News Forum - Survival Guide: How much does it cost to live in Thailand?

[TSS]

yes, agreed! life can be very good indeed here! None of the expats in my circle of friends (from places far and wide)  are whiner moaners. Over the years, iv'e met just a few and reminded some the many different modes of transportation outta here

[LoongFred]

15 hours ago, TSS said:

Now throw in rent or mortgage, and for sure you are just squeaking by..........

yep, that's excactly what I was trying to get across- I know nothing about costs in Vancouver, B.C. or Vancouver, Wa. but home prices, high taxes, basic cost of living are quite high where I'm from (Ca. & Hawaii) compared to what you get in return. Wasn't a huge problem covering all that as a fairly well paid blue collar construction worker but after retiring early, decided to sell up, give up that rat race and relocate. No regrets. Finding it far better here- maybe just me. Pre covid, we  travelled yearly to other countries, for now just regionally. I take it you very much enjoy and are happy to afford staying in your home city and that's great!  As for Thailand, (from my experience) 80-100k baht per month for small family, you'll be very comfortable.  Of course, one can get by with much less. As is the case everywhere, it's all about location and lifestyle.  

In California my mortgage property taxes plus insurance exceeded $3k per month. Add car payments etc, the salary I was making got a lot smaller. Food was also more expensive along with fuel, etc. 

The little things in California added up big time. In Thailand it's much simpler.  We paid cash for the house and car. There's no hidden cost except donations to funerals, temple, etc.

We just got back from Big C and the bill was less than $100 and we bought everything we need including giving daily food for the monks. We have a temple here that takes in young boys that can't be supported by their families so feeding them is both essential and a pleasure. My wife even makes sure they have some cookies or sweets. They are extremely polite and call my wife Yom  Mah . So our cexpenses extend beyond ourselves but still reasonable.

[TSS]

excactly - I know it and you know it but people who haven't lived in Ca. (or Hawaii-highest C.O.L. in the US) think a surplus of US$ 3k a month is sufficient. It's not. My adult son in San Leandro & wife are high earners but they're reluctantly bailing to Tx. this year. I left Ca. for Hi. in 1974 and it was great for years although pricey. Two main reasons we decided to leave Hi. in 2005- the horrendous traffic & massive homeless pop. That ruined everything. Way worse now.  

[Poolie]

22 minutes ago, TSS said:

excactly - I know it and you know it but people who haven't lived in Ca. (or Hawaii-highest C.O.L. in the US) think a surplus of US$ 3k a month is sufficient. It's not. My adult son in San Leandro & wife are high earners but they're reluctantly bailing to Tx. this year. I left Ca. for Hi. in 1974 and it was great for years although pricey. Two main reasons we decided to leave Hi. in 2005- the horrendous traffic & massive homeless pop. That ruined everything. Way worse now.  

Right, that's California and Hawaii out, but what about Thailand?

[Marc26]

2 hours ago, TSS said:

excactly - I know it and you know it but people who haven't lived in Ca. (or Hawaii-highest C.O.L. in the US) think a surplus of US$ 3k a month is sufficient. It's not. My adult son in San Leandro & wife are high earners but they're reluctantly bailing to Tx. this year. I left Ca. for Hi. in 1974 and it was great for years although pricey. Two main reasons we decided to leave Hi. in 2005- the horrendous traffic & massive homeless pop. That ruined everything. Way worse now.  

Where did you live in Hawaii?

 

We go to the Big Island a bit, not my favorite but my co-worker has a great villa we can use......

Plus it's 5hrs direct

 

[TSS]

31 pretty great years living/based mostly East Honolulu. Except for three yrs. on Kauai. At different times houses in Palolo, Wilhemina Rise, last house was way up in St. Louis Heights. Through the years worked various construction projects on all the Islands with the exception of  Lanai. 1994-95, almost a year erecting steel frame and enclosure on the last telescope to be built on the summit of Mauna Kea (The Japanese owned 'Subaru') at almost 14,000 ft. elev. Love the Big Island. If we ever moved back, there would be my choice. But I'm old now so moving here was prolly the final

[TSS]

 

3 hours ago, Poolie said:

Right, that's California and Hawaii out, but what about Thailand?

it sucks too. that's why I been here for years you ting tong

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[Poolie]

2 minutes ago, TSS said:

it sucks too. that's why I been here for years you ting tong

•  

 

 

 

Costs nothing to be polite, remember?

