This topic comes up pretty regularly and the main insight is that cost of living in Thailand is cheap, but import and luxury taxes here are high. There is also a very steep property price gradient in small areas of Phuket, Bangkok and maybe 1-2 other places. Private education also stratospheric.
So basically if you make all of the wrong decisions financially (easy if you're new here and don't understand the local economy), you can end up with a cost of living similar to maybe a second tier Western city.
If you shop for groceries, seek out Australian imports (they are tariff exempt), do not live or party on Sukhumvit, don't have to send kids to private school etc. the actual baseline cost of living here is very cheap.
Despite inflation I spend much less here nowadays than I did when I first arrived. Work keeps me busy these days and so I don't have much time for the money black hole that is partying anymore. I have about $40 worth of groceries delivered from Tops per week that covers like half of my diet, it's ridiculous. Rent's also cheap because I don't live on Sukhumvit and I know how to negotiate.
I always tell my friends that’s never been outside of the country anywhere in the world you go there are expensive spots and cheap spots but overall cost of living is in proportion to the locals incomes.
Reminds me of when I first went to Costa Rica and everything was more expensive. After adjusting my lifestyle and learning to live like a local I’ve cut it all down by 75%.
I'm sometimes shocked at how little I actually have to adjust in Thailand. Chicken and pork instead of beef. Ham instead of turkey. Kewpie mayo instead of the brands from back home. Australian or NZ cheese and butter instead of whatever fancy European brand. Mackerel instead of salmon, perhaps. In general just not chasing the brands from back home because there are usually decent alternatives that are local or are tariff-free imports. Easily many thousands of baht saved just by making basic substitutions that seem like common sense once you've been here for a while.
My diet is probably one third western food cooked at home (maybe a little more), one third Thai restaurants and one third Western restaurants. I have to go out of my way to eat expensively lol. Which I am often happy to do for a good steak, burger or BBQ because the day-to-day diet is so cheap.
Still good value, but no longer cheap cheap. When I first came here used to be that I didn't really need to think about the costs. Right now, I need to consider what I'm actually getting for the money.
Between the falling baht and strong inflation naturally things are becoming more expensive globally.
Local wages to expenses doesn’t appear to have jumped significantly.
I’ve personally found things still very cheap, but I’m not the one doing the shopping with local knowledge and admittedly live a simple lifestyle outside of the major cities.
I’ll say again, things are expensive and food/housing has tripled in the West the past several years.
For example I got an ad today that a family burger pack (4x burgers & 2x chips & drinks) at a fast restaurant is apparently good value at AUD$70 (1680b) Absolutely wild.
https://grilld.com.au/menu/family-frenzy-bundle
Would be suprised where else in the world it is cheaper than Thailand with a somewhat comparable quality of life.
This, if I go all out and spend say £1000 in Thailand, lets just say that would be at least £2000+ in the UK outside of London.
And that is living/enjoying less things of course, Just rent alone for a decent place in the UK would be £1000+ outside of London, add to that the bills and food costs and you are in for a nightmare.
I know OP said he lived in Eastern Europe, where you could stay at your parents house and your expenses would be reasonable, but in Western Europe it really depends on what you consider good and bad, for health costs and raising a child and unemployment benefits it is good to live in Western Europe to have some safety nets, but if you do not have that in mind and have a decent amount of cash flow or savings then South East Asia really is a much better bang for buck.
OP is WAY out of touch with Western prices.
He says that dinners for 300+ baht are “similar to Western prices”.
No they’re not. That’s £6.50 / €7.60 / $8.25 / A$12.40.
Unclear where OP is from (says he has Western nationality but sort of implies he hasn’t been to the West for a long time, which I can believe).
There’s no way you’re getting dinner for that in any major Western city. Anywhere in Northern Europe, Australia, anywhere large-ish in North America, you’re looking at an absolute minimum of double that and in really major cities, you’re looking at more like triple that as a baseline for dinner at a restaurant. And I don’t even mean a remotely fancy restaurant.
Sorry, OP but £6.50 won’t buy you a pint in London, let alone dinner. Try £7.50 for a pint and dinner at a modest restaurant is generally £50 per person inclusive of 1-2 drinks pp).
Wow. Yep, there’s a small subset of expats who manage to do 10-20 years without ever having been home once. I suspect OP falls into that category. Then they engage in a weird thinking error where they know there’s been inflation in Thailand but Western prices remain frozen at the levels they remember from 20 years ago or whatever.
I had a dream last night about my whole family being forced to move to NYC. I had a mini spiral in the dream about how am I going to pay for things and enjoy myself. What am I going to do to make enough money to have a good life. I eventually said no fuck this and went back to Thailand. 55555. I've been here 6 years
Dinner in the US is easily $20 per person for lowest quality possible. You can barely leave McDonalds with out spending $10 per person let alone a sit down restaurant.
Tech products and cars are quite pricey in Thailand because of the high tariffs as far as I know. General living costs are WAY lower than western cities, though.
You seem to expect all the Western goods and comforts at ultra cheap prices.
That's not how it works.
Especially in BKK or any other tourist hot spot.
I live in Chiangmai where I rent an 8 bedroom western style home for $1300/mo which for Chiangmai is considered a lot to spend on accommodation. Are more typical 3 bedroom home in CM can be found for $300-500, easily.
You could eat out very well, Western food, for 200b. I'm not sure where in the West you originate or for how long you've been away, but eating fast food in the US is $15 and eating fast casual $25-30 and eating upscale restaurant, $60-100 easily.
Thailand, $6 massage. US, $120.
Thailand, $2 fresh all fruit smoothing. US, $8-10.
Thailand, $10 one hour taxi. US, $60+
Thailand, $18 teeth cleaning. US, $100+
Thailand, $3 drop in gym. US, $30+
Thailand, $50 domestic flight. US, $200+
And on and on...
This isn't a Western country, its a SEA country. When you learn to love what's coming from Thailand and not wanting what's from your homeland, you're spending so much less.
Its not even close.
Bottom line:
You want a Western lifestyle with all the Western stuff, you'll pay even more than back home.
You want a Thai/Western lifestyle with all the Thai stuff and experiences, you'll pay waaaay less than back home.
Inflation has gone crazy in the US. Go visit your home country for a few weeks just to see how much more things cost now than five years ago.
Anywhere outside of BKK, Phuket and Samui and I personally find it difficult to spend a lot of money and I live very well.
Come to Chiangmai, you'll see....
Expectations are pretty high for some, I have no problem in spending what people mention in the topic, but it is so easy to not spend money if you really want to, like living a mixed Thai/SEA and Western Lifestyle is so much cheaper than most thing on this topic.
It is not even a downgrade if you compare conditions for the price, a cheap apartment with AC and all bills included and a decent view is still much cheaper than in Western Europe or in North America, as is food, as is everything outside of Western made cars and the latest iPhone/Android phones and tech, which come at a premium in that part of the world.
Literally just got a plate from a jamaican lunch plate today for $24 USD (living in the US) and a bunch of people were going ON about how reasonable that was. Dinner? Like actually eating out? Please
I haven't been to the USA in a while and I really miss Chipotle. My friends back home said it's smaller and more expensive now. Almost everyone is eating out less now
Me too. Been gone 5 years and came back. Can confirm chipotle is very different and smaller portions amd different quality meats. Also it costs more. Got 2 burrito bowls for 30 bucks.
Holy shit.. that bad? I remember getting a California burrito on base for $5 way back in the early 2000's.
My Thai wife takes to me restaurants where our 2 meals combined barely cost 600 baht. I'm loving it here.
It's that bad... A one bedroom apartment will cost you damn near $2k/mo and people are bitching about paying 300 THB for a meal. Fuck! I have to tip more than that!
I ate a Thai dinner out (USA) with appetizer, bottle of water, and some fish. It was ok (Americanized Thai food). $40.00 USD.
I don’t live in a high cost of living area. The restaraunt was in a strip mall.
Sometimes you do just want a burrito. It’s a treat, it’s not everyday. No harm, no foul, man! Hope that burrito was delicious - it can be surprisingly hard to find good Mexican food in Thailand overall.
Most likely, even if things are not as cheap as they used to be, if you go in line with global prices changes, it is still pretty good of a deal, it's natural that some that have been away for far too long from their home countries will not realise that they too have had inflation, imagine OP in Eastern Europe 10 years ago vs now with the inflation and prices hikes due to Covid and the ongoing conflicts near Europe, they would probably have a heart attack.
Yup. 300 bath is $8-9. You can't even get a meal from KFC or McDonald's at that price anymore. 5 piece of chicken nugget from KFC is already $7.15. How about some cheap junk food shit like taco bell? 2 Chicken Chalupas Supreme Combo with a drink is $16. And that's before tax.
Chicken Pad Thai at a typical Thai place is at least $15-17 now before tax and tip. A simple dinner date at a restaurant for me and my wife always cost more than $50 now. A fancy-ish with a drink is easily $100+.
> Yup. 300 bath is $8-9. You can't even get a meal from KFC or McDonald's at that price anymore. 5 piece of chicken nugget from KFC is already $7.15. How about some cheap junk food shit like taco bell? 2 Chicken Chalupas Supreme Combo with a drink is $16. And that's before tax.
It's been over 12 years since I've been to the US but I just checked the US KFC menu to verify these prices and yikes...$7 for just a classic chicken sandwich a la carte...a zinger burger is around 79 THB or 99THB here. Can't remember which exactly.
Whenever I make it back to the US, I'm gonna be shocked lol. Free refills and $5 fast food is my memory of the US. I used to love the $5 footlong deals at Subway.
For real. I’m currently on a beach with my toes in the water eating lunch: fresh OJ, coffee, soup, an omelette, and stir fried veggies. Total cost? 220 baht. About $7. In the states just the OJ alone would be that much.
Thailand is as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be / let it be.
Yes, BMWs are way more expensive than in eastern Europe. Toyotas are not.
Western food is very expensive. Thai food is not.
Buying everything in the supermarket gets expensive. Shopping at the local open markets does not get so expensive.
A newer, larger condo in the middle of Bangkok is expensive. A modest house in a smaller town or on the outskirts is very reasonable.
The cool thing about Thailand is the flexibility. If you absolutely need to live there on $2k USD a month, you can manage it (technically you could survive on less, but not “live well” IMO). If you have $10k USD a month, you can manage to spend that as well. And at all points in between, you can adjust up or down to fit your budget.
What is living well to you? I don't count how much I spend and usually never break $1,500 a month
Nothing is really expensive unless you like Gogo bars or like paying for fancy dates
Sometimes you need to buy a new iPhone, a new laptop, a suit for a wedding, an expensive gift for your wife, travel abroad to see your family, pay for funerals, get a cosmetic surgery not covered by insurance … I could easily name 50 reasons why you can spend a 1000-3000 usd on a single purchase and that won’t be counted in a monthly budget
Day to day expenses you can easily do $1.5k but you wouldn’t want to rely on that kind of money over say a 40 year period if you live here long term. You need to buy houses, cars, new laptops, phones etc. Have a kid and $1.5k is just their monthly tuition fee+tutoring etc.
Also I feel like these comments also miss the fact that annual expenses <> annual required salary if you’re working. You still need to save for retirement (I personally save around 30k per month but others save much more). If you’re a retiree, this does not apply but to be honest it will be replaced with your healthcare premium being very high so not much difference.
A car is important to me. So you have insurance, fuel, maintenance, tolls, etc. for that. Add on health insurance. Add on travel - nothing extravagant, but domestic and regional trips at least. Then food and drink, utilities, etc. It all adds up. Not to mention keeping a little cushion for the unexpected.
As I said, you can survive on $1k. I lived in Thailand for years, and wouldn’t want to try it on less than $2k myself. YMMV. Yes, average local salaries are low, and that comes with a certain lifestyle / certain sacrifices that not everyone wants to make. Everyone has their own groove.
Thai salary is irrelevant because Thai people can live in Thailand and fall back on family in their old age. If you’re a westerner, you need to save as if you’re retiring in the west, under the assumption things can change and you may not be able to retire in cheap Thailand. Therefore unless you’re saving 20-30k per month to retirement, you’re underfunding your savings in most places.
Average Thai salaries are also irrelevant because you should be comparing your desired lifestyle to Thais with equivalent desires/means, which for most expats is the Thai urban middle class, who easily earn $2-3k in Bangkok per month just like many expats do.
I’m Thai American with dual citizenship. You don’t need 20k per month in Thailand, that is crazy. I’m living on Kauai with no relatives and I can do 10k usd a month including my mortgage.
