Cheap Living

[Smeg]

I've just had a browse thru 20dayajarnforum and found a thread where teachers are justifying why they think living here is cheap:

depends where u go mate. i have a nice two bedroomed, two bathroom house for 3,500 baht a month which i would say is very cheap. but u r right not everything is cheap.

3,500 Baht for a nice house? Where?!?!

The extended family is really the norm here.

So all Thais financially benefit from being given money by their extended family. And what about these givers?

Nights out are much cheaper here (as long as you aren't paying out for "other people"). Twenty quid gets a round of Stella and a packet of smokes where I come from. Out here I can sit in a nice bar all night and have a snack for not much more than that - much cheaper is possible too!

This guy has realised that sitting alone in a beer bar chatting to tourists is cheaper than buying a round of drinks back home for the friends he once had. And is beer in bars much cheaper here, really?!?

I think that's the big difference; certainly in the

UK, most of your salary goes on accommodation, whether you like it or not. Here, it's very possible to spend just a tiny fraction of your wage on accommodation

This person obviously never had a good job back home, hence found the cost of living to be much more expensive.

Not as expensive as

California. My mates are paying 300 bucks a month in the winter to keep their place warm. I pay about 150 in March, April, and May to keep my place cool. The rest of the year its about 4000 baht a month or a hundred bucks.

This person failed to factor in that salaries in Cali are much higher than Thailand, and the fact that climate control is not necessary year-round in Cali.

Back on topic, the one thing that is far far cheaper in

Thailand than back home is status. Basically its free here. Back home you need to drive the right car, drink in the right bars, live in the right area. White skin here is akin to having a BMW back home. In Thailand, as in most of Asia, white skin = wealthy = let's be nice to the white-skinned person, because we might get something out of them.

This person thinks that he has similar prestige and respect to Hi-so Thais because lower status Thais regularly target him to try to rip him off, and he thinks that cars have nothing to do with status in Thailand. Cool!

I love cheap street Thai food. Just finding it overseas is rare

This person has no clue about the food safety laws introduced in his home country to protect him from food preparation stalls with no running water etc.

Sorry, but I was amazed....

[aging one]

"I dont flame people unless they flame me!" NOT!!

[Smeg]

This is not flaming. It is a discussion of several anonymous clippings from a TEFL teacher forum.

[Butterfly]

100 posts min

[Torbek]

I think this one has been thrashed out time and time again.

(Smeg, I had a two story townhouse with three bedrooms and two bathrooms in a nice soi in Lopburi for 3,500 a month. Two bedroom houses readily available for the same.)

But I do agree on some issues, particularly the food. No point highlighting cheap street food. It is simply NOT available back home for health reasons. Even if it was, I can't imagine anyone back in Australia choosing to sit on a plastic seat next to gutter to eat a bowl of noodles cooked in a dirty pot with an LPG cooker! They'll spring the extra bucks to go inside a shop!

I think if you truly compare like with like, Thailand is about 40% - 50% of costs of Australia and TEFL wages about 25%.

But the equation stacks up favourably for most every other occupation a farang could do here. i.e. International school teacher on 150,000 is on about the same wages as back home but enjoys the lower costs.

[Torbek]

100 posts min

Well now he only needs 99 more!

Ooops...98...

[Smeg]

I think this one has been thrashed out time and time again

I wasn't "thrashing out" the cost of living aspect, but more wanted to highlight the bizarre and seemingly ill-informed attitudes that cause people to stay here.

[Torbek]

I think this one has been thrashed out time and time again

I wasn't "thrashing out" the cost of living aspect, but more wanted to highlight the bizarre and seemingly ill-informed attitudes that cause people to stay here.

Fair enough. This comment...

White skin here is akin to having a BMW back home.

...certainly indicates a level of naivete.

[dirtydog]

I really hate to say this but I have to agree with smegs post.

A nice house to my mind would have baths, climate control, be it air or heating, fitted kitchen etc etc etc.

As for cars they are always considered status symbols, more so here than the UK.

Street food, hmmm, na it just wont catch on in the UK, I really couldn't imagine sitting at some crappy dirty table eating unhygenic food as the flies fly around on Plumstead High Street.

[Dougal]

But I do agree on some issues, particularly the food. No point highlighting cheap street food. It is simply NOT available back home for health reasons. Even if it was, I can't imagine anyone back in Australia choosing to sit on a plastic seat next to gutter to eat a bowl of noodles cooked in a dirty pot with an LPG cooker! They'll spring the extra bucks to go inside a shop!

I agree with most of Smeg's original post but food hygiene in the UK is not as good as you might think. There are some pretty disgusting kerb side burger stalls. My local paper regularly prints stories of restaurants fined for having rat droppings and mouse infestatations. There might not be the quantity of street vendors but substitute in the kebab/Chinese/India takeaways which are the equivalent.

