Cost of living in Hua Hin

[ste860]

i do know of a few who manage on 30-40000 but that must be very hard,they never eat out ,in fact i dont think they eat in,just drink at the mam and pap shops, i alsp knpw of some who live a thai life in one room with no a/c and pay 3000 baht a month rent,one aussie i know only eats well when hes bloon chasing,any other time its a bag of noodles and water

[richard]

I think many of us who have lived here for a good few years are feeling the pinch

If one is retired and living off a pension it is getting difficult. 10 years ago when the exchange rate was in the 70's (Sterling) it was easy but now with it hovering round the 49 mark and inflation and expansion of Thailand's Riviera many have to change their lifestyles to suit

I certainly have. Used to play golf at the best courses. Eat out at good restaurants at least twice a week. Now it's no golf, cook at home and venture to a reasonably priced cafe twice a week. Used to hit Binta 4 nights a week. Now it's once a fortnight.

Can't complain though. Still better off than being in my cold, wet, expensive, miserable home country and to be quite honest I don't miss the high life I used to lead and it's probably better for me (my doctor would confirm this)

We all have different circumstances and must adjust accordingly

[hhfarang]

^So Richard, you're basically agreeing with my cost of living here well estimate... which means I'm giving good advice to the OP as you and I both have had to lower our expectations (and life style) since we moved here.

I'm only trying to assure and help the couple come here and not be unhappy and disillusioned as I am after a few years.

[richard]

^So Richard, you're basically agreeing with my cost of living here well estimate... which means I'm giving good advice to the OP as you and I both have had to lower our expectations (and life style) since we moved here.

I'm only trying to assure and help the couple come here and not be unhappy and disillusioned as I am after a few years.

Yes

[hhfarang]

Big Boy, take heed! It sounds like you are itching for the time you can retire here too and thinking about doing it on a shoestring... take my advice.... I sincerely wish I had worked 5 years longer saving a lot more and building up a bigger monthly retirement... don't make the same mistake.

Calculate what you think you need per year and double it as that is what you will need after a few years living here... from one who made a huge mistake... again... HEED MY WORDS!

[Korkenzieher]

Spitfire makes a comment:

It's a myth that it's cheap here (well, now it is), especially in holiday beach resort cities like Hua Hin.

.

I honestly feel I can live in the UK for about the same price as in Thailand with the exception of accommodation costs. It is important of course to remember that some of us grew up in the frozen northern wastes, where life is on the whole less expensive than in much of the UK. (Germany is cheaper, provided one doesn't eat out too often.) A pint in the local costs the same as a bottle of Tiger - roughly £1.50 = 75baht (yes, I can pay more but I don't have to). Eating out is not radically cheaper than the UK unless you eat 'street' food. (Thai) Utilities are lower, supermarket food is cheaper, but net connections etc. can't compete with the likes of an 8m unlimited 'Talktalk' connection for £21 (1k baht) a month. There are of course many savings to be had - Council Tax, for example. For my own sins, I live in a studio style place in a Thai area, live comfortably on about 70k, and am aware of quite a few people in HH living well under 40k. That is (approximately) an English teachers salary - there's plenty of people living on that, and less.

I am currently on contract in Germany, and am paying €1100 a month to live in a hotel - that is roughly Baht 45000. Unfurnished 2 and 3 bed apartments here are of the order of €4-500 a month (baht 25000). So anyone living in a pool villa style place for upwards of say €45k, don't tell me it is cheap. Yes, you could certainly pay more for that lifestyle - but it isn't cheap by any absolute measure I can come up with.

However, I note today, not with any surprise at all, an article bounced off TV - http://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news.php?id=255406070006 Thailand is now officially not cheap. Bangkok rated as 2nd most expensive in Asean, and just consider the cities that includes. Sure, this is mostly market top-end, but the trickle down effect hits us all.

[wpcoe]

SJ, I'm not at all judging or criticizing how your spend your money, just want to contrast it with mine. I'm single (and not looking), rent a modest townhouse in central HH with no car or moto-sai, walk almost every place I want to go:

30k car finance/tax/ins/repairs
30k wife allowance food/groceries/clothes/make-up/toiletries/small bills)
15k gardener/pool cleaner/house cleaner
10k kids school fees
5k kid clothes/nappies/extra stuff at school/savings acc/books/DVD's/friends parties
3k dogs (we got 5 )
3k inlaw donations
3k car/bike fuel, motorbike stuff
3k house upgrades/improvements
3k service or new air-cons/wash machine/fridge/oven/lawn mower/pool equip/gate motors/TV's
(none of the above!)

(Rent=B10k)

10k elec/water/gas bills
(elec=B600, water=B40, no gas, so let’s say B1k)

60k entertainment/meals out/drinking/clothes/golf/local trips/gym/hobbies
(never kept count, but definitely less than B1k/day, so say B20k?)

