Is Thailand still that cheap?
Is it me or are there others who can confirm that the daily groceries and life in Thailand have become significantly more expensive?
Low price level
Thailand has always been an attractive destination for tourists from all countries, partly because of the low price level. Eating somewhere good for less than 1 euro was never a problem. You pulled out the wallet whistling. The tide now seems to have turned. When I have to pay at the supermarket, I am shocked by the prices. I even dare to say that I spend less for daily shopping in the Netherlands.
By daily shopping I mean things such as coffee, lemonade, beer, spreads, fruit and care products (shampoo, deodorant, etc.). Certainly the imported products are very expensive. For a large jar of Nutella, 300 baht is asked in the supermarket, which is € 7,50! In my opinion, Tesco Lotus in Hua Hin uses European prices for normal groceries.
Now I know that in Hua Hin the prices are a bit higher than in some other places in Thailand, like in Pattaya. Despite this, daily life in Thailand seems to have become more expensive across the board. Not only for expats but also for tourists.
Beach and going out
In some simple nightlife venues, 120 baht is asked for a bottle of Singha beer without batting an eyelid. At a number of beach bars at the Monkey Mountain Khao Takiab there was nothing to eat under 100 baht. Beach tent owners near the Hilton Hotel ask for two beach beds and an umbrella 200 baht (5 euros).
The market
The market is the place where the Thai gets groceries. My girlfriend complained that inflation had hit there too. I've been there a few times and can confirm. With some regularity, prices have been increased by 10 baht. The average Thai also feels that in his pocket.
If you know the way, you pay less
Most expats now know where you pay the top price and where it is still cheap. For example, I buy another coconut for 10 baht and I can still eat somewhere for 40 baht. However, this is increasingly an exception and no longer a matter of course.
I am curious about the readers' experiences on this subject. Do you agree that prices in Thailand have risen sharply?
Well, prices are getting higher and higher in Thailand, Tesco/Lotus also has different prices depending on the location. I have always been told that Phuket is the most expensive province in Thailand, but prices at Lotus there are lower than at Lotus in Hua-hin. Juice oranges, for example, which are not imported, have also doubled in price in a few years, currently about 65 baht/kilo. But I have written it before on this blog, more luxurious products such as electronics, etc., despite the fact that it is often produced in Thailand, is more expensive than in Europe, and then they only pay 7% VAT / VAT here. Incomprehensible. Also on the terrace, a 5 liter pack of wine, at the Makro 910 Baht, but a glass on the terrace 150 Baht without batting an eyelid, and I could go on like this for a while, but I am also curious about other opinions.
I have noticed this year that everything has become more expensive
food average 10 baht gasoline 5baht BCsuper market lotus are much more expensive
and the thai thinks you are rich we have lost tickets hotel and everything around it for 8 weeks 4,750 this year
Well Peter, the daily products you mention there are not really the products that the Thai buy. I was quite surprised the last time those increases.
Milk shampoo, etc. are indeed even more expensive than in the Netherlands, and those prices really do not only apply to Hua Hin, if you convert that to Thai standards, so actually unaffordable for most.
In terms of groceries, the Netherlands is cheap compared to neighboring countries.
By the way, I miss a few related posts here, I thought I remembered that you had more on your blog..
Hi Hans,
I have been living in Germany for several years and can say that, as a rule, Germany is even cheaper, except for coffee and peanut butter. I come to the Netherlands twice a month and can therefore compare fairly well. In any case, I think Germany is more pleasant to live in. Okay, the wages are a little lower, but so are the rents. Because I pay for work, I am insured with a Krankenkasse where my wife and future children are co-insured for free.
The only cost to get my Thai wife to Germany was the 10€ pass fee. No integration costs or expensive exams!
Finally, the child benefit per child in Germany is 184€ per month, and my wife can apply for an extra contribution of 300€ per month, unfortunately only 1 year, on top of the child benefit, because she does not work.
Has nothing to do with Thailand, but nevertheless. Hope to move to Thailand someday, if I am ever a pensioner, although that will dry up that pot in the future. In the meantime, my Thai wife is having a good time in Europe and has already been to Prague, Rome, Paris, Brussels and next month we are going to London. In June, my wife and I hope to welcome our daughter to this planet.
That's completely right Jan, I know.. they are the well-known exception. I'm already thinking about what to rent there.
I am particularly concerned with integration, does Germany also have an age limit? The intention is to live in Thailand, but if I have to go to the Netherlands for medical reasons for a longer period of time, it would be useful to have a residence permit for Germany, which I believe is also valid for the Netherlands.
Hi Hans,
As an EU citizen you can just live and work in Germany, I do too. You do not need a residence permit. However, if you want your Thai partner to live there, it is really a blessing as a Dutch person, then you will have to work there and apply for a “Freizügigkeitsbescheinigung” that gives you the same rights as a German. I had already applied for this document in Germany in 2008. Because of this Freizügigkeitsbescheinigung, the application for my Thai wife was a piece of cake. The procedure was completed in about 1 week and about 3 weeks later she had her pass, since it had to be printed in Berlin, but she was allowed to stay in Germany in the meantime and she did not have to return to Thailand on 16.12.11. Total cost of the entire (MVV) application, 10€ for the pass! Hahaha, that's something else than those bloodsuckers from the IND with an MVV application of about 1200 € plus more than 4000 € for an integration course. You want to rent something in Germany? Then we have some tips for you. I've never heard of an age limit. If you have any questions, let me know. I also want to live in Thailand in the future, but I really think that by then there will not be much left of my pension. Received a letter last week that I will receive less pension, and while I still have to work 19 years before I am 67. No pre-pension or VUT for this boy, just work until you're 71 I'm afraid. The current pension generation has been lucky in that regard, those beautiful years of VUT and pre-pension will never return.
just email me [email protected]
I agree with you that everything is slowly but surely getting more expensive, but that seems pretty normal to me. That is a worldwide phenomenon. However, if you go to places where no tourists come and leave the Nutella pots and other Western imported products for what they are, Thailand is still a cheap country (to live).
However, the islands and other tourist attractions have become shockingly expensive compared to ten years ago, but even there you can find that bungalow for 300 baht per night (fan plus bed) and a plate of rice for one euro. But those places are becoming increasingly scarce, as you wrote. So agree.
Dear Cor,
Last week and also last year I was on Ko Samet. After a search over more than half of the island, the cheapest ROOM, so not even a bungalow, turned out to be 700 Baht per night. If you know a room for that 300 Baht, you should send me an email soon, then I'm going back next week. But Ko Samet is very expensive, also the food, etc
Robbie,
Koh Samet has become considerably more expensive in the last 5 years.
I've been coming here on a regular basis since 1982
I slept here last October for 400 baht including air conditioning and TV.
I think the average price is 1400 baht in high season.
the tourist spots become very expensive.
When the tourists keep pouring in there is no reason to raise prices to the level until numbers stabilize.
Just eat and drink what the country has to offer. If you buy Thai products in the Netherlands, you will also pay a lot more, especially the fresh products.
Well and whether it is getting more expensive. Normally I pay 24 baht for a tray of 540 cans of LEO beer. However, yesterday 680 baht. So an increase of 20%. Tried to buy 2 trays, but that was not allowed, because further price increases are expected in the short term. This 20% and the 20% fall in the value of the Euro within 2 years is not bad. If I really have to, I will drink water, but want to postpone this until the last moment.
GerrieQ8
Water is not for drinking. You can wash with that, fill your pool with it, but drink? I wouldn't. It only brings misery. 😉
Jerry q8
No, drinking water only brings trouble, as Cor said ……
Fish make their sex play in that stuff.
My late father used to say: “That's what the frogs wash their bottoms with. I don't drink that."
Coincidentally picked up a few trays for the store this afternoon ::580 bath per tray and whether I buy 1 or 10 is irrelevant to the price.
Or they ripped me off, but I doubt that, because I've been coming to buy my beer there for more than 1 year or…………. Hank, where are you? Me in Isaan and then the transport costs can also be included. Besides, I'm so worried about the 3 euros. There's more to life right?
khun peter,
That the prices here are higher than in NL, as you say, is true in some cases. The import
products from Europe have always been more expensive. A pot of nutela for which 300 bath is asked is not due to the increased inflation in Thailand, but due to the increased price of
chocolate worldwide. In all tourist places, prices are rising extra fast because people know
that vacationers don't mind a dime. Beer 5 Euro in the nightlife is there
an example of. I pay in the village where I live on a terrace for a large bottle of Leo-
beer 80 baht. If you live outside the tourist areas, everything is a lot cheaper.
