Enjoying life in Thailand possible with $400 a Month while volunteering possible?

[Spaniel]

Do more research, try to save a bit more money for emergencies then go for it! Good luck. Another info source you might look at is Lonelyplanet.com. Click on ThornTree then go to the Thailand thread. You can post questions there.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Spaniel

[Jeffrey346]

Your dreaming.. You won't get any work here to supplement your $400. If you volunteer for different organizations, you will need a new work permit for each one.

You will need at least $600 to get by.

[ronthai]

Enough people have told you already, that the answer to your question is NO, not enjoy as you want.

Enough to just live, YES, at least you won't die.

Next time ask/search for info first before arranging everything.

I live here on about $800-1000 a month (all-in) and live a good life, but then I don't do girly bars and stuff and cook myself mostly.

I drink a beer/whisky 1-2 times a week with friends in a normal bar (total costs about 1200 baht per week, a few beers at 55 baht and bottle of SangSom at 700 baht all mixers free). Usually 4-5 beers and after half of the bottle SangSom.

There, if you want to play tourist on $400 NO WAY

[rijit]

my advice would be cut out the orgonised stuff like elephant riding its cruel anyway. plenty you can do on a budget by yourself, look and post for advise the forums on here they are terrible maze but helpful. stick to thai food, transport and All is cheaper out than Bangkok. oh and a few guys i knew earnt money as extras/acting in bangkok but it takes time to get established and known. women !! the eternal conndurum,,, that

,,,,,, you'll have to find your own way on,,

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[NoshowJones]

The world is full of dreamers.

You want to stay in Thailand but dont have sufficient funds, you want to volunteer with no work permit.

Give yourself a good shake, step back away from la la land, into the real world. STOP think then start again.

We are involved with an organisation called workaway, take volunteers.

They are looked after, in exchange for some work, most of them are students on low budgets.

Earlier this year we had a male volunteer from Sweden (what a joke) he had no money, we were in tesco, please help me i need toothpaste plus other items,

i will pay you back at home, well that never happened, he was stocking up on food from our supplies, thinking nobody saw him (wrong)

In the end i told him to leave, but i have no money he says !!! sorry not my problem, also he says i am on overstay bye bye, we dont want problems with immigration. Yes before anybody starts about him staying here immigration were informed on the correct form.

The guy asked a question and is seeking advice. Hardly necesary to tar him with your bad experiences and make all sorts of assumptions and personal remarks he is going to steal food, he's a dreamer etc. God knows there would be plenty of "dreamers" who may have already given advice and maybe even the volunteer people have steered the bloke astray. Problem with this forum too many like you. Give the bloke a go. He's asked the question seeking information before he makes a mistake. Isn't that the idea or one of the functions at least of TV?

Thanks for the reply friend. I'm not looking to start an argument in any sense colinneil, as Kenny202 said, I'm just trying to get opinions from people who now the facts before my travels. I'm in no way heading to Thailand to steal or take advantage of people. But rather to make a difference while creating some awesome experiences and stories to tell. I'd like to thank everyone who has commented so far with their knowledge and advice, it means a lot!

Thailand is a third world country with third world mentality, the authorities don't have the brains to see how beneficial to the country unpaid volunteers can be, they could easily arrange some way of getting work permits for the volunteers, but as I say, they don't have the brains.

But to be fair they are trying to stop workers from other countries working illegally, to prevent them doing work that Thais could do, but Thais will not volunteer as they need to earn a living. I think you would be better trying another country to do volunteer work.

[MauiSteveBKK]

Go for 3-4 months.

That's enough time to see if you like it ... the work ... the food ... the accomodations.

With no food and no accommodation payments -- you can "Stretch" the 13,000+ THB.

Seriously. It will be no frills.

But you're coming here to try and make a difference.

For that alone .... I commend you and hope you make it and love it here.

BTW ... don't be surprised if you find "the love of your life" if you're staying outside Bangkok. It'll happen.

[Acharn]

I live outside the city/town of Nakhon Sawan in what is considered Central Thailand. I used to live in a working class neighborhood of Bangkok where few farang go. I speak Thai reasonably well and have had a Thai wife to look after me while I was learning the ropes. My Army pension and Social Security combined cover the minimum income requirement of ฿ุ65,000 a month plus a bit. That's about $2,100 a month at current exchange rates. This is background so you can judge how relevant my knowledge is to your questions.

