cost of living for family outside of bkk

[Clive]

Hello.

Can anyone pls help me?

Considering returning to Thailand with myself and my 2 children aged 11 and 8 (1 adult and 2 children)

I presently homeschool my children in the uk and will do the same in Thailand so no school fees will be needed in the calculation.

I intend to live outside of BKK and the tourist areas to cut the cost down.

Living sensibly, eating mainly thai food and anyone please give me an approximate monthly cost of living.

Thank you

[Happy Grumpy]

250k p/m.

Edited February 20, 2016 by Happy Grumpy

[rocketboybkk]

Just my opinion but home schooling doesn't allow the kids to mix & make friends

Why do you do this in the uk?

Surely social skills at there age are top of the list

Even in a school in Thai with English program would be better than home schooling them

Do your kids speak Thai?

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[Clive]

Actually socialisation is the greatest misconception whenever homeschooling is mentioned.

My children get 4 hours study a day 1-1 and generally at least 2 hours play/ social activities with other homeschool groups. Far more than they would ever get in a shool setting and way ahead of their school friends

[beachproperty]

Rent.......10,000 to 15,000 baht a month

Utilities.....(Water, Electric)...3,000 to 4,000 bath a month depending on Air-con use

Food.......10,000 to 15,000 baht a month (maybe less)

Transportation....???????

that's on the LOW end....And the bare essential, doesn't include clothes, or other unexpected expenses!

That's a general idea, could be cheaper, could be more expensive???? What visa do you intend on staying?

check out this site for a more specific example of costs

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Thailand

Edited February 20, 2016 by beachproperty

[rocketboybkk]

Actually socialisation is the greatest misconception whenever homeschooling is mentioned.

My children get 4 hours study a day 1-1 and generally at least 2 hours play/ social activities with other homeschool groups. Far more than they would ever get in a shool setting and way ahead of their school friends

Do they speak Thai?

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[rocketboybkk]

What's the reason you're moving there?

What visa are you proposing to obtain?

Will you work?

How will you support yourself?

Is this move for you or them?

Are you thinking of them?

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[Craig krup]

Surely the start point has to be how much a Thai can live on, and then multiply it by whatever factor you think represents the difference between their expectations and yours? if a Sergeant Major in the Thai police can live on 15,000 baht a month and bring up a family could you live on 30, 45, 60? I mean, it's an "How long is a piece of string?" question, isn't it? Lots of single people in the UK can't live on £3,000 a month, and some can live on £500.

[Craig krup]

250k p/m.

£5,000 a month? $7,500? Putting you in the top 1.5% of the population if you were in the West, never mind Thailand.

[Sheryl]

Don't forget health insurance costs.

[rwdrwdrwd]

What's the reason you're moving there?

What visa are you proposing to obtain?

Will you work?

How will you support yourself?

Is this move for you or them?

Are you thinking of them?

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Why are you being so aggresive and inappropriately nosey? Not a single one of your unsolicited questions relates to the OPs question.

OP, family of 3 here, outside BKK and we live very nicely in a rented 4 bed detached on around 75k a month - 20k of that is car payments so once that's out the way would be 55. We could live happily enough on 40 I would say.

Edited February 20, 2016 by rwdrwdrwd

[rocketboybkk]

What's the reason you're moving there?

What visa are you proposing to obtain?

Will you work?

How will you support yourself?

Is this move for you or them?

Are you thinking of them?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Why are you being so aggresive and inappropriately nosey? Not a single one of your unsolicited questions relates to the OPs question.

OP, family of 3 here, outside BKK and we live very nicely in a rented 4 bed detached on around 75k a month - 20k of that is car payments so once that's out the way would be 55. We could live happily enough on 40 I would say.

Because I'm nosey!!

Seriously, the op thinking of moving himself & 2 kids to Thai

I worry for the kids

That's my concern

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[NeverSure]

^^^ Agreed. No way would I raise kids in Thailand if I had the choice to raise them in a first world Western country. End of.

No that's not what he asked but there are costs that are hidden such as good medical care, education, knowledge of the real world, social interaction with Westerners...

No way Thailand.

[rocketboybkk]

Totally agree

The cost to the kids is astronomical

At the moment they're home schooled so they're missing important social conditioning

It'll be worse in Thai

Wrong decision

Is the op doing it for himself or the family?

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[uthaithanirules]

^^^ Agreed. No way would I raise kids in Thailand if I had the choice to raise them in a first world Western country. End of.

No that's not what he asked but there are costs that are hidden such as good medical care, education, knowledge of the real world, social interaction with Westerners...

No way Thailand.

??? The main reason I decided to do it here, after the costs of course, was her 500 relatives, the 50 cousins the kids have to play with

Social interactions with westerners??? LOL what??

[cyberfarang]

Actually socialisation is the greatest misconception whenever homeschooling is mentioned.

