GreenSnapper

When comparing costs the real issue is quality of lifestyle v price and it is not simply a matter of comparing costs of items against those in the west.   It is also about walking out onto a clean street and expecting the traffic to actually obey the road rules or if you're ill having access to good health care and drugs at minimal cost. Relying on police to actually deliver a service to you and be held accountable if they don't.  Access to a transparent justice system, free libraries etc etc.  These things have also got to be taken into account when assessing cost comparisons.

Most of us lucky enough  to come from a western background are far wealthier than most thais even if we have little money.  For most of us if worst comes to worst, we can return to our home countries, receive unemployment benefit and access cheap housing.  Yes, I know its not perfect there either, but we are inherently wealthy by virtue of our birthright.

brit1984, on 2012-05-23 05:55:29, said:

I can have an amazing large 2-3bedroom apartment downtown Montreal for anywhere between 25 to 45k baht(even right next to 5mil $ condos and those apartment would have hardwood floors). I could also rent a full on top quality house with a massive yard 15-20mins by car from downtown(suburb) within walking distance from a top quality hospital, 2-3 schools a park 5times the size of lumpini with bike trails and those bike trails go in the small street to the house which has an 3-4 smaller kiddie parks with lots of small forests just nearby as well. That house would be 45-50k

In bangkok to get similar i would have to live at sukhumvit 101/bangna or worse. As for a house for that price i would only get a run down townhouse next to ekkemai which isnt all that bad but even if it was new it would still be rundown as are all the thai houses under 30mil baht. Cheap material and bad labour.

Also in montreal which is one of the most loved city in the world, my fresh food would be a lot cheaper if i cooked it myself. Better quality for a price cheaper than the horrible pork and beef they sell here. Just drive by costco once a month and stack up.  Eating out? Khao pat on the street is equivalent to a steamed hotdog. Both are kind of bad for you but have all the major nutrition. There's the cheap meat, veggies(onions and salad+relish) and carbs from the bread. Some in their fantasy world think that khao pat and similar thai food is healthy but its not when it cost 30baht. It's filled with MSG, bacterias from badly washed cookware, dirty amounts of oil and dirty ingredient full of illegal pesticide, also white rice is way worst than anything else. Also montreal is home to many cheap delis, you can get 85-120 baht small meals at any superstore that are made fresh with GOOD ingredient everyday as the canadian country is moving towards everything 'Healthy' those small fresh meal at the fresh counter are way more nutritive than the 5calories you get from thai food mxied with 400 calories of rice put on top of it.

For partygoers, montreal costs the same price to party out except the girls will be free and if you cant get one theres a nice corner where they dont look that bad and they dont cost much more than i see old men paying in thailand anyways. Every kid from the usa and rest of canada visit montreal to party when they have a free week or more. It's one of the best affordable city to party.

When it comes to foodies montreal has the most restaurant per capita(bangkok does not have that many most that are not in hotels are just idiots with too much money opening a tasteless kitchen and bangkok on convienience and the lack of taste of many thais when it comes to food). Lots of choices for our friends with fine noses and palate. Lots of vineyards close by.

Is there an other angle you wish to hear about? The only thing more expensive here are cigs but then again everyone who smokes should be put on their own cancer island. House price were higher but now with bangkok and phuket's incredibly retarded prices its pretty much the same but at least you get a real investment and quality in montreal. a house in the suburb of montreal can get to downtown quite fast while a house in the suburb of bangkok will take forever to get to say central world even at 4am.



I say it all the time, major cities in thailand are  a place for parttimers, whoremongers or somewhat crazy people who never fit with society back home. Which is definitely fine, everyone deserves a place but let's not kid ourselves that bangkok is cheaper. Bangkok definately is better than most other large cities in thailand but its still not that great when you really get down to making a list. Better live back home and visit it once a year for a month and do all the few things that you miss.

edit: forgot people love to talk about beer.

If you want to have friends over a good quality beer will cost you 30baht, in thailand that gets you chang or other local crap.  A good microbrew will cost about 3$ to 10$ depending on size and quality.. thats 100-300baht.. the price of a corona in thailand.  Snacks at corner stores(7/11) are also MUCH cheaper in montreal

PattayaParent, on 2012-05-23 08:57:47, said:

Worked in Thailand onshore for a majority Thai owned company for 4 years and earned the same as I would have in Australia. 15 other expats in the same office earning comparable money to home country salaries. The right experience and skills will be rewarded irrespective of the country. I was listening to a bitter sounding young woman being interviewed on the BBC last night and she was lamenting the fact she could not find a decent job even though she had a degree. As the interview progressed it was revealed her degree was in philosophy. I laughed out loud, I mean really when was the last time you saw a vacancy for a philosopher advertised?? Here was this angry young woman blaming the 1% and spouting off all the usual left leaning setiments you hear these days for the fact she could not get a job after wasting 4 years of her life obtaining a degree in philosophy.

