How much do you spend per month living on Samui?

[Maha Sarakham]

While it is often asked "How much do you need to retire in Thailand?", I thought I would pose the question a bit differently for those of you who are living on Samui.

 

How much (on average) would you say your lifestyle commands per month living on Samui?

 

Realizing the costs of some items may be higher due to the fact it is an island, do you feel as if you are paying a significant amount more than you would in another place like Chiang Mai or Hua Hin?

 

While I would say a fairly common consensus for a comfortable lifestyle in mainland Thailand is $1,500-$2,500 a month, I'm curious if that number matches up with real life experiences from Samui.

 

Thanks for your participation.

 

P.S.  Alcohol consumption varies greatly from person to person and can heavily skew this number, please provide clarity if you are a drinker or not.  Thank you.

 

 

[khunPer]

2 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

How much (on average) would you say your lifestyle commands per month living on Samui?

It's really a rubber-band question, as we all have slightly different life-styles, and furthermore often need to adjust life-style to whatever is available, which can vary depending of exchange rates and local living costs.

 

$2,000 can give you an Okay retirement life on Samui, i.e. around 60,000 baht a month that nicely sums up close to the 800,000 "recommended" retirement spending by the authorities. You can also live for less, and you can within a blink spend a huge lot more on Samui, even without including female company, but just by your choice of place to live.

 

Without school fees for my teen daughter my basic 2021-budget is 51,500 baht a month, but not including travelling expenses, both domestic or abroad, it's my plain living costs. I'm probably in the category "not a drinker", but I do like a small glass of wine, or two small glasses, to my dinner, and occasionally I share a glass of wine with my lovely girlfriend, so the budget includes some table wine, but we're not a heavy drinkers. However, occasionally a sip of something might happen, but not often. When I'm heading out in the nightlife, I'm a "soft stuff drinker", i.e. I drink non-alcoholic beverage, because I'm the driver...????

 

This brings up another question when comparing with somebody else's budget: transportation!

 

Transportation is important to include in your Samui-budget, as public transportation is limited, and taxis and like are little up-end priced. In my case I have a car, and as it's fully paid only gasoline and insurance, plus a small annual maintenance fee are included in my budget. You could rent and drive a motorbike for the same costs.

 

Another important post is companienship, i.e. a partner in the house can add up in costs, especially if the partner is not providing. I mentioned that I have girlfriend, she has been hanging around pretty permanently for 15 years now, so I presume I'm pretty stuck with her, but I'm that lucky that she also have an income of her own, so I only include a 10,000 baht allowance for her; having somebody hanging around, permanently of occasionally, can easily add 20,000 baht or more to budget.

 

And I also said that you can spend "a huge lot" just by choice of place to live. You can live as modest on Samui as most places in Thailand – and I'm talking pre Covid price levels – an all right modest bungalow can be rented from around 10,000 baht a month within short walking distance to beach, restaurants and local shopping; and cheaper if you have a very modest lifestyle; and if you count about 15,000 baht a month you will a great variety of accommodation to choice from. However you can also spend both 20,000 baht and 30,000 baht a month, and way more – a 2-bed beachfront villa can cost easily 70,000 baht a month – what might be acceptable for me, might be to low standard for you, or you could easily settle with less than me.

 

In my budget is the costs as house owner, and in general the monthly costs are small if you have "invested" in property, so when I use 51,500 baht in basic budget only 13,500 baht are expenses for the house, including electricity and internet. However, for comparison you could rent something for 10,000 baht and use for 3,500 baht electricity and Internet...????

 

My expenses for maintenance of my house is not included in a budget, I don't know what might break down tomorrow and need instant repair...????

 

Finally, what do you eat. If you eat at home it might be cheaper than visiting a restaurant; and how much do you eat; and are you eating Thai-style or Western style, the latter can cost you close to what it cost you in food expenses at home, depending of your home-country, it can also cost more to live Western-style in Thailand. I can make a delicious meal for averag 50-70 baht a person (excluding beverages), but your preferences might be different from mine. An Australian steak might cost 300 baht just for the meat, so it's easy to blow a modest budget if prefers quality beef. I often use a hand rule saying, count 500 baht a day for food for two persons, but it might be too little for some, and more than enough for others.

 

During 15 years full time on Samui my budget haven't changed much, but little lower now for extras than before, due to I got more baht for my foreign currency some years back – actually 25 percent less from when the exchange rates were on top in my favor, which equals having 25 percent less income...???? – so here are my 2021-specifications...

