Living In Ko Lanta

[FarangSerbia]

I am considering moving to Thailand, Ko Lanta to be more precise, since expenses in my country have gone up and I don't want to live here anymore anyway.

Now the tricky part - my sallary is 25.000 baht / month from my online bussines. I know its hardly enough, but I am not man of many needs. All I need is a room, kitchen, internet and beach. And some ciggaretes. Occasional beer or two as well. I am not into bar girls, so thats 1 expense less.

I visited Ko Lanta earlier this year and its the best place for me in Thailand, so far. Thus, I'd like to give it a try.

Now, the main part - expenses. I need info about various prices on Ko Lanta. Here is the overview of what I know and partial plan for monthly expenses:

• Renting space (flat, room) - I can't afford to pay more then, lets say, 6000 baht on monthly bases with utilities. Is this plasauble? I really don't need anything more then a place with my own bathroom, internet, small kitchen. I know this depends on the season, but lets say its high season, just in case.

• 80 x 30 packs of marlboro = 2400

• Night out 2x a week - 60 baht x 40 chang = 2400 baht

• Bike rents - I remember it was about 150 baht/day for a bike (50cc) rent, but I figure there is a discount if I want to rent for a month or even more. Any info on this?

• Food & water - I am pretty clueless here. I was drowning in sweet rice + chicken on a stick = 30 baht together most of the time, but I am aware I can't eat only that. I can cook myself so buying ingredients will do. I enjoy eating most of the thai food, so please have that in mind with rough estimate of food cost. I am healthy 25-year old guy weighting 75 Kg's. Any ideas? Lets assume I eat and drink 3x day 100 baht worth of food & water = 9.000 baht / month

• I will need at least basic health insurance & money for visa runs. How much for this??

Without bike rent, health ins. and visa runs this comes up to roughly 20.000 baht.

Any idea/suggestion/opinion is much appreciated!

[BeardedDragon]

6000 Thai baht (including electric/water and internet and having furniture) a month in Krabi?

Tip me when you know where I can get a descent place like that, because it sounds like difficult to find to me.

I lived in Jomtien in a nice condo with aircon for 8500 (excluding utilities).

Anyway, I think you can better quit smoking...for 2500 a month you can allready rent a bike.

I think the calculation about food is a good one...9000 a month...

Well try to look if your serbian insurance covers Thailand. My dutch one did, you only need to be one day back in the netherlands a year.

And visa-runs....you can make them as expensive as you want...last one I did was in Chiang Rai, but I stayed about 4 days over there...I always combine a run with a little holiday.

Still however what I am missing:

- Laundry

- Small things in your room

- Stuff like soap, shampoo, toothpaste

- Transportation (taxi, songtaew once in a while, motorbike-taxi)

- Transportation back home (I pressume once a year you will go back to Serbia)

- The visa you need to come on (I assume you get a half year visa, and need to leave every 60 days)

My point:

It is doable to live on 25.000 a month in Thailand, not living the tourist lifestyle, not getting into the girls, and hot spend to much (not buy expensive things like a condo or car).

But I recommend you find yourself a job once you are there...maybe you can earn some more on the 25.000. In that way you have some more money to spend.

[FarangSerbia]

Thanks a lot for your input!

I am aware 6000 baht is pretty low for a place for rent, but anything up to 8000 is doable. I'd maybe even start with a fan room. I had to pay extra for insurance during my stay in Thailand, the insurance system in Serbia is pretty lame. Regarding visa runs, I don't plan to make them into holiday what so ever, that would really hurt my budget. Bus to border and back will have to do it for me.

Other small expenses like the ones you mentioned...Some of them I simply forgot about, but other then going back home once a year (not what I want though, I have some funds that I will leave to my brother so he can put them on my bank account in case of emergency or similiar occurrences.), I don't think they are worth mentioning. I am not in need of fancy razer blades, I use soap to clean my face before the shaving, use it as a foam and clean my face with it afterwards. You get the point, the only thing I really need is an antiperspirant, toothpast and some shampoo (my hair is really short). Anyways, in my mind that comes up to 1000 to 1500 baht / month.

As for the job while I am there...From what I know, doing anything beside teaching English in Thailand is not very doable and beside that, not many schools take on non-native speakers, in spite of the excellent accent.

Thanks once again for your comments, it means a lot to me!

[grumpyoldman]

Thanks a lot for your input!

You really don't want to try and live in Thailand on 25,000thb a month.

