Why are so many expats leaving Thailand?

[flyingtlger]

I fell in love with Thailand when I first visited 20 years ago.

In the last 5 years or so, so many changes have occurred including inflation as well as immigration laws that make it very unattractive to live in the Thailand.

Just the other day I went to top off my Rabbit card at a BTS station and they asked for my passport.

I think immigration's and the government is taking it too far....

As much as I love Thailand I think I will be moving on to greener pastures.

[BritManToo]

5 minutes ago, flyingtlger said:

In the last 5 years or so, so many changes have occurred including inflation

I've not noticed much in the way of inflation.

What items do you think have gone up?

 

The room I rented 10 years back at 5k/month is still the same price.

Petrol is now 26bht, it was 32bht.

A kilo of bread flour is 32bht, same as it was back then.

[KittenKong]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I've not noticed much in the way of inflation.

What items do you think have gone up?

Anything involving alcohol or tobacco.

Most restaurant prices.

Almost all imported individual items, with the exception of commodities which have an internationally fixed price.

[Joe Mcseismic]

Yes, a few expats leaving, but, no one mentions the expats that are still moving here to retire.

[wgdanson]

4 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Anything involving alcohol or tobacco.

Most restaurant prices.

Almost all imported individual items, with the exception of commodities which have an internationally fixed price.

Same as in UK.

[NanLaew]

The basic, LOCALLY PRODUCED stuff at meat, fish and vegetable markets has all increased markedly since 2014. This, along with the junta's drive to eradicate street foot, has forced many local, neighborhood restaurants that were making a sustainable living and serving good food to eventually shutter. This exacerbated the already unchecked ability for landlords to rack up rents when they saw a tenant's restaurant business doing well. Coincidental with this manaipulation on how the local people spent their money on food or chose to dine, the 7-eleven's and Family Mart's started offering more and more pre-packaged, pre-processed, Thai-style, microwaveable and basically unhealthy 'TV dinners' that notably are the same price as they ever were.

[transam]

2 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Anything involving alcohol or tobacco.

Most restaurant prices.

Almost all imported individual items, with the exception of commodities which have an internationally fixed price.

Booze and smokes still cost peanuts here, have a look in farangland at the cost of a pack of smokes, UK is around 10 quid whereas here 60bht...

[mstevens]

Expats are leaving due to general disenchantment. There are many reasons and they vary from person to person.

 

Prices are going up and for those who rely on money from home, exchange rates mean you get much less baht than before - you're hit with a double whammy. When you factor in both price increases and exchange rates, for many, costs are up 30%+ in less than 2 years.

 

The attitudes of urban Thais are changing, in my opinion. Where once they pursued sanuk, now they seem more concerned with making money than having fun. (Can't say I blame them but it does make the place that little bit less alluring.)

 

I think there is more awareness of many of the issues that Thailand faces such as very bad pollution in many places and fruit & vegetables with high levels of pesticides.

 

The visa situation has not helped a lot of people who have existed in the margins.

 

But for me, there was another factor. Home has become more cosmopolitan and there is more happening. I can watch my favourite sports - not just on 24 hour sports channels but I can go to the stadium, I can go to the library and borrow the latest novels at no cost, I can get better coffee for half the price, when I walk in to a cafe / restaurant almost every dish appeals to me.....and I could go on and on. It's not just that Thailand changed, it's that I realised the lifestyle I lead means I'd be better off at home in Thailand because like so many foreigners in Thailand, I didn't really live like a Thai at all. I get the feeling more realise they might be better off back home.

[NanLaew]

2 minutes ago, transam said:

Booze and smokes still cost peanuts here, have a look in farangland at the cost of a pack of smokes, UK is around 10 quid whereas here 60bht...

Booze, namely locally brewed and bottled beer is comparatively expensive here compared with other countries in the region. It's a state-sanctioned monopoly. Wine is ridiculously high priced, they re-jigged the duties on imported alcohol products that has forced a few importers to either throw in the towel or drastically reduce their range. Lao khao and its variants are dirt cheap.

 

Not a cigarette smoker but I bought a packet of L&M menthol at a 7-eleven for a friend the other day and that was 99 baht. What 'pack of smokes' costs 60 Baht?

[worgeordie]

16 minutes ago, flyingtlger said:

I think I will be moving on to greener pastures.

Where are these greener pastures.......and remember the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

regards Worgeordie

[KittenKong]

Just now, transam said:

Booze and smokes still cost peanuts here, have a look in farangland at the cost of a pack of smokes, UK is around 10 quid whereas here 60bht...

Tobacco may be more expensive in the UK but most alcohol is cheaper there than here (I'm talking about supermarket prices, NOT bar prices which have a large service element added to them). And in southern Europe those prices are generally much cheaper than in the UK.

[puchooay]

I don't know of anyone who has left. 

[RoadWarrior371]

Which country are you from?  Inflation in the US is not standing still either, and taxes far exceed anything Thailand can throw at me.

[VocalNeal]

I know two. Both left because their children needed real education.

[NanLaew]

2 minutes ago, puchooay said:

I don't know of anyone who has left. 

I do. I bought his house.

