You must be good at sums to read this

[papillon 695]

50,000 is doable. I live in Bangkok and my monthly expenses run between 40 and 60 per month including a trip home once or twice a year. My Thai gf works (a normal job- teacher) and pays her own spending money and clothes make-up etc. I pay for the rent and all food and other basic living expenses. I have a two bedroom two bath condo with a nice living room and dining room and a western kitchen. The complex has a swimming pool, restaurant and great security I pay 20K per month for it. When my gf has a school holiday we travel around Thailand and stay in very nice places. I save a good amount of money each month and don't drink very much. I would suggest that you stay away from Pattaya because the economy and prices are all geared to the drinking foreigners. A great place for a slip away visit which I do frequently but I would pass on it as a place to live. I don't watch my money closely and only know what I spend each month by checking my bank balance. It can be done.

 

What area of BKK do you live?

 

I'd like to look it up on my map.

 

I think many people forget just how vast Bangkok is.

 

If you can speak Thai there must be a multitude of good places to live cheaper than Pattaya.

 

After all, Pattaya is only a 100 Baht/2 hour bus ride away!

[winner 0]

What area of BKK do you live?

 

I'd like to look it up on my map.

 

I think many people forget just how vast Bangkok is.

 

If you can speak Thai there must be a multitude of good places to live cheaper than Pattaya.

 

After all, Pattaya is only a 100 Baht/2 hour bus ride away!

 

I live in the Chatujak area. Once you know your way around, a 14 baht bus (5-10 minutes)and a 45 baht BTS fare to anywhere that I want to go in Bangkok. The fare to Pattaya is around 100 baht. Taxis are available but cost more and are no quicker. Bangkok is huge. If you stay away from the Falang Ghetto, prices are really moderate and you can meet a lot of women who are not from the bar scene.

[papillon 695]

I live in the Chatujak area. Once you know your way around, a 14 baht bus (5-10 minutes)and a 45 baht BTS fare to anywhere that I want to go in Bangkok. The fare to Pattaya is around 100 baht. Taxis are available but cost more and are no quicker. Bangkok is huge. If you stay away from the Falang Ghetto, prices are really moderate and you can meet a lot of women who are not from the bar scene.

 

Respect

 

How are you treated in your local? Do you get much grief or is it all of the friendly banter variety?

 

Chatujak? That rings a bell. That's where they have a big market right? Is it 24 hour?

[pattayachip 0]

if you are good at budgeting your mney just do it,it is allways nice to have planty of money but if you don't. you don't...

right about now i would be happier sitting outside 7/11 and drinking chang beer than here in the east cost under a foot of snow with nothing to do and baht in my pocket

[winner 0]

Respect

 

How are you treated in your local? Do you get much grief or is it all of the friendly banter variety?

 

Chatujak? That rings a bell. That's where they have a big market right? Is it 24 hour?

 

Treated extremely well. Since a Falang is a bit of a novelty here, people go out of their way to meet me and they don't have the negative impressions that Thais who live in the areas that foreigners party in have. Everybody aways wants to fix me up with a female friend. Even the married females want me to meet their friends. The key in the suburbs is to be polite, don't wear shorts or tank tops, get a haircut when needed but not a headshave and don't throw money around like you are rich. Pay local prices and everyone is happy.

[dotcom_OD 0]

Winner you have a good post on what can be done when living like a local instead of a farang and still enjoy the paradise that LOS is.

[Zeus 56]

I always enjoy these discussions of what it takes to get to the LOS from a monetary perspective. All the experienced replys give a lot of insight to what it takes and long term planning. If it were just the money, I would have been there years ago.

 

For me the biggest problem is that if I am to consider a long term life in the LOS is that I would need to maintain some sort of ties/residence in my home country (USA). Even though I am a single man (thank god), I have friends, family, financial investments, not to mention a job that I can not just up and leave (well I could leave the job). So the only solution is A) keep working and take as much vacation in the LOS or B ) Quit & relocate to the LOS - but maintain a residence in the USA. That ups the $$ a lot, for any desired move. For now the solution is A and socking away more money to make B possible.

 

If I go for only five years with the intention of returning, then who is going to keep all of my stuff. I can't take it to Thailand, and storage is too expensive. I guess I could chuck it all, but that seems a bit overboard too, and would leave me with nothing when I return.

 

What I really need is someone who spends 50% of their time in LOS and 50% in the USA, and we have the same residence in both places and swap when we travel. Of course there would be some overlap, but that could be a great situation. One problem would be that this fictional person would have to be 100% trustworthy. Unfortunately, many of the people making regular trips to the LOS might have a less than sterling character ( BMs excepted).

 

Till then I will just enjoy my vacations and dream the dream.

 

Zeus

Edited March 25, 2007 by Zeus

[Saddic 31]

The problem of diminishing returns because you are drawing down on your base capital, diminishing value or your currency (eg exchange rate, inflation, etc), and investment losses have been mentioned...

 

I have not seen what you would consider to be your startup costs... buying big one time expenditures (furniture, motorbike, frig, bed, A/C, TV, computer, etc). Although you could probably get by renting a furnished appt/studio and walking... There is also the item of your rental deposit to consider. I'm sure there are other hidden costs not mentioned also...

 

Also to consider are semi-annual reoccuring costs... like trips back home, insurance, etc to consider...