As a Thai (?), o.k. you'd be fine but as a foreigner (?) no, you are overcharged at all times and there are a few expenses you are not considering (health insurance is a must, don't be stupid and not be covered).

Minimum really, I'd say 45,000thb, hopefully you can make double that and bank 40,000 every month.

Just my opinion.

BR, GOM

[grumpyoldman]

Thanks a lot for your input!

sorry, double post, internet connection blip

Edited October 31, 2010 by grumpyoldman

[steelepulse]

Are there a lot of Thai style hongs in Lanta? In Phuket there are older places for around 3K/ month while newer hongs will be 5-6K month. These hongs are basically one room that perhaps has a wall and door to seperate "living room" from the "bedroom".

On your budget it could be doable, but it won't be comfortable. As mentioned above, why not get your internet business going better so you don't have to skimp.

[Cowboyshoe]

As a Lanta resident I can tell you it is absolutely do-able. That's the short story.

The long story is you'll have to do lots of footwork to get everything you want for the prices quoted. Your main hurdle will be finding the house. 6k is not an unreasonable expectation for a small house with a bathroom, but when you add in the requirements of a small kitchen and internet access you are expecting too much. I think 10k is closer to what you should expect to spend to get all your housing requirements filled. The good news is a house for that price will be leaps and bounds above the cheaper options when it comes to quality of construction and location. (Think new, concrete house near the main road as opposed to bamboo bungalow off a dirt track.)

Another option is to find someone to share space with. Khlong Nin is thronged with new, unoccupied shop houses for 15k to 20k each. They are all internet ready (you'll need to pay installation) and have kitchens (though unfurnished) but with 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms you should be able to divide the rent into digestible chunks. Keep in mind however, I know a number of folks who've been screwed when their flat-mates decide they miss home and walked out on short notice.

You also should keep utilities expenses in mind. Water is (usually) included in the rent of a house, but electric is on you. Depending on how many computers you have or how much TV & air conditioning you are using your bill could be anywhere from 300 to 2,000 a month. Make sure you know who handles your electric bill as well. Some landlords will double the charge per electrical unit, so it's best to know upfront what your per unit charge will be (currently on Lanta it's around 3.5 per unit if you pay directly to the TEC).

Unfortunately this is the worst time of year to go house-hunting. The high season is beginning so all the reasonable options have been snapped up by seasonal workers (dive masters, etc). Houses going for 20k to 30k now will be down to 8k in April.

If you're going to be living here you might as well buy a motorbike. Once you get settled start asking at your local motorbike repair shops about used bikes. You should expect to pay somewhere between 8k and 15k for a decent used bike, plus a promise from the mechanic to cover repairs for a reasonable amount of time. In the long run this will end up being a much cheaper option than renting. Now, technically I believe that without a work permit you cannot legally own a motorbike, but I don't know anyone on the island who's ever been hassled about this. As long as the plates and registration are up to date you shouldn't have a problem either. In a tough spot you can always claim you rented it from a friend or borrowed it from a girl, but I don't think it'll ever come to that.

I think your main hassle will be a visa to cover your long-stay plans, but that's a question for a different thread.

Oh, and before I forget... Electricity on Lanta is capricious. Just this week we had a problem with the line and lost all power for 14 hours. This isn't a constant problem, but interruptions happen often enough that someone whose business relies on computers and internet would be foolish not to take it into consideration.

That said, keep up your research and good luck!

Edited October 31, 2010 by Cowboyshoe

[FarangSerbia]

Now, that is kind of an answer I was hoping for - from a Lanta resident.

Regarding the rent...I initially put ~ 9k for this, but I had to lower it after I've realized its not gonna fit in my budget. As I mentioned before, my sallary is around 25.000, but I will receive extra 3k-5k baht every month depending on how bussines is doing. I will rarely be on just 25.000.

I could share space with someone, but I'd prefer only 1 person and that only if I had to. 3 or 4 is too much for me for number of reasons, including the one you already mentioned.

I have a netbook which I carry everywhere, but I would buy a desktop one as well, for more comfort. I don't really watch TV at all, so that's one expense less. No problem for occasional eletricity problems, I will buy inverter with battery which lasts for hours...

My plan is not to come there right now, I have some things to take care of here first. April and later will do it for me, so no problem with high season.

8k to 15k for used bike? That sounds pretty awesome. I would definately go for that instead of renting.

What about schools for learning thai there? Are there any? Getting 1 year EDU visa sounds pretty cool and I want to learn more thai anyway.

Also, how are things after April? There are still some bars and restaurants open, right?

