Retirement in Buriram, How much do you need to live in Buriram

[Khun Tony]

I'm still a few years away yet, but I was wondering how much you need to have a comfortable life style in Buriram.   I understand everyones life style is different, but my definition of comfortable is to be able to afford a holiday back home once a year, maybe a visit to the tourist areas to meet friends once or twice a year and to be able to afford to a have a few drinks during the week and eat out two or three times a week.   In my case I have a house, so I dont need to pay rent.   When I say I have a house, my wife has a house.

Also what is the most cost effective way to bring your money into Thailand from Australia without losing too much of your money (exchange rates / fees and charges) in order to meet the requirements for the Retirement Visa.  From my reading of the requirements for the retirement visa the minimum amount could either be 400,000 baht if your are married to a Thai, or 800,000 Baht if you are not, or mixture of lump sum and income of some sort?   Also if you bring in a lump sum to qualify for the retirement visa, what are the your options in regards to investing it?

[Lourens]

Hi Tony. I don't see many replies to your post so not to loose interest, here goes: You don't need much to retire. I would say that 40 to 50K baht per month is plenty especially when you have your own house already. I have lived quite comfortably with as little as 15K Baht per month. Granted, you don't have a lot of luxuries then but we eat and have electricity and water all the time. (This is for a family of myself, wife, 13y/o boy and mother-in-law and Budha) On average, I would say that 25 to 30K per month would do me nicely in my situation. Adding annual trips overseas and bi-annual trips in Thailand will be something you will have to budget on the side.

Then again - I might be a cheap charlie 

[Admin]

Lourens, Are you joking? 15,000 baht?
where all the expenses we're as foreigners (farangs) have here?
visa?
(sometimes?..)farang food?
some personal effects?small things for the house?
Minimum 25K baht. ^-^

[Khun Tony]

Thanks for your interest.  I was also hoping to get some idea about the money side where you gained a retirement visa.   Also what are your options if you bring the lump sum in (800,000 baht or 400,000 baht), does it just sit in a bank earning 1% or can you lodge it in some kind of government bond or security and earn higher interest and still satisfy the Government requirements for the visa provided the money comes from your home country.

I appreciate your feedback on what you find adequate to live on.  It's good to know that you can live on 15,000 or 20,000 a month, so I don't think you are a cheap charlie!   Obviously the more things you want, the more it costs.   

Once more thanks for your help.