When asked, is Thailand still that cheap? Do I say “yes”' Only the Euro which used to be 52
bath was now barely 40 bath As a result, the life of us here in Thailand is with
as much as 22 percent more expensive.
Still, it's all okay. Paid only 4 B for a large bottle of Leo beer a few days ago in Bangkok at a karaoke bar at Rama 70. Before that in the disco 100 B for a bottle of Heineken and 100 B for a lemonade glass of Campari. Then on the terrace of the hotel around the corner 299 B for a tower (3 liters) of Leo beer. Yesterday a steak of 125 grams for 40 B at Foodland. Come home every Saturday afternoon with more than 10 kilos of vegetables, fruit and eggs for less than 400 B. Enough for the whole week. But you do need to know where to be, that's right.
Paying close attention to where you buy things can easily save hundreds of THB .
Write down what you pay with one and compare it with the other.
After a while you will know what you should and should not buy there for the same product .
1 pack of cigarettes sometimes contains 7 Thb difference.
Do you love cheese and is a lot too much then do it together with acquaintances because converted it is already weighed and packaged in foli piece of cheese sometimes 4x as expensive.
Forget those cans of Bonduelle, frozen peas are considerably cheaper, not to mention beetroot if you buy them fresh.
I used to joke that I had to eat poor pork tenderloin, now it's different while the membrane and fat now also go on the scale.
If you also have to pay 150 thb for pinning, look up the AEON there, pinning costs nothing.
This one is in Hua hin on the top floor at the Lotus on the side of the bowling alley near the escalator .
Many thanks to Pim for this valuable tip, I would like to know if someone can tell me if there is such a free AEON ATM in Pattaya/Jomtien/Nongprue.
I myself have never heard of AEON in this area. It would be nice if they were available here as well.
@Khun Peter:
Yes, I also think this year almost EVERYTHING has become more expensive. The differences with NL are getting smaller. The rent of my house is even slightly more expensive here than in Holland… The Honda Click 125i (scooter) is significantly cheaper here than in NL or Spain. But I especially think the price of a can of beer here is way too expensive. I don't drink a drop less for it, but the price of 27 Baht for a can of Chang at the supermarket is about € 0,66! A large bottle of 66 cl often costs between 80 and 120 Baht on the beach or on a terrace. € 2 to € 3 are not tropical rates.
The prices of European food in a restaurant are also usually around 350 Baht or higher, so around € 10. That is just as expensive as in Germany. No, it is certainly not cheap here anymore.
It's generally something that gets more expensive but the places where tourists appear then it's bingo! (actually understandable!) especially after such a period as last year.
But for example: in Pataya, commerce strikes mercilessly, not only because the economic situation gives rise to it, but also with the idea that O that farrang has enough money, that is also very important.
Example: the last time I was in Pataya with my wife and son I went into a hotel to see how far I would get for the three of us and 4 family members so 3 rooms, well that guy had dollar signs in his eyes really and that would cost me 6000 Bath per day. It was a simple hotel, on the internet they claimed a maximum of 700 baht per room. In addition, if you took breakfast separately, you had to pay 100 baht when entering the rest: and you could eat unlimited. Breakfast was included on the internet.
I said no to expensive, and there was no negotiation.
I back to the van, I stayed behind with my son and my wife with the Family inside and asked the exact same thing, the man (who I also had) said saam hong okay songhan bath breakfast all in (the filthy rat!! Then I joined it and we walked to the Chambers he could shoot me dead, I showed him the advertisement on the internet his response was pom meeloe aray His earnings would then be 7 days x 2100 = 14700 – (7 x 6000 = 42000 that makes that he would then put 42000-14700=27300 bath in his pocket, you still need snow peas.
That same evening there was an older man in the lobby who turned out to be the manager, I spoke to him and complained about that guy, he looked at me surprised and I don't believe, I said again here I have the internet printout that I made in Amsterdam (because it had the date of the printout on it) yes then it also fell through the basket.
He was very accommodating and we had breakfast for free during the stay + the discounts they had for the tourists at the time.
So you see, but this is also part of becoming more expensive, I will do this again this year, it does not show that I can make myself understood in Thai, go away and let my wife talk and when everything is arranged I will come again forward usually works well. But that's our advantage if you're with a thai (not if you're a girl from a bar) That guy in question looked at me the rest of the time as if he wanted to strangle me, I then asked him why he did that, reaction pai pai farrang pen hia aray.
I said good boy you do but you now that we have in Pataya some thing like the tourist police what you think!!! That miserable piece of food immediately slunk off and then acted overly friendly.
So people go with your wife to Pataya, for example, make a printout on the comp: of the hotel where you want to go and as soon as the prices deviate in the period they complain about, then start complaining. It's a nice try, but not with me.
Yes, and in the large supermarkets you can try to haggle, but then large items (not at the checkout), but the seller who helps you with the Big C product sometimes succeeds there.
AEON can be found in most Lotus Supermarkets, usually a bit afterwards and they have a website where all AEON ATMs can be found, just google it.
It is not a bank but a kind of financing company for Thais where they can borrow money through an AEON credit card at a very high interest rate, hence the ATMs because there is only money to be withdrawn and deposited through those machines, you can also no money exchange because they have no money only application forms, etc. and indeed they do not pay 150 baht.
When those ATM drawers are collected with money, 3 very burly guys come and do this, probably ex MPs.
It has indeed become a lot more expensive here, but I think that is more due to the exchange rate of the Euro / Baht from 52 to 39.
“In some simple entertainment venues, 120 baht is asked for a bottle of Singha beer without batting an eyelid. At a number of beach bars at the Apenberg there was nothing to eat under 100 baht. Beach tent owners near the Hilton Hotel charge 200 baht (5 euros) for two beach beds and an umbrella.”
This is not the case with some places in Hua Hin where you still pay 80 for a large bottle of beer…
The beach bars in Tao Takiap just ask for 50 bath per sunbed and the umbrella is free (opposite Bluewave)…
Cheese is best bought at the Makro… 4.5 kg Gouda Cheese 1900 bath…
By the way, I heard from a friend that it is best to store cheese in the freezer…. So you always take a piece from it…
Then the cheese is much cheaper than at the Tesco or Villa Market ...
Spare ribs and chicken are usually much cheaper at Makro than other items, but you have to be careful what you buy.
Was in the Makro (Udon Thani) this week and the chicken was very cheap!!
So life in Thailand can be cheap if you pay attention.
That is not always easy, because I am also a Westerner and do not buy food every day at a stall like the Thai, but at Tesco Hua Hin you can still eat in the small restaurants for little bath….
And the food courts of course. Delicious food, huge selection, all for next to nothing.
Idd if you stay outside the tourist places and know where to go and only buy local stuff it's not too bad, and if you go shopping with the locals it is sometimes better that your wife goes alone, sometimes it also makes a very big difference if you really want cheap. As a farang alone you almost always pay more if no price is stated, take it from me.
What always strikes me in Thailand is that, unlike the Netherlands, there are practically no private brands for sale, for the most part you see products from Unilever and then you pay the main price, just like in the Netherlands and Belgium, because yes, those many terrible TV commercials have to be also be paid.
Yes, it's true that everything has become more expensive. Also the beer, for example. On Bangla road in Patong on Phuket you paid 80 baht for a Chang bottle of beer last year, now it is 100 baht there. You still have places where it is cheaper but you have to look for them.
I'm going to live in Thailand in 4 years. Reading all this, it has indeed all become a lot more expensive.
It is important that I will live outside a tourist area: the Isaan. Still near Ubon Ratchatani, so not really in the countryside. So still 'in the inhabited world' 🙂
But….. I do have a reservation about everything that is written here. People wouldn't you better adapt to Thai life?
Food is also included. Thai food is tasty. 'Phet' or 'Maj Phet': it's tasty! And, like the times I've been to Ubon, certainly not expensive. Perhaps there has been a price increase in the last months (but I will soon find out)
But if you keep pinning yourself to Western products, well then you will be allowed to dive into your wallet!
OK that Thai products are also becoming more expensive, but here in Belgium the price of beer has also recently increased! That must be everywhere in the world that ordinary people have to pay more for certain things. That is called economics and since the shareholders would like to see more profits from their investments in factories, etc., that will all be normal.
I hope that within four years I will be able to make the right choice and that Thailand will still be and remain a cheap country compared to the West.
Also in Isaan everything has become considerably more expensive. The Thai complain bitterly and become increasingly dissatisfied. Yingluck gets a good beating.