Thank you all guys!

Edited October 31, 2010 by FarangSerbia

[BeardedDragon]

Ow getting back to this topic...

I lived in Jomtien for half a year and had around 30.000 baht a month (I was on an internship, organized by my school)...and I can tell you, I had to budget and it was sometimes difficult to make ends meet, especially because I came on a one way fly from my country (Netherlands) and I still had to book the ticket to go back...

I was not in the whole bargirl thing (I had a long time girlfriend, for who money was not important) and even than I had a tight budget.

I spended around 12.000 baht on accomodation, 10.000 baht on food (most of the time Thai food), and (Dutch) health insurance 3.000 baht.

Thats allready 25.000 Thai baht.

I also had to do some visa-runs (2 times/every 90 days, I had a non-imm. ED visa) and went to Nong Khai and Chiang Rai...I always made a nice trip of it, not just doing it in one day, but always spended 3/4 days there.In Nong Khai I maybe spended 6000 baht (3 days) and in Chiang Rai 8000 baht (4 days). These amounts are calculated in transport costs (bus to Suvarnhabumi and than the return flight and motorbike costs), hotel/guesthouse accomodation, food, visa (for Laos and Myanmar).

Regarding visa runs, you will probably spend less than me (bus to Malaysia, Malaysian Visa for free, and bus back), but going every time to Malaysia would crack me up.

For going out, travelling and other little things I allready saved some money, just to enjoying myself.

So be really sure, if you want to make the step with that kind of budget...it is doable, but I recommend looking for a little job, once you are there.

[BeardedDragon]

Hey man,

I did a long calculation yesterday for about the minimum on money I would need for myself to go to Thailand and "survive".

This would probably look a bit the same for you. This one is made with your calculations a bit.

Accomodation (with elect./water/internet): 12.000 THB

Food: 9.000 THB

Insurance (health/stuff): 3.000 THB

Motorbike rent and benzine (every 3 days for 100 THB benzine): 3.000 THB

Small stuff (like laundry, bathroomstuff): 2.000

Visa run: 500 THB

Well, I think 25.000 is really a small amount to stay, based on the expenses above.

Also the above expenses are also without costs for telephone, other ways of transport, going out, and more stuff like that.

Furthermore, check the hight of the thai baht.

[David006]

Hey man,

I did a long calculation yesterday for about the minimum on money I would need for myself to go to Thailand and "survive".

This would probably look a bit the same for you. This one is made with your calculations a bit.

Accomodation (with elect./water/internet): 12.000 THB

Food: 9.000 THB

Insurance (health/stuff): 3.000 THB

Motorbike rent and benzine (every 3 days for 100 THB benzine): 3.000 THB

Small stuff (like laundry, bathroomstuff): 2.000

Visa run: 500 THB

Well, I think 25.000 is really a small amount to stay, based on the expenses above.

Also the above expenses are also without costs for telephone, other ways of transport, going out, and more stuff like that.

Furthermore, check the hight of the thai baht.

well I got to give it to you admire you're spirit mate!

You can probably rent an old Thai house for about 2000 a month..we rented one on the mainland near Ko Lanta while we were building...very basic but dry and comfortable...needed some basic furniture,bed table chairs plus whatever else you need and appliances of course...1500pm

Why not buy a peddle bike...new cheap as chips..or s/hand even?

Internet can be had via GPRS for 300/month for 100hrs...no good for skype though ...too slow

personal washing and hygiene should not be expensive..get a small washer for maybe 4000baht..?

the biggy is visas and runs..you can go to Malaysia by bus but it is probable gonna cost you 3000 baht up a pop...

utilities are negligible ie water about 300/m, electric could be zero up to 600/m for a single guy

suggest you have a hundred thou' as a rainy day fund or a large credit limit on your cc..for cash just in case??

good luck mate..don't die of boredom without any disposable entertainment funds eh!

[FarangSerbia]

Thanks for all the insight. To be honest, I am just gonna wait and try to make more money on monthly basis before I consider moving there. Or visit Phillipines instead for a month or so and decide if I wanna stay there, since my budget would give me better value.

Edited November 5, 2010 by FarangSerbia

[grumpyoldman]

(I had a long time girlfriend, for who money was not important)

Obviously not Thai, or else had you completely fooled..............

