Monthly living costs

[Dodger]

cnd Matt wrote:

"live like a king in Thailand for $500/month", because it just ain't true

Can't live like a king - but can live like a Thai.

I would guess that the average Thai income is around B17,000/month ($500). That would be one low-level white collar income - or a couples combined minimum wage income. (The minimum wage in Thailand is currently at 7,000/month).

If someone from the West could come over here and live like a Thai they could survive. That would require living strictly on market food and living a life without any frills, i.e. entertainment, health insurance, WIFI or a Thai boyfriend or girlfriend which ALWAYS costs you something. So yes, one could survive.

I have a friend from Germany who retired and moved to Thailand on an extremely tight budget about 6 years ago. He spent his retirement savings building a small house in Isaan on his boyfriends parents property and has been surviving their ever since. I believe his monthly budget is close to a Thais (17,000/month). He eats strictly market food, has no real form of entertainment other than play time with his boyfriend and watching the stars at night, has no health insurance coverage (in Thailand), and rarely takes any excursions outside of the village where he resides, but, amazingly enough, when I talk to him on the phone he's as happy as a lark. He now has 3 large dogs (he's a dog lover), a large garden where he grows many of the herbs and vegetables he consumes, spesks Thai fluently and gets invited to Thai occasions frequently, i.e., funerals, weddings, birthdays, new babies being born, etc. and really seems to have adopted the Thai lifestyle naturally.

This friend of mine is surely an exception...but at least I know that it can be done. He told me once that the alternative for him would be retiring in his home town in Germany where he would glued inside a small apartment on his small budget being stuck just watching TV all day.

[Smiles]

I still don't understand either of cndmatt's or Dodger 's electric charges. The former pays 6000B a month and the latter 800B. Talk about a discrepancy!

Over the years I've talked to others on my soi, and most of the farangs are in the same ball park as myself. Most of the Thais don't use the aircon anywhere as much as farangs and their bills are noticeably lower on average ... which makes sense.

On another point, Dodger pays a monthly fee for health insurance. From the beginning I have said an emphatic 'no' to health insurance here.
My health is perfectly fine right now and has been for years. So I play the odds. If a major event (for instance, discovering a cancer) happened I would fly back to Canada where treatment is free.
Circumstances when I become decrepit I'll play by ear . . . Pot will just have to wipe my ass when needed. Many here will tell me I'm quite wrong on this particular issue.

[FarangRuMak]

The aircon is the culprit.
Constant use, old, not cleaned, set very low etc.
My bill in a 2 roomed condo for 3 months was B5600.
This included a lot of cooking on an electric stove plus a fridge constantly turned on.

[cdnmatt]

Well, back when I was alone, I would always work in the office all day, and just used a fan. I'd only use A/C in the bedroom when I slept. Back then, my electric bill was only about 1800/month.

We have 4 A.Cs in this house, but the A/Cs in the living room and office never get turned on, becuase the front door is wide open from about 7am - 10pm every day for the dogs, so they can go in or out when the urge hits them.

I no longer use my office, and basically just live in my bedroom now. It's better, because this way Leo doesn't have to pass me everytime he wants to goto the bathroom, go outside, grab something from the kitchen, etc. I don't use a fan in the bedroom, and just have the A/C on basically 24x7. While awake it's at about 27C, and while sleeping I crank it down to 18C.

The A/C in my room is one of those older, small, crappy units, and I'm not buying a new one because it's not my house, hence it probably sucks up a decent amount of electric. The A/C in Leo's room is one of those higher quality units, but obviously they didn't do a good job cleaning it when we had them done in March, because it's already back to leaking water. Then Leo is the same as me, and likes it cold when he sleeps, so cranks the A/C down to 18C as well.

[FarangRuMak]

I think cranking it down to 18 becomes a habit which keeps demanding more like all habits.
I sleep very well now at c. 25C and very often an open window or a fan is enough.
When I came here first 12 years ago I stayed mostly in hotels @18C but now that has become COLD for me.
But everyone is different.

[Dodger]

Smiles,

The reason I'm able to maintain a low electric bill is actually by design. One of the reasons I purchased the condo I did in Bang Saray is due to the fact that there is a strong and constant cool breeze coming from the ocean. Taking the advice of several other condo owners in the building I installed screen doors on both the front door and rear balcony doors. This provides a constant breeze 24/7 and I rarely (if ever) turn on the AC units in the day time. I also installed 3 large ceiling fans - 2 of which run almost constantly, although draw very low current and are cheap to run. We turn on the AC in our bedroom when we go to sleep (or, just prior to play time) set at 25C. When I get up 3 hours later to take a pee I turn the AC off and turn on the bedroom ceiling fan. On average I run the AC 3 or 4 hours a day.

