What are you paying for things?

[Bruce Mangosteen 1,382]

I'm planning to retire next year, and, after a summer visiting family and friends in the US, we will be moving back to Thailand around this time next year.  Not having lived there for roughly 10 years, I'm interested in getting a bead on what my expenses will look like.

That's where you come in.  

Tell me what you're paying for stuff.  Anything, from your living quarters or hotel to food and drink to toothpaste to a screwdriver to a dental cleaning, to electricity.  Obviously, I don't expect you to violate your personal privacy, so I'll do my own research for things like jock itch cream.  

Could be a single purchase e.g. "Today I bought a pack of salami from Friendship", or you could give me a list of things you normally buy, or even a rundown of your monthly budget.  Anything that would help me, other folks who are considering this move, and your fellow expats.

Interested in prices from anywhere in Thailand.  We'll probably be based in Pattaya and Ayutthaya mostly, but my wife has family around Thailand, and we have friends around the country as well, and we love to travel.

Please post as much data about the purchase as you have patience for, e.g. what it is, the town where you bought it, if it was bought in a large or chain store e.g. Makro, the amount of product and price, any special or discount that applied, whether it's a regular purchase or a splurge, and anything else that will help give me (and other readers) an idea of how that purchase would apply to someone's monthly expenses.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Ready, GO!  

[LocalYokul 422]

If you are in the FB breakfast group, there is often advertising about products at Pattaya stores.

When they mention R.H., it is not the RockHouse.

[Bruce Mangosteen 1,382]

Well, I was kinda hoping people would post what they're PAYIN' for stuff, rather than what they're CHARGIN' for stuff...

[jacko 9,038]

Well my electric bill usually comes in at 2900-3200 a month or so, More in hot season, but usage likely varies higher for you, newly arrived you would use more AC. Water cheap at 200-300 pm. My Mrs cooks at home a bit, buying from a nearby wet market, each meal around 300 baht for ingredients. 

Some things with a high price can be surprising, shaving gel always amazes me at over 200 a can. 

I actually had many tools I brought here, so didn't buy many screwdrivers..but cheap as chips at Mr DIY but of low quality... certainly not as good as usually used in USA. 

Edited September 27 by jacko

[sailingbill 1,273]

House build in KK: 400,00 total.  Split with wife and her sister. They had the land about 1.2 million. But I was WTF is the Air con, refrigerator.landscaping, hot water heater? So another 200,000 of my money. Electric 3,000.  Internet 1,000 month way overpaying so can cut that in half.  Not eating Thai or Lao Thai food 5 Million/month from Villa and Paleo Robbies. Ok maybe 20k/3 months. Up country Makro about 1200 month for vegetables,fruit assorted junk ,candy.   R/T flight KKC-BKK 1250 baht, Nams taxi to Pattaya 1200, Aot to Bangkok 1200 also. 

Beachfront condo in Naklua 15,000/month. Bolt taxi anywhere less than 100 baht. Cleaning and laundry is not set yet but probably 500 per week.

Visa extension from Manareet 12,500,  Khon Kaen 18,000. I'll probably get a marriage visa and do it myself based on monthly income> 40,000 baht. American Health insurance pretty much pays everything. In patient no Deductibles or co pays about 280usd /month. Haircut 300 Baht but in 2 or 3 years wont need a barber.  Dentist for a bad tooth was 900 Baht. My eyeglass frames Re lense at Pattaya Optical for reading 900 baht. 

Sat with a long time "girlfriend "for 2+ hours at Diana BB last night. She reminded me what a chump I was when first in Pattaya spending 9k a night. Heavy drinking by both of us and a delivery Pizza was 1100 baht.  Took a lovely from Hunny Lounge last night upstairs was about 800 for the bar and drinks and 1000 for her. Im on Thai Friendly now looking for a breakfast muffin but its 0600 and I already have a Dick, no problem with them but  I don't know what to do with 2 dicks. Maybe later when the girls wake. 