My children get 4 hours study a day 1-1 and generally at least 2 hours play/ social activities with other homeschool groups. Far more than they would ever get in a shool setting and way ahead of their school friends

It depends on how you and your family want to live? Dirt poor rock bottom Thai family village local style, basic Thai family style, minimum just scrape by budgeted Farlang family style, comfortable not much over the basics Farlang family style or expect all mod cons and amenities, air con, cars, Satellite TV, high speed Internet, regular socializing, eating out, eating mostly Farlang type foods and medical insurance.

Tell me what category you think you`ll fit into and I`ll tell you roughly what your cost of living should be.

[uthaithanirules]

As for everyone else.

250k a month, dont think i could spend that if I tried ???

Car repayments :13000 a month, which would be the biggest cost

Electricity: someone said 4000 a month, dont know how you do that, that would be US $115 a month. Mine comes to 2000B a month, thats for 6 people, plus another 4-6 relos that visit every second week.

Kids school is 30000 a year for a 6 year old, so 2500 a month

Food: if we didnt go out to restaurants, would be sweet FA, she has a few relos with farms in the area, but even with restaurants, it would be under 10000 a month. Food I find to be the most noteable difference between living out in the sticks compared to Bangkok, usually around half price of what it is in Bangkok

Mortgage for me now is pretty much negligable

So, all up, under 30000 a month plus healthcare. Most other families around here are living of under 10000 a month

[silverado]

Rent.......10,000 to 15,000 baht a month

Utilities.....(Water, Electric)...3,000 to 4,000 bath a month depending on Air-con use

Food.......10,000 to 15,000 baht a month (maybe less)

Transportation....???????

that's on the LOW end....And the bare essential, doesn't include clothes, or other unexpected expenses!

That's a general idea, could be cheaper, could be more expensive???? What visa do you intend on staying?

check out this site for a more specific example of costs

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Thailand

must compare to me (and maybe state an average) :

rent : 2.500/3.000 for a small house + garden

utilities : 500 (1.500 with ac) electric , water mainly from rain + pump

food : 6.000/8.000

transportation : 500 for motorbike oil

clothes : cost nearly nothing

must say that is a thai way of living and in a very rural village

total : +/- 10.000 when i m in belgium it is what i send to my gf for her and 2 childs (9 and 10 y old)

edit : BUT as Sheryl said for health insurrance (must have min 8.000 to me), kids school (uniforms by ex) , cost for someone who can care the home (clean and make food) , gaz for cooking , and a lots of other things as leisures , hobbies , sports and so on...

what i read from other posters , some members are objective , while some others are crazy or trolling

Edited February 20, 2016 by silverado

[NeverSure]

^^^ Agreed. No way would I raise kids in Thailand if I had the choice to raise them in a first world Western country. End of.

No that's not what he asked but there are costs that are hidden such as good medical care, education, knowledge of the real world, social interaction with Westerners...

No way Thailand.

??? The main reason I decided to do it here, after the costs of course, was her 500 relatives, the 50 cousins the kids have to play with

Social interactions with westerners??? LOL what??

It's called culture. The Thais have their own culture which in NO way fits into the real world. Just look at the <deleted> litter all over the place. Look at the filthy beaches. Look at the idea they have that Thailand is the center of the universe when they have no idea about the rest of the world.

I would want to raise a Westerner, not a Thai. I couldn't send kids to college in Thailand because that's a joke. At what point in their lives do you introduce them to the real world? When you send them to Uni in your home country? At what point do they get a chance to be part of the real world, or do you expect them to live in a Thai village forever?

Judas Priest.

[silverado]

^^^ Agreed. No way would I raise kids in Thailand if I had the choice to raise them in a first world Western country. End of.

No that's not what he asked but there are costs that are hidden such as good medical care, education, knowledge of the real world, social interaction with Westerners...

No way Thailand.

??? The main reason I decided to do it here, after the costs of course, was her 500 relatives, the 50 cousins the kids have to play with

Social interactions with westerners??? LOL what??

It's called culture. The Thais have their own culture which in NO way fits into the real world. Just look at the <deleted> litter all over the place. Look at the filthy beaches. Look at the idea they have that Thailand is the center of the universe when they have no idea about the rest of the world.

I would want to raise a Westerner, not a Thai. I couldn't send kids to college in Thailand because that's a joke. At what point in their lives do you introduce them to the real world? When you send them to Uni in your home country? At what point do they get a chance to be part of the real world, or do you expect them to live in a Thai village forever?

Judas Priest.

excuse me sir neversure , it is not that i agree or not with you , but are you sure your post/reaction has something to do with giving an approximate monthly cost of living to OP ???

[Asheron]

I would guess around 30K baht would be enough for everything incl. insurance.

And don't listen to the miserable bastards on this forum about their "worry or care" for your children related to moving to Thailand nor homeschooling, they are just full of faeces.

[chiang mai]

Poster Silverado above comes closest to reality, many others are in la la land!

For example: two people in semi rural location 30 mins. out of Chiang Mai.

