Cost of living 2018 in Thailand

Lanta just 2 hours ish from Krabi has a lot to offer and the cultural mix was there but to my knowledge over about 5 months over 5 years I never heard anything bad other than 1 Scottish guy who could not go past long beach as he got caught seeing a Muslim girl whose dad was fuming.

Maybe a small grievance over a dog I heard once too.

Lovely island lanta.

When I met my Mrs I decided not to go there with her on our first holiday as I wanted a neutral spot new to both of us.

I looked on a map and opted for a tiny island called koh libong which is an hour from central Trang train station and a 6 minute boat ride.  Never heard of the place till we found it on the map.


Really was an easy route too. Overnight sleeper from bkk, breakfast and then an hours drive and this libong place was virtually dead and pretty much a Muslim community.

Low season, great chicken and these Muslims were drinking too.

Great seafood and a beautiful beach view 15 metres from our chalet.

The local dog would sleep outside our door at night.

The internet on that island was truly awful but we forgot about that pretty quick.

I love holidaying in low season in thailand.

Anything for the quiet life!

Rc2702 wrote:

I don't see how anyone is insulting you VF. If anything you are the one who insults the most. A guy made a remark about dual pricing and you brought "respect" into it. Maybe the guy had a lot less experience than you and you actually devalue your own perspective with remarks like that.

Surely you can sit in the eyes of a 2-5-7-10-15-25-40 years experienced expat and try to understand  his remark.  Most here can and most here commented about the ways to overcome the issue and it would be a complete fool who tries to argue it does not happen or did not happen and outright I'd say they were lying just to refute something.

In recent times I have posted a lot on ThaiVisa about issues mainly about the Australian aged pension system and Centrelink and obtaining Thai Retirement Visa which I know a fair bit  about and many people appreciate this.  The problem is that often when asked question about how situations can affect people's income and I don't provide an answer that those people would like to hear I get all sorts of insults.  As a result I no longer post to ThaiVisa anymore.

I hope this Expat.com  site does not degenerate to the same level as Thaivisa.  Insults on sites like Expat.com is a very destructive influence.  A light harted approach to everyting is the way to go???

I wouldn't worry too much about the haters on this forum.  There are only a few and they are relatively harmless.  They may send you an annoying private message or two but they can't hold a candle to the guys on TVF for pure bile and vitriol.

villagefarang wrote:

I wouldn't worry too much about the haters on this forum.  There are only a few and they are relatively harmless.  They may send you an annoying private message or two but they can't hold a candle to the guys on TVF for pure bile and vitriol.

I do hope you are correct.  "How to win friends and influence people is the way to go"  Dale Carnegie.

Let's just stay away from ad hominem attacks here please. That can be so damn tedious.

Just dropped in. I need to go back and see how this came about. Sounds/looks like some kind of misdeal -- Toss the cards in, re-deal and resume the better parts of this entertaining forum. So much still to learn from each other, despite varying levels of experience.   

BTW, I like that term "ad hominem" (plural ad hominems). A fallacious objection to an argument or factual claim by appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument or producing evidence against the claim; an attempt to argue against an opponent's idea by ... (and so on). Some politicians tend to do this ad nauseam?  Thanks, RD. Cheers!  dcb

To shorten your search...I believe bill kip and Rc2702 took offense at my post #25.  I stand by every word of that particular post and a few people agreed with me.

davidcolinburt wrote:

Just dropped in. I need to go back and see how this came about. Sounds/looks like some kind of misdeal -- Toss the cards in, re-deal and resume the better parts of this entertaining forum. So much still to learn from each other, despite varying levels of experience.   

BTW, I like that term "ad hominem" (plural ad hominems). A fallacious objection to an argument or factual claim by appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument or producing evidence against the claim; an attempt to argue against an opponent's idea by ... (and so on). Some politicians tend to do this ad nauseam?  Thanks, RD. Cheers!  dcb

Sorry you blokes but all these big words I can't find in the Australian Macquarie Dictionary.  The nearest word I can find to "hominem" is "hominine"  which are Homininae.  Now this seems to suggest that the people you are referring to are gorillas, chimpanzees and humans but excluding orangutans.  Could you please advise me what type of people you are referring to?  5555
    Please I'm just a country boy from Aus.