Will head over to Lewinskys golf bar for breakfast and watch some Baseball now, the Waitress opens early for games. Maybe 700 baht for an American Breakfast with no mushy peas in sight and a few eye openers. You will do well Bruce, I wouldn't have close to this life back in the States.

Funny Jacko mentioned Shaving Cream, of all the things I spend,waste money on I was really taken aback at 230 baht last week in Makro. Ill get an Electric. I agree with him that its the small things where the price will bite you. You just buy it but think WTF, 6 USD for tea bags!. 

 

 

Edited September 27 by sailingbill

[Bruce Mangosteen 1,382]

Thanks guys, great stuff.  

8 hours ago, jacko said:

usage likely varies higher for you, newly arrived you would use more AC... Some things with a high price can be surprising, shaving gel always amazes me at over 200 a can.

Actually I hate AC and can live without it.  It's my wife who drives the AC usage in the US believe it or not, for me it was set at 80F/25C and mostly intended to keep the green mold off the sofa.

I agree that the farang affectations like shaving gel are expensive.  My beard isn't tough and I can get by shaving with bar soap and even without anything as long as I shave right after I get out of the shower.

Please continue to update with what you're spending on stuff as you think of it.

Edited September 28 by Bruce Mangosteen

[Bruce Mangosteen 1,382]

Bill, thanks for all the detail!

7 hours ago, sailingbill said:

I'll probably get a marriage visa and do it myself based on monthly income> 40,000 baht.

I think I'll start with a non-O/retirement extension then switch to a marriage visa.  I've heard the horror stories but we have all the documentation including an American marriage certificate and she has cops and military in her family so we have those references too.

A lot of the housing expense is to do with building and owning a detached house, neither of which I presently plan on doing.  The 15k condo rent price point is very helpful, that's what we plan on initially.

7 hours ago, sailingbill said:

American Health insurance pretty much pays everything.

This is news to me, American insurance cover that you can use internationally!  Can you fill in some details about the company and policy?

I have a girl in stock and have not had any "strange" since 2008 when we got together.  I did find your price points interesting after reading an article in the Pattaya Mail that indicated prices 2x yours and more.  

7 hours ago, sailingbill said:

You will do well Bruce, I wouldn't have close to this life back in the States.

I'll have a better idea after this thread runs for a while longer and I've set up my and fine-tuned my monthly expense spreadsheet.  However, I reckon I'm in pretty good shape based on my past experience there, as well as the fact that I can deal with the climate and food there. 

My partnership with my missus is a well-oiled machine at this point and worked well in Thailand before we came here, so I expect few functional hiccups getting set up there.  That's a huge leg up on the process I realize.

Thanks again, and please continue to report in!

[Bullfrog 2,305]

8 hours ago, jacko said:

Some things with a high price can be surprising, shaving gel always amazes me at over 200 a can. 

I buy Barbasol. It is thick and creamy and my last can lasted well over a year shaving twice a week ...

[forcebwithu 5,069]

For health insurance I'm with IMG. I also have the worldwide rider that includes coverage in the US. Annual premium at age 68 was $2,800 paid this month. That gives me $5 million of coverage with a $2,500 deductible. Another popular one with expats is Pacific Cross. From what I've seen, cost is about the same for almost as good of coverage as what I have with IMG.

On the subject of shaving, I switched from foam in a can to shaving soap years ago as it's much less expensive. Both my Mach 3's and shaving soap are sourced from Lazada. The razors I buy from the official Gillette store to avoid the poor quality knockoffs (link). I see the current price is 594B for 12 which is probably the best you'll see. Watch though as the price varies widely week by week. Here's the link for the soap I buy that works just as well for me compared to foam or gel. Used to be 99B for a bar, now up to a whopping 109B/bar. 🙂

For mobile data, it's a confusing minefield of pricing and plans out there. I use AIS for calls and have a 2nd sim from True I use for data. I purchase a new sim each year as it's cheaper than renewing the plan as they want a much higher price for the renewal. Cost is currently 2,099B for the year (link). That gets me 70GB of fast 5G internet each month.