No rent because we own, but if we rented, half way decent houses available in range 4/8k baht a month

Utilities: Electric under 1k month including some air/heat, water 150 month, gas 400 every six months, land line 169 baht month (note, hot season air may run 1.500 month for 2/3 months based on house design etc. If I wanted to I could run all three aircon 24 hours a day for a month and my bill would be over 14K!!!)

Groceries: we spend an average of 8,500 a month and eat very very well.

Diesel: 2,800 month gives us 1,800 kms driving.

Clothes at Tesco etc are very cheap.

Lots of other variables but they can be controlled to a greater degree, you will need about 65k month for a decent standard of living (ex-school fees and insurance)

Edited February 20, 2016 by chiang mai

[alanrchase]

^^^ Agreed. No way would I raise kids in Thailand if I had the choice to raise them in a first world Western country. End of.

No that's not what he asked but there are costs that are hidden such as good medical care, education, knowledge of the real world, social interaction with Westerners...

No way Thailand.

??? The main reason I decided to do it here, after the costs of course, was her 500 relatives, the 50 cousins the kids have to play with

Social interactions with westerners??? LOL what??

It's called culture. The Thais have their own culture which in NO way fits into the real world. Just look at the <deleted> litter all over the place. Look at the filthy beaches. Look at the idea they have that Thailand is the center of the universe when they have no idea about the rest of the world.

I would want to raise a Westerner, not a Thai. I couldn't send kids to college in Thailand because that's a joke. At what point in their lives do you introduce them to the real world? When you send them to Uni in your home country? At what point do they get a chance to be part of the real world, or do you expect them to live in a Thai village forever?

Judas Priest.

As his kids are home schooled he should be able to instill a hatred of everything Thai in them so they can be a first world Westener just like you.

[impulse]

For the first year, count on costing the same as back home for a similar lifestyle. You'll save big on some stuff and get gouged on others.

Over a period of time, you may be able to adjust your habits to reduce the gougings and cut expenses. Some families (and individuals) can, others just can't or won't make the adjustment.

[tartempion]

It's called culture. The Thais have their own culture which in NO way fits into the real world. Just look at the <deleted> litter all over the place. Look at the filthy beaches. Look at the idea they have that Thailand is the center of the universe when they have no idea about the rest of the world.

I would want to raise a Westerner, not a Thai. I couldn't send kids to college in Thailand because that's a joke. At what point in their lives do you introduce them to the real world? When you send them to Uni in your home country? At what point do they get a chance to be part of the real world, or do you expect them to live in a Thai village forever?

Judas Priest.

NeverSure, you might have a point about the real world.

But the weather in Europe is a no-no for me, thus Thailand is the country where my 5 years young is going to school. The real world she lives in is the one I provide her. She has an iPad since she is 3, YouTube is her friend. What she watches there is not the real world neither and she understands that.

She is attending a (cheap) private school, 3 kms from home, 40 kms out of Udon Thani, she learns to read/write English and Thai, she surprises me with new English words she gets from her stupid YouTube movies (Lucy, Kayle) and she deciphers English words on text I show her.

At age 5 I had no clue about reading and many other things.

She lives in a Thai world, but surely knows there is an other larger world out there. That is my responsibility.

Edited February 21, 2016 by tartempion

[bearpolar]

Clive, dont worry. With home schooling you can live anywhere from 30-60 000b per month quite easily after you've paid off the first time stuff(car, bike and a few furniture and toys for the kids). The forum has a sponsor, pacificcrosshealth which seems to have very affordable health insurance plans.. unfortunately he does not answer private messages.

The only thing expensive here is international school and housing(if you are used to luxury, getting a cheap house with tesco furniture is a possibility for those who dont care). You're saving 30-40 000b already by homeschooling.

[maoro2013]

I don't know how anyone could give a reasonable answer to this question with the lack of detail in the original post.

We rent a two bedroom house out for THB3,500/mth. Perfectly good for farang, I lived there,happily, with my wife for years before building a new place.

Depends a bit on where you plan live, we are in a decent sized village in Buriram province.

[zackattack]

Big big mistake to bring your little guys here

USA has downgraded this country to a third world ? country with all the slave labor that went on in the islands of Phuket

[chiang mai]

Provide a link to prove they did that otherwise it's not true.

Regardless, is America's view on things of any relevance!

[ChrisKC]

Surely the start point has to be how much a Thai can live on, and then multiply it by whatever factor you think represents the difference between their expectations and yours? if a Sergeant Major in the Thai police can live on 15,000 baht a month and bring up a family could you live on 30, 45, 60? I mean, it's an "How long is a piece of string?" question, isn't it? Lots of single people in the UK can't live on £3,000 a month, and some can live on £500.

This is a good reply.

When I suggest how much it costs to live I give them the minimum then they can add anything they like to that according to their financial and other circumstances and desires. In my opinion, Rent, electricity (not including air con - I don't use it) cooking, food and drink: living frugally like a Thai and family can be managed on B20,000 per month.

In reality, over time, more than that is necessary to account for emergency and unforeseen expenses.