Could I Retire in Thailand with 45,000 baht/month?

[Macphail]

Yes you can, I have been retired here for three years now and I am living on £1000 pension from UK company. I will say that I had enough cash when I arrived to buy my house and pickup so no debt, in my mind this is very important. As one member already said you have to factor in changes in exchange rate. Since my time here the rate has been as low as Bt42 now around Bt54. I do not live like I did when on holiday here, but can still go out for the odd Farang meal and have beers in the fridge.
Forgot to say I am married to a Thai lady so also have to take care of Papa

[TingTongJohn]

A side bar....As airline staff when I do retire I will have certain flight benefits so that is not an issue as long as they remain valid which is a very murky question as the rules seem to change every year.

[dalmatiandave]

I think it depends on what your lifestyle is and what quality of life you want. I think it is doable but a very strict budget should be adhered to. I couldn't do it, my rent alone is 30,000 a month and I give the babe 15,000. I probably need minimum 100,000 but that is the style of life I want. Do you need medical insurance, do you want to travel, do you just want to sit all day indoors without so much as a girl companion, there are just so many things to consider. Also the retirement visa situation, do you have that, are you wanting that. So many ifs and buts but yes it can be done but I just get back to my original thought - what sort of life do you have and what sort of life do you want! will 45,000 fulfill that?

[HHTel]

Just to get my two pennyworth in. I live on less than that and run a large house and keep two teenagers at school as well as the pocketmoney they 'need' etc. No, I don't frequent the bar area but enjoy a few beers locally and play darts twice a week and one night of pool. I'm happy.

[Gérard]

I know somebody who pays 3000 bahts for a 100m2 house in Bang Saphan, 2 km from the sea, and another one with a 45.000 bahts rent in a posh "gated community" in Bangsaen, Chonburi, by the sea, where he is the only farang... Both of them live alone, do not rent girls full-time.

[Pleng]

A side bar....As airline staff when I do retire I will have certain flight benefits so that is not an issue as long as they remain valid which is a very murky question as the rules seem to change every year.

Does your particular area allow for any chance of semi-retirement? Can you work, even for a reduced amount, on a consultancy basis to top-up your pension? Or is there any positions that only need to be filled for x months of the year?

I met one guy once who told me that he left his full-time career but kept his house on back in England. Every year he'd go back around October time, get a job doing factory work or stacking shelves in a local supermarket for 4 months to top up his income, then go travelling for the rest of the year.

[Frank La Rue]

It's an interesting discussion - many of you having lived in Thailand for years will know better than me but here are som points:

1. You need a few months to learn how to live inexpensively in the local setting, rent somewhere first untill you find that good value - for money rental which is cheap but makes you comfortable, figure out where you can eat inexpensively either within walking distance or on an inexpensive by good "Honda", etc etc

2. Do you have property (house, flat) in your home country to either let or sell. I have met guys in HH or elsewhere in Thailand who sold their house, spent 1/3 on house in LOS and the rest in an account yielding a supplementary income. Or, the income from letting out in UK pays easily your rent in HH and the rest is supplementary. You state that your pension from prive Co would be equivalent to 45 K Baht

3. A car or motorcy to sell in home country- spending this on car or motorcy in HH. Cars seem comparably expensive in Thailand, I recon that when I sell my car here the total amount will be consumed buying a new Toyota in Thailand. But it gets you started.
I have realized that a good, but inexpensive type of motorcy probably is the optimum sollution if you are single and dont have a family to ferry arround.

4. Single or Living with Someone
Others have already pointed it out, you might need a bit of luck to find a loving and caring lady with a small business yielding a supplementary income for the two of you, Thai ladies often look for a bit of financial comfort and security.

5- Anything else than property and car you can sell up in your home country to make the initial investment in accomodation and transport. If these two can be funded at the outset 45 K Baht takes you much further.

6. Health care

I have not checked this enough yet but I am sure many here can advice us - all I know us that proper health insurance costs. Other wise a buffer amount is needed in case of hospitalization

7 Getting real Old

This is a tricky one if you arrive single and with no previous network.

Not sure how easy it is to cruise arround on the Honda when one is 80. I guess the problem is
same with a car. I am trying to build the required relationships as we speak, having the Thai family w/three kids in my house over from Thailand. These togehter with my son I hope can getme the occasional care or practical help living in Thailand if I live to get very old. Genetically I should get well into my 80ties.
Maybe help can be "bought" when you have spent 20 years there or you make friends with soem local Thais who help out. I guess when real old spending isn't much and it may be possible to find a live - in lady doubling as woman friend and maid in return for somewhere to live and and free eat.

8.Will you or have you yourself inherited, this initial investment in transport and accomodation seeks to be the key.

[heartofmidlothian]

This sort of question has often been asked on this forum and there are always plenty of opinions. No one can really answer this question because everyone is different. Anyone can work out the answer to this question by spending a few weeks holiday in Hua Hin and doing their own investigation. If you want to live cheap, then you need to carefully follow a budget and find some hobbies that are inexpensive or free. Using the songtaews to travel around is a good alternative to a motorbike. Or get a bicycle!