You say you don't drink alcohol, which is a point in your favor. You also say you can eat Thai food, which is another important point. Some farangs who have been here for years still think they need to eat a lot of farang food, which is expensive. From what you say in other posts I would say that you *could* get by on $400 a month. It might be too spartan an existence for you to last six months. I'm not sure about gyms. I know that here in Nakhon Sawan there are groups that get together for exercise every evening in the city park, and there is locally made exercise equipment freely available for public use. I know there are groups that practice Tai Chi in Lumpini Park and there's an area there near the swimming pool where weights are available for training. You say you are a personal trainer, so you probably know routines for body-weight training and interval training. There are paths for running/jogging in the parks, and I would be scared of dogs if running in the streets/roads.

I think the biggest problem you will face is the requirement for a work permit. As another poster pointed out some of the people who came and volunteered their help after the tsunami got into trouble. I guess it's too late now, but you should have sorted this out with the charities you intended to volunteer at. Maybe they have sufficient pull with the local immigration police that they aren't worried about a violation.

I'm reminded of an occasion many years ago when I was riding a bus in Bangkok. There were two English tourist ladies, I think on their second day here. I guessed they were about sixty years of age, maybe a bit older, and they were having a wonderful time. In those days bus fare in Bangkok was fifty satang (half a baht) and they were thrilled. I don't have any idea how they handled the language problem, because most Thais don't speak any English, but they were so enthusiastic and happy that it made my day and still lingers in my memory.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Acharn

[Shiver]

I think it can be done, it's not asking the impossible, but it comes with a price, whether financial or sweat.

If a street meal is say 35baht, and you have 3 of those, and you want a dozen eggs or a chicken as well for extra protein, you could get by with 250-300 a day for food. Water you can buy those 20 litre containers for about 12-15 baht.

The thing that would concern me is the unexpected 'big' ticket items, like anything to do with government paperwork, permits/licenses. If you don't have any financial wiggle room then it could come unstuck. So I would say you can probably do it on your budget even if it is a little dull, but it would be so much more comfortable if you had a couple of thousand dollars set aside for things that weren't planned for (eg. changing flight schedule, minor health expenses that even if you have insurance may take a while to pay out etc).

Edited March 12, 2015 by Shiver

[Mrjlh]

Am I not mistaken that one needs to show at least 20,000B (~$600US depending on what conversion rate is in effect) upon entry if asked?

[Shiver]

I think from memory that when I was in UK and applying for Multi-O visas, I had to sign to say that I had adequate resources to repatriate myself (passports are not to get you into a country so much as to make sure they can get you out if they want to). I thought it was around GBP 2000 or so (could be wrong), but I was never actually asked, and since I was at that time always using a return flight ticket maybe that's why I've never been asked. That said, once I decided I wanted to spend more time here I got a one way ticket with the intention of the origin being Thailand, and never got asked that one time either.

[rijb]

Who pays for the work permit?

[jdlancaster]

I will give you a slightly more positive answer. I have a salary of 15000 thb teaching English in a small village in Jangwat Phrae. I consider it like a volunteer gig while I write my masters thesis. You can comfortably live in a village but almost no one will speak English. Without alcohol or trips it's about 9000 thb for me to live since i already have a motorbike tv computer etc.... that said.... my social life is highly subsidized by the local pooyai ban and teachers as far as drinking and trips goes lol..... and the farmers take every chance to give me a shot of lao khao and laab deep ... this leaves me with enough for a once a month trip to a place like kwan phayao or lampang. On the plus side, if you are commited you will learn thai quickly. .. you have no choice. And if you speak thai theres no reason to be spending alot of money on some girls.... take turns paying and thai food is cheap.... 20 thb for noodles.... 30-40 for most rice dishes. This lifestyle isn't for everyone but if it's for you there are organizations that will set you (no salary) or you can find a job. Your english is worth far more than your manual labor.... few are willing to teach out in the sticks..... If you stay in a city... it is way too expensive for $400 .. I can easily spend 6000 thb in a weekend in chiang mai if I go out.... it can be done.... but don't expect any sorta western lifestyle or ... scuba diving haha

[jdlancaster]

Rjib... the issue of a work permit isn't the cost.... it's the paperwork... and its only good for one place.... and your extension of stay will be set for the length of your contract... can't jump from place to place with a single wp.... atleast legally. .. I think...