We did some research a while back about what it costs to live in Thailand. And that was a hefty price tag:
You could say that € 1.200 is the absolute minimum for a large majority, but the majority still need € 1.500 or more to maintain a Western lifestyle in Thailand.
With this I can strengthen my claim that 'Thailand is a nice country if you have money'. Tribute to the readers who can live on € 1.000 or less. A great achievement.
Let's close this poll and show the final results:
What available budget per month do you need to live in Thailand and enjoy life?
Between 1.500 and 2.000 euros (32%, 71 Votes)
Between 1.200 and 1.500 euros (25%, 56 Votes)
Between 1.000 and 1.200 euros (15%, 34 Votes)
More than 2.000 euros (12%, 26 Votes)
Less than 1.000 euros (8%, 18 Votes)
No idea? (4%, 10 Votes)
I don't want to live in Thailand (4%, 8 Votes)
How on earth do they arrive at those amounts? Because between 1500 and 2000 euros, a large part of the families in the Netherlands have to live on it!!
If you compare that to the cost of living in Thailand, housing, food & drink, clothing, etc, then I wonder what those people need to live a nice life.
@Marcel,
"How on earth do they arrive at those amounts?"
I asked the EXACT same question at the time. When you read some comments under the blog you will get an answer. There was a reactant who counted 3000 (?) baht “borrowing and not getting back” as his monthly fixed costs. Another complained about the cost of the wall he had built around his pensioner's showpiece. Many comments along the lines of "do you know what those Landcruisers cost these days?" After all, life is no fun without a Landcruiser. Just find the blog and read the comments, Smile!
@Cor, I think that's the big problem too. People continue to measure their status by luxury. If you just take a good 2nd hand pick-up, you will go a long way. Home is not too important either - especially the luxury inside the home - as long as it has a large veranda. But people want the same houses they have in the West, while you spend most of the day outside. But I will look up the blog to read it in its entirety.
Of course, more of the “Farang” could better adapt to the land. I see people here with 100.000 a month who can't make ends meet. Surgery for the lips, breasts and whatever for the girlfriend. Steaks, Whiskey bottles and viagra on the daily living expenses. A fat car, house, etc.
I can only spend 30.000 a month and take care of my girlfriend and pay for her college. We eat healthy and I buy food supplements that are also expensive here. I build a new body go to the gym and am in the WIA.
The victim is of course the Thai if we only talk about money in Thailand.
I could still live here with 500 euros on my own (with the knowledge of now lol)
“I take care of my girlfriend and pay for her studies. We eat healthy and I buy nutritional supplements that are also expensive here. I build a new body go to the gym and I'm on the WIA”.
It may not have much to do with the subject, but I really wonder what you were disapproved of?
And of course let your Thai partner do the shopping at the market. Recently my wife bought sticky rice to go with the mango and I stood there and watched it. My wife says they didn't really give much sticky rice. A few days later she goes to the same tent, but now without me and gets almost double compared to last time.
Doesn't work in Tesco Lotus :p
Thailand is getting more expensive?
The week after the announcement by the current government that minimum wages would be raised to 300 baht, price increases began. (now 4,5% I read somewhere)
And on April 1, if the statutory minimum wage does indeed go up, there will be even more price increases.
Not to mention the discharge of Thai personnel and the use of cheap labor from Vietnam, Burma, Laos and Cambodia, all by raising the legal minimum wage.
The question is, incidentally, whether day workers, in or from Isaan, will ever receive 300 baht per day
Of course, the petrol and diesel prices and the price increases of LPG and CNG due to the worldwide gambling lust of “dealers” are taking a big hit, while the government's reduction in fuel subsidies are not really helping either.
And this while the transport costs in Thailand are already very high in comparison.
No, the population is getting poorer while a select few are getting richer.
But, it is still possible to live cheaply in Thailand.
Just be careful where you buy and especially where you live.......
Of course everything will be more expensive. Thanks to the Shinawatra clan and supporters. You cannot simply allow wages to rise 25-63% overnight with impunity to reward your 'voters' (read 'bribe'), and expect all products to remain at their prices. If production costs rise, so will sales prices. It ain't exactly rocket science, is it?
Just paid 35 baht for a plate of rice paneng gai and a bottle of coke. Searching well and knowing where to go is the key I think. However, that is often not an option for tourists, as they simply do not know where to look.
Yes on the street or in a stall that works fine and is not that expensive either, Nang nual is delicious food in Pataya but still expensive while there are much cheaper tents than them and I dare say even tastier too.
It is certainly not the same as in 2006 when I was on holiday in Thailand for the first time, but food in an average restaurant still costs about 150% less than in the Netherlands in my opinion
what certainly also counts is that the Euro is very low, which makes it even more expensive
Yes I had almost 40.000 Baht to spend 2 years ago per month. That is now 30.000 per month. 🙁
I understand what you mean Wim about eating out, but don't you get money with your food if you say you pay 150% less? At 100% less you have to pay 0,0. If so, I also want to eat there more often in the future 🙂 What a job that would be as an old cook.
Inflation is a common phenomenon and a legalized form of theft. You first earn money, but when you spend it you can buy less for it. This creates an illusion of wealth and you are always poorer than you think. Prices usually only go up, while you would expect that if the Euro is worth less, Western products would become cheaper in Thai baht. Those who make plans for the future would do well to take this into account. Suppose inflation is 4%, then the purchasing power of your money will halve in 17 years. I don't feel that inflation is higher in Thailand than elsewhere, rather the reverse. In Pattaya you can still find reasonable accommodation for about Bht 500. That was what it cost 25 years ago. Flying has also not become much more expensive in the past 20 years. In 1980 I already paid 1600 guilders for a return ticket to Bangkok or €725. Due to the stronger Baht, there is now a catch-up effect going on.
If Thailand becomes more expensive, it will certainly benefit government plans to link state pensions to the country's standard of living.
I also agree with the statement.
Unfortunately, the outcome is bleak if you start asking:
What's cheap now?
Cheap in Thailand is man
* A waiter or a cook often gets 25 Baht per hour
* Hard work in construction or on the land often for only 200 Baht per day
* HBO diploma and with difficulty finding a job for 15.000 Baht per month in BKK and 10.000 outside BKK.
5 years ago (or less) your money was worth 5x more, then 4x and now maybe 3x here in Thailand.
many salaries remain between 5 and 10 times lower than with us.
The citizens are now going to pay for the floods.
Yes, finally, it will also matter whether you respond to the offer. I quit cheese in everyday life. I eat brown rice and no bread. The rent is very low, a reasonable house for 5.000 pm and small apartments from 2.000 pm.
Mr. MCVeen you are talking about renting 5000 and 2000. Can you tell me where that is.
Regards,
Quillaume
Quillaume :: I can tell you that : We have 24 of them for 2000 per month, but then you have a (nicely tiled) room of 7 × 4 meters, a shower of 1.20 × 2.50 and a balcony of 1.20 × 1.50. That's all and there is a TL hanging from the ceiling, nothing more. If you want to live in it on the edge of the industrial area in Chon Buri,???
That this is more than enough for me for now, tell me more?
Hello Hank,
Where do you want to live? Then I could advise you better. I'm in my girlfriend's room right now. 2.500 a month in Chiang Mai Center and not that small at all. A large balcony and even an elevator. Curtains, sliding glass door with mesh door against mosquitoes. There is also a fan (with air conditioning is 3.500). There is hot water and a private shower/toilet. Yes, of course not big, but come to € 67,50 per month!!
Many new-build 1-room apartments are smaller than ours.
But you really don't have to think about industry areas to find them.
Even in Bankok I came across them but usually full.
Ok if you want to know more: [email protected]
Good regards,
Tino
Hi Quillaume,
If you are still looking for a room, I also know here in Pathum Thani rooms of approx. 5 x 6 with a shower of approx. 1.20 x 1.40. It is a 10-minute drive from Rangsit Future Park.
You do live among the Thai people near the rice fields.
If you want to know more [email protected]
Regards,
JS
hi i live in samut prakan 50 km outside bkk and it is not too bad there
but I stick to it when my wife goes shopping it's always more and cheaper
when they see our white skin the eyes open and the abacus works
ps there happens to be a nl who lives in this area
Hi Peter,
Thailand is busy pricing itself out of the market. I also hear nothing but complaining from the Thai themselves about this. And that while the salaries are not rising, but the costs unfortunately are. Where 5 years ago you could support a family with 100 euros in the Isaan, you can no longer do that. Do some nice shopping? Nah, the prices keep going up and up. But as long as enough tourists keep coming who want to pay and can pay, it will continue like this for a while.
