Comfortable on 65k baht?

[mihalis]

Simply, YES.......

[vukovar77]

Thank you all. Love to here more please chime in.

cyberfarang, luckily I'm not on a "just enough money budget" I just want to get by on my monthly retirement check so I don't have to dip into my savings. If social security is still available I'll collect that at 62.

From my research I believe I'll be able to fund a decent studio apartment, eat well, lite travel around Thailand & health insurance and a little extra to boot. All on my retirement check alone 65k baht.

I hope I'm not wrong and can leave my saving alone.

I'm leaning on renting my house out just in case.

You can live very good for 20k baht if you do not drink and can eat Thai food!

For 30 k more per a month you can lay new young lady every day!

65 k baht or more spend almost only not socialized foreigners,people which drink too much and eat western food only in restaurants!

You can not eat more than 250 baht street food per a day and you can rent nice studio for 5000-6000 baht! If you prepare food yourself or your Thai gf ,250 baht is enough for couple!

Transport is very cheap and water on machine is 1 baht per 1,5 liter !

What do you need more?

[MadMac]

One question, why would you get water at these dirty filters on the road if you can get it delivered to your place for just a little bit more? CNX has water distributors everywhere.

[MaeJoMTB]

Most of the people suggesting waiting, will die before they end their wait.

With 65k you can have a house, young wife, children and as much food as you can eat.

Jump right in, the waters fine!

If you cut out all the dangerous and foolish stuff from you life, why bother, might as well die now.

No health insurance, small accident insurance, house, wife, 2 kids, car, 3 scooters, 4 bicycles, university and 2x school fees.

All on under 50k a month.

Edited January 18, 2016 by MaeJoMTB

[FolkGuitar]

Everyone has a different idea of what constitutes 'a comfortable life-style.' For some, they need 250,000 a month. Others, 45,000.

Drink a lot of alcohol, pay a lot of bar fines, party 6 nights a week, eat Western foods for most meals... You'll need a lot of money.

Western foods and a party lifestyle raise the budgetary requirements tremendously.

Live 'Thai style' and you'll spend next to nothing once you've established yourself.

My wife and I prefer to spend our evenings at home. We usually cook dinner ourselves, but eat breakfast and lunches out. We live in a comfortable 5-room apartment in a building with a nice pool, restaurants, good security, close enough to walk into the Old City when we wish to, yet not in such a busy area that we can't be on the road and out of town in less than 10 minutes. We take 4-5 day trips away from Chiang Mai every few months when we feel the urge, and don't seem to feel as if we are denying ourselves anything.

We do this living comfortably on the budget you've mentioned.

[Daryle]

You will find a GF and you will get sick! Get the health insurance for the latter. As for living on 65k, easy done. Enjoy the journey, just don't loose your mind over the GF, they are easily replaced. First sign of trouble from her, replace her quick smart! Works for me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chicowoodduck]

I started my Lieland adventure at the ripe young age of 55.......now been over 12+ years dealing with all the pissheads and kooks.....it gets real old after awhile......???

[MaeJoMTB]

I started my Lieland adventure at the ripe young age of 55.......now been over 12+ years dealing with all the pissheads and kooks.....it gets real old after awhile......???

Maybe it's you that got 'real old'.

555

Back on topic,

Went to my local food market (MaeJo) for a take out 5 mins ago.

Grapow Gai (sliced chicken breast, basil, chillis, green beans, rice) 30bht

Fruit Shake (1/2 apple, 2 bananas, big chunk of honey melon, sugar, ice) 15bht.

Lunch, in town Easy Corner (under Nakornping Residence in HK road)

Spaghetti Bolognese and a mug of tea 75bht

Breakfast, in town coffee shop (HK road)

American (scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, jam, Latte) 90bht

Not all that expensive out here!

Edited January 18, 2016 by MaeJoMTB

[MadMac]

Skip that health insurance advice unless you find one that covers more than 1mTHB.

[vukovar77]

One question, why would you get water at these dirty filters on the road if you can get it delivered to your place for just a little bit more? CNX has water distributors everywhere.

Yeah,it can be option too,but I live in nice area with Thai people only and never used "dirty filters" on the road!

Besides,I never heard someone get poison from street food vendors !

I think that food from big malls are more dangerous than food from Thai markets!

I speak Thai too and my wife make delicious food every day from countryside vegetables and all another ingredients from countryside!

Our monthly budget is 15-20 k baht for very good life.

Our monthly income is about 80 k baht per month,but no need to spend more!

She own small condo 42m2 and we live there!

