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.

Please click picture to enlarge
Food Market Fresh vegetables	Food Market Pineapples 5 for $1	Food Market Watermelon $.50/kilo	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.

This is another reason why for the single, heterosexual males it is a good idea to have a Thai g/f as she will get you the best price from transportation, groceries, and even household items such as furniture. If you are a farang couple and retiring here then trust your maid or Thai friends to advise you on the best places to shop.

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.



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.


The "Cost of Living" cost spreadsheet was developed in 2005 and although we have had some inflation here in Chiang Mai and some costs are higher than in 2005 we still stick by the total of "$550 US a MONTH" as being a sensible budget for a retiree who wants to live comfortably.

The "KEYS" to living costs here are first Accommodations which can vary from:
$120 US/month (3,900 baht/month) for budget apartment and that total includes estimated water and power as well as cable tv and hi speed internet and air conditioned with western toilet and hot shower.
to
$200 US/month for a furnished bungalow or economy condo with internet and cable tv included and with aircon.
to
$600 US/month for an executive studio condo or 1-2 bedroom executive condo for about $ 600 US a month for everything including water, power, cable tv, condo fee and even internet.


The following pages will provide you with information dealing with all types of accommodations and even listing properties for rent and sale.




Luxury House Rentals - Long Term

Condo's, Houses, Land - For Sale

Condo Accommodations - Short Term

Condo Accommodations - Long Term

Condo Accommodations - Luxury

Condo, Apartments - Budget


The second key to living costs here for the eligible heterosexual male retiree is to find a nice Thai girlfriend as you may help her and her family out for 8-10k baht a month average for medical, schooling of child(ren) and food for her but in return she will save you on meals, and many other living costs where she can bargain or knows how to get a better price than a English speaking farang.

We deal with the topics of finding a Thai g/f and related topics suchs as relationships with Thai ladies on the following pages:




Finding a Thai girlfriend or Thai wife

Splitting up with a Thai girlfriend

Tips on Relationships with a Thai girlfriend

Where to Find a Thai Girlfriend


The final point we want our website visitors to understand and it is an important one has to do with having more money for your retirement.

Not everyone has a large pension and not everyone has a large nest egg in the way of savings. And yet we all want to live comfortably and not have to work when we reach retirement age. And when I see retiree's working at WalMart greeting people at the entrance or working at McDonalds flipping hamburgs and reporting to a teenager with a college degree it makes me sick. Is that what you envisioned your Retirement Life would be like?

If you have concerns about your having adequate finances to retire then we deal with that as well. Everyone now has a computer and internet access and interest/knowledge in some topic. And everyone can earn money from the internet.

One way is to build a website which can be done quickly and for less than $1,000 US (and that is for a Good Website that will get results). And a Good Website would give you something to do in your spare time and generate income be it from customers or from Affiliate earnings or from Google Adsense. We deal with this topic on the following pages.




Making Money while Here

Owning Your Own Website in Chiang Mai

Building Your Own Website in Thailand

Search Engine Optimization








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