Thinking of moving to thailand, to work for a few years..

Welcome to Expat-blog, merch246

Hope that members soon share their impressions about living in Thailand with you.

Regards
Sheetul

Unless you land a job with one of the major universities as a English teacher you will not make much money.

Remember vacationing and living here are not quite the same.  If you live the vacationing lifestyle you will need a large monthly income to keep you happy.

Just some of the things you should be concerned about are the following:

1. You should have some type of health insurance.  It can be full coverage or at the least major medical coverage (inpatient).  I for one have major medical coverage only because outpatient cost in Thailand are cheap.  This is one item most people forget until its to late.

2. Apartments can be a very small single room or something much bigger.  I could not live in one of the typical Thai one room apartments.  They are usually 25 square meters or less and many westerners find them to confining.  Remember size will determine monthly price.  Good deals can be found but it will take some looking.

3. Don't forget about daily transportation cost for work and any personal shopping or nights out.

4. Laundry is cheap when away from tourist area's and many apartment buildings have machines for do it yourself.

5. Utilities can vary so ask about per unit cost for electric and water when you are looking at apartments. If you want air con in your apartment then make sure you note sun orientation because it can play a big part in electric bill. Afternoon sun all day with make for big bills. Cable TV and internet may also be desirable.

6. Food is one area where lots of money can be saved if you enjoy Thai food. If you need western food its going to set you back a bit more each month.

7.  Don't forget about setting aside money for holiday trips when your off for several weeks or days. Sure would be boring not being able to leave your little room during a break.

Although some spend less and others more I would not be happy if I spent less than 45k baht per month not including medical coverage or holiday trips. Currently I spend 65k a month but could scale back to 45k if needed.

I have only rented condo's here ( 1 room, 1 bathroom + american kitchen style along with living room all furnished and with different amenities)

The low end condos can go from the ranges of 5000 bath ( these are normally the thai style ones)  a month to 15000 thb/m depending on the area you living. ( If you living somewhere close to Sukhumvit/lumpini/ekkamai it will be quite expensive

Good areas to live in are Hui kwan, Suthisarn, Phra Ram 9, Chong Nonsri,Phra Khanong, On Nut. All near the BTS & MRT. And no so damn expensive.

As for bills: Water around 500 thb/m, Electricity - Depends if you are going to use the Air con all night long (or have an electric stove)- Around 1000 thb/m, Internet around 700 thb/month.

For food: Well thats your choice, you can choose the range of mobile food shops all over Bangkok that each "dish" costs around 20 thb, if you are a restaurant type, around 300 to 700 thb ( medium range restaurant ) or if Your condo has a fire plate you always can cook something at home. Now, there is two different kinds of supermarket here: The "national" range, such as Tesco's, with the vast majority of products from Thailand and Asia related, or the supermarkets aimed for ex-pats with a wide variety of imported European and American products. These last ones, are also the most expensive ones.

For transportation: Taxis, are well cheap ( the ones that got "meter" on top ) around a 100 thb per destination. Motorbike taxis might vary, but less than a taxy normally. And tuk Tuk's unless you are able to defend yourself with some thai, youll be ending up spending around 500 thb for a ride ( like most of the  tourists do )
As for Bts & Mrt - Skytrain and Underground - Depends where are you going, but around 35thb per ride. Then you can have some short of an "oyster" card that you can top up. ( never had one, so i cannot tell you the thb's)

As for mobile phone: Going to MBK you will be able to get a nice deal for around 500 thb new thai number and can top-up in any supermarket or minimarket such as 7/11 with a 100 thb or 300 thb.

The apartments with two bedrooms are quite expensive for renting. What Thai people normally do, is that they use the "living room" as a second bedroom, with a sofa-bed or a inflatable mattress.   

Total per month:

- This is what i spend normally a month -
*Condo fully furnished+pool+gym+guards+garden=9500thb month
*Transport= ( because i dont live near a mrt or bts) 3400 thb month - need to take a taxi then a train then a bike and back-
*Bills= 2050
*Food= - Got kitchen at home - 5000
*Going out =  5000 thb month.