I don't know about the other hominids, but I'm of the naked ape variety . . . in jeans . . . known to science as Farangalopithecus, I believe. Sadly, however, my being in this category has not brought the cost of living in Thailand down to the magical level that I had been hoping for. Alas!   dcb

Farangalopithecus.  This word was so big I couldn't even copy it so I had to copy and past it.  I have no hope of getting the meaning.  Sorry you must be very poor if you can't afford to live in Thailand.

There goes one of those personal attacks beyond the issue at hand again. I am observing everybody sidetracking the topic, and I ad some humor over some interesting words and DW attacks my personality and posits that I am financially poor, which is an attempt to what?  Case in point: Ruffian DicK: "Let's just stay away from ad hominem attacks here please. That can be so damn tedious."

Can we please get back on topic?   dcb

Your post implies that your income is not at a level that you can afford to live in in Thailand.  When I come to Thailand I use the following  estimate of costs...1 Room in a mildly up market condo (34 sq/m, Aus =$11 a day and nice)  near Cha-am beach  Bht 8000 +1000 for power + water. ...2        Good food Bht 10,000 per month for this and it is bloody good, I make my own small breakfast and lunch often eat out at night 10 km walking each day and love it....3 A few drinks and a bit of karaoke etc. (sometimes in tune) and fun most nights, pool or snooker most days, darts night once a week.  Sunday night roast dinner + drinks with a mob of Poms and a talk fest,  Bht 10,000 p/m...4  Hired motor bike Honda Click 125 cc Bht 3000 p/m (new).  This adds up to Bht 32,000.   I won't tell you where the other Bht 20,000 goes but it goes to a good cause helping Thais usually to meets there family obligations to look after their mothers (so I'm told) and other things.  The rewards a lovely....All up Bht 52,000.   If I wanted to I could do it all cheaper by half.  Yes Bht 26000 and I have friends who do it for just that and are happy,sort of?

The Aussie aged pension after being absent for Australia for more then 6 weeks is about Bht 45,000 P/M.  You can live in Thailand pretty well on that amount forever.

It can be hard work having fun all day in Thailand especially at my age. Usually I have to go for a Granddad naps each afternoon to get the strength to go out at night, more walking.  I hope to live until I die.  I do this for most of the 3 months at a time I spend in Thailand, then I go back to dull old Australia for the other 3 months because! because! and often write post to people like you on the internet and other things.  Great fun.

Thailand is better.  I now have a retirement visa so maybe longer.

Hi Davo
Quick question for you , you said that you stay 3 months there and 3 months back home , do you find a new place to rent each time you go there ?

Salsa27 wrote:

Hi Davo
Quick question for you , you said that you stay 3 months there and 3 months back home , do you find a new place to rent each time you go there ?

I really don't worry if people know where I live when in Thailand.  I live in Cattareya Condotel in Cha-am as do a lot of other older Farangs from all over the world, many Thais live there also.  It has about 700 rooms like mine 17 floors was a hotel once .  Most of the rooms are owned by different people and  if you want to buy one you can for about 1million Bht  give or take depending how good they have been looked after.  Some are a single unit converted from 2 or 3 units 34 sq/m units each .  Some are good some not so good.  Some have enclosed balconies which form part of the room 34sq/m, others balconies are open to elements.
If you have been to almost any beach in Thailand you will notice there are no seagulls.  It seems Cha-am in no exception.  Instead we have pigeons everywhere.  Pigeons don't like seagulls much and they are tougher.  But seagulls love Cattareya Condotel  and will nest in any nook and cranny they can find.  Other hotels and buildings have the same not to bad a problem.  There are probably a dozen agents who rent rooms in this complex also, not just the manager so you can shop around.  If you walk into the complex looking for a room you may be touted by a number of renters

Most high rise buildings get infested with these pigeons, Catterya Condotel is no different. (joke)... "What do you get is you cross breed a pigeon with a cow...give up?...a big pat on the back.  5555

Off topic a bit...anyhow the complex I live in has a manager and his lovely side kick ( not wife) who is really the boss she speaks good English. The manager can't speak a word he tries but fails, he is also a nice bloke.  I just have to ring up and she says "you like same room as last time"  I say "yes" and it's all ready when I get back.  When I leave after 3 months I don't take any of my junk with me and leave it all to her she sells to someone and makes a few dollars.  I always make sure there are few snickers in the fridge.  That does the trick.

