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Crackdown On 'beg-Packers'


Steve
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Jeez, you guys spend 34 million baht a year? :surprised:

 

 

p.s. My family's home in the States is worth something over US$2 million. If we sold it, I guess I'd be skint in no time. Most folks I know in the US would be happy if they owned their own home and had $100,000 in the bank.

 

Er, no. That's not what he said.

 

1 US mil should last the rest of your life, that being around 34 mil baht if you will live another 30 plus years give or take. In other words 1 mil baht per year.

 

If you thing you have another 15 years to go then having 15 mil baht in the bank should be a fair guess at whats needed.

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I would say with inflation that 1 mil baht per year might be about right. As of now I think it could be a bit less.

 

This is something I'm close to taking on. Only significant costs today are kids edumacation. Once that's done with the monthly bills will be all that's left. We live okay, nothing over the top but I think with food, utilities, clothing, various running costs etc we could live quite nicely on around 60-70k baht per month without feeling it.

 

I have about 7 and a half years until my company pension kicks in, then another 2 until my state pension tops that up. With what I saved from 4 years contracting I'm just about ready to scale things back a bit, partly by choice :) , partly no choice :mad:

 

Interesting times ahead

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Er, no. That's not what he said.

 

1 US mil should last the rest of your life, that being around 34 mil baht if you will live another 30 plus years give or take. In other words 1 mil baht per year.

 

If you thing you have another 15 years to go then having 15 mil baht in the bank should be a fair guess at whats needed.

 

 

 

Ah, okay. That makes sense. A million baht a year then. You could live very well on that (as long as you only buy a car occasionally).

 

Make sure your kids get into a "government supported" university, preferably a real one (Thammasat, Chula, Mahidol, Chiang Mai, Kasetsart etc). Even Assumption would do. The rachapats leave a lot to be desired, and the private unies mostly are just money making businesses. (You can study and learn if you want, but you can graduate even if you don't.)

 

For example, the Bachelor in Business programme at Thammasat (all in English) costs no more than the entire four years at a uni in the USA. There are even programmes where you study 2 years in Bangkok and then 2 in Canada, graduating with a degree from both universities. The Faculty of Engineering has that too. I remember one business programme has 2 years in Bangkok, followed by 3 in Paris (studying in English). The students graduate

was a BA from both universities - plus an MBA from the French uni.

 

 

.

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The government supported universities these days are pretty much all closed shop. A 7 figure downpayment can get you entry but unless your kids happen to be 100% straight A and in the top 5% of the national O-NET results they wont be directly offered a place. I don't think my kids will manage that somehow.

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Thammasat isn't bribable. Thaksin found that out when he offer 1,000,000 to the Faculty of Political Science to admit his son. They told him quite bluntly that they don't do that. (He did get him into the Faculty of Engineering, which he hated and dropped out of in his first year.) But Chula and Thammasat are the hardest to get into academically. An exception are the international programmes. One student told me she enrolled in the SE Asian Studies programme because it was the only way she could get into Thammasat. Some classes are in English, others in Thai, and the students have to choose two other Asian languages to learn. (Most take Lao and indonesian, because they are easy.) The students also spend a summer in the countries whose language they've studied. It seems like a fun programme to me. (I taught them several times.) It is good preparation for a job, since being able to speak 3 Southeast Asian languages as well as English should be worth quite a bit in today's ASEAN common market.

 

TU also has a British American Studies programme. This gets you around the nationwide university entrance exam too. (It used to take about 97% to get into Chula, and 95% for Thammasat. I don't know if it's still that hard, since the government keeps playing with the entrance exams.)

 

My wife's niece went to Mae Fah Luang University, which is a government supported university. The reason she chose it was because it's fairly new and not many Bangkok students want to go up to Chiang Rai, so the competition is low. (She's also happens to be from Chiang Rai.) It has a beautiful campus and I'd rate it well above the rachapats, which are really the old teacher colleges dumbed down. All of the retired teacher college archans I know tell me they're disappointed at what the rachapats have turned into.

 

Chulalongkorn does hold about 30 seats each year for the children of the posh or powerful. That's how Thaksin's daughter got into Chula, even though her score on the nationwide entrance exam was only about 83%. A colleague told me he was quite angry when he discovered his grades had been altered at Chula to raise them for the students from prominent families. (One girl waied him and thanked him for her grade. He said, "I gave her a C.") Chula panders to the rich and powerful. Thammasat doesn't, at least not to the same degree.

 

My Thammasat students told me that everyone usually picked Kasetsart as their fourth (and last) choice when they took the entrance exam. It's not as prestigious as the top three (Chula, Thammasat, Mahidol), but it's nevertheless a good university and quite respectable.

 

Assumption is probably the top private uni, though the students are unhappy that they don't receive their degrees from a royal family member. Instead, they receive it from a Catholic brother from India. ;)

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I would say with inflation that 1 mil baht per year might be about right. As of now I think it could be a bit less.

 

This is something I'm close to taking on. Only significant costs today are kids edumacation. Once that's done with the monthly bills will be all that's left. We live okay, nothing over the top but I think with food, utilities, clothing, various running costs etc we could live quite nicely on around 60-70k baht per month without feeling it.

 

 

 

RM

 

Basically the reasoning behind my thought process, yes I do think occasionally.

 

The 70K / Month is 840K p/a would then give one 1.16 Million year 2. Based upon a Hypothetical 5% p/a cost of living increase second year requirement would be 1.05 Million and expenditure of 882K so ahead of the curve so to speak. As long as one is reinvesting a greater percentage than annual cost of living increases it is very doable.

 

My situation, apartment is paid for, only jurassic fees to cough up annually, apart from that, Utilities, Food / Beer / Vodka, Clothing and the latest occasional gizmo (I Like my new gizmos)

 

It all looks very good on paper / spreadsheets, the only unfortunate fact is I need at least another 7 years Contracting, hopefully in Vietnam, to make my dreams come to fruition. There is always a catch!

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It all looks very good on paper / spreadsheets, the only unfortunate fact is I need at least another 7 years Contracting, hopefully in Vietnam, to make my dreams come to fruition. There is always a catch!

 

This is the hard part, isn't it? Just when do you stop...calculating the time / money equation. You don't want to fall short financially, but then you don't want to retire as a frail old man with no energy or drive to do anything. It's the hardest calculation of all to get the balance right on.

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Yep - there's the rub and there is no answer. Those that work until they've built up quite the security blanket only to find their lives mostly spent may regret it. On the other hand those that take the leap, fuck the consequences, and find themselves down, out and broke in their 30s, 40s, 50s, + - will regret this also.

 

What's the solution? You figure that out.... and yeah.

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You never know what might happen. I always think of a good friend who decided to leave Thailand (which he loved) and go work for the Arabs to make his next egg for the future. He hated Saudi, but he was stashing away money in a Swiss bank account. Then after about 5 years in the sand pit, he died in his sleep at age 38! Life really gave him a raw deal. :(

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I thought the statutory declaration was now history, has to be funds in a Thai bank and with docs to show it's there as of submission date and has been the requisite time.

 

Tell me I'm wrong and a stat dec is all that's required?

 

Two friends did it as recent as last week.

 

The "Stat Dec" is still accepted as proof of income, even though it's only acknowledgement you signed a statement. Nothing needed to back it up.

 

I've always wondered why more people don't do this, I suspect the answer is they take advise from people on ThaiVIsa who have no real experience.

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