Home internet is True Gigatex Fiber Pro 500M/500M. Cost is 640B/month.

For housing I have a nice 3 BR, 3 bath, 2 story detached house I've been renting for 16k/month the past dozen or so years. Electric runs me about 2,400B/month and water I think my last bill was 86B. It helps somewhat on water usage that my lady's garden gets watered from a rain collection system I installed consisting of two 5,000L tanks.

I'm on a non-O visa and my extension to stay that used to cost me 12,500B/year using Manareet for the use of their 800k for a couple of minutes. That cost has now gone up to 15,500. I would still be willing to pay the higher agent fee, but with all the uncertainty around that still being a viable option two months ago, I made the decision that this year I would have the money in the bank.

Since my renewal is in November I had to act on that decision in August to make sure the money had sat in the account for the required time. I'll still use Manareet for the extension at a cost of either 7 or 8k. The advantage of still using an agent is I can then use the 800k after the extension to stay has been processed for living expenses. That avoids the utter lunacy that the 800k has to sit untouched earning fck all in interest for five months, and then only being able to use 400k of my money for other seven months.

The other usual, day to day expenses are more affected by personal lifestyle choices. I choose not to own a car, so only have the cost of a motorbike. I really enjoy Thai food, and my lady is a great cook, so food cost is relatively low. Maybe 15 - 20k/month. That leaves me plenty left over to spend on booze and other "entertainment".

[sailingbill 1,273]

I realize I was misleading about health insurance.  I retired from the Federal Government so have a generous heath insurance benefit. It has been criticized in the past as unfair compared to those that rely on Medicare or other private insurance. I think true but its the same BCBS that members of Congress have even when they are out of office. So you can see where any attacks on that perk are going. 

As to the women , while I'm no Gabor ,Expat cost are radically different from even LT visitors.   No Walking Street but also no Beach road. But with my relationship with the wife those times are waning even though she knows who I am.

I would not recommend the Marriage Visa but mine is an O-A , used to be a top visa,useful for 2 years ,never dealt with immigration or Banks but that has ended with a change in rules from our Treasury Dept as well as the Thais requiring but not accepting my health insurance.  

Housing is wonderful here, buy, build or continue to rent. You probably cant pay more than 600usd/month. Choose badly just move after a year. I recouped my contribution to building the Thai house in 10 months.  Hell I could have lived in Nirun Condos @4k a month if needed.  I lived on a boat in Annapolis for awhile and would have readily done so here but there's not a market. 

While I need a car and motorcycle in the Village, not at all considering having one in Pattaya . The Motorcycle guys in front of my hotel already know me well.

 Cost so far today, 880 baht at Irovers for 5 rums, Stir fry vegetables and an Apple Pie. Will probably close the night across the Soi with my friend, several drinks, repeat the Pizza or maybe Kabobs. 1100.  
 

[Bruce Mangosteen 1,382]

2 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

For health insurance I'm with IMG. I also have the worldwide rider that includes coverage in the US. Annual premium at age 68 was $2,800 paid this month. That gives me $5 million of coverage with a $2,500 deductible. Another popular one with expats is Pacific Cross. From what I've seen, cost is about the same for almost as good of coverage as what I have with IMG.

Hey that's great stuff, thanks!  I'll look at both those options.

2 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

For housing I have a nice 3 BR, 3 bath, 2 story detached house I've been renting for 16k/month the past dozen or so years. Electric runs me about 2,400B/month and water I think my last bill was 86B. It helps somewhat on water usage that my lady's garden gets watered from a rain collection system I installed consisting of two 5,000L tanks.

What appx. location?

2 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

I'm on a non-O visa and my extension to stay that used to cost me 12,500B/year using Manareet for the use of their 800k for a couple of minutes. That cost has now gone up to 15,500. I would still be willing to pay the higher agent fee, but with all the uncertainty around that still being a viable option two months ago, I made the decision that this year I would have the money in the bank.

Won't they still accept the proof of income?

