in your clumsy hands. Stay with her here where you made the marriage deal.

[Lockheed]

A few weeks back, I was chatting to a Thai girl that works as a secretary at a car wash in Chiang Mai and she was educated in OZ, her brother and sister live in OZ permanently and she would too, but married a Thai guy. So it seems from this discussion that once the Thai's leave Thailand, they won’t go back permanently unless there’s a good reason like family.

[Altalake]

Interesting posts - it is the medical that is a big worry. Most expats "self-insure" it seems, but if you are in a bad accident/get seriously ill/have to go to e.g. the ICU etc. it can cost you big time here. In Canada it's (relatively) free. I speak as a Canuck.

And the Canucks may (probably will) make it hard for your G/F wife to get in - and work too.

But surely what is really needed is a devaluation of the much-too-too high Thai baht! ??

Agree with your "take" on the Canuck gals!! Spare me!!

[impulse]

I'm always amazed at the guys who moved from London, Montreal or (God forbid) Suburbia- to outer Isaan, and start comparing cost of living.

I could move to Fish Shack in Northwest Territories, Flat Rock in Nevada, or Scorched Acres in west Texas and live cheaper, too.

Without reporting in every 90 days, no less.

And, if I run out of money, I can do an EBay thing, or cut lawns, or guide tourists, or...or... without the risk of getting tossed in the hoosgow.