General living costs in Udon Thani

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v2b
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General living costs in Udon Thani

Post by v2b » March 22, 2010, 5:55 pm

Just wondering what the general costs of things are in Udon Thani? i.e. food (eating out), beer, the usual...



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Texpat
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Re: Prices

Post by Texpat » March 22, 2010, 6:34 pm

A medium-sized pizza with several toppings and two regular colas is about 600 baht.

Beer is 480 baht for 9,000 ml of very basic stuff. (12 bottles, warm)

Fried crickets are 40 baht for a small plate.

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rick
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Re: Prices

Post by rick » March 22, 2010, 7:01 pm

Depends what you want to buy. Thai food cheaper than western. Western food (with some exceptions, like the pizza Tex mentions), cheaper than back home when eating out (but only a bit) but up to double in supermarket for the basic materials. Wine - more expensive. Drinks in bars - similar to prices in pubs in UK. Accomodation - cheaper. Cars - more expensive. Just browse the relevant forum threads for the last 12 months and you will find. If your serious nearly everything is there. It will keep you quiet for a few days and stop you asking rather vague questions!

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deankham
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Re: Prices

Post by deankham » March 22, 2010, 7:27 pm

rick wrote:Depends what you want to buy. Thai food cheaper than western. Western food (with some exceptions, like the pizza Tex mentions), cheaper than back home when eating out (but only a bit) but up to double in supermarket for the basic materials. Wine - more expensive. Drinks in bars - similar to prices in pubs in UK. Accomodation - cheaper. Cars - more expensive. Just browse the relevant forum threads for the last 12 months and you will find. If your serious nearly everything is there. It will keep you quiet for a few days and stop you asking rather vague questions!
Wow either the UK has got very cheap since I left or Udon has got very expensive :shock:
...The last pint I had in UK was £3.20 and Large Leo in Udon was B60.

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Texpat
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Re: Prices

Post by Texpat » March 22, 2010, 7:34 pm

Prices of food, transportation, lodging, drinks, entertainment have all increased appreciably over the past few years if for no other reason than the relative weakness of most western currencies. The dollar was worth 40 baht this time four years ago. Now it's 32 ~ something. Pricing is NOT a static concept. Unless you have income in baht, it will impact your bottom line.

If it was dirt cheap when you came here 40 years ago, don't expect the same today.

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deankham
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Re: Prices

Post by deankham » March 22, 2010, 7:39 pm

Texpat wrote:Prices of food, transportation, lodging, drinks, entertainment have all increased appreciably over the past few years if for no other reason than the relative weakness of most western currencies. The dollar was worth 40 baht this time four years ago. Now it's 32 ~ something. Pricing is NOT a static concept. Unless you have income in baht, it will impact your bottom line.

If it was dirt cheap when you came here 40 years ago, don't expect the same today.

I used to get a Waggonwheel for 7p and a 5p bag of sweets was massive....how much would these luxury ticket items cost in Udon nowadays? I bet those Waggonwheels are a lot smaller than they used to be :mad:

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rick
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Re: Prices

Post by rick » March 22, 2010, 7:52 pm

Prices vary. Last beer i had in a BAR in udon (small) was 50 baht i think; last half in UK was about £1.20 (60 baht). but depends what you drink and where.

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Texpat
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Re: Prices

Post by Texpat » March 22, 2010, 7:57 pm

I've had a small Tiger in D&N for 70 baht -- less entertainment than a lively 7-11.

Some gogos in Soi Cowboy are 150 for a small beer.

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macduff
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Re: Prices

Post by macduff » March 23, 2010, 1:21 am

I paid 180bht for a pint of kilkenny reciently.Thats expensive

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Re: Prices

Post by thrilled » March 23, 2010, 9:40 pm

You can get things at reasonable prices but you might have to shop around.

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Prenders88
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Re: Prices

Post by Prenders88 » March 24, 2010, 2:15 am

Air Con is a bargain in Thailand.

Recently had a 18 btu Daikin wall mounted unit fitted in the living room.
26,000 baht including fitting, got a good deal from Global House, who had a promotion at the time.
In the UK you won't get much change from £2000.

New cars are more expensive to buy in Thailand than the UK, but servicing is a lot cheaper.
The price of spares are also a lot cheaper, you can keep a car here for a number of years if you look after it, unlike the UK with the rip off prices for servicing and spare parts makes the cars depreiciate much faster in the UK. They just turn into money pits.
Road Tax is no where near UK rates, and the MOT is peanuts in comparison.
Last edited by Prenders88 on March 24, 2010, 2:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

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hangsaboot
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Re: Prices

Post by hangsaboot » March 24, 2010, 2:17 am

rick wrote:Prices vary. Last beer i had in a BAR in udon (small) was 50 baht i think; last half in UK was about £1.20 (60 baht). but depends what you drink and where.
i had recently ,in wetherspoons , they have pubs all over uk .
a brekky , two rashers of bacon , cumberland sausage , fried egg ,
hash brown , mushrooms , tomatoe and baked beans .
washed down with a large mug of coffee , cost me £4.08

pint of ordinary ale for £2.00 [96 bht].

wetherspoons in udon ,,, yes please ..

