So how much is electricity and what am I doing wrong ?

[popje]

When I google electricity price in chiang mai, everyone says its 3-5 baht per kwh, I am currently looking for an appartment and it seems like everyone charges 7-8 baht per kwh, even had owners tell me they don't make any profit from it and you pay directly at a 7-eleven, am I confusing kwh with unit ?, 7-8 baht is the same I paid when I was in koh samui, my last electricity bill was 9000 baht for one month, which is one of the reason I moved to chiang mai, thought electricity was much cheaper.

[NOC]

They were padding your bill in Samui. The government rate for apartments is 7 baht, or something close to that. Apartment managers like to add a % on top of that.

The rate for houses is 3.5, or so. I have a 3-story, 4 bedroom townhouse. I pay on average 1500 baht. Get a house!

The difference you pay in electric for an apartment, plus what the manager adds, plus having your electric get tapped by someone, plus the added stress of the noisy neighbors, plus crappy internet that you have to pay for, will more than cover the additional rental costs of a townhouse/house.

[shirtless]

Government rate in condos is 3.75 bht per kilowatt . they are ripping you off keep looking you may find an honest owner.

[popje]

They were padding your bill in Samui. The government rate for apartments is 7 baht, or something close to that. Apartment managers like to add a % on top of that.

The rate for houses is 3.5, or so. I have a 3-story, 4 bedroom townhouse. I pay on average 1500 baht. Get a house!

The difference you pay in electric for an apartment, plus what the manager adds, plus having your electric get tapped by someone, plus the added stress of the noisy neighbors, plus crappy internet that you have to pay for, will more than cover the additional rental costs of a townhouse/house.

Why would the government charge more for apartments than for houses ? And what about condos ? If I pay at the 7-eleven do that means I have the government rate ?

[popje]

Government rate in condos is 3.75 bht per kilowatt . they are ripping you off keep looking you may find an honest owner.

The other guy in the thread says that government charge 7-8 baht for appartments which is what I found yet, even though I'd prefer a house which he said was 3-4 baht per kwh for a house. If its always like that, it really change ny view on house vs condos/appartments price.

[johnmcc6]

Apartments add the cost of comunal power such as pools lifts security etc. and eveyone pays even if you use the stairs and never use the pool or gym.

[NotEinstein]

Residential charge calculation:

First 150 kWh (1st–150th) 2.7628Baht/kWh
Next 250 kWh (151st–400th)3.7362Baht/kWh
Over400 kWh (up from 401st)3.9361Baht/kWh
Ft (revised every 4 months): 0.4961Baht/kWh
+Service Charge (Baht/month): 38.22
+VAT @ 7%

:- for 401st+ : 4.742454Baht/kWh is what you pay....

{units above 400*(3.9361+0.4961)*1.07}

source: http://www.eria.org/events/Power%20Tariff%20Structure%20in%20Thailand.pdf

[robblok]

They were padding your bill in Samui. The government rate for apartments is 7 baht, or something close to that. Apartment managers like to add a % on top of that.

The rate for houses is 3.5, or so. I have a 3-story, 4 bedroom townhouse. I pay on average 1500 baht. Get a house!

The difference you pay in electric for an apartment, plus what the manager adds, plus having your electric get tapped by someone, plus the added stress of the noisy neighbors, plus crappy internet that you have to pay for, will more than cover the additional rental costs of a townhouse/house.

Why would the government charge more for apartments than for houses ? And what about condos ? If I pay at the 7-eleven do that means I have the government rate ?

Take a picture of your last bill remover your details. Then we can see if its a legit bill and all and what your paying. Now it is just all speculation.

[northernjohn]

They were padding your bill in Samui. The government rate for apartments is 7 baht, or something close to that. Apartment managers like to add a % on top of that.

The rate for houses is 3.5, or so. I have a 3-story, 4 bedroom townhouse. I pay on average 1500 baht. Get a house!

The difference you pay in electric for an apartment, plus what the manager adds, plus having your electric get tapped by someone, plus the added stress of the noisy neighbors, plus crappy internet that you have to pay for, will more than cover the additional rental costs of a townhouse/house.