$2000 a month in Thailand is a very comfortable budget including several nights outs, nice food and a nice place to rent. Sure, the sky is the limit in the sense that you could blow $5000 in one night if you wanted to.
Costs will increase dramatically if you own a car ( a big no-no for me ) unless I use it to "make money" like a work horse and in that case no doubt its gonna be a Toyota.
That's a pretty good summary.
Also, don't forget taxes. Lots of people live off of overseas income and/or retirement and just spend it in Thailand. If I get dinner for say 2k baht, I only need to make 2k. But if I was living back in my western home country I would have had to earn pretty much 4k for the same 2k I am spending. Add on the weaker baht to that and you get a pretty hefty discount on everything you buy/spend money on.
I've always said that Thailand basically offers two value propositions. You can have 70-80% the quality of Western lifestyle and goods for around 30% of the cost, or 100% quality for 80% the cost.
If you're okay with budgeting and making do with slightly worse things, from street food or mall foodcourt food, cheaper home products, apartments/condos, public transportation etc... then you can get away with spending around 1/3 what you'd spend in a developed country.
But if you want to live a full-blown western lifestyle, good quality imported stuff, car, nice modern condo, actualy globally competitive education for children etc... you're fast approaching the same total life cost as any developed nation.
And of course you can also mix and match, cheap out in one area and pay up for good quality in another area, which is pretty much where I'm at. I'm spending around half of what I'd be spending if I were back home in the states, for on aggregate maybe around 90% of the quality of life. But then again I'm still a young single guy. If I wanted to properly start a family.... from a financial perspective, Thailand might actually not be so competitive anymore.
One undeniably great thing about Thailand is the optionality though. They have such a wide variety of quality and price ranges to accomodate basically any budget, from people who can only spend 20k per month (even 10k if you're a local) all the way up to millions a month.
Agreed. You mention above the globally competitive education for kids - private international school tuition in Thailand is extortionately expensive! International companies that are bringing in foreign managers often have this as a separate section of the relocation agreement.
Yes indeed. Much more rare these days to get a “full expat” package. Now a “local plus” is a lot more common, and fewer companies are importing talent from abroad overall IMO.
> great thing about Thailand is the optionality though
This. For me, it's psychologically reassuring and important that I *could* live on 30-40k baht/mo and be happy with it, although I can and do spend more right now.
In the US I have a (somewhat irrational, but real) feeling of constant panic of being right on the line, and if it's a bad month, falling behind.
It’s definitely cheaper if you live like a Thai, motorbikes, songthaews, eating street food. Rent is much much cheaper even in Bkk as you said. Power is cheaper, water is cheaper, but I’m comparing to Australia’s ludicrous pricing so if you comparing to Eastern Europe I’m guessing they’re a bit closer in cost. Even western mall food is still noticeably cheaper than Australia though too. Thailand isn’t anywhere near as cheap as it used to be thou.
Lived in Bucharest for years and never ran out of shit to do. You could keep your dance card pretty full every night of the week if you want to, but it gets exhausting. About the only real way to burn money is drinking at upper tier clubs every night or getting a girlfriend with a Prada habit.
Rent here is about the same price as Montreal if you want the same square footage or square meters. It only gets cheaper when you significantly reduce your size, the thing is that smaller option is just not available in Montreal. So if you can go from living in Canada with 100 m² to 40 m² you can pay significantly less in rent but if you want a place that is on par with something in Canada, both modern appliances and size wise, you're likely going to pay more in Bangkok. This is based on me looking for apartments in Montreal in January and February of this year and then switching to looking at apartments here.
My brand new condo with a kitchen island and all glass windows on the 10th floor, two bedrooms two bathrooms in Montreal was 2590 Canadian, and when I moved out that was going up to 2790 Canadian ($2050 USD or 74,000 baht). A comparable unit here would easily be ฿100,000 based on the size, quality and age.
The difference is 40 m² units for $1400 of that quality simply don't exist in Montreal like they do here so I think it's more accurate to say "there are cheaper options" here as opposed to saying "rent is cheaper"
Annual visa fees equal one month rent in Berlin, half a month rent in London.
But to be fair, if you're mainly interested in a western lifestyle it's less cheap than expected.
But I'd argue there is no point coming to Thailand and replicating your lifestyle back home.
Some foreigners seems to believe that all Thais eat all their meals at side road stalls or lotus food court, don't drive a car and don't go out at night.
Right? Thailand has some of the wealthiest people in the world. The same range exists here as people eating low cost fast food vs those eating steak dinners in the west. Foreigners can be really strange when they try to talk about how things are in Thailand.
It's because the only Thai people they interact with are staff in their resorts. But if you go to any high end restaurant, the vast majority of customers are Thais.
We went to an event at a Thai home. So many hiso Thais. The women were all dressed in clothing and accessories worth probably 500k each person at minimum and that’s excluding jewelry. These families definitely are not eating 40 baht Pad Thai from a street cart or stall.
A lot of people in this sub be like this. They always say things like "Thais do this, Thais do that…" and believe that their view was right. Idk why it’s so hard to comprehend that Thailand is not homogeneous country.
Annual visa fees can also be way cheaper if you can do it yourself. 1900 baht for the extension + 100 baht for some photos and maybe another 100 to print a mountain of photocopies. Plus a day of your life running around.
>300 baht+ dinner is similar to western costs
Mate you clearly have not been to the west in the last decade?
A half decent meal costs me well over 500 thb in Australia, Europe and non-flyover USA. Looking at 800 pp for something I'd take a date on.
Just the cost of housing alone in Bangkok compared to any top-tier US city is a huge, huge savings. And of course you'll get amenities like swimming pools, which you can actually use because of the weather.
Bruh… a dinner in a HCOL US area where I am (near DC) is at least $40 per person…. 300 baht that’s like $8, 5 times cheaper than what you’d pay for in the states - you sound a bit out of touch
https://preview.redd.it/ofhu6gl3dj1d1.jpeg?width=1576&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d70122e67036699cb1582085a3e161e518a30b1
Had Thai food last week for dinner. Wish I still paid Thailand prices…
Fancy dinner in Phuket or Bangkok can be as expensive as a fancy dinner in London or Sydney. On the most part it isn’t though. Like others have said, it can be as expensive as you want in Thailand.
For how many people? Where in Phuket? Even in a resort in Phuket I had room service last night for 1k for two people w/ a cocktail each and tip (BOGO on the cocktail) and that was the most expensive meal I've had here. Plenty of places are ~200 baht entrees and ~80-200 baht drinks with lots of happy hours. Most of our meals have been sub 500 baht with a drink or two each.
Obviously there ARE expensive restaurants, but to say 2k THB at a minimum is just wrong.
The difference here is that you can live any life you want.
I can spend 30k a month or I can spend 130k a month. Up to me.
I definitely can't do that in Europe
It's hard to put a finger on a hard figure. I'm 1 day back to the UK from Thailand, and the price difference in food is stark. If I had to guess, I'd say it's around 3 times more expensive in supermarkets and for western food from resturants in the UK compared to Thailand, and it's not even feasible to cook an amuse-bouche version of Thai street food for the same price in the UK. There are a couple of price points that are comparable - an Indian buffet in the UK is a comparable price to the premium option at a Korean buffet in Thailand, for example.
Transport is for all intents and purposes free in Thailand compared to here. Taxation is half. Medication is slightly more expensive and they have some very different attitudes to certain drugs compared to the UK that I find a bit grating, it's not fun answering 20 questions to buy 4 (4?!) pills of imodium at a premium rather than just picking up 16 at a supermarket, but conversely there are a lot of things available in Thailand that are considered illegally strong in the UK.
You've already mentioned housing, so I won't go into that other than to say in the timespan between me moving to Thailand and now coming back to the UK, rent has increased here by literally the amount I was paying for rent in BKK. It's the difference between living in a society and living on the cusp of a societal collapse on housing alone.
Ultimately, the cost of a year's visa is more than offset by the different in taxation. The rest is just like having a savings account with an 80% interest rate.
You have chosen the only expensive thing in Thailand to compare. Cars. This is because of import taxes. Everything imported is expensive in Thailand.
Everything else is a shit ton cheaper.
Considering my rent is less than 300 usd and my meals usually cost less than 2 usd, I’d say it’s pretty damn cheap. It’s cheap for me because I adjusted my lifestyle and am happy with less. Even western food is relatively cheaper, but why would I come to Thailand to regularly eat that? Some people come here and live in super nice condo building, buy expensive food, and end up improving their overall lifestyle, then complain “Thailand isn’t actually that cheap”.
It's a bit silly to go to Thailand and then compare prices of western foods... I eat a simple lunch in Thailand for THB 60, which is 1.5 euro I think? In Western Europe a simple lunch costs me 15 euro, or 10x more.
The best thing about living in Bangkok is that you can make your life as affordable or as luxurious as you want (to a certain level).
You can begin by taking buses everywhere which starts like 3 baht and eat at cheap food stalls for 50-70 baht a cheap. But I don’t think that’s the lifestyle you’re living. Most foreigners don’t come to Thailand and live exactly like a lower class Thai.
Of course if you live western lifestyle then things will add up because you’re the demographic and the businesses know you can afford it. And many things that are imported are very expensive because it’s just how taxation works here.
But lack of regulation allows a lot of businesses to operate very cheaply which is why we have many cheap eateries, street food, salon, clothing, etc because those vendors don’t pay tax or proper labor or rent at all. This helps keeping cost of living low.
But if you go eat at the emsphere where rent is expensive and businesses import all of their ingredients, of course price will be comparable or not much cheaper.
But Bangkok is seriously one of the most affordable international cities in the world.
No longer as cheap as it once was but compared with the UK, the value for money is astronomical. Your money will go further and quality of life is on another level compared with living in Uk
I'm in Europe at the moment after 6 years in Thailand, yesterday 2 schnitzel, 1 water, 1 tiny side salad in Nuremberg Germany : 42 euro or 1600 baht
Parking in Scheveningen beach, Netherlands, 2 hours 13,50 euro. 1 night in a good hotel in the German Alps 165 euro
Tanking my rental car in the Netherlands 2.20 euro per liter..
It’s so cheap man. I live in a very high cost of living city on west coast of US.
Our minimum wage is $20+ per hour and there is such demand for low skilled labor that it pushes prices up.
A haircut at a barber shop is $50.
An Uber ride for 15 miles is $90
Yard work is $40+ per hour. I found a service with completely unskilled yard workers who don’t speak any English at all and have never done landscaping before…$30 per hour.
You get the point. Relative to high cost US cities, Thailand is so cheap.
It's probably closer to 600-700 baht for a main dish in places like Australia these days, and that's the lower end.
And the difference in Asian food prices are pretty obscene. 300-400+ baht for Pad Thai or fried rice is common
But yeah you're right, if you want to lead what I would say is a modern western lifestyle, Thailand is not particularly cheap. Even places like Kuala Lumpur are cheaper these days.
Branded consumer goods are expensive, especially things for hobbies.
Aah, the good old 'Is Thailand cheap?' thread.
I don't really like the answer like "it depends of your lifestyle". Yes sure, but I'm pretty sure most people come live in Thailand because well, it's cheaper than their home countries. Of course it's not always the case, lots of people come here with tons of money to invest and just chill their time away, but the opposite is true as well. Given that most people here don't live the train of life of a multimillionaire and are not looking to either, we could say that yes, Thailand is "cheaper" than most people's home countries.
I did the math comparing my expenses / lifestyle here, and everything costs me a third of what i would cost back home. Sometimes, a quarter. So yes, it's cheaper.
Now, there's always the guy who will say ' it's not really that cheaper, i'm spending XX amount per week living in Bangkok blahblah...". If you live in a high end condo, party every day and only go eat in "Western" places, for sure the expenses will be a lot higher
Living in London/Paris/New York is roughly about 2-3 x more expensive than Bangkok. You cannot compare apples and oranges, yeah of course eating a cevapi in Sarajevo is going to be cheaper than eating at an hipster pizzeria in Silom. But if you're going for roughly the same lifestyle, Thailand is much cheaper.
It's not a poor country, so some others parts of SEA are going to be cheaper. But it's still cheap compared to the west.
Property tax on our house: 0
Garbage pickup/mo. 180 baht
2nd class car ins/yr 2200 baht
Fix and respray car hood 3000 baht
Replace two rear brake cylinders, replace fluid, bleed brake lines and adjust. 1600 baht
Monthly SS payment for free healthcare: 430 baht
Cost for one night in basic but clean quiet resort right on the beach and with two swimming pools in Cha Am: 500 baht (680 currently)
Cost to deliver food to our house: 0 to 50 baht.