Incidentally, the trip to Thailand itself has also risen in price. Whereas it used to be easy to shop for a nice priced ticket, it now takes a while to find one at all.
BEP will strike someday. Certainly with us and so we just go less.
Cheers,
Thailandgoer.
BEP = Break Even Point.
I forget to mention again.
8 years ago I paid 800 baht for a hotel room. Now that same room in the same hotel without any renovation or other change has taken place costs 1700 baht. And the condition of that hotel is nothing to write home about now. So we're looking for another alternative, right?
Overturned once in less than 8 years.
Dear fellow readers, I noticed last year that prices have become considerably more expensive everywhere in Thailand, it is mainly the multinationals that determine that, but if you look carefully you can sometimes go somewhere cheap, last November I paid for 2 people at the night bazar 1 euro for 2 meals in Hoa Hin, but do you know what impact it has for the Thai population? They are not happy because inflation is rising faster than wages. And in principle this is also the case in the Netherlands. In May I will pack my bags and go check it out again. But also take a look at the exchange rates, these are also a lot lower.
French.
Of course everything will be more expensive. Thanks to the Shinawatra clan and supporters. You can't just raise wages by 25-63% (depending on the province) to reward (read: bribe!) your voters and expect prices to rise disproportionately. If the products become more expensive to produce, then of course the selling price too. That is the logic itself and you don't need to have done higher studies to understand that. Something the current regency leaders clearly haven't done either.
Luc, they call that “economics one on one” one of the basic principles of the capitalist economic system. These gangsters have made those promises to win the election and then pave the way for Thaksin's return. The red shirt politicians don't give a damn about the poor. If you don't see that yet you're just blind, deaf and half moron.
Luc, not you, but a number of letter writers in the BP. Really unbelievable. The Henken and Ingrids of Thailand.
Hi Cor, I know. I also follow what is written in BP. I can still understand that some Thai people who have been brainwashed for years by those corrupt politicians who still believe the bullshi of those Red shirt politicians and Thaksin's clan. But how it is that many of those foreigners still fall for that nonsense is way beyond my hat. It is clear as day that the current government is as self-serving as can be, and indeed does not give a damn about the poor. Just look at how prices are swinging out of control due to their policies.
Indeed Luc, foreigners who fall for the manipulations of the Thaksin clan. The Henken and Ingrids are everywhere, including here. There is no escape 😉
But fair is fair, what have the Democrats achieved during their reign? Nada. It's actually all wet. Politicians deserve our contempt. After all, they work hard for it. From myself 😉
Prices in Thailand are rising, and that's fine. After all, the government has proposed to raise the minimum wage to 300 Baht per day. And a righteous capitalist like Dhanin (the richest man in Thailand) even proposes an increase to 500 Baht per day. As a consequence, of course, costs and prices will rise. But also that normal things such as health care (above the minimum health insurance fund provision), good education, transport (the petrol price is 1 Euro per liter) etc. become accessible to the ordinary Thai. Thailand's cheapness for tourists and expats has so far gone to a considerable extent on the backs of the poor. It's great that there is now an upward spiral of wages and costs/income that results in a more equitable distribution. It also affects my wallet, but at the same time it satisfies my feeling.
The Baht/Euro ratio has been 52 to 1 for just one year. Over the past ten years, the ratio has averaged 46 to 1. And twenty years ago, the Baht/Gulden ratio was 12.5 to 1 (which is about only 30 to 1 when converted to Euro). Seen in this way, the current 40 to 1 is not a gigantic deterioration, but it is a pleasant cause for complaining/groaning given the short-lived wealth lost at the time of the 52 to 1 ratio.
Impoverished farmers and factory workers will get nowhere with an increase in the minimum wage to XNUMX baht. When that increase was included by the PTP in its election promises, prices for daily necessities such as rice, cooking oil, eggs and various vegetables immediately went up, without the minimum wage having already been increased. The only way to get the impoverished farmers out of trouble is to eliminate the "middle-men" in Bangkok-based companies that buy up agricultural products and market them at a huge profit, while at the same time teaching farmers how to set up agricultural cooperatives so that they can sell their products DIRECTLY on the market, without the intervention of middlemen.
If you only increase the minimum wage, prices immediately rise (which has already happened, just ask Somsak in the Isaan) and then people will get more in their pay pockets, but purchasing power will not increase, so no one will benefit from it. Thailand is also pricing itself out of the market in terms of exports.
The cause of the huge income disparity is
1. The abominable bad education, deliberately kept bad by the powers that be, because a well-educated population, who has no regard for the feudal hierarchy in this country, will be damned to work for a tip after completing a decent university education .
2. About one hundred and fifty Sino-Thai families have their tentacles in trade, politics and the military and they run the circus called Thailand. Democracy is an idiotic illusion and these rulers will never give up their power. And the poor Thais will never revolt because, because of the poor education they received, combined with Buddhism which promises a new life, they will never be able to see the big picture.
Count out your profit with that increase in the minimum wage
Cor, most farmers in the Netherlands and Germany barely earn back the cost price of their products, even though they work with cooperatives, and have been doing so for years.
The supermarkets work with razor thin margins and sometimes sell their products cheaper than the purchase to lure customers for other more lucrative products.
Here, too, the intermediary trade will profit.
And the farmer he plowed on… nothing else than in Thailand.
100% agree with you Cor. I have been saying for years that education needs to be tackled. Education in Thailand is designed to keep the people stupid and submissive so that the rich and corrupt can retain power and not fear revolt. Thais who can afford to study abroad or in the international schools here in Thailand, who have received a solid education and training, and who are learned and able to think critically, should have nothing to do with Thaksin and his clan who sweeten the poor with alms.
You must indeed be an idiot not to see what is currently going on.
If you look at historical economic developments worldwide, wage increases in growth economies do indeed result in income improvements, despite logically (partially) rising prices. In particular, the prices of products that are relatively high due to developments on the world market (for example gasoline and transport costs have an influence on practically everything, but also electronics, pharmaceutical innovations, etc.) do not rise one-to-one with the national wage increases. The result is a gradual broad improvement in prosperity.
In addition, in an economy that is evolving from an exploitation/property economy to a consumption economy, the property-owning capitalist class does not benefit from keeping people poor. In a merely simple agrarian/trade economy, it paid off for the property-owning family clans to keep the farmers and workmen poor, extort their rice and labor for next to nothing, and then resell them for dear. However, the Thaksins of this present world want to sell as many calling minutes etc. as possible to those same farmers and workmen. Consumers who are too poor are of no use to them, and benefit from an increase in general prosperity. Although Thaksin and others still use the old-fashioned alms as a means of power in the electoral battle, they are also (out of enlightened self-interest) out to increase the spending possibilities of the people (their consumers, after all).
Moreover, the modern economy is crying out for better trained employees, more efficient production, etc. So better education, better health facilities, etc. The consequence is a financially-economically, but also socially more normal Thailand. And not ridiculously low, but normal prices. And a more normal standard of living, also for Farangs. That means a financially higher standard of living for the ordinary Thai and a lower (than now) for the Farang. But a fairer and morally higher standard of living for both.
Thailand is not pricing itself out of the market at all. See how other examples of emerging economies fared (Singapore being the most extreme). This process is simply part of global developments, not with lost but with evolving market positions. A higher price level is not a reason to complain, but the thermometer of a healthy developing Thailand. Anyone who doesn't just come here to profit, but really has a warm heart for Thailand will welcome that.
The comparison with Singapore is not valid, dear Jan. Singapore is a knowledge/service economy while Thailand is mainly an agricultural/low wage economy.
You write yourself that the country is crying out for better education. So why is university education for teachers being extended from 4 years to 5 years, thus making it even more unattractive for young Thais to pursue a “career” in education? Don't forget, studying costs money here, and if I had to choose between a career as an engineer (training 4 years, starting salary 20.000 / 25000 baht) or a career as a teacher (starting salary 9000 / 12000 baht), then that choice doesn't seem that difficult to me .
” They have no use for consumers who are too poor, and benefit from an increase in general prosperity. Although Thaksin and others still use the old-fashioned alms as a means of power in the electoral battle, they are also (out of enlightened self-interest) out to increase the spending possibilities of the people (their consumers, after all).
