Eneukman

Owen, I'll try to answer your queries in the same order as you listed them. 1. Some nights I do go out for a drink and don't end up barfining a girl. Take last night as an extreme example. I had just barfined a girl (from Buriram) and she was getting changed into her "day" clothes when one of the other girls came over and told me she had just received some very bad news about her 4 year old daughter (I was aware that her daughter wasn't well) and had to go home. She was clearly upseet and as I've known for a bit now I gave her 1,000 baht to help her on her way. There was no way that something like this could have been predicted. After that, I just could not move on and get another girl elsewhere. My bar fine was refunded and I paid my bill and walked to the end of Walking Street and popped into Lennie's for a quick drink but I was not really even up for that. This month's costs for drinking out, bar fines and sanuk is on the high side and most months the total cost should be a few thousand baht lower. 2. I don't have a real idea about the cost of my medication costs. I bought 30 of the equivalent of Atenolol pills the other day at a cost of 75 baht. As they are 50mg rather than 25mg, I cut them in half so that's more or less a 2 month supply I bought. I was unable to find Bendrofluazide so when I went to the hospital for my medical check up for my retirement visa, I asked the doctor about this. He prescribed Dichlotride 50mg pills for me. I found I was having some problems with the effectiveness of Cialis so I now cut these in half as well. I can't remember what the pills cost (maybe 100 baht for 50) but certainly nothing to break my budget. So the total cost of pills must be under 100 baht per month. 3. Spot on. I can afford the extra comfort but if others ar happy in a studio, up to them. 4. No. I only have a further 8 lessons to go. Over the 6 months I've been here, an average of 2,300 baht or so would need to be added but I regard the cost of these as one-off expenditure in much the same way as the cost of the printer for my laptop and my (crappy) portable CD player. It's impossible to quantify these costs on a monthly basis and therefore there must be some flexibility in your budget to allow for these costs. My income is sufficiently above my expenditure that so long as I don't go over the top every month, it's not a concern for me though I can see these costs being a burden for those on a lower income. 5. I refuse point blank to go on the back of a motorbike in this town. I've seen the aftermath of too many accidents even in 6 months to want to take the risk. If I do want to go off the beaten track, I would probably chat to a (hopefully) friendly baht bus driver and see if I could hire him for a few hours. It would cost more but would be a lot safer. The major cost I'm still trying to reconcile onto a monthly basis is my use of Cialis but there are many variables at work here. Can I find any generic Cialis? How often do I fail to barfine a girl 2 days in a row? and so on. Everyone's expenditure will be different but I hope that my figures will give others something concrete on which to base their own figures along with their own experiences of visiting here on holiday. The most important factor in living here is to switch from tourist mode to ex-pat mode as quickly as you can. I also keep to more or less normal hours - get up around 8.45 in the morning and go to bed around midnight (a bit later if I have a bg with me ) Alan

