The rising cost of living in Thailand

[terry57]

Fook me Jeff,

You would be lucky to be able to afford a shit sandwich.

[Topper]

Fook me Jeff,

You would be lucky to be able to afford a shit sandwich.

It's about enjoying what you can afford, I'd reckon.

[Thai3]

deleted

[stroller]

Fook me Jeff

That's wishful thinking, Teary.
Only rent boyz and the other oaf will follow your invitation.
How's ya piles?

[fishlocker]

It's about enjoying what you can afford, I'd reckon.

Is the implication that there are some real ass kissers and shit lickers in the house that may well enjoy a turd burger?

Some do seem to spew their chocolatey goodness about the place. Kinda funny in a strangely demented way.

[DrB0b]

Is the implication that there are some real ass kissers and shit lickers in the house that may well enjoy a turd burger?

Some do seem to spew their chocolatey goodness about the place. Kinda funny in a strangely demented way.

That would be maanaam you're thinking about. Keeps pestering Luigi to send him some of his soiled undies. Here's a pic maanaam drew a few weeks back showing the start of his dream date with Luigi.

[Luigi]

[petercallen]

I wonder when some posters have returned to their home country, if they ever have when complaining about the cost of living anywhere in Thailand
Probably the only imported thing i buy regularly here is a leg of New Zealand lamb from makro at under 400 baht a Kg, Aussie lamb costs more per KG in Australia

[tomcat]

...just picked up some sweet and juicy New Zealand apricots at B450 the kilo...last year they were B425!...

[Headworx]

^That's one of the many things that make living here enjoyable TC, imported food items like apricots, pears, cherries, peaches, strawberries, etc are available pretty much year round as they're imported from countries where such things are in season somewhere around the globe. They won't be cheap, but they're available!.

[sabang]

I suppose, when we talk about 'cheap', we should account for all factors. Such as the fact that the aussie government (bless 'em) would pay me something like 5,000bht per week, plus various other gifts such as rental allowance & free public transport, just to live there and do nothing. This is my entitlement as a citizen & taxpayer (gawd knows I've paid for it)- and lets face it, that reduces the cost considerably. Oh, and health care too.

We should also account for serving sizes (for food), and overall quality control considerations. A rip off Asian dish (250-300bht!) at some soulless shopping mall in Oz is over twice the size of it's dirt cheap equivalent from a local market here- and if you account for the filling (not just rice) more like treble. It is 1.5- 2 meals for this sparrow appetite. Oftentimes better too. But it still costs more- thanks to the aussie gov't for subsidizing it.

Then there is the cost of inflation, and currency movements- when I moved to Thailand 13 years ago, Bht was around 30 to AUD- now it's a bit under 25. A large bottla beer from a local shop was 35bht- now 60bht. Cigarettes- worse. Food- well, the place that you could get a small bowl of noodle soup for 10 bht on Soi Nernplubwan no longer exists. Supermarkets- I don't think they are cheap at all here really, when you compare to some of the bargains to be had in expensive Australia if you shop around. Smokes- ferget it. If you move back to Oz, you give up. That's not all bad I suppose.

You can live frugally, or lavishly, anywhere. Just a question of getting to know the ropes. You didn't think that everyone in Sydney, Singapore, London, NY etc is a millionaire, did you? Not so- there are bargains to be had, catering for that substantial majority who are not. Same same Thailand- where you can pay 230bht for a Guinness, 60bht for a Leo, or whatever for a bottla lao khao.

The cost of living in Thailand has most definitely risen over the last decade, substantially.

[cyrille]

Have you been away from home for a long time, HW?

Just wondering, as these days surely most of our home countries have a huge range of imported food items, notably fruit, at far more competitive prices than you will find in Thailand. OK so the stronger baht has had an effect on lowering the cost of imports, but still the prices for imported fruit do not compare ime.

Now domestically grown fruit and veg is a fantastic bargain at the right places, for sure.

TC's apricots cost him US$15! Who the fuck spends that on a kilo of fruit back home?

[buriramboy]

Have you been away from home for a long time, HW?

Just wondering, as these days surely most of our home countries have a huge range of imported food items, notably fruit, at far more competitive prices than you will find in Thailand. OK so the stronger baht has had an effect on lowering the cost of imports, but still the prices for imported fruit do not compare ime.

Now domestically grown fruit and veg is a fantastic bargain at the right places, for sure.

TC's apricots cost him US$15! Who the fuck spends that on a kilo of fruit back home?

Obviously not potless TEFLers but even in the likes of Aldi in the UK strawberries, raspberries and the like will come in at about $15US per kilo if for some unbeknown reason you wanted to buy a kilo. Personally I find the 200g packs for circa £2 to be sufficient.

