Cost of living

[bifcake 0]

Hi,

 

I was wondering how much money per year one would need to live in relative comfort in Thailand. By relative comfort I mean:

 

1) 2 bedroom apartment

2) TV with satellite

3) Broadband Internet

4) Being able to go out to eat a few times a week

5) Sustaining two people

6) Being able to afford a taxi meter on regular basis (I'm not planning on getting a car)

7) Having a housekeeper come in once or twice a week to clean up the place

8) Renewing a visa and making all the necessary monetary donations to help make things happen.

9) Clothing, food, phone, electric bills, etc.

10) I'm considering either Bangkok, Pattaya or Jomtien Beach as residence.

 

Thanks

[davethailand 91]

at least 70000bht a month

[bifcake 0]

Thanks. What kind of a lifestyle would I be living at around 45,000-50,0000 baht/month?

[uncle russell 0]

get rid of the second party, eliminate one bed room and forget the maid and remain sober and you might make it on 45,000 bht.

[Shilo 371]

This question comes up all the time..... living and or retiring in Thailand is a common dream. There are to many variables to give an easy answer but I'll share the best one that I heard....

 

20K per month you can survive, but your one miss step away from slippery side of a balcony....

 

40K is the min for a falung and at this level you'll need a cheap wife and a reasonable understanding of the language to get by.

 

60-80K would give many of us what we had at home. Money to put a roof over your head, food on the table, clothes on your back, and a chance to go out for some entertainment a couple of nights a week.

 

100-120K is enough to give you what most of us want. An extention of what we have grown accustom to on our holiday trips

 

 

Shilo

[bifcake 0]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your help and candor.

 

Would you recommend Bangkok, Pattaya or Jomtien Beach as the most affordable setting?

 

Thanks again.

[clubman 0]

Thanks. What kind of a lifestyle would I be living at around 45,000-50,0000 baht/month?

A shit one

[Eneukman 1]

Thanks. What kind of a lifestyle would I be living at around 45,000-50,0000 baht/month?

I think on 45,000/50,000 baht you would be better off staying up country somewhere. But then, you would need to be able to speak the language reasonably well and have a live-in girlfriend who is able to work and doesn't have expensive tastes.

 

I'm retiring later this year and am budgeting on around 80,000 baht per month or so. I will have a one-bedroomed condo for that, which will cost me around 18,000/20,000 baht per month plus electricity and water etc.

 

Alan

[Leadbelly 0]

Alan, I have a few questions for you if you have the time. I'm planning on retiring to the Jomtien area, but in about 19 months. Is your condo one large room with the bedroom within it, or is the bedroom seperate from the rest of the living area? Did you look at a lot of places first....by yourself or with a realtor? I'm looking for a 1 bedroom, seperate from the rest of the living space, in the 15,000-20,000 baht range as well. I'm not interested in buying, but getting a yearly lease.

[Shilo 371]

Leadbelly,

 

I hope Alan answers you questions because I wouldn't mind reading them as well...

 

But here is a thought. 15-20K per month works out to about 500-650 per day on a 30 day month. You might consider looking around for a hotel room in that range for your first couple of months. My guess is that you would find several that would offer that rate on a 30 day basis for a room that would otherwise cost maybe 700-750 per night.

 

Then your in the town, have the freedom to take your time looking around for a place to live, and you have the added bonus of the maid service and so on....

 

Just a thought

 

Shilo

[bifcake 0]

How much do you guys budget for utilities? Are utilities included in the rental price? What about phone service?

 

Thanks

[BigDUSA 71]

A shit one

I have to disagree with clubman on this. I lived on 1K per day including hotel and live in GF in Pattaya. I stayed at Sky-Top and didn't go out drinking every day. I did what I usually do at home as I wanted to see if Pattaya was doable on this budget. I had a good time at this level. If I lived up country 1K would go further.

 

When I come on vacation I have a lot more money to spend at least 1100 per day.

 

Edit in: BigD how do you spend your time at home? I don't do much of nothing and I generally don't get stated until noon.

[Hub 203]

The Thai national average salary is 7,000 baht/month, so I think this will do you quite nicely.

 

Hub

 

Disclaimer: Bifcake, please ignore my post as just having a bit of fun.

[Eneukman 1]

Alan, I have a few questions for you if you have the time. I'm planning on retiring to the Jomtien area, but in about 19 months. Is your condo one large room with the bedroom within it, or is the bedroom seperate from the rest of the living area? Did you look at a lot of places first....by yourself or with a realtor? I'm looking for a 1 bedroom, seperate from the rest of the living space, in the 15,000-20,000 baht range as well. I'm not interested in buying, but getting a yearly lease.

