Living the Bangkok life upcountry is possible - AT A PRICE

[Stradavarius37]

So many old geezers, so many lawns...

[Expath]

Look around your paradise,-) Cloak smell money hustling Thais and ivory coast citizens in all main streets in BKK,Pattaya,Hua Hin,Phuket. Condos that are built with only one thing in mind High profit low building cost=That is equal to under minded low quality building materials and will not last for long. BKK sinking rapidly and there is no plan for it. Only plan is rip of all you can from potential buyers. Electricity is a joke. The problem is that the electric is leaking every where badly done work material and Thais stealing from poles. vegetables they don't use them self only herbs so its imports most of it so its expensive. Just go to Central Plaza or a equal Farang styled place and you get ripped of in all shops. Ok you can buy a 60 baht soup and drink water three times a day and have a local beer at night. Then sleeping over at a friends place or lying to a thai girlfriend that you are waiting for money,-) Thailand has become a trap for happiness seeking lonely middle age men. Sadly the paradise is Hell for 96% of them if they don't have the money. Less than 4% of the whole earth population makes more than 2000€ a month..think about that. You can not own your land that the Banks and lawyers so friendly with out a cost helps you to bring in to the country. Did you know that more than 90 % of the company you buy with a house has not payed withhold tax...Whats that,-) that is a building tax that no one pays in Thailand after you built the house,-) they only push it in front of them and the last idiot that gets it has to pay when the Tax agency sends you a bill. Yes i had to pay up 280000 Baht just like that. The tax agency knows about this and they just continue because the interest just goes up every day. Then we come to nominees...Is it a Thai friend that you have on your company documents that invested 51% in your company with hard owned cash...didn't think so,-) So he is a nominee....that is by the law forbidden. Did your lower say its ok and you signed some Thai write documents or even in a bad english...Sorry you are <deleted>...you just don't know it yet. One has to realize that this country is not yours you can not own your house even condo 100% in Thailand. Yes condos are based on the same principal as a house...its a big company where you own a slice. Try to bring out the money when you sell your house or flat...you think its no problem,-) welcome because if the reset you have from bringing in the money is older than a year its not valid,-) yes not valid..then you go to your super lawyer that is going to help you...for free of course,-) and after couple of months with document hustling and costs around this not talking about your nervs,-) you only get out the value that put on the buying document to land office...yes its lower than you paid...about a third of the real cost...<deleted>...yes buy a watch or old Thai art for the rest and bring it out..if you don't get court by customs. You see they have 100% control don't think anything else. They see all this as a piggy Bank...you know the one you got when you was a small Boy from the Bank when you started to save the money you are spending here,-) When the climate is geting harder in Thailand or any where else for that matter...People of that country is going to look at the piggy Bank Farangs because they have so much money,-) you rich man money to much na, no pay Tax you just using Thai to be cheap no good man. So good luck i am happy i got out loosing just my pride and a little bit of my hard earned money. Thailand does not want us there end of story. Schools rip you of police rips you of government offices rips you of street hustlers rips you of GF rips you of even if they are the best you ever had. No fundamental safety for you anywhere. You can get killed over losing face incident even if you are not involved but stand as a buy passer. No one helps you if some ones makes a move on you..on the contrary they make a Mob kicking and hitting you..its in the Buddhist way not to interfere. Not even police is going to interfere until the situation is over. Sadly its Hell you all living in. After 15 years as a non drinker having custody over my Thai son running a company paying high salaries to incompetent staff tried hes best in Thailand. But that was not worth anything. I was a spick among spicks in Thailand but better to be a swede among spicks in my own home country. Have a Jolly good time in paradise. The swede

[Mousehound]

A beer costs 1.5 euros in Thailand and only 40 cents back home. Cars are cheaper in Europe than here. Fruits and vegetables are more available, free of formaldehyde and much cheaper than here. My electricity bills in Thailand are higher than in my cold home country. The cost of education, well dont get me started there. Clothes or quality appliances are 40% costlier here.

Thailand is not the bargain it was a decade ago. And also, most foreigners are not paying 10k for a hotel room, not in Thailand nor in farang land.

Yes, Heineken costs more.

Yes, european cars cost more.

Yes, european imported fruits and vegetables cost more.

Yes, Organic food has its price.

I dont know which country you are come from but in electricity in every western-europe country costs at least double as much as here, not to mention water costs which for example in Germany costs at least 10x times more.

Yes if you want Lacoste, Ralph Lauren and other brand names which are made for Western market then expect to pay more. You can buy the same quality for half of the price without and Lacoste crocodile or Ralph Lauren tag on it....

"live like a Thai pay like a Thai, live like a foreigner pay like a foreigner... it is the way you choose to live..."

Pay peanuts, get peanuts is what you mean.

Go to any H&M shop in Europe and you will find that t-shirts are lower priced than in Central. I am not talking about designer stuff. Try to buy a Philips shaving machine here, or a speaker set. Most Thais import their stuff from Singapore or Japan. The price of Japanese cars is significantly lower in the US or Europe than here. My electricity bill never topped 4,000 baht a month back home, not even in the cold winters. Here in Bangkok, with 2 aircon units only at night, this seems to be standard. Take the BTS, or MRT and compare their prices with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and you will find it expensive.