[Vacuum]

24 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I've not noticed much in the way of inflation.

What items do you think have gone up?

 

The room I rented 10 years back at 5k/month is still the same price.

Petrol is now 26bht, it was 32bht.

A kilo of bread flour is 32bht, same as it was back then.

Salt is also cheap, same as 20 years ago.

[NanLaew]

Just now, VocalNeal said:

I know two. Both left because their children needed real education.

That's a good reason and one more common with the youngish 30-something family. Having lived the dream in LOS then married and started a family, they have twigged that the optimum age for a Thai-educated kid to be parachuted successfully into a formal education back home is between 11 and 13 years old.

[Curt1591]

Gave up drinking and smoking - saved tens of thousands over the years.

 

Most of my frequent eateries have raised price by 5 or 10 baht. My goto khao gaeng just went up 5 baht per entree! 35 baht won't break the bank.

Import goods have gone up everywhere. But, with China devaluating the yuan, there's hope.

 

[transam]

7 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Tobacco may be more expensive in the UK but most alcohol is cheaper there than here (I'm talking about supermarket prices, NOT bar prices which have a large service element added to them). And in southern Europe those prices are generally much cheaper than in the UK.

Smokes cost six times the cost in LOS. But you should be looking at basic living costs like housing, running a car and all the incidentals that folk seem to forget ..In the UK you can't fart without being fined..

[Vacuum]

14 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

What 'pack of smokes' costs 60 Baht?

For example SMS.

[Farangwithaplan]

15 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Tobacco may be more expensive in the UK but most alcohol is cheaper there than here (I'm talking about supermarket prices, NOT bar prices which have a large service element added to them). And in southern Europe those prices are generally much cheaper than in the UK.

Last time I was in Estonia the prices on beer was cheaper than bottled water in the supermarkets. it was very suprising.

 

11 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

I know two. Both left because their children needed real education.

That would be a very important consideration for people with children.

 

[bluebluewater]

I'm leaving in a month for some of the reasons outlined and a couple of reasons personal unto me.

[Curt1591]

In the States, smokes can run between $5 ~ $13 per pack. That's 150 to 400 THB!

And people still smoke!

 

[JimmyJ]

"Why are so many expats leaving Thailand?"

 

You've missed the dozens of threads about this topic for the last 6 months?

[KittenKong]

3 minutes ago, transam said:

But you should be looking at basic living costs like housing, running a car and all the incidentals that folk seem to forget ..In the UK you can't fart without being fined..

I drive for a week every year in the UK and have never been fined. I also did over 12,000 miles in the USA and about 4,000 miles in Europe over the last couple of years and never got fined there either. But that has nothing to do with inflation: it just has to do with sensible driving.

 

Yes, other prices are indeed often higher in the UK: particularly anything that has a large service element. But that wasn't the question. The question was "what prices have increased in Thailand in the last 5 years?" and the answer is as I indicated.

 

[Peterw42]

I notice prices going up every day (Thai wife does and points it out). My usual grab bag of 6-8 things at 7/11, milk, juice, sugar etc. used to cost under 500 baht, now its over 600 baht. The usual trolley of groceries from bigC used to cost 2,000 baht, its now 2,500. just yesterday the usual pack of bacon went from 300 to 320 baht, a knob of butter was 90 baht and its now 110 baht.

Yes you can find some things that haven't gone up (yet) but a large percentage of normal everyday things has gone up by 10-20%.in the last year.

 

As for people leaving, I dont know any, have been chatting to a couple of new arrivals at the condo pool.

[Peterw42]

5 minutes ago, Curt1591 said:

In the States, smokes can run between $5 ~ $13 per pack. That's 150 to 400 THB!

And people still smoke!

 

In Australia they are 1,000 baht a pack.

[BritManToo]

30 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Anything involving alcohol or tobacco.

Most restaurant prices.

Almost all imported individual items, with the exception of commodities which have an internationally fixed price.

All the Thai restaurants around me have been selling food at much the same price for the last 10 years.

If they put the prices up, the Thai wouldn't be able to afford to eat in them.

Do you mean foreign owned restaurants, or restaurants catering to foreigners by any chance?

Alcohol and tobacco have on up due to tax rises, I don't think that counts as inflation.

Imported items should have gone down in price, by 30%.

[FruitPudding]

I think it is more about the strong baht that is hurting peoples' pockets than the cost of things here, except if we are talking about the cost of a good night out around Nana compared to a decade ago, of course.

[KittenKong]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

All the Thai restaurants around me have been selling food at much the same price for the last 10 years.

If they put the prices up, the Thai wouldn't be able to afford to eat in them.

Do you mean foreign owned restaurants, or restaurants catering to foreigners by any chance?

Alcohol and tobacco have on up due to tax rises, I don't think that counts as inflation.

Imported items should have gone down in price, by 30%.

My local noodle shops have gone from 30B to 40B or more over the last few years. The same applies to other similar places. So it's not just farang restaurants.

 

If the price of alcohol or tobacco goes up then I see it as inflation, regardless of why it went up.

 

Imported items should indeed have gone down in price here, but they haven't. With few exceptions they just go up and up.