[MobileContent]

We have volunteer tours but we charge normally those people a lot of money to even be able to volunteer. After all 70% of the funds paid by the volunteer would go back to the locals.

To the OP, with a 400 US$ budget just stay away from Thailand as you need a work permit.

BTW: We provide volunteers with work permits even for 2-3 months but the volunteer package has a price of 48,000 Baht for 3 months.

How on earth someone can volunteer with a budget of 400 USD a month is out of my imagine.

To legally volunteer in Thailand cost money and forget the tourist visa.

[csabo]

Assuming you decide to break the law and work without a permit or you get a work permit which will require significant effort and support from your volunteer location and even then your Non B Visa will only be good for 90 days unless you go through more hoops to get your 12 month extension, after all that, this is my budgetary item list. Many of these will be zero for you, rent electric etc but don't underestimate the others. Transportation is, taxis/trains/motorbike rental/fuel, it adds up quick. Unless you are gonna ride a bike everywhere a scooter is 3000 baht month depending on season size location etc.. My pharmacy expenses hit $60 one month. $400 a month is really not realistic.

rent

internet

electric

phone

food

water

transportation

entertainment

visa runs

visa expenses

gym

spa

shopping

misc

pharmacy

laundry

travel

bank fees

gifts

[csabo]

I will give you a slightly more positive answer. I have a salary of 15000 thb teaching English in a small village in Jangwat Phrae. I consider it like a volunteer gig while I write my masters thesis. You can comfortably live in a village but almost no one will speak English. Without alcohol or trips it's about 9000 thb for me to live since i already have a motorbike tv computer etc.... that said.... my social life is highly subsidized by the local pooyai ban and teachers as far as drinking and trips goes lol..... and the farmers take every chance to give me a shot of lao khao and laab deep ... this leaves me with enough for a once a month trip to a place like kwan phayao or lampang. On the plus side, if you are commited you will learn thai quickly. .. you have no choice. And if you speak thai theres no reason to be spending alot of money on some girls.... take turns paying and thai food is cheap.... 20 thb for noodles.... 30-40 for most rice dishes. This lifestyle isn't for everyone but if it's for you there are organizations that will set you (no salary) or you can find a job. Your english is worth far more than your manual labor.... few are willing to teach out in the sticks..... If you stay in a city... it is way too expensive for $400 .. I can easily spend 6000 thb in a weekend in chiang mai if I go out.... it can be done.... but don't expect any sorta western lifestyle or ... scuba diving haha

Do the minimum salaries for faring not apply in your case? Just wondering if there is a loop I am not aware of.

Farang minimum wages list read this way if I am correct. When I went for my Non B it was the only question asked of me by embassy staff.

• 50,000 Baht/month: Western European Countries, Australia, Canada, Japan, and USA
• 45,000 Baht/month: South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong
• 35,000 Baht/month: Asian Countries, South America, Eastern European Countries, Central American Countries, Mexico, Turkey, Russia and South Africa
• 25,000 Baht/month: African Countries, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam

[jdlancaster]

Csabo... I wondered the same but there seems to be an exception for teachers. If inwas making 50k in the village id consider staying longterm.

[Berkshire]

Thailand is a third world country with third world mentality, the authorities don't have the brains to see how beneficial to the country unpaid volunteers can be, they could easily arrange some way of getting work permits for the volunteers, but as I say, they don't have the brains.

But to be fair they are trying to stop workers from other countries working illegally, to prevent them doing work that Thais could do, but Thais will not volunteer as they need to earn a living. I think you would be better trying another country to do volunteer work.

Hmmm, you ever see the movie Shawshank Redemption? The cheap prison labor? What do you think that did to private industry/the job market?