Write you. Why then did this wealth in the countryside never become a reality during Thaksin's regime? Thaksin also knew that the one million baht per village would be wasted by the "kaplans". Only a few people in each village have benefited from his playful actions, namely the thoroughly loyal local TRT party cadres and no one else. The little money that trickled down to the villagers was wasted on motorcycles, mobile phones and what was left over went to the Lao Kao. Why? because there was no STRUCTURAL change initiated, just handouts, out of the taxpayer's pocket, which Somschai believed Thaksin paid it all out of his own pocket.
Thaksin is a disaster for this country. He has given a large part of the population the idea that money can solve everything. Thaksin will be the last to want structural changes, because that would not help him himself. Thaksin is all about one thing: Thaksin>
The comparison with Singapore is certainly valid. Singapore's development has begun to capitalize on its low-wage position. The first country to which I outsourced my company's production work was Singapore. After a number of years that shifted to Thailand. And later to China. This is how development goes. Thailand is indeed, step by step, on the way to an upgraded production economy, in which the importance of the knowledge aspect is increasing. Just look at the developments in the microprocessor industry, the car industry and also the agricultural economy (Dhanin, proponent of a minimum wage of 500 Baht makes(e) his capital in the agro-economy). The fact that in the current neo-Thaksin era, the use of the tablet computer for all pupils in education is a political spearhead, underlines the direction of structural improvements (In the Netherlands/Amsterdam, Maurice de Hond is making headway with the plan to have one lower to found a school in which the tablet computer is central as a knowledge carrier/accessor, skill developer and means of communication).
Thaksin's reign was far too short to fully realize the prosperity of the countryside; it takes at least a generation. In the villages that I know myself in Isaan, an increase in prosperity is indeed visible. Every year I see more and better houses, more and better cars, more and better healthcare, more and higher participation in education. There are certainly structural improvements, although the pace has not improved in the post-Thaksin era. The government of the so-called Democrats was much less concerned with the no-nonsense economic stimulation of Thaksin (with his Thai-Chinese background) and much more with juridification and formalization of the political process, entirely in the tradition of the authentic Thai formalistic traditions of the upper classes. Perhaps the most important structural intervention by Thaksin was that he disregarded and broke through the centuries-old local power circles of the propertied families. Ultimately, therein lay the true cause of his fall. The concrete reason was the sale of his Thai company to a concern in Singapore (a mortal sin against Thai chauvinism/nationalism; comparable to when KLM would have been sold to Lufthansa in the Netherlands in the seventies). And the remedy found was the conviction for a dubious land transaction from his wife. Of course it also took a coupe to really shift power towards the old power.
And, of course, Thaksin did not pay for the incentives out of his own pocket during his reign. And, of course, he acted out of enlightened self-interest. And of course he indulged in vigilantism, nepotism and corruption. But his stimuli did have structural effects as well. His self-interest ran parallel to some extent with that of the (poor) citizens (their spending possibilities generated his profit). And his corruption was of course a good reason to condemn him…, although we will never understand how his opponents in the army, administration and politics, given their limited regular salaries, manage to acquire such large assets.
I read two views on developments in Thailand, an extremely pessimistic one from Cor Verhoef and a fairly optimistic one from Jan van Velthoven. Cor's vision shows little historical awareness, sees only negative developments and insists on Thaksin as the main source of evil. Jan's vision appeals to me more. He gives a balanced analysis, mentions the good and bad sides of Thaksin's regime and politics.
I agree with Jan, from my own experience and from the literature, that there are indeed structural improvements, whether that be in infrastructure, public health and, yes, education. Never in Thailand's history have so many students completed so many years of education. I also see, and this is also apparent from the figures, an increasing prosperity almost everywhere. And finally, especially since the Thaksin era, there has been a clear shift in the mindset of most Thais from subservience to hunger for change and improvement. That is an irreversible development.
@Tino Kuis
Your post is a true breath of fresh air! Thanks! Unfortunately, there are posters who misuse this blog as a platform to express their personal political views. It's a pity that the editors post these comments.
Your post, as well as Jan van Velthoven's post, testify to the much-needed objectivity and knowledge of the facts, without falling into unnecessary "editorializing".
Funny, that Thaksin adepts find a pro-Thaksin post "objective" and consider a post that is less enthusiastic about this megalomaniac as subjective. And the hilarious thing is that they don't even realize that they are guilty of the same subjectivity that they accuse others of. Beautiful!
@Cor Verhoef
Hook, line and sinker! Wonderful!
I'll leave it at this.
The figures are: between 2001 and 2004 a reduction in the number of people below the poverty line from 21 to 11%. The Gini co-efficient shows that income inequality decreased, especially in the north and north-east. Those are the numbers. Source:
http://bangkokpundit.blogspot.com/2007/09/thaksin
But maybe you think that the Thaksin supporters manipulated these numbers?
This post is objective, backed up with numbers, and yet I am not a Thaksin adept. How is that possible?
@Jan van Velthoven, What increased rural wealth? For those who already had more to do than the poor population, perhaps.
Thaksin's regime was (and is) only built on enriching himself, family and people around him, as he has already shown. With this he may have tried to break the "circles of power", but only with the aim of replacing them instead of abolishing them. As a neo-liberal populist, however, he has won over the poor, too gullible population with his sweet talk, while his environment has been grabbing its riches.
Marcel, I am talking about the increased prosperity (I am not talking about 'wealth') that I observe with my own eyes, about ordinary villagers, about a gradual development (I estimate that it takes a generation's time), and I am talking about to be clear, not about the instant end of the problem of poverty and inequality. For explanatory figures, see Tino's response above.
I am not a Thaksin supporter, but try to interpret his behavior and the effects of his rule. Whether Thaksin is committed to the interests of the people we will never know, and we can doubt that. What we do know is that the economic model he favors, which clashes with the interests of the old ruling class and in which he himself has a great interest, stands or falls with the increasing spending power of the people (simply: he and his allies have nothing to people who cannot buy calling minutes, mobile phones and other consumer goods). Not in his possible altruism, but in his well-understood self-interest in cultivating affluent customers, lies an explanation for the prosperity of the people that he promotes. I would never call him a neo-liberal populist, but rather a mercantile authoritarian opportunist. The Thaksin clan will have to take a lot of social and democratic steps before I think I am doing him short with this qualification. Unfortunately, a serious and decisive alternative is not at hand, as we can conclude after so many socio-economic 'lost' years after Thaksin.
Incidentally, I would also like to note that the 'stupid, gullible rural population' is a favorite (anti-democratic) slogan of Bangkok's well-to-do bourgeoisie, drawn from the old wealthy class and those who have an interest in it. This cry creates a fiction, and a dangerous democratic vacuum. My experience in the countryside is that there is also a reasonably level-headed, critical and knowledgeable way of thinking and responding. With a clear eye for its own interests, that is. And within the force field of clientism and corruption that is present everywhere in Thailand, also within the political opposition and the other power factors such as the police and the army. The increasing use of modern media will only increase knowledge and understanding in the formerly isolated countryside in the future.
Jan, that's why I also use the phrase "too gullible". In rural areas, the level of education is lower, especially among the older generations, and access to and interest in the media is more limited. These people often go by what is being told and take it for granted, so that it is easy to get people behind you with a populist talk. Although this is also the case here in the Netherlands, given the number of PVV voters, also a group that votes in response to onliners and tweets.
You use the term Thaksin clan yourself. This clan only wants to take over the power of the old powerful families instead of reforming the country. Own profit is the most important.
Corruption is one of the biggest problems, and by that I mean especially the higher level corruption, the level that does the big tenders and deals with contracts. This, plus a government that finishes its term for once, will help Thailand achieve a more balanced democracy.
Increasing spending capacity will be a complicated matter, as you can already see that prices are already rising more than proportionally with the announced wage increases. While only a part of the population will benefit from the wage increases, a very large part will have even less purchasing power.
Jan, I want to support you in your comments about those "stupid, gullible rural people". They know very well, better than we do, what is happening in this country and what needs to be done to change that. This has nothing to do with level of education. The common man is smarter than you think. For too long they have only been looked down upon, by the ruling elite, but also by foreigners.
Agricultural cooperatives can indeed make a big difference to farmers. Their income will go up considerably. That those in power were not pleased by this is shown by the fact that a number of leaders of farmers' cooperatives were murdered here in the north in the 80s and 90s.
