many english teachers are nothing more than sex tourists in disguise

You're better off improving your game and sticking to poker

Also, I have a few grand I can use to live on at first while I settle

Edit: ~ 190k BHT

LOL

Am also planning on using it to teach in Korea afterwards, so if its not worth much, its no biggie

hi
im leaving for thailand in august and am currently looking for a room (for round about 1500baht max) either in samui, phuket or bangkok.

the only thing which is really important is that i need a very stable internet connection.
grinding midstake sngs and cant risk loosing too much $ due to disconnects.

places like grand president seems to have wireless inet -> shouldnt be too stable at all.

thx guys. appreciated.

btw: im planning on staying 1, 2 months max.

Do any of you live on Koh Samui? If so what is it like how are the bars/internet.

I'd definitely grind out a little bit more money to fall back on if need be whilst you're here. I mean it'd be doable but I'd rather have a little more cushion

Ok, when I am playing 100NL, probably a better idea?

I can come with a full years rent paid upfront too BTW

I have a question regarding Thai bank accounts as they relate to poker...

Is it smart and/or feasible to open a thai bank account for depositing/withdrawing poker funds from sites such as pokerstars full tilt etc.. I know poker is technically illegal but have heard numerous people talk about getting their funds through thai bank accounts.

I am an American so what is my best play here..

Again, thanks for all you help!

I live in Lamai beach, Koh Samui. Internet is fine, bars are the same you find anywhere else in Thailand.

you have rca and g clubs?

Are they bars? Moram

I'm staying in Chiang Mai for at least the next 6 months so if you need any help for looking for a place then give me a shout

diarf nit

obviously it doesn't matter what stakes you play but how much you make a month.

I wouldn't come here if I couldn't make atleast $1500-2000 per month on average. if less than that you won't get much above basic needs

you have to understand that a lot of things are going to change for you when you come here. in most cases you have to leave the country every 90 days, probably deal with the thai internet/other thai customs, different climate, different time zone etc etc etc

if you can only make 500 a month at home when there are no distractions think how long it takes before you can make that same here

the one year's rent obviously helps but 100nl with a steady rakeback stream + 10-20 buy-ins a month atleast would be better plan

You can live much better in Thailand on that than any of us could in our home country.

I mean seriously, not everyone wants to come to Thailand so they can spend 10,000 baht a day in hostess clubs. There are also people who come here to get away from it all.

You can rent an apartment in Thailand for $200 usd a month, and eat 3 meals a day at a restaurant for $10usd.

So thats $500 a month you need to make to live here. Sure, you won't be able to afford to go clubbing 5 nights a week on that, but then again you wouldn't be able to afford to go clubbing 5 nights a week at home on that income either.

If you can live on what you make at home, you can live on it in Thailand too, it's not even remotely a problem.

i don't think you know me that well. I go out maybe once a month and even then i don't spend much money

yes, of course you can get a place to live for 7000 baht and i am sure some do. i said you need 1500-2000 if you want something more than basic things.

yes you can get 3 meals at a restaurant for 350baht but can you do that for a month?

and yes that is 500 bucks. you don't need anything else? you don't rent motorbike? you get gasoline/other transportation for free?

seriously, putting the basic needs on a paper does not mean same things as budget for living.

Tens of thousands of westerners live in Thailand on less than 30,000 baht a month.

The Majority of Thais live on half that much.

I'm not really even sure what this means. Do you get tired of eating after a month?

Or can you not live without eating at a 5-star restaurant twice a week?

I've been to Thailand 6 times and I don't remember ever paying more than 200 baht for a meal, usually it's more like 60 baht.

The advice given out in this thread vastly overestimates the cost of living in Thailand. The guys who are living in Bangkok and paying 45,000 baht a month each just for rent are not people who should be giving out any advice about anything imo.

As I said before, if you come to Thailand and live a lifestyle similar to what you live at home, then it will be much, much cheaper.

Obviously though if you are coming to Thailand with the intention of living in a mansion, going to hostess clubs three times a week, and eating in 5-star restaurants every night, then it will cost more than $1000 usd per month.

But if you don't do that in your home country, then it's not really a valid comparison, is it?

No, I don't rent a motorbike.

Only an idiot would pay 4000 baht per month/200 baht per day for a motorbike that you can buy outright for 10,000 baht. I own my motorbike. Gas costs about 100 baht a week.

It pretty much does actually. Once you have tallied up your costs for accommodation, utilities, food, and transport, that is what you call a living budget.