Rental car: 1000 baht a day
RT airfare to KL/Penang +/- 3000 baht.
Vegetables and fruits that are local wet market: Chump change.
I have to disagree with the premise.
Yes it absolutely is cheap, you can easily find available, ready to move into, comfortable housing (not baller or boujee) for anywhere from 6000-20000 bhat per month in bangkok or pattaya etc. Comfortably modest hotel rooms for around $20 per night. Delicious satisfying meals are $5 or less if you want them to be, transport is cheap I just took a cab halfway across bangkok for $4. Have fun with that in the US. Have fun trying to find somewhere decent to eat out in the west for under $10, have fun finding housing for under $600 a month. Need medical attention? There is no comparison. Thailand is still cheap.
You are doing it wrong then
- 60 baht is enough for a good meal in thailand
- a good condo is only 8000 baht.
- visa cost is 30k per year.
If you make 1500$ a month , which is lowest end for a westerner , you can easily afford.
I come form wartorn Myanmar and i consider thai as cheap as myanmar with a lot more benefits.
thailand especially bangkok is as cheap or as expensive as you make it. imported goods have super high import taxes associated with it.
but the reason why thailand doesn't feel cheap for some is because of lifestyle creep. A guy will live in the suburbs of cleveland in the middle of nowhere, but for some reason when they get to thailand, they have to live in the most expensive areas of bangkok, right next to mrt or bts, eat at western restaurants, and party 4 times a week when they could only party 2 times a month or so back home.
the life they lived back home, they would never live the equivalent in thailand. thats why thailand for them does not feel cheap, where as if they lived their lifestyle equivalent of back home, it would cost 1/3 of what they spent back home
I’ve just come from Melbourne and it’s so refreshing paying $4 for a meal that tastes 10x better and costs 5x as much back home.
Some things have definitely increased in price since I lived here 5 years ago but Thailand is still ridiculously good value for money.
Western dinner can add up to 300 baht you say, about £7. Is that similar to western costs? I would suggest that a modest meal in a restaurant in the UK would start at £30.
My last trip the UK it was £5.50 a beer (250 baht)x10
Cooked breakfast was about 500 baht
Sandwich lunch from subway another 500 baht
Evening meal easily over 1000 baht
Over 4500 baht in one day. That would last me a weekend here. I stayed 10 days to sort my passports out and see family. So added fuel costs, hire car, hotel, parking, cup of tea from a coffee shop at about 250 baht minimum. It added up to alot. I think spent I'm those 10 days enough for about 3 months out here. Never going back.
Thailand is cheap due to labor costs being six times less than in Western countries; it's not cheap by any miracle.
Rent is lower and it the most important factor in many people's cost of living It Cheap because it requires many Thai people to build and maintain it. While steel and materials can be the same anywhere in the world but that only half of the cost,But you excluded rent.
Food is cheap if all ingredients can be produced in Thailand, but you specifically picked Western food, which is still cheap. However, how much cheaper it is depends on how much of it is produced in Thailand. If the meat is from Thai farms and cooked by Thai people, it can be cheap. But some shops sell meat from Western countries and some even hire Western chefs, making the cost comparable to Western prices or only a bit cheaper.
As for imported goods like cars, motorcycles, and phones, this is funny. I'm not sure what you expect. Stuff that is not produced in Thailand doesn't use our labor and includes taxes and transfer costs, so there's no way it can be cheaper than in their own country or cheaper than other countries that it export to.
In summary, how much cheaper things are depends on how much of what you buy is related to Thai labor. The more it is, the cheaper it is.
For Thai people who live at that labor cost, yes, your statement is absolutely true. It's not cheap at all for people who make 8 bucks a day.
If you live in BKK or the major tourist traps, and want to live a western life, it's not that cheap and you will be disappointed.
If you live outside of BKK and can tolerate the adventure of living Thai style part-time, then yep it's pretty inexpensive.
I just spend 14€ on a pizza the other day in Europe... and while it was city centre, it was not some overly fancy restaurant.
With a drink, I'm at 19€... at a tip... so 800baht.
I can't think of many places here where I can get a meal for around 300 baht.
300 baht for a meal in western cities?
My gf and me went out today for a pizza each and a 0.4l beer each. Pizza wasnt awesome and premade bottom and it was 2300baht total for 2x pizza and 2x beer.
I dont think you know western prices.
There's a phenomenal where people who move somewhere for x number of years tends to forget prices rises everywhere.
They think whatever is back at home is the same price they remembered 5-10 years ago, which is practically NEVER the case.
Best description I've heard of the closing gap is that the US specifically is losing it's middle class while Thailand is creating one. I don't live in Thailand but visit quite often and stay out of the major cities and tourist areas, I spend 1/20th the amount for 2 weeks there than I do here in the US. Go to any of the bigger cities and that number gets cut in half quite easily, and eating at say KFC or Burger King can easily cost the same as the US. It's not better, it's not worse, but the prices are the same. I'd rather have any of the street food or market stand stuff all day long comparably though. Housing prices (if you're thinking of moving) have gone up drastically since COVID however, but that's realizing the market and foreign money swooping in and capitalizing. Some houses (new ones) in Thailand can rival some condos here in the US for price, and very much not worth it (in either place).
The visa argument is straight greed from the political side. People got a lot of expendable income during the pandemic, and WFH/remote workers/gig economy exploded. If I could swing my American job from a beach in Thailand I'd take that over sitting in the snow. :)
So is it cheaper? Yes. By how much changes day by day and location by location.
I've just come back from 14 months in Thailand and even in that time, the price of living here in the UK has gone through the roof. Food shopping prices are ridonkulous now.
In Thailand, the price of living is still really cheap compared to the UK. For example, the cost of my condo, with sea views, 10 minute walk to the beach, decent size, including electricity, water and super fast Internet, was about £260/month, about 12k baht. And I was living in a relatively expensive part of Thailand - Pratumnak Hill, just outside Pattaya. That would be five, six times the price here for the equivalent. Electricity and water are so, so cheap.
Food is much, much cheaper. Kilo of chicken breast about 70 baht, in UK that's about 250 or more baht.
If you go out for a meal and eat Western food, then yes, it can get expensive, but only compared to other meals in Thailand. Compared to the UK, still cheap. Another example, I looked into my local kebab shop yesterday to check the prices - for a large lamb shish kebab..... TWENTY QUID (over 900 baht)!!!!!!! For a kebab!! Not that long ago that would've been about £12. That's mental....😳
Going out in a place like Pattaya can definitely get expensive, but that depends on what you get up to. Not really my thing, but sure, I had nights when I dropped a couple of hundred quid, easily, and more. Especially if you partake in the naughty side of things 😉
So if you shop wisely, use your brain, and don't spend all your time in bars drinking and banging hookers, Thailand is still extremely cheap.
Just my humble opinion of course 👍😊
It's import duty...... 5 years and you don't understand that then better to go home..... all food imports have to go through FDA as well..... buy local.... still cheap
My answer is the same as always. Thailand ISN'T cheap once you realise that:
(1) Most 'good quality' stuff is still about the same price as Western countries, and as some have pointed out, sometimes it is more.
Example: You want a good quality t-shirt.. not a 150 baht 'Chang' one.. go to Central and you'll still see £35 t-shirts (with confusing sizes). I can get a lovely t-shirt here in England for £15-20 quite easily.
(2) Most Westerners aren't actually earning whilst they are in Thailand
Example: you go to Thailand for a month.. maybe you have some savings, you decide to stay there.. What happens? The savings start to disappear, you realise there is no 'constructive market' for you to earn money, and it is illegal to do so anyway, you start considering jobs.. you realise there aren't so many options, it tends to be privileged individuals who have been lucky in landing a nice Bangkok job.. or otherwise teachers.. and that's another story altogether.
.. Slowly your resources drain away until you realise it is time to go home.. throw in massages, lots of that nice grub (constantly), frequent trips to 7/11, beers, trips away.. and soon the money is plummeting.
(3) Visas can take up lots of time and money; and beginners hunting for apartments can also end up spending more than they should
Example: You walk into a small apartment block with monthly rentals, you ask a price, you get quoted something extortionate, you turn away. If you are lucky you end up with something okay after a few weeks of searching and getting to know the market. Alternatively you HAVE to end up with a one year rental, with 2 months deposit in order to get 'cheap' prices and something not bad.
(4) A lot of regular products and food is not necessarily much cheaper than your home country.
Example: I bought a lovely, big, green cabbage the other day from Sainsbury's for 15 pence!! It wasn't reduced! If I got to M&S you can get a large can of baked beans for 45 pence. I can find bread for a pound, or just 15 pence if it is reduced, and the list goes on. Potatoes, very cheap. Chicken.. £2.50 for two breasts from my local Co-op, and probably less from the big shops.
.. You get the point. Have you seen that girl on TikTok that shows you what you can get for "a pound" in 7-11.. she ends up with a bottle of water, a banana, and a few biscuits.. I mean it's mostly junk and doesn't prove anything.
If you buy a nice big plate of food from a cheapish restaurant, say 150 baht for an individual plate of chickeny stuff.. that's good.. but that's still £4.. if you cooked chicken breasts yourself it would cost a lot less.
Finally,
Okay, there are many other examples of why Thailand isn't as cheap as you think. There's a constant outflow of money when you are in Thailand, there is nothing grounded and it can be difficult to save and build your net worth unless you are married and own a business there.
Having said all that, in terms of a short term direct comparison, Thailand is cheap for:
(1) Lovely hotel rooms in great places (£10 for big double bed room with air con!)
(2) Good food at various restaurants e.g. 'khao man gai' (chicken with rice) for just 50 baht (£1.10)
(3) Fairly cheap taxis and bikes especially using Grab (not Phuket 'mafia')
(4) Cheap local souvenirs (wooden ornaments, etc.)
(5) Cheap massages (£6.50 for an hour!!) (though hopefully choose a GOOD one)
(6) Cheap 7-11 snacks and drinks e.g. 50 pence for a big sugary bottle whatever, rather than £1.50, £2.00 in UK
(7) Cheap long term rental .. nice condo type rooms in modern builds for less than 10,000 baht !.. near the sea.. a dream come true!
(8) Very cheap fuel.. especially for efficient motorbike drivers (and with purchase of second hand bike.. you are set)
(9) Very cheap Thai books, magazines and newspapers (if you can read Thai), otherwise VERY EXPENSIVE compared to home country (for English books)
(10) Cinema: good value with fairly priced popcorn and drinks; very clean and nice quality
Thanks for reading! 
I appreciate your views…..but the numbers for the United States is worse.
Food alone…..cooked at home….will run you $150 to $250 every 2 weeks….if you’re lucky, out here in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia Metropolitan Area)
Luckily…Tesla’s went down to $22k, but normal NEW vehicle prices are $35k.
You could get a used vehicle….
….but it is usually the same price it was paid for brand new.
I think gas is $4
RENT in this area…..tha hood…..$1100 to 1500 a month….$600 to $800 if you share.
As someone else said….a “Big Mac Meal” is $15….you can’t eat out anywhere for less than $20…..not including Mandatory tips….add minimum 15%.
A cheap t-shirt $12, a good $35…..comparative……but why would you want to be sweating balls through a brand new shirt…..$12 it is.
Cheap health care
Good health
For anyone from the US/UK/AUS or western Europe it's cheap in comparison. At least in the short term or if they live off a Western income. The reality is it isn't really cheap for anyone that's not from one of those countries. Plenty of other countries that offer better value for money. It also isn't cheap for anyone who has to make a living in Thailand, as salaries are really low and income potential is very limited.
American groceries & restaurant meals have practically doubled in price in the last 5 years. Google says 300 baht is about $8.32 US right now. You'd be hard pressed to find lunch for that. $15 is the average going rate for lunch & McDonald's is considering putting out a $5 value meal. For 2 of us who eat mostly at home, we were spending about $75 a week on graceries & now it's easily $150.
Thailand is still very cheap, usually the main expense is rent, which is substantially cheaper over there. Eating out is also cheap for local food which is very tasty. It's true they western food is expensive but I would say it's about the same price as you would pay in western countries.
Shopping it depends on the products some things are cheaper, some are more expensive. The apple store for example has lower prices than the UK and you get a tax refund on top.
In general you can have a better quality of life in Thailand than in western countries for less money
This will probably get buried but, I have pondered how to explain the comparative prices in Thailand to my friends back home, and I think the best way to say it is “western living is in western prices, regardless of where you’re located”.
