I think the original posters question, might not have been phrased properly, since you can live quite frugally/reasonably even in Thailand's most expensive areas (Krung Thep, Phuket, Koh Samui, ect.). If you are on a restricted budget, the question should be "Where do you want to live in Thailand, and what compromises are you willing to make in order to live in that area?". I remember a pioneer in the blogging/vlogging scene in Thailand, that was (I think still is?) famous for saying that "in Thailand there is always an option", and he is correct. If a potential expat loves the beach, fresh seafood and the sunrise/sunset over the ocean, then what difference would it make for me to tell him/her that Chiang Mai is 30% cheaper than Phuket/Samui/Hua Hin, and push you in that direction because the average living expense in Chiang Mai is a lot cheaper. I would think that it would be far more helpful to a new expat if someone gave him/her advice on reasonable accommodations and areas with cheap farmers markets to the west or south of Hua Hin/Cha-Am, or perhaps Ban Chang, or the beaches past Rayong, there are many options to live a simple, inexpensive and relaxing life in Thailand within close proximity to a beach, if the beach life is important to you. This all comes back to the age old question "HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO LIVE IN THAILAND?". When someone asks me this I always say "was that, how much does it cost ME to live in Thailand, or how much WILL it cost YOU to live in Thailand?" , if they "GET IT" after I give them this answer, then I am happy to have an intelligent conversation about the different regions, the culture, living accommodations, food, utilities, transportation, Ins., ect., however if they continue to ask "but what is the average cost to live in Thailand" I just say "well tens of millions of Thai families live on between 10,000-20,000/bht per month, and leave it at that. I get as disgusted by the people who preach that you can live well on 15,000bht/mo in Thailand as I do with the people who tell you that you need at least 70-80-100 thousand bht/mo to live in Thailand, and in my experience those who learn to live and enjoy Thailand at the lower end (20-35 thousand bht/mo) , tend to be the happiest, and the ones who last longer in the Kingdom, whilst those who require western food most of the time, at least 2-4 nights out drinking with the lads every week at the beer bars and of course they have to have that new shiny 4 door pickup in the driveway, those folks will see their 70-75,000 bht living expenses rise to 90,000, then 105,000, and so on and so on, and those are the expats who wind up with the horrifying stories about how the girl they met (and too often married) at a beer bar in Pattaya, Soi Cowboy, Patpong ect., ect., took them for a load of money or divorced them after they built a house on their ex wife's family land in Issan. As that great American author and humorist Mark Twain said over 100 years ago " The funny thing about common sense, is that it isn't all that common" , and what all of this expatriation stuff comes down to is just a little bit of common sense, a fair amount of due diligence, and some realistic expectations.
