20,000 bht

**upcountry** · 14th Jul 2012, 12:01

Would be Interested to know If people living In Issan feel that 20,000 bht a month Is enough to live on, bearing in mind you have no other outlays, eg house paid for and own food grown..

**maokaang** · 14th Jul 2012, 12:38

Too many variables to answer.

In a city? In the sticks?
Children? School Fees, Uniform, etc.
Car? Car Insurance, Fuel, Servicing, Road Tax, Tyres, etc.
"Luxuries" like True Visions, Broadband Internet, farang food and Air Con?

If no kids and living in Nakhon Nowhere, almost no luxuries, no car, and not going out to eat or drink, you'd probably survive. But is that the type of lifestyle you can live with?

On just 20,000 a month you'd struggle to get yearly visa extensions unless you were over 50 and had considerable savings to show in the bank.

**upcountry** · 14th Jul 2012, 12:53

maokanng
In the sticks,
400,000 bht a year in a bank account is what is required for a married couple?
air con not needed, neither farrang food, internet the use of a usb dongle is enough..

**maokaang** · 14th Jul 2012, 13:05

Yes, 400,000 in the bank is the current requirement for a Thai wife extension, but it's probably wise to have considerably more. The 400,000 figure has been around for a while and there's no telling if and when they'll revise it. If they change it next week to 500,000 you'd never be able to make up the balance on a 20,000 a month budget.

If you can get a broadband connection at your home (not guaranteed in the sticks), it's probably going to be cheaper to do so, and a whole lot better, than using a USB dongle. ฿590+VAT a month for a 7Mb service is the current base rate.

You'd need also to get prices for home insurance and health insurance and factor those into your budget. Easy to skip either but, on such a small budget, your life will be over if something goes wrong and you're not insured for it.

Otherwise; no car, no kids, no True Visions, no air-con, it's probably achievable.

**prioritypress** · 14th Jul 2012, 13:14

I'm sure most Thai people living in the sticks live on 5-10k.

But would you want to?

Nick

**vinnie** · 14th Jul 2012, 13:42

i would have to have aircon at least at night time or i wouldnt sleep,come to think of it i think my wife would to now after living here

**Frogster1953** · 14th Jul 2012, 14:10

When we went back to Thailand last month, it was my wife that had the aircon on at night rather than me, most nights I woke up cold and had to turn it off for a bit.... (no pun intende in the "for a bit" comment - but true all the same).

Kev

**bifftastic** · 20th Jul 2012, 18:12

Upcountry, when you say "own food grown" do you mean all the food you will eat?

As for the 20k budget, I would say its a bit tight really. You would need to have savings for when the unexpected expenses appear.

The food part of your budget would be quite small really.

**melnathan** · 20th Jul 2012, 22:18

Three of us ( Jan myself and my son who used to live in Phuket ) have just sat down and tried to work out if we could manage on 20000 and decided you could just but who would really want to. Life would be much more comfortable on 30,000 However living on the edge is not good on the stress levels. Its always the unexpected that catches you out. The old adage if you cannot do it properly dont do it.
Wise words from Maokanng

Melnathan

**colin244** · 21st Jul 2012, 00:54

Agree but could a Thai? probably without all the western things but would a farang want to = No

colin 244

**Linne** · 21st Jul 2012, 08:25

what does a uk based pensioner have to survive on ?

**Gary & Nok** · 21st Jul 2012, 17:12

The basic is £107.45 a week, but you need to have 30 years of full National Insurance (NI) contributions to get this.

**Linne** · 21st Jul 2012, 18:28

the point being that someone in Los should be able to survive on a UK state pension. 20k b being similar.

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**melnathan** · 21st Jul 2012, 20:51

My state pension is £390 per month my rent is £800.00 thank goodness I am still working.

Melnathan

**vanbobble** · 21st Jul 2012, 21:30

Melnathan.. is that in the Land of Smiles or the Land of (uk)?

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**handyman** · 22nd Jul 2012, 02:02

800 pounds a month I would imagine the UK.

**colin244** · 22nd Jul 2012, 21:02

Is your state pension not cut if you live overseas or is it just fixed on your emmigration i.e. you don't get any future increases awarded and if you return to the UK does it get changed back? Just out of interest.

colin 244

**bifftastic** · 22nd Jul 2012, 21:06

You don't get the index linked increases if you live outside the EU

**prikphet** · 22nd Jul 2012, 22:19

Get your Winter Heating allowance though, handy in Thailand

**colin244** · 22nd Jul 2012, 22:29

To be spent on aircon

colin 244

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