Leadbelly,

 

I'm not there yet - still got 4 1/2 months of miserable Scottish weather to put up with first. :crying

 

I'm looking at getting a condo with a serperate bedroom. I quite fancy around the View Talay area. The baht buses pass by the door and it is only 10 baht to Pattaya South Road.

 

There are a couple of condos available just now via East Coast Rental at 18,000 baht per month.

 

http://www.thaiproperty.com/renting.htm

 

I also plan to e-mail View Talay direct and see what sort of deal they are willing to offer me for a 12 month lease.

 

My plan is to book a room at the RG for 4 weeks to give me time to find somewhere. Being the low season, I'm sure I could extend it for a week at a time without too much difficulty should the need arise.

 

Good luck with your move next year.

 

I'll post the odd update once I'm a permanent resident in Pattaya.

 

Alan

[Emil 0]

How much do you guys budget for utilities? Are utilities included in the rental price? What about phone service?

 

Thanks

This will vary from individual to individual depending on how cool you like to keep your place and how many square meters you have. Water will vary depending on if your living alone or with a TG. Also Nov thru Feb your electric should be lower than the other months. To answere your question I paid about 1000 baht for elec/water for a 30 day stay in Nov/Dec for my hotel. Then moved to an appartment and stayed about 4 days before returning home and left the TG there. When I returned my total bill for Dec/Jan was about 500.

[OnMyWay 0]

Emil,

 

500 Baht?? Are you SURE she stayed there while you were gone?!?!?

 

Cheers,

Mark

[Leadbelly 0]

Thanks for your answers Alan. Let us know how the search goes, as some of us will be in the same boat after you go through this and can learn from your experiences. As Shilo mentioned earlier, I may have to stay in a hotel for awhile before finding a permanent place. I'd been thinking of doing exactly as you plan, staying at the R.G. for a month if I can't get a place leased before the move.

[Eneukman 1]

I'll do that leadbelly. One point I would make is that I think it is essential to have a look at any place you're thinking of renting beforehand. There is I believe quite a difference between many of the condos in View Talay.

 

Alan

[rkt 0]

Every time I have been to Thailand I have yet to spend 100,000 In a month, and thats for two of us. but I'm not mongering.

 

[pattayahappy 0]

I blew 65K (GBP) in 18 months in LOS.

 

Its funny how all those multiple bedroom romps add up. But i did have the time of my life with no expense spared.

 

I had a 4 bed house in Jomtien, a nicish car and more slippery chicken than you could shake a stick at.

 

 

Pattyayhappy.

[pattayahappy 0]

 

I just worked out that that was 6120000 baht!

 

I impress even myself.

[jgarty38 0]

you all seem to be looking at 15000 to 2000 bt a month, there are some very nice rooms in Pattaya which do cost as little as 3000/4000bt a month inc utilities. I have stayed in one, run by an Englishman. I have in the past rented a 4 bedroom house for only 8000bt, part furnished at that. You only need to have a good look around and be carefull what agreements if any are made.

[russell 0]

Write to this email. tuafua@yahoo.com Good english spoken here. apartment go for 8000 to 9000. Air, hot showers, kitchette, the TV, etc. It's called Siam Gardens, it's in Jomtein Beach. If I can find the web site I'll post it here. I have 3 months booked in a 2 bedroom unit for 9000 bt.

[russell 0]

Web site siamgardencourt.com Go to this web and check it out. Good housing at a fair price. About 1 click from the beach. 200 yards to the Begger Bar and expat hang out w/pool tables, good food and plenty of slick chicken.

[VegasMike67 0]

russell;

Thanks for the Siam Garden link. Nice rooms at a fair price. I have read all the posts above and there is certainly a wide range of opinions on how much you need in live in Pat. 'davethailand' figures you need 70K/month, nearly $2,000/month. Millions of Americans live on that or less. 'eneukuan' figures you should head upcountry if you only have 45K/month. 'clubman'' thinks you will have a shit existance at 45K/month. Finally a bit of sanity with 'jgart38'. Rooms under 4K including utilities. I lived in Pat. for 7 winters and paid less than 7K/month each year. I have and many ex-pats do live in Pat. for less than 25K/month. If you drink every night and insist on a paid companion 3 times a week, no, 25K will not be enough. Each of us have our own level of comfort and priorities. Not everybody has 70K a month to live on or do they need it. My 2 cents worth.