Cost of Living Information - Udon Thani

I would think that much would depend on your Thai wife. Cooking and eating at home
can certainly save you a bundle. I eat-out a lot for the social aspect and even here, it becomes
a major item on your budget. I get embarrassed when I realize many Thais live on 5-6K / month.

married and have an 18 month old son

unless struggling with the extra taxes and utility bills, or just can't take the weather anymore, and no deep ties to family or social activities that aren't available here, the only reason i would remain would be better medical, especially if free, and education for little one, as it really doesn't compare to anything here. if making the move, have a nice cushion for 'oops, sh*t happens'.

we were talking about it last night, i have to stay for 8 yrs, but if i decided to go back, thinking about where i would live and the addition cost. only negatives to return would be housing cost and utilities, the only financial advantage for myself being here. if health problems, then i could jump back on medical system there, as not usable here. i was thinking 6 months puerto rico, 6 months philly suburbs.

Cooking and eating at home can certainly save you a bundle. I eat-out a lot for the social aspect

my budget is about 50/50 in/out and thai/farang, though lately, myself leaning more toward farang, and little upgrade on dining, so a bit more than last year or before. tired of sweating and swatting flies.

Hope you ain't going anywhere near Upper Darby, right load of skagheads in that locale, beter move out down Springfield way! Ho Ho. Or further to Media.

Definitely better IMHO opinion to eat and drink more at home,sometimes I wonder why eating out in Udon in farang establishments is so expensive and then having to dodge the dangerous Thai m/b drivers at anytime of the day just adds stress. It only works though if your TW can cook
Spend quality time at home with TW and family if you have kids and save a bundle

skagheads in that locale

HOLY SH*T, BATMAN, was thinking out just past Reading toward lancaster, away from high rents. saw
Reading in money mag as one of cheapest housing. grew up in Sharon Hill, used to go to the Terminal theater on wednesdays for matinee, 50 cents, was a weekly skip school thing with about 10 of us. and cheap pizza right down the street. media is a quaint little town. need someplace with no decent school, or jobs, so the economy sucks and nobody wants to live there, in the middle of nowhere, like here

my brother is in springfield, rich b*****d

Galee wrote:

steveway2 wrote:
I am tempted to sell up and retire early, but will stick it out here another couple of years

Only you can make that decision, but remember you only get one chance on this planet. At least you can make your decisions with the World Economy at what appears to be rock bottom. Some have made the decision in a different economic climate and have had to make big adjustments.

Galee - you are correct - my loose plan is to do 6 months Udon / 6 months Perth from 55 to 60 (nearly 52 now). That way I still have a job and my super kicks over till I am 60 - after 60 will decide if I "retire" or maintain 50/50 till (say) 65. I am finding it hard to maintain the disciplne to wait till 55, but think now is not a good time to be impulsive

WBU ALUM wrote:

macduff wrote:I would love to move to Thailand with my thai wife and baby and live a peacfull village life,but i don't want to severe ties in the UK,yet i need to finance my stay in Thailand which means selling my assets in UK.Can any ex pat members point me in the right direction through your own experiance's and give me a straight answer into why i should or should'nt make the move.I'm 45 years old married and have an 18 month old son.

I would think that much would depend on your financial condition and ability to weather the markets and exchange rates in this volatile time.

Well the wife already has a house just outside udon ringroad. All i need is a laptop and i'll sit down and watch the storms pass, i've already adjusted to thai food here in the UK so the costs there can be quite good.As you've already noticed Englands use by date as already expired but i dont want to jump ship if my lifeboats sinking.

macduff wrote:

WBU ALUM wrote:

macduff wrote:I would love to move to Thailand with my thai wife and baby and live a peacfull village life,but i don't want to severe ties in the UK,yet i need to finance my stay in Thailand which means selling my assets in UK.Can any ex pat members point me in the right direction through your own experiance's and give me a straight answer into why i should or should'nt make the move.I'm 45 years old married and have an 18 month old son.

I would think that much would depend on your financial condition and ability to weather the markets and exchange rates in this volatile time.

Well the wife already has a house just outside udon ringroad. All i need is a laptop and i'll sit down and watch the storms pass, i've already adjusted to thai food here in the UK so the costs there can be quite good.As you've already noticed Englands use by date as already expired but i dont want to jump ship if my lifeboats sinking.