OK, here's a revised monthly budget though this month is a bit higher due to going a bit over the top on the sanuk side, but hey it's Christmas Rent - 20,000 (1 bedroom in View Talay 2A) Water - 280 (This month was 250 baht) Electric - 1,200 (640 baht this month but that was with scarcely any use of the aircon) Water, soft drinks, booze and food for the condo - 4,000 (within budget this month) Telephone (land line & mobile) - 1,600 (The landline is used mainly for the internet. This month I am just within budget but most months I'm quite a bit below this figure) Internet - 1,000 (usually well wthin this figure using CSLoxinfo dial up) Health insurance - 2,700 (BUPA in-patient treatment only) Eat out - 6,500 baht (I eat out every night, mainly Thai food but Farang food once a week on average. Most days' lunch is included in food for condo above but I do go to a restaurant for lunch a few times a month). Drink out -12,000 (somehow just about on target this month ) Massage - 3,200 (due to a rib injury at the end of last month well within this figure this month - fortunately ) Laundry - 2,000 (usually a few hundred baht less than this) Maid - 1,000 (3 or 4 times a month) Incidentals (toiletries, condoms, books, CDs and anything else not covered in any other category) 5,000 (over budget this month but perhaps 1,000 baht could be regarded as one-off purchases) Baht bus - 1,600 (going to be slightly over target this month but once my language lessons stop next month this figure could perhaps be reduced slightly) Cialis - to comat the side effects of my blood pressure pills and a moderate consumption of alcohol - Still trying to get an average figure for this as there is a wide difference in price from 1,600 baht to 2,000 baht. Also, the availability (or otherwise) of generic Cialis. I was in a clinic a couple of days ago about an eye infection and asked about generic Cialis. They had some in stock so I bought a couple of packets at 800 baht each. That has pushed my expenditure on this essential item up quite a bit this month but next month's expenditure should be around 1/3rd) Finally, sanuk - 15,000, including barfines. This allows for a couple of girls from go-gos. On average I barfine a girl roughly once every 3 days. (over budget this month Add all this up and unless I've missed something out it should come to around 80,000 baht. Of course, everyone is different and some are happy living in a small studio condo. A pool is essential for me as is the need to be close to a baht bus route. I'm still revising my figures and some will be increased whilst others will be reduced. On this budget I live well and don't really miss out on much, if anything. Alan

Right, here's the link to my thread from the beginning of Octber. Got to it in no time today so don't what was up yesterday apart from CSLoxinfo going slow. http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.ph...18188&hl=budget Alan

Remember to allow for toiletries, telephone, internet access, water and booze for the hotel room, laundry and so on. I did a topic in the Members' Area back in October which detailed my costs for 1 month. http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/index.ph...18188&hl=budget Since then, my costs have been slightly higher and I would reckon on somewhere between 75,000 and 80,000 baht to be closer to the norm. I'm a bit over budget this month but as this is the open to the public forum I can't go into too much detail on why. Alan

I started a topic on this thread back in October. I was going to post a link to it but CSLoxinfo dial up is so fucking slow that I got fed up waiting for the search function here to provide the links that I just gave up. My costs for September were just under 70,000 baht but I reckon on around 80,000 baht per month to be more realistic. Of course, much depends on how you intend spending your evenings. I plan, on average, barfining a girl every 3 nights, eat out every night (mainly Thai food but one night a week Farang food). My aim, (yet to be achieved ) is only to go out for a drink when I'm going to barfine a girl from somewhere. Where do you want to stay? Are you happy with a studio off the beaten track or do you, like me, prefer a 1 bedroomed condo on the baht bus route? There are many variables to this question and what I did when first contemplating a move here was to look at all the expense categories and calculate roughly how much I would spend on each based on knowledge gained from previous visits. The other question you need to ask yourself is - what will your income be?. That is to my mind, the MOST important question anyone thinking of retiring here to live must ask themselves. Then, based on your own previous experiences decide on what you can afford to spend. If expenditure exceeds income carry on with the day job. Are you old enough to qualify for a retirement visa? If not, you will have to allow for visa runs plus trips back home to renew your non-Immigrant O visa. If anyone is thinking about retiring to Thailand to live, I'm more than happy to meet up for a beer or three to discuss costs etc. Incidentally, I got my electric bill today and thanks to the almost non-existant use of the aircon over the last few weeks it came in at 639 baht. It has in the past been at least double that figure. The bedroom only has a ceiling fan, which is on most nights for 9 - 10 hours and that bill was slightly higher than anticipated but not by enough to cause me any concern. Alan

Can anyone answer this question? Why is it considered a sin to drink for the sake of drinking when so much alcohol used to be brewed by that most religious group, monks? Did monks ever get drunk from all the beer they brewed and the wine they fermented? Alan PS - I'm teetotal. Not! PPS - Large vodka and coke, please.