[Marc26]

23 minutes ago, TSS said:

31 pretty great years living/based mostly East Honolulu. Except for three yrs. on Kauai. At different times houses in Palolo, Wilhemina Rise, last house was way up in St. Louis Heights. Through the years worked various construction projects on all the Islands with the exception of  Lanai. 1994-95, almost a year erecting steel frame and enclosure on the last telescope to be built on the summit of Mauna Kea (The Japanese owned 'Subaru') at almost 14,000 ft. elev. Love the Big Island. If we ever moved back, there would be my choice. But I'm old now so moving here was prolly the final

Sounds like you enjoyed it for some time and now found another place you enjoy to live, can't beat that  :)

 

 

We spend time in Waikoloa 

My friend has a villa at Kolea

 

 

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x795477927357f907%3A0xa2c582fafc80f8f1!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNcjzgANGvvQ8vcJDIXooZodiZXCuDL-_fo8Umr%3Dw260-h175-n-k-no!5swaikoloa rentals - Google Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipPFOdieCM7iYmr-g5859mN1wY2zglahshpop2qM&hl=en

 

I do enjoy Kona town, feels like old Hawaii

 

And I actually enjoyed Lahania in Maui as well, the one time I visited

 

But Hawaii a bit "too American" for me, I like a bit more different and exotic on my holidays

 

 

[Marc26]

I also spent quite a bit of time in Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach

 

My friend I met in Bangkok lived there, he became my travel buddy

 

I am not a huge fan of LA, but I did love the Hermosa area

Sadly he retired and moved away

[dj230]

Lots of people mention it can cost as little or as much as you want to live in Thailand, but thats true for any country.

 

Article is pretty good but the estimates for rent are a little high in my opinion, 15k-20k baht should get you a condo a few meters away from the BTS, for example a unit at Ashton Asoke or Noble Pleonchit, areas are quite nice too. 

Can save a lot of money on food just using grab deliveries and their coupon codes without sacrificing quality (nutrition), an average meal at a chain restaurant for example, The Coffee Club, only costs me about 75baht, chicken breast, rice/quinoa and salad delivered. I wouldn't really trust street food, not very clean/hygenic, unhealthy and relatively the same price. 

 

 

[OOber]

This thread is short, if you skip all the Hawaiian beach bums.

2 decades ago I easily lived on 15K a month near Emporium in an airconditioned flat ,eating in foodcourts almost all the time, using buses and able to go out most nights when beer was 50-60 Baht.

Now I spent more monthly on nice hotels. So it depends on your budget and your choices but many Thai staff have 20-30K a month and they make it in Bangkok. I don't see why foreigners shouldn't.

[Marc26]

4 minutes ago, OOber said:

This thread is short, if you skip all the Hawaiian beach bums.

2 decades ago I easily lived on 15K a month near Emporium in an airconditioned flat ,eating in foodcourts almost all the time, using buses and able to go out most nights when beer was 50-60 Baht.

Now I spent more monthly on nice hotels. So it depends on your budget and your choices but many Thai staff have 20-30K a month and they make it in Bangkok. I don't see why foreigners shouldn't.

2 decades ago...............umm makes quite a difference   :)

 

 

[Soidog]

On 2/2/2022 at 2:26 AM, JamesR said:

If I do go and live there full time though in the future I will have to take moaning lessons as I see many farangs who say they 'live' there are great at moaning about the country. 

If you are someone who moans about life where you live now, then Just come and live in Thailand full time and the moaning will come naturally! 

[JamesR]

57 minutes ago, Soidog said:

If you are someone who moans about life where you live now, then Just come and live in Thailand full time and the moaning will come naturally! 

In that case I will have to take moaning lessons as I am the sort of person who gets on with things and has no time by choice to sit about moaning. 

I could I suppose moan about the fact I do not normally moan and that will become a moan and set me on the tracks for a full moaning course.

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, JamesR said:

In that case I will have to take moaning lessons as I am the sort of person who gets on with things and has no time by choice to sit about moaning. 

I could I suppose moan about the fact I do not normally moan and that will become a moan and set me on the tracks for a full moaning course.

. Yes, if you are busy then there usually isn’t time to moan. I think that’s part of the problem some people have when they come to live in Thailand or anywhere. Back home they are busy with work, family, house etc. when they move to Thailand the house is often rented, little or no work and family issues are usually just a phone call. This can lead to longer days and unless you have hobbies or can do remote work, moaning can creep in. For me, it’s all about using the time productively and keeping an active mind. I’m lucky in that I do have work while I’m in Thailand and plenty of hobbies and friends to visit. I still moan mind you from time to time

[Marc26]

Just now, Soidog said:

. Yes, if you are busy then there usually isn’t time to moan. I think that’s part of the problem some people have when they come to live in Thailand or anywhere. Back home they are busy with work, family, house etc. when they move to Thailand the house is often rented, little or no work and family issues are usually just a phone call. This can lead to longer days and unless you have hobbies or can do remote work, moaning can creep in. For me, it’s all about using the time productively and keeping an active mind. I’m lucky in that I do have work while I’m in Thailand and plenty of hobbies and friends to visit. I still moan mind you from time to time

I bitch, a lot, about Vancouver 

Mostly to my wife who ignores me

 

But then I find things I like about Vancouver and living here and try and focus on that 

 

[Marc26]

On 2/1/2022 at 11:44 PM, LoongFred said:

In California my mortgage property taxes plus insurance exceeded $3k per month. Add car payments etc, the salary I was making got a lot smaller. Food was also more expensive along with fuel, etc. 

The little things in California added up big time. In Thailand it's much simpler.  We paid cash for the house and car. There's no hidden cost except donations to funerals, temple, etc.

