Frequent posts in this forum are about the various merits of moving to other SE Asian or Asian countries to take advantage of the cost of living benefits. I found a number of very intriguing maps online with help to get the big picture of that issue.

To see more maps (for those members who have espoused Mexico, Costa Rica, etc. as viable alternatives), the source is MoveHub.com.

Thanks for the information post. I looked at movehub.com and see it's actually a moving company site.

It does nevertheless give information that may be helpful.

http://www.movehub.com/blog/living-costs-world-map

Neat! Kind of shows why I moved out of Canada. Unsurprising, Bangkok is in a more expensive category than rest of Thailand.

Thanks for sharing.

So if you want to retire to a country where you don't have to sit under the aircon all day,... northern China , Poland & Czech republic , are the only ones still affordable.

This kind of cost comparing is superficial and misleading. Many things are not included and depending on your situation the comparison could be far out.

If you live in Thailand like a tourist and compare the prices of hotels, restaurants, taxis and so on, Thailand is cheap.

If you live in Thailand with a family and you take the cost of education, groceries, interest on loans, tax and tax returns, child support, cost of cars, Thailand is among the more expensive countries in the world.

The numbers are also often dated and when as in Thailand prices go up with huge steps per year you're even further off, not easy if you have to negotiate income with European companies who see only these numbers and stay in hotels and eat in restaurants when they come.

Agree with Recycler. Understandably these sort of surveys have a lot of generalisations and don't necessarily include all the costs.

While Australia is one of the most expensive places in the world, a lot of this is due to housing (particularly in the capital cities) and wages. But outside the capital cities, housing prices are much less, and in some towns can be very low. Cars are certainly much cheaper to purchase than Thailand (but have higher depreciation). Clothing and many other items of any quality are similar to Thailand or cheaper - they are nearly all made in China, Thailand or Indonesia. And with such a huge country, you can pick your climate, and therefore your clothing and electricity needs. Many Australian houses have solar power and/or solar hot water and so have little or no electricity costs.

What also needs to be recognised and taken into account, is the benefits you get in these higher cost countries such as better infrastructure, services, government support, clean beaches, etc etc. (Not to mention excessive laws that are enforced, including high cost traffic/speeding fines).

There is no getting away from the fact that these high-cost countries will cost you more to live there (than say in Thailand) but they can be reasonably affordable if you want.

So if you want to retire to a country where you don't have to sit under the aircon all day,... northern China , Poland & Czech republic , are the only ones still affordable.

You might also try Iran; especially if you like burkhas.

So if you want to retire to a country where you don't have to sit under the aircon all day,... northern China , Poland & Czech republic , are the only ones still affordable.

uh, don't forget SYRIA. Houses to rent very cheap, with holes to look out in every room and fire works at night....for free

I have found this web site very helpful to comparing the cost of living in different cities. http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&city1=London&country2=Thailand&city2=Pattaya&displayCurrency=THB

Neat! Kind of shows why I moved out of Canada. Unsurprising, Bangkok is in a more expensive category than rest of Thailand.

Thanks for sharing.

Isnt the capital city always the most expensive place to live in a country?

No it's not.

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So if you want to retire to a country where you don't have to sit under the aircon all day,... northern China , Poland & Czech republic , are the only ones still affordable.

You might also try Iran; especially if you like burkhas.

sawadee1947

Posted Yesterday, 18:56

BuaBS, on 25 May 2015 - 16:03, said:

So if you want to retire to a country where you don't have to sit under the aircon all day,... northern China , Poland & Czech republic , are the only ones still affordable.

uh, don't forget SYRIA. Houses to rent very cheap, with holes to look out in every room and fire works at night....for free

Syria & Iran , have very high temperatures , most of the year. And that cut-throat thingy is not really my style. Butt ugly women too. And I'll bet they block pornsites even more than Thailand....

Neat! Kind of shows why I moved out of Canada. Unsurprising, Bangkok is in a more expensive category than rest of Thailand.

Thanks for sharing.

Isnt the capital city always the most expensive place to live in a country?

Not always, Ottawa, the capitol is far cheaper than Toronto or Vancouver.

The bigger cities are usually more expensive and many countries the biggest is the capitol.

Its hard to know because there are so many areas withing each country. For instance it has mainland USA the same as Alaska which is silly. Alaska is very expensive because so many things have to be shipped or even flown in. Go to a market and by fresh fruits, vegetables and milk and get stunned. They all arrive on a plane within the past couple days and have to get to individual stores quickly. Almost all consumer products suffer from shipping and handling costs.

OTOH there are very nice rural areas on the mainland that are downright cheap and still have first world amenities. That would be cheaper for a family than Thailand due to free schools, cheaper cars and most other consumer items.

They have Thailand all one price and tied with The Philippines. That's not a lot of information. I agree with Woofer in post #10 above about Numbeo for city comparison.

This kind of cost comparing is superficial and misleading. Many things are not included and depending on your situation the comparison could be far out.

If you live in Thailand like a tourist and compare the prices of hotels, restaurants, taxis and so on, Thailand is cheap.

If you live in Thailand with a family and you take the cost of education, groceries, interest on loans, tax and tax returns, child support, cost of cars, Thailand is among the more expensive countries in the world.

The numbers are also often dated and when as in Thailand prices go up with huge steps per year you're even further off, not easy if you have to negotiate income with European companies who see only these numbers and stay in hotels and eat in restaurants when they come.

Live like a foreigner in foreign land and you'll pay like a foreigner in a foreign land.

Live like the host culture, and you'll pay like the host culture.

Of course, the maps do not take into account those who prefer to live like in a first world country in a developing country.

It's not rocket science.