 

[sailingbill 1,273]

5 minutes ago, Bruce Mangosteen said:

Won't they still accept the proof of income?

Would be my question also as I don't want to lock money in a Thai Bank.  My Bank Book shows a continuous monthly deposit from overseas funds > 65,000 baht a month.

[Bruce Mangosteen 1,382]

1 hour ago, sailingbill said:

I realize I was misleading about health insurance.  I retired from the Federal Government so have a generous heath insurance benefit.

No worries.  At the moment I'm in pretty good health, and in the 6 years I've been at this job I've used the doctor about 4 times to have him write me prescriptions for gout medication (Allopurinol) and an NSAID for the occasional breakthrough attack.  These are both available OTC there.  That will inevitably change though.

My missus is flipping and flopping on whether she wants us to have a car.  I flat don't think we need one living in Pattaya, and her daughter drives us around in Ayutthaya.  Ditto for other family we've visited.

For visa I'm probably going to use the same agent my buddies have been using for eons.  Marriage or O with retirement extension remains to be decided at the moment.  

[Bruce Mangosteen 1,382]

2 minutes ago, sailingbill said:

Would be my question also as I don't want to lock money in a Thai Bank.  My Bank Book shows a continuous monthly deposit from overseas funds > 65,000 baht a month.

I'd also be able to show that, just my Social will be more than that, and they will give a letter of proof of benefit.  For the proof of accommodation my wife's name is on her daughter's tabien baan so I should be OK there.  Not sure how much of this the agent will still require though.

[sailingbill 1,273]

1 hour ago, Bruce Mangosteen said:

I'd also be able to show that, just my Social will be more than that, and they will give a letter of proof of benefit.  For the proof of accommodation my wife's name is on her daughter's tabien baan so I should be OK there.  Not sure how much of this the agent will still require though.

Neither agent I dealt with cared or was interested in my SSI , they prefer to do the 1 hour 800,000 loan. Past 2 years they required me to visit the Bank Last week they did everything . They also don’t accept the letter anymore unless your O-A . O retirement probably the best. On the car I bought a used CRV, 350,000 bullet proof only use it in the rain. Love driving my CBR but now looking at the traffic in Pattaya I’ll pass bringing it down.  And yes register the TM 30, previously not a big deal but the fines are back , changes at the whim of the I/O.

[Bruce Mangosteen 1,382]

1 hour ago, sailingbill said:

Neither agent I dealt with cared or was interested in my SSI , they prefer to do the 1 hour 800,000 loan. Past 2 years they required me to visit the Bank Last week they did everything . They also don’t accept the letter anymore unless your O-A .

Huh.  OK, thanks for that.  I don't mind doing the agent 800K thing, done it many times.

1 hour ago, sailingbill said:

And yes register the TM 30, previously not a big deal but the fines are back , changes at the whim of the I/O.

Yep, my friend google confirms.  Apparently it can be done online now.

[jacko 9,038]

15 hours ago, Bullfrog said:

I buy Barbasol. It is thick and creamy and my last can lasted well over a year shaving twice a week ...

I was shopping for the larger  200g can yesterday, three places all out of stock for some reason. Big-CX wanting nearly 200 for a little half can I would label for travel use.

Meal out for 2 last night, a steamed fish (just killed), asparagus with shrimp and fried rice, a large bottle of Heiny, 900 baht. I find I eat small meals nowadays and get bloated easily,

AC set to 25 degC would be extravagant for me, usually set to 27 DegC. In fact I don't feel good when in overly cooled places. 

Fuel a bargain here.

Need to get out of the habit of UK brands of chocolate biscuits as a mid morning snack with coffee! Never go to Starbucks, a rip off!

Internet and TV for her is 850 pcm. My phone I pay 500 a month about. Someone comes to do my pool cos I'm lazy, 2250 pcm. Gardener ever 4 weeks 1600. 

If you can bring over medical cover for you and wife that works, you got it made, I live in fear of health issues. There's a hospital in town would bleed you dry and charge you to get the corpse back. 