 

• 10,000 baht allowance to girlfriend for her house expenses
• 13,350 baht fixed expenses for house, including electric and Internet
• 15,000 baht house keeping expenses, i.e. 500 baht a day in average
•  4,000 baht transportation, i.e. gasoline + insurance + service for car
•  5,150 baht various insurances
•  4,000 baht pleasure and various other expenses

51,500 baht total a month, i.e. 618,000 baht a year or about $1,700 a month and $20,600 a year.

 

Our total budget as family, two grown-ups and one teen, including school costs, is one million baht a year; but you cannot use that figure to compare, if you don't have a child.

????

[Maha Sarakham]

58 minutes ago, khunPer said:

• 10,000 baht allowance to girlfriend for her house expenses
• 13,350 baht fixed expenses for house, including electric and Internet
• 15,000 baht house keeping expenses, i.e. 500 baht a day in average
•  4,000 baht transportation, i.e. gasoline + insurance + service for car
•  5,150 baht various insurances
•  4,000 baht pleasure and various other expenses

51,500 baht total a month, i.e. 618,000 baht a year or about $1,700 a month and $20,600 a year.

 

Absolutely excellent post KhunPer and very detailed.  Will be very helpful to those curious about Samui COL, including myself.

[huberthammer]

While you are correct in saying that alcohol consumption skews the survey I would argue that there is a much bigger issue when it comes to skewing budgets - food. 

 

The number of people who moved here on the promise that cost of living is very low and that you can live on a small amount like a king only to find out that this is only true if you stick to Thai food only. Farang food (eating in and supermarket) is very expensive and will add a huge discrepancy of monthly cost between people only consuming Thai products and people who indulge in the western food.  Even simple little things like bread or a croissant add up over the course of the month and easy cost as much as you pay for a meal at the local noodle stand for an entire meal.

 

I have given up on scrutinising my expenditures by comparing it with budget of others as this simply does not work here. If you like the odd glass of wine and some cheese and cold cuts you will quickly have spent what others spend on their monthly accommodation. 

 

 

 

[Maha Sarakham]

1 hour ago, huberthammer said:

While you are correct in saying that alcohol consumption skews the survey I would argue that there is a much bigger issue when it comes to skewing budgets - food. 

 

Also very true.  Just taking a survey of the land and seeing how the Samui guys choose to live.  Personally I prefer a good mix of both Thai and Farang food though!

[BigC]

depends  how many ex wife's you have and how many children you have with them.

 

the rest i spend  on massages and new wifes

 

about 1 million baht per month ..plus legal fees.

 

looking for plan b.

 

hiring someone  to knock me off so i can cut down my expenses 

 

now i have new wife every day. all my expenses  are on them

 

i suggest you buy a house and own it through  loop holes 

 

then your accommodation  is sorted for life

 

then food you can buy from makro or eat out

 

if your living on a small budget it will not be fun

[Tropicalevo]

2 hours ago, huberthammer said:

Farang food (eating in and supermarket) is very expensive and will add a huge discrepancy of monthly cost between people only consuming Thai products and people who indulge in the western food.  Even simple little things like bread or a croissant add up over the course of the month and easy cost as much as you pay for a meal at the local noodle stand for an entire meal.

You are correct again, but it need not be too expensive.

 

Yes, Thai food from 35 baht upwards from the noodle stall. 50 baht for pad krapow moo (with an egg) in a local restaurant.

 

For western restaurant food I pay 290 baht for lamb shank with all of the trimmings.  350 baht for a very large Sunday roast. 600 baht for a fillet steak in a lovely French restaurant. (390 baht on Tuesdays.)

Pork or chicken dishes in Thailand are usually much cheaper than lamb or beef.

 

Pre Covid, I would only eat out a couple of times a week for western food and similar for Thai food, although I get quite a few Thai takeaways to eat at home. (At home I have great views and cheap, cold beer.)

 

Western food at home - a large, marinated pork chop from Tops 120 - 150 baht. Throw it on the BBQ with an onion and tomato, air fry some chips. Large western dinner at home for less than 200 baht. baht. The rest of the time it is salads, sandwiches or snacks.

 

But these prices are reflected across most of Thailand. They are not unique to Samui.

Again, if you want fine dining, it is here in abundance and you will pay western prices for it.