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Prenders88
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Re: Prices

Post by Prenders88 » March 24, 2010, 2:23 am

About the same price for the breakfast in the Irish Clock 180 baht.

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Re: General living costs in Udon Thani

Post by parrot » March 24, 2010, 8:17 pm

"New cars are more expensive to buy in Thailand than the UK"

New cars are more expensive because of the tax schedule. The vehicle with the lowest tax schedule is 2 door spacecab truck (I'm not certain, but seem to remember the tax at 10%)

I tried to google the tax schedule for new vehicles, but all the sites come 404 -not found (that's pretty typical shoddy web work by Thai government websites).

We paid 640,000 baht for a new spacecab door Toyota Vigo (2008), 3.0l diesel, air, power windows/mirrors, bedliner, tint and one year first class insurance. At the exchange rate at the time (36/$1), I felt the price was not far off what I'd pay for a similar vehicle in the US (....ready, aim, fire!!). On the other hand, if I wanted something like a Honda CIVIC, I'd pay much more than a similar car in the US because of the different tax schedule here.
2 door Vigo annual registration is 1050 baht. A 4 door Vigo goes for something like 6400 baht per year.
If anyone has a workable link to the tax schedule for new vehicles, please pass it on.

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Re: General living costs in Udon Thani

Post by old-timer » March 24, 2010, 10:40 pm

Let's try and put this in some kind of perspective here, the price of something like a bowl of noodles, or chicken and rice from a local vendor a couple or so years ago was 20 - 25 baht, that has gone up to around 30 - 35baht. Not too bad you will say. Now if you are using GBP the 20 baht you was previously paying for a bowl of sloppy noodles at an exchange rate of 70baht to the GBP would cost you around 28pence. Now to buy the same thing will cost you, at an exchange rate of THB 50 to the GBP, and the cost of the delicious noodles being 30 baht, it will cost you 60 pence. Let's say more than double.
My maths might be a bit iffy here because i've had a few light ales, so I would appreciate someone checking out what I am saying, if it is correct, I advise the OP to bring double the cash than last time, because you will need it.

OT.... \:D/

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Re: General living costs in Udon Thani

Post by parrot » March 25, 2010, 9:25 am

OT
You're right, of course, that it's not the cost of the bowl of soup that counts, but rather the exchange rate.
We came here in 96. A "special" bowl of soup cost 25 baht and the exchange rate was $1/25 Bowl of soup cost $1.00

For a short while, the exchange rate was $1/50, and the cost of the soup was the same, so the bowl cost the equivalent of $0.50

According to my records, the last time the dollar was trading at 1/40 was 6 Jan 2006. By that time the bowl of soup was 30 baht. A bowl cost the equivalent of $0.75

Today my special bowl of soup costs 35 baht. The exchange rate is 32ish to 1. So my bowl now costs $1.09

I think the moral of the story is: if you come here and expect a fixed exchange rate, you might be in for a rude surprise. Today it's 32 and anyone who can predict what it'll be next week/year, is blowing smoke. Might be higher, might be lower.

Maybe instead of soup, look at the range of a 2 million baht house over the years:
$80,000 at 25/1, $50,000 at 40/1, $62,500 at 32/1. If you were really lucky and locked on to your house during the short time the rate was 50/1, you got it for $40,000!!

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LoveDaBlues
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Re: General living costs in Udon Thani

Post by LoveDaBlues » March 25, 2010, 9:43 am

I spend 100K a month to support myself, my wife, child, and her immediate family.

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plien
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Re: General living costs in Udon Thani

Post by plien » March 25, 2010, 1:08 pm

LoveDaBlues wrote:I spend 100K a month to support myself, my wife, child, and her immediate family.
LDB, would you like to elaborate a little ? How much does your personal lifestyle affect this figure? And how big a part do your wife`s immediate family get?

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Re: General living costs in Udon Thani

Post by old-timer » March 25, 2010, 2:43 pm

Here's another thing, I paid twelve grand sterling for my Toyota about 4 years ago, the price of this vehicle has remained the same since then at around B900k, however it would cost me eighteen grand sterling now. A bit of a jump if you ask me.

OT...... \:D/

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Re: General living costs in Udon Thani

Post by oangh » March 25, 2010, 7:54 pm

old-timer wrote:Here's another thing, I paid twelve grand sterling for my Toyota about 4 years ago, the price of this vehicle has remained the same since then at around B900k, however it would cost me eighteen grand sterling now. A bit of a jump if you ask me.

OT...... \:D/
If you sell it for 600k now you get the grand sterlings back after driving 4 years!!!!
I use 1000 a day on dayly life,knows others who live on about that.

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