2k immigration/helmet fines/tea money
(no helmet fines nor tea money; annual retirement visa: 1900 + 3800 re-entry permit = 5700/yr = B500/mo)

2k insurances
5k healthcare
(BUPA health insurance: B36k/yr =B3k/mo)

4k internet/phone bills/new mobiles
(True 3G pospaid=B600/mo, 3BB=B1k/mo, mobile lasts me several yrs = B1.6k)

10k international travel/trip back 'home' (we don't do it)
(2x year to visit family per year, easily under 50k, so say B4k/mo)

5k birthdays/anniversaries/ Christmas/Valentines/mothers day/fathers day
5k trips to Bangkok/other resorts
(visit Bangkok maybe 3-4x/yr, holidays are nothing, so say B2k/mo?)

2k UBC
(generic cable = B400/mo)

I lived in my own condo (i.e. no rent) in Jomtien for over six years, and averaged spending about B35k/mo for that time, excluding visits back home. I base that on the amount of THB I transferred into Thailand. Trips back home were paid from funds that I kept overseas.

I'm really not a cheap charlie, I just prefer to stay in most of the time, don't use air con much, clean my own home (including doing laundry), don't play golf nor go to a gym, etc. You and I are probably polar opposites on expenses.

[Johan]

120k baht per month... will pay your bills including insurance and allow you to go out to eat regularly, have some fun, and not worry about money. If you want to do a lot of international travel it will be more.

Many people are about to come on here and argue this is too much, and sure, there are expats who live here on probably 40k per month, but take it from me... you need 120k per month if you don't want to worry about money and want to have a good life in Hua Hin. I've been here for seven years and when I came I was fine with 120k, which is now 80k because of the drop in value of the dollar and we are struggling just to get by, and our fun is cheap Thai restaurants once a week and a couple of rounds of golf per month at a lousy cheap course.... 120k minimum! Mark my words!

I agree, everyone i know (couples with babies) are spending at least 100K per month, 120-140K for some of them. It's the same amount i'm spending without the rent.

Look at the numbers :

Car fuel : 2000 bahts per week and per car. 2 persons = 16 000 bahts a month.
Car insurance : 20 000 bahts per year per car, 40 000 is you own a Benz. Let's say you own the Benz and your wife a Yaris : 60 000 bahts a year = 5 000 bahts per month.
Motorbike : Everyone i know have at least 1 motorbike. Not too expensive but you still need something like 1 000 baths per month.
Baby : I have one, if you don't you will save some money. Food, school, clothes, toys, and everything related. 25 000 bahts per month.
Internet : I'm paying 2500 bahts a month.
UBC : I'm paying 2000 bahts a month.
Electricity : I'm paying 6000 bahts a month and i will hit 8-9K the next month because of the new swimming pool.
Air con maintenance : Every 6 months you should clean each air con in the house, we have 5 ou 6 of them. The guys are charging us between 1000 and 1500 bahts per unit. Let's say 1250 bahts. 6x1250 = 7500 bahts, so 15 000 bahts a year. 1250 bahts per month.
Health insurance : We don't have any... but it's arround 25 000 bahts to 100 000 bahts a year depending on many things.
Marina boat : Living well is owning a boat... we pay 4700 bahts per month for the marina, add 2000 bahts per month for maintenance. Add at least 1000 bahts for gasoline each time you go out. Let's say 2 times a month, so 2000 bahts more. Total : 8700 bahts per month.
Helping family members : Is up to you if you help anyone, this is costing me 8000 bahts a month.
Food : If you want to eat whatever you want it will cost you a lot. We are spending arround 500-750 bahts per day in food. Let's say 20 000 bahts a month.
Wife : Mine is expensive, they are all expensive. Books, drinks, cloths, gold and a lot of stupid things. Well, i can't really know how much is costing me, but let's say at least 25 000 bahts per month.
You : What i mean ? Well, maybe you want to play golf, buy a pool table or whatever. You are costing you a lot of money also. Some months i spend nothing, and some i spend a million baht. Because of this i will not count this parameter.
House : You don't need to pay the rent, well, you still need to buy things for your house, flowers, doors, lights, tv, fridges, air cons, and a lot of things. You always need to buy something more, we always want to add something to our home, and this is costing me money also. You can spend nothing, but i wouldn't bet on that. My friends are all spending money for their home every month. For example, this month we bought a new door for our garden, cost us 75 000 bahts. It's a oneshot, but we will need to buy something else next month and we do so for the last 2 yrs. Let's say a budget of 20 000 bahts per month for the house, but some of us will spend a lot more.
Going outside : This is really expensive, a drink in a bar, two, three, ten, twenty. Restaurant, golf, jet ski, disco, bar girls. Well, you can do a lot of things outside, and this will cost you money. Some nights you will spend just a few hundreds baths and some time you will spend like crazy, 20 000 or more. Let's say 25 000 bahts per month for "outside activities" for average.
Mia noi : This is a second wife, they are all very expensive. You can't keep them long anyway. They will cost you, a lot. If you are lucky, for 25 000 bahts a month you will get one. The premium ones will ask you more, 100 000+ each month.
Dog : Our dog is costing us arround 5000 bahts a month.
Maid : She is costing us 8000 bahts a month.

