Udon Thani living costs

[ev1lchris]

Would it be possible to live in Udon Thani for $850 USD a month?

[stoneyboy]

At the current exchange rate that's a little over 30,000 baht a month.

Much depends on your personal circumstances.

Will you live alone ?

Do you have any underlying health issues ?

How will you get around car,public transport or motorbike ?

Do you like a drink,socialising etc ?

Many factors to consider.

[VIPinthailand]

easy.

House cost 10k

food 4k

health care insurance 3k

visa 1k

extra 5k

total 23k.

[stoneyboy]

easy.

House cost 10k

food 4k

health care insurance 3k

visa 1k

extra 5k

total 23k.

Dubious.

How do you know the OP doesn't have any dependants for a start.

[Pinot]

You can but most won't want to. You'll be a cheap charlie.

[thrilled]

I have been hearing 1000 baht A day average.Myself I travel a lot.I eat at restaurants.I travel a lot.I usually spend about

1 million baht A year but I hit the beaches,neighborhood countries etc.

[VIPinthailand]

cheap Charlies live better than guys hanging in the bars.!

[ev1lchris]

easy.

House cost 10k

food 4k

health care insurance 3k

visa 1k

extra 5k

total 23k.

How do I get health care for 3000 baht?

BTW, I would be living alone. I already pay around 10k for rent here in BKK.

[VIPinthailand]

in udon you can find a room for much less.

insurance starts at 2000 a month.

personally I can live well for 14000 bahts or less if I don't travel too much around Thailand (without insurance) and I know guys who live with less than that and are not cheap Charlies. they just live simply and are totally happy because they have more time for themselves.

850$ is enough unless you are one of these retired guys who are never happy and give constantly their money to gogo ladies.

Edited September 25, 2015 by VIPinthailand

[asdecas]

Ah, the perennial how-long-is-a-piece-of-string thread.

How can random, anonymous strangers possibly tell whether the amount you propose to live on is sufficient for you?

[TheKnave]

Ah, the perennial how-long-is-a-piece-of-string thread.

How can random, anonymous strangers possibly tell whether the amount you propose to live on is sufficient for you?

I don't think anyone could answer for the OP, but it's Udon-specific, so still useful, especially if people qualify their answers with how their lifestyle is on thst income.

50 km up the road, 10 years ago, I lived in Nong Khai for 4000 baht/mo plus a room with internet, and a motorbike to use occasionally.

Obviously, I didn't party much, but I ate great food, saw a lot of Isaan, and had a lovely GF to hang with. I moved on to a real job later, but look back on that year as one of the best of my life...

If you keep it simple, and speak or try to learn Thai, I think, even nowadays, you can be quite comfortable on USD$850 in most Isaan cities. I like Udon...

[jacksam]

easy.

House cost 10k

food 4k

health care insurance 3k

visa 1k

extra 5k

total 23k.

How do I get health care for 3000 baht?

BTW, I would be living alone. I already pay around 10k for rent here in BKK.

Read all those figures. 4k for food. That's 134b a day. I live bkk. Udon is cheaper at present am in UT. About to go have coffee and breakfast. 139baht. Later today there is a great soup joint street food. 40baht. Haven't done dinner or a drink or newspaper etc. The people living on 30k are just living. Edited September 26, 2015 by jacksam

[Powder]

you write about the costs of living, including healthinsurance, 2 or 3 k a month.

can you maybe explain to me wich health insurance you are talking about?

or are you writing about a diffrent kind of insurance.

[bazza40]

Ah, the perennial how-long-is-a-piece-of-string thread.

How can random, anonymous strangers possibly tell whether the amount you propose to live on is sufficient for you?

Said strangers can try to be helpful by giving examples of their own living costs, instead of sneering at the OP and respondents. Explain how you are contributing to the discussion.

[Sam Jones]

you write about the costs of living, including healthinsurance, 2 or 3 k a month.

can you maybe explain to me wich health insurance you are talking about?

or are you writing about a diffrent kind of insurance.

Many Health Insurance (foreign companies) cost about 30-36,000B per year, so 3,000B per month should do it ...

[NoshowJones]

easy.

House cost 10k

food 4k

health care insurance 3k

visa 1k

extra 5k

total 23k.

How do I get health care for 3000 baht?