 

I have absolutely no idea what I spend every month, but my biggest cost by far is alcohol. I entertain friends a lot and staff have free beer on Saturdays.

I do not pay rent.

Medical insurance is quite high (I am 70 years old). Currently 600 USD per month.

I run a small business and that pays for all taxes, social security, visa and work permit etc.

Looking at khunPer's numbers, I am probably similar overall. I pay more for electricity (9 baht per KWh but I have solar panels) and less on transport as I use a scooter (daily) more often that I use the car (twice a month).

 

• 3,350 baht fixed expenses for house, including electric and Internet
• 15,000 baht house keeping expenses, i.e. 500 baht a day in average
•  4,000 baht transportation, i.e. gasoline + insurance + service for car

 

[lom]

5 hours ago, huberthammer said:

Even simple little things like bread or a croissant add up over the course of the month and easy cost as much as you pay for a meal at the local noodle stand for an entire meal.

 

Hopefully that bread last longer than a single meal..

[khunPer]

4 hours ago, huberthammer said:

The number of people who moved here on the promise that cost of living is very low and that you can live on a small amount like a king only to find out that this is only true if you stick to Thai food only. Farang food (eating in and supermarket) is very expensive and will add a huge discrepancy of monthly cost between people only consuming Thai products and people who indulge in the western food.  Even simple little things like bread or a croissant add up over the course of the month and easy cost as much as you pay for a meal at the local noodle stand for an entire meal.

I feel that I "live as a king" on a small amount...????

 

If you are able to cook, i.e. have the skills and fair kitchen access, and a fridge preferably with freezer, you can live farang-style very affordable – I mainly eat farang food, when I cook myself, my girls mainly eat Thai-style, and they cook themselves, but sometimes they eat my farang-food, and sometimes they also cook delicious Thai-dishes for me, on days when they don't eat too spice; I feel that hot spices kills the taste of the food...????

 

I said that I could in average prepare a meal for 50-70 baht for one person – excluding beverage, but water is cheap if you are a minimal budget – and that's costs for farang food. As I only eat one major meal a day, plus a coffee and a bite of cheese and bread in the morning, I can actually live for 100 baht a day in food (and coffee), and I feel that I'm living very well. The latter however is also caused by the circumstances that I often can enjoy my meal on my terrace and feel that I'm both happy and lucky, and "live as a king"...????

 

I mainly use chicken as meat and buy chicken breast, less then 50 baht for a kilo, and there are about 5 to 7 breasts in a kilo, so meat counts 10 baht or less, a big boob might be enough for two, depending of the dish. Chicken meat is low on fat and always tender meat, and can be used for a lot of dishes, also as steak or sliced as schnitzel.

 

I'm Dane, so I'm double cream fanatic, and it's actually so easy to cook gourmet dishes when using double cream and a selection of various spices, carefully chosen for the dish. A liter of UHT "Master Gourmet" double cream, partly based on vegetable oil and 30% cream, costs just over 100 baht, and is the best choise for a creamy souce, so another up to 10 baht a dish goes for that, when using it.

 

Fresh onions and vegetables are cheap, and frozen vegetables works well for some varieties, so that's another up to 10 baht a dish. Potatoes and pasta however are among the more expensive items, but can still be kept around 10 baht also; fresh made pasta however more. Baguette-style bread I buy from Makro or the local baker, typically around 10 baht a roll. I've invested in a hot air cooker, which is excellent (and cheap in power, I have a Philips but similar Thai brands costs about 1,000 baht in BigC) to make bread crispy as fresh baked, or to make potatoes instead of deep fried, and even barbecue meat.

So 30-40 baht for ingredients plus bit of oil – I prefer healthy coconut oil, which is little more expensive, from 125 to 150 baht a liter, but use very little – and some spices, so 40 to 50 baht. My lovely girlfriend grow a selection of fresh spices in pots, others I buy from mainly Makro; dried spices also works.

 

The 20 to 30 baht I "save" on normal meals goes for more expensive meat, as in some dishes you do need pork og beef, and that costs from 150 baht to 300 baht per kilo, you can actually find excellent beef for around 300 baht a kilo in Makro, including Australian. If you count 150 gram a dish for meat – yes, I know that for genuine beef eaters 150 gram is just a slice on a bread – it's still 25 baht to 50 baht a dish. For a gourmet bolognese beef is preferred (pork can do, depending of spices). 50 baht minced beef meat, 10 baht onions, 10 baht oil, spices and tomato, sums up to 70 baht plus pasta and bread, all together 90-100 baht; and my bolognese is gourmet using my secret spice mix (you can ask for the recipe) plus extra paprika...????