[MadMac]

I mean the water filter machines on the roads everywhere. It's probably healthier to drink tap water straight as it does not go through the biotops called filters (that never get changed).

Edited January 18, 2016 by MadMac

[mgjackson69]

Everyone has a different idea of what constitutes 'a comfortable life-style.' For some, they need 250,000 a month. Others, 45,000.

Drink a lot of alcohol, pay a lot of bar fines, party 6 nights a week, eat Western foods for most meals... You'll need a lot of money.

Western foods and a party lifestyle raise the budgetary requirements tremendously.

Live 'Thai style' and you'll spend next to nothing once you've established yourself.

My wife and I prefer to spend our evenings at home. We usually cook dinner ourselves, but eat breakfast and lunches out. We live in a comfortable 5-room apartment in a building with a nice pool, restaurants, good security, close enough to walk into the Old City when we wish to, yet not in such a busy area that we can't be on the road and out of town in less than 10 minutes. We take 4-5 day trips away from Chiang Mai every few months when we feel the urge, and don't seem to feel as if we are denying ourselves anything.

We do this living comfortably on the budget you've mentioned.

There is an important point in the above post..."...once you've established yourself".

I have been involved here long enough that I have a lot of things already established and paid for. House, farmland, rental apartments, truck are all free and clear.

I have one small vehicle payment here (2nd truck for the daughter to "sell something in the market") which will be cleared in a year, one vehicle payment in USA that will be paid off after 2015 Federal taxes are done (February or March), and a mortgage on a rental property in USA that I will be selling to my tenants within the next few years.

When I am done working for a salary and we are living on my retirement funds + US Social Security + the wife's income here from rentals and farms, there will be no payments to be made. Any expenditures in general will be small enough to pay cash.

Being on a pension and making vehicle and/or mortgage payment would strain things greatly.

[MaeJoMTB]

When I am done working for a salary and we are living on my retirement funds + US Social Security + the wife's income here from rentals and farms, there will be no payments to be made. Any expenditures in general will be small enough to pay cash.

What if the wife kicks you out and keeps all the stuff in her name? ...... just wondering.

Hopefully you would still have enough.

(Mine did it after 30 years of marriage .... and she was English)

Edited January 18, 2016 by MaeJoMTB

[northernjohn]

I have not read all the posts but I live here very comfortably on less than that. The only time it gets more than that is when I decide to travel. I also spend money on the wife's family. when it comes to school I am right there with my ATM card.

Don't let the negativity scare you. I do not know of any one who has got sick of the food carts. The lonely planet at one time said they were good because you could see what they were doing and putting in it. Lot of people on Thai Visa warn you about it but you seldom see a post claiming that is what made them sick.

As for the women up to you. There are lots and lots of good ones out there. Same as where you come from.

You will find it financially OK the rest well that will be up to you. Judging by the increasing number of people at immigration I would have to say people love it here.

[mgjackson69]

When I am done working for a salary and we are living on my retirement funds + US Social Security + the wife's income here from rentals and farms, there will be no payments to be made. Any expenditures in general will be small enough to pay cash.

What if the wife kicks you out and keeps all the stuff in her name? ...... just wondering.

Hopefully you would still have enough.

(Mine did it after 30 years of marriage .... and she was English)

The vehicles here (two trucks and a motorbike) are in my name. Everything in USA is in my name only.

The lawyer would have to hash out the property split (I know I cannot own land here, but I do have half interest in the house and rental apartments).

I would have to find another place to live, and either find another wife or change over to a retirement extension of stay.

My income would not change much.

Edited January 18, 2016 by mgjackson69

[MadMac]

Judging by the increasing number of people at immigration I would have to say people love it here.

Not because of more people, they just queue longer due to understaffed immigration. Which makes me wonder what all the trainee girls are doing there....but that's a different topic

[flossiebear]

We moved to Thailand and rented our house. Just as well as after 12 months we got homesick and came home ! You could definitely live well on 65000, we managed on 40,000. However I got sick and spent one week in hosptial, no insurance , but had savings to cover cost. Just to add we then hated it back home after just 3 months, the last year we have planning and and saving to come back as we miss Thailand so much. This time we are treating it as a long holiday and feel much happier. So glad we did not sell,our house. We have also increased our budget, as it was definetly a bit tight last time.

[jacksam]

The government would need to pay me 65k to live there. Boring joint

[dotpoom]

I believe a lot of teachers live on half that....myself and "she who must be obeyed" do anyway.