We just got back from Big C and the bill was less than $100 and we bought everything we need including giving daily food for the monks. We have a temple here that takes in young boys that can't be supported by their families so feeding them is both essential and a pleasure. My wife even makes sure they have some cookies or sweets. They are extremely polite and call my wife Yom  Mah . So our cexpenses extend beyond ourselves but still reasonable.

I don't think there are too many items in Big C or any big supermarket that are that much different or that much cheaper at a supermarket in the US or Canada 

 

And actually, I'd venture to say that the supermarket is cheaper in the US than Thailand for a lot of things

 

The US is extremely cheap compared to other countries, for goods....

[JamesR]

On 2/3/2022 at 3:02 AM, Soidog said:

. Yes, if you are busy then there usually isn’t time to moan. I think that’s part of the problem some people have when they come to live in Thailand or anywhere. Back home they are busy with work, family, house etc. when they move to Thailand the house is often rented, little or no work and family issues are usually just a phone call. This can lead to longer days and unless you have hobbies or can do remote work, moaning can creep in. For me, it’s all about using the time productively and keeping an active mind. I’m lucky in that I do have work while I’m in Thailand and plenty of hobbies and friends to visit. I still moan mind you from time to time

All true, I can work from my computer here (UK) and in Thailand. 

The only thing I moan about when in Thailand are the stray dogs which live in the mini park in our gated community as they all suddenly howl like wolves at three in the morning and then the dogs living at the other three hundred houses join in. 

But I get used to it after a few weeks.

 

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, JamesR said:

All true, I can work from my computer here (UK) and in Thailand. 

The only thing I moan about when in Thailand are the stray dogs which live in the mini park in our gated community as they all suddenly howl like wolves at three in the morning and then the dogs living at the other three hundred houses join in. 

But I get used to it after a few weeks.

I’ll have a word with my fellow Soi Dogs James. See what I can do for you

[notpoor]

"You can live happily ever after at 50,000 baht or more per month. This has everything you need, from location to size to view"

sure, if you want to live in a shoebox

Edited February 11, 2022 by notpoor

[astro]

On 2/2/2022 at 5:11 PM, dj230 said:

Lots of people mention it can cost as little or as much as you want to live in Thailand, but thats true for any country.

Nope, each country or region has a minimum living cost and it varies the world over.

While Thailand is not as inexpensive as it used to be, it's still good value on any level you pick.

Quote

 

Article is pretty good but the estimates for rent are a little high in my opinion, 15k-20k baht should get you a condo a few meters away from the BTS, for example a unit at Ashton Asoke or Noble Pleonchit, areas are quite nice too. 

 

 

Agreed, a basic room on the outskirts of Bangkok doesn't cost 10k, not even with aircon.

A small studio apartment with aircon near a BTS station can be had for 6k.

Upwards there is no limit...

Quote

Can save a lot of money on food just using grab deliveries and their coupon codes without sacrificing quality (nutrition), an average meal at a chain restaurant for example, The Coffee Club, only costs me about 75baht, chicken breast, rice/quinoa and salad delivered. I wouldn't really trust street food, not very clean/hygenic, unhealthy and relatively the same price. 

That's how different views can be.... I hardly ever get food from chains, I much prefer street food, which is, with a bit of scrutiny,  clean and nutritious, variety of flavours, much preferable to the standardised chain grub.

[dj230]

17 minutes ago, astro said:

Nope, each country or region has a minimum living cost and it varies the world over.

While Thailand is not as inexpensive as it used to be, it's still good value on any level you pick.

Agreed, a basic room on the outskirts of Bangkok doesn't cost 10k, not even with aircon.

A small studio apartment with aircon near a BTS station can be had for 6k.

Upwards there is no limit...

That's how different views can be.... I hardly ever get food from chains, I much prefer street food, which is, with a bit of scrutiny,  clean and nutritious, variety of flavours, much preferable to the standardised chain grub.

minimum living cost? Is this an arbitrary number made by people? Or an average of what people spend? You can easily get by with little to no money anywhere in the world, there's plenty of homeless people in North America living on 0 wage and are alive or those on welfare. 

For a little over 6k you can rent a shared bedroom in a basement in Toronto as well, or a place in a small town away from the city, there is also no limit upwards

My point is that saying you can spend as little or as much as you want, doesn't add any value, as it can be said for virtually any country

[astro]

Living in the streets or sharing a basement bedroom is not an alternative to an aircon studio apartment, nor is it a situation I'd choose to be in.

Living expenses can be compared: set a standard and compare the costs in different locations. It's not rocket science.

[dj230]

4 minutes ago, astro said:

Living in the streets or sharing a basement bedroom is not an alternative to an aircon studio apartment, nor is it a situation I'd choose to be in.

Living expenses can be compared: set a standard and compare the costs in different locations. It's not rocket science.

I think that's exactly what I meant by saying "you can spend as little or as much as you want" works in any country. 

I am in agreement though that it's cheaper to live the same lifestyle in Thailand than it is in Canada, it's why I came to Thailand 

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by dj230