 

I saw that Top's gourmet booth was selling "red wine braized beef stew" for 59 baht per 100 gram and also delicious braized potatoes. Actually Top has a really nice selection of farang-food to bring home, or eat in the shop (they have tables and chairs). 300 gram tender gourmet beef in Makro costs around 150 baht, I counted that my braized beef stew in red wine (I already had an open container, so just a sip), costs about 200 baht to make with plenty for two people (but we did eat it all, and again gained too much weight), so Tops ready made food is quite affordable – and looks delicious – compared to cooking at home, especially if you don't have good kitchen facilities...

 

 

My point is that farang-style food can be affordable, even on a small budget, 500 baht a day for two people, or around 300 baht for one, which is $10 a day, but of course depending of how big meals you need; however, surviving on 50-60 baht Thai street kitchen soups only cost half as much...????

[thasoss]

How longs a piece of string?....so many variables,impossible to average out.

70,000 pm.including rent..bare minimum.I came not to grow old gracefully and to go out with a bang.

[chalawaan]

You could try: numbeo.com for city by city price comparisons

 

[Maha Sarakham]

6 hours ago, thasoss said:

70,000 pm.including rent..bare minimum.I came not to grow old gracefully and to go out with a bang.

 

Fair enough.  Do you feel like you're getting a good bang for your buck living on Samui with the 70,000?  Have you lived in any other city in Thailand or did you go straight to Samui?  I totally understand there are a lot of variables, but that's half the fun of these threads, is seeing how others live and how different budget levels play into their daily lives.  Really enjoying the comments, thank you everyone for participating.

[thasoss]

15 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

Fair enough.  Do you feel like you're getting a good bang for your buck living on Samui with the 70,000? 

It was tongue in cheek reply.But yes when i lived on Samui(going on 9 years) that's what i would spend,sometimes more.......800,000 per annum...immigration very rarely get things right but they have for single O-A visa types like me.

[Maha Sarakham]

It's always incredibly fascinating to me that such a wide variety of people are able to retire to Thailand (even on the same island) and yet have radically different budgets and pension levels.  As we can see from the poll data, the island lifestyle is capable of supporting both those working with a lesser budget and those with a surplus budget.  I would suggest as KhunPer stated that it really depends on what sort of housing you end up in as one of the biggest determining factors so far.  Simple units can be found for 15,000 baht/mo and villas all the up to 70,000 and beyond, it really does make a huge difference in this regard.

[redpill17]

On 5/11/2021 at 8:13 PM, Maha Sarakham said:

Simple units can be found for 15,000 baht/mo and villas all the up to 70,000 and beyond, it really does make a huge difference in this regard.

I've seen brand new apartments in Chaweng for as low as 2,500/mo (with kitchen and balcony) pre-lockdown. For 15 grand you can score a decent place for 1-2 persons, especially right now. Takeaway food from street vendors (in big aluminum pots) is 30-40 baht. Samui is not more expensive than other tourist/expat destinations in Thailand, but yes - luxury segment is also big here, so anyone can find something for themselves.

[Caldera]

I know that Ko Samui is an island, what I didn't realize is that they use a different currency from the mainland, the Samui Dollar.

 

Edited May 31, 2021 by Caldera

[ronaldo0]

Swings and roundabouts. You can live cheaply on 30/40,000 , not too bad on 40/80,000 and above that pretty well unless you are eating in posh restaurants several times a week and renting somewhere at 50/100,000 a month , plus renting a friend and a car ! 
If I go out for a night I can spend between 5/12000 bht over 10 hrs , hence I don’t go out every few days .

[wwest5829]

On 5/10/2021 at 1:37 AM, khunPer said:

It's really a rubber-band question, as we all have slightly different life-styles, and furthermore often need to adjust life-style to whatever is available, which can vary depending of exchange rates and local living costs.

 

$2,000 can give you an Okay retirement life on Samui, i.e. around 60,000 baht a month that nicely sums up close to the 800,000 "recommended" retirement spending by the authorities. You can also live for less, and you can within a blink spend a huge lot more on Samui, even without including female company, but just by your choice of place to live.

