.Sorrryyyy. ok!We also have some of those livestock "feeders up in the hills back home .But ,Wherever,yes, that is cheaper than in Norway.Compared to Norway Thailand is a haven.

you must be in a tourist packed area. In the boonies, it's one eighth as much, and the gal is probably a good deal less worn for wear than what you might get in a touristy area.

Just a point, I did say food, which isn't everything, for instance council rates (shire rates) are quite a bit cheaper in Oz and so on (compared to UK). for instance my home in Australia is 1/3 of the rates I pay on my home in the UK, both homes have similar values. Then coming back to the original post compare the whole lot to the land tax I pay on my main property in Thailand which is 59 Baht a year, no contest.

I was in Perth day before yesterday and I would suggest that the OP is very much off the mark on practically all his prices. A$10 for a pint! A good sandwich was A$12-16!
Had a good conversation with a couple of expats getting visas and the consensus was that none of us could afford to live the same "life style" in Australia. The price of food , gas, housing and the stunning female population were the primary issues.
The things we lack here are those which many of us came here to avoid..i.e. taxes, micro-government, bovine- ball busting women..the list goes on... Anyone tried to get a smile on the street from a pretty lass in the west..good luck, must admit the old ladies smile back..maybe they thought I was retarded..maybe their right...
Glad I'm back!! Oh yes... what's the price of a kilo of FRESH fish cost in POME land...bet it ain't 25- 120 baht..!

Earned over 300k last year in the US but only spent 36k. We lived in an expensive part of the country ( just east of San Fran)and managed to enjoy ourselves on that budget. More or less did the same for the prior 4 years so I could move to Thailand and live outside BK on 36k. 36k(105K bt) budget in Thailand has provided the wife and I a wonderful life and just goes to show that we all are so very different. I have a hard time grasping how you struggle spending the same amount but I'm sure you have good reasons. .

To give all an idea of costs over the last 6 months.

....Family of 4, not including school fees.

....Having a good life including a holiday in Patts and buying a new Yamaha Fino ( 46,000 Baht).

....90,000 Baht on air fares to the UK for a visit.

....Running a 3 litre Vigo , insurance and tax( about 28,000 baht). Done about 6000km in fuel with a 4000 baht service.

....Helping the family out , as you do ....minus 30,000 Baht.

....All house bills including phone connection.

....Holiday to Malaysia.

....As much food and drink as we can handle,,,imported and local. With not thinking about the price of it.

....Hospital exspenses for minor things with the kids.

....Buying around 60,000 Baht on house things( furniture etc,)

It works out at about 600,000 baht, so take away the 254,000 for insurance,holidays not including Patts as it is in Thailand, bike, furniture and help out the family ( my choice)is 346,000 Baht for a family of 4 to live in Korat....NOT Bangkok or some over priced tourist spot for six months.

If you choose to live in a tourist spot, you will be obliged to pay tourist prices. Its a fact.

Beautiful weather, friendly people, always guaranteed a smile.

What more do you want from life?.............and dont say Jaffa Cakes.

This post has been edited by soihok: 2009-11-07 23:51:17

And to put things in perspective.

In my next job I will earn about 350,000 Baht a month.

Not in Korat though,,, I,m off to Singapore.

This post has been edited by soihok: 2009-11-07 23:56:34

After reading most of the responses I think it is reasonable to conclude that the OP made a foolhardy statement that "Thailand is expensive"

case closed.

So we come to the conclusion that Thailand might be the perfect place for a hedonist making the most of his life but not for someone who has a family to feed.

P.S. What do you mean by 'living like a teenager'? When I was a teenager and in my early 20s, I was spending most of my time reading books and riding my bicycle.

Oh sure you "can live" of of 10K - 105K baht etc etc. But you can not have a 25+ft sport fishing boat, fuel it, bait it, and have all the gear you need to enjoy such a hobby. In other words, you get to live life, but you don't get to enjoy life. Not unless you find sitting around under a house/porch swatting musqiutos and listening to the in-laws yapping away about things that could fascinate a 4 year old.

So this is why I contend you have to have "big" bucks here to be able to afford the things that brought you joy in your home land.

(not necessarily food)

Thanks Jack, (Of course my first correction was said in jest, thats about humour, jacky, I know something you don't understand that well. It must be hard for a man whos got a fist up his rear cavity to laugh )

You are correct, Oz has done away with death taxes, I put that one in because it sounds good and I wanted to see if you were on your toes. Having said that, they didnt really do away with death taxes, they just renamed them . Lets not forget at the rate your mate Kevin Rudd is handing out free cash, taxes are going to be jacked up in the future to compensate for it and you might just find the old death tax raises its ugly head again.



This post has been edited by neverdie: 2009-11-08 08:13:07

Daewoo, I find it interesting that on a thread about costs in thailand, that the statistic regarding Highway Patrol Police in NSW would come up

Since your raised the point, you say that there are 900 HWP police to cover an area of 801,600 square kilometres. If you take into consideration that each of those police officers only works 76 hours per fortnight and also has approximately 7 weeks holiday leave to take each year, consider time off the road for training, court appearances and finally paperwork then look at the amount of kilometres square that you mention, then I'd be surprised if you actually bumped into one of these nasties out on the roadway

As opposed to thailand when the boys in brown litter the roadways and then want to extract money from farang using just about every trick in the book .

Id rather take my chances in Oz.

Almost everything is cheaper in Thailand.

Even western food is cheaper if you know where to look.

you never had 2 beers? you dont know what you missing

Because I reckon there arent too many wives/girlfriends out there willing to dress up as uni students in thigh boots and have a crazy 5 way lesbian dildo orgy while you watch dressed as a headmaster in a gimp mask before leading the Golden Retriever in on a daily basis

Good answer!

donmac delusional if you think not going pay LOL you will "pay" one way or another. Have seen young brad pitt types crying in their beers

This thread is veering dramatically to the specifics of prostitution.  Posts have been deleted and with any further such posts, warnings/suspensions will be handed out and the thread closed.

And you are correct. Many enjoy activities that Thailand can provide but only at a steep price. It sounds like you are the adventurous type that gave it a go and probably know when to call it quits. At the same time, many of us enjoy Thailand with all its shortcomings.

Right! Not until governments include the pricing structures in their COL index calculations at least.....

How long is a piece of spaghetti? I compared costs to live as an expat in Mexico, circa 2000, yesterday. The other guy paid about 5 times what I paid. Thailand is cheaper than Houston.

road-kill is OK!

where else can you buy your groceries and a Maserati in the same shopping center and pay 30% more than back home?, oh and pay 30k$ for a nice amp, speakers extra and then have a bowl of som tam acrros the road for 15 bht . There is something for everyone here except money, Its hard to get . If you live like a farang how would you sustain the lifestyle? excluding retirees. Villa alone is double the price so there is zero advantage living as a farang in Thailand. It would be a huge disadvantage

Fair point... I put the statistic in more to describe the size of Australia, which I know many of our Pomgolian friends can't fathom...

I am pretty good at avoiding speeding fines, but it seems one every other year is pretty standard... noting that a standard roadside ticket is Thailand is about 200THB, you would need to be fined about every week to pay the same every two years...

I reckon that one could swing either way... especially the way I drive ...

Daewoo