Monthly cost of living (Sukhumvit) ?

[..]

but there is a fundamental contradiction when someone claiming to be on a fat expat salary tells me I paid too much for a girl. There is an old saying in business about customers who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

But you are just proving that mate. Overpaying fucks it all up for everyone -- the whores then expect that and will hold out. More clueless tourists come and pay what they ask without negotiation. Hence the price goes up for no reason at all except for ignorance. The average wage for a non-educated Thai worker is about B8000/mo (being generous). So why is some uneducated farm girl whore's pussy worth a weeks wage (that would be ~B1900) for one night? Especially when it is so easy to get laid for free. Not buying it. Would you pay ~A$700* for an evening with an Aussie whore? I didn't think so.

 

Whether you like it or not, those expats are not the evil ones, and have your best interests in mind, if for no other reason that they coincide with their own interests.

 

Cheers,

SD

 

* -- assuming an uneducated Aussie grunt makes ~A$40k/yr (i.e., 40k/52=769)

[Mekong]

 

Cheers,

SD -- knows enough to think of his retirement years, unlike most Thais...

 

SD,

 

This is the point I am trying to make but it seems lost on a lot of farangs as well let alone Thais, it is not about what you spend this month next month or next year it is about how to maintain the lifestyle once you retire.

 

Lets take a hyperthetical 35 year old farang planning to retire at 60 and can live comfortable on 60,000 / month. Even forgetting index linked inflation he would need 10,200,000 banked by the time he was 60. In order to generate such an income by that time (based on 7% AER offshore rates) means banking 20,000 a month in such an account for the next 25 years so now the 60,000 required to live now becomes 80,000.

 

[color:blue]And as for 300,000 baht a month, as you mentioned the vast majority of farangs do not have the capacity to earn anything near that in their countries let alone Thailand. I'm sure most people would be quite happy living in Thailand on 100,000 baht a month[/color]

 

Simie, all I can say then is that I am glad that I am in the minority then. No one would work for 27.50 GBP / hour in my game the going rate in the UK is more like 35 GBP / hour or 380,000 / month, Middle East is more like 47 GBP / hour and since it is a 10 hour day 6 day week there that is approx 750,000 / month. As I mentioned earlier in order to have an income of 100,000 a month I am looking at needing 375,000 EU "working" for me at the time I decide to hang up my slide rule.

[samak]

i do not think that 375'000 Euro is enough for me to retire early.

of course it would depend at what age. i also think that you can not calculate realisticly with more than 3-4% average annual return in the long run without taking serious investment risks looking at the fucked up stockmarkets. and then there is inflation!

then of course i would have to pay everything myself, what today my employer is covering like

- the 200 sqm (not 250, i am pretty modest towards my employer)apartment with all the facilities

- car

- social security, insurances

- 3-5 flights in biz class per year back to good old europe

etc.

on the other side i also think i could live happy within the mentioned 100k THB a month but of course had to cut on some stuff i am used to like

- my yearly ski vacation in Europe

- keep up with friends who think spending 1000 usd per day on vacations is just fine

- flying biz class

- crazy nights out in LOS

etc.

[FreeTime]

Once the cost of accommodation is under control you can create a good lifestyle for yourself. For the past two winters I have rented a serviced apartment off Sukhumvit Soi 50. It is similar to a modest hotel room, with a fridge & TV. On Nut BTS is 3 minutes away by motorcyle taxi. My cost is 8500 Baht per month. This allows me to eat out 3 times a day and drink more beer than I ever have in my life without breaking the bank. I think the above costs me 50,000 Baht a month. Not sure how much I spent on my Thai lady over the winter, but still quite affordable.

[gobbledonk]

Not buying it. Would you pay ~A$700* for an evening with an Aussie whore?

 

I'm not up on the current rates for callgirls (forget streetwalkers - even the Soi 4 katoeys arent on a par with that junkie trash, IMO), but I'd be extremely surprised if spending the night with one didnt cost an exorbitant amount. I seem to remember seeing a figure of $150 per half hour, and I'm sure that would go up sharply if you gave her the same laundry list punters go to Thailand with.

 

Move up the ladder and it gets truly ridiculous.

