turbit wrote:I might add my wife has insisted I tuck away 1/2 mill baht for my funeral.
On the basis that as a prominent farang member of the community I should be dispatched in appropriate style.

Mmmm and how can you be sure it will get spent on one....

trubrit wrote:Entirely agree with that. I might add my wife has insisted I tuck away 1/2 mill baht for my funeral. On the basis that as a prominent farang member of the community I should be dispatched in appropriate style.

Wow a lot of money just to sling you on a bonfire however half a mill will buy a lot of Archa, whiskey, soda and coke... A bad couple of days to go to Ngee Soon... There'll be f**k all alcohol left.

A half million baht? She must want to buy a nice big memorial stone to remember you by (about 3 or 4 carats).

since I will be moving this month to my wife's house I built for her I expect to save at least
7 to 10 K a month since I will not be paying rent & I will not be coming in to town
very often. also on another savings I will not be getting ripped off on my electric & water bill
from the building owner which will be a savings of 1K a month the only increase I will see is internet cost from 1070 baht to 2600 baht for satellite

aznyron wrote:since I will be moving this month to my wife's house I built for her I expect to save at least
7 to 10 K a month since I will not be paying rent & I will not be coming in to town
very often. also on another savings I will not be getting ripped off on my electric & water bill
from the building owner which will be a savings of 1K a month the only increase I will see is internet cost from 1070 baht to 2600 baht for satellite

YES,but you won't be living so well without US!!!
So in the equation,your cost of ''LIVING'' might not be lower Then of course.there is the GAS money you will have to shell out if you expect US to come visit you way out in the boonies

Personally,I think you are hiding from GWB!!Whoops ,shouldn't have mentioned that

Please keep to the topic, - which is the cost of living in Udon Thani.

If I was true B. I would make sure to never
have the full 1/2 mill.
Just stay a 100 or 2 below all the time.

If I would put aside a 1/2, I would hire a bodyguard......

Just my way of thinking...

Hello,I'm the new guy.I know this is an older post and realise everyone lives a different lifestyle but the information on this forum is far more helpful than the constant bickering and attacking on the majority of Thai forums.It really puts me off posting if I'm going to get flamed for not knowing as much about Thailand as the posters living there.As mentioned prior,my wife's family is from Bangkok and I realise if you look hard enough you can find reasonable accomodations most anywhere,given time to look.
I know a cheaper cost of living exists in the Nong Khai/Udon area when comparing it to Bangkok/Pattaya and when we come back for good,decisions will need to be made.

I enjoy the ocean and I'm a people watcher.Bangkok/Pattaya both have good and bad points just like everywhere.I've read as many posts as possibly exist about the cost of living in these areas and they vary greatly from estimates of 20,000 Baht up to 350,000 Baht a month(it gets thrown out there,as unbelievable as it is).It's difficult to read these threads as there's alot of josting between posters and they go off topic alot.
As I mentioned in my 1st post I have a good friend living in Nong Khai(he's back here visiting at the moment and we've been getting together).He has only good things to say about Nong Khai/Udon area.He's 65 and has his 44 year old lady taking excellent care of him.He tells me safety should be high on my list as well as accomodation prices and those would be hard pressed to beat in your area.I've read your "Do you feel safe thread(and very much enjoy it)"He's right I think it is safer up there comparatively speaking.There's no doubt you can live in a bigger and nicer place up there for the same money.I also would enjoying driving around in my own vehicle but getting to the point of this thread,would you mind sharing an estimate of what you gentlemen spend per month to live a decent lifestyle.I am in no way wanting to get nosey about anyones financial situation just wanting to get some genuine estimates as moving up there will definitely piss off her Bangkok family.My mrs understands(34 years in states have Americanised her quite abit)it's about us now and where the money goes farthest tied in with quality of life,safety etc.etc.
In this thread the thing that's missing is,Laphanphon was the only poster out of all the responses that gave out a monthly estimate,twice(for Jan and Feb--excellent and thank you I might add).If you don't mind throwing some numbers out,even if they're not yours but rather a conservative guess,it would be very much appreciated by me and hopefully other readers trying to decide their course.Alot of your posts do contain excellent perspectives and I think your website has quite a few readers even if they don't always post.Thanks guys and have a good day.

i'm not a gentleman so i'll leave that part of the question for th others cross pattaya off
your list for anything other than a brief shopping excursion. the whole dynamic of the place
has been rapidly changing in the last year or so. it's over-run with ladymen and young thugs
wound-up on drugs. all of them stealing everything that isn't bolted-down. in real life, i'm one
of the most reserved, soft spoken fellas you could meet, and in the span of several months i
was involved in (3) physical altercations with the trash-talking locals. absolute dirtbags the lot.

