Many expats live in Thailand on less than 45,000 baht a month

[donmeurett]

How do they come up with enough money to renew their visas every year?

 

 

[StayinThailand2much]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Many people would see this as subsistence level for living alone - let alone taking care of a Thai girlfriend, wife and kids.

 

Or, heaven forbid, the extended family.

1. I know many Thai people who live on 4,500 baht or a tenth of the mentioned 45,000 baht. A Thai, regularly spending 45,000 baht a month, would be considered 'rich' and/or 'living an extravagant lifestyle'!

 

2. Why does the foreigner have to 'take care of the extended family'? Are all these family members infirm, handicapped, hospitalised, or simply too lazy to take care of themselves??

[vinegarbase]

26 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

My takeaway is that there is an aging population of farangs in Thailand, and they are poor. 

 

Not necessarily. Just because a person chooses to live a frugal life doesn't mean he is poor. Just because you have money doesn't mean that you HAVE TO spend extravagantly in Thailand. This article almost seems to be some type of propaganda psy ops in order to try to program foreigners to want to start spending more money in Thailand or feel shamed that they are not spending enough in Thailand. No, I won't be tricked. 

 

Live a frugal life my fellow farangs because you never know when you are going to lose big here in Thailand that is unless you got money to burn or money that could not be spent in many lifetimes. Not spending all your money just because the Thai's want you to may come in handy if you are forced to leave one day and start over from scratch in other place.

[david555]

1 minute ago, donmeurett said:

How do they come up with enough money to renew their visas every year?

 

 

how long you are in Thailand ..? never heard about visa agents who borrow short time (24 hours) the needed baht & stamp service for a price ...

[Snow Leopard]

20 minutes ago, Maradona 10 said:

A very clear dynamic here is that most of the farangs with money don't seem to do much, ie most are criminals, or in some cases have gained wealth through stocks and property, but even those types may still be a little careful still as they know it won't last or they may want to leave it behind to family etc where crims just think the gravy train will keep going down that track...the ones that do work are I suppose on salaries between 20 - 100k a month.

 

I resent this comment. Its sour grapes.

I am not a criminal.

I have not had massive stock investments or real estate deals.

I don't have a state pension either.

 

Maybe if you worked hard and stopped pissing it up against the wall you might have enough money and decent income to last you through your old age living in Thailand.

 

Life is full of choices and people make the wrong ones. The problem is that most people live for today and forget about tomorrow and then complain about the people who have done that. I chose not to go down the party 24/7 route. Work hard and plan properly. I have had no gravy train either. Make wise choices. Simple as that.

[suzannegoh]

35 minutes ago, brianp0803 said:

 

 

Many expat over 50 living in Thailand very likely have assets in their home country in excess of a million dollars.

 

 

That's a  good point. Current spending may not be reflective of net worth.

[david555]

1 minute ago, suzannegoh said:

That's a  good point. Current spending may not be reflective of net worth.

That is the main reason to become wealthy or even rich ...

[Lupatria]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

Bit negative in the reporting I thought. After all 75% of us are doing very nicely, Thank You! Two in ten are getting by, with only a fairly small fraction on the floor, or very close. Their numbers are probably fairly accurate, but I personally believe that we should not all be written off as broke, just yet.

...and those who need more can always apply for monkhood. 

[StayinThailand2much]

1 minute ago, vinegarbase said:

This article almost seems to be some type of propaganda psy ops in order to try to program foreigners to want to start spending more money in Thailand or feel shamed that they are not spending enough in Thailand...

Or a creeping sign of things to come: higher requirements for visas and visa extensions. Soon the propaganda ministry will be able to announce that they have (almost) pushed out all the pesky non-Asian foreigners. Heil!

[connda]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

Bit negative in the reporting I thought. After all 75% of us are doing very nicely, Thank You! Two in ten are getting by, with only a fairly small fraction on the floor, or very close. Their numbers are probably fairly accurate, but I personally believe that we should not all be written off as broke, just yet.

Not only negative and elitist (and we thought only Thais engaged in displays of status and one-upmanship), but narrow minded.  So, we answer the survey that we get by on very low living expenses in Thailand.  Why?  Because you can  here in Thailand unlike the West.  This also misses the salient point that many of us live modestly, but we're taking the rest of the funds we earn and either placing them in savings or investing them.  I know people in the West making the equivalent of 150 k to 200 k THB per month who are either living paycheck to paycheck, or are underwater in debt.  And I know people living in Thailand who look like they are living in poverty based on their monthly expenditures, but in reality have a higher quality of living than there counterparts in the West and are banking their extra money to boot. 

"There are lies, damn lies, and statistics!" -- Samuel Clements

[roobaa01]

the survey does not stipulate country of origin, age groups etc. hence makes it not transparent. as for my wife and me both 62 yrs. we are living on 35 k monthly in pattaya. the house was bought in 2008 .  health insurance is 80 k thb annually for both of us paid out of thb 35 k monthly. im not on pension the monthly funds are retrieved from foreign currency td dposits outside thailand. i m living here permanently since 2012 married to a thai for 25 yrs, we own a car isuzu mux.