 

Without school fees for my teen daughter my basic 2021-budget is 51,500 baht a month, but not including travelling expenses, both domestic or abroad, it's my plain living costs. I'm probably in the category "not a drinker", but I do like a small glass of wine, or two small glasses, to my dinner, and occasionally I share a glass of wine with my lovely girlfriend, so the budget includes some table wine, but we're not a heavy drinkers. However, occasionally a sip of something might happen, but not often. When I'm heading out in the nightlife, I'm a "soft stuff drinker", i.e. I drink non-alcoholic beverage, because I'm the driver...????

 

This brings up another question when comparing with somebody else's budget: transportation!

 

Transportation is important to include in your Samui-budget, as public transportation is limited, and taxis and like are little up-end priced. In my case I have a car, and as it's fully paid only gasoline and insurance, plus a small annual maintenance fee are included in my budget. You could rent and drive a motorbike for the same costs.

 

Another important post is companienship, i.e. a partner in the house can add up in costs, especially if the partner is not providing. I mentioned that I have girlfriend, she has been hanging around pretty permanently for 15 years now, so I presume I'm pretty stuck with her, but I'm that lucky that she also have an income of her own, so I only include a 10,000 baht allowance for her; having somebody hanging around, permanently of occasionally, can easily add 20,000 baht or more to budget.

 

And I also said that you can spend "a huge lot" just by choice of place to live. You can live as modest on Samui as most places in Thailand – and I'm talking pre Covid price levels – an all right modest bungalow can be rented from around 10,000 baht a month within short walking distance to beach, restaurants and local shopping; and cheaper if you have a very modest lifestyle; and if you count about 15,000 baht a month you will a great variety of accommodation to choice from. However you can also spend both 20,000 baht and 30,000 baht a month, and way more – a 2-bed beachfront villa can cost easily 70,000 baht a month – what might be acceptable for me, might be to low standard for you, or you could easily settle with less than me.

 

In my budget is the costs as house owner, and in general the monthly costs are small if you have "invested" in property, so when I use 51,500 baht in basic budget only 13,500 baht are expenses for the house, including electricity and internet. However, for comparison you could rent something for 10,000 baht and use for 3,500 baht electricity and Internet...????

 

My expenses for maintenance of my house is not included in a budget, I don't know what might break down tomorrow and need instant repair...????

 

Finally, what do you eat. If you eat at home it might be cheaper than visiting a restaurant; and how much do you eat; and are you eating Thai-style or Western style, the latter can cost you close to what it cost you in food expenses at home, depending of your home-country, it can also cost more to live Western-style in Thailand. I can make a delicious meal for averag 50-70 baht a person (excluding beverages), but your preferences might be different from mine. An Australian steak might cost 300 baht just for the meat, so it's easy to blow a modest budget if prefers quality beef. I often use a hand rule saying, count 500 baht a day for food for two persons, but it might be too little for some, and more than enough for others.

 

During 15 years full time on Samui my budget haven't changed much, but little lower now for extras than before, due to I got more baht for my foreign currency some years back – actually 25 percent less from when the exchange rates were on top in my favor, which equals having 25 percent less income...???? – so here are my 2021-specifications...

 

• 10,000 baht allowance to girlfriend for her house expenses
• 13,350 baht fixed expenses for house, including electric and Internet
• 15,000 baht house keeping expenses, i.e. 500 baht a day in average
•  4,000 baht transportation, i.e. gasoline + insurance + service for car
•  5,150 baht various insurances
•  4,000 baht pleasure and various other expenses

51,500 baht total a month, i.e. 618,000 baht a year or about $1,700 a month and $20,600 a year.

 

Our total budget as family, two grown-ups and one teen, including school costs, is one million baht a year; but you cannot use that figure to compare, if you don't have a child.

????

Thanks for posting. Always interesting for me to see comparisons. I am retired in Chiang Mai and also spend about one million Thai baht a year (kind of blew the budget on our 3 week trip down and stay in Samui. Wife and teen Stepdaughter like an annual visit to the sea. Stepdaughter introduced to SCUBA ... loved it. 

