Retiring in Thailand

[jyy]

How many USD a month does it take to live decently in Thailand? Also, what might be some negative things despite the easy cost of living? Finally, a situation of teaching and using retirement funds might be a good idea. How much would one's income be in that situation, on average?

[Ol Timer]

It really depends on what you mean by decent and what lifestyle you're used to. I would say you can live very comfortably for around $1,500 a month. Your biggest expense will probably be entertainment if you like to go out. Rent is $250-500(very fancy) in BKK. $300-400 for food and the rest is whatever your heart desires. Transportation is very cheap. Of course there will be people who will tell you that you need more, especially if you are raising a family in Thailand. There is a a good guide for living cost on this site http://teachlivethailand.com/cost%20of%20living

[overcast]

Thai baht is improving every year. And earlier it was on 1 USD to 50. Now today I checked it was on 1 USD to 33 Baht. So by the time you retire, it won't be as cheap as your own country. I guess for this reason, you have to migrate early. You can however establish your teaching business or any other business remotely and then that way get visa earlier and get retirement benefits started as soon as you get residential visa. It's lot complicated process though.

[jyy]

It really depends on what you mean by decent and what lifestyle you're used to. I would say you can live very comfortably for around $1,500 a month. Your biggest expense will probably be entertainment if you like to go out. Rent is $250-500(very fancy) in BKK. $300-400 for food and the rest is whatever your heart desires. Transportation is very cheap. Of course there will be people who will tell you that you need more, especially if you are raising a family in Thailand. There is a a good guide for living cost on this site http://teachlivethailand.com/cost%20of%20living

Sorry to be a cynic, but you can actually live very well in parts of the US for that amount, and I don't mean the poorest areas. However, though you mentioned that the apartments are fancy - but to what degree? Also, the food must also be the best because, as I sort of mentioned, the price for food in many parts of the US is the same.

[Ol Timer]

Exactly, This is what I meant by the idea of decent or fancy living being subjective. This may clear things up. I mean living on the 30th floor of a 2 year old high rise in the middle of BKK within walking distance to a massive shopping mall and the biggest weekend market in Thailand, with amenities such as these:

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[Heisenberg]

Exactly, This is what I meant by the idea of decent or fancy living being subjective. This may clear things up. I mean living on the 30th floor of a 2 year old high rise in the middle of BKK within walking distance to a massive shopping mall and the biggest weekend market in Thailand, with amenities such as these:
491e6b2b-8b0b-409c-a2a6-343d17fbf76c.jpg9e816cfd-b689-42f1-95ac-93c99f5962e9.jpg

These are really great amenities and I'm quite shocked that there are cheap and affordable places to rent in Thailand.

[kgord]

I know someone who is retired in Thailand and who lives very comfortably there. I think that if you are willing to live in paradise and pay not much for it, you can do well there. I think I would rather live somewhere a bit closer to home, but no doubt as an ex pat you can live comfortably there, and live much better than you could in your country of origin.

[JoeMilford]

Wow--this forum really made me think about retiring as an educator in Thailand. You definitely can't live this well on a teacher's salary, not usually anyway, the states. I plan on teaching into my seventies, if I can, so even after "retirement", I would hope to still be finding teaching and instructional jobs.

[jyy]

Often the exchange rate makes for an above average standard of living for westerners. Nonetheless, though, a westerner is always an outsider in another land. I mean, there's no place like home.

However, though, not all personalities are the same. For instance, myself, I found that Korea grew on me somewhat, more than it would for some people. Anyway, though, you cannot deny that things are getting tough for certain retirees in their home nation. In that case, certain foreign lands remain a good option.

[overcast]

Wow--this forum really made me think about retiring as an educator in Thailand. You definitely can't live this well on a teacher's salary, not usually anyway, the states. I plan on teaching into my seventies, if I can, so even after "retirement", I would hope to still be finding teaching and instructional jobs.

I don't think anyone can live like that on teachers salary. It's a bit far fetched model where we are assuming US dollar earner is retiring in Thailand. In that case dollar baht conversion is allowing such lifestyle. So I think people have to understand how much money they can make before retiring in Thailand. Because at this speed the dollar value may not remain the same in 10 years. That's something we have to consider during the retirement part there.