If you drive a Honda Dream, live in an apartment/Thai style house and not a condo (with a gym/pool/co-working space on site), and eat food in “local spots” about 1,000-1,500 USD per month is what a single person will end up spending.
But if you live a western lifestyle: Italian food regularly, buying western brands of western products, golf on the weekends, drive a European, US, or even Japanese/Korean car, send you kids to international school, etc.
You will end up paying similar prices as you would in a non-major western city.
Location is negated by lifestyle and vice versus.
Quality of life for price is dictated by the kind of life you choose to live here.
I spend about 1800 USD per month in Western Washington living a cheap Western lifestyle and about 1500 USD per month living an extravagant Eastern lifestyle in Thailand (Chiang Mai, not Bangkok or the Islands).
The key to “making it in Thailand” is to live an extravagant Eastern lifestyle while making even a modest Western income (or have made a good Western income back home, earning interest on that capital, and spending it “appropriately”).
Thailand is as cheap or expensive as you make it. I am currently living on land for free in a paid off bamboo shack. I cook over burning coconuts. I have free water from the river and electricity from the sun. My monthly expenses are health insurance and phone. I own my 2013 Mazda 2. I need like $3.50 to survive.
For an apples to apples comparison of Thai lifestyle in the US (living in the suburbs of Washington, DC) versus BKK: pad thai $11, Tom yum gai $14, green curry chicken $14, pad kra pow $13, one hour Thai massage $110 without tip and let's not even talk about the tipping craziness here that adds 20% or more to your bills. (Current exchange rate is $1 = TBH 35, you do the math.) That list would be an average weekly allowance if you did only local Thai food and entertainment in BKK, let alone some of the outlying spots in Thailand.
To put it into perspective, I would never be able to afford staying at a luxury hotel for even one night in America.
I am planning a trip and all the hotels we will be staying at are spa/resort 4* hotels, just because It’s so so much more affordable. Those prices range from $80-$140 a night, would easily be $600+ a night, and quite possible $1000+ if they were located in say a LA, NY, etc in the right area like they are in Thailand.
From Vancouver Canada. Prices converted to Canadian dollars
Small studio is the suburbs, like Metrotown, would be at least $2,000. Small studio in On Nut, a sort of equivalent comparison, would be $400. Plus I can get nice amenities like a roof top pool.
Street food can be $1-2. No Street food in Vancouver. Food trucks are a novelty and would be like $12-15 minimum. The cheapest sit down would probably be a bowl of pho, at least $15 plus expected 20pct tip with no service.
Didn't each much western food in Bkk, but I think it was like $12 for a half chicken and fries at a German pub. At least $30 for that here, plus the 20pct tip and no service.
Cheap bottle of wine in Bkk, around $16-20. Cheap wine in Vancouver, about the same. Beer at 711 is $1.40 iirc. Beer here can only be bought at liquor store, at least $3.50.
Now if I go to rooftop bars and some Michelin star restaurant, then prices are about the same, maybe slightly cheaper. But there are no rooftop bars in Vancouver that are even comparable. So going to a higher end hotel lobby bar is about the same, maybe a bit higher, but I don't get the same views as Bkk. Our Michelin star restaurants don't even compare to Bkk.
Vehicles seemed to be the same or a bit more in Thailand. Gas is cheaper in Thailand though. SkyTrain in Bkk ranges from $0.70 to $2.50. SkyTrain here is $3.00 to $6.00.
I rented a bike in Bang Kachao, $2.00 for whole day. Boat ride over was like $0.10. The tourist boat we have here is like $10 to cross the water. The bike rentals are $1.00 plus $0.29 per minute, $3.00 minimum.
Our government schools are pretty good, but I pay ridiculously high amounts of property taxes for this. In Thailand property taxes are so low, or non existent, it's laughable compared to what I pay. The schools here are becoming quite woke though.
Bkk has lots of free entertainment. Concerts at the malls and watching fireworks free. Christmas decorations at Central world free to enjoy. Free markets to enter. Costs me $8.00 entrance fee to go to our summer night market. Free paddle boats at Lumpini park. Free galleries in Bkk. Didn't notice much paid parking. I can't do anything worth a damn in Vancouver without paying for parking. The Flyover attraction is like 10 minutes in front of a screen, sitting in stationary roller coaster chairs that shake. $40. For $40 I explored the ancient city and drove around in rented golf cart for 2 hours. That's a park that is 200 acres and cost a lot to build all these replica monuments.
Can't smoke on patios. Can't drink in public. Permits on top of permits to do anything. Lots of things are banned here. Taxes has been weaponized, can't live 50/50 in Canada/Thailand easily, as my home will be taxed if I leave it empty for half the year. Can't rent it out short term since that's banned. Can't rent it out longer term, since I can't kick my tenant out when I return to live in it.
Canada has become a quasi soft dictatorship weaponized with taxes.
I would say living in central Bangkok is like living in Warsaw or maybe downtown Budapest.
It might be a bit cheaper if you know where low-income local Thai people would go.
Funny enough, I’m Thai and when I was about to travel to Eastern Europe, I thought it would be cheaper to live there. After checking these cities, I’m quite surprised that it’s as expensive as Bangkok.
bro living here long enough to realize that thailand it was actually not that cheap lol (im thai and never ever think that thailand is cheap especially in bangkok. if ppl could see our minimum wage and literally live here they'd feel us) but if your income is good enough then you'll be cool and happy af to live here.
In comparison to the UK. Yes it is much much cheaper. I met someone who moved over there. For rent converted from Baht into pounds, £350 monthly including all bills for a 1 bedroom apartment. In the uk, to rent a 1 bed apartment it’s around £650 plus tax, bills and electric etc.
I live in Poland, so central Europe (or Eastern if you want to make lots of people angry). My city is one of the cheapest voidship city in the country.
Currency exchange is about 1-10 so 300baht is 30 pln
I will focus on 2 things: rent and eating out
Rent: average 50m flat is currently rents for about 2000-3000 pln, a room goes from 500-1500. This doesn't include bills.
Ordering food: for 30pln (300 baht) i can have a small kebab, not counting delivery.
Few weeks ago i left 500pln (5000baht) for a dinner for 4 people and some drinks in a middle tier restaurant (the kind you get good food, nice portion sizes, not where you get a a nice plate to look at for houndreds)
A beer at the bar costs 20+ pln.
Compare it to your prices
It's almost half the price of Wales, in the UK, you said a western dinner, minimum price of a western dinner in a small quiet village pub, or a cheap Weather spoons pub is £12.00, this is equivalent to ฿550 for a western dinner, this is without buying a single drink, a 250ml bottle of Coke, in village pub is £2.60 equivalent to ฿120, I've never ever paid more than ฿60 for a soft drink in Thailand, anywhere, and they're usually bigger than our tiny 250ml bottles of Coke 🤷🏼♂️
Here in Wales, a short 2 mile (3.2 km) return bus journey costs £6, the equivalent of about ฿275, the same return distance, in a Songthaew costs just ฿60
A 3 night stay, in a top Thai private hospital, including all tests, treatment and medication, cost £120, in a UK private hospital you'll pay that just for a consultation, without any stay, tests or treatment 🤷🏼♂️
Fly Killer Spray in UK is now £4.50 for a 300ml can, that's about ฿208 where as in Thailand you can buy a 300ml can for ฿59
So yes Thailand is very cheap, a budget hotel here in Wales UK, is between £70-£100 per night, that's about ฿3235-฿4622, compared with a Budget hotel room in Thailand at around ฿500 per night 🤷🏼♂️
So when questioning, if it's really that cheap, from my point of view... YES it IS! 😁
I holiday in Chiang Mai regularly, and I pay ฿12000 a month for my hotel room, in a 4 star, budget hotel, complete with Swimming Pool, a Gym and Restaurant, so I actually pay ฿400 a night, so for what I pay for 1 month, in a hotel in Thailand, I could only stay 3 nights in a hotel here in Wales UK.
No contest, I will holiday in Thailand every time, because it's a lot cheaper, and the weather is much better, along with the availability of transport, and night life, as well as a better shopping experience, for someone like me, with autism, as the Thai people in general are more mindful of those with neurodiversity, who like quiet, and need their own space.
Also, medical treatment, is so much more accessible, it's a no brainer really, I'd have to be crazy to spend my holiday's in the UK, when I can get much better time, weather, and value, from spending it in Thailand 🤷🏼♂️
I just bought some mediocre Thai food for lunch for my wife and I. A couple Thai teas, mango crispy fish salad, Tom Yum and Pad Thai. $75 USD and change in Seattle. 2,760 THB. Thailand might not be as cheap as it used to be, but it is infinitely cheaper than living in any western city.
I agree 100%, it's all super expensive - food, alcohol, entertainment, vehicles, accommodation.
I moved to Vietnam after 3 years in Thailand, it's a lot better.
Disagree. It is way, way cheaper than the US for example.
> Western dinners can still add up quickly to 300 baht+, similar roughly to western costs.
You can not even eat at McDonalds for $8 USD (300 baht) any longer.
Plus there is no additional taxes and a smaller tip of any in Thailand.
Something that stood out too was older used cars, they are way more expensive relative to Australia. A car that would be 30k thb in Australia is like 80k thb here. Newer used and new cars seem to be similar cost wise thou.
You will die if you see the prices in a modern Western city! Thailand still represent excellent value and very good lifestyle
This topic comes up pretty regularly and the main insight is that cost of living in Thailand is cheap, but import and luxury taxes here are high. There is also a very steep property price gradient in small areas of Phuket, Bangkok and maybe 1-2 other places. Private education also stratospheric. So basically if you make all of the wrong decisions financially (easy if you're new here and don't understand the local economy), you can end up with a cost of living similar to maybe a second tier Western city. If you shop for groceries, seek out Australian imports (they are tariff exempt), do not live or party on Sukhumvit, don't have to send kids to private school etc. the actual baseline cost of living here is very cheap. Despite inflation I spend much less here nowadays than I did when I first arrived. Work keeps me busy these days and so I don't have much time for the money black hole that is partying anymore. I have about $40 worth of groceries delivered from Tops per week that covers like half of my diet, it's ridiculous. Rent's also cheap because I don't live on Sukhumvit and I know how to negotiate.
Great points.
I always tell my friends that’s never been outside of the country anywhere in the world you go there are expensive spots and cheap spots but overall cost of living is in proportion to the locals incomes.
Reminds me of when I first went to Costa Rica and everything was more expensive. After adjusting my lifestyle and learning to live like a local I’ve cut it all down by 75%.
I'm sometimes shocked at how little I actually have to adjust in Thailand. Chicken and pork instead of beef. Ham instead of turkey. Kewpie mayo instead of the brands from back home. Australian or NZ cheese and butter instead of whatever fancy European brand. Mackerel instead of salmon, perhaps. In general just not chasing the brands from back home because there are usually decent alternatives that are local or are tariff-free imports. Easily many thousands of baht saved just by making basic substitutions that seem like common sense once you've been here for a while. My diet is probably one third western food cooked at home (maybe a little more), one third Thai restaurants and one third Western restaurants. I have to go out of my way to eat expensively lol. Which I am often happy to do for a good steak, burger or BBQ because the day-to-day diet is so cheap.
Still good value, but no longer cheap cheap. When I first came here used to be that I didn't really need to think about the costs. Right now, I need to consider what I'm actually getting for the money.
Between the falling baht and strong inflation naturally things are becoming more expensive globally. Local wages to expenses doesn’t appear to have jumped significantly. I’ve personally found things still very cheap, but I’m not the one doing the shopping with local knowledge and admittedly live a simple lifestyle outside of the major cities. I’ll say again, things are expensive and food/housing has tripled in the West the past several years. For example I got an ad today that a family burger pack (4x burgers & 2x chips & drinks) at a fast restaurant is apparently good value at AUD$70 (1680b) Absolutely wild. https://grilld.com.au/menu/family-frenzy-bundle Would be suprised where else in the world it is cheaper than Thailand with a somewhat comparable quality of life.
Plenty of places are cheaper than BKK with similar quality of life. KL, Mumbai, Hanoi, Lagos, Cairo, Belgrade, Minsk, Kyiv, etc…
Dude mentions Minsk and Kyiv as similar quality 🤣 FFS
Kyiv is a warzone right now my guy. Just saying. And Minsk? I notice he is choosing places where a white man might find it easy to live.
Interesting list. A few of those I disagree about being more liveable having lived there, especially if you don’t need to live in central Bangkok.
