Chiang Mai budget

I apologize in advance but I have another cost of living ?.
I plan to move to Chiang Mai in December after 3 1/2 yrs in Ecuador. I have expat experience in another culture.

I am quite happy living simply. Average cost apartment maybe 8-10,000 baht per month. I rarely drink, don't want health insurance, no car..maybe a scooter, not naïve about the local women. Also can live without Western food. I will have a separate travel budget.

I know everyone has different lifestyle preferences. But based on the above can I live on 30,000 +/- a little per month?

Appreciate your input.

Yes, it is possible to live on 30,000 baht per month in Chiang Mai. If you have lived in Equador for similar money then you should already know the drill.

One point of warning. The Thai women are experts at extracting a foreigner's money, so move very slowly in that direction, if you know what I mean.

Good Luck

If you're on a tight budget, there are places for less than 8k/month, specially if you're prepared to live in the outskirts of the city.

Easy - 20k after rent.

1k for utilities (electric, water, internet) if you are frugal.

Buy food from the wet markets, 2k a week will give you a feast every day.

Job done.

You can live ok on 30,000 baht, especially with an extra travel budget.

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Originally Posted by ecuaman

don't want health insurance,

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dope.

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Originally Posted by ecuaman

don't want health insurance

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Any particular reason why?

People live on 10k. Of course living on 30k can be done. The only question is whether or not you can hack it.

There are websites with equivalency tables for cost of living in different countries.

Take your Ecuador budget and use that info.

You can rent a simple fan room In CM for 4000 baht a month, eat fresh produce from the markets, and don't drink, you can easily live on 10,000 baht a month.

Buy a bicycle, great cycling around there along the Ping river and the various irrigation canals. Cheap, simple and very healthy living it is.

PM me if you want details about finding a room.

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Originally Posted by ecuaman

don't want health insurance, no car..maybe a scooter,

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No health insurance riding a scooter, what could possibly go wrong :rolleyes:

You can certainly live on 30,000 a month but if you're on a tight budget, why not move somewhere more provincial? The advantage of living in Chiang Mai is access to stuff which you're not really going to be able to afford (but for which you'll nevertheless pay increased rent) so if I were you, I would move somewhere out in the sticks where my money would go a lot further.

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Originally Posted by ecuaman

can I live on 30,000 +/- a little per month?

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You can exist

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Originally Posted by stroller

If you're on a tight budget, there are places for less than 8k/month, specially if you're prepared to live in the outskirts of the city.

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Yep...
Can be done comfortably.

Matter of lifestyle and priorities.

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Originally Posted by Passing Through

You can certainly live on 30,000 a month but if you're on a tight budget, why not move somewhere more provincial? The advantage of living in Chiang Mai is access to stuff which you're not really going to be able to afford (but for which you'll nevertheless pay increased rent) so if I were you, I would move somewhere out in the sticks where my money would go a lot further.

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For the new expat in Thailand living in CM has many advantages, in terms of getting oriented and learning some language skills.

You get out into the sticks, there is very little language other than Thai to be had and the few expats who are out there keep to themselves mostly.

One of the reasons I recommend cycling is that it opens more doors with the Thai slower passed life.

I have one american buddy who I met in Ecuador get into deep doodoo by moving into hilltribe (Karen) country too fast.

I generally like the Karen, but ya gotta go slow, me thinks. Chiang Mai is a good place to start out.

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For the new expat in Thailand living in CM has many advantages

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It does, but those advantages are severely restricted if you're living on 30,000 a month. And it's not as if moving to a provincial town is that hard; there are intermediate stages between living in Chiang Mai and living in a hill tribe village, you know.

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Originally Posted by Mr Earl

You can rent a simple fan room In CM for 4000 baht a month

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He could get an airconned room in Bangkok for that

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Originally Posted by Dillinger

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr Earl

You can rent a simple fan room In CM for 4000 baht a month

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He could get an airconned room in Bangkok for that

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Ask Ter, he'll fix ya up -

:)

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Originally Posted by Dillinger

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr Earl

You can rent a simple fan room In CM for 4000 baht a month

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He could get an airconned room in Bangkok for that

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Very true, in Bangkok in the Phaya Thai neighborhood a fan room/shared bathroom (4 rooms to the floor) goes for 2500 baht, very basic but certainly survivable.(not much different from cheap accommodations in Paris, France.
Phaya Thai area is great because it is so alive, language schools, eats, the khlong travelling and is in the center of it all.

If I was to recommend a place to start out in Thailand that would be it. Spend a few months attending the Union language school.

Phaya Thai is a good area.

Thank you everyone for your replies. i plan to arrive in early December and I am set on living in Chiang Mai. I tend to live simply, avoid western food. I don't drink or party and as for women, this is not my first rodeo.

I think I will probably end up, based on various answers and my research, on a budget of 30-40,000 baht per month, trying to keep it closer to 30K.

i know on some levels it will be spartan, but doable.

Good luck mate

I'd consider living in CM, if it wasn't for the air quality during the annual burn off.