[NancyL]

Akdraw, you've gotten some good advice here, esp. on the first page. I'm gratified to see so many people talking about the need for insurance. Yeah -- I just back from Suan Dok hospital (the gov't hospital) where I assisted four, yes four retired foreigners who ended up in there over the weekend figuring they'd never had a motorcycle accident, slip-and-fall at home, heart attack, etc and thus didn't have insurance and now are wondering how they'll pay the hospital bill and have other issues, like their visa extension expires next week, no one is looking after their dog and their girlfriend has run away with the truck, only it really isn't his truck because it was registered in her name.

But, never mind. That's kind of a hobby of mine, helping expat retirees who find themselves in difficulty at the gov't hospital.

Get travel insurance before you come. That will give you time to get set up here. Make getting insurance a top priority. At your age you can get comprehensive health insurance. Watch that you don't buy a policy that will cut you off once you get too old -- if you plan to stay here long term. Consider a policy with a high deductible but a high ceiling. You don't need health insurance to pay for outpatient visits, those are cheap. What you need is something that will pay for accidents with broken bones, heart attacks, strokes -- they can easily run up bills of a couple million baht or even more if you go to a nicer hospital than the gov't hospital (and you'll probably want to do that)

Don't make any commitments during the first year that you can't get out of easily. That means, don't buy a house, don't get married, don't invest in a business. Consider doing what one wise friend did. If you want to enjoy lady friends but don't want to get married -- get a vasectomy.

And make friends in the expat community. There are very nice and normal people here and they'll be the ones to help you out in the future when you're in need.

[wwest5829]

Came twice in 2009 and 2010 for a month each stay. Traveled around Thailand a bit but Chiang Mai felt right. Rented a house in a moobaan for the first two years. wanted a secure home "nest" while I learned some language, how and where to get things done. I cashed out of the U.S. in 2011 and moved to Chiang Mai at age 64 !/2. Budget half S.S. and half retirement funds brings my budget to about 65,000baht (exchange rate currently results in 71,000 as monthly transfer comes in to my Bangkok Bank account from my U.S. financial institution. I find it comfortable. In December I had a heart attack, followed by a TIA (light). The bill was 144,400baht at RAM. Ouch! My heart was a pr-existing condition so insurance does me little if any good. BC/BS Seniors is to pay me up to $5,000USD, I'm waiting... I go to Chiang Mai Expats as there I can find answers to questions and perhaps answer other's questions.

WRWest

[MaeJoMTB]

yes four retired foreigners who ended up in there over the weekend figuring they'd never had a motorcycle accident, slip-and-fall at home, heart attack, etc and thus didn't have insurance and now are wondering how they'll pay the hospital bill and have other issues, like their visa extension expires next week, no one is looking after their dog and their girlfriend has run away with the truck, only it really isn't his truck because it was registered in her name.

This must be a country and western song ............

I crashed my motorcycle,

slipped down the stairs and had a heart attack

My dogs all alone,

And mah woman ran off with mah pickup truck .........

Edited January 18, 2016 by MaeJoMTB

[buzzah]

Hi. Just butting in on the conversation. With regards to health insurance... Any advice on which one anyone would recommend?

[MaeJoMTB]

Hi. Just butting in on the conversation. With regards to health insurance... Any advice on which one anyone would recommend?

Bangkok Insurance Company (Maya Mall, etc)

100,000bht per accident insurance for about 3,000bht/year.

Health insurance costs a LOT more.

Avoid foreigners selling insurance, they aren't allowed to do that in Thailand.

[likeke]

After two years living in Bangkok, I stopped eating street/Issan food. I was constantly having stomach issues and not feeling well. Now the only thai food I eat is in a nice restaurant with nit noi phet. Never felt better.

[chiang mai]

Hi. Just butting in on the conversation. With regards to health insurance... Any advice on which one anyone would recommend?

Depends on your budget, your age, your health and your bank account. there's loads of threads on this subject recently in the health forum.

[elgenon]

Money won't be a problem, but I think you will get bored with street food. Personally, I had 3 years of eating South East Asian street food 3 times a day every day and one morning I woke up and swore never to eat it again. That was 5 years ago, and I honestly haven't had Thai food since - I'm able to do that because I cook every day, but not everyone shares my love of cooking.

My only unique advise to you is don't burn your bridges back home. Not straight away, anyway. I've lived in a lot of different countries so know a bit about it; once the novelty wears off, and it will, you may find that you don't like it that much after all. 'Back home' has a lot of pull for some people, even people who don't expect it to. You aren't talking about a holiday, you're talking about for good. What if you don't like it or develop a serious illness which needs intensive care? Short time, 24 hour care is cheap here compared to back home, particularly if you're from US, but a stroke or Parkison's or MS? Could be years of assisted living, could be for the rest of your life, could be not as good as in US, could be just as expensive without the things you're used to around you. Hopefully that will never happen, but if it does and you want or need to go back, you will be a lot better off ifE you have something to go back to.

