Selling up and leaving Thailand

[Justfine]

On 06/01/2018 at 8:53 AM, Ulysses G. said:

What you have given is anecodal and proves next to nothing. I avoided doing the same thing, because most people are aware of its many drawbacks. 

 

anecdotal

Something anecdotal has to do with anecdotes — little stories. Anecdotal evidence is based on hearsay rather than hard facts.

People like to share stories about things that happened to them, or that they heard about, to make a point. That kind of talk is anecdotal: based on small, personal accounts. Anecdotal stories are helpful when you’re trying to give an example of something, but there's a downside to anecdotal information: since it’s not based on facts, you never know if you can totally trust it. So it's best to go beyond the anecdotal and get more solid information.

https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/anecdotal

Are stats based on facts or selective facts?

 

Nothing wrong with anecdotal stuff if you know the person gives reliable info.

 

Some people give great advice based on experience. Others just awful.

[Ulysses G.]

2 hours ago, Justfine said:

 

Nothing wrong with anecdotal stuff if you know the person gives reliable info.

 

Some guy on the internet that you know nothing about? Not really.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Ulysses G.

[1BADDAT]

On 1/5/2018 at 5:53 PM, Ulysses G. said:

What you have given is anecodal and proves next to nothing. I avoided doing the same thing, because most people are aware of its many drawbacks. 

 

anecdotal

Something anecdotal has to do with anecdotes — little stories. Anecdotal evidence is based on hearsay rather than hard facts.

People like to share stories about things that happened to them, or that they heard about, to make a point. That kind of talk is anecdotal: based on small, personal accounts. Anecdotal stories are helpful when you’re trying to give an example of something, but there's a downside to anecdotal information: since it’s not based on facts, you never know if you can totally trust it. So it's best to go beyond the anecdotal and get more solid information.

https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/anecdotal

Just because you claim my experiences are anecdotal and know how to use google doesn't make it so.  Nice try keyboard warrior.

[Ulysses G.]

36 minutes ago, 1BADDAT said:

Just because you claim my experiences are anecdotal and know how to use google doesn't make it so. 

Maybe you should look up the definition of anecdotal before launching into another one of your condescending little lectures.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Ulysses G.

[1BADDAT]

35 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

Maybe you should look up the definition of anecdotal before launching into another one of your condescending little lectures.

I used our definition.....

[The manic]

On 29/03/2017 at 3:22 PM, Suradit69 said:

Yes, because those countries that had the good fortune to be exploited by the British , such as India, have hardly any bureaucracy at all.

 

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-33618621

 

 

BBC anti British propaganda literally paid for buy the British Tax Payer. To quote one of my old wise Indian friend's father. "When the British Left India Justice left India."

[nontabury]

On 31/12/2017 at 12:37 AM, simoh1490 said:

I don't understand how people can claim that Thailand is expensive and how or what they are comparing against. I've been here for 16 years full time, own my own home and truck and have no debts, my wife and I manage to live a very comfortable lifestyle on about 45k a month - we both eat very well, I eat western food 75% of the time and we eat out often and have a variety of means of entertainment. We don't do the bar scene and holidays are on top of monthly living expenses, if people think 45k a month all in is expensive, I'll be very surprised.

On 45k a month, I’d have starved to death in Thailand. 

[Rc2702]

Just now, nontabury said:

On 45k a month, I’d have starved to death in Thailand. 

You must have been ripped off royally every day then son. They saw you coming eh.

[Justfine]

1 hour ago, nontabury said:

On 45k a month, I’d have starved to death in Thailand. 

You eat imported premium lamb and wagyu? Seafood,  chicken and pork are all cheap.

[simoh1490]

1 hour ago, nontabury said:

On 45k a month, I’d have starved to death in Thailand. 

Presumably you rent?

Presumably you pay expensive school fees?

Presumably your wife doesn't work?

Because if a couple can't get by reasonably comfortably on 45k a month to cover food, utilities and transportation there's something wrong somewhere.

 

Our basic monthly costs come out at something like this:

Rent - none

Electricity - 1,300 month average month per year

City Water - 100 average

Drinking water - 50 baht

Phone/internet - 700

Deisel - 3,400

Groceries 12,000 average

Meals out - say 10,000

Car Maint. average 1,500 month

 

Accruals for car insurance (15k year), house insurance (6k year), Medical (20k year) - say 3,500 average month.

 

That's essential at around 30k a month!

 

[Ulysses G.]

3 hours ago, nontabury said:

On 45k a month, I’d have starved to death in Thailand. 

I could easily live comfortably on 30,000 a month. For 45,000, I could live really well with (some) foreign restaurants and (cheap) nightlife.