Its difficult to find a house, or even apartment these days, less than 4 million baht in Bangkok. That's a whopping 100,000 euro. The house you buy in Europe will still be there in 100 years. Have you ever seen the materials that are used here? Real estate, of comparable quality and size, is more expensive here. I know this because we just build a house up country. The price quality ratio is bizarre.

If you are prepared to live in a wooden shaft, without proper sanitation, ride a motorcycle and eat mama noodles, yes than you can say that living here is cheaper. But I don't know many Thais who like to live like that. Every time I cross the borders I get endless shopping lists from my Thai friends.

Living here for me is cheaper than in the UK. Here I live in a 50sqm condo in central Bangkok, I pay 25k which is a little less than £500. I lived in Manchester previously, there's no way that I would have got a place for that price - and any place I would have got wouldn't have had a pool or fitness room.

Electric: I pay 2500 - 3000 a month. UK I paid gas and electric, it was much more than this.

Internet: UK it is cheaper and more reliable

Food: I spend about the same but here I eat out much more

Gym: UK I paid £38 a month as I was grandfathered into an old price at Virgin, suspect a new member would be much more. Here I pay 1500 or so after paying up front for a year with True. I would say gym costs are about on a par.

In the summer I visited London. Travel card for the tube works out at £12 a day off peak. Taxis cost a fortune, a decent central hotel was £130 a night. I don't drink but alcohol there is much more expensive even than Thonglor or parts of Sathorn where drinks are peak price for BKK.

Just got back from Hong Kong, I was there for 6 days and spent the equivalent of 6000 baht just on taxis. Taxi from airport to hotel: 1500 on the meter.

Yes Thailand might not be as cheap as it used to be and there are cheaper places but it's cheaper than major UK cities.

I agree - you would have to pay me a hell of a lot to live in Manchester.

At the moment I am back in Perth WA. Rents have dropped here to a low of $US 450 a week for an average house forty minutes out of the city.after topping out at $700 a week. A couple of beers set me back $30 US in a central city pub. A pub meal for two with a couple of beers each is about $80US. And I am talking pretty ordinary meals in a suburban pub.. Thailand is way cheaper. I will have to go to 75 years of age here to retire. Then sell my house to survive and watch my capital disappear. Thailand or Vietnam for me - but Thailand is better on the medical front so most likely will opt for Thailand.

[onni4me]

Look around your paradise,-) Cloak smell money hustling Thais and ivory coast citizens in all main streets in BKK,Pattaya,Hua Hin,Phuket. Condos that are built with only one thing in mind High profit low building cost=That is equal to under minded low quality building materials and will not last for long. BKK sinking rapidly and there is no plan for it. Only plan is rip of all you can from potential buyers. Electricity is a joke. The problem is that the electric is leaking every where badly done work material and Thais stealing from poles...

Jeez...you seem real unhappy...I bet you've met someone in the touristy areas of LOS and been buying houses and taking care of the sick buffalo.

There is one cure though. Don't depart your money or bring it to Thailand.

I've been with my Thai partner for years, a decade now, and we have had our ups and downs as anyone else but there has been no stealing from me or really much asking fro money since all family members work. Only our 13 year old adopted daughter and MIL are taken care by us.

When I looked for new partner (after seen the tourist traps and worked in Bangkok etc.) I wanted few things:

- can work meaning that is able to provide family and him/herself

- speaks English so we can actually have a conversation

- does not stay Pattaya, Phuket, Bangkok, Hua Hin or any other tourist destination - reasons obvious

- does not carry tramp stamps or have drug or alcohol problems + I don't smoke so don't want my partner to either

- is about +/- 10 years max

- no nude pictures even on request (Thais are normally pretty shy)

All the above does not mean that I those days wouldn't have a fling with someone from the bars or extracurricular activities but I was then free man to do whatever I wanted. When the time - and boredom - came, I started looking for someone decent. The looks or age should not matter (that much) when it is about looking for a life partner. I like exciting romp with someone who is not the pillar of society but I really don't want that type of a person to share my life.

The thread is about lifestyle choices and I have done mine and have no regrets. If you are unhappy with your choices you can look into the mirror. The culprit will stare right at you.

[cyberfarang]

It`s the same everywhere. Once an area starts being developed and then more desirable, this is always followed by an increase in prices.

This works both ways. Development and increase in land, property and commercial business prices is great for those that are already established in those areas, they can sit back rubbing their hands together watching their investments grow. But it`s the other side of the coin for those, especially the young people trying to get their feet on the ladder. This has happened in the UK and will no doubt also happen in Thailand.

As what`s been happening in London since the early part of the 20th century, when the outer regions become developed, they end up being drawn into the mainstream capital, sooner or later the cheaper areas of a city start fading away, then it means moving further and further outwards for affordability.

Up in Chiang Mai some of my GF`s family had inherited their lands and houses right in the centre of the city. Going back 25 years and more they were practically worthless, these people were considered poor even in Thai standards. Then later the land and properties went through a boom time in the centre of Chiang Mai and now my GF`s relatives are sitting on fortunes, silly little plots of lands can be worth up to 200 million bahts, I kid you not.

It may be more affordable to live in the north for the present, but that is all about to change, especially as more and more higher end status foreigners are coming in and investing in the areas.