I think the key phrase here is that in bold above!How do you know that you would LOVE it after some time there?If you change your mind after a year or so,what would be your options?

Most of us go through many adjustments living here .There are many that hit the 3 year barrier after finding that there are to many adjustments to make for them at their particular time in their life.Holidays can get boring for some people,especially when they change their spending and working habits living here longterm!

Living amongst the family and other Thai will bring many possible changes to your family dynamics.It is hard to say NO when you have to face them everyday and they can and might bring great pressure on your relationship.You will be the ''minority'' here.think what that means to you personally,just think about it!There is some predjudice and resentment amongst some Thais here and depending on your particular situation,you will have to accept it gracefully and without show of anger!

I don't think anyone knows how they will adjust to this culture,which for some is 180 degrees different!

So,my recommendation would be to not sever ties,arrange a longterm sabattical to come and live here!

I am sure you don't want a detailed list of everyones negative views here as we are all different personalities and the list can get quite extensive ,but might not be relevant to your personality!But you did ask for good reasons!

The best reason is the adjustment will be greater than you presently think it will be at this time!

Dear Mcduff
me and my wife have a home in first home village udorn, but i have not sold my home in uk, using rent as a sauce of income, as well as having a small buisness in udorn .Before we lived just outside kumpawapi in a small farming village baarn poo. I only speek a little thai, but i made some great friends there, the people are very kind and generous. They are very poor,but want to give us rice,sweetcorn, and vagetable to eat. I still return to visit them regularly.
As far as spending, set your self a budjet per month especially now the pound is very low,it is important to have a good circle of friends you can talk with and a hobby or interest to get you out of the house.

Rent your UK house if you can, don't burn your bridges completely. Give it time, and sit this one out with the rest of us. You would be mad to sell your house now in the UK.

Stan mentions you'd be a ethnic minority in Thailand, where I live in London I'm already used to it. My manor looks like a Jamaican township, with a smattering of Islamabad, complete with mosques, and stinking grocery shops, with boxes of festering vegetables outside on the pavements.

Even with the strong baht, the cost of living in Thailand is a lot cheaper, no big heating bills, no rip off council tax, fresh food a fraction of the cost what you pay for in the UK. If you're careful, your money will go a long way.

I'm in favour of renting my property to pay the mortgage for 12 months to see how I'd go on. I probably need to get wish i was there syndrome out of me and see whether i can stay the course.I may learn a lot from the experiance. A point that was mentioned was the medical issue which concerns me.I'd like to thank everyone who posted and hopefully i'll get to meet you guys when we come over sometime this year.

Cost of living for February, again 3 mouths.

Considerable difference from January on the food budget, not sure why, unconscious diet , cutting back, very doubtful. 3 less days in the month, w/Ree and Gem having couple days head cold, loss of appetite, don’t think so, as both out/in food expense are 48 % less than January . Trying to use all perishables before holiday, but not that much stocked to make that kind of difference. Dining out 14 times this month , instead of 32 times as in January. I did add 400 baht for today, so as accurate as can be, to date.

The rest, no surprises, the monthly constants are just that.

Rent/ins/med/school..............8950

Misc/household.....................6453

Petrol.................................925

Electric..............................1045

Water (if having to pay)...........212

Food (out)........4853
Food (in).........4418

TTL Food..........................9271

TTL Monthly budget...........27,000
(January...35,000)

Not include, though probably should be as a monthly legal expense, visa renewal, 1900 baht.
Included in misc/hh was duty free shopping of 2000 baht, along with less than 500 baht for Gem’s school supplies for next grade.

Write it down for couple months, if you don't see where it's going, you can't control it. Good luck to all

As my wife and I are planning to come to Udon for living there permanently next year, your records are very interesting for my calculations. Thank you very much! Funnily enough, my calculations are a bit, but only just, above what you are spending for you and your family. I have to take off the rent that you are paying and reduce the costs of your food a bit because we are only the two of us and then I can say that my calculations for the future are not too bad. Anyhow, thanks for you records and it would be nice if you could update them regularly.

All the best

Kart

LA gives a very good idea of daily costs and his lifestyle that supports it!

One should remember that if you are moving here,there are setup costs,Security deposits(that frequently are kept),the cost of a vehicle with all its maintenace costs etc.etc

Good point! I can not find out how much a first class insurance for a pick up will cost. Can anybody give me that information?



Kart