70,000 baht in 3 days? Christ almighty, my expenditure this month is going to be a tad over 80,000 baht, including rent, electricity, water etc and a girl just about every other day so I've hardly missed out on anything. Granted I haven't had to pay a bar fine on 3 or 4 of the days but that wouldn't have added that much to my total expenditure. Alan

Always good to get reports from ex-pats who are living elsewhere in Thailand. I don't plan on making Pattaya my permanent home and will start making trips to other parts of Thailand to see where I would like to settle permanently. I'm not sure whether I'd like to live in a village until I become reasonably fluent in Thai, which at present looks like being a long, hard struggle. Half the battle is that I forget half the words I come across, especially those that sound similar with only the tone or a short vowel rather than a long vowel to differentiate between them. Alan

Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately, my condo didn't come equipped with a washing machine, which I think is normal. The balcony is quite small so drying clothes would also be a bit of a problem though I do hang towels over the balcony rail to dry though they have been known to blow off when it's a tad breezy. My lease expires at the end of June so I may move to another condo, hopefully in the same area if not the same building. Alan

Not a hope in hell of finding what you're looking for in your price range in Pattaya, particularly on the baht bus route. One guy I know here is selling a one-bedroom 74 square metre condo for 3,800,000 baht though houses tend to be cheaper than condos. Now, if you were to add a zero to your price, you might find what you want or be able to get a house built to your own specifications. Alan

I've been here 6 months now and I reckon I'm spending around 80,000 baht per month - though this does not allow for holidays etc. Everyone's expenditure will be different but my essentials are - Rent (a one-bedroom condo in View Talay 2) - 20,000 Water - 250 baht Electricity - from about 850 baht to 1,200 baht plus depending on how much you use the aircon. I only have an aircon unit in the living room, which has hardly been on this month so this month's bill should be close to the lower figure. As my condo was originally 2 rooms, I get seperate bills for each room. The bedroom has a ceiling fan, which is generally on for 9 hours or so per day and even with this the bill for the bedroom is usually around 240 or so baht. There have been a few days recently when I haven't used the fan but the daily cost of using the fan is a bit under 8 baht per day. Food - Most days I have a sandwich, a yoghurt and a packet of crisps for lunch (bought from Carrefour). Cost around 50 baht per day. Dinner - I eat out every night, mainly Thai food but with maybe 1 Western dinner perk. The Thai food costs from around 135 baht to 200 baht. A pizza from the Italian restaurant in the Jomtien complex costs around 260 baht. I always have a small bottle of singha with my dinner and that is included in my costings. Transport - I only ever use the baht bus and my expenditure here can vary from nil to occasionally over 100 baht. Laundry - I reckon my bill here for this month will be about 1,500 baht. A major cost is getting the bed linen washed which comes in at 130 baht a time. On top of regular expenditure, it is important to allow for one off expenditure such as repairs to your PC, trips to other parts of Thailand etc. I was pleasantly surprised when I was charged a mere 835 baht for reformatting my hard drive, including backing up and restoring all my data, a job that took over a full day to complete. Alan

I've bar fined a girl who really did wear pants like the 1950 ones - though I think they were maybe a bit longer. Alan

6,000 baht per day is more than enough for you to have a good time unless you plan on taking top girls from go-gos every night and ringing the bell a few times. Alan

I doubt whether many of us could live on 20,000 baht per month in Pattaya with or without a live in gf. I haven't bought a condo yet as I've still to decide where I want to live in the longer term. Also, renting gives me the freedom to move around when the lease is up (or for the landlord to decide not to renew the lease). I have a 74 square metre condo and pay rent of 20,000 baht per month. This may change at the end of June when my lease expires. I kept a note of my expenses for September and they came out at just under 70,000 baht though I would say that closer to 80,000 baht per month would be more realistic. Bear in mind that this does not cover side trips to Chiang Mai or wherever, holidays to neighbouring countries or visits to the home country. Alan