Obviously, volunteer work is not exactly the same, but just wanted to give you another perspective. Besides, you do realize that any sort of volunteer visa would get abused like it's nobody's business. Just like current visas. You know how those wily foreigners are!

[jdlancaster]

It is funny though. .. I make almost as much from a few weeks of army reserve work as I do teaching all year haha

[razer]

If 100% of your daily expenses are paid for ... yes.

[rotary]

On your budget you will become a prisoner of a fan room drinking tap water reading what little english print there is in a Thai newspaper.

As many posters said the work permit issue will rear its ugly head also. You might be ahead to stay home until you figure out the work permit and have a $1000 per month minimum to spend. On your budget you "might" be able to survive but you will enjoy nothing.

Edited March 12, 2015 by rotary

[lithox]

$400? a month? in Thailand? That's way too much.

Since you'll be volunteering, you'll have a place to stay. So that leaves meals.

In fact, $30 a month is plenty. That'll cover 2 bowls of noodle soup and a big bottle of water every day. And you'll still have money left over to buy a pack of napkins or some gum every couple of days.

Be sure to bring a book.

[AZBill]

Good luck to you but that budget will not get you by. You realistically need about 1000 a month. It's not as cheap as you think.

[ozyjon]

Don't listen to all these dinosaurs here, many if not all of them came

to this backward third world country just as you dream.

If many of the locals can survive on $3 a day, compared to them you

are rich, you will have $13.00 to spend per day, remember most

street food is about 30 baht per dish, that's about 80 cents so there

you can save lots, many ladies will welcome you into their home, feed

you, wash your clothes, give you many massages, what are you

waiting for, hurry up and get over here, the ladies are waiting.

A lot of people here are just intimidated by a new hundsum man

moving in to their territory, you have nothing to worry about, enjoy.

[nithisa78]

What are you volunteering to do?

I'm planning on volunteering at refuge camps, schools, and orphanages. Most likely teaching English, helping with day-to-day, and maybe some other classes like Physical Education would be cool.

Volunteering @ refuge camps, schools , orphanages. I must not know what cool means. Go to Yellowstone if you want cool.

[Daniel Ingalls]

Only if you stay out of bars, sneezy woman, She/he girls, Learn to Identify them. then maybe its possible.

[fey]

Have you sorted out your Work permit?

Otherwise you will not be here for 6 months.

$400 a month is enough to survive as about the other activities, I'm sorry to say but you have to forget about them.

Good Luck to you......and don't forget the Work permit

He can do all those activities he mentioned.

The volunteer organization pays food and board, they also likely handle the visa/work permit issue.

[SoilSpoil]

Don't listen to all these dinosaurs here, many if not all of them came

to this backward third world country just as you dream.

If many of the locals can survive on $3 a day, compared to them you

are rich, you will have $13.00 to spend per day, remember most

street food is about 30 baht per dish, that's about 80 cents so there

you can save lots, many ladies will welcome you into their home, feed

you, wash your clothes, give you many massages, what are you

waiting for, hurry up and get over here, the ladies are waiting.

A lot of people here are just intimidated by a new hundsum man

moving in to their territory, you have nothing to worry about, enjoy.

No local can survive on 100 baht a day! Are you for real?

13 dollars a day is enough if you stay in your room and do absolutely nothing but working and sleeping.

30 baht a dish hardly feeds my 40 kilogram wife!

But you must be a handsome Dan with the 'ladies' doing your laundry and massages.

[philw]

Have you sorted out your Work permit?

Otherwise you will not be here for 6 months.

$400 a month is enough to survive as about the other activities, I'm sorry to say but you have to forget about them.

Good Luck to you......and don't forget the Work permit

I was unaware I'd need a work permit to volunteer. Couldn't I just get a 60 day tourist visa, leave the country, and get another entry each time? Or is it required that I have a work visa to volunteer? I'm planning on volunteering through local organizations instead of the mainstream guys because they are free. $400 won't be enough even if I have the two biggest expenses covered? Thanks for your help!

Yes you need one, see reports of Tsunami volunteers getting nicked.

Can you provide specific details ???

Like names, dates, activities etc.

I doubt you can.

[marko kok prong]

No chance old chap,best double or treble it,especially if you want to meet a nice lady.