BTW, I would be living alone. I already pay around 10k for rent here in BKK.

health care insurance 3k. That's how much I pay for mine.

[TheFishman1]

I have health ins out of theUK they pay 100% of my yearly Physical 1000 USDollards for Meds per year and a few other things cost me well over 3000 bht per month

[soomak]

easy.

House cost 10k

food 4k

health care insurance 3k

visa 1k

extra 5k

total 23k.

4k for food means eating rice + something three times a day, seven days a week.

What about:

Transportation

Electricity

Internet

Cable

Clothing

Household items

Electronics

etc etc etc

[dotpoom]

in udon you can find a room for much less.

insurance starts at 2000 a month.

personally I can live well for 14000 bahts or less if I don't travel too much around Thailand (without insurance) and I know guys who live with less than that and are not cheap Charlies. they just live simply and are totally happy because they have more time for themselves.

850$ is enough unless you are one of these retired guys who are never happy and give constantly their money to gogo ladies.

Right on...myself and the missus live on that...we don't drink, we don't pay rent (have our own house) and want for nothing. We take short breaks around Thailand every 6 weeks or so in the pick up and that is included. Maybe 3 or 4 thousand more when travelling.

[chiang mai]

Our basic expenses each month for two people runs to about 40k per month, we own our own home hence no rent but that figure doesn't include discretionary expense such as house/garden projects etc, just basic living.

[Shiver]

I live in walking distance of Central, and the rent is 4K per month (unfurnished). I've been here for a number of years so have improved the place to my liking, and the landlady is happy with that. I work on a rule of thumb of 1000 baht a day (in reality it tends to be a little more - sometimes I spend next to nothing, sometimes I feel more generous and have a blowout). It's only when I travel I spend more - about double that.

Of course there will be unexpected extras that need to be accommodated, so I would aim to make much more than I actually use, as life will throw us all a curve ball once in a while.

I live solo and don't take bar girls, so if you like that sort of thing then costs would escalate hugely. If you want a GF, then don't look in the bars, but find one that works for herself, preferably in the day time, and maybe you'll find a co-operative partner that will add stability to both your lives rather than just sucking your account dry then leaving when you can no longer accommodate her spending lifestyle. They are out there, but personally I'm no longer looking, for reasons that would be off topic.

TL;DR version: Yes you can do it, but sometimes finance might get a bit sticky depending on your lifestyle choices.

Edited September 26, 2015 by Shiver

[Araiwa]

Absolutely possible. Depends on your life style and if you have a family to feed or not of course. If you are single then no problem.

[MosMing]

Slightly off topic this but how old are you guys who are paying ฿3000 per month for health insurance? That's ฿36,000 a year. I'm 68 and looking at ฿165,000 a year!

[Shaunduhpostman]

OK instead of the usual clever half line webforum Mark the snarky lark o.p. topic dismissal I'll be equally annoying in the opposite direction and actually attempt to give an in depth answer, going on and on at length in my trademark epic run on sentences about the obvious as though it were a revelation or about things you'd disgaree totally with, ha ha!