[migrant]

Prepare a budget. I look at prices every time I go to Thailand and refine mine. Lots of threads here on that. Need to plan on inflation. Can't guess at currency fluctuations, but too tight a budget can get you in to trouble if the baht strengthens.

Sounds like some do well, as said it is up to how you want to live, I see too many of my clients that have run out of money and are living unhappy lives so be careful...

[Stargeezer]

T,T John
My Cdn friend used to live in a fully furnished 2 bedroom house for 10t to 12t baht per month, plus the power and water. Him and his Thai companion did this for a few years and the price
hardly went up. They mostly eat at home, and he seldom drinks because of his liver, so the cost
per month is not too much. They stored their belongings at his Thai familys place about 45 mins from HH. I think he still get by on 45t or less per month.
If you keep some money for a trip back to your home country and a bit of money for medical emergencies etc, you may be able to enjoy some of your retirement in Thailand.
Just don't bring all of your money with you and slowly spend it as well as the 45t baht, or you would be in trouble.
Stargeezer
P.S. I keep dreaming of spending at least 6 months in Thailand every 2 years
So I am looking at the costs as well.

[void]

A lot really depends on one's lifestyle.

From 1997-99 I lived in Phuket, and my budget (which I used all of) was 110,000 baht/month.

Where did it all go ? I lived in a very inexpensive place in Chalong. Rent was only ~10,000 baht/month (including phone bills which were high). I could walk to local inexpensive restaurants. I owned a small car/truck that I drove around. That part of the living was inexpensive.

However I had three major expenses where over 1/2 of my money went:

• Visa runs - these varied from one every three months to one every month. I used to fly out/in from Phuket to either KL or to Singapore (which was expensive - as I would stay there for a few days). The alternative then was to go in a van for an all day ride to the border and back. Now adays laws have changed and one can no longer do what I was able to do then. Still, my Visa runs were expensive.
• Trip to Canada/Ski trip once / year. I used to fly to Vancouver, head up to Whistler and ski for a couple of weeks. This was expensive and a large % of my income was spent here.
• High entertainment costs - I was single then and I used to spend a lot on entertainment.

The above 3 items were very expensive, and if one can reduce the above via a combination of a retirement visa, no expensive trips abroad, and no high entertainment costs, then I think one could spend 1/2 of what I spent and be ok. However it would not be as much fun, and one would needs something else to keep one occupied/entertained.

[Johnnywastaken]

I posed the question of living on 1000 bhat a month back in 2012 and received a plethora of both interesting and useful replies....
Granted, it is dated however perhaps it may be useful to the OP of this thread.....
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19982&hilit=1000+bhat+a+day

I didn't last long in HH on account of the amount of tourists of which I avoid as much as possible.....
Today I reside in Saigon where the dollar goes much further and my finances have improved dramatically..... I still occasionally visit Hua Hin because it's a nice place....

[oakdale160]

The other important factor. If you are single-- keep it that way. If you intend to start living alone --- keep it that way.
No need to be lonely but let "Wam bam, thank you Ma'am" be your modus operandi.

[Bamboo Grove]

Johnnywastaken how is the accomodation in Saigon. What kind of rents and what kind of long term accommodation is available?

[Johnnywastaken]

Johnnywastaken how is the accomodation in Saigon. What kind of rents and what kind of long term accommodation is available?

Firstly.... In my previous post I intended it to be 1000 bhat per day...... sorry.... as for Accommodation for Saigon..... I think it comparable to HH but of course no beach.
Prices hover around the 300US rate for bachelor apts in out lying areas of the city...... to as high as 800US a month for the same but with pool , health spa and security..... and then they levy some monthly fee for a back up generator weather it's needed or not.....Usually it is.

I must have lucked out..... as I'm in my second year of a fair lease in the center of the city....four story house with five sleeping rooms and three bathrooms, garden/motorcycle parking... fully furnished..... clean and renovated to modern standards.....located in a predominantly Vietnamese area but still within walking distance to the backpacker foreigner stomping grounds which is host to western food if it shall crave.
I pay 550US per month and the utilities all in are an extra 150 US..... adequate internet.... 24/7 AC and pathetic cable channels..... water is an unbelievable four dollars a month and I use lots of it.

As far as daily spending goes...... well I have a live in gf so that saves enormous funds..... on average I spend no more than 1000 bhat a day...... we eat very well..... I smoke..... and usually get hammered every night..... and still have left over funds for incidentals.

I've always said that the cost of living in Vietnam was almost half of that in Thailand..... except perhaps house rentals.......and hydro....

I've unfortunately had to visit the French/Vietnam hospital lately which is a top notch medical facility and my bills have been in the low 100's of US dollars so that alone is a blessing compared to LOS.....

If you can handle the traffic.....a communist government and the absence of the BG bar scene.... I would highly recommend Vietnam over Thailand.....