Living in Thailand

[Mr Happy Feet]

You can rent whatever you want for as long as you want. No need to buy.

My philosophy is Passport, money and credit cards. Everthing else is expendable.

Always be prepared for a quick exit.

Like most of you readers, I have bought and sold houses in my home country. However, as I make final preparations for my transition to retirement in Hua Hin this Spring I find myself undecided. Initially, I was only considering renting. I learned that renting long-term and paying in advance provides good bargaining and there truly is a glut of empty places right now. Recently, I did start noticing several sale prices for furnished Condos near the beach and with pools and fitness rooms. Those three items are very important to me. So I did the math. I could either buy the place of my dreams for about 4. 5 M baht or I could rent it for about 20,000 per month. I am 53 years old and hope to stay in Thailand at least 20 years. If I buy the place it will cost me about $140,000 plus the loss of the interest it could earn, plus the cost of maintaining it for 20+ years. So, for ease let's say another $12,000 or a total of $152,000 USD. Now, if I were to rent at 20,000 baht per month for the same 20 years, I would spend 4. 8 million baht or about $150,000 USD. So, dollar-for-dollar it is very, very close for me. Now enter Devil's advocate. Overlooking the resale value in 20-years, If I choose to buy NOW, this month, Sep 2015, the baht to dollar rate is 36 NOT the "32" I always use in my planning calculations. This change amounts to 12 percent-a significant discount. If it continues up to 40 baht that will be 25 percent. A huge discount and more than I could ever hope my savings to earn. So, now I am really torn! I desire the freedom of renting MORE than I desire the pride of ownership, but a 25% discount. I would appreciate any constructive discussions and would love to hear from those that "have been there, done that".

MHF

[Mr Enternational]

A girl once told me that for 10000 baht a month she could stay home. So let that be a benchmark. A chick living with you has no overhead. She only needs to send a couple thousand baht home every month.

A good friend of mine who is full time retired budgets US $3000/ month. Sometimes he stays under and sometimes he goes over. Keep in mind that his ocean view condo is 30000 baht / month vs my 4500 baht / month room. He also gives a different chick 1500 baht pretty much everyday and has a car and a motorbike.

[AfAsia]

http://www.traveldailymedia.com/2252...-all-visitors/

[Sunlover2]

I'm heading to Pattaya in a few weeks to see if I like it (I realize that living there and hitting the bars for 2 weeks is totally different).

My income will be about 900,000 be per year plus I have another couple of million baht in reserve. I figure the following:

Rent- 15000- 20000

Electricity- 2000

Internet- 600

Food- 12000

Misc- 6000

So unless my math is off, that is only 400,000 - 500,000 per year. Am I missing anything?

How much would a full time girl accept to live in (cooking, cleaning, sex) ? I said accept, not how much would she want. She would want all I have of course. Would 15-20 K month be in the ballpark?

Thank you.

I would include as line items in a monthy budget: health insurance, some nightlife, gym club membership / recreation, and sightseeing in and around Thailand and Southeast Asia. Thai visa renewal, dental work, cell phone and computer, eyewear, and new clothing will also be re-occuring costs at some point.

I have done some similar calculations and the total I usually end up with is something like: rent x 2 + 20%. Basically in the long term you would not live in an el cheapo place and spend the majority on nightlife, nor would you live in a grand place and eat rice every day. So the amount you are willing to part with for monthly rent is a good tell of your other lifestyle levels.

The biggest variables are food / drinks and nightlife / lady company. Only you know your appetite for those things. As for the live-in I would start with her coming over maybe 2-3 x a week and see how it goes, or maybe two or three different ladies 1 x per week. And don't forget to plan for an annual trip home to visit family and friends which can be a significant amount on its own.

SL

[Dragonrider]

I think your budget list looks fairly realistic except for one element; Food. You could certainly survive on 12000 baht per month (about 400 baht per day) but that means you would either be cooking all or most simple meals at home or dining out on Thai street food for your two or three meals per day.

Even with an increased food budget, it seems do-able. While it would be nice to actually live on the 900,000, I don't mind throwing in another 150,000-200,000 per year from my retirement accounts. After doing some reading, I have revised my plans that originally included stuff like buying her family some pigs or a noodle stand and her a nail or beauty salon.

I guess I'll have to do a "pretend" shopping run once I'm there. I should have plenty of time to look around during the day until the girl action starts. Luckily I am not a big drinker (about 2 beers per month) although I'm sure that would increase living there. On my trips to the Netherlands and Germany, I generally spent next to nothing on food because I spent all of my money on the girls (22 girls in 6 days) but if I am living there I will have to eat more regularly (although I could lose 20-30 pounds).

Does anyone know if they sell electric bikes in Thailand? Seems like a better option than a scooter.

[EihTooms]

I'm heading to Pattaya in a few weeks to see if I like it (I realize that living there and hitting the bars for 2 weeks is totally different).