 

 

[jacko 9,038]

8 hours ago, Bruce Mangosteen said:

Huh.  OK, thanks for that.  I don't mind doing the agent 800K thing, done it many times.

It is requiring more effort these days, I believe for a particular bank people are saying they get a letter from Rayong or Bangkok. Let us say situation has been difficult because of bank behaviour. Maybe it will settle. I leave my 800k on Fixed deposit and hope that will still be okay!

[Bruce Mangosteen 1,382]

The visa situation has been fairly chaotic in Thailand since I've been going there and I expect no change any time soon.  I'm figuring that my long-term relationship and USA-documented marriage will help me through a lot of the issues, but who knows?  The visa issue is one thing I reckon I won't be able to plan out in advance.

[forcebwithu 5,069]

14 hours ago, Bruce Mangosteen said:

Hey that's great stuff, thanks!  I'll look at both those options.

What appx. location?

Won't they still accept the proof of income?

 

 

14 hours ago, sailingbill said:

Would be my question also as I don't want to lock money in a Thai Bank.  My Bank Book shows a continuous monthly deposit from overseas funds > 65,000 baht a month.

It used to be we could get an income affidavit from the US Embassy. That was the route I went until immigration changed the rules and would only accept the affidavit if the embassy guaranteed what was stated on the affidavit was true. Only a couple of countries do that and unfortunately the US isn't one of them. So about 6 or 8 years ago when the new rule came into effect I started using an agent to fund the 800k for a few minutes.

For the 65k/month route it would be good to hear from someone that uses Pattaya immigration how that's working out for them. Everyone I know, or have read about their experience either has the 800k in the bank or goes the agent route for the quickie loan.

The area I live is between Arunatai and Sukhumvit. Many houses similar to what I'm living in that are available for rent.

[Bullfrog 2,305]

10 hours ago, jacko said:

I was shopping for the larger  200g can yesterday, three places all out of stock for some reason. Big-CX wanting nearly 200 for a little half can I would label for travel use.

I normally buy this from Lotus that seems to last forever ..

 

https://www.lotuss.com/en/product/barbasol-soothing-aloe-thick-rich-shaving-cream-198g-73110485

 

But last week I needed to stock up on Typhoo tea from Siamburis and ended up ordering shaving foam on there to knock it over the required 1,000 baht minimum dry delivery order. No idea what it is like because I still have an unfinished Barbasol ...

 

https://expatfoodsthailand.com/shop/personal-care/insette-sensitive-shaving-foam-250ml/

 

Typhoo Tea (100 tea bags for 119 baht) I am fully aware that most think it is like drinking piss water but I find it refreshing ...

 

https://expatfoodsthailand.com/shop/hot-drinks/typhoo-one-cup-tea-bags-100s/

 

 

 

[LocalYokul 422]

 

I have not used shaving cream or a razor in ages, & electric shaver are cheaper in the L.o.S..

[Bruce Mangosteen 1,382]

9 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

For the 65k/month route it would be good to hear from someone that uses Pattaya immigration how that's working out for them.

Ditto that.  For me it was so long ago I can't seem to remember how I did it, if I did it at all.  I certainly didn't have 800K I could afford to to let sit in any bank account.

9 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

The area I live is between Arunatai and Sukhumvit. Many houses similar to what I'm living in that are available for rent.

Thanks.  I'm actually quite surprised at the inexpensive rents being mentioned on here.  I suppose part of it is if guys have been in their digs for a while the rent might have risen more slowly than unoccupied units would.  

I'm planning to rent in Pattaya, and up until now my assumed rent budget is 20K/month.  I certainly wouldn't mind being off by 20% high though!

[Bruce Mangosteen 1,382]

2 hours ago, Bullfrog said:

I normally buy this from Lotus that seems to last forever ..

 

I usually only shave 2-3x/week, so everything lasts forever with me!

[LocalYokul 422]

 

Wow, I used to get a haircut in Banchang for 20 THB, & understand now it is still only 50 THB.