I replaced all of the light bulbs in my two room condo (14 bulbs total) last April and replaced them all with LED bulbs. The dam things are expensive (about B240 each) but run 10 times more efficient that regular incondesent bulbs thus reducing the electric usage for lighting 10 fold. LED lights also run for 10-15 years and well worth the investment. My last electric bill for the month of June was B814 for my 80 M2 condo and it was a scorching hot month.

My health insurance policy with Liberty Mutual is fairly economical @ B32,000/year - provides 1 million baht coverage max for each medical incident - no deductable - direct pay to hospital for in patient services only - preexisting conditions not covered. This coverage is intended to prevent me from having to return home for medical treatment in the event I need hospitalization for something of a moderate to fairly serious nature. Minor medical needs can be paid out-of-pocket. I've only had the use this coverage once for major eye surgery I had in Thailand a year ago and Liberty Mutual paid for all in patient costs (approx. B230,000) and I paid for the outpatient examinations (approx. B18,000). The cost of the airline tickets alone would have been around $1,800 U.S. (B61,000).

I'm going to emphasize the benefit of using an AC with the invertor compressor again only because they have been proven to reduce your electric usage (and electric bill) by 40%-60%. I purchased two LG 12,000 BTU units which were on promotion at Homepro for B17,000 each and they are paying for themselves right now.

[Smiles]

Very much agree. When I landed on these shores the heat just about killed me, and I was a steaming bucket of sweat 24/7.
Seventeen years on and I'm probably acclimatized as much as I ever will be. Still sweat but less, but don't care.
I still prefer getting the bedroom cool before hopping in the sack, but having the aircon on all night I'd freeze to death.
When I go back to Canada I'm always cold, even in late spring when the idiots run around in tanktops I've got a light winter coat on.

[goji]

I think cranking it down to 18 becomes a habit which keeps demanding more like all habits.
I sleep very well now at c. 25C and very often an open window or a fan is enough.
When I came here first 12 years ago I stayed mostly in hotels @18C but now that has become COLD for me.
But everyone is different.

I immediately can become used to sleeping at 25C after arriving from the UK and would not dream of cooling the temperature down to 18C.
On my last trip, the only time I slept with aircon on was because my Cambodian friend for the night insisted upon it.

[cdnmatt]

20.000 for food ? In Khon Kaen, my are you going out eating every night in those places near the Kosa Hotel ? I don't get it, eat the local stuff, it is heaps better than what you mentioned, and it doesn't cost a thing.

As to your rent, even in BKK for that kind of money, I can easily find a one bedroom near a skytrain or MRT station.

What? Local Thai market food is good? Surely, you jest.

I'll admit, I think quite a few of the local Thai dishes are quite tasty, but by no measure can you say it's healthy for you. The use way too much oil, reuse the coil too many times, and most importantly none of the typical Thai dishes have anything in terms of veggies.

There's a few dishes with quite a few veggies, like "paak phat lohm meet" (veggie stiry fry basically), "gai phat met mummueng timmipan (s)" (chicken stir fry with snow peas and cashews), "paak phat met gung" (veggie stir fry with shripm), and so on. However, from my experience at least, you have to hunt around quite a bit before finding a market stall or small restaurant that will cook those dishes.

I guess there's also Thai BBQ and "jao aawn", which both come with a good amount of veggies, but that's really about it. All the typical dishes you'll get at a market have virtually no veggies at all. You might get some basil, Thai chillis, and maybe some slices of cucumber, but nothing more.

Whereas I cook proper meals at home, with almost always the same rations. 30% protien, 50% veggies, 20% starch, regardless of dish or cuisine I'm cooking. I don't know about you, but I need my veggies, or else my energy level and mental capacity drop significantly.

That, and we're 35 and 22 years old, so natually most likely eat quite a bit more than your average retired individual. Regardless, I'm not willing to give up on good food and a proper diet.

[arsenal]

Matt wrote:
" I cook proper meals at home, with almost always the same rations. 30% protien, 50% veggies, 20% starch."

Dinner at your place sounds a right barrel of fun. "Yes Leo, you can have another sausage but please make sure you weigh out 1.66 times it's weight in carrots and 2/3 it's weight in potato." Haha.