[crazykopite]

It is claimed that both Koh Samui and Koh Phangan are the most expensive places throughout the Kingdom and having lived on both islands in total for 16 years I would agree whenever I go to the mainland I find it much cheaper so much so all my furniture was purchased in Bangkok and shipped down, a lot of my building materials roof , air con units and all the glass sliding doors also came from Bangkok supplies on the islands are way to expensive just for my aircon units I saved over 50,000 baht yes living on an island maybe paradise but there is a cost to consider and as I don’t pay rent or have kids at school my maximum spend is around $1,500 per month 

[khunPer]

50 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

It is claimed that both Koh Samui and Koh Phangan are the most expensive places throughout the Kingdom and having lived on both islands in total for 16 years I would agree whenever I go to the mainland I find it much cheaper so much so all my furniture was purchased in Bangkok and shipped down, a lot of my building materials roof , air con units and all the glass sliding doors also came from Bangkok supplies on the islands are way to expensive just for my aircon units I saved over 50,000 baht yes living on an island maybe paradise but there is a cost to consider and as I don’t pay rent or have kids at school my maximum spend is around $1,500 per month 

Price for aircons on Samui normally includes "free" installation, same for my brand name glass sliding doors bought in HomePro, and my roof was installed by the major roof-tile supplier for a lower cost than my building constructor could offer, and furthermore it came with a five year warranty; unfortunately the warranty was not worth a lot, the roof has (so far) never leaked...????

 

But yes, in general it costs little more to live on a paradise island, and the life-style is worth the extra surcharge, which after all is relative modest...????

[BigC]

 

 

massage  lady 1000 to 1500 per day 

 

kids 25,000 per month

 

school 200,000 per year 

 

food 1000 per day

 

fuel 500 per day

 

finances 24,000 per month 

 

2 ladies up to 5000. sometimes  1 time per month

 

electric  10,000 per month

 

dog food is cats

 

legal fees 9000 per month

 

house maid / 12500 per month  ( hopefully trying  to merge her into being massage lady to birds  with 1 stone)

 

exercise 3000 baht per month 

 

 

[gearbox]

On 6/10/2021 at 10:03 AM, BigC said:

 

 

massage  lady 1000 to 1500 per day 

 

kids 25,000 per month

 

school 200,000 per year 

 

food 1000 per day

 

fuel 500 per day

 

finances 24,000 per month 

 

2 ladies up to 5000. sometimes  1 time per month

 

electric  10,000 per month

 

dog food is cats

 

legal fees 9000 per month

 

house maid / 12500 per month  ( hopefully trying  to merge her into being massage lady to birds  with 1 stone)

 

exercise 3000 baht per month 

 

 

 

 

Are you mixing  business expenses with  personal expenses? Who pays 9000 baht legal fees per month as a recurring expense?

[khunPer]

On 6/10/2021 at 5:03 AM, BigC said:

fuel 500 per day

Wow, your must be driving a lot, even with my gasoline sucking Chrysler Jeep driven rough I could hardly get it down lower mileage than 4 kilometers per liter, 500 baht equals about 15 liters which means more than one time around the island on the Ring Road in average every day, which of course is possible, but you also need time to spend time to use the 3,000 baht exercise, which presumabloy is some kind of gym fee, and 1,000-1,500 baht on massage every day, which could be up to 5-6 hours massage if not in an up-priced hi-so place, or extra service is included in the fee...????

 

I dumped my old Jeep, and can of course say that I'm more green now driving a kind of Eco-car, i.e. use E20 fuel, which gives me at least three times as many kilometers per liter fuel, and that made two hours weekly oil-massage within reach from the fuel budget...????

 

How do you manage to use for 500 baht fuel a day?

 

1 hour ago, gearbox said:

kids 25,000 per month

 

school 200,000 per year 

 

food 1000 per day

School fee of 200k baht a year is not surprising, 450k to 500k baht is possible on Samui for just one kid, but on top 25k baht a month for "kids" plus 30k baht a month for food!

 

Of course I know that kids easily equals the mathematical formula: iPod + iPad + iBook = iPay...????

 

How many kids are included in the budget?

[Silencer]

Pre-Covid....80-100,000 a month. Villa rent and expenses 37k, eating out 12k, eating in 6k, insurance 9k, girls/bars/entertainment 30k+, misc 10k. 

 

Post-Covid. 40-50k month. What's changed? Rent 1/2 cost, have girlfriend and with bars closed don't go out much for partying, and saving to build house later this year. 

[XtraFly]

on Samui Can I pay 18K-25K for rent and find a good clean place close to the beach or walking distance, or that's too low for a 2+2 Unit not a villa or a house.