I am considering getting a place like the one I've described in another post which is a town house with 2 bedrooms fairly close to the beach for 8/9,000 Bht.  There a plenty available.  One next a friends place 1 km from the beach which the owner has had vacant for awhile and is nice.  2 BR, 2BR, 2 story town houses are very common set out in Thailand.  Perhaps they are a bit more expensive because of the lovely beach in Cha-am then other Thailand locations.

Thanks davo , sounds like  it won't be too difficult to find accomodation ...

Nice! It's a wonderful place to live, isn't it? My Canada pension and musician's pension add up to a paltry THB 25.000 a month, so I still continue to work a couple of part time jobs that I enjoy. I am a professional guitar player, producer composer as well as a certified ESL instructor graduated from University of Toronto with a background in applied linguistics. Both of these careers allow me to be mobile whenever I need -- I can work anywhere in the world if visas will allow. I wondered where I could live in this world that would be inexpensive, interesting, and a bit magical. I was considering Peru but then my attention turned to Thailand. Altogether, I've traveled around Thailand for around 6 months, over maybe 2 1/2 years, scouting places to live as well as connecting with musicians and educators. BTW, I am very impressed with the musicians in Thailand -- Even the cart-driver singing to his buffaloes sounds good to my ear. Anyway, I've been back and forth between Toronto and Thailand 5 times. I eventually met, adored and married a lady who is a career chef, restauranteur . . . Actually, I married into a whole family of chefs / restaurant owners.
     Back to the numbers, my wife's mortgage for a three storey townhouse (3 apartments, 4 bedrooms, three bathrooms) in the suburbs of Bangkok is around THB 8,000 per month, which is pretty decent. Her mother and brother share the place and pay for the utilities, etc. As well, my wife and her sister bought and own a fairly large pineapple farm in the lush valleys near Hua Hin. There's a nice cabin on the property, too. Suddenly my paltry pension becomes pretty good top-up and investment money. My wife is presently living and working in Canada as a sous chef at a popular Thai restaurant. She is gaining valuable knowledge in the restaurant business here. We are divided between these two countries that we both love. We laugh because she wants to open a restuarant in Canada and I want to open up a restaurant with a jazz-blues cabaret in Thailand. I guess this is a good problem. I'm pretty lucky. And it sounds like you are living a fantastic life that a lot of people only dream about and wish for. With an adventurous spirit and courage to do something special, a lot can be accomplished in life. That's why I'm really enjoying this forum. I'm getting a great perspective, especially on the numbers and places, thanks to you and all of the other contributors to this forum. Cheers, mate!   dcb

I believe Thailand is just the place to be warts all.  I happy to reply to anyone...I have a Thai lady friend who sings  kareaoke in restaurants in Cha-am.  Speaks almost perfect English, learnt  watching English speaking movies on the internet.  I met her in a Restaurant from a friend.  She needed a rest singing ( 3 hour non-stop) so I did a few Tom Jones numbers and "My way" Frank Sinatra and did OK, at least in tune.  I used to play double base in a jazz group in my younger days who with a bloke who played nearly as good as Oscar Petterson and do Frank Sinatra impersonations.

This little gig I did, most of the restaurant customers clapped and they didn't leave??  I found out that the restaurant paid my friend Bht 300 + tips, sometimes she got no tips at all to sing karaoke from 7 pm till the last customer left often at 3 am.  I said I'll give you Bht 500 not to sing and see if I can get you some better gigs. She is only 41 y/o I'm 76 y/o.  Well we are just friends but sometimes she stay over as going home to her little flat out of town is a bit much at 3 am. She can stay anytime she likes, but gets tired after working to 3 am...5555.   She came to my place one early morning at 3 am after falling off her scooter broke the head light and damaged her computer and few scratches, all for 300Bht...hmmmm?.  She ran over an already run over dead dog.  There are plenty of Soi dogs  in Thailand (another story?)