As has been said, what you spend per month there's a lot of variation depending on your luck, your preferences etc. I don't live in Udon but in Isaan and don't mind living in my wife's village an hour away from the nearest city , so I pay no rent. But I run the air-conditioning all the time so that's 2,000 baht a month electric. My wife isn't into draining her husband's bank account just because she can, not that I would allow it, and healthily paranoid enough that it is not likely, even if I were poisoned by an in-law or what have you, there'd still be no way to get much out of it. So I suppose that's also luck, not meeting a woman who turns out to be a ruthless blood sucking pipe from you to the rest of her family. Honing your perceptive abilities regarding people's characters can save you a load. But the wife does like watching western movies so we pay True another 2000 baht a month. Glad to pay it because she gets a lot out of it. Really don't enjoy very much of anything they put on and never watch TV hardly at all myself. Who needs it when you have face book and Thai Visa! Internet from TOT is 450 per month, much better value and has been pretty good and consistent since about New Years, terrible last year though, atrocious internet actually in 2014. I don't own a car and never have in my whole life so the car cost maintenance fuel money holes don't exist for me . Don't even need a car, even way out here in the sticks. If worse comes to worse tons of other people have cars here and I just offer them 400-600 baht to drive me somewhere, that happens on average only about once a month. Our village has an ambulance service that is prompt and works pretty well for the monthly heart attack or apoplexy spazzings outs, the odd jaw bone popping out and onto the floor, or leg dropping off from disuse and needing prompt reattachment etc.. When not faced with a medical emergency, usually I just take Songthaews and that's 25 baht for an hour ride into town. Our food bill is high because I don't eat local style and try to eat as healthy as I can given everything is GMO and the fruits and vegetables are sometimes so soaked in chemicals you have to toss them. 6000 baht a week and random household purchases bill for two people. But included in that is some food we give to our struggling family members, our dogs, a couple bottles of nice wine and a 500 ml bottle of Singha per day, that is beer and wine for us not for the dogs. I buy a lot of books on line and music production software and other gizmos sometimes hardware so that's about another 4,000 baht a month average. What really kills us is going to Bangkok or somewhere to get away for a bit, which is pretty essential, the walls start to close in and it feels pretty claustrophobic every 4-5 months. Perhaps living in town is a way to save on that, but for me I think even Udon would be nearly as boring as in the middle of pesticide strafed rice land, but that's just me and I suppose it could be an absolute blast for some to live in Khon Kaen or Udon. A week in Bangkok easily runs 60,000 baht all in. Sure, I could do better on that account, and not eat in any restaurants or in less, not buy nice imported beers and wines, not buy books, not do any shopping for non-essentials you can't get in Isaan, but I don't have to presently so I don't.

Medical costs run me another 60,000 per year and I happen to think Thai doctors are mostly not very good,nearly all are hopelessly arrogant, too many of them seem mentally unbalanced to me, it is not uncommon to hear frankly stupendously insane comments from them regarding myself and my condition which I won't go into here. Personally I need to research other countries to travel to for medical, there is no trustworthy help available for the likes of myself. Of course your mileage may vary and I suppose it is partly down to your personality and how cool you are with ingratiating yourself to your superiors. I don't think I am arrogant, but I am not into grovelling, I am straight forward but with a ready smile when there is reason to smile, not as an exercise extreme discomfort and eggshell walking jsut to satisfy somone's sense of superiority. Rather the wrong attitude to have with Thai doctors they won't help you if you approach them as equals, I have found anyway.

So to sum up:

1 month expenses for me and the wife:

2,500- electricity & water

2,000-True Visions Sattelite

450- internet

1,000-local transpo

24,000-food and miscellaneous daily expenses

10,000-vacation funds

4,000- books and software

6,000-medical (chronic minor skin cancer, eye and foot problems)

10,000- miscellaneous nasty surprises, gotta buy its and ufo landing pad upkeep and maintenance

= 60,000 baht/month.

If it were just me it would be probably around 40-45,000 a month. But then I'd be renting so it works out about the same.

60,000 would about cover rent for a crap apartment in a violence plagued neighborhood in America, so maybe my budget looks stupid to you but I am OK with it and live just how I wanna on it.

Of course I could eat crap food and have more health problems and feel like <deleted> all the time, but I do not enjoy feeling protein, vitamin and mineral depleted. Nobody does but I don't think half of even the western countries populations understand that they have an issue with their diet. Good food keeps you feeling happier and more resilient to the challenges of living in Thailand, so I think it's well spent, and I don't think eating on the cheap here is wise at all, you'll probably cut a decade off of your life with all the salt and grease eating cheap dishes at food courts and on sidewalks and so forth. I keep on my wife's back about proper nutrition as well and that makes her a happier and a much better person to be around. Though she still says, "God, I feel like a <deleted> parakeet today! What happened?!" "Well, what did you eat?!" "Oh...some rice, a doughnut and a few nam prik dishes and I had a Leo beer with my sister." "So, no fish or chicken, no fresh herbs or anything?" "No." "Well there you go. That's why."

Hope that answered your question. Thanks for the space! Do not push like, do not pass go, turn off the computer and get some boiling hot fresh air!

Love and Viva La Revolucion,

Commandante Guido "Do-Not Say-'That-is-Sooooh-Gay-Again'" Suave, Second Commander of The Anti-Flippant Dismissive Internet Witticism Liberation Front

p.s.- How can one have another nutter butter roto rooter double trouble shooter in they life, baby baba, when there ain't even none yet anywhere, anytime no how no way, Super Sugar Crisp Bear! Unless you talkin about your own self, Jose! And who's he anyway?! Yabba Dabbah doo, sir!