But what you write under 1. and 2. I think is very exaggerated, although there is a grain of truth in it. I feel there is a great personal anger behind it and it even sounds a bit paranoid to me. I have never come across strong terms like this in the literature, so I am very curious about what literature you base your opinion on. Since such a discussion does not really belong on this blog, I would like to ask you to let me know on my email. Maybe you can convince me. [email protected]
Those numbers you got from Bangkokpundit are correct, but these numbers from The Bank of Thailand are also correct. Count out your profit. Debt per household. Nice and nice when you suddenly no longer belong to the underclass as far as disposable income is concerned, but what good is that with a ton of debt on your thin shoulders. There's lies, big lies and statistics”
http://www.bot.or.th/English/MonetaryPolicy/Inflation/PaperInFrame/027_HouseholdDebt_oct03.pdf
These figures from the Bank of Thailand concern 2003 and mainly previous years. Thaksin ruled from 2001 to 2006, so the figures cannot provide a valid assessment of the structural consequences of his rule, at most some indications. The figures show a strong decrease in the interest burden per household in relation to income (see Chart 3.2). In addition, the debt burden of lower earners in particular appears to be limited and stable in relation to their income. It is positively striking that the average debt burden per household is considerably lower than in the comparison countries Malaysia and Indonesia.
A comment on these figures in a positive structural sense may be that, since the crisis of 98, which began in Thailand (as a credit crisis), Thai banks have pursued a conservative and prudent policy on debt acceptance and lending (as a result, they have not been affected by the recent global financial crisis based on opaque financial products that Thai banks do not burn their fingers). Incidentally, the debts of the Thai (but therefore also the assets ..) in the informal sector outside the banks are probably much higher. This is largely a vest pocket trouser pocket.
Dear all. If you go to another country it might be better to live a bit like the locals live and then you can usually last a long time. The image that many people still have is that the Far East is quite cheap and that life can be better there. Yes, life can be better there, but they do know that everything has a price tag, right? Dear people, we now know a bit about how life is in the west. Most people work here and nothing more. That usually means the same routine every day: work, go home, eat, sleep. and the next day the same again. 1 time per year on vacation: some 2 times. This is the life of the average European. We often dream of that beautiful life in a distant country where it is always warm and everyone is very friendly. Let's be honest and dare to say that it doesn't exist. Everywhere in the world you have to work to be able to do something. For the 1 it's not work and it's more fun, for the other it's making money to pay the costs. What I mean by this is that it can be less everywhere. That so-called beautiful life also turns out to be a hard life that can also be very beautiful if you make something of it yourself. I spoke to a lot of people in recent years who also said: I want to go to a warm country where everyone is nice and where it doesn't matter how you are doing. Well betse people 9 times out of 10 it still matters how you stand: financially, socially, your status in your country of origin. Unfortunately, we are still looking into that. let's just enjoy life wherever you are and don't look too much at the bad things because they are everywhere. All the best!
Dear All,
I have been coming to Thailand for over 10 years now.
What strikes me is that hotels have indeed become a lot more expensive.
The beer has actually always been expensive (compared to the Netherlands), but I pay the same in my favorite pub / bar as 10 years ago. So this has not changed.
We must not forget that for 1 euro we only get a good 40 bath.
3 years ago that was still 47 bath. And I even got 51 bath, but then we have to go back to 2006/2007. I don't stay in hotels anymore, for 6000 to 8000 bath I have a service apartment, for a month. But Europe is also getting more expensive, isn't it?
During the World Championships in Africa I paid 500 euros for a return ticket at Airberlin. I don't think this will ever work again.
Most of us understandably compare the prices of beer, but a simple example of an egg that cost 3 thb last year has now risen to 4,5 thb or even thb 5 does indicate that the daily needs have risen enormously in price, such as an earlier reaction for a plate of kow phat with a coke was thb 35 before.
All this is incomprehensible to me because here in the village farmers are no longer paid 1 bath for rice, they are still sitting on 2 bags of skewers for days and they work daily in the countryside for 200 thb.
Fortunately I live with family (so free) but the electricity note is already 25% more expensive and I can go on like this, only the daily portion of sun has not become more expensive and I enjoy that.
Install solar panels like lightning and recoup that bite.
What does electricity/electricity cost here? and how much do solar panels cost? you will no longer experience that you earn back the investment, let alone benefit from it…. matter of calculation.
I pay (washing machine, dishwasher, pump for water, etc.) about TBH 1.000 per month. (EUR 25). So that's going to be a very long shot.
Whether it's a coincidence or not, yesterday the government handed out 3000 free eggs here at my village in Isaan, so about ten per inhabitant. Also received 10 free, were small! Compensation? Soon they will tell me that her oldest brother paid for it. Bet?
Jerry,
As I wrote in one of my previous comments, Thaksin keeps the farmers sweet with alms. Indeed, he will not have paid for those eggs himself. They will be paid for by the taxpayer, the so-called 'elite' against whom the red shirts rebel. And paying taxes is something those farmers don't do.
By the way, speaking of elite, when the rumor circulated last year that Thaksin had cancer, he dismissed it as nonsense. He was just a bit sick, he said, drinking too much champagne and eating caviar with his friend Putin (beautiful friend) during a visit to Russia. How more 'elite' can you be?
Gerard : indeed everything has become a bit more expensive but to make sure that I think it's not too bad I quickly looked up a few old bills : In 2009 3 eggs for 10 bath
in 2012 3 eggs for 10 bat
in 2009 box large bottle leo 485
in 2012 box large bottle leo 495 bath (has been at the 590 bath with the flooding;
Don't know if you mean the power supplier with electronics, but that was in 2009
4.00 bath and in 2012 4.12 bath
And fortunately we can still enjoy the free sun every day!
Then let me occasionally have an advantage here in Isaan. For the "electricity" I pay 3,55 baht per KWh. If your consumption is less than 50 kWh/month, you will not be billed. Many villagers with 1 pear will make it.
But the eggs here in the village in one of those tiny shops I can choose between 4 or 5 baht for 1 egg.
Fortunately I received 10 free yesterday from the government. So can go 2 days ahead, well ahead 3 days, but they were small ones as previously reported.
Peter again a compliment for your subject. You can see that we are and will remain real Dutchmen, because as soon as it comes to the money, we all rule en masse. Please keep it up, perfect
What a topic! really Dutch. Buy Nutella (!!!!) in Thailand. How do you come up with that. And yes it has become more expensive here. For example, diesel has risen at least TBH 3,5 / liter in the past 6 years. But I don't hear anyone about fuel increases in the Netherlands, among other things.
And if fuel prices rise, the price of Nutella (!!??) will also rise. That's logical. Just buy Thai food and don't sit too much on more expensive terraces. Also in Noordwijk etc. you pay the main price for a beer on the beach. Leo beer at Tesco costs around TBH 61/half litre. So that's 1,52. Well, what do you pay in the Netherlands. and in a simple restaurant you can still eat well (Thai) for TBH 40-TBH 80 pp (excluding beer).
Has anyone ever heard of inflation? As long as you buy a house with 2,5 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms (air conditioning everywhere) and a luxury kitchen here (Chiangmai) for approx. TBH 3 million, then you shouldn't complain too much about the price of Nutella! However?
But yes, as already noted: the Dutch like to whine/complain. Also think about the difference between G/W/L costs in the Netherlands and Thailand….. You can buy a lot of Singhas from that.
Teun,
You are absolutely right. Dutch people abroad want nutela, peanut butter, chocolate sprinkles
and of course keep eating cheese. They buy cheese 4 kilos for 1900 baht and complain that life is so expensive here.
boy,
if indeed you alone:
cheese
Nutella
Douwe Egberts
heineken
Dutch cigars
etc.
If you want to buy then you know that those things are (in most cases) imported or if they are made here like Heineken, then they are goods for the luxury market. and so you pay the main price.
By the way, DE is not even expensive here (Chiangmai) at Limping Super, namely TBH 125 for a pound pack! so that's only "luxury" I take. for the rest I have cigars (very expensive here, namely factor 2 compared to the Netherlands) sent and or taken along as well as cheese by guests who come to stay here.
and further just the thai products. the really expensive is of course not caused by inflation, but by the substantial fall of Euro in the past 2 years! from approx TBH 50 to TBH 40! then everything is suddenly 20% more expensive. but that is not the Thai. that is due to europe itself (in particular Greece, Italy and Spain; countries that from the beginning should never have joined the Euro!
Jochem, in my entire speech do not complain, because I am very happy to be able to live here.
Also, I am not kiniou, but rather a Burgundian, who loves life and enjoys everything it has to offer…
Maybe you like to visit Hua Hin, or maybe you live in Hua Hin yourself and you can easily find me…
M Mail
You also write am I not kiniou ( cheap Charly ) ? Can't speak much Thai despite my 12 years
stay in this very beautiful and still cheap country.
