nonthaburi

Hello everybody in the ME forum. I'm hoping to move over to Saudi next year for work and I'm wondering how things compare with costs for food and stuff like that. I'm not going to include rent, schools in this but I want to know how much people spend on average day to day living for food and going out etc. We don't really go out that much because of the two young children we have but we probably spend about 1000$ a month. Is this enough in KSA or too little or the same or what. Answers on a postcard..........

The Dean

There are one or two people who hang around here (Typical is one, I think) who have experience of both Thailand and the Magic Kingdom, but I cannot believe Saudi will be cheaper..............

jackthehat

WOW what do you eat in Thailand? - That's a fortune!

I can't speak for Thailand, but work on a factor of at least 5x (more expensive) between Philippines and UAE (which should be a similar comparison)

With booze you can work on a factor of 8x or 9x but that will not bother you too much in Saudi.

typical

I've only been a tourist to Thailand, but I think my first question too would be (albeit not quite as shocked-sounding given you're a family of four):

You can easily spend twice that on one's own as a foreigner in Riyadh, but (at a push) you could live on half of that too, as a family, I would say. It depends what your expectations are.

Most expats don't tend to eat at the cheap places in Saudi (or the UAE for that matter). Supermarkets aren't particularly cheap compared to the cheapest restaurants either (much like the Asian countries I've lived in, actually, and I suspect Thailand too). Compound living and eating on-compound / at hotels starts to push prices up...

nonthaburi

You've got to remember that the Thai baht is quite strong at the moment and 1000$ is only 30,000 baht right now. So it's about a thousand baht a day for everything for a family of four , not just food but petrol also and other random stuff that pops up. Milk isn't that cheap here. So twenty quid a day isn't that much really.
Everyone always thinks that Thailand is cheap and in some ways it is. Hotels and rents and electricity and stuff like that, but for food , if you want to eat decent food , and not a 25 baht shitty street food meal , then you will be spending about the same as in the UK. Obviously booze is cheap if you drink in the right places but then it is cheaper in the UK now at supermarkets. Comparing Bangkok to London and a central bar in Bangkok would cost you 4-5 pounds a pint so not that much difference. Of course you can still go to a local restaurant and get a beer for a pound. It just depends where you go.
Been here twelve years or so and although Thailand is still cheap it's not the bargain it once was. Or I've got more expensive tastes now Johnie Walker rather than Samsong.
My wife does most of the cooking at home and we don't really eat out. I take it there are Asian supermarkets and stuff ?
Regarding fruit : what is the availability of mango,
papaya,
lychee,
mangosteen,
durian,
guava,
bananas,
strawberries,
grapes.

Just curious.

Also Thai restaurants, any about ? My wife is a trained chef for foreign and Thai food so we were wondering if she could get any work in a hotel ? or is that impossible?

typical

Well, therein lies the rub. If you prefer not to eat street food in Thailand, I doubt you'll be willing to eat regularly in the canteen-style restaurants in Saudi...

Yes, but catering to the large number of Filipino expats. Other Asian tastes may be more difficult to find.

Canned, most are possible; fresh I'd be surprised for most of them, though you bananas and grapes are certainly possible. I've never seen durian outside SE Asia and there's a good reson for that

There are so few Thai restaurants, the embassy has a list of them on its website:

http://riyadh.thaiembassy.org/thai_restaurants.htm

However in general, foreign women can only work in nursing and teaching in Saudi; she could perhaps get work as a cook to a family, but that'd be tough in a number of ways...

nonthaburi

cheers for that. We tend to not eat out , but eat at home because my wife is an excellent cook. I would rather stay in and eat because it's better. I can do a cheapo meal once a day but in the evening I want something decent.

Take it you're not a durian lover then

From what I hear I don't think I would want my wife with a family.

but you never know.

thanks for the info anyway.

Spugsy

Can I just ask why you are thinking of leaving gorgeous, fantastic Thailand to go to one of the biggest barbaric hellholes on the earth mate?

nonthaburi

money basically. Got a good life here but I've sort of gone as far as I can go here workwise so the plan is to spend a few years in KSA getting some cash together. Hoping to do another degree online while I'm there too as I'm thinking there won't be much to do. With that I can then go on to somewhere a bit mylife friendlier elsewhere in the Arab world for a better paid job. No pain no gain.

Been in Thailand twelve years now so it's time to move on. It's okay here but it does have it's problems just like everywhere else.

Spugsy

Yeah thought as much, fair play - you considered another arab country though? Saudi sounds like hell on earth mate.

nonthaburi

If I was going on my own I don't think I could hack it but with my family I'm hoping it should be okay. I think Saudi at first because I know I can get a job there no worries. Sweat it out for a few years and then somewhere else in the region. See how it goes.

Spugsy

Well good luck fella, keep us up to date on how it goes.