[petercallen]

I just checked my bank withdrawals for everyday living expenses in Thailand for 2018, it includes all household and vehicle expenses medical expenses, personal expenses and touring in Thailand etc, we have 3 adults and 2 children in our household
It does not include the cost of overseas holidays or new vehicles, its up to the individual if they ride a bicycle or drive a Mercedes Benz or hitchhike or travel first class
Total bank withdrawals was 500,000 baht or 20,000 AUD, very cheap to live here in my opinion

[tomcat]

very cheap to live here in my opinion

...depends on your financial resources, of course, but I find life in bkk good value for money...not everyone wants (or can afford) apricots, but for those who do (or can), their availability brightens the day just that little bit more...*slurp*...

[cisco999]

care to give us some examples?

I see marlboro light are nearly half a days wage now

I simply had to give them up.

It was either that or the lady and me dog.

[Stumpy]

Prices are rising but the overall total bang for the buck is still is here in Thailand by a significant margin. Its all about replacing what we had in our home country with local itms here. Personally I can live without Apricots, Peaches, Cherries etc and quite enjoy Watermelon, Mango's and Pineapple's and other local fruits. We get outstanding pork from our friends who have a farm. We have chickens which in some areas based on zoning in the US you cannot even have. I enjoy our coconuts and the juice. The local market I can get Basil and Cilantro for 5 bht. In the US Basil is almost $2 for a plastic bag full.

Living here for me is Tax free. No Property tax, no mortgage. Even with the prices rising here, I was burning nearly 6x what I did in the US monthly for what I consider a lesser quality of life in a few regards.

I know in the US I could not have retired early, here I am. I gave up or sacrificed nothing IMHO.

[CaptainNemo]

I just checked my bank withdrawals for everyday living expenses in Thailand for 2018, it includes all household and vehicle expenses medical expenses, personal expenses and touring in Thailand etc, we have 3 adults and 2 children in our household
It does not include the cost of overseas holidays or new vehicles, its up to the individual if they ride a bicycle or drive a Mercedes Benz or hitchhike or travel first class
Total bank withdrawals was 500,000 baht or 20,000 AUD, very cheap to live here in my opinion

£1,000 a month is OK I suppose, if you're not hesitating about any expenditures, but it's a lot more than I think a lot of people imagine the cost of living (given those criteria) to be. I suppose a lot of people imagine that bumming along on £200 a month (Thai style) is what the bottom end would be, but I would wonder what the point of being there was if your QoL wasn't at least twice as good as in, e.g.: the UK

[Stumpy]

I suppose a lot of people imagine that bumming along on £200 a month (Thai style) is what the bottom end would be

You are right. Many come here thinking they can live a relaxing comfortable life on $500usd a month. Good luck with that.

[buriramboy]

I suppose if live in Nakon bumfuk own your own house, don't go out drinking and whoring and live on rice, berries and bugs 15k baht a month is doable and fair play to those that do but fuk that for a life.

[Luigi]

£1,000 a month is OK I suppose,

When I moved out here around 2005 I'd meet guys that were recently retired from the UK, state (or close to state) pensions of 1k GBP, aged mid-late 60's, and that 1k GBP was around 70k per month.



Fast forward a decade and that 1k has gone from 70k per month and everything is really cheap, to 43k per month, everything is 2 or 3 times more expensive, and they're in their late 70's.

Possible been ripped off at least once whilst here.


Fok that.

I pity the guys that sold up back home to buy some house in Noi's name.

[CaptainNemo]

I've seen a lot of houses there at the moment that seem to be about 50% the value of ones in the UK, which is quite a lot really... but then that's probably something to do with having higher standards, and only looking at houses that have a modern hotel finish, rather than some sticks and concrete tin-roofed barn in a remote paddy field in the sticks. A lot of the "additional costs" are in the things you take for granted in the west.

[buriramboy]

No council tax or equivalent is there in Thailand? That's the one I resent paying in the UK, mine is North of £2k.

[wasabi]

Cheapo Chico Chinos n Chuddars.

Half way down the alleyway by The Bull's Head.

Primark , are the best .

[CaptainNemo]

When I moved out here around 2005 I'd meet guys that were recently retired from the UK, state (or close to state) pensions of 1k GBP, aged mid-late 60's, and that 1k GBP was around 70k per month.



Fast forward a decade and that 1k has gone from 70k per month and everything is really cheap, to 43k per month, everything is 2 or 3 times more expensive, and they're in their late 70's.

Possible been ripped off at least once whilst here.


Fok that.

I tend to think that whether it's company/work or family/personal, land ownership is everything... I've seen fancy pants techie firms critically constrained because they have no land/building assets and can't even find never mind afford the commerical land they might need; same goes for joe bloggs and homes.

You'd want to have a couple (or more) of buy-to-lets in the UK as a cushion probably, but you've got to think about how much are you actually ending up with in your piggy bank.
Running a techie business might work to top that up, but even that's a lot trickier to get off the ground than it might seem - that's why so many of them are selling "secret hints tips and answers" books and courses online instead of the actual product they purport to help people learn how to produce and sell!
Selling educational snake oil to locals might be the ticket.