[SheungWan]

5 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

Presumably you rent?

Presumably you pay expensive school fees?

Presumably your wife doesn't work?

Because if a couple can't get by reasonably comfortably on 45k a month to cover food, utilities and transportation there's something wrong somewhere.

 

Our basic monthly costs come out at something like this:

Rent - none

Electricity - 1,300 month average month per year

City Water - 100 average

Drinking water - 50 baht

Phone/internet - 700

Deisel - 3,400

Groceries 12,000 average

Meals out - say 10,000

Car Maint. average 1,500 month

 

Accruals for car insurance (15k year), house insurance (6k year), Medical (20k year) - say 3,500 average month.

 

That's essential at around 30k a month!

 

Some of us go to the dentist and turn the air-con on.

[simoh1490]

8 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

Some of us go to the dentist and turn the air-con on.

Dental is included in medical costs.

 

Our house is extremely energy efficient and the attic well ventilated and insulated. Despite having four air con. units we need to use two of them for about six weeks per year, in the evenings.

[Justfine]

1 hour ago, SheungWan said:

Some of us go to the dentist and turn the air-con on.

With good teeth only need a dentist once every 5 years or more.

 

What crap do you eat?

[SheungWan]

2 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

Dental is included in medical costs.

 

Our house is extremely energy efficient and the attic well ventilated and insulated. Despite having four air con. units we need to use two of them for about six weeks per year, in the evenings.

 

25 minutes ago, Justfine said:

With good teeth only need a dentist once every 5 years or more.

 

What crap do you eat?

Nonsense CC stuff they would like everybody else to swallow.

[Justfine]

15 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

 

Nonsense CC stuff they would like everybody else to swallow.

I've had 3 fillings my whole life.

 

You must have really bad teeth.

[Justfine]

On 08/01/2018 at 10:44 AM, Ulysses G. said:

Some guy on the internet that you know nothing about? Not really.

I'm talking about people that you know. Not internet randoms.

 

A lot of advice given on forums is complete rubbish.

[Justfine]

On 08/01/2018 at 11:51 AM, Ulysses G. said:

Maybe you should look up the definition of anecdotal before launching into another one of your condescending little lectures.

Mainstream research can be decades late. Look at the food and medical industries. Half the developed world is fat because of bad advice from doctors. People have taken harmful drugs for years.

 

 

[simoh1490]

52 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

 

Nonsense CC stuff they would like everybody else to swallow.

I'm not going to debate this with you SW because it would be pointless, but for the general population who may have an interest in such things:

 

We bought a house that was seven years old but had never been lived in, it therefore took some work before we could make it habitable. One upfront investment that we made was in the area of insulation and attic venting and in total we spent some 80k baht getting that right. What we did was to replace the four sets of gable vents with vents that were 175% of their size, we then retrofitted vented soffit boards around the entire lengths of the eaves. Those things done we installed two attic exhaust fans and fitted them into the gable vents, both set on a single thermostatic switch. After that we retrofitted radiant barrier on the inside of the roof, (a job and a half), we then laid twelve inches of foil encased bat type insulation on the attic floor.  The net of all of that is that we have excellent airflow through the attic which is sized to match the capacity of the roof void and is balanced, air in square metres equals air out square metres - the fans exist to cater to exceptionally hot days when the insulation gets defeated. 

 

As a result of the above our house stays cool during the daytime, even on the hottest days, until the challenging hour of 4 pm when as said, the insulation can be defeated during exceptionally hot days. After 5:30pm direct heat is no longer a problem because the sun has gone down but stored heat in the roof tiles can be a problem. But again, the exhaust fans cater to that load very well and by 10pm the heat load has reduced, it's on those days that we use the aircon which I guess from our billing history is never more than two months out of the year when our electricity bills hit 1,600, during other months our bills are very rarely over 1,000 baht - I'll be happy to post copies, if you have doubt. Last year we took additional steps in this area: we planted two more trees which in about five years time will start to provide additional shading to the house, we already have some 33 mature trees and now in our third year here we've learned how to prune for heat protection and critically, when. The other thing we did was to replace the top twelve inches of our brick walls, the walls that the steel beams in the roof sit on, with Thermalite block thus creating a thermal barrier between the roof steel and the walls of the house, that work should pay dividends this year in preventing heat transfer to the walls..

 

As for dentists: I get my teeth cleaned once every six months and it costs me 800 baht a time, once every three years I may need a filling and that will typically cost between 1,000 and 1,200 baht.

 

EDIT TO ADD: electricity bill showing past six months usage, wanted or not.