I have innoculations against polio, typhoid, tetanus (the shot for that included diphtheria) and both Hep A and Hep B. If you're only coming for a short visit Hep B won't be essential. I think that one Hep A shot shortly before you leave will be sufficient to give you some protection but a 2nd shot within the next 12 months will give you protection for 10 years. Hep B is, as has been said above, needs 3 shots over a specified time period. If you're sticking to Bangkok and Pattaya, malaria pills will not be required but would be essential if going to the more out of the way areas. Alan

I've stayed at the RG a few times but as Leadbelly has said, get in touch with them now as they will almost certainly be full in January. There's a link on this site and if you book through that you will get the special FLB Bar rate, which will be further discounted as you are staying for 2 months. Alan

I arrived in the middle of June this year and found the weather to be fine. OK it did rain a few times in the evening, but not for long. One time, I was in Soi 7 so where better to shelter from a downpour than in a bar. Another time, I had just boarded a baht bus (near the Dolphon roundabout) and by the time I got off at Soi 7, the rain had stopped. As others have said, come in both June and November. Alan

I agree with BigD here. As a matter of interest, does anyone know whether the courts in Thailand have the power to ban someone from driving if caught driving whilst drunk etc? Perhaps creating the scenario where anyone caught drink driving really loses face big time might have some effect? Alan

I had no pain at all after mine though walking was a bit uncomfortable for a few days. I didn't get the all clear before I quit the UK as I was still firing live ones. Anyone know of a clinic will carry out the necessary checks for me? Alan

As others have said, there are a number of clubs you can join. I've only joined the Pattaya Ex-Pats club (the Saturday one) so far and after only 6 meetings I won a dinner for 2 at Globetrotters Restaurant (Soi 7) worth up to 1,200 baht. That's my life membership (600 baht) paid for Now to decide who to invite for a free meal. I will join the Pattaya City Ex-Pats Club (the Sunday one) soon as well as the Pattaya Sports Club though I'll leave the latter until I finish my langugae lesson course. Whatever you do when you come over here, it's essential to get an interest AWAY from the bars. If you're planning on staying here long term, I would recommend trying to learn at least some of the language. Alan

Nationwide International in the Isle of Man have now confirmed to me that as I am no longer living in the EC, I can get my interest paid without deduction of tax. Wonder how long it will take those overpaid wankers in Brussels to try to tax non-residents in the EC as well? Alan

When I was in the RG back in June, I was able to use wifi by the pool with no problems but initially had to sit on the balcony to get any sort of signal. By the time I left in the middle of July, the problems had been resolved and I was able to access the internet from my room. I would reckon that you would probably get a better signal from the pool area than some of the higher floors. In fact, there is at least one guy who works on his lap top from the cafe at the pool in View Talay 2A. Alan

Niall, According to the Inland Reenue's leaflet IR138, "If you are not resident in the UK for tax purposes you will not be liable to UK tax on any overseas income. You will, however, normally remain liable to UK tax on your UK income. Whether you will pay tax and if so at what rate will depend on the type and amount of your chargeable income." Certainly if your sole source of income in the UK was bank interest, you would be well aadvised to arrange for it to be paid without deduction of income tax. My own feeling is that in the long term property prices will continue to rise but at a much slower and more sensible rate. I'm not sure about interest rates and I am a bit out of touch on current thinking in the UK, but before I moved out here the general consensus was that rates would fall slightly. I agree with your comments on blanket statements as everyone has to make their own decision based on their own individual circumstances. Alan

Wagger, I've seen that sort of computation before. The problem is that it assumes that you die BEFORE your money runs out. If you manage to live for a further 35 years, you're in deep shit for the last 10 years. Having said that, when I was doing my earliest sums, I was working on a similar method on the basis that I wouldn't touch my pension until I was 60 and that I would need to draw on some capital every year until it kicked in. As it happened, I decided to take my pension at 50 on the grounds that I might not even reach the age of 60. I also took the tax free lump sum option, which has been invested in a company currently offering a yield of 4.7%. Alan