I strongly recommend that If you own your own place now, rent it out if possible or if you need to sell, buy a small apartment as an investment so that you aren't locked out of the property market should you decide to go back at some stage in the future. Once you're out you will likely never get back in at your age. Living in a developing country isn't for everyone, just like living in a city or living in the countryside isn't for everyone. Until you try it, you don't know so it's a good idea to keep your options open. Even if you don't go back, it should be a good inflation-proof investment as long as you're not in a bad area.

Not burning your bridges is particularly important for you as you are relatively young. We were 43 and 44 when we retired 8 years ago, and while I'm happy to potter around in the kitchen, and read all day long, Mr K occasionally gets bored and more particularly, misses the social interactions of being in a workplace 5 days a week. He's just left for a 3 day trip, hired a big bike and away he goes (hiring one once a month for a couple of days is better than buying one in a lot of ways; it isn't sitting in the garage most of the time because riding around town on anything but a scooter is not practical, no maintenance costs, no up front costs, a different new or newish bike every time you go, no depreciation or trouble selling it, being a regular customer he is able to tag along on any arranged tours the bike shop has (despite the comment in an earlier post, he loved the ride to Laos with half a dozen others last year), the list of reasons for not buying goes on). Every now and again though, he gets a dreamy look in his eyes and talks about going back to Melbourne or maybe to the mines in Western Australia and is quite serious about it until I talk him down. We've been together for 36 years so can bounce off each other which stops us being truly lonely; many of the people we know enjoy their lives here but despite having many friends are very lonely and very bored, although very few people will admit it. I have no doubt some would go back home tomorrow but it isn't financially viable for them, even though they don't have any possessions to dispose of or any other material reasons to stop them or hold them up.

I've always said to people don't look at it as moving to a new country, look at it like it's a long holiday. Almost 30 years ago we left England and went for a long working holiday in New Zealand and a couple of years later when we decided it wasn't for us we went for a long working holiday in Australia and since then we've had long holidays in Malaysia then Thailand - we're still on one in Thailand, 6 years and counting. If it's a holiday, you have something to go back to and there's no embarrassment of those people - you know the ones I mean - saying 'I knew you couldn't hack living there'. Have a long holiday here then a long holiday in Cambodia then a long holiday in Vietnam and before you know it you'll be older and wiser and can either choose which country you like best or continue to have long holidays in different countries or different parts of those countries. It keeps things fresh, you'll make friends in each of the places you go to and going back to see friends is always good. We're based in Chiang Mai but spend a lot of our time going for (short) holidays to visit some of the friends we've made along the way.

It's already been mentioned, but please make sure you have an insurance policy, and make sure that includes medivac. It probably won't be cheap, but insurance is always a waste of money until you have to make a claim.

Most importantly though, enjoy your life. I'm sure you'll enjoy being in Chiang Mai, and maybe you'll enjoy being in Saigon or Penang or the islands down south or those in the Philipines. Pack a bag of clothes, a good pair of walking shoes and a full Kindle (you can buy everything else when you get here) and go for it.

You sound like a lovely person. Your husband is fortunate. But he is probably a good guy.

[TheSiemReaper]

In the end it all boils down to what you percieve as "comfortable" - the thought of living on 65K a month leaves me queasy but then I have very high standards for "comfortable" in S E Asia. Others have much lower standards. Heck, there are even farang living here on 10-15K baht and bragging about how awesome their lives are. Good luck with it but as others have suggested... dipping your toes in the water before committing permanently is a good idea.

Edited January 18, 2016 by TheSiemReaper

[1FinickyOne]

Hi Ak - It really depends on your standards, but I would say that most expats in CM live ok in and around that range…

I read some of the posts and yes, indulge in street food, it is usually fresher than many of the restaurants - if you want to be cautious, follow the crowds, wherever many people are eating the food is usually good. I have had many visitors from the USA and none have ever gotten sick on street food. I live in a small village and no problem here either… CM has a lot of great food both Thai & foreign - and on that budget you will not have to worry and can mix it up a bit….

CM has a ton of furnished rentals and they are really cheap especially if you don't mind being out of the center of things, just a little. From the way you were talking about missing Thailand, I think you can't go wrong. Come and check it out… plenty to gain, not much to lose…

good luck

[HerbalEd]

Visiting Thailand a couple of times for a short tourist stay is very different than living here full time. Most would-be expats burn out fairly quickly and go home. Don't burn any bridges and try living here for a couple of months before actually moving here full time.