 

Edited January 17, 2018 by simoh1490

[Justfine]

Insulation makes a huge difference all year round. Any decent house should have it. My last filling cost 800 baht.

[nontabury]

11 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

Presumably you rent?

Presumably you pay expensive school fees?

Presumably your wife doesn't work?

Because if a couple can't get by reasonably comfortably on 45k a month to cover food, utilities and transportation there's something wrong somewhere.

 

Our basic monthly costs come out at something like this:

Rent - none

Electricity - 1,300 month average month per year

City Water - 100 average

Drinking water - 50 baht

Phone/internet - 700

Deisel - 3,400

Groceries 12,000 average

Meals out - say 10,000

Car Maint. average 1,500 month

 

Accruals for car insurance (15k year), house insurance (6k year), Medical (20k year) - say 3,500 average month.

 

That's essential at around 30k a month!

 

Three things stick out right away.

1/Electricity at 1,300.  My electricity nearer 5,000. That of course is for a/c not just for a fan.

2/ City water at 100bht. Do you wash yourselves often. Our water bill approx 400bht.

3/Drinking water at 50 Baht a month. We do than that in a week.

 

We usually spend 90,000 Baht a month, though to be honest, that is for two adults and two children.

And no, my figure does not include school fees/ medical bills. Car replacement or car maintenance.

  Food mostly Thai, of the best quality.And by that I don’t mean from the expensive mall shops.

 

Edited January 17, 2018 by nontabury

[Justfine]

You can live in hotels on 90,000 a month.

 

Daily spend

1200 hotel a night

800 food and drinks

1000 other

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2018 by Justfine

[simoh1490]

3 minutes ago, nontabury said:

Three things stick out right away.

1/Electricity at 1,300.  My electricity nearer 5,000. That of course is for a/c not just for a fan.

2/ City water at 100bht. Do you wash yourselves often. Our water bill approx 400bht.

3/Drinking water at 50 Baht a month. We do than that in a week.

 

We usually spend 90,000 Baht a month, though to be honest, that is for two adults and two children.

And no, my figure does not include school fees/ medical bills. Car replacement or car maintenance.

  Food mostly Thai, of the best quality.And by that I don’t mean from the expensive mall shops.

 

In the same order:

 

We have four air con. units but we rarely ever use them, please see my earlier post in response to SW on this subject to understand why. Our electricity bill on my desk currently, 845 baht, our water bill last month, 106 baht.

 

Water: our billing reflects that we use between 6/8,000 litres a month, that's two people showering daily plus two/three loads of laundry in a large capacity machine each week. We eat evening meals at home five nights per week, breakfast at home almost every day, washing up is associated accordingly.

 

Our drinking water is delivered, large plastic bottles that fit into a cooler, 25 baht each. ALL other water comes from the klong in our garden or from our well, all for garden and outside cleaning use only.

 

Food: our food couldn't be of a higher quality, that doesn't mean expensive necessarily, I wouldn't eat very differently regardless of which country I lived in of how much money I had.

 

So what else?

[Justfine]

4 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

In the same order:

 

We have four air con. units but we rarely ever use them, please see my earlier post in response to SW on this subject to understand why. Our electricity bill on my desk currently, 845 baht, our water bill last month, 106 baht.

 

Water: our billing reflects that we use between 6/8,000 litres a month, that's two people showering daily plus two/three loads of laundry in a large capacity machine each week. We eat evening meals at home five nights per week, breakfast at home almost every day, washing up is associated accordingly.

 

Our drinking water is delivered, large plastic bottles that fit into a cooler, 25 baht each. ALL other water comes from the klong in our garden or from our well, all for garden and outside cleaning use only.

 

Food: our food couldn't be of a higher quality, that doesn't mean expensive necessarily, I wouldn't eat very differently regardless of which country I lived in of how much money I had.

 

So what else?

These guys must spend money without thinking about value. You can travel around and have an awesome holiday on 3000 baht a day. Regular budget should be half that.

[simoh1490]

25 minutes ago, Justfine said:

These guys must spend money without thinking about value. You can travel around and have an awesome holiday on 3000 baht a day. Regular budget should be half that.

Having kids makes a big cost difference, as does having a wife/partner who doesn't do anything, lifestyle is a third. We lived in Phuket many years ago and we spent outrageous amounts every month, 35k a month for rent plus inflated utility bills, our lifestyle spending was silly. For many expats it takes time for the coin to drop that they can't live here at the same level they vacationed here, eventually, the coin drops or they have to return to the UK and take advantages of what it offers! But yes, I agree, 3k a day is a nice vacation, we could have a great time on that and live very well indeed.