My income will be about 900,000 be per year plus I have another couple of million baht in reserve. I figure the following:

Rent- 15000- 20000

Electricity- 2000

Internet- 600

Food- 12000

Misc- 6000

So unless my math is off, that is only 400,000 - 500,000 per year. Am I missing anything?

How much would a full time girl accept to live in (cooking, cleaning, sex) ? I said accept, not how much would she want. She would want all I have of course. Would 15-20 K month be in the ballpark?

Thank you.

I think your budget list looks fairly realistic except for one element; Food. You could certainly survive on 12000 baht per month (about 400 baht per day) but that means you would either be cooking all or most simple meals at home or dining out on Thai street food for your two or three meals per day. Can be done. But when the urge seizes you often enough during the week to indulge in something closer to western fare, you'll blow through the better part of one day's food budget on a Big Mac combo with a cookie for dessert alone, not to mention what you'd shell out for a full course lunch or dinner at a western style eatery; roast beef, pizza, Mexican food, whatever. In most cases, you'll be lucky to get away for less than 400-500 baht per meal with drink when you do that. Again, assuming you are dining out and not cooking in.

When it comes to the girl, you could probably find one who would accept as little as 15,000 per month, maybe even less than that to live in with you and perform the daily chores. But that won't be the end of it by a long shot. She'll need to eat a meal or two on a daily basis too. And she isn't going to dip into her monthly income to pay for it as long as you or your wallet is within spitting distance. Then there is the sick grandmother emergency, the sick grandfather emergency, the sick mother emergency, the sick father emergency, the sick baby emergency, the jailed brother emergency, the birthday emergency, the mother's birthday emergency, the father's birthday emergency, the need a new smartphone emergency, the need more phone "up" emergency, the new clothes emergency, the new shoes emergency, etc. Some of which will occur on a nearly monthly basis and will blow that 15,000 baht girl budget out of the water rather quickly. You probably already know all about that kind of stuff but thought it should be mentioned on a topic like this anyway.

[Dragonrider]

I'm heading to Pattaya in a few weeks to see if I like it (I realize that living there and hitting the bars for 2 weeks is totally different).

My income will be about 900,000 be per year plus I have another couple of million baht in reserve. I figure the following:

Rent- 15000- 20000

Electricity- 2000

Internet- 600

Food- 12000

Misc- 6000

So unless my math is off, that is only 400,000 - 500,000 per year. Am I missing anything?

How much would a full time girl accept to live in (cooking, cleaning, sex) ? I said accept, not how much would she want. She would want all I have of course. Would 15-20 K month be in the ballpark?

Thank you.

[Asian Rain]

Don't do it.

Interesting if you provide some detail to that comment. AR.

[DwayneJohnson]

New expat smashing free pussy before I could pronounce khawp khun khrap. Still can't speak a lick of Thai and already have a little business in the black, playing with the house's money. So yes it is possible. No teaching English or whining from this Farang. Opportunity everywhere folks.

How did you managed that?

I was looking for investment based citizenship but coming up short by few million baht.

[Ersnh]

I live in Bangkok and in my opinion now is not a good time to buy. There seem to be cranes everywhere building new mid-rises and above. Rents are fairly cheap for a city of this level of wealth, compared to other big cities in Asia. Then when you consider the tenuous political situation it just seems like too much risk for too low of a reward.

[TellAll]

Your interest my wane after reading this:

http://m.smh.com.au/world/eviction-t...26-11u7a1.html

AV.

You can rent whatever you want for as long as you want. No need to buy.

My philosophy is Passport, money and credit cards. Everthing else is expendable.

Always be prepared for a quick exit.

[Amavida]

I am interested to buy an apartment or a house in Pattaya.

Please can any one advise.

Area? Law? Any advise.

Many thanks.

Your interest my wane after reading this:

http://m.smh.com.au/world/eviction-t...26-11u7a1.html

AV.

[TellAll]

Why can you please explain.

I am interested to buy an apartment or a house in Pattaya.

Anywhere that has as many roadblocks to foreign ownership of property as Thailand, you need to think twice about trying to buy. Especially now with Military Coup. You don't know what may happen.

[Fish N Chips]

Why can you please explain.

I am interested to buy an apartment or a house in Pattaya.

First you need to learn your community before you do anything, and that means living there for several years to understand why it doesn't make sense to buy.

Second, the only thing available to you to buy is a condo, and even then you have several financial liabilities that can arise later to make the investment worthless.

Third, if you aren't American you can't own property in your own name, and if you are it takes a greater knowledge then just a causal investor to secure your assets. If you are only looking to buy a house or a living space this resource does not apply.

I am not saying this is impossible, just providing an ROI analysis and it really isn't any where near the ballpark.

[Tiered]

Don't do it.

Why can you please explain.

I am interested to buy an apartment or a house in Pattaya.