I did tout around town to some of my Western Restaurant owners friends for new gigs for her with some success.  She has drawing power.  She is now being well looked after by several owners and is paid more.  One of my friend restaurant owners  (Pommy Dave) just loves her, tells his customers to open their lousy bags if they are enjoying the singing and put money in the tip box, most do.  She now sings at several locations and does well.  She still stays over at times and will no longer take the Bht 500 I was giving her (but we have ways)...like you mention it is sometimes unbelievable how much talent Thai have with very little success.  Perhaps they need better promoters and management?

No salsa there are about 20,000 new, never occupied Condos and never sold between Cha-am and Hue Hin and they are still building more, all over Thailand and lots of empty rentals also.  Like the song says and like the share markets today, "Some day, some way somethings gotta give.   "Frank Sinatra of course a hero of mine. Cranky Franky the press named him in Aus, walked out on 2 sold out concerts tours in the  60s and 70s and took is bat and ball with him and went home without singing a song.  Came back years later when he was old. Still did good but only a little bit better then me by then....5555  Still love his singing.

davidcolinburt wrote:

Just dropped in. I need to go back and see how this came about. Sounds/looks like some kind of misdeal -- Toss the cards in, re-deal and resume the better parts of this entertaining forum. So much still to learn from each other, despite varying levels of experience.   

BTW, I like that term "ad hominem" (plural ad hominems). A fallacious objection to an argument or factual claim by appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument or producing evidence against the claim; an attempt to argue against an opponent's idea by ... (and so on). Some politicians tend to do this ad nauseam?  Thanks, RD. Cheers!  dcb

The short version I believe you are trying to say in one word is ***

Recently I was told that one could get a senior discount card at Chiang Mai theaters. That reminded me that one gets a Thai discount with a Thai drivers license.

I would if cat houses give green stamps, or mileage, or senior discounts?

Does any one else know of any discounts in Thailand, for the fun of it. Some times I browse through a 20 baht store, just for the fun of it.

bill kip wrote:

Recently I was told that one could get a senior discount card at Chiang Mai theaters. That reminded me that one gets a Thai discount with a Thai drivers license.

I would if cat houses give green stamps, or mileage, or senior discounts?

Does any one else know of any discounts in Thailand, for the fun of it. Some times I browse through a 20 baht store, just for the fun of it.

When staying in Chiang Mai I have gone to the Theatres (Aussie spelling) at the Airport Plaza, would you believe near the Airport.  They just look at me and say "you get cheaper cause you older person" with a big smile.  Didn't even ask.  "I do have a Aussie pensioners card I said"  but they always reply "we know you older person you get cheaper.

This also happened when I gave food to a monk at the Chaing Mia Gate morning market a few years go (that's the name southern strip of Old City).  Because of this I had to be blessed by the monk together with about 8 other Thai ladies who were waiting on their knees.  The lady selling pineapples in the nearby stall who coached me to give food to the monk in the first place rushed out to me when I was getting on my knees with a chair and insisted as I was an older person she said " you no be on you knees you can sit on chair to be blessed, is OK".  All this took about 20 minutes because the monk was real busy, people waiting.  I bought a nice pineapple off her every second day for 2 months she laughed every time and I did get blessed a few more times.  yes TIT

You didn't tell us if you get green stamps at the cat house!

I'm wondering about senior discounts to catch some Muay Thai boxing events at the end of that steamy street in Chiang Mai after running the gauntlet of propositions and hands. I really wanted to see some matches, but I had to make a run for it. Interesting thing: The master Ajahn Suchart has a training place here in Toronto. He told me about his spearheading the first boxing events in Chiang Mai back in a time when there was only one set of traffic lights in the city. Anyway, back to senior discounts for sporting events, I do wonder.

About the green stamps at the cat house (bill kip) . . . I have no idea, but in exchange for an inexpensive round of whiskeys at a small venue called 69 Bar, I was treated very well and we traded lots of great stories and shoulder massages. I did not participate any further than that and got myself back to the writing desk at my B&B alone, safe and sound, with a couple of beers and pen in hand. This was during my very first month of exploring the country. Hilarious experience, but I certainly felt danger, or something amiss, lurking in the shadows.  dcb

Generally in the cat house world the discounts go to the young and beautiful, not to the old and wrinkly.

Aha . . .

That dual pricing don't seem so bad after all, does it? 

Can I apply for retirement visa from USA. What are the conditions of retirement visa.

thanks for your reply

Yoga, you would probably be well advised to ask in another thread.