Sounds like you got taken. The cost of private electricity I believe is in between 3.5 and below 4 baht a unit. If you are paying through the management it is common to pay as high as 8 baht a unit. I have heard of as high as 10 baht a unit. I pay 6 baht a unit. It cost money to run the lights and the elevators in a building plus out side the unit maintenance. If you are just paying for your unit to the power company rest assured your condo fees have been raised to pay for these other outside services.

[Cheesekraft]

i've had to pay over 13,000 baht for electricity a few times, but we had old AC units. Try cutting down on AC use.

[NOC]

They were padding your bill in Samui. The government rate for apartments is 7 baht, or something close to that. Apartment managers like to add a % on top of that.

The rate for houses is 3.5, or so. I have a 3-story, 4 bedroom townhouse. I pay on average 1500 baht. Get a house!

The difference you pay in electric for an apartment, plus what the manager adds, plus having your electric get tapped by someone, plus the added stress of the noisy neighbors, plus crappy internet that you have to pay for, will more than cover the additional rental costs of a townhouse/house.

Sounds like you got taken. The cost of private electricity I believe is in between 3.5 and below 4 baht a unit. If you are paying through the management it is common to pay as high as 8 baht a unit. I have heard of as high as 10 baht a unit. I pay 6 baht a unit. It cost money to run the lights and the elevators in a building plus out side the unit maintenance. If you are just paying for your unit to the power company rest assured your condo fees have been raised to pay for these other outside services.

I didn't get taken at all NJ, I was referring to the OP, not me. My situation would only be better if it were free.

[northernjohn]

They were padding your bill in Samui. The government rate for apartments is 7 baht, or something close to that. Apartment managers like to add a % on top of that.

The rate for houses is 3.5, or so. I have a 3-story, 4 bedroom townhouse. I pay on average 1500 baht. Get a house!

The difference you pay in electric for an apartment, plus what the manager adds, plus having your electric get tapped by someone, plus the added stress of the noisy neighbors, plus crappy internet that you have to pay for, will more than cover the additional rental costs of a townhouse/house.

Sounds like you got taken. The cost of private electricity I believe is in between 3.5 and below 4 baht a unit. If you are paying through the management it is common to pay as high as 8 baht a unit. I have heard of as high as 10 baht a unit. I pay 6 baht a unit. It cost money to run the lights and the elevators in a building plus out side the unit maintenance. If you are just paying for your unit to the power company rest assured your condo fees have been raised to pay for these other outside services.

I didn't get taken at all NJ, I was referring to the OP, not me. My situation would only be better if it were free.

I was referring to the conditions you moved into. You can have those conditions in Town houses and regular houses. This time you got lucky.

[popje]

Ok thanks guys, I am moving tomorrow in my new appartment, its like a triplex, there no pool, gym or elevator and the lady told me I had to pay at 7-eleven and its the government rate, I guess I'll see when I get there.

[MrBrad]

It might be a good idea to make note of your meter reading on your move-in day.

[balo]

If you pay the bill at 7 eleven it will be government rates so you can relax. If you pay at management office they will make a profit on you so make sure you get the gov bill. It should be no more than 4-5 baht per kw.

I pay around 1500 baht monthly for my condo here in Pattaya area. With one AC on at night.

.

[popje]

It might be a good idea to make note of your meter reading on your move-in day.

Yep, I always take a picture as well.

[popje]

If you pay the bill at 7 eleven it will be government rates so you can relax. If you pay at management office they will make a profit on you so make sure you get the gov bill. It should be no more than 4-5 baht per kw.

I pay around 1500 baht monthly for my condo here in Pattaya area. With one AC on at night.

.

Yeah if I pay at the 7-eleven I figured it would be government rates, we have 2 AC and 3 laptops running 60% of the time, I don't mind having a 4000-5000 bill but not 9000.

[anto]

Try using just one a/c ,and making far more use of fans .At government rate your bill should be under B2000 a month .With our house in a Chiang Mai suburb ,with a wife and two kids and just using one a/c and fans ,plus lots of washing machine use ,it comes in at B2000 to B2,500 .Less so in the cool season from November to March when it goes down to between B1,000 and B1,500.

Edited September 23, 2015 by anto

[balo]

I agree , AC is the killer. Maybe also you should try to clean them. Try to run only one AC combined with fans for a month and check your bill.

[zierf1]

Get a fan loom. U will save a lotta Baht.