 

wbr

roobaa01

[david555]

2 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Or a creeping sign of things to come: higher requirements for visas and visa extensions. Soon the propaganda ministry will be able to announce that they have (almost) pushed out all the pesky non-Asian foreigners. Heil!

keep your retirement ext. connected year after year and you keep be "grandfathered " …., there are a few still on the 200 000 baht requirements …(but very old ones ..)

[StayinThailand2much]

8 minutes ago, suzannegoh said:

That's a  good point. Current spending may not be reflective of net worth.

But people who stop working after they earned 20 baht, or spend it right away, never saving for the future, won't understand that. 'Sha-la-la-la-la-la live for today' mentality to the extreme!

[StayinThailand2much]

1 minute ago, david555 said:

keep your retirement ext. connected year after year and you keep be "grandfathered " …., there are a few still on the 200 000 baht requirements …(but very old ones ..)

There's no guarantee that they will continue doing that indefinitely. Also, some members here aren't even 50 yet... ? 

[wombat]

1 hour ago, canthai55 said:

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

that is if a Thaivisa survey is to be believed.

for instant credibility or not...

what did the TV survey say about hilary winning?
 

[StayinThailand2much]

9 minutes ago, Lupatria said:

...and those who need more can always apply for monkhood. 

At least we are not head over heals in household or farm debt like the locals. People who cannot manage their own finances, complaining that expats in Thailand don't spend enough...

 

Coming from people who travel with suitcases full of Mama noodles when travelling to Italy or China! ?

[david555]

1 minute ago, StayinThailand2much said:

There's no guarantee that they will continue doing that indefinitely. Also, some members here aren't even 50 yet... ? 

true no guarantee but always still the rule .,  future can change …. so can also the condo /house company rule , the usufruct , or even the foreign name condo rule …. future is never sure for change ….just comparing those in it ?

[Get Real]

1 hour ago, coulson said:

Didn't know 7/11 paid so well

I guess that is a truth related to how far down you want to go on the ladder that stands for less than, right?

[ross163103]

I wonder what the farangs living on 45,000 baht a month do for health insurance......I guess they don't have any as that's a pretty big expense over here now days. Thailand is not a cheap place to live anymore in my opinion, of course that depends on the lifestyle you choose to maintain.

[wombat]

6 minutes ago, wombat said:

for instant believability  or no...

what did the TV poll say about Hilary winning?
 

 

 

[sammieuk1]

My income falls daily every time Boris the toss pot from the Bank of England or some other muppet opens their gob?

[FritsSikkink]

38 minutes ago, CLW said:

46 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

They have more earners in the same house and considerable debt. So please stop spreading you have a moderate lifestyle on 25k. You compare yourself with Thai minimum wage earners. You have to live (more survive) here because in your home country you would be very, very poor.

Come down from your high horse

Not a high horse a moderate horse. The lowest paid Thai in my company earns 60k a month, others way more.

[AdamTheFarang]

Thais have many more opportunities to work where as Non-Thais are intentionally oppressed and therefore by this fact the few jobs they can do are over supplied and the incomes low.

[suzannegoh]

18 minutes ago, david555 said:

That is the main reason to become wealthy or even rich ...

Different people have different outlooks on that. I know a guy in Chiang Mai who has a liquid net worth in excess of $1M due to an inheritance. He lives in a crappy apartment and claims to spend less than $1K per month on average.

[david555]

5 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

My income falls daily every time Boris the toss pot from the Bank of England or some other muppet opens their gob?

Small price to pay to  get your country  & freedom back ….? ??

[david555]

3 minutes ago, suzannegoh said:

Different people have different outlooks on that. I know a guy in Chiang Mai who has a liquid net worth in excess of $1M due to an inheritance. He lives in a crappy apartment and claims to spend less than $1K per month on average.

must admire him to keep up his life standards...?, keeps him alive and not a target ….

[chippendale]

[cheeryble]

Was this an "answer this survey" thing in Thaivisa.

if so it is nowhere near a random sample it is selective for the age group, type of person and many other factors in those who 

1. Follow TV

2. Are likely to answer a survey. (Counts me out)

[FritsSikkink]

49 minutes ago, BEngBKK said:

WRONG!!!

2 Years ago I worked in BKK, Earn 80.000 / Month, Rented a 2 room appartment (60m2) in a nice middle class neighbour hood, went to  saxephone 1 time every week.
I used about 30000 / Month without thinking about money .........

Sorry.....

What did you pay for rent, health insurance? 

What sort of food did you eat?

Besides the saxophone did you do anything interesting?

[Lungstib]

I manage living here with a wife and a son at university that I still support on under 20,000b a month. The far north is as cheap as you can find anywhere in Thailand, locals are living on 12,000b a month often with one partner full time the other part-time. When I arrived 32 years ago the only option was to live like a local. I still do. The only problem has been having to move further out into the country to avoid the effect of the SUV, whole meal vegan and yoga mat brigade that invaded the town, that became a city, that started acting like California.