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 impulsiveGalee wrote: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.steveway2 wrote:
I am tempted to sell up and retire early, but will stick it out here another couple of years
Cost of Living Information - Udon Thani
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
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.WBU ALUM wrote:I would think that much would depend on your financial condition and ability to weather the markets and exchange rates in this volatile time.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.
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
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?macduff wrote: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.WBU ALUM wrote:I would think that much would depend on your financial condition and ability to weather the markets and exchange rates in this volatile time.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.
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!
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Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
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.
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.
- Prenders88
- udonmap.com
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- Location: Udon Thani
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
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.
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.
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
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.
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
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 =D> . 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
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 =D> . 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
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
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
All the best
Kart
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
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
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
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
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
Kart
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
approx 20,000 baht. my insurance figure is for auto mostly, 18,000 a year, max 10 mill coverage if someone commits suicide on car. put in budget as 1700 monthly.
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
Thanks! The insurance for the little motorbike, how much does that cost? And how much is the tax for the pick up? Calculating on a basis for the long run it makes a big difference spending 1000 BHT more or less a month. I am doing the calculations with "Excel" and I am trying to make it as accurate as it can be. I am not a fortune-teller so I can not know the inflation rate of the next 25 years and also I can not know the exchange rate of the Euro but I took the average rates of the past 10 to 15 years and will hopefully have a realistic forecast.
To have a precise overview of what I am going to spend I am keeping and analysing my spendings here in Germany for quite some time now. When I started doing that after some time it became really interesting where the money actually goes. Well, with these records that I have I at least know how much of what we need to live a life that can be called enjoyable.
Kart
To have a precise overview of what I am going to spend I am keeping and analysing my spendings here in Germany for quite some time now. When I started doing that after some time it became really interesting where the money actually goes. Well, with these records that I have I at least know how much of what we need to live a life that can be called enjoyable.
Kart
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
Theres also the question of medical insurance.Would anybody know how much for the basic cover for a family 2 adults 2 children.Have to take into account for broken limbs.We all know how the pavements can be in udon and kerbs.
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
Don't forget the setup costs,furniture,appliances,pots and dishes etc etc.etc.
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
That money has been spent already, luckily enough! No worries any more.
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
Excellent casicook Thanks for that.casicook wrote:I got the prices for the health insurance from here.
http://www.bupathailand.com/personal.asp#
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
All i have to worry about now is a nursery/school for my boy.He's nearly two and i want him to go to an English school that also teaches thai. Can anybody suggest how much I should expect to pay for a good school in Udon Thani, over a 12 month period?.
Mod Note - some text edited
Mod Note - some text edited
Last edited by macduff on March 1, 2009, 4:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
Considering the cost of living in Thailand (as compared to the US at least, probably UK, Germany, etc), I don't think there's much argument that it's cheaper here than there. The 2 big question marks, that seem to cause problems for lots of folks, are the exchange rate and health insurance. While we'd all like to think it's unlikely that the USD/Baht exchange rate would ever go back to 25/1, that's what it was a little more than 12 years ago. Given the incredible uncertainty of the economic crisis, I'd say it'd be a safer bet to consider it returning to that level (okay, it's unlikely.....but), than it returning to 50 (okay, it's more likely.......but). If you had that plan in mind and the rate was to your benefit, all the better for living here.
If you don't have health insurance (that'd be a showstopper in my book), I'd say 25k USD would be a good cushion to cover something catastrophic. If you don't have that kind of money and you don't have health insurance, you could be looking to spend time in the open wards of Udon General. If you've never been there and doubt the living conditions, it'd be worth your time to make a visit.
I'm not trying to discourage anyone, but if you're just considering month-to-month expenses, you're missing out on the bigger picture. JMHO
If you don't have health insurance (that'd be a showstopper in my book), I'd say 25k USD would be a good cushion to cover something catastrophic. If you don't have that kind of money and you don't have health insurance, you could be looking to spend time in the open wards of Udon General. If you've never been there and doubt the living conditions, it'd be worth your time to make a visit.
I'm not trying to discourage anyone, but if you're just considering month-to-month expenses, you're missing out on the bigger picture. JMHO
Re: COST OF LIVING INFORMATION - UDON THANI
Entirely agree with that. I might add my wife has insisted I tuck away 1/2 mill baht for my funeral.parrot wrote:Considering the cost of living in Thailand (as compared to the US at least, probably UK, Germany, etc), I don't think there's much argument that it's cheaper here than there. The 2 big question marks, that seem to cause problems for lots of folks, are the exchange rate and health insurance. While we'd all like to think it's unlikely that the USD/Baht exchange rate would ever go back to 25/1, that's what it was a little more than 12 years ago. Given the incredible uncertainty of the economic crisis, I'd say it'd be a safer bet to consider it returning to that level (okay, it's unlikely.....but), than it returning to 50 (okay, it's more likely.......but). If you had that plan in mind and the rate was to your benefit, all the better for living here.
If you don't have health insurance (that'd be a showstopper in my book), I'd say 25k USD would be a good cushion to cover something catastrophic. If you don't have that kind of money and you don't have health insurance, you could be looking to spend time in the open wards of Udon General. If you've never been there and doubt the living conditions, it'd be worth your time to make a visit.
I'm not trying to discourage anyone, but if you're just considering month-to-month expenses, you're missing out on the bigger picture. JMHO
On the basis that as a prominent farang member of the community I should be dispatched in appropriate style.