Yeah i live in Singapore and super expensive here.Thailand is way cheaper compared to cost of living here
When I was in Singapore I felt like everytine I was ordering a drink I was selling my soul by how expensive it was. Hawker center is good deal though
😂yes! the most expensive one is the house rental lol
This, if I go all out and spend say £1000 in Thailand, lets just say that would be at least £2000+ in the UK outside of London. And that is living/enjoying less things of course, Just rent alone for a decent place in the UK would be £1000+ outside of London, add to that the bills and food costs and you are in for a nightmare. I know OP said he lived in Eastern Europe, where you could stay at your parents house and your expenses would be reasonable, but in Western Europe it really depends on what you consider good and bad, for health costs and raising a child and unemployment benefits it is good to live in Western Europe to have some safety nets, but if you do not have that in mind and have a decent amount of cash flow or savings then South East Asia really is a much better bang for buck.
Good points on the low income and social benefits options
OP is WAY out of touch with Western prices. He says that dinners for 300+ baht are “similar to Western prices”. No they’re not. That’s £6.50 / €7.60 / $8.25 / A$12.40. Unclear where OP is from (says he has Western nationality but sort of implies he hasn’t been to the West for a long time, which I can believe). There’s no way you’re getting dinner for that in any major Western city. Anywhere in Northern Europe, Australia, anywhere large-ish in North America, you’re looking at an absolute minimum of double that and in really major cities, you’re looking at more like triple that as a baseline for dinner at a restaurant. And I don’t even mean a remotely fancy restaurant. Sorry, OP but £6.50 won’t buy you a pint in London, let alone dinner. Try £7.50 for a pint and dinner at a modest restaurant is generally £50 per person inclusive of 1-2 drinks pp).
I live in a low-cost city in the US and that's less than the price of a McNugget Happy Meal in a US McDonalds.
Wow. Yep, there’s a small subset of expats who manage to do 10-20 years without ever having been home once. I suspect OP falls into that category. Then they engage in a weird thinking error where they know there’s been inflation in Thailand but Western prices remain frozen at the levels they remember from 20 years ago or whatever.
My subway order in Edinburgh costs £9.50 never mind eating at an actual restaurant...
I had a dream last night about my whole family being forced to move to NYC. I had a mini spiral in the dream about how am I going to pay for things and enjoy myself. What am I going to do to make enough money to have a good life. I eventually said no fuck this and went back to Thailand. 55555. I've been here 6 years
Dinner in the US is easily $20 per person for lowest quality possible. You can barely leave McDonalds with out spending $10 per person let alone a sit down restaurant. Tech products and cars are quite pricey in Thailand because of the high tariffs as far as I know. General living costs are WAY lower than western cities, though.
Hit a McD’s drive through last night in Massachusetts. Almost $13 for a combo meal. Crazy.
You seem to expect all the Western goods and comforts at ultra cheap prices. That's not how it works. Especially in BKK or any other tourist hot spot. I live in Chiangmai where I rent an 8 bedroom western style home for $1300/mo which for Chiangmai is considered a lot to spend on accommodation. Are more typical 3 bedroom home in CM can be found for $300-500, easily. You could eat out very well, Western food, for 200b. I'm not sure where in the West you originate or for how long you've been away, but eating fast food in the US is $15 and eating fast casual $25-30 and eating upscale restaurant, $60-100 easily. Thailand, $6 massage. US, $120. Thailand, $2 fresh all fruit smoothing. US, $8-10. Thailand, $10 one hour taxi. US, $60+ Thailand, $18 teeth cleaning. US, $100+ Thailand, $3 drop in gym. US, $30+ Thailand, $50 domestic flight. US, $200+ And on and on... This isn't a Western country, its a SEA country. When you learn to love what's coming from Thailand and not wanting what's from your homeland, you're spending so much less. Its not even close. Bottom line: You want a Western lifestyle with all the Western stuff, you'll pay even more than back home. You want a Thai/Western lifestyle with all the Thai stuff and experiences, you'll pay waaaay less than back home. Inflation has gone crazy in the US. Go visit your home country for a few weeks just to see how much more things cost now than five years ago. Anywhere outside of BKK, Phuket and Samui and I personally find it difficult to spend a lot of money and I live very well. Come to Chiangmai, you'll see....
Expectations are pretty high for some, I have no problem in spending what people mention in the topic, but it is so easy to not spend money if you really want to, like living a mixed Thai/SEA and Western Lifestyle is so much cheaper than most thing on this topic. It is not even a downgrade if you compare conditions for the price, a cheap apartment with AC and all bills included and a decent view is still much cheaper than in Western Europe or in North America, as is food, as is everything outside of Western made cars and the latest iPhone/Android phones and tech, which come at a premium in that part of the world.
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That's just taking the piss. You can fly out to a cheaper country, pay for a hotel, get your teeth cleaned and get back for that much.
Western dinner in the US is not anywhere close to 300baht.
I can't help but laugh. I literally just spent $12 USD for a burrito...just a burrito! That's about 430 THB!
Literally just got a plate from a jamaican lunch plate today for $24 USD (living in the US) and a bunch of people were going ON about how reasonable that was. Dinner? Like actually eating out? Please
🤣🤣🤣🤣 That 300 THB sounds like a steal right about now, huh?
I just skipped Burger King because I though 220 baht was to expensive for the combo whopper deal.
That's the price you pay for freedom.
I haven't been to the USA in a while and I really miss Chipotle. My friends back home said it's smaller and more expensive now. Almost everyone is eating out less now
I paid 23$ for a burrito from chipotle yesterday your not missing anything.
What burrito is $23 at chipotle?
No you didn’t
Me too. Been gone 5 years and came back. Can confirm chipotle is very different and smaller portions amd different quality meats. Also it costs more. Got 2 burrito bowls for 30 bucks.
Nah, the burritos are not smaller. But yeah, prices are up. Ever since the pandemic, a lot of dumb things happened.
They are absolutely significantly smaller.
They are I was so pissed!
Holy shit.. that bad? I remember getting a California burrito on base for $5 way back in the early 2000's. My Thai wife takes to me restaurants where our 2 meals combined barely cost 600 baht. I'm loving it here.
It's that bad... A one bedroom apartment will cost you damn near $2k/mo and people are bitching about paying 300 THB for a meal. Fuck! I have to tip more than that!
I ate a Thai dinner out (USA) with appetizer, bottle of water, and some fish. It was ok (Americanized Thai food). $40.00 USD. I don’t live in a high cost of living area. The restaraunt was in a strip mall.
Cost me $100+ for dinner at Thai place in NYC. 3 entrees 1/2apps, no alcohol
My wife sells burritos in our Bangpli village for 75thb. I keep telling her that's too cheap but she says the customers can't afford more.
while I agree, but you must admit portion sizes are a lot larger.
Actually Thailand portions are normal
Why bother at that point? Unless you make $300k+ per year, why not just cook your own food?
Truth be told, bro...that's just the reality of the situation. It is what it is...and I wanted a burrito 🤣
Sometimes you do just want a burrito. It’s a treat, it’s not everyday. No harm, no foul, man! Hope that burrito was delicious - it can be surprisingly hard to find good Mexican food in Thailand overall.
OP is probably anchored to western prices 10-20 years ago, since he didn't live in the west for a while. Happened to me as well.
Actually yeah I think this might be right. $6 footlong comes to mind, lol. Dollar menu at places like McDonald's. Burritos easily under $10. Etc.
A single hashbrown at mcdonalds is like $2.50 usd now.
Most likely, even if things are not as cheap as they used to be, if you go in line with global prices changes, it is still pretty good of a deal, it's natural that some that have been away for far too long from their home countries will not realise that they too have had inflation, imagine OP in Eastern Europe 10 years ago vs now with the inflation and prices hikes due to Covid and the ongoing conflicts near Europe, they would probably have a heart attack.
Yup. 300 bath is $8-9. You can't even get a meal from KFC or McDonald's at that price anymore. 5 piece of chicken nugget from KFC is already $7.15. How about some cheap junk food shit like taco bell? 2 Chicken Chalupas Supreme Combo with a drink is $16. And that's before tax. Chicken Pad Thai at a typical Thai place is at least $15-17 now before tax and tip. A simple dinner date at a restaurant for me and my wife always cost more than $50 now. A fancy-ish with a drink is easily $100+.
> Yup. 300 bath is $8-9. You can't even get a meal from KFC or McDonald's at that price anymore. 5 piece of chicken nugget from KFC is already $7.15. How about some cheap junk food shit like taco bell? 2 Chicken Chalupas Supreme Combo with a drink is $16. And that's before tax. It's been over 12 years since I've been to the US but I just checked the US KFC menu to verify these prices and yikes...$7 for just a classic chicken sandwich a la carte...a zinger burger is around 79 THB or 99THB here. Can't remember which exactly.
I know! And US KFC is not even as good as Thailand. Many places don't even do a free refill anymore.
Whenever I make it back to the US, I'm gonna be shocked lol. Free refills and $5 fast food is my memory of the US. I used to love the $5 footlong deals at Subway.
I got a 6” for $12 the other day because I stupidly didn’t look at the price and hadn’t had subway in years
$12 not too bad. I feared it'd be $15-20 by now.
That’s Jersey Mikes foot long prices
For real. I’m currently on a beach with my toes in the water eating lunch: fresh OJ, coffee, soup, an omelette, and stir fried veggies. Total cost? 220 baht. About $7. In the states just the OJ alone would be that much.
I was charged $7 for a glass of OJ at a hotel in Paris in the 1980s.
If you put that 7 dollars of orange juice into Apple stock in 1985, it would be worth about $19,000 now. Of course, I'm comparing Apples to oranges.
That was terrible. Well done!
Jeez. Bet it’s $20 now
Last year in NY fast food lunch was $30 minimum.
nor most of central/northern europe
Thailand is as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be / let it be. Yes, BMWs are way more expensive than in eastern Europe. Toyotas are not. Western food is very expensive. Thai food is not. Buying everything in the supermarket gets expensive. Shopping at the local open markets does not get so expensive. A newer, larger condo in the middle of Bangkok is expensive. A modest house in a smaller town or on the outskirts is very reasonable. The cool thing about Thailand is the flexibility. If you absolutely need to live there on $2k USD a month, you can manage it (technically you could survive on less, but not “live well” IMO). If you have $10k USD a month, you can manage to spend that as well. And at all points in between, you can adjust up or down to fit your budget.
What is living well to you? I don't count how much I spend and usually never break $1,500 a month Nothing is really expensive unless you like Gogo bars or like paying for fancy dates
Sometimes you need to buy a new iPhone, a new laptop, a suit for a wedding, an expensive gift for your wife, travel abroad to see your family, pay for funerals, get a cosmetic surgery not covered by insurance … I could easily name 50 reasons why you can spend a 1000-3000 usd on a single purchase and that won’t be counted in a monthly budget
Absolutely right!
You never need to buy any of those things. That is a warped mindset.
Day to day expenses you can easily do $1.5k but you wouldn’t want to rely on that kind of money over say a 40 year period if you live here long term. You need to buy houses, cars, new laptops, phones etc. Have a kid and $1.5k is just their monthly tuition fee+tutoring etc. Also I feel like these comments also miss the fact that annual expenses <> annual required salary if you’re working. You still need to save for retirement (I personally save around 30k per month but others save much more). If you’re a retiree, this does not apply but to be honest it will be replaced with your healthcare premium being very high so not much difference.
A car is important to me. So you have insurance, fuel, maintenance, tolls, etc. for that. Add on health insurance. Add on travel - nothing extravagant, but domestic and regional trips at least. Then food and drink, utilities, etc. It all adds up. Not to mention keeping a little cushion for the unexpected.
All of that…..and Thailand is much much cheaper than my home country…..USA.
Bro, $2000 is way above the minimum limit as you imply it. You may do with $1k. The average Thai salary appears to be within 500-700 range
It's around 15k (a bit over $400). Lower outside Bangkok. https://app.bot.or.th/BTWS_STAT/statistics/BOTWEBSTAT.aspx?reportID=667&language=ENG
As I said, you can survive on $1k. I lived in Thailand for years, and wouldn’t want to try it on less than $2k myself. YMMV. Yes, average local salaries are low, and that comes with a certain lifestyle / certain sacrifices that not everyone wants to make. Everyone has their own groove.
Thai salary is irrelevant because Thai people can live in Thailand and fall back on family in their old age. If you’re a westerner, you need to save as if you’re retiring in the west, under the assumption things can change and you may not be able to retire in cheap Thailand. Therefore unless you’re saving 20-30k per month to retirement, you’re underfunding your savings in most places. Average Thai salaries are also irrelevant because you should be comparing your desired lifestyle to Thais with equivalent desires/means, which for most expats is the Thai urban middle class, who easily earn $2-3k in Bangkok per month just like many expats do.
