Cost of living in LOS

[buffalo_bill]

Sir, although far from beeing able to give a reasonable comment on living expenses in Siam I have been up north with the occasional girlfriend and always have been surprised about cost of living IF you stick to local suppliers and somehow live like the Thai people do. But do you really want that and if so , for how long? And there are health insurance, car, repairs to the house and heaven knows what. It all adds up and the dream of living in paradise with a limited pension from farangland often enough does not work I guess. 

[Coss]

Whilst I agree with the Big Beautiful Bubi in all things, I do vary slightly in this intance with the following codicils:

If one is in Laos,  prices are low, but it is not high class food,  conversley, many things that are a delicacy in foreign climes, like frog legs, are fresh and ubiquitous *

If one has invested over the years, in various projects for an extended family, a good number of these folk, will look after one, often going to (what eurocentric people might consider to be), extremes on one's behalf.

 

* ascertain levels of pesticide use, in general environs.

[Stickman]

On 3/12/2025 at 6:29 AM, Coss said:

I'm thinking, as many are, about the cost of living that seems to be increasing, for a lot of the world, and I'm wondering if a discussion and comparisons with our home countries and Thailand might be interesting.

So I'll post the following with the hope that some Thailand locals can add their comparisons.

On eggs - today I bought some at NZ 40¢ each  or ~ 23¢ US

Also some Pork Belly from Germany at NZ $13/kg or ~ $7.50 US

These are fairly normal prices for us, so whilst the cost of living is worse, it's mainly Electricity, Banks and Telcos and the usual suspects raping a captive population. So much for free market competition. When the major players in any sector, are in lock step, with their pricing, that's a c*nt of a situation.

Coss, where are you getting your eggs? I haven't seen eggs that cheap in my part of NZ! Large, free-range eggs in Hawkes Bay cost me at least $10 / dozen, and sometimes closer to $12 / dozen i.e. $1 per egg. Ok, so these are the best eggs you can get, but still, the price is outrageous.

Wandering around an organic shop yesterday, I saw the same thing here in Bangkok for 90 baht, so about 8 baht (40 NZ cents) per egg. And, like I say, that's for the largest sized organic eggs.

[Stickman]

5 hours ago, buffalo_bill said:

Sir, although far from beeing able to give a reasonable comment on living expenses in Siam I have been up north with the occasional girlfriend and always have been surprised about cost of living IF you stick to local suppliers and somehow live like the Thai people do. But do you really want that and if so , for how long? And there are health insurance, car, repairs to the house and heaven knows what. It all adds up and the dream of living in paradise with a limited pension from farangland often enough does not work I guess. 

Yes, if you live like a Thai then the cost of living in Thailand is very low. The challenge is that most of us crave a few comforts from home and that is where prices can soar.

"Limited pension" is probably the key point you make. If you have enough of a pot (and not too many years to live), you can have a good life. Too many seem to have limited funds and that's where the problems start.

I said to the Mrs that owning a property and having 1 million baht per year (around 80,000 baht / month) to spend should be plenty to have a nice life in Thailand. Yes, of course you can do it for much less, but I think that's a reasonable middle-of-the-road guide.

[Coss]

1 hour ago, Stickman said:

Coss, where are you getting your eggs? I haven't seen eggs that cheap in my part of NZ! Large, free-range eggs in Hawkes Bay cost me at least $10 / dozen, and sometimes closer to $12 / dozen i.e. $1 per egg. Ok, so these are the best eggs you can get, but still, the price is outrageous....

Admittedly that  was  a 'loss leader' tray of 30 eggs @$12 in the supermarket entrance

[think_too_mut]

On 7/29/2025 at 8:57 AM, Stickman said:

Yes, if you live like a Thai then the cost of living in Thailand is very low. The challenge is that most of us crave a few comforts from home and that is where prices can soar.

"Limited pension" is probably the key point you make. If you have enough of a pot (and not too many years to live), you can have a good life. Too many seem to have limited funds and that's where the problems start.

I said to the Mrs that owning a property and having 1 million baht per year (around 80,000 baht / month) to spend should be plenty to have a nice life in Thailand. Yes, of course you can do it for much less, but I think that's a reasonable middle-of-the-road guide.

I think, 1,000 THB a day is enough. Eating from the nearby Thai food market, no meal above 100 THB. Even in the cluster of sit down restaurants where Thai office people in business attire,  come for lunch is like that. With 1,000 THB per day, allows a couple to have 2 beers  each (from 7-11). at home with a great view.
We are not in western restaurants, we own our condo, no rent, just settling in Thai as retirees.
Our lawyer, a great Thai lady educated in Boston, USA, said, with no children (our child is a student in Australia) 50K THB is more than enough. That is less than what my pension money is.
That is not the only money we have, we will buy a car (we have parking spot).