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This is what I view as the one of the best features of living here.
Just imagine going to a 7-11 convenience store and buying a can of Coke, a package of Clorets, a bottle of water, a Nestles ice-cream and many more items for a quarter of the price you are accustomed to paying in North America or less.
Just imagine going to one of the finer restaurants and selecting two large bowls of soup with shrimp, chicken or beef, then ordering 2 delicious dishes, topping it off with a decadent dessert for each of you, and during the meal enjoying a chilled Singha beer and perhaps a mixed drink for your spouse/date and listening to music that you enjoy. Imagine yourself in this outdoor restaurant in the evening with your spouse/date. As the time nears to head back to your hotel you ask for the check and to your amazement the total with taxes and tip is less than $20 US dollars.
Better yet go to a Thai restaurant that is popular with the locals. A large, clean restaurant and select dishes that are already cooked and which you see through a glass partition. Start things off with a delicious large bowl of soup which may be identical to that served to you in a more expensive restaurant, select a cooked dish to your liking with bottled water and ice-cream for dessert and get a check for $8 US for the two of you. You may find that the large bowl of soup alone is enough to fill you up.
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Food Market
Fresh vegetables
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Food Market
Pineapples 5 for $1 |
Food Market
Watermelon $.50/kilo
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Food Market
Oranges $.55/kilo |
The hundreds of hours of research on the internet that I did prior to moving to Chiang Mai did reveal some of the costs of living here but it did not reveal that there are at times two prices. One for foreigners (farangs) and one for Thai’s. In some cases you have to pay the farang price and in some cases you do not. We will show you how best to deal with the two price system.
Accommodations can be had $450 or more US dollars a night or for $50 US dollars a month. Do you want to stay at a 4 or 5 star hotel and pay a premium for room, food, taxi and laundry costs or would you be content in a furnished apartment with TV, minifridge,private balcony, internet in room, laundry on site, and delicious freshly made meals and snacks at your doorstep for $200 U.S. on a monthly basis.
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Click Here for
Foreigner Living in a Thai Household - (part 1- includes photos)
Click Here for
Foreigner Living in a Thai Household - (part 2- includes photos)
If you are not extremely picky then these are the costs
of living here on a monthly basis:
Fully furnished apartment as described above |
$200 |
3 meals daily including snacks of fresh fruits |
$168 |
travel by motorcycle with sidecar (touk touk) or red taxi usage approximated at 8 times a month |
$25 |
dinner with entertainment outings with some alcohol usage approximated at 6 times a month |
$66 |
snooker or 8 ball weekly and swimming bi-weekly |
$20 |
movie at the mall twice monthly plus movie 8 movie rentals |
$20 |
laundry |
$22 |
miscellaneous - telephone, toiletries, internet, etc. |
$29 |
| Total |
$550 |
So there you have it. A single person can live here comfortably on $550 US a month. For two people the amount will increase by $168 for food, $66 for dinner/entertainment outings, $8 swimming, mall movie theatre add $8, and laundry and miscellaneous add $50 for a total of $850 monthly.
Click Here for
Massage in Chiang Mai- (includes photos)
If you want pay as you go on health care the costs are low and the services vary according to whether you want normal or special care. A dental cleaning may be between $70 to $200 in North America and only $5-10 here. Or you can go ahead and sign up for a health care plan.
It is up to you. You can live here on $550 a month for a single person or thousands of dollars a month. In truth you can live here comfortably on the lower amount. You can live in a very nice hotel, go to the malls, shop at the famous Night Bazaar, rent and buy movies, play sports, eat meals where both the foreigners and local people dine. You can attend the rose, food, flower and 17 other festivals held in the city during the year and let us not forget about the ever popular Songkran water festival, and also visit the many sights in and around Chiang Mai. You may find yourself enjoying yourself, doing the things you want to do and becoming more physically fit all on a fraction of which you were spending back home.
For those people who are contemplating retirement here and concerned that they will not see their children or grandchildren we would suggest prepaid phone cards, sending pictures and messages over the internet which again is a fraction of the price you would pay back home or better yet have them visit you here in Thailand. The grandchildren will love the Chiang Mai Zoo, the swimming pools, and elephant trekking, hot springs while your children may find the Night Bazaar with it‘s variety of inexpensive crafts and merchandise, the gem factory, the local malls more to their liking. Young and old alike will enjoy attending the festivals, sampling the delicious and fresh Thai food, visiting the Buddhist temples and riding through town in the open aired taxi or a motorcycle with sidecar “touk touk”.
With only a portion of the money you are saving by living here in Chiang Mai you can go back home on regular visits and also pay for your grandchildren/children to vacation here. A wise retirement decision on your part and a unforgettable vacation for them.
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Standard 4 Star Hotel
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Our Executive Condo's
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21" TV, no DVD, no movies |
29" TV, DVD player, 6+ movies |
shower and maybe bathtub |
shower and bathtub |
balcony - probably not |
your own private balcony |
no kitchette |
kitchenette, m/wave, toaster |
minifridge maybe |
minifridge, comp. bottled water |
internet in room? |
FREE Hi speed internet |
Average price 2,718 baht
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Our price 1,700 baht
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Just e-mail - admin@retire-on-550-month.com
us with your accommodation requirements
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