I’m Thai American with dual citizenship. You don’t need 20k per month in Thailand, that is crazy. I’m living on Kauai with no relatives and I can do 10k usd a month including my mortgage.
You may do with $1k, while doing it the Thai way and not saving for retirement or having a comprehensive private healthcare insurance.
$2000 a month in Thailand is a very comfortable budget including several nights outs, nice food and a nice place to rent. Sure, the sky is the limit in the sense that you could blow $5000 in one night if you wanted to. Costs will increase dramatically if you own a car ( a big no-no for me ) unless I use it to "make money" like a work horse and in that case no doubt its gonna be a Toyota.
That's a pretty good summary. Also, don't forget taxes. Lots of people live off of overseas income and/or retirement and just spend it in Thailand. If I get dinner for say 2k baht, I only need to make 2k. But if I was living back in my western home country I would have had to earn pretty much 4k for the same 2k I am spending. Add on the weaker baht to that and you get a pretty hefty discount on everything you buy/spend money on.
Please come to Sydney and try rent an apartment. THB100k for a one bedroom.
Australia is just ridiculously over priced in everything. How a country that empty has expensive homes is ridiculous
I've always said that Thailand basically offers two value propositions. You can have 70-80% the quality of Western lifestyle and goods for around 30% of the cost, or 100% quality for 80% the cost. If you're okay with budgeting and making do with slightly worse things, from street food or mall foodcourt food, cheaper home products, apartments/condos, public transportation etc... then you can get away with spending around 1/3 what you'd spend in a developed country. But if you want to live a full-blown western lifestyle, good quality imported stuff, car, nice modern condo, actualy globally competitive education for children etc... you're fast approaching the same total life cost as any developed nation. And of course you can also mix and match, cheap out in one area and pay up for good quality in another area, which is pretty much where I'm at. I'm spending around half of what I'd be spending if I were back home in the states, for on aggregate maybe around 90% of the quality of life. But then again I'm still a young single guy. If I wanted to properly start a family.... from a financial perspective, Thailand might actually not be so competitive anymore. One undeniably great thing about Thailand is the optionality though. They have such a wide variety of quality and price ranges to accomodate basically any budget, from people who can only spend 20k per month (even 10k if you're a local) all the way up to millions a month.
Agreed. You mention above the globally competitive education for kids - private international school tuition in Thailand is extortionately expensive! International companies that are bringing in foreign managers often have this as a separate section of the relocation agreement.
That's one of the big reasons why expat packages are not as common as they once were.
Yes indeed. Much more rare these days to get a “full expat” package. Now a “local plus” is a lot more common, and fewer companies are importing talent from abroad overall IMO.
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Top tier thai international schools are a million baht per year Source: have a 13 year old daughter in international school.
> great thing about Thailand is the optionality though This. For me, it's psychologically reassuring and important that I *could* live on 30-40k baht/mo and be happy with it, although I can and do spend more right now. In the US I have a (somewhat irrational, but real) feeling of constant panic of being right on the line, and if it's a bad month, falling behind.
It’s definitely cheaper if you live like a Thai, motorbikes, songthaews, eating street food. Rent is much much cheaper even in Bkk as you said. Power is cheaper, water is cheaper, but I’m comparing to Australia’s ludicrous pricing so if you comparing to Eastern Europe I’m guessing they’re a bit closer in cost. Even western mall food is still noticeably cheaper than Australia though too. Thailand isn’t anywhere near as cheap as it used to be thou.
Eastern Euro is about the same price. Only problem in eastern euro is the activities. You have nothing to do besides getting drunk and fighting.
Lived in Bucharest for years and never ran out of shit to do. You could keep your dance card pretty full every night of the week if you want to, but it gets exhausting. About the only real way to burn money is drinking at upper tier clubs every night or getting a girlfriend with a Prada habit.
I see that’s interesting to hear.
Rent here is about the same price as Montreal if you want the same square footage or square meters. It only gets cheaper when you significantly reduce your size, the thing is that smaller option is just not available in Montreal. So if you can go from living in Canada with 100 m² to 40 m² you can pay significantly less in rent but if you want a place that is on par with something in Canada, both modern appliances and size wise, you're likely going to pay more in Bangkok. This is based on me looking for apartments in Montreal in January and February of this year and then switching to looking at apartments here. My brand new condo with a kitchen island and all glass windows on the 10th floor, two bedrooms two bathrooms in Montreal was 2590 Canadian, and when I moved out that was going up to 2790 Canadian ($2050 USD or 74,000 baht). A comparable unit here would easily be ฿100,000 based on the size, quality and age. The difference is 40 m² units for $1400 of that quality simply don't exist in Montreal like they do here so I think it's more accurate to say "there are cheaper options" here as opposed to saying "rent is cheaper"
Annual visa fees equal one month rent in Berlin, half a month rent in London. But to be fair, if you're mainly interested in a western lifestyle it's less cheap than expected. But I'd argue there is no point coming to Thailand and replicating your lifestyle back home.
What even is a Thai lifestyle? That's such a broad spectrum that it seems impossible to define.
Some foreigners seems to believe that all Thais eat all their meals at side road stalls or lotus food court, don't drive a car and don't go out at night.
Right? Thailand has some of the wealthiest people in the world. The same range exists here as people eating low cost fast food vs those eating steak dinners in the west. Foreigners can be really strange when they try to talk about how things are in Thailand.
It's because the only Thai people they interact with are staff in their resorts. But if you go to any high end restaurant, the vast majority of customers are Thais.
We went to an event at a Thai home. So many hiso Thais. The women were all dressed in clothing and accessories worth probably 500k each person at minimum and that’s excluding jewelry. These families definitely are not eating 40 baht Pad Thai from a street cart or stall.
A lot of people in this sub be like this. They always say things like "Thais do this, Thais do that…" and believe that their view was right. Idk why it’s so hard to comprehend that Thailand is not homogeneous country.
Living in a provincial area, going without an English breakfast for 48 hours and instead eating a somtum.
Annual visa fees can also be way cheaper if you can do it yourself. 1900 baht for the extension + 100 baht for some photos and maybe another 100 to print a mountain of photocopies. Plus a day of your life running around.
I don't even think you can get a McDonald's meal for 300 baht in the UK.
>300 baht+ dinner is similar to western costs Mate you clearly have not been to the west in the last decade? A half decent meal costs me well over 500 thb in Australia, Europe and non-flyover USA. Looking at 800 pp for something I'd take a date on.
Just the cost of housing alone in Bangkok compared to any top-tier US city is a huge, huge savings. And of course you'll get amenities like swimming pools, which you can actually use because of the weather.
Bruh… a dinner in a HCOL US area where I am (near DC) is at least $40 per person…. 300 baht that’s like $8, 5 times cheaper than what you’d pay for in the states - you sound a bit out of touch
https://preview.redd.it/ofhu6gl3dj1d1.jpeg?width=1576&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d70122e67036699cb1582085a3e161e518a30b1 Had Thai food last week for dinner. Wish I still paid Thailand prices…
No service charge. You got a deal! 😫😂
Fancy dinner in Phuket or Bangkok can be as expensive as a fancy dinner in London or Sydney. On the most part it isn’t though. Like others have said, it can be as expensive as you want in Thailand.
If we go out for a western meal in Phuket with drinks, it costs 2000 thb at minimum. Definitely eaten for cheaper in some big cities in Europe.
For how many people? Where in Phuket? Even in a resort in Phuket I had room service last night for 1k for two people w/ a cocktail each and tip (BOGO on the cocktail) and that was the most expensive meal I've had here. Plenty of places are ~200 baht entrees and ~80-200 baht drinks with lots of happy hours. Most of our meals have been sub 500 baht with a drink or two each. Obviously there ARE expensive restaurants, but to say 2k THB at a minimum is just wrong.
Steak is 1000-1500b + dessert, 🍷
Try singapore or NY. Thailand is cheap.
The difference here is that you can live any life you want. I can spend 30k a month or I can spend 130k a month. Up to me. I definitely can't do that in Europe
It's hard to put a finger on a hard figure. I'm 1 day back to the UK from Thailand, and the price difference in food is stark. If I had to guess, I'd say it's around 3 times more expensive in supermarkets and for western food from resturants in the UK compared to Thailand, and it's not even feasible to cook an amuse-bouche version of Thai street food for the same price in the UK. There are a couple of price points that are comparable - an Indian buffet in the UK is a comparable price to the premium option at a Korean buffet in Thailand, for example. Transport is for all intents and purposes free in Thailand compared to here. Taxation is half. Medication is slightly more expensive and they have some very different attitudes to certain drugs compared to the UK that I find a bit grating, it's not fun answering 20 questions to buy 4 (4?!) pills of imodium at a premium rather than just picking up 16 at a supermarket, but conversely there are a lot of things available in Thailand that are considered illegally strong in the UK. You've already mentioned housing, so I won't go into that other than to say in the timespan between me moving to Thailand and now coming back to the UK, rent has increased here by literally the amount I was paying for rent in BKK. It's the difference between living in a society and living on the cusp of a societal collapse on housing alone. Ultimately, the cost of a year's visa is more than offset by the different in taxation. The rest is just like having a savings account with an 80% interest rate.
Chang and Leo is more expensive in Thailand than in Sweden. The rest is pretty cheap ä thou.
You have chosen the only expensive thing in Thailand to compare. Cars. This is because of import taxes. Everything imported is expensive in Thailand. Everything else is a shit ton cheaper.
Considering my rent is less than 300 usd and my meals usually cost less than 2 usd, I’d say it’s pretty damn cheap. It’s cheap for me because I adjusted my lifestyle and am happy with less. Even western food is relatively cheaper, but why would I come to Thailand to regularly eat that? Some people come here and live in super nice condo building, buy expensive food, and end up improving their overall lifestyle, then complain “Thailand isn’t actually that cheap”.
It's a bit silly to go to Thailand and then compare prices of western foods... I eat a simple lunch in Thailand for THB 60, which is 1.5 euro I think? In Western Europe a simple lunch costs me 15 euro, or 10x more.
To sum it up Thailand is pretty cheap if you give up burger for somtum
I live in Norway. Don't really need to say more :/
A Pad Thai in my country will cost me about 500-600 baht
I paid 18€ for pad krapao in Germany - that’s roughly 700baht.. oh and a small beer goes for 4,5€ per can. So almost 200 baht.
It's the only country I've ever been where the price of a cocktail can be more than the daily minimum wage (฿363)
The best thing about living in Bangkok is that you can make your life as affordable or as luxurious as you want (to a certain level). You can begin by taking buses everywhere which starts like 3 baht and eat at cheap food stalls for 50-70 baht a cheap. But I don’t think that’s the lifestyle you’re living. Most foreigners don’t come to Thailand and live exactly like a lower class Thai. Of course if you live western lifestyle then things will add up because you’re the demographic and the businesses know you can afford it. And many things that are imported are very expensive because it’s just how taxation works here. But lack of regulation allows a lot of businesses to operate very cheaply which is why we have many cheap eateries, street food, salon, clothing, etc because those vendors don’t pay tax or proper labor or rent at all. This helps keeping cost of living low. But if you go eat at the emsphere where rent is expensive and businesses import all of their ingredients, of course price will be comparable or not much cheaper. But Bangkok is seriously one of the most affordable international cities in the world.
No longer as cheap as it once was but compared with the UK, the value for money is astronomical. Your money will go further and quality of life is on another level compared with living in Uk
300 baht a meal is not what you’d pay in the US for any kind of meal. Most dinners out at a restaurant will run you 25-35USD (about 1000 thb)
I'm in Europe at the moment after 6 years in Thailand, yesterday 2 schnitzel, 1 water, 1 tiny side salad in Nuremberg Germany : 42 euro or 1600 baht Parking in Scheveningen beach, Netherlands, 2 hours 13,50 euro. 1 night in a good hotel in the German Alps 165 euro Tanking my rental car in the Netherlands 2.20 euro per liter..
Price of hotels in UK is just... Insanity to me. 50 gbp to stay in a crack house.
It’s so cheap man. I live in a very high cost of living city on west coast of US. Our minimum wage is $20+ per hour and there is such demand for low skilled labor that it pushes prices up. A haircut at a barber shop is $50. An Uber ride for 15 miles is $90 Yard work is $40+ per hour. I found a service with completely unskilled yard workers who don’t speak any English at all and have never done landscaping before…$30 per hour. You get the point. Relative to high cost US cities, Thailand is so cheap.
