Cost of living in Thailand in 2024

If you cook thai food , around 3000baht per month for a couple. A 3 bed house to rent in a modern village, between 8 and 10000 baht per month. maintenance fees on top of course. Electric for a retired couple around 1000 baht per month. the most expensive cost is the A.C. Water around 100baht per month. Public transport is very cheap. We don't drive, so a songtau (open sided bus) is 12 baht for all distances. We have a senior rabbit card for the trains, which means mrt prices are halved. These are available at the stations. Your yearly retirement visa is 1900 baht yearly. If you wnt to eat western import food, you can quqdruple the monthly cost. I hope this helps.

@suzianddave

Thank you for your input !

It is very much appreciated

Bhavna

I lived in Bangkok for 18.5 wonderful years. I lived in a couple of different houses in the Sukhumvit Ekkammia area of the city. I started paying 10,000 for a house (bottom floor) with 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. I moved into a full house in the same area and paid 17,000 baht for this new place. My friend and I finally bought a house in Rhamkhapaeng 118 and really enjoyed this house. this was from 2002-2020. Electric was approx 1500 baht per month.

@suzianddave These are too low and the real costs may be doubke or are at least 50% more,  unless it is a far off village from Bangkok. 1 litre of milk is 1.35 to 1.5 US dollars. Apartment rent varies from 7 USD psf if it is over 20 year old building in the outskirt of Bangkok to USD 45 psf in the main Sukhumvit area. A burger will cost you 5.5 usd. Doctor fee for a general consultation will be around USD 25 to 30 in a good hospital which can be half in clinics. numbeo.com will give a better picture.

If this 'survey' is not narrowed down to a specific area the numbers will be all over the place....

Area's like Bangkok, suburbs, hua hin, Pattaya, chiang mai.khon kaen, nakohn ratchasima, samui, phuket and other more or less (im)famous places should be specified

Obviously  cost of living in Thailand , has many variables , ie loctaion , lifestyle , habits , ect ect ,

no one size fits all

Hello,

It really depend where you want to relocate in Thailand. I am speaking for Phuket only, and the prices of flat and houses for rent are dramatically increased the last few year. Not only on the tourist areas like Patong, Kata, Kamala or Rawai but also on the center of the island like Chalong or Kathu as there is international schools around. To give you an idea, a 1 bedroom 50 sqm condo for a yearly contract in Rawai is now around 25 000 THB a month minimum like this [link moderated] for example. For Chalong or Kathu, it would be at least 15-18 k for similar condo. And for a villa with private pool, it's hard to find anything below 70 000 THB a month either in Rawai or in Chalong. 10-15 years ago, Phuket was mostly a tourist detisnation where people came to spend few weeks. Post covid, many famillies come to settle down her. Hope it helps !

Phuket   more   Russians then Starlingrad

OK, can somebody give me a cost of living for Isaan?? I hope to be moving there and settling within a couple of years with my Thai wife.

Regards

Simon

@simonbolton79

There is a very good video with a breakdown of living costs in Isaan on Youtube. Just search Youtube for cost of living in Isaan and you should find it. It was based on 2023 costs.

Video title is: TRUE Cost of Expat Living in Isan Thailand 2023 (NOT $1000 a Month) 🇹🇭 #thailand #khonkaen #isan

Issan retirement is as cheap as it gets. Its also very hot and a bit boring if you want excitement.

$1000 a month no problem if your living in a monastary

@sowo

I've had all the excitement I can cope with so far in my life.  I would gladly live the quiet life.... Isaan is where I'm heading, will check out YouTube video..... 🙏

My Thai wife and I have done some figures for our upcoming retirement. This figure is only for food, transport, alcohol and local excursions. Everything else I have kept money aside for. 75000 baht a month and you will be relaxing!

Looks healthy, rent or own? Rent make a big difference

We live in our mortgage free house in Cha am. On home made food,  Thai and foreign, utilities, insurance and 2 car expenses we spend around 40.000 thb per month.

If the expenses would really be as some tell us they spend, 85 % or maybe more of Thai people would not be able to afford to live

Martinoo2002. We live in a thai village. From what we have seen, most people in the suburbs live on what they grow or forage. I am learning what to forage and what not to. Our friends here self medicate with foraged plants and flowers. We live in Nonthaburi, there is still a lot of farmland here. Our thai friends eat very little meat. Most of the carbs come from rice. I think this is why they live so cheaply. I have an English friend here, he has ben here for 20 years and still learning. The old thai food is the healthiest. We don't drive,public transport is so cheap. plus you get to meet people.

@suzianddave

Since November last year we live outside of Cha am, no village, no nothing, nearest neighbor on 500 meters and then 1,5 km. There is no public transport and even grab drivers are hesitant to come 'that far' .Very countryside.... but a great view on mountains in front and behind and quiet evenings on the porch.

Water from a well, electric from government, solar is under review.

We have 2 rai where we plan to grow veggies and fruits, a fishpond and a few chicken. All of this is by choice, the Thai wife wanted to grow things herself and she is not from a farming family, and I wanted to live close to the beach 13 km, 20 minutes....

I know after 25 years in Thailand how and why Thai people live cheap, I was replying that if Thai do not have and and not need 75.000 thb to live than this amount is out of context probably by rent and/or food  or other choices, like Cable TV with foreign channels or other things that Thai do not need and some foreigners as well. I have free True TV due to my mobile phone subscription through the True IDTV box, Netflix and other apps through SIM internet as there is no service provider for cable of satellite or even pocket wifi.

I lived of a Expat salary before I retired and consider myself 'well off' , but still I do not find the need nor the necessity to spend 75,000 on basic needs where most of the money usually goes to rent/lease or monthly payments like car, phones, tv's etc.

These expenses in the end will also cause the current Thai middle income group to fall back to the same issue as their parents, lack of cash to support the provident fund or social welfare and thus the retired living.

But hey, who worries about tomorrow!!!!

@petercurr55

as well as Pattaya….But are they pro or anti Putin? I would not like to live next to the former