An approxiamate average cost for a westerner in Thailand who lives in a normal manner and wants a good internet connection is something like this:

Accommodation: 6-10,000 baht.
Utilities - 2-3000 baht.
Food - 10-15,000 baht.
Transport - 500-1000 baht.

All up you are looking at about 25,000 baht, and that's the high end of things. That's less than $700 usd.

Obviously your entertainment budget is going to be additional to that, but there's no point trying to estimate that because it could be anywhere from zero to million baht per month, depending on what you do. Better to just post the cost of drinks/girls etc and let people work it out for themselves.

why wouild you ever want to live on that amount of money

It's not really relevant to this discussion, which is "how much does it cost to live in Thailand". But basically, I want to live on that amount of money because a 40,000 baht apartment doesn't make me any happier than a 10,000 baht apartment does, and I would rather save the money I make so I can invest it, instead of spending it on jacuzzis and high class escorts.

It's not even like I'm living worse than those guys are, I'm just paying less.

They are paying 20-30k a month just for their apartments ffs, and it's no better than where I stay. They are spending 5-10k a night out, and im spending < 1k.

Basically It's not so much that I'm living a spartan life, rather that some of the guys who quote prices in this thread are paying 2-3x the market rate for everything in Thailand for no apparent reason except that it makes them feel good.

I'm the opposite I guess, if I pay more for something than something else, I feel like a loser rather than a winner. For some reason these guys think it's a badge of honor to be overcharged for everything. I guess I'm too old to understand.

ok few more questions for you

you said you own your motorbike and that you have been to thailand 6 times? do you live here(and how long?) or what is your story?

what i meant was that those 3 meals would be the basic needs for you. I don't think you can live your life only eating those 3 meals a day and buying nothing else. my point was your budget for food/things you eat is going to be higher and 350baht a day.

I am not sure why it looks like you are on some sort of war path against me. Like I said you dont know me at all. all these "2-3x market rate", "hostess clubs" "jacuzzis and high class escorts." comments are pretty naive imo.

I(with my gf) buy and make food a lot from things we buy from the food market and eat at thai restaurants all the time. my favorite dish costs 80 baht though. with rice and water it is 100 baht. at another restaurant dish costs 30 baht and with water 40 baht. I eat these happily almost every day but I still go to places like villa market and buy something overpriced imported stuff because every once in a while you want something different like a nice 200g beef stake for 110 baht. I think my monthly budget for food is 15k baht if I only include myself.

I was trying to respond to a guy who has probably never been to thailand before and wants to stay here (atleast) a year. Do you think he could ever survive his first year here on that basic budget?

i think it is more like how much your first year costs in thailand.

sure you can buy that but i think 100% of the people I know in thailand through 2+2 and from elsewhere won't buy a semi-automatic bike when they first come here. Most of us bought our bikes (i paid 50k for my airblade a year ago) and some who knew they wouldn't stay forever decided to rent. most through the same lady and paid 3k a month for a step and 3.5k for a click.

You have good points and you probably live ok life and know how to save money but please be realistic when you describe a budget for someone's first year here.

I can and I have. I think it is pretty stupid to constantly pay 5-10x price for (in some cases worse) food just because the table&chair are nicer and waitress knows English. I didn't come to thailand for that

i think we were still talking $700 when you wrote that. the only answer I can come up with is "because you have to"

what i forget to mention also was that your budget should include all sort of random things you have to take care of or buy. Maybe it is just me but i feel there is just something i have to take care every month that is going to cost me usually atleast few k baht a month

also we didn't even talk about visa related costs which everyone can take care of cheaply or in a expensive way but they are still a cost

Thailand thread reached a new low on arguing about how busto one can live in thailand.

If you're busto you better stay home unless you aspire to live like the average thai (which is not a great life).

Being underrolled in a foreign country is never a good idea. Thats my two cents on this discussion.

555

going to a g club maybe costs you (well me anyway) an extra 1k baht compared to normal nights.

Quoting in wrong thread ITT. G-clubs can be quite cheap with memberships (2kish a night depending on the clb of course) provided you're not a heavy drinker.

Not interested in renewing membership though and unwilling to spend more than 3k a night.

Also without membership you're usually stuck in the not too great non member areas.

1) i think the hooker stories with bkkdude and pumpui were lower, you don't?

2) avg thai doesn't make $500/month but you probably knew that. also that is why i responded to the original guy who thought he could come stay here for $500/month letting him know it doesn't get him much

3) true

FWIW i spend 1500-2000 euros a month and i think i spend way too much.