Give this lot a call and ask them how much it would cost to spend an evening with one of their whores (they have Thais on the payroll):

http://www.atouchofclass.com.au/

 

Even if it was $50 an hour, I wouldnt pay in Oz. My earliest experiences with our hookers turned me off them for life - only the Vietnamese Sex Robot can top them for monotony. YMMD.

 

Finally, nothing I do in that first 5 days is goin g to stop fresh faces from paying what the girls ask - I know its low season, and I'll use that to my advantage, but it will be more about ensuring that a girl delivers can put a tick in my somewhat demanding list of 'services' than haggling over a hundred baht. To those of you who see the Soi 4 girls as sub-par, even 500K will seem like 'too much', but thats less than the barfine in some of the BKK bars. Thats after they have cranked up the checkbin for your ladydrinks. Up to you, but I think I'm getting better overall value on any given night - how many of you have BGs agree to stay till dawn for 1K and a couple of beers ? If you can get a Soi Cowboy girl (not a regular who i s prepared to cut you a deal) to halve her asking price from 3K to 1.5, you still have to pay the barfine.

 

To date, only one of the Soi 4 freelancers has said 'no problem' to all of my, ahem, 'needs' and that makes her worth every baht IMO. As for getting it for 'free', I think the board has had that debate enough times and the consensus seems to be that we are paying to ensure that they leave the next morning. YMMV.

 

 

 

[dullnight]

Actually in some parts of old Europe, a night with a call girl costs closer (sometimes over although I don't partake at such rates) to a month low wage than a week's, it seems to be the germans who really got it easy.

 

Not following this kind of reasonning, if I'm in Burma and can make the girl happy (who made me happy) with a tip worth over a month wages, why really care how the market will react ? I prefer giving her than any NGO. In BKK 3 to 5K is quite standards in a bunch of establishments as well, I wouldn't worry too much about that.

[simie]

Overpaying fucks it all up for everyone -- the whores then expect that and will hold out. More clueless tourists come and pay what they ask without negotiation. Hence the price goes up for no reason at all except for ignorance. The average wage for a non-educated Thai worker is about B8000/mo (being generous). So why is some uneducated farm girl whore's pussy worth a weeks wage (that would be ~B1900) for one night? Especially when it is so easy to get laid for free. Not buying it. Would you pay ~A$700* for an evening with an Aussie whore? I didn't think so.

 

Whether you like it or not, those expats are not the evil ones, and have your best interests in mind, if for no other reason that they coincide with their own interests.

 

Cheers,

SD

 

* -- assuming an uneducated Aussie grunt makes ~A$40k/yr (i.e., 40k/52=769)

 

SD, we might not agree on how much is actually required to live the good life in Thailand but I'm totally with you on this one. Personally I think the "scene" in Thailand has been more or less fucked right up over the last few years by the change in attitude of a large number of the tarts. Brought about largely IMHO by clueless twats throwing money at (often surprising unattractive) Isaan whores for doing basicly nothing, let alone actually having sex!

Simie.

[simie]

 

Simie, all I can say then is that I am glad that I am in the minority then. No one would work for 27.50 GBP / hour in my game the going rate in the UK is more like 35 GBP / hour or 380,000 / month, Middle East is more like 47 GBP / hour and since it is a 10 hour day 6 day week there that is approx 750,000 / month. As I mentioned earlier in order to have an income of 100,000 a month I am looking at needing 375,000 EU "working" for me at the time I decide to hang up my slide rule.

 

Mekong, glad to hear your personal retirement plans are on track. But of course I was talking about the majority of people on the more normal salary ranges. As you know having said you are from a humble background yourself these things are all relative. The sort of hourly rates you quoted for people working in your industry in the UK would seem wonderful to most people but small change to an even smaller minority?

Simie.

[The_Munchmaster]

....Brought about largely IMHO by clueless twats throwing money at (often surprising unattractive) Isaan whores for doing basicly nothing, let alone actually having sex!

Simie.

Teddy. Anything to add?

 

[drogon]

Mekong you are cruel

Why my wages per hour are 10£less than yours???

 

 

Maybe am I too young?