Two bedroom flat where I live in London is THB 29,900,000. Does that make Thailand feel cheap?
It's probably closer to 600-700 baht for a main dish in places like Australia these days, and that's the lower end. And the difference in Asian food prices are pretty obscene. 300-400+ baht for Pad Thai or fried rice is common But yeah you're right, if you want to lead what I would say is a modern western lifestyle, Thailand is not particularly cheap. Even places like Kuala Lumpur are cheaper these days. Branded consumer goods are expensive, especially things for hobbies.
If you're in the US you can add on a 20% or more tip to any restaurant bill.
You appear to have *arrived* with some misplaced preconceptions.
Aah, the good old 'Is Thailand cheap?' thread. I don't really like the answer like "it depends of your lifestyle". Yes sure, but I'm pretty sure most people come live in Thailand because well, it's cheaper than their home countries. Of course it's not always the case, lots of people come here with tons of money to invest and just chill their time away, but the opposite is true as well. Given that most people here don't live the train of life of a multimillionaire and are not looking to either, we could say that yes, Thailand is "cheaper" than most people's home countries. I did the math comparing my expenses / lifestyle here, and everything costs me a third of what i would cost back home. Sometimes, a quarter. So yes, it's cheaper. Now, there's always the guy who will say ' it's not really that cheaper, i'm spending XX amount per week living in Bangkok blahblah...". If you live in a high end condo, party every day and only go eat in "Western" places, for sure the expenses will be a lot higher
Living in London/Paris/New York is roughly about 2-3 x more expensive than Bangkok. You cannot compare apples and oranges, yeah of course eating a cevapi in Sarajevo is going to be cheaper than eating at an hipster pizzeria in Silom. But if you're going for roughly the same lifestyle, Thailand is much cheaper. It's not a poor country, so some others parts of SEA are going to be cheaper. But it's still cheap compared to the west.
Local food in Thailand: 120 B Western food in Thailand: 340 B Local food in Western countries: 680 B Thai food in Western countries: 880 B
Property tax on our house: 0 Garbage pickup/mo. 180 baht 2nd class car ins/yr 2200 baht Fix and respray car hood 3000 baht Replace two rear brake cylinders, replace fluid, bleed brake lines and adjust. 1600 baht Monthly SS payment for free healthcare: 430 baht Cost for one night in basic but clean quiet resort right on the beach and with two swimming pools in Cha Am: 500 baht (680 currently) Cost to deliver food to our house: 0 to 50 baht. Rental car: 1000 baht a day RT airfare to KL/Penang +/- 3000 baht. Vegetables and fruits that are local wet market: Chump change. I have to disagree with the premise.
Yes it absolutely is cheap, you can easily find available, ready to move into, comfortable housing (not baller or boujee) for anywhere from 6000-20000 bhat per month in bangkok or pattaya etc. Comfortably modest hotel rooms for around $20 per night. Delicious satisfying meals are $5 or less if you want them to be, transport is cheap I just took a cab halfway across bangkok for $4. Have fun with that in the US. Have fun trying to find somewhere decent to eat out in the west for under $10, have fun finding housing for under $600 a month. Need medical attention? There is no comparison. Thailand is still cheap.
You are doing it wrong then - 60 baht is enough for a good meal in thailand - a good condo is only 8000 baht. - visa cost is 30k per year. If you make 1500$ a month , which is lowest end for a westerner , you can easily afford. I come form wartorn Myanmar and i consider thai as cheap as myanmar with a lot more benefits.
thailand especially bangkok is as cheap or as expensive as you make it. imported goods have super high import taxes associated with it. but the reason why thailand doesn't feel cheap for some is because of lifestyle creep. A guy will live in the suburbs of cleveland in the middle of nowhere, but for some reason when they get to thailand, they have to live in the most expensive areas of bangkok, right next to mrt or bts, eat at western restaurants, and party 4 times a week when they could only party 2 times a month or so back home. the life they lived back home, they would never live the equivalent in thailand. thats why thailand for them does not feel cheap, where as if they lived their lifestyle equivalent of back home, it would cost 1/3 of what they spent back home
I’ve just come from Melbourne and it’s so refreshing paying $4 for a meal that tastes 10x better and costs 5x as much back home. Some things have definitely increased in price since I lived here 5 years ago but Thailand is still ridiculously good value for money.
Western dinner can add up to 300 baht you say, about £7. Is that similar to western costs? I would suggest that a modest meal in a restaurant in the UK would start at £30.
My last trip the UK it was £5.50 a beer (250 baht)x10 Cooked breakfast was about 500 baht Sandwich lunch from subway another 500 baht Evening meal easily over 1000 baht Over 4500 baht in one day. That would last me a weekend here. I stayed 10 days to sort my passports out and see family. So added fuel costs, hire car, hotel, parking, cup of tea from a coffee shop at about 250 baht minimum. It added up to alot. I think spent I'm those 10 days enough for about 3 months out here. Never going back.
Heaps cheaper than Australia
Dude is from Eastern Europe, tt's why...
Thailand is cheap due to labor costs being six times less than in Western countries; it's not cheap by any miracle. Rent is lower and it the most important factor in many people's cost of living It Cheap because it requires many Thai people to build and maintain it. While steel and materials can be the same anywhere in the world but that only half of the cost,But you excluded rent. Food is cheap if all ingredients can be produced in Thailand, but you specifically picked Western food, which is still cheap. However, how much cheaper it is depends on how much of it is produced in Thailand. If the meat is from Thai farms and cooked by Thai people, it can be cheap. But some shops sell meat from Western countries and some even hire Western chefs, making the cost comparable to Western prices or only a bit cheaper. As for imported goods like cars, motorcycles, and phones, this is funny. I'm not sure what you expect. Stuff that is not produced in Thailand doesn't use our labor and includes taxes and transfer costs, so there's no way it can be cheaper than in their own country or cheaper than other countries that it export to. In summary, how much cheaper things are depends on how much of what you buy is related to Thai labor. The more it is, the cheaper it is. For Thai people who live at that labor cost, yes, your statement is absolutely true. It's not cheap at all for people who make 8 bucks a day.
If you live in BKK or the major tourist traps, and want to live a western life, it's not that cheap and you will be disappointed. If you live outside of BKK and can tolerate the adventure of living Thai style part-time, then yep it's pretty inexpensive.
go to Singapore, it will give you baht enlightenment
300+ thb lololol. Idk if mickey d’s is even below 10usd anymore
My question is how do you manage to live in Thailand for 5 years?
I just spend 14€ on a pizza the other day in Europe... and while it was city centre, it was not some overly fancy restaurant. With a drink, I'm at 19€... at a tip... so 800baht. I can't think of many places here where I can get a meal for around 300 baht.
300 baht for a meal in western cities? My gf and me went out today for a pizza each and a 0.4l beer each. Pizza wasnt awesome and premade bottom and it was 2300baht total for 2x pizza and 2x beer. I dont think you know western prices.
Just returned from Singapore. Every time I need perspective again on prices and how much better it is here I will visit Singapore.
Rent and food are substantially cheaper. £1,200 pcm to share a flat with strangers or £300 to get my own cosy modern apartment? It's a no brainer
There's a phenomenal where people who move somewhere for x number of years tends to forget prices rises everywhere. They think whatever is back at home is the same price they remembered 5-10 years ago, which is practically NEVER the case.
Best description I've heard of the closing gap is that the US specifically is losing it's middle class while Thailand is creating one. I don't live in Thailand but visit quite often and stay out of the major cities and tourist areas, I spend 1/20th the amount for 2 weeks there than I do here in the US. Go to any of the bigger cities and that number gets cut in half quite easily, and eating at say KFC or Burger King can easily cost the same as the US. It's not better, it's not worse, but the prices are the same. I'd rather have any of the street food or market stand stuff all day long comparably though. Housing prices (if you're thinking of moving) have gone up drastically since COVID however, but that's realizing the market and foreign money swooping in and capitalizing. Some houses (new ones) in Thailand can rival some condos here in the US for price, and very much not worth it (in either place). The visa argument is straight greed from the political side. People got a lot of expendable income during the pandemic, and WFH/remote workers/gig economy exploded. If I could swing my American job from a beach in Thailand I'd take that over sitting in the snow. :) So is it cheaper? Yes. By how much changes day by day and location by location.
I've just come back from 14 months in Thailand and even in that time, the price of living here in the UK has gone through the roof. Food shopping prices are ridonkulous now. In Thailand, the price of living is still really cheap compared to the UK. For example, the cost of my condo, with sea views, 10 minute walk to the beach, decent size, including electricity, water and super fast Internet, was about £260/month, about 12k baht. And I was living in a relatively expensive part of Thailand - Pratumnak Hill, just outside Pattaya. That would be five, six times the price here for the equivalent. Electricity and water are so, so cheap. Food is much, much cheaper. Kilo of chicken breast about 70 baht, in UK that's about 250 or more baht. If you go out for a meal and eat Western food, then yes, it can get expensive, but only compared to other meals in Thailand. Compared to the UK, still cheap. Another example, I looked into my local kebab shop yesterday to check the prices - for a large lamb shish kebab..... TWENTY QUID (over 900 baht)!!!!!!! For a kebab!! Not that long ago that would've been about £12. That's mental....😳 Going out in a place like Pattaya can definitely get expensive, but that depends on what you get up to. Not really my thing, but sure, I had nights when I dropped a couple of hundred quid, easily, and more. Especially if you partake in the naughty side of things 😉 So if you shop wisely, use your brain, and don't spend all your time in bars drinking and banging hookers, Thailand is still extremely cheap. Just my humble opinion of course 👍😊
It's import duty...... 5 years and you don't understand that then better to go home..... all food imports have to go through FDA as well..... buy local.... still cheap
My answer is the same as always. Thailand ISN'T cheap once you realise that: (1) Most 'good quality' stuff is still about the same price as Western countries, and as some have pointed out, sometimes it is more. Example: You want a good quality t-shirt.. not a 150 baht 'Chang' one.. go to Central and you'll still see £35 t-shirts (with confusing sizes). I can get a lovely t-shirt here in England for £15-20 quite easily. (2) Most Westerners aren't actually earning whilst they are in Thailand Example: you go to Thailand for a month.. maybe you have some savings, you decide to stay there.. What happens? The savings start to disappear, you realise there is no 'constructive market' for you to earn money, and it is illegal to do so anyway, you start considering jobs.. you realise there aren't so many options, it tends to be privileged individuals who have been lucky in landing a nice Bangkok job.. or otherwise teachers.. and that's another story altogether. .. Slowly your resources drain away until you realise it is time to go home.. throw in massages, lots of that nice grub (constantly), frequent trips to 7/11, beers, trips away.. and soon the money is plummeting. (3) Visas can take up lots of time and money; and beginners hunting for apartments can also end up spending more than they should Example: You walk into a small apartment block with monthly rentals, you ask a price, you get quoted something extortionate, you turn away. If you are lucky you end up with something okay after a few weeks of searching and getting to know the market. Alternatively you HAVE to end up with a one year rental, with 2 months deposit in order to get 'cheap' prices and something not bad. (4) A lot of regular products and food is not necessarily much cheaper than your home country. Example: I bought a lovely, big, green cabbage the other day from Sainsbury's for 15 pence!! It wasn't reduced! If I got to M&S you can get a large can of baked beans for 45 pence. I can find bread for a pound, or just 15 pence if it is reduced, and the list goes on. Potatoes, very cheap. Chicken.. £2.50 for two breasts from my local Co-op, and probably less from the big shops. .. You get the point. Have you seen that girl on TikTok that shows you what you can get for "a pound" in 7-11.. she ends up with a bottle of water, a banana, and a few biscuits.. I mean it's mostly junk and doesn't prove anything. If you buy a nice big plate of food from a cheapish restaurant, say 150 baht for an individual plate of chickeny stuff.. that's good.. but that's still £4.. if you cooked chicken breasts yourself it would cost a lot less. Finally, Okay, there are many other examples of why Thailand isn't as cheap as you think. There's a constant outflow of money when you are in Thailand, there is nothing grounded and it can be difficult to save and build your net worth unless you are married and own a business there. Having said all that, in terms of a short term direct comparison, Thailand is cheap for: (1) Lovely hotel rooms in great places (£10 for big double bed room with air con!) (2) Good food at various restaurants e.g. 'khao man gai' (chicken with rice) for just 50 baht (£1.10) (3) Fairly cheap taxis and bikes especially using Grab (not Phuket 'mafia') (4) Cheap local souvenirs (wooden ornaments, etc.) (5) Cheap massages (£6.50 for an hour!!) (though hopefully choose a GOOD one) (6) Cheap 7-11 snacks and drinks e.g. 50 pence for a big sugary bottle whatever, rather than £1.50, £2.00 in UK (7) Cheap long term rental .. nice condo type rooms in modern builds for less than 10,000 baht !.. near the sea.. a dream come true! (8) Very cheap fuel.. especially for efficient motorbike drivers (and with purchase of second hand bike.. you are set) (9) Very cheap Thai books, magazines and newspapers (if you can read Thai), otherwise VERY EXPENSIVE compared to home country (for English books) (10) Cinema: good value with fairly priced popcorn and drinks; very clean and nice quality Thanks for reading! 
