Here's a link to the health insurance pricing calculator from Safety Wing:  https://explore.safetywing.com/nomad-insurance-complete?referenceID=retiredworkingforyou&utm_source=retiredworkingforyou&utm_medium=Ambassador

I got over here on far less at 62. I rented a condo for 15K baht that was arranged by a friend already here, (but you can also get a hotel for 500-700 baht a day until you secure a longer condo rental).  I brought some clothes and golf clubs. Plane ticket was 1KUS$. Retirement Visa was 15K, but the agency(TikTok) deposited 800K to get my Visa, plus I wanted a Thai drivers licensce since the US drivers license isnt considered valid here(we drive on the oppisite of the road), so that was 35K baht for all that. So, all in all, I spent maybe 3K US dollars to get here. My monthly living now, with a car and scooter, a condo(26K), a girlfriend, is about 70K baht. I don't drink or party maybe once a week. My Pension covers 1/3 of that, my interest on savings 1/3 and dividends 1/3. I try not touch my savings.

Nice to see you doing a video on the reality of things in today's world. I'm sure there has been many poor sucker lured in to Thailand thinking they could live on 300usd a month

Year 1 is critical. I’d advise folks to TRY to live as cheap as possible! No extra unnecessary spending. Eat cheap. Use a minimal amount of electricity (AC only at night to sleep). See what you can do if times get lean. If it’s not bearable- better  to know early than later.

Your retirement money for your visa requirement also doubles as your “i couldn’t make it work, bailing back to my home country fund”.

Honestly, I'd recommend just leaving everything behind that can't fit in two bags. What the fuck do you have that you can't buy when you get there.

Its simple. Dont move to Thailand (or anywhere)  because its cheaper. Move there or anywhere because you love it!

See you next month.  No more winters in Stoney Creek,  Ontario. 👍🇨🇦🙏

I have lived here for just over a year. My budget with drinking and some travel is 60,000 THB per month. Love it here

thanks for sharing. I'm 58 and don't plan to live until 90. so I think I'll be good to go- see you soon

Someone mentioned that rent will increase every few years or so. When I lived in BKK, my rent stayed the same for 13 years, my landlord was really good. If one was going to stay for over 15 years, wouldn't it be easier to just buy a condo for say, 2.5 MB, I'm, sure you could get a one bedroom studio or even a two bedroom unit at that price. (15,000 x 12 x 15 = 2,700,000)

As always, thanks for the insight Chris! See you on Samui next June! 🙏

I do fine on $1500 a month. I do live like a Thai though, so that makes a huge difference. If you want to come here and live like a Westerner, which defeats the purpose of coming here to begin with, plan on spending a whole lot more.

Ok, slightly long reply but bear with. In no particular order. 1. The O/O-A visa renewal is 1,900THB + 3,800THB for the multi-entry permit = 5,700THB. 2. The 800k in the bank account doesn’t need to be left for 12-months ad infinitum. The actual answer is you must maintain 800K for 5-months minimum for the pre and post renewal date and thereafter can drop it to 400K for a further 7-months. I’ve had conflicting information on this where one visa “expert” said it was 2 months pre and 3-months post renewal, but an immigration officer at Bangkok told me it was 3-months pre and 2-months post renewal date. So what I do is play safe and maintain it for 3-months pre and post and then spend 400K for the following 6-months, topping it back up to 800K 3-months from renewal. Done this now for 2 renewals and not had one iota of a problem. 3. Those on here saying it’s ridiculous you get zero interest on this money, just grinds my gears. At say 2% per annum you are ‘losing’ a mere 16,000THB per annum which is less that 500USD per annum. That’s barely 43Baht a day, less than a coffee at Cafe Amazon. Even if the rates were 4%, that’s 32,000THB which is 87Baht per day, less than a Singha/Leo/Chang in most bars. Keep it real people. This is a tiny price to pay (it’s known as “opportunity cost” in financial terms) to live in the best country in the world IMHO. If you really are so strapped for cash that under 1,000USD per annum makes a significant difference, then perhaps Thailand ain’t for you. 4. Chris makes an excellent point about the capital required to make this work and how the real rate of return (actual return minus inflation) will determine how you live your life here. But remember, unless you want to die rich, the whole point about retirement capital is you eat that capital as you go along. Example, if you are making 5% return annually after inflation on 500K USD, that’s 25,000USD per annum. If all you do is live off that return, you will probably be OK but when you die, the capital passes to your family. Why? Why do all of that to pass it on? I don’t want to be the richest man in the cemetery and I’ve told my family this. So instead of just living off the natural return, draw a small percentage of the capital as well, say, 1%. Now you have 6% per annum which is 30,000USD to make life that bit easier. As time goes on, the amount of draw means you need to rebalance how you maintain this. But as a former financial advisor with 31-years experience, I can tell you right now this is how you make it work. And if you get lucky and have a strong few years of higher returns, even better. 5. Just one final observation. I’ve noticed at least one comment from someone who owns a property here, and clearly that changes the dynamics significantly. But ask yourself this, the cost of that property, what is that annualised across maybe 25 years? Condo I live in is priced on the market right now at 6million Baht give or take. That’s 240,000 Baht per annum over 25-years, or 20,000 per month. The average rental cost in this building is around 30,000pm. I would much rather have the equivalent of 6 million Baht in my UK investment portfolio earning me money than sink it into a property in Bangkok, or anywhere in Thailand for that matter. I simply do not want my family to have the hassle of trying to sell it after I shuffle off this mortal coil. And if I die prematurely, that money is in the UK ready for them to scoop it up. Clearly YMMV (perhaps a Thai partner/family to leave it to) but it’s a huge commitment that really doesn’t lessen your overall costs in the decades of living here. Not a criticism, just keeping it real.

LOL I watch you on Thai Language Challenge, not surprised to see you have a channel now.

Good analysis and attitude, I've been here a little longer than you, but took on a wife, so.............math is blown to pieces.  Hope to run into you one day Chris, and thanks for spreading your wisdom.
And something you did not cover is moving here and expecting to start a business and making a profit from it.  That is not feasible for most Farangs, if you want to do it legally.  The business visa is difficult to obtain, and the Digital Nomad Visa rules are constantly changing, do good luck with that stuff.
From my first foray into early retirement back in 2003 in Pattaya, only a few friends remain of the original 30 or so Americans; the  poorest of the bunch moved to Cambodia several years ago.  The others are wealthy enough to have weathered the inflation, and I can count them on one hand.  I went home in '07 and reinvented myself to return 10 years later to Hua Hin.  Prices keep climbing, and the country up north at my wife's province looks more attractive moving forward.  Thailand is NOT the bargain it was just 10 years ago, please plan wisely.

Happy you’re making it work  keep up the inspirational videos 🥰

The shirt looks like you joined Star Fleet? 😂

Very good video, funny and serious at the same time.

Nice going Chris. Glad to see you again.

Coming to Thailand 2 years ago, my cost of living is less than half of what it was back home. My joy here in Thailand is about 10x what it was back home, & I was a generally happy camper. But I saw the cracks in that foundation.

Imho, if I die with 1 more baht in my pocket than I need? I win. Every day in 🇹🇭 feels like a win!