I often get asked by people considering moving here, what the true cost of living is in Thaland. Its actually quite a difficult question to answer given that all our needs are different and that prices vary considerably from place to place. So whats good for where I live would not fit if you live for example in Pattaya, Bangkok, ChiangMai or Phuket, where rents for example are much higher.
However some costs are pretty much the same throughout the country, such as electricity, water, oil/gasoline, car/house insurance, food, satallite TV, Internet access and mobile phone charges.
So here is a breakdown of what you might expect to pay OUTSIDE the places I have highlighted above based on my own experience living in a modern two bedroom detached house about 11 Km from the nearest decent sized town:
Electricity: I pay direct to the Provincial Electricity Authority(PEA), not my landlord and a unit currently costs 4.16 Baht(incl tax). I spend between 800-1500 Baht a month depending on the us of aircon. Many folk who rent pay a lot more since their landlord bills them adding 2/3 Baht to the price per unit
Water: From the local Tetsaban and is via meter, average cost is about 200/300 Baht a month.
Oil/Gasoline: I run a Toyota Yaris which runs on 95 Octane petrol which currently costs 40 Baht a litre. Diesel is around 30 Baht a litre. Mixtures of petrol and ethanol tend to be priced somewhere between 30-40 Baht a litre.
Insurance: For the Yaris 6000Baht for Class 3+ which is third party fire/theft +some damage+hospital cover and bail bond. House and contents insurance is around 5000 Baht(1,000,0000+). Both per year.
Food and drink: depends on your tastes whether you eat Thai or like expensive Western imports.So difficult to cost but I guess we spend around 10,000 a month but that probably includes eating out a fair bit.
TV: I pay 1600 Baht a month for True Move Gold package which has a fair mix of programmes(Western and Thai) and until the end of this season UK Premier League Football.
Internet: Because of my location I use CAT Hi-Net. Its not bad with speeds of about 10/1 Mbps. Its beamed to a reciever on the roof and then LAN/WIFI around the house. It costs 700 Baht a month. TOT and several other players offer similar services. TOT is probably the cheapest but requires a landline phone.
Mobile: I use an iPhone 4 I pay DTAC 300 Baht a month on a contract which gives me unlimited 3G internet access. Lots of other offers around with or without 3G.
Rent: As I said when I started this is the big variable. For my detached two bedroom modern home I pay 3500 Baht a month. I paid two months rent as a deposite when I signed the contract.
On average I spend 35,000 Baht a month and live very comfortably.