No, unfortunately I don't live in Hua Hin but a small 1000 km away from you. I live in the
Chiang Rai area.
It should be clear that tourist places are more expensive in Thailand; that is also the case in the Netherlands. In Scheveningen you pay 8 euros for a cup of coffee on a terrace and 2 euros in Lutjebroek. So that Pattaya, Phuket, Hua Hin and more of these places are more expensive than the rest of Thailand is already clear. If you also only buy imported products, you can be sure that you are paying the top price. That is no different than in the Netherlands. Imported products are now rising twice as a result of the sharp rise in oil prices = transport costs.
The fact that prices here are rising as a result of inflation is no different than in the Netherlands. The fact that prices in Dutch supermarkets are now stagnating or even falling is the result of the recession in the Netherlands. Prices are kept low to maintain market share; note the results of the supermarkets at the end of the year.
There is no doubt that Thailand is becoming more expensive. That the prices of the basic necessities of life are equal to the Netherlands or are even moving in that direction is the biggest nonsense; Thailand remains very cheap compared to the Netherlands.
The result of the poll about the required income in euros a few months ago is the biggest nonsense. the vast majority indicate that they need at least 1.500 to 2.000 euros; in the Netherlands a more than average (net) salary. The average income of the TOTAL EMPLOYED working population in the Netherlands is about the same and therefore has to be lived in a much more expensive Netherlands. The conclusion is therefore that a large majority of voters had/have a much higher than average income in the Netherlands and therefore think they have to keep an (even) more exorbitant lifestyle here or think that their wallet is bigger here and that there is a much more luxurious lifestyle. to stop thinking.
Cor Verhoef is absolutely right when he says that some reactions or comparisons are almost hilarious. Most foreigners suddenly have the desire to live here in a detached bungalow of at least 1.000 m2 with golden faucets and/or to drive a Landcruiser, something that they probably couldn't do in the Netherlands. Tickling yourself costs money, even in Thailand. To begin with, act normal, then you act crazy enough and watch out when shopping, you probably had to do that in the Netherlands too. Rich complainers do not exist in this area, not even in the Netherlands.
Bacchus,
Completely agree with your text. Of course certain prices have become more expensive in Thailand, but I don't think Thailand is expensive at all. By the way, I don't see why (as others here claim) you shouldn't enjoy Nutella, cheese or other familiar products in Thailand. It is not because you live in Thailand that those products are suddenly “not done”. If I feel like something I like, I buy it whether it is a Thai or foreign product. I'll take the more expensive price with it. When I was still living in Belgium and the Netherlands with my wife, my wife also wanted to continue to enjoy her trusted Thai products that she likes. Was very normal for me and never bothered about it because they were more expensive. I never told her "You live here now and you're going to eat kale with sausage instead of your familiar food" (just to name something - Not that this isn't tasty though). Just enjoy life here (each within its capabilities). I am sure that everyone here still has more financial possibilities than most of the Thai people because Thailand is really expensive for these people.
Ronnie,
Of course you can enjoy Nutella, Gouda cheese or other imported products, but don't bury your head in the sand and complain that Thailand is expensive. Many Westerners in Thailand want their well-known Western "food" on the table. Nothing wrong with that, but that is of course always more expensive than local products. An ounce of Wagyu meat costs 100 to 150 euros in the Netherlands. It's delicious, but if you buy it you shouldn't complain that all meat in the Netherlands is so expensive.
If you can afford it, buy what you like. I myself always have the impression that many foreigners suddenly feel like a king here and lose sight of all proportions. If you drove a Fiat Uno in the Netherlands, why suddenly a Toyota Landcruiser here? And then of course complain if the diesel or petrol 2 baht rises in price. Food for psychologists…….
@Ronny, yes, driving around like a rich farang in a Toyota Landcruiser and then standing in line for 10 free eggs. I had to laugh at that one reaction that received 10 free eggs. I was ashamed, really. If my life depended on 10 free eggs there, I would have returned long ago. I also did that in 2010 (not because of 10 eggs), but because as an English teacher I can't get by on that salary. I had no money and lived very frugally, a normal apartment in Bangkok for 5000 Bath and no car, so just everything with public transport. Now I know that I have been portrayed as a cowboy before by a Dutchman somewhere in Thailand. When I then sent him an email with help to find a good job as an English teacher there (after all, he said he earned very well, and was also insured for everything), to prove me wrong, it remained very quiet. Shame. That means that I will continue to live in Europe with my Thai wife for a longer period of time.
When something is offered, it is not done to refuse this and have therefore received those 10 eggs. It was a joke that I could continue with this for 2 days. I gave these eggs to an old woman who really has no money. Together with her husband they live in poverty and I also help these people financially. So stop laughing huh? By the way, I do more for society here in the village and have written a piece about it that will be published on April 9, according to plan.
@gerrie8, I couldn't imagine this either. Thanks for the explanation, I would have done the same. Have a nice day.
My personal experience, as requested in the basic article, is that Thailand is still cheap, or not expensive, it's just how you look at it. Indeed, products have become more expensive (where not ?) but is Thailand therefore expensive? For many Thais this is a disaster, but let's face it, if you as a Farang can't handle those small price increases? Perhaps returning is a better option, but that will perhaps be even more shocked by the prices. No one is happy with price increases (including me) but it's part of life. Furthermore, I am also of the opinion that, as also stated by others, many make it difficult for themselves by imposing a different standard of living than they have been accustomed to for years. Yes, then you shouldn't complain of course. Coming on leave for a month and lavishly letting the baths flow to impress, well… is quite different from living here every day. Once they have taken the step, they want to show their girlfriend, friends and (Thai ?) family that they can maintain that lavish lifestyle. Yes, then any price increase is not so pleasant of course. I also read, in one of the comments, that life has become more expensive because you now only get 40 Bath for a Euro, where in the past it was somewhere around 45 Bath, with outliers to 50 and more (but that is only for a short time). Whether the Euro is 40 or 50 does not make life in Thailand more expensive (or maybe for the import products, but that is of no use to the Thai). The fact is that you have less to consume, but this does not make the product more expensive. Maybe you have to adjust your lifestyle because of that, but eg a rent or the price of the egg is not adjusted because that Bath is now suddenly 40, 45 or 50. If it is that bad you can always eat 2 instead of 3 eggs (just kidding). Furthermore, of course, when you stay in tourist areas, the products there are usually priced according to supply and demand, but that is not the case anywhere else in the world. So to wrap up the basic article questions. Has Thailand become more expensive? Yes. Is Thailand still cheap? Yes. So I'm going to stay for a while I think and hope you do the same of course. Just enjoy guys that's what we're here for and you really don't have to be rich for that. Maybe unpack a little less and it will make your life here a lot more pleasant because it still is for me in the end. And if this is not possible, you have to draw your conclusion. Sunny greetings from Lad Phrao. A happy Belgian.
Thailand has become too expensive for the Thais, but not for me. Have my state pension and can live very well on it and can also save. But, you know the saying:
If everyone weeds their own garden, no one else will see their weeds.
Dear Heiko,
I have become somewhat curious how you do all that from your state pension in Thailand.
I quite believe that if you want to live a Western lifestyle in Thailand, it is not possible. I already don't have that western lifestyle here in the Netherlands, and I don't want that in Thailand either. Am not completely unfamiliar with Thailand, but only know rural life in the Isaan. If it is not too much trouble for you: please specify your monthly spending pattern. Hope to hear from you again,
Greetings,
Ben Hutten
Dear Ben Hutten
I live in Ubonratchathani, have my own Bungalow, I had it built myself 6 years ago for 600,000 Baht. I have 2 children and a wife. The living costs are 1100 Thai Baht per month (electric). I give my wife 15,000 Baht every month, for food. I pay the children every month, each 2000 baht. pocket money and to buy food at school. (of course give them something extra)
the point is: What my wife does with the money is up to her, as long as there is food until the end of the month. She wants more, of course, but that's up to you. Beer and Whiskey (100 pipers) I pay myself Of course the big boy can hang out here with a big car, I don't do that in the Netherlands either. I live in Thailand and adapt myself. And I don't miss any Hema sausage, young or old cheese and the Netherlands at all.
Total costs per month 25000 thai baht. and you can easily rent a house here (Bungalow with 2 bedrooms and bathroom with large garden for 3500 baht.
Greetings
Heiko
Dear Ben,
I too live in the same circumstances as Heiko. I also give my wife just about
15.000 baht per month. Built my own house here, not in one go
I used to come here often on holiday and invested an amount every time. In total, my house also cost about 600.000 bath. Furthermore, I pay for my beer, the electric, water and tef,
internet bills. Have 1 child but she doesn't get pocket money from me. If she wants something, I'll give it to her, but first consult with my wife.