Total:24950 thb/month ( this varies depending if im a bad boy or not on weekends  )

Hope this helps you get an idea of what is going to be per month.

Ah forgot to mention that all this includes two persons.

I guess the previous poster basically sums it all up

Straydog wrote:

Unless you land a job with one of the major universities as a English teacher you will not make much money.

Remember vacationing and living here are not quite the same.  If you live the vacationing lifestyle you will need a large monthly income to keep you happy.

Just some of the things you should be concerned about are the following:

1. You should have some type of health insurance.  It can be full coverage or at the least major medical coverage (inpatient).  I for one have major medical coverage only because outpatient cost in Thailand are cheap.  This is one item most people forget until its to late.

2. Apartments can be a very small single room or something much bigger.  I could not live in one of the typical Thai one room apartments.  They are usually 25 square meters or less and many westerners find them to confining.  Remember size will determine monthly price.  Good deals can be found but it will take some looking.

3. Don't forget about daily transportation cost for work and any personal shopping or nights out.

4. Laundry is cheap when away from tourist area's and many apartment buildings have machines for do it yourself.

5. Utilities can vary so ask about per unit cost for electric and water when you are looking at apartments. If you want air con in your apartment then make sure you note sun orientation because it can play a big part in electric bill. Afternoon sun all day with make for big bills. Cable TV and internet may also be desirable.

6. Food is one area where lots of money can be saved if you enjoy Thai food. If you need western food its going to set you back a bit more each month.

7.  Don't forget about setting aside money for holiday trips when your off for several weeks or days. Sure would be boring not being able to leave your little room during a break.

Although some spend less and others more I would not be happy if I spent less than 45k baht per month not including medical coverage or holiday trips. Currently I spend 65k a month but could scale back to 45k if needed.

Hi,

I am particularily interest in your statement here  Remember vacationing and living here are not quite the same.  If you live the vacationing lifestyle you will need a large monthly income to keep you happy.

I am a single retired man (55) and am seeking a quiet retirement on a fixed income.  What, in your opinion is large for say bangkok or perhaps even chiang mai.   I have an income of about 80K per month after taxes,alimony,health insurance and the like....  will this be enough?

It really is about what lifestyle you wish to lead somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 Baht a month will get you a nice rental and a decent standard of living for a single guy.

Party every night and you can double that.

Of course there are set up costs for things like transport and equipping a new home to consider too.

Garry...If you truly want a quiet retirement then 80k baht per month should be enough but not knowing how you live I cannot be sure.  Some people are not happy unless they have the the best apartments, eat at expensive restaurants and have a night life everyday. If that's you then 80k might not be enough.  It will depend on life style you choose.

Currently I live in Bangkok and spend 65K a month on my daily needs. It includes 15k to cover apartment/utilities and 30k for food/transportation and portion of nights out. The final 20k goes mostly for nightlife but also a few other odds and ends.  I could spend more each month but have chosen to spend below my means.

You asked about my comment concerning vacationing vs living here full time.

A person coming here on vacation has a round trip ticket and pocket full of money to spend on a good time and when that's gone the party stops and he goes home.  A retiree chooses to live here on fixed income and spends that amount every month for years. One day he wakes up and finds he has a Thai family with inflation and currency fluctuations starting to eat into his fixed income.  What does he do?

When I moved here in 2003 at age 53 the exchange rate was 44 baht for 1 USD.  It is now slightly less then 30 baht for the same dollar so you can see I lost buying power with exchange rate decline.  Remember this fact because your 80k baht today might be 70k tomorrow.

Since your on a fixed income I would suggest you live below your means saving that extra for the unknown down the road.  Otherwise you might find yourself returning home because of inflation and currency fluctuations.

cheers

Garry,

There are many ways to live nicely in Thailand. If you need help I speak both Thai and English and would be able to help you with what you need. (moderated: no free ads please)
Buck