[BigC]

On 6/11/2021 at 2:29 PM, khunPer said:

Wow, your must be driving a lot, even with my gasoline sucking Chrysler Jeep driven rough I could hardly get it down lower mileage than 4 kilometers per liter, 500 baht equals about 15 liters which means more than one time around the island on the Ring Road in average every day, which of course is possible, but you also need time to spend time to use the 3,000 baht exercise, which presumabloy is some kind of gym fee, and 1,000-1,500 baht on massage every day, which could be up to 5-6 hours massage if not in an up-priced hi-so place, or extra service is included in the fee...????

 

I dumped my old Jeep, and can of course say that I'm more green now driving a kind of Eco-car, i.e. use E20 fuel, which gives me at least three times as many kilometers per liter fuel, and that made two hours weekly oil-massage within reach from the fuel budget...????

 

How do you manage to use for 500 baht fuel a day?

 

School fee of 200k baht a year is not surprising, 450k to 500k baht is possible on Samui for just one kid, but on top 25k baht a month for "kids" plus 30k baht a month for food!

 

Of course I know that kids easily equals the mathematical formula: iPod + iPad + iBook = iPay...????

 

How many kids are included in the budget?

i have  needs that must be attended 

 

most important  is my once a month 3 sum

 

nothing  can mess with that

[DrPhibes]

On 6/3/2021 at 4:43 PM, wwest5829 said:

Thanks for posting. Always interesting for me to see comparisons. I am retired in Chiang Mai and also spend about one million Thai baht a year (kind of blew the budget on our 3 week trip down and stay in Samui. Wife and teen Stepdaughter like an annual visit to the sea. Stepdaughter introduced to SCUBA ... loved it. 

SCUBA, the best gift you could give.  Both my teens are Advanced Open Water certified.  Teaches a few things, self-confidence, panic only creates additional "problems", what constitutes real risk.  Rewards is being an astronaut but, instead of nothing, the environment is full of life!  Also in CM.  Just got back from Samui with a week on Koh Tao for the diving.  PM me if interested more on diving and such.

[wwest5829]

20 minutes ago, DrPhibes said:

SCUBA, the best gift you could give.  Both my teens are Advanced Open Water certified.  Teaches a few things, self-confidence, panic only creates additional "problems", what constitutes real risk.  Rewards is being an astronaut but, instead of nothing, the environment is full of life!  Also in CM.  Just got back from Samui with a week on Koh Tao for the diving.  PM me if interested more on diving and such.

Ha! As a retired educator, I am all about giving the Stepdaughter a taste of different experiences. Took them to Sout Korea so they could experience the cold, snow, food, touch of skiing. Ha! I am creating desire for more. She immediately said she wanted to go back for diving. Being older than dirt … I began SCUBA in the 1960s in the Southern New Jersey sand quarries. Before the certification requirements. For me, it would be like going back to the beginning. Last time I had the equipment on was in 1979 getting certified in Florida. Astronauts? Born too early, but appreciating the majority of our world being under the water that is a given … magic!

[Tropicalevo]

On 7/18/2021 at 3:33 AM, XtraFly said:

on Samui Can I pay 18K-25K for rent and find a good clean place close to the beach or walking distance, or that's too low for a 2+2 Unit not a villa or a house.

You could rent something easily at the moment for that budget. Complete with a small pool.

In developments, always ask the landlord for the unit price of the electricity.

Where I am, it varies from 5 baht to 9 baht per unit.

[DrPhibes]

24 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

Ha! As a retired educator, I am all about giving the Stepdaughter a taste of different experiences. Took them to Sout Korea so they could experience the cold, snow, food, touch of skiing. Ha! I am creating desire for more. She immediately said she wanted to go back for diving. Being older than dirt … I began SCUBA in the 1960s in the Southern New Jersey sand quarries. Before the certification requirements. For me, it would be like going back to the beginning. Last time I had the equipment on was in 1979 getting certified in Florida. Astronauts? Born too early, but appreciating the majority of our world being under the water that is a given … magic!

We were living in Fort Collins CO before coming to Thailand for their High School years.  Brother and sister ice skating duo team and black diamond skiers.  Wife sits in the lodge fruit carving while locals oooh and awww, carves in the resort while we dive.  She can't understand why we would do such "dangerous" things ????  We were planning a ski trip to Japan and then COVID.