[Lily]

A nice house to my mind would have baths, climate control, be it air or heating, fitted kitchen etc etc etc

I have all that, but not for 3,500 but I live five minutes walk from the underground, three stops from the middle of town and it costs 11,000 a month.
Gas hob and electric oven, great air con and 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.

[dirtydog]

They may have mice in Thailand, but Malaysia has rats in their restaurants

[stroller]

Thailand does have disadvantages.

It is not so easy to find useful stuff in the streets, as in Germany and the UK. I hardly ever bought any furniture, fittings or cooking utensils back there. Discounted out of day foodstuff is also hard to come by.

Also, if you insist on drinking beer, that works out quite expensive, even if you drop plenty of icecubes in your glass, as I do. On the other hand, you can get smashed with a few friends on Thai liquor, have a few snacks to nibble and the one inviting wouldn't spend much more than a few Pounds on it - and it isn't always me.

And, Thailand is still paradise for those who work little, at Western wages, and spend frugally here.

[Dougal]

It is not so easy to find useful stuff in the streets, as in Germany and the UK. I hardly ever bought any furniture, fittings or cooking utensils back there. Discounted out of day foodstuff is also hard to come by.

I don't understand what you mean - could you elaborate please

[Smeg]

Discounted out of day foodstuff is also hard to come by.

Not so. Last month I bought a two day old prepacked pad thai kung at one of those small sushi stalls in the BTS stations. 48 hours of sickness followed. I bet the buggers switch the fridge off overnight...

[stroller]

^
How often do you find "bargains" like this?


You can 'find' a wide variety of useful 'objects' in skips and on the roadside, Germany is much better than the UK for this, London has richer pickings than West-Yorks. In THailand it's the exception, most of the stuff needs repairing, usually it isn't worth it.

In the supermarket, food is discounted when it's pass its sell-by date. The range at the Tesco's in Nan is very limited in this respect, and on Thai markets, it rarely happens at all.

[dirtydog]

Actually furniture fridges etc you normally have to pay in the UK to dump them, electrical goods are not worth repairing in the UK due to such high labour costs.

[Smeg]

The street food fan also came up with

The best thing for most people who want to live comfortable and stress free in Thailand is to earn your money overseas and retire in LOS, like PB. Then you can pick and choose your teaching jobs.

So apparently the best way to live your life stress free in Thailand is to spend the first 80% of it in the West

[Dougal]

Actually furniture fridges etc you normally have to pay in the UK to dump them, electrical goods are not worth repairing in the UK due to such high labour costs.

Every local authority in the UK is obliged to provide a place for the public to dispose of large items including fridges - free, unless you count it being included in your council tax.

Recycling is big business in the UK.

[ChiangMai noon]

So apparently the best way to live your life stress free in Thailand is to spend the first 80% of it in the West

yes apparently so, you donut.

[RandomChances]

A nice house to my mind would have baths, climate control, be it air or heating, fitted kitchen etc etc etc

I have all that, but not for 3,500 but I live five minutes walk from the underground, three stops from the middle of town and it costs 11,000 a month.
Gas hob and electric oven, great air con and 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.

My mate used to rent an appartment in Chai Nat,with all that except the bath for 3000/month. I was on the way back fron Nakhon yesterday and theres a new housing develpoment going up, looks nice as well 50,000 down and 99 bhat a day. I went to looks at a new town house in Rangsit before with my mate, 3 bedroom 100,000 down 3,000 a month.

Theres a couple of bar/resteraunts here with live music, we often go with friends, bottle of whiskey, some beers and food, split the bill three ways usually does'nt come to much more than 300 bhat.

[stroller]

Actually furniture fridges etc you normally have to pay in the UK to dump them, electrical goods are not worth repairing in the UK due to such high labour costs.

I'd only pick stuff in working order in the UK, dumping at council facilities is free (well, it was when I lived there).
If you're nice to the guys working there, they'll let you go through the stuff before they bulldoze it into the skip.

[dirtydog]

How many people own a pick up in the UK to get it to the dump?

[Dougal]

How many people own a pick up in the UK to get it to the dump?

I think I put my fridge in the back of an estate last time, but you are correct to say that it would normally cost to be removed - Southend charges £15 for a fridge/freezer.

[stroller]

That's what mates are for...you keep in mind what they could do with, give them a call and get your stuff picked up for free.

Anyway, this is off-topic, it belongs into a Lonely-Planet guide to survival in the UK.

Still, in Thailand I manage to find packaging for my export-business and some building materials.
Foodwise, the missus goes out picking mushrooms and collecting frogs, fish and insects every day. Not to mention herbs and veges which grow everywhere.

I mean, you really don't need much money here.