[ozyjon]

I spend a lot of time in Udon, then travel to all the other

towns East to West then north to Nong Kai, you would

like it there next to Mekong River, i'm not a bar fly and i

don't enjoy that environment so there are many other

places to enjoy, all the years i spent in Thailand i have

averaged about 30,000 baht per month.

[jkinbkk]

Why are you heading to Udon? There are location probably cheaper.

However, the 3 main ways to live economically anywhere in Thailand are (i) to make sure you do something with productive with your time.

You will spend a heap more money if you don't keep your self occupied at least 50% of the time with something productive. (ii) don't get involved in relationship where you end up sponsoring your partner debt. (iii) as much as you can eat like a local.

If you really want to get an understanding of how to live comfortably on a budget you should speak with the Foreigner teaching community in Isaan. These guys live for years on a budget.

[Happy Grumpy]

Wouldn't fancy it on less than 100k p/m.

[VIPinthailand]

easy.

House cost 10k

food 4k

health care insurance 3k

visa 1k

extra 5k

total 23k.

4k for food means eating rice + something three times a day, seven days a week.

What about:

Transportation

Electricity

Internet

Cable

Clothing

Household items

Electronics

etc etc etc

transportation? walk or run, bus, train, ....

electricity? 300 bahts a month (if you use fan only)

Internet? use neighbour, give him 200 bahts for the password.

cable? use neighbour or pay basic cable 200 bahts.

satellite can have for 500bahts

clothing? second hand market, flip flop and shirt, you don't need more.

household items? go Tukcom building to buy a cheap chines phones.. rest can find on street for very cheap.

hair cut? 60 bahts

dentist? 500 bahts for a cleaning

all included in my 5000 extra

[thaibry]

I live in Roiet, about 3 hours SE of Udon and my costs are very low per month in Thai Baht.

New bungalow rent 2000

Water and electric 500

Eating out for two. 1500/

Cinema. 400

Nightclubs 900

Falang bars. 1000

Grocery. 1000

Petrol 2000

Car insurance. 800

Internet 3g. 400

Misc 1000

Sent from my LG-H324 using Tapatalk

[flagator96]

OK instead of the usual clever half line webforum Mark the snarky lark o.p. topic dismissal I'll be equally annoying in the opposite direction and actually attempt to give an in depth answer, going on and on at length in my trademark epic run on sentences about the obvious as though it were a revelation or about things you'd disgaree totally with, ha ha!

As has been said, what you spend per month there's a lot of variation depending on your luck, your preferences etc. I don't live in Udon but in Isaan and don't mind living in my wife's village an hour away from the nearest city , so I pay no rent. But I run the air-conditioning all the time so that's 2,000 baht a month electric. My wife isn't into draining her husband's bank account just because she can, not that I would allow it, and healthily paranoid enough that it is not likely, even if I were poisoned by an in-law or what have you, there'd still be no way to get much out of it. So I suppose that's also luck, not meeting a woman who turns out to be a ruthless blood sucking pipe from you to the rest of her family. Honing your perceptive abilities regarding people's characters can save you a load. But the wife does like watching western movies so we pay True another 2000 baht a month. Glad to pay it because she gets a lot out of it. Really don't enjoy very much of anything they put on and never watch TV hardly at all myself. Who needs it when you have face book and Thai Visa! Internet from TOT is 450 per month, much better value and has been pretty good and consistent since about New Years, terrible last year though, atrocious internet actually in 2014. I don't own a car and never have in my whole life so the car cost maintenance fuel money holes don't exist for me . Don't even need a car, even way out here in the sticks. If worse comes to worse tons of other people have cars here and I just offer them 400-600 baht to drive me somewhere, that happens on average only about once a month. Our village has an ambulance service that is prompt and works pretty well for the monthly heart attack or apoplexy spazzings outs, the odd jaw bone popping out and onto the floor, or leg dropping off from disuse and needing prompt reattachment etc.. When not faced with a medical emergency, usually I just take Songthaews and that's 25 baht for an hour ride into town. Our food bill is high because I don't eat local style and try to eat as healthy as I can given everything is GMO and the fruits and vegetables are sometimes so soaked in chemicals you have to toss them. 6000 baht a week and random household purchases bill for two people. But included in that is some food we give to our struggling family members, our dogs, a couple bottles of nice wine and a 500 ml bottle of Singha per day, that is beer and wine for us not for the dogs. I buy a lot of books on line and music production software and other gizmos sometimes hardware so that's about another 4,000 baht a month average. What really kills us is going to Bangkok or somewhere to get away for a bit, which is pretty essential, the walls start to close in and it feels pretty claustrophobic every 4-5 months. Perhaps living in town is a way to save on that, but for me I think even Udon would be nearly as boring as in the middle of pesticide strafed rice land, but that's just me and I suppose it could be an absolute blast for some to live in Khon Kaen or Udon. A week in Bangkok easily runs 60,000 baht all in. Sure, I could do better on that account, and not eat in any restaurants or in less, not buy nice imported beers and wines, not buy books, not do any shopping for non-essentials you can't get in Isaan, but I don't have to presently so I don't.