Buy in a proper country, not in Thailand.

kerryk, on 2012-05-07 08:36:18, said:

Or a week when you're in a hurry. Obviously large-group activities tend to inflate the numbers.

From one of my friends recently "Your life is like Tiger Woods', but with hotter and much less sleazy girls. And you didn't even have to put in all that practice time on the golf course!"

To which I would add - and without lying to the wife. . .

NaMah, on 2012-05-07 08:17:49, said:

Plenty of BS but I don't see any misogyny, a couple of posters adding some misandry though.

brewsterbudgen, on 2012-05-05 21:21:12, said:

Sorry I'm not **that** interested to read a wall of sociological BS gobbledygook text like that, maybe give a TL:DR summary?

brit1984, on 2012-05-05 22:41:34, said:

I'm more of a coach, mentor, facilitator, I only directly teach them certain topics, and that mostly only in the early stages.

They are certainly not prostitutes, or rather if you think they are then you must think most women are. If they choose to go that route then they have to go out on their own, and a few of the more impatient ones have done so, but fortunately so far seem to have landed their fish early enough to avoid the usual disasters.

They also have the option of bartering other services once they have the necessary skills, but usually at a much lower value per hour. Some of the especially ambitious and clever ones basically end up getting a free ride toward the end, since it is so rewarding to me to see them get ahead without my having to push them.

You might see it as distasteful but I can honestly say no one's getting deceived, manipulated, exploited, deceived here, or at least not any more than the average school or workplace, and certainly less than many "traditional" relationships.

pxlgirl, on 2012-05-03 14:27:41, said:

You know, I've been searching my whole life for a liberated woman that will provide me with money, security, a nice home and basically anything I want for little or nothing in return. Much like searching for an elusive unicorn.

You comments are really very humorous, especially on a Thai centric website where the majority of men are either with or seeking a relationship with a Thai woman. The minute a man tries to reverse the roles, we get replies like yours. Men, after 50 years of being belittled and used by the liberated fairer sex are finally starting to push back on the lopsided dynamic where men give and women receive. You wanted equality and respect, well it works both ways.

richard_smith237, on 2012-04-30 16:14:40, said:

I think that the notion that men pay for everything is what is instilled into the female population from birth and it is worldwide. It's not exactly something that the feminist movement want removed from thier alledged entitlements.  It's not just in the human world either, it also occures in the animal kingdom.  Take the Bowerbird for instance the only cock who is going to be getting any booty is the one with the best nest and the most trinkets (diamonds for women) scattered around.  Hugh Hefner is not exactly getting laid for his charm or boyish good looks.

You are in your mid 20's FFS, live your life and when you are in your mid 30's or even mid 40's then look at some girls in their mid 20's. Don't stuff your life up before it begins.

RUN and have some fun first!

Those who are saying that 20k/month is a good salary for a Thai are not wrong, however a few points:

1. Bangkok is VERY expensive these days. Example. Just went to a local shop for khao-moo-dang. They must have given me only 5 or 6 pieces of meat and the Thai price of 50baht. This is not even remotely filling and you can only imagine the profit margin and applicable rent. In the last few years especially inflation is rampant and Bangkok is spinning out of control. You look in the shopping malls now and they are selling bubble tea for 75 baht. The same thing sells outside on carts for 10 baht (though you are more likely to get sick). My wife has commented on how much more expensive everything has gotten.

2. Yes, you can get by on 20k a month but it is not like you are going to have a good life style. saying stuff like "Thais get by on less" is just silly. Yes, sharing a crappy studio w/ 2 friends and only taking buses and breathing in blame fumes on the way to and from work is a cheaper way to live but that way of life sucks.

This stuff about, well a farang cannot survive on 20k a month but Thais sure can... It's a lie. Thais are not happy to live this "cheap" life style, it is that they have no choice.

Soutpeel, on 2012-04-30 16:50:53, said:

Those people driving BMWs and Mercedes are paying a couple hundred thousand dollars each and people paying 42k/m for serviced apartments are a tiny minority.  Not even the 1%, they are smaller than that in Thailand.  Thailand has 65 million people however so there are still a lot of them.  The vast majority of people in both Thailand or the US couldn't dream of paying Thai prices for those BMWs and Mercedes you see driving around in traffic.  Mercedes last year sold a total of 2,710 vehicles in Thailand, out of about 800,000 total vehicles sold in the country.  And most people are still driving motorbikes.  So they are a TINY minority.

20k/m is a solid middle class salary in Thailand, especially for a young single person who has no children or family to support

It is a highly sophisticated form of humour which many fail to understand riddled with double meanings and cutting edge political satire.  I hear that it takes many years of training to be able to reach the exalted status of 'boing' man who does the additional sound effects to provide the extra cues needed  to ensure that those that are less enlightened to the subtlety of thai humour know when to laugh.

it's so hot, yellow shirts are standing next to Yingluck just to be close to something shady.