# Costs of moving to Thailand



## Bobobrighton

Hi,

Apologies if this has been answered before but I could not see it on the threads listed.

I am hoping that you will be able to give me some advice or general information that you may be able to assist my move to Thailand. I am hoping to move to Koh Samui the latter part of next year and will be starting my property search in September. I would like to know how much I should put aside, roughly for utility bills etc and does Thailand have the equivalent to the English council tax and how much is this for a 2 bedroom house (no pool). Any ideas of costs will be appreciated, as I want include this into my budget as I will be keeping a property in England. Thanks in advance of any information you can supply me.

Kind regards
Alan


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## KhwaamLap

Bobobrighton said:


> Hi,
> 
> Apologies if this has been answered before but I could not see it on the threads listed.
> 
> I am hoping that you will be able to give me some advice or general information that you may be able to assist my move to Thailand. I am hoping to move to Koh Samui the latter part of next year and will be starting my property search in September. I would like to know how much I should put aside, roughly for utility bills etc and does Thailand have the equivalent to the English council tax and how much is this for a 2 bedroom house (no pool). Any ideas of costs will be appreciated, as I want include this into my budget as I will be keeping a property in England. Thanks in advance of any information you can supply me.
> 
> Kind regards
> Alan


Hi, I really suggest you rent, at least at first - there are many reasons for this including the fact that as a foreigner you can't legally own land anyway. 

Rents can go from 6k skywards. For a nice 2 bed house (not condo) in my part of town (Chaing Mai) you coul easily get away with 8-10k these days. I have a 4 bed +maids room, 3 bathrooms, fully furnished with front and back gardens for 18k/month. I am not sure about K. Samui, bt it will be more expensive as there are more people per Km and its a tourist/holiday home area.

Electricity depends on how many aircons you have and how often you use them. I have 4, but only use 2 to 3 overnight - the other is in the spare room and unused most of the year. I also have several TVs and computers that seem to be on far too often. In all I pay around 1,300B/month.

For internet I pay for MaxNet premium (4Mb) and dedicated line and it costs me a cool 1,200/month. 

Gas comes in a bottle and I have never had to refill it yet, so not sure of the price.

Food shopping I spend around 5k a month (4 of us).

Going out, treating the kids, petrol and sundries I probably spend another 5-10k/month give or take.

Car tax is about 1,200B/year.

Health insurance is about 35k/year (3 of us).

If you have kids then schooling will probably be the most expensive thing you pay for.

I have never paid a bean in local taxes (don't know if my rent incluides this - or it doesn't exists) - but my bin is emptied every night (except Sunday) and the streets are kept clean.

If you live on a mood Bahn (like a Spanish urbanisation or a gated community) you will have other costs like maintance fees, club membershp, security fees etc - I don't.

Don't forget import taxes on anything you ship (first shipment is somewhat tax free - after a fashion - depending on what is in it) if you have a non-tourist long stay visa. After that its extortionate. Animals are charged import tax regardless (if cargo shipped). Put your Xbox in your hand luggage and carry itover - I did 


Good luck.


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## Bobobrighton

KhwaamLap said:


> Hi, I really suggest you rent, at least at first - there are many reasons for this including the fact that as a foreigner you can't legally own land anyway.
> 
> Rents can go from 6k skywards. For a nice 2 bed house (not condo) in my part of town (Chaing Mai) you coul easily get away with 8-10k these days. I have a 4 bed +maids room, 3 bathrooms, fully furnished with front and back gardens for 18k/month. I am not sure about K. Samui, bt it will be more expensive as there are more people per Km and its a tourist/holiday home area.
> 
> Electricity depends on how many aircons you have and how often you use them. I have 4, but only use 2 to 3 overnight - the other is in the spare room and unused most of the year. I also have several TVs and computers that seem to be on far too often. In all I pay around 1,300B/month.
> 
> For internet I pay for MaxNet premium (4Mb) and dedicated line and it costs me a cool 1,200/month.
> 
> Gas comes in a bottle and I have never had to refill it yet, so not sure of the price.
> 
> Food shopping I spend around 5k a month (4 of us).
> 
> Going out, treating the kids, petrol and sundries I probably spend another 5-10k/month give or take.
> 
> Car tax is about 1,200B/year.
> 
> Health insurance is about 35k/year (3 of us).
> 
> If you have kids then schooling will probably be the most expensive thing you pay for.
> 
> I have never paid a bean in local taxes (don't know if my rent incluides this - or it doesn't exists) - but my bin is emptied every night (except Sunday) and the streets are kept clean.
> 
> If you live on a mood Bahn (like a Spanish urbanisation or a gated community) you will have other costs like maintance fees, club membershp, security fees etc - I don't.
> 
> Don't forget import taxes on anything you ship (first shipment is somewhat tax free - after a fashion - depending on what is in it) if you have a non-tourist long stay visa. After that its extortionate. Animals are charged import tax regardless (if cargo shipped). Put your Xbox in your hand luggage and carry itover - I did
> 
> 
> Good luck.


Hi,

Thank you for you response, i really appreciate you taking the time to write all this for me. It has really helped

Many thanks
Alan


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## Thaidreamer

you can not own land but you can own a condo right??


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