Medical costs run me another 60,000 per year and I happen to think Thai doctors are mostly not very good,nearly all are hopelessly arrogant, too many of them seem mentally unbalanced to me, it is not uncommon to hear frankly stupendously insane comments from them regarding myself and my condition which I won't go into here. Personally I need to research other countries to travel to for medical, there is no trustworthy help available for the likes of myself. Of course your mileage may vary and I suppose it is partly down to your personality and how cool you are with ingratiating yourself to your superiors. I don't think I am arrogant, but I am not into grovelling, I am straight forward but with a ready smile when there is reason to smile, not as an exercise extreme discomfort and eggshell walking jsut to satisfy somone's sense of superiority. Rather the wrong attitude to have with Thai doctors they won't help you if you approach them as equals, I have found anyway.

So to sum up:

1 month expenses for me and the wife:

2,500- electricity & water

2,000-True Visions Sattelite

450- internet

1,000-local transpo

24,000-food and miscellaneous daily expenses

10,000-vacation funds

4,000- books and software

6,000-medical (chronic minor skin cancer, eye and foot problems)

10,000- miscellaneous nasty surprises, gotta buy its and ufo landing pad upkeep and maintenance

= 60,000 baht/month.

If it were just me it would be probably around 40-45,000 a month. But then I'd be renting so it works out about the same.

60,000 would about cover rent for a crap apartment in a violence plagued neighborhood in America, so maybe my budget looks stupid to you but I am OK with it and live just how I wanna on it.

Of course I could eat crap food and have more health problems and feel like <deleted> all the time, but I do not enjoy feeling protein, vitamin and mineral depleted. Nobody does but I don't think half of even the western countries populations understand that they have an issue with their diet. Good food keeps you feeling happier and more resilient to the challenges of living in Thailand, so I think it's well spent, and I don't think eating on the cheap here is wise at all, you'll probably cut a decade off of your life with all the salt and grease eating cheap dishes at food courts and on sidewalks and so forth. I keep on my wife's back about proper nutrition as well and that makes her a happier and a much better person to be around. Though she still says, "God, I feel like a <deleted> parakeet today! What happened?!" "Well, what did you eat?!" "Oh...some rice, a doughnut and a few nam prik dishes and I had a Leo beer with my sister." "So, no fish or chicken, no fresh herbs or anything?" "No." "Well there you go. That's why."

Hope that answered your question. Thanks for the space! Do not push like, do not pass go, turn off the computer and get some boiling hot fresh air!

Love and Viva La Revolucion,

Commandante Guido "Do-Not Say-'That-is-Sooooh-Gay-Again'" Suave, Second Commander of The Anti-Flippant Dismissive Internet Witticism Liberation Front

p.s.- How can one have another nutter butter roto rooter double trouble shooter in they life, baby baba, when there ain't even none yet anywhere, anytime no how no way, Super Sugar Crisp Bear! Unless you talkin about your own self, Jose! And who's he anyway?! Yabba Dabbah doo, sir!

Shaun,

Thank you for the detailed posting about your life and expenses.

I was a bit surprised to read what you said: "try to eat as healthy as I can given everything is GMO".

Which foods are GMO in Thailand? In most countries soy, corn, and sugar beets are either 80-90 % GMO, or, are suspicious enough to be avoided. It is my understanding that GMO crops are not legal in Thailand, not even GMO papaya. Is this true?

Can you find organic food in the sticks? If so can you trust the seller?

Thank you.