As you can see, Thailand can be very expensive. You can live with 40 000 bahts a month, i did when i was poor. Counting each bath and playing the kee nok. But are you coming here to live like this or to be happy for real ?

At least 100K per month for a normal and good life. 200K per month to be very confortable. 300K per month to do whatever you want.

[richard]

Johan

No plural in Thai so it's Baht not Bahts

You seem to have a lot of Baht so good luck to you how you spend it. Personally I think your either making it up or a fool

Your list is mind boggling IF it is true

[Johan]

Johan

No plural in Thai so it's Baht not Bahts

You seem to have a lot of Baht so good luck to you how you spend it. Personally I think your either making it up or a fool

Your list is mind boggling IF it is true

Thanks for the correction Master Capello. Much appreciated.

My list is real, i don't have the mia noy but i know people who got one and the price is very realistic, once i had a second girl friend but i managed it well, another guy was paying for her 100K a month and she didn't ask for anything from me. He was the CEO of a very big company in Sweden with 2000+ employees making wheels chairs. Thanks to him, i saved a lot of money.

To be very honest, i'm buying the second car now, but i don't have it yet. My wife want one and i want one too. To live well i need a sport car and she will be happy with the Yaris. The rest is all real and this is my list of expenses. I forgot some points like phone bills, so you can add a few extras to the list.

This would be very expensive for an employee with a normal salary, in fact all the guys i know are owning a business or have high salaries (CEO, highly qualified engineers, passive incomes from investments, poker players, traders).

A retired guy should have a lot of investments, shares, forex, and a lot of passive revenues also from their very long life.

You have 4 kind of people, the very poors who have really nothing. The normal people who make their living with low salaries (1000 to 3000 euros), the high income people who own small businesess or are making money by some ways and the very rich people who have so many millions that they can't spend it all in one life.

The two first categories are the most common, so the normality is to be in one of those. So again, normality is to think when you are spending more than the average income per month that it's expensive. But when you are in the two others you don't see it like that, you just think it's normal to spend what you have, when you talk about it you are an alien for sure.

People asking for budget are almost all the time in the second category (low income), they want to hear good things and cheap prices, they don't want someone from the category three or four to talk to them about their lifestyle.

I was in category 1, poor. Then i moved to category 2 a few years ago and i'm now in category 3. I will never be in category 4, it's too hard. I will maybe be back to category 2 very soon... then i will stop spending my money on maids, expensive cars, and helping the family members

[dtaai-maai]

There are several categories of people, Johan. One of them is super-arrogant.

[hhfarang]

That's correct Johan, people are happy to hear that they can live here on 40k per month but after six months they will regret the decision and wish they had listened to those of us who told them they really, realistically need 100k per month minimum. Most of those who listen to the ones who live on a meager existence here and and believe they can do it will learn the hard way like I did...

[Korkenzieher]

I find some of these numbers just staggering if I convert to $, € or £. And incredibly hard to justify. I can't help but feel there is a big problem here with expectations. It quite literally costs me €2000 - 80k baht or so to stay in Hannover for a month, which includes living in a 4* serviced apartment which includes electricity, heating, internet connection, TV, hot water, is furnished etc. - and is considered to be expensive. Ok, it isn't huge, and there's no pool but that is €1100 all found. My expenses over the rest of the month are consistently less than €1000. That is Europe. Europe is supposed to be expensive.

In HH, my rent is 4500, and I need a bike which I also rent at around 3k a month. OK, it would have been cheaper to have bought the bike by now. It isn't all-found, but does include internet and is furnished. Without hitting a bar, my all-in cost of living before entertainment is probably 20-25k and I really don't think I am missing out on a lot. OK, I am a single bloke, so I don't have commitments - though the costs are still there, just not as commitments - as I say my monthly outgoing is around 70k. Admittedly, not running a car is a big saving.

Would I move to a more expensive and larger property if I had a family - sure - but in that case the 'collateral' costs would come down quite a long way and largely cancel each other out.

Now I am not denying there are many with substantially more money, who want to live, dine and play 'high end' all the time but in that case, what do you gain over Florida, the Caribbean, the Med and so on by being in Thailand?

[hhfarang]

what do you gain over Florida, the Caribbean, the Med and so on by being in Thailand?

That's the point, you gain nothing. You can live on the same amount of money in any of those places as well as you can in Hua Hin if you try.

[Korkenzieher]

Certainly at the moment that is my feeling too. There seems to be no actual 'win' in moving (specifically) to Thailand for the majority of people.