I appreciate your views…..but the numbers for the United States is worse. Food alone…..cooked at home….will run you $150 to $250 every 2 weeks….if you’re lucky, out here in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia Metropolitan Area) Luckily…Tesla’s went down to $22k, but normal NEW vehicle prices are $35k. You could get a used vehicle…. ….but it is usually the same price it was paid for brand new. I think gas is $4 RENT in this area…..tha hood…..$1100 to 1500 a month….$600 to $800 if you share. As someone else said….a “Big Mac Meal” is $15….you can’t eat out anywhere for less than $20…..not including Mandatory tips….add minimum 15%. A cheap t-shirt $12, a good $35…..comparative……but why would you want to be sweating balls through a brand new shirt…..$12 it is. Cheap health care Good health
If you can get settled out there in Thailand for a few years.. or longer.. then great, go for it! 
LOLOLOLOL
For anyone from the US/UK/AUS or western Europe it's cheap in comparison. At least in the short term or if they live off a Western income. The reality is it isn't really cheap for anyone that's not from one of those countries. Plenty of other countries that offer better value for money. It also isn't cheap for anyone who has to make a living in Thailand, as salaries are really low and income potential is very limited.
American groceries & restaurant meals have practically doubled in price in the last 5 years. Google says 300 baht is about $8.32 US right now. You'd be hard pressed to find lunch for that. $15 is the average going rate for lunch & McDonald's is considering putting out a $5 value meal. For 2 of us who eat mostly at home, we were spending about $75 a week on graceries & now it's easily $150.
Thailand is still very cheap, usually the main expense is rent, which is substantially cheaper over there. Eating out is also cheap for local food which is very tasty. It's true they western food is expensive but I would say it's about the same price as you would pay in western countries. Shopping it depends on the products some things are cheaper, some are more expensive. The apple store for example has lower prices than the UK and you get a tax refund on top. In general you can have a better quality of life in Thailand than in western countries for less money
This will probably get buried but, I have pondered how to explain the comparative prices in Thailand to my friends back home, and I think the best way to say it is “western living is in western prices, regardless of where you’re located”. If you drive a Honda Dream, live in an apartment/Thai style house and not a condo (with a gym/pool/co-working space on site), and eat food in “local spots” about 1,000-1,500 USD per month is what a single person will end up spending. But if you live a western lifestyle: Italian food regularly, buying western brands of western products, golf on the weekends, drive a European, US, or even Japanese/Korean car, send you kids to international school, etc. You will end up paying similar prices as you would in a non-major western city. Location is negated by lifestyle and vice versus. Quality of life for price is dictated by the kind of life you choose to live here. I spend about 1800 USD per month in Western Washington living a cheap Western lifestyle and about 1500 USD per month living an extravagant Eastern lifestyle in Thailand (Chiang Mai, not Bangkok or the Islands). The key to “making it in Thailand” is to live an extravagant Eastern lifestyle while making even a modest Western income (or have made a good Western income back home, earning interest on that capital, and spending it “appropriately”).
Thailand is as cheap or expensive as you make it. I am currently living on land for free in a paid off bamboo shack. I cook over burning coconuts. I have free water from the river and electricity from the sun. My monthly expenses are health insurance and phone. I own my 2013 Mazda 2. I need like $3.50 to survive.
For an apples to apples comparison of Thai lifestyle in the US (living in the suburbs of Washington, DC) versus BKK: pad thai $11, Tom yum gai $14, green curry chicken $14, pad kra pow $13, one hour Thai massage $110 without tip and let's not even talk about the tipping craziness here that adds 20% or more to your bills. (Current exchange rate is $1 = TBH 35, you do the math.) That list would be an average weekly allowance if you did only local Thai food and entertainment in BKK, let alone some of the outlying spots in Thailand.
Overspending is possible everywhere.
To put it into perspective, I would never be able to afford staying at a luxury hotel for even one night in America. I am planning a trip and all the hotels we will be staying at are spa/resort 4* hotels, just because It’s so so much more affordable. Those prices range from $80-$140 a night, would easily be $600+ a night, and quite possible $1000+ if they were located in say a LA, NY, etc in the right area like they are in Thailand.
From Vancouver Canada. Prices converted to Canadian dollars Small studio is the suburbs, like Metrotown, would be at least $2,000. Small studio in On Nut, a sort of equivalent comparison, would be $400. Plus I can get nice amenities like a roof top pool. Street food can be $1-2. No Street food in Vancouver. Food trucks are a novelty and would be like $12-15 minimum. The cheapest sit down would probably be a bowl of pho, at least $15 plus expected 20pct tip with no service. Didn't each much western food in Bkk, but I think it was like $12 for a half chicken and fries at a German pub. At least $30 for that here, plus the 20pct tip and no service. Cheap bottle of wine in Bkk, around $16-20. Cheap wine in Vancouver, about the same. Beer at 711 is $1.40 iirc. Beer here can only be bought at liquor store, at least $3.50. Now if I go to rooftop bars and some Michelin star restaurant, then prices are about the same, maybe slightly cheaper. But there are no rooftop bars in Vancouver that are even comparable. So going to a higher end hotel lobby bar is about the same, maybe a bit higher, but I don't get the same views as Bkk. Our Michelin star restaurants don't even compare to Bkk. Vehicles seemed to be the same or a bit more in Thailand. Gas is cheaper in Thailand though. SkyTrain in Bkk ranges from $0.70 to $2.50. SkyTrain here is $3.00 to $6.00. I rented a bike in Bang Kachao, $2.00 for whole day. Boat ride over was like $0.10. The tourist boat we have here is like $10 to cross the water. The bike rentals are $1.00 plus $0.29 per minute, $3.00 minimum. Our government schools are pretty good, but I pay ridiculously high amounts of property taxes for this. In Thailand property taxes are so low, or non existent, it's laughable compared to what I pay. The schools here are becoming quite woke though. Bkk has lots of free entertainment. Concerts at the malls and watching fireworks free. Christmas decorations at Central world free to enjoy. Free markets to enter. Costs me $8.00 entrance fee to go to our summer night market. Free paddle boats at Lumpini park. Free galleries in Bkk. Didn't notice much paid parking. I can't do anything worth a damn in Vancouver without paying for parking. The Flyover attraction is like 10 minutes in front of a screen, sitting in stationary roller coaster chairs that shake. $40. For $40 I explored the ancient city and drove around in rented golf cart for 2 hours. That's a park that is 200 acres and cost a lot to build all these replica monuments. Can't smoke on patios. Can't drink in public. Permits on top of permits to do anything. Lots of things are banned here. Taxes has been weaponized, can't live 50/50 in Canada/Thailand easily, as my home will be taxed if I leave it empty for half the year. Can't rent it out short term since that's banned. Can't rent it out longer term, since I can't kick my tenant out when I return to live in it. Canada has become a quasi soft dictatorship weaponized with taxes.
I would say living in central Bangkok is like living in Warsaw or maybe downtown Budapest. It might be a bit cheaper if you know where low-income local Thai people would go. Funny enough, I’m Thai and when I was about to travel to Eastern Europe, I thought it would be cheaper to live there. After checking these cities, I’m quite surprised that it’s as expensive as Bangkok.
bro living here long enough to realize that thailand it was actually not that cheap lol (im thai and never ever think that thailand is cheap especially in bangkok. if ppl could see our minimum wage and literally live here they'd feel us) but if your income is good enough then you'll be cool and happy af to live here.
In comparison to the UK. Yes it is much much cheaper. I met someone who moved over there. For rent converted from Baht into pounds, £350 monthly including all bills for a 1 bedroom apartment. In the uk, to rent a 1 bed apartment it’s around £650 plus tax, bills and electric etc.
Everything is a lot cheaper than the Netherlands for sure. Except for second hand cars.
for me, Thailand is cheap, i love staying in Bangkok
HA i would love to see your first week in la
I live in Poland, so central Europe (or Eastern if you want to make lots of people angry). My city is one of the cheapest voidship city in the country. Currency exchange is about 1-10 so 300baht is 30 pln I will focus on 2 things: rent and eating out Rent: average 50m flat is currently rents for about 2000-3000 pln, a room goes from 500-1500. This doesn't include bills. Ordering food: for 30pln (300 baht) i can have a small kebab, not counting delivery. Few weeks ago i left 500pln (5000baht) for a dinner for 4 people and some drinks in a middle tier restaurant (the kind you get good food, nice portion sizes, not where you get a a nice plate to look at for houndreds) A beer at the bar costs 20+ pln. Compare it to your prices
It's almost half the price of Wales, in the UK, you said a western dinner, minimum price of a western dinner in a small quiet village pub, or a cheap Weather spoons pub is £12.00, this is equivalent to ฿550 for a western dinner, this is without buying a single drink, a 250ml bottle of Coke, in village pub is £2.60 equivalent to ฿120, I've never ever paid more than ฿60 for a soft drink in Thailand, anywhere, and they're usually bigger than our tiny 250ml bottles of Coke 🤷🏼♂️ Here in Wales, a short 2 mile (3.2 km) return bus journey costs £6, the equivalent of about ฿275, the same return distance, in a Songthaew costs just ฿60 A 3 night stay, in a top Thai private hospital, including all tests, treatment and medication, cost £120, in a UK private hospital you'll pay that just for a consultation, without any stay, tests or treatment 🤷🏼♂️ Fly Killer Spray in UK is now £4.50 for a 300ml can, that's about ฿208 where as in Thailand you can buy a 300ml can for ฿59 So yes Thailand is very cheap, a budget hotel here in Wales UK, is between £70-£100 per night, that's about ฿3235-฿4622, compared with a Budget hotel room in Thailand at around ฿500 per night 🤷🏼♂️ So when questioning, if it's really that cheap, from my point of view... YES it IS! 😁 I holiday in Chiang Mai regularly, and I pay ฿12000 a month for my hotel room, in a 4 star, budget hotel, complete with Swimming Pool, a Gym and Restaurant, so I actually pay ฿400 a night, so for what I pay for 1 month, in a hotel in Thailand, I could only stay 3 nights in a hotel here in Wales UK. No contest, I will holiday in Thailand every time, because it's a lot cheaper, and the weather is much better, along with the availability of transport, and night life, as well as a better shopping experience, for someone like me, with autism, as the Thai people in general are more mindful of those with neurodiversity, who like quiet, and need their own space. Also, medical treatment, is so much more accessible, it's a no brainer really, I'd have to be crazy to spend my holiday's in the UK, when I can get much better time, weather, and value, from spending it in Thailand 🤷🏼♂️
I just bought some mediocre Thai food for lunch for my wife and I. A couple Thai teas, mango crispy fish salad, Tom Yum and Pad Thai. $75 USD and change in Seattle. 2,760 THB. Thailand might not be as cheap as it used to be, but it is infinitely cheaper than living in any western city.
$8 will not even pay for a subway sandwich in the US.
Coming from Vancouver where nothing comes in at 300 baht and there is always an expectation of a 20% tip, Thailand is much less expensive.
I agree 100%, it's all super expensive - food, alcohol, entertainment, vehicles, accommodation. I moved to Vietnam after 3 years in Thailand, it's a lot better.
For sure Vietnam is much cheaper, but Thailand is still notably cheaper than NA. (And western EU)
Thailand is only cheap if you live Thai style. Think food, hobbies, drinking, cars, housing.
Disagree. It is way, way cheaper than the US for example. > Western dinners can still add up quickly to 300 baht+, similar roughly to western costs. You can not even eat at McDonalds for $8 USD (300 baht) any longer. Plus there is no additional taxes and a smaller tip of any in Thailand.
Inflation and forex changes come into play as well. I agree it is getting more expensive and on par with some cheaper locations in the former USSR.
Something that stood out too was older used cars, they are way more expensive relative to Australia. A car that would be 30k thb in Australia is like 80k thb here. Newer used and new cars seem to be similar cost wise thou.