[BusyBee123]

I've seen so many people think they have sussed out their budget only to find over time it was never enough, they spent countless months watching their bank balance disappear and quality of life diminish to the status of seriously poor before finally going home with credit cards maxed out and not a pot to piss in. If you want to exist you may do it on 25k but you wouldn't have a life, some can do it though. If you think prices have gone up in your own country i'd like to compare that to the raging inflation in thailand. An emergency fund is essential, what happens if you have an accident as you can be sure you will be paying the thai compensation whether it wasn't your fault or otherwise, what happens if your computer gets stolen can you replace it easily? I think you are scaping the bottom of the barrel on your budget. Keep the pipe dream on hold for a long while until you hit a minimum of 50k. Each to their own though and good luck.

[FarangSerbia]

I do have emergency funds which would allow me to live in Thailand comfortably for at least a year, I wouldn't think of something like this if I didn't. However, rather then spending them, I'd like to relay on my sallary...The whole idea is living somewhere else then here for certain period of time, since I probally won't have a chance for something like that when I start my own family or (god forbid) have a regular 8-5 job.

Right here I have some expenses which I won't have in Thailand, meaning my life standard or struggle for budget won't be that different in Thailand and I will enjoy much more then here, trust me.

All in all, I'll try to expand my bussines so I can live more comfortably, but if that doesn't work out, I still might give ko lanta a try.

On the other hand, 50k as a MINIMUM is a joke. I've spent little bit over that for a 1 month in Thailand as a TOURIST. Doing all stuff tourists do (excluding bar girls), but including traveling all over thailand, sleeping in guest houses (very decent ones), eating food in restaurants, going out every night etc etc. Thank you for the wishes tho

Edited November 8, 2010 by FarangSerbia

[stewyk71]

I do have emergency funds which would allow me to live in Thailand comfortably for at least a year, I wouldn't think of something like this if I didn't. However, rather then spending them, I'd like to relay on my sallary...The whole idea is living somewhere else then here for certain period of time, since I probally won't have a chance for something like that when I start my own family or (god forbid) have a regular 8-5 job.

Right here I have some expenses which I won't have in Thailand, meaning my life standard or struggle for budget won't be that different in Thailand and I will enjoy much more then here, trust me.

All in all, I'll try to expand my bussines so I can live more comfortably, but if that doesn't work out, I still might give ko lanta a try.

On the other hand, 50k as a MINIMUM is a joke. I've spent little bit over that for a 1 month in Thailand as a TOURIST. Doing all stuff tourists do (excluding bar girls), but including traveling all over thailand, sleeping in guest houses (very decent ones), eating food in restaurants, going out every night etc etc. Thank you for the wishes tho

I've lived in Thailand for 4 years on a budget of less than 30 000 a month it can be done

I lived in Koh lanta for 4-5 months on much less than that there is some good food stalls on the main rd

You need a routine that keeps you busy for at least 4-5 days a week (job,study etc) that keeps the spending down

just like your life back home then have a normal weekend go out and play up a little

I've never made more than 30 000 in 4 years and i'm still here

Good luck

[CroBiker]

25,000 a month....not easy.....anyway, good luck.

Zelim ti sretan i ugodan boravak u Tajlandu.

[FarangSerbia]

I would like to thank everyone contributing to this thread again. I decided to take a safer way and now with 31k / month income move to Chiang Mai in September. Only then will I see if I could manage to save something each month and thus get a realistic view on living in Koh Lanta.

[grumpyoldman]

I would like to thank everyone contributing to this thread again. I decided to take a safer way and now with 31k / month income move to Chiang Mai in September. Only then will I see if I could manage to save something each month and thus get a realistic view on living in Koh Lanta.

Childhood friend of mine lives in CM, both his kids have respiratory illnesses, asthma and such.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/544603-pollution-puts-chiang-mai-off-the-tourist-trail/

I'll take my health over money matters everytime. Good luck up there FS.

[Guest]

Hey, thanks for all the information.

I must say that I have never visited Koh Lanta, but it has been one of my options to move from Phuket, which have become slightly too greedy place for my taste.

How is the living in Lanta, or better how are the people in there? I'm looking for a place where people still consider each other as people, not as an objects to milk from.

Do I need to go further south to find that?

[grumpyoldman]

Hey, thanks for all the information.

I must say that I have never visited Koh Lanta, but it has been one of my options to move from Phuket, which have become slightly too greedy place for my taste.

How is the living in Lanta, or better how are the people in there? I'm looking for a place where people still consider each other as people, not as an objects to milk from.

Do I need to go further south to find that?

As long as you are a foreigner in a tourist area, it will be hard to get away from what you call "milking". In this regard Lanta is no different than Phuket.