sign

What sort of life would a 30 something have in Thailand taking home say 1600.00 BAHT aweek after tax.No kids, no wife, no smoke, no gamble, drink say go out four nights, maybe a few bottles of wine the other nights, eat out every night and day maybe. Renting a two bedroom furnished house. Maybe need a car to get to and from work, living in Phucket. Affordable or not, need more or not. Thats about £400 aweek in Blighty, you have a good life here, same in Thailand.

Bijilo123

The economc situation you describe would allow you to achieve a magnificent lifestyle. You would need to take care of exchange rate differences if your money is in Sterling but that is not too much of a problem.

English lessons are quite cheap in Thailand too.

Good luck!!

Alexor

If you mean 16,000 baht (around 400 quid) per week then you will have a very nice lifestyle.

Is that what your job in Phuket will pay?

sign

Got it all wrong with the exchange rate, it will be 18,000.00 Baht per week, rising every year in line with UK Rpi index linked.


No job really. Investment return and capital depreciation on monies based in the UK. Just spending what i have until its all gone, cannot take it with you.

So in Phuket it out every day and night, drink every night out and about, rent a two bedroom fully furnished place, pay all bills etc, use public transport i reckon. Fill my time fishing, watersports, diving etc. Maybe even take on a girl friend, nothing serious though. Can i stretch to all that for the next 20 years?

andrewrh

Head the warnings of others (check out older threads) and don't be fooled into giving large sums away to a pretty girl.

Bijilo123

Don't bother with the negative attitudes - just think of the marvelous time there for the next 20. Actually the girls there are dead cert genuine!!

Good luck, I'm jealous!!

ArnoldBlack

without a steady gf 16k baht a week is plenty.

GraniteGuy

....but with a "steady" girlfriend - all bets are off

buspilot

For comparison purposes, Thai immigration will require an income of approx. 45,000 baht per month for a family visa, or 85,000 per month for a retirement visa.

GeoffSimmons

[QUOTE=sign;8830264]What sort of life would a 30 something have in Thailand taking home say 1600.00 BAHT aweek after tax.

I'm retired and live in Bangkok. Been here 30 years. If I go out drinking and eating for an evening, I invariably spend at least 1000, probably 2000 or more. That's on food and drink, and being very conservative to the point that people think I'm a cheap Charlie. Other costs are taxis, an occasional drink for friends or for a girl. If I were to be tempted to go off with a lady, which often happened when I was your age, but I can't afford now, then it would add up to at least 5000 Baht. I pay about 12000 a month to be a member of a decent sports club, which I could not get by without. The cheapest flats are about 6000 baht a month. If you want to live a good life in Thailand, and importantly, be respected by other expats, you should be thinking of an absolute minimum of about 2000 a day expenses, 10000 a month rent, and a club on top. That's over 100,000 baht a month. Even then you will find that lots of other things happen. Funerals weddings. You will be expected to contribute. And then your health insurance and some spare to pay your way out of inevitable trouble. Do you need a car? By teh way you will need enormous resolve not to get involved with the ladies, which will drain you faster than you can possibly imagine.

discobay

That's marriage for some of us.

Dude, if you're going to blow your dosh on sowing your seeds you may not need to last 20 years.

Millhouse

mate, go for it. At least you can say, I've spend all my money on women, booze and cars... the rest I wasted.

britishbull

72,000 baht a month - take 12k off for studio apartment rent and that leaves 2000 baht a day, which is just enough to have great fun with the gals as well as eat and drink. If you are going to stay for ever I would recommend buying a condo because rent will increase over time and take an ever large chunk of money out of your income

lastresort

How's the expat community there? Is it a nice place for a single, western woman? I assume the best city would be Bangkok. Any other decent cities?

BB, where do you live btw. You seem very informative.

GeoffSimmons

Bangkok is getting easier to live for expats, but it's still tough getting around the concrete quagmire. The culture gap is enormous, and seems to get bigger the more you learn about it! A lot depends on you. Life is 100 times better if you learn the language, but it's enormously challenging and takes years, and motivation can flag due to limited things to read. May I be brutally honest? Most single female expats here soon get fed up with seeing all the male expats dating the very enthusiastic local girls, and move on elsewhere. Also my female expat friends complain a lot about the hassle they get from hawkers and touts on the street which can get tiresome. But it's an individual thing. You may love it here! Places with active expat communities are Bangkok and Chieng Mai. Don't consider the perverts' paradises of Pattaya and Phuket! Hope this is useful. It's based on conversations with many male and female expats here over the years.