Thailand is soooo cheap compared to back home

[Rancid]

Our Australian electricity bill tops $1000 for the summer quarter. Maybe $600 each other quarter. My gas bill is average $250 a quarter. That's for 3 of us but our daughter is only 2 .

Shopping food bill is about $300 a week. We eat pretty well. But nappies are in that and they're expensive. Water bill is around $200 a quarter.

Add mortgage and cars and the rest of life costs in its crazy really.

Just a comparison for you.

Well I don't know where you live I live in Perth my electricity bill is about $ 80 for 65 days my gas bill is $ 70 for about

the same amount of month my water bill is about $ 35 per 3 month we have a 3 bedroom villa and 2 bathrooms as well

Our food bill is about $ 85 per week for 3 people and yes we eat well meat every day and veg's so where is it cheaper ?

I do get my pension I have Medicare for free I get discounts on the bus and train get discount on medicine and so on.

Do I get all that in Thailand?

Yeah, that's living the life alright, nothing like the taxpayer funded discounts of the Nanny State, and you can be certain they are forever, right?

I'm not planning on a pension and discounts as I don't trust the government to be able to afford it when the insane debt bubbles collapse. Call me cynical but I'd rather trust myself.

I think Thailand is cheaper and for the many reasons already listed.

[zierf1]

I'm visiting home at the moment (Belgium). Every time I go to an Aldi or Lidl I get reverse sticker shock. A kilo of cheese for 5 Euros, wine starting at 2 euros a bottle and very decent ones at 4-5 euros, a kg of apples for 2 euros, etc. Yesterday I saw a coffee maker for 7 Euros. Had a pair of shoes completely resoled and looking like new for 16 Euros by a real shoemaker with professional pride (he's in his 80s and been doing this for 70 years -- no shoddy work for that guy). Annual checkup at the dentist is 25 Euros and sometimes he treats me for free (OK, that's not the norm even here but unthinkable in Bangkok). I had a small medical procedure done by a physician for 50 Euros where in Bangkok I paid 5,500 Baht for the same last year. Rent in Brussels would be fairly similar (I pay 42,000 Baht for a 2-bedroom condo -- 1,000 Euros in Brussels would get me something of a similar standard).

In the near term I like living in Bangkok and not everything in life is about money, but there's no doubt that my financial situation would improve vastly by moving back to Belgium or elsewhere in Europe. I recognize we all have very different personal living situations, but this is mine as a middle-aged guy in a professional job in Bangkok, living a Western lifestyle.

Sounds like Belgium is very expensive. I can find a nice 2br condo where I live in my country for under 700 euros/month. Entire houses can be rented for 400 euros/month. US is quite cheap. Probably cheaper than Thailand in many cases.

[djayz]

It's like every country on the planet; there are always pros and cons.

[sundrenched]

It's like every country on the planet; there are always pros and cons.

True, but what gets my goat is when people say Thailand is sooooo cheap. That's probably true for a minority who are happy to survive on 10,000-30,000 Baht a month. No snide intended, by the way. That's what some come here to do, and good for them. But for the average Westerner who doesn't want to downgrade his lifestyle and own a car, shop at supermarkets, take a few holidays a year, and have a nice apartment not out in the boondocks, it's not true. I'm not even saying Thailand is super expensive overall. There is some substitution that you can do, like not own a car and take the BTS and taxis, which are cheap. Just reacting to the "it's soooo cheap" comment you frequently hear.

Edited March 4, 2015 by sundrenched

[SoiBiker]

I live in a nice, spacious apartment in downtown Bangkok. It costs a fraction of what I paid back home to live in a smaller place on the outskirts of London. I think your comments are a little misguided, to be honest.

[1BADDAT]

Couldn't agree more sundrenched...I came here to work and enjoy a better lifestyle to home and not give up everything that I like at home too.

[1BADDAT]

I live in a nice, spacious apartment in downtown Bangkok. It costs a fraction of what I paid back home to live in a smaller place on the outskirts of London. I think your comments are a little misguided, to be honest.

And for me I have a wonderful beachfront condo with a lot of the luxurious I'm accustomed to. My pool here is way nice than anywhere I have ever stayed at anywhere in the world and I can afford to do that here. It is cheaper in some respects but for me I can elevate my lifestyle to offset the other things that are not as not as nice at home.

If I drove a 300 Hp car here like I have at home and ate out everyday and lived in a modest house here it would probably cost similar or more to the U.S.

I live a modified western lifestyle here and a modified asian lifestyle in California. Both make me happy, but for right now the money is not a primary concern and I am happy here...for the moment of course.

After all I chose to move here and I don't regret it at all.

[Felt 35]

How long time do an Englishman, American, German with a average income / pension have to work for a litre with Gasoline and how long time do a Thai with an average income have to work for the same amount of Gasoline?

[NeverSure]

How long time do an Englishman, American, German with a average income / pension have to work for a litre with Gasoline and how long time do a Thai with an average income have to work for the same amount of Gasoline?

An American receiving minimum wage will earn about 3 US gallons of gasoline per hour. A US gallon is 3.78 liters. That's about 11 1/3 liters per hour.

That's not enough to go on though as many expats are retired on a fixed income and savings. Many in LOS don't drive or drive a scooter.

[Naam]

It's like every country on the planet; there are always pros and cons.

True, but what gets my goat is when people say Thailand is sooooo cheap. That's probably true for a minority who are happy to survive on 10,000-30,000 Baht a month. No snide intended, by the way. That's what some come here to do, and good for them. But for the average Westerner who doesn't want to downgrade his lifestyle and own a car, shop at supermarkets, take a few holidays a year, and have a nice apartment not out in the boondocks, it's not true. I'm not even saying Thailand is super expensive overall. There is some substitution that you can do, like not own a car and take the BTS and taxis, which are cheap. Just reacting to the "it's soooo cheap" comment you frequently hear.

pardon me my good man but your comparison limps like a three-legged dog

if you exclude American citizens from "average Westerner" and compare the expenses and life style of a financially well-off Westerner in Thailand with the expenses in his home country then Thailand is not only "soooo cheap" but dirt cheap.

the simple reason is that the above-mentioned Westerner pays for all his Thai expenses (and more) with the 40-50% (plus some fancy VAT) he saves on income tax.

as far as i am concerned i couldn't afford half the luxury in my home country that i can afford in Thailand because i save a six-digit amount in income tax plus another approximately 10-15% on VAT charged on goods and services.

[VIPinthailand]

a cold war begins

no need of a war, we have the big Mac index.

http://www.statista.com/statistics/274326/big-mac-index-global-prices-for-a-big-mac/

[1BADDAT]

Or we could just use the index that the company that handles all of my relocation stuff for my expat package. According to them my host country (thailand) is more expensive than where I am from (U.S). Any expats out there get a negative cost of living adjustment? I am not talking lower salary. I am talking about the cost of living adjustment.