For 30.000 baht a month you can live like a king here.
Dear Heiko and Jogchum,
Thank you for the statements of your monthly expenditure pattern. I am becoming more and more convinced that a reasonably good to a good life in Isaan should be possible for an amount between 800 and 1000 Euros per month. I also realize very well that you can make it as cheap or as expensive as you want.
I want to live in a village, 25km from the town of Sangkha and 75km from the city of Surin. Have already raised a piece of land there and made it ready for construction. I would like to build a house that is not too big. You live and almost always live outside. I also moved an old Thai teak house that was there and put it on concrete poles 3 meters above the ground. A kind of apartment was built behind that house, consisting of a living-bedroom 28 m2 and an open kitchen with a spacious modern bathroom, also a total of 28 m2. All equipped with supply and drainage of water and electricity. I want to live there with a not too big budget for the time being. First try to sell my house here in the Netherlands.
Because of my health it is possible that I will have to use a good hospital. There are said to be 2 good hospitals in Surin. Both the SOS centers in the Netherlands and Matthieu of AA Insurance Brokers in Hua Hin cannot provide information about this. Both have no experience with these hospitals. I have been to another hospital in Surin: but if I have to go there, I would rather just die.
Possibly both of you or others have information where I can find a good hospital in Surin or the surrounding area. I think there is one in Ubon Ratchathani.
Thanks in advance for any information,
Greetings,
Ben Hutten
Hi Ben Hutten.
You can find a good hospital in Ubon Ratchathani. And a taxi is also not expensive. I always take a taxi myself because I think it is too far with the moped to the city and pay 100 baht for 21 km. The hospitals are very modern in Ubon, nothing wrong with that. If you are a bit familiar in Ubon, there is a modern hospital near the airport. The prices are also normal than in those big cities; bangkok. I was in hospital for 2 days, because of broken ribs. cases with the moped. The costs were 1050 thai baht including medicine, so less than 30 euros, and Ben, life here is wonderful, nothing has to be done and not expensive. Always go to the market, buy vegetables and meat, I buy at the BigC or Lotus. In the morning I occasionally go by motorcycle to the border of Lao, it is 95 km or Cambodia 120 km, it is wonderful to enjoy life and life is short. I am now 65 years old and I will enjoy those few years and that is no longer possible in the Netherlands. So I can live well with 800 euros. My state pension is of course more and that is in the bank again in case there are problems. I still have the insurance in the Netherlands, I pay 141 euros per month for it. a rental house in the Netherlands, but I have to cancel it because I will live permanently in Thailand and do that already. Save 561 euros per month and the AOW remains the same?
I would say: Welcome to Ubonratchathani or surroundings.
Kind regards
Heiko
I live in Pattaya and there you can get a large draft for 40 tbt at the Lucky Star bar on the boulevard and in the soi Kaotalo a bottle of Chang or Shinga light costs 45 tbt and you can get it at the Beebar or the Boozbar from 80 to 180 tbt western food and for 25 tbt chicken with fried rice or 35 tbt fried chicken with rice or fried rice with vegetables and soup on the side.
Mario,
what do you mean by "big draft"? half a liter? I think that lucky star will soon be bankrupt. because half a liter of Chang costs about TBH 43 and half a liter of Leo Tbh 46 in the supermarket. so you must be talking about a can of that stuff.
by the way, “draft” means “draft” and thus has little to do with beer. but that aside.
I keep reading that the students are kept stupid and that they don't get any further in society.
This is absolutely not true and I can confirm that first hand.
My whole Thai family with 6 brothers and sisters, all have a good job or their own business. I never ever hear a complaining tone that they have been fooled, because they are very satisfied with their situation…
In addition, if their children have completed a university education, they are still doing it or will follow it…
These young people have a good job and a reasonably good starting income, which they are very satisfied with.
Students stupid?
Well forget it, because the internet has also been introduced to them for a long time and they can talk about anything.
They know everything about politics, but don't flaunt it.
Which by the way is an Asian habit… Think a lot but don't say….
I think a lot will change in the future because of these educated students who are definitely not stupid..
Yes I think Thaland will change in its entirety in the coming years….
I just saw that condoms are up 20% if we don't want to talk about beer only I'm happy to contribute 😀
Source: 711 – 3pack from 50B to 60B
So that just happened! It is clear who pays for the flood and so the government can worry about a “Honda”. We seem to find plenty of examples. A lot of people are falling down who are still floating at the bottom of the bracket between rich and poor.
Some responses are starting to look like chatting. All comments that are not related to the topic of the posting will no longer be posted.
better expensive than not for sale. was told once
Luc
Don't know if you've seen the following. I think about 3 years ago a report about the poverty of Thaksin, when he was fined for buying land for his wife at the time. He was in his private jet in the kitchen preparing his own food, because, as he said, “I had no money left for a cook, because he was poor now” How can one fall for that?
Farmers do pay taxes here in Isaan. Here in the village I heard broadcasters that people had to come and pay land tax to the head of the village. 12 baht for 1 rai! It was also announced that 1 woman, who was mentioned by name, also had to pay from last year. This was not about the land on which people lived, but on which they farmed.
@GerrieQ8, I've never heard of the farmers here paying taxes on their land or paying taxes at all. We have rice fields ourselves and have never had to pay taxes. I have also never heard anything about taxes or the like from our neighbors. I can imagine that a contribution is paid for irrigation facilities; we don't have that.
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If I may still dear people, yes it ultimately depends on what you want and don't want, if you really adapt to Thailand in terms of living habits, then it is dirt cheap here for a Westerner. If you want to eat Dutch cheese every day, want to drink stella artois and want sandwiches with chocolate yes then the bill will of course go up, then you shouldn't come and see I think. Then there is also the fact that some farangs who have to buy everything to satisfy my wife plus the fact that there are usually still some children from a previous marriage plus all kinds of in-laws that need to be taken care of. These are things that I see here every day, no problem for me, but you pay as much as you want. live here for almost 3.5 years now and mainly eat Thai food, cheap and also super healthy. I don't have a car because I get everywhere with the Honda Click and if I have to go further away I take public transport, otherwise no small men to maintain and all kinds of in-laws and yes I can really live very well on 500 euros somewhere in a provincial town in Isaan. I can go to a restaurant if I want and much more and I don't feel that I have to deny myself anything, and don't come here to argue the contrary because this is my situation as it really is.
Like everywhere else in the world, prices are rising. In countries such as Thailand, imports, especially luxury products, are very high.
If you live or stay in a tourist area, you can assume that you have paid the jackpot.
If you really lived the Thai way, you will manage with 15000 Baht.
This is at the lowest level.
If you want to live in Thailand as a foreigner and use the Dutch standards, then you will not be cheaper, but rather more expensive.
Those cheap times are over.
If you only want to consume Dutch products, then yes. Just go to the market, cook yourself and go out for dinner at the weekend, then you can eat and drink for a reasonable amount.
Housing even in a tourist area is always a lot cheaper than renting a house in the Netherlands (compared to the average rent here)
If you want to live a normal and relaxed life, you can do with a lot less. I just think that a lot of people live like they are on vacation all the time and also want to show that they have a lot of money.
23 Bath for a hot dog sandwich! 7eleven 20 Bath a 'hamburger'
2.50 euros in a local snack bar amsterdam
you can make it as expensive as you want!
Greetings from Thailand, 37 degrees, sun!
Sorry Bob, your reasoning is wrong. You compare Thai prices with a Dutch income/pension, which is many times higher than the Thai pension. If you really want to calculate it correctly, you should see what pension you would receive if you were a Thai. How many hamburgers at € 2,50 with a Dutch pension can you buy or hot dog sandwiches at 23 bath with a Thai pension. You have to look at the purchasing power you have with the Euro or a Thai with the Bath. Don't forget many electronic items are almost as expensive for the Thai as for the Dutch. However, the wages of the Dutch are significantly higher. Your reasoning is comparing apples to oranges. My fold worked 6 days a week, and more, but received 200 € per month converted. However, she pays almost the same price as me for the same plane ticket!
Dear Jan,
the question was, is Thailand still that cheap,
ans. still for us
but for the Thai, who don't work, or for a boss, not,
Thais are getting tougher, less friendly, taxis, jet ski rental companies
which will reduce tourism in the long run
as a result of which prices will rise even more in most seaside resorts,
have a nice day Jan