40K enough to move to Thailand for good ??????

[Guest]

Hi,

 

>>>>>Saying a Thai makes x means that a farang can survive on y is like saying that because Inuits live in the arctic and survive off the land Joe average city dweller can do the same.

 

It's an irrelevant argument. Thais have a familial and cultural support structure that allows them to survive on as little as 3000 Baht a month or get by when the money is not there. Their friends and family pick up the pieces<<<

 

Not so sure about this.

 

My G/F lives on 12,000. 5,000 baht for Apt., shared 3 ways. Left more than enough for us to live on for almost 1 month, which we did do. We were happy, ate good, and wanted for very little. Saw movies, bought beer, etc. Far from impossible, which is what I think some are saying here.

 

Believe me, I'm used to spending well over $US100 per day, not including hotel. I've probably spent $US40,000 there, in the last 6 years, just on partying.

 

But could also be very happy making 30,000/month there, if have the right woman. I've been very happy, on a lot less than that, there. As far as structural support from family being able to make it work?

 

Just the opposite. Is G/f who is expected to provide the support to family, not the other way around. Wanna live like a King, then need to set certain guidlines, to be sure. But don't say a farang cannot be happy there, under a certain amount of baht. We all have different requirements for happiness.

 

For some of us, there are some things more important than just money!

 

HT

[torrenova]

Whatever Thais earn is not important. The fact is that westerners cannot live on the same low amounts as the Thais.

 

You cannot compare XYZ amount for a Thai with ABC amount for a westerner.

[torrenova]

Fidel said:

Well, I don't spend much and I do profitable privates. My Saturday classes net about 14,000 baht a month for 6 hours each Saturday.

I think that is the difference. Working 24 hours for Bt14,000 = USD 338 or GBP 186 is Bt583 per hour whereas the normal month of say 40 hours a week for Bt30,000 works out as Bt188 per hour.

 

Means you don't get much free time I suspect though.

[Brink15]

My G/F lives on 12,000. 5,000 baht for Apt., shared 3 ways. Left more than enough for us to live on for almost 1 month, which we did do. We were happy, ate good, and wanted for very little. Saw movies, bought beer, etc.

 

If I'm understanding you correctly you are saying that your GF's 12K was your sole source of income during that 1 month period. You indicate rent was 5K split three ways which means two people other than you and your GF were sharing the cost. So in essence you were able to live comfortably in an apartment with your GF and at least two other people and had about 10K in spending money for a month after rent. Correct?

 

During this month did you have to replace any clothes, shoes, purchase any major items for the apartment? Did you do a visa run using any portion of that 10k?

 

Yes, it can be done. If you live like a Thai, with other Thais. I know because I've done it myself. Not for one month but for two years.

 

The difference is that for the average foreigner who does not want to live in a very basic room or share an apartment with a group, who can't get Thai healthcare at Thai prices, who doesn't have Thai family to turn to if the money runs out before the next pay day, who likely won't get the Thai price on goods or services at the level Thais use to survive, that person just isn't going to make it.

 

But that isn't the real debate here. The OP didn't ask if he could survive on Thai wages. MM made an irrelevant comparison to imply 30K is a good salary.

 

The bottom line is yes you certainly can live on 30K/month but your quality of life might be radically different than you might have imagined.

 

When I lived in Phuket I was living on less than 20K per month. I rarely ate at restaurants. I lived in a 2K/month room with a fan. Maybe one of two nights per month I'd go out for a few beers. Never took part in the sanuk scene. Read and swapped used books and had no TV. I was perfectly content because for me this was a chance to get away from the West and experience something different. The question is whether this is the lifestyle one is looking for.

 

If my expectation had been to live as I lived in farangland with a nice two bedroom apartment with A/C and all the amenities, eat out frequently at decent restaurants, party on the weekends, and take part in the sanuk scene I would have to have been making at least 60K+. Not exactly realistic wages for the average scuba instructor or English teacher.

[gummigut]

hehe.

 

First you say, "Ofcourse I will find work and earn a modest salary (I hope)."

 

Then you say, "I will be earning in the region of 50-60,000 baht a month minimum anyway."

 

I'm a bit confused about this.

 

In any event, even if you come over here with a 100,000+ baht a month job, you still need discipline. In my opinion even more than back "home". Plenty of "high" flyers lose the plot.

 

Given the second statement about your minimum earnings a month, I wonder why you even made the first post which asked if the nestegg would "be enough for me to live and stay in Thailand." Seems like a no brainer.

 

<<burp>>

[soongmak]

I'm a bit confused about this.

 

Confused? I'd say pissed off! Why do we always make the mistake to give trolls heaps of good info when we should have said RTFM!

 

No "thanks guys,great info!", omly a dry misinformed "you must have misunderstood". LOL, I guess you are not able to read a 3 line post anymore. Whats there to be misunderstood about "I am hoping to have around 40K US and was wondering would this be enough for me to live and stay in Thailand" anyway?

[jasmine]

[color:"red"] Whatever Thais earn is not important. The fact is that westerners cannot live on the same low amounts as the Thais.

 

You cannot compare XYZ amount for a Thai with ABC amount for a westerner.

[/color]

 

This is true for most Westerners. Hubby and I will spend about 3 months in Thailand this winter. If we just go around town, 1 ballroom dance/week, no alcohol,no major purchase, 15,000 Baht/month seems to be enough (not including housing), however, we do plan to travel so I will say about 60,000 Baht/month just for expenses is confortable.

 

If I just be by myself, 12,000 Baht at the province where my mother is, is just fine for everything.

 

Jasmine

[gobbledonk]

Why do we always make the mistake to give trolls heaps of good info when we should have said RTFM!

 

Cmon Soongmak, you know as well as I do that the only post that will get more replies than the old 'how can I retire *really* cheaply in Thailand' chestnut is 'where can I get a BBBJ for $US5 ?'. It's tragic, but thats the way it is.

[Brink15]

'where can I get a BBBJ for $US5 ?'

 

 

So are you going to tell us, or what?

[gobbledonk]

Based on our original poster's lack of financial planning, he may well be giving BBBJ's for considerably less than $5 after a few months in the LOS ::

 

Has anyone heard the tape of Tim 'The Tool Man' Taylor's standup gig where he tries to get a laugh from 'What if a guy could give his buds a blowjob ?'. Delivered to the right audience, this would have had them rolling in the aisles, but poor old Tim's 'Home Improvement'-style audience were clearly shocked - you can hear a pin drop on the audio. Some people simply dont find the prospect of men giving oral sex funny, but mention someone's sister or mother and its a whole other kettle of fish .....