Bronco,
I am renting (in Romien) - 3 bed bungalow - 5,500 a month
Electric - hot season - 1,500 a month (use 1 aircon at night only, 1/3 wall fans in day - "winter" reduce by 500 baht for lack of aircon use)
Water - about 200 baht a month (but free for last 6 months.... )
Cable - 350 a month
Internet/telephone about 900 a month (590 for ASDL, balance calls)
Waste disposal - 20 baht a month
Car - 12,000 a month (over 4 years, would reduce to about 8,000 if I had over 7 years)
Petrol is probably a baht or two dearer a litre than BKK, but tends to get slightly more expensive out of main towns.
On top of this yearly stuff like medical/car insurance but I guess that is pretty similar anywhere in Thailand.
The difficult bit is when you come to food/entertainment. Here you can spend as much/little as you like depends on how you like to live & only you can guess that.
Beer in a bar is about 50-90 baht a small bottle, depending upon what variety you drink & which bar.
Cheaper at Night Market/UD Town & cheaper still 7/11 or a Supermarket.
Falang food, depends what style you want. British "pub grub" is good at The Clock & about 160/180 baht a serving. Most other places are going to sell you a serving for between 100-200 baht, depending what you want. Thai food from 20 baht for roadside to about 120 baht for a good quality restaurant.

trubrit -

That covers one of my life in Thailand rules.

NEVER be worth more dead than alive.

BobHelm wrote: .
.
.
Car -12,000 a month (over 4 years, would reduce to about 8,000 if I had over 7 years)
.
.
.

Hi,

can you explain why you pay 12.000,00 BHT for the car in one month? Is this for gas. , insurance, tax...?

Kart

glalt wrote:trubrit -

That covers one of my life in Thailand rules.

NEVER be worth more dead than alive.

Well of course I never said I would be,. did I?
When I eventually go, which hopefully won't be for a long time yet. After all , only the good die young, and I don't think I fall into that category. I want a party to celebrate my life, not a wake to record my death. I have therefor asked my wife to spend some of the money I leave on booking a Mor Lam concert to give pleasure to all the local people.Now as some of you may know, these shows are not cheap. The one held in my village for the mango fair cost over 200,000 bht for one night.So it will bring happiness , not tears. I only hope I can be there to see it. If not in body at least in spirit or soul.
So back to my original point on the cost of living. You should also factor in the cost of dying and continued financial support for your loved ones, after your demise.

12,000 Hire Purchase Kart......
Tax, from memory just under 2,000 a year - depends on vehicle you have...
Insurance about 18,000 a year..
Petrol - well impossible to say, depends where I go....

Thank you!!

poor lad .. Bronco .. still none the wiser but how long is a piece of string... looks like Bt 20k would be a fair buget for a single guy in town and without never never payments.... if you have others to support and most do ..... that is probably just a starting point

I would suspect that 20K for a single guy would be a little on the low side, unless he had very little socialising - which would hardly be the point would it???
Somewhere like the Top Mansion would cost the best part of 10K a month to start with.
How much do I need to live in Udon?? Is an impossible question for someone else to answer, because it depends entirely on what sort of "life" you want...
He has been given some basic facts of what the basics cost in Udon, personally I fail to see what more anyone could do to answer this question....

Single guy on visit to Udon - need minimum 30,000 baht a month. Assumes cheap hotel (topmansion equivalent), eat modest farang meals, a few tuk/tuk rides and a few beers a night. But Female company extra ( from zero more to as high as your credit rating)! As Bob says, 20,000 baht a month will mean a few compromises, eat thai and drink water, or live with TGF.

I cannot see any reason why a single guy would want to stay in Udon Thani My wife has just corrected me by saying there are more single girls in udon than pattaya

i could easily live as a single person on 15 - 20 K a month. lite drinker and no P4P, way too easy.