The cost of Living in Thailand in 2023

Easy reply : here in Koh Phangan it is similar to a earthquake ! Price of a Rai has doubled or even more. Price of food has doubled in most of the restaurants for tourists. Impossible to rent a decent house below 25,000 / 30,000 per month with one bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.

yesterday a wanted to buy a small plant :THB 250 . In Nakhon Si Thammarat, the same plant is THB 50 !!!

Itcishigh season now and people who have business want to take as much money as they can after Covid

Crazy …

@Sainsard Koh Phangan is a tourist and famous place.... So the prices...

But you can find everywhere else condos at about 8000/11000b/month easily

Hello cloana162,

Welcome to expat.com!

Did you notice any change in your cost of living in 2023?

Do share your experience with us

Cheers,

Yoginee

Expat.com team

In terms of accommodation, how much does it cost to rent/buy a flat or house in in Thailand?

that depends greatly on the location. i bought a 2 room condo (60 sqm) in pattaya for 3MB 10 years ago.

Now we built a house in esaan (3 bedroom, 130 sqm, plus garden, wall, gate etc) for 2.8 MB. without land as it is owned by my partner. it is modern house.

i used to rend a studio in bkk bangna when i was working: 11K on 30th floor (2019)

How much do you pay on average for public transport (bus, metro, train, tram, taxi)?

None. even in pattaya i use my car.

What is the average price of your monthly food basket?

between 10K and 20K we mostly cook.

How much does health insurance cost? How much does it cost to see a doctor in Thailand?

i stopped paying for an insurance as the cost due to my age is forbidding. best offer for public hospital is 45K. private hospital with minimal coverage 70K with tons of exclusions going up to 150K p.a. i now put 60K a year on a saving account.

private hospitals are roughly double the price of public ones, if u don't count the waiting time at public hospitals.

What about school fees for your children?

N/A

What is the average monthly cost of electricity, gas, water, internet, telephone?

electricity house: 1500, condo when we are there 2500 (due to older AC and electric cooking)

gas at house: 100

water house: depends on season 80 - 120 (13+ k liter) condo: 240 (8k liter), due that pattaya charges 33 baht per 1k liter like a small factory. while in bkk i had 80 baht per month for same amount in a rented condo.

internet: 700

phone: 600

In Phuket the Phuket Villa Airport rent for 15kBaht per month. There are a number

of Phuket Villas around the island I believe the units near the airport are the cheapest.

I think these are the 2 bed 2 bath but I didn't get many details

Hello cloana162,
Welcome to expat.com!

Did you notice any change in your cost of living in 2023?
Do share your experience with us

Cheers,

Yoginee
Expat.com team
-@Yoginee

"Did you notice any change in your cost of living in 2023?"

You do know that today's is February 1 2023? Nothing have happend pricewise since December 31 2022.

@Yoginee,,Hello.  i living in pattaya 12 years.  and i know everything about here. and i can help you to Your monthly expenses will be lower. cheap room or house, car, motorcycle shopping and daily shopping for kitchen. anyone need me just tell me +66906638537.

@Mickael,,Hello.  i living in pattaya 12 years.  and i know everything about here. and i can help you to Your monthly expenses will be lower. cheap room.house.car.motorcycle.shopping.daily shopping for kitchen. anyone need me just tell me +66906638537

@Mickael in 1 month of 2023 is almost same like in the entire 2022 but we not get paid to make you a report of what we learned staying here for years on our own expences and time, so that you can make money on this infos.

Come yourself and discover it...Good luck...

@Yoginee same answer like to Mickael:

in 1 month of 2023 is almost same like in the entire 2022 but we not get paid to make you a report of what we learned staying here for years on our own expences and time, so that you can make money on this infos.

Come here yourself and discover it step by step like we did....Good luck...

I rent a 1 bedroom apartment in a condo on Rama 4 Phra Khanong in Bangkok . I'm 12,500 THB per month and it's roomy , loads of storage space and a good location . I'm 8 minutes walk to Ekkamai BTS and 10 minutes walk to Sukhumvit Rd beside W District . There's a pool , gymnasium and good security . My electric bills are normally around 1800-2000 THB per month and I pay 800 THB for True WiFi and basic tv package .

I usually top up my BTS Rabbit card with 500 THB per week but depending on weather I will walk a lot so the 500 lasts me more than a week most times . My weekly grocery bill varies depending on where I shop but Villa market is increasingly more expensive for items from home . Therefore I can buy fruit and veg from Phra Khanong market much cheaper ( and letting local traders earn money ) and take a motorcycle taxi back from there .

Summing up , no matter how expensive it gets , it's always going to be cheaper than living in Scotland at the current time with the insane fuel costs etc .

There are basically two categories of people staying in Thailand long term when it comes to living costs.I know people from both categories. In my opinion food is a major expense, especially if you're a couple (you might even have kids) and eat 3 meals/day.One category eat almost every meal in restaurants, and the other category makes their own food and once in a while eats in restaurants. The difference in costs for food between these two categories per month is huge. One thing that amazes me is how few expats buys food online. I've been using Lotus (former Tesco Lotus) for many years. They deliver straight to my condo for free and there are loads of products cheaper than in their physical stores. (There are other stores where you can order food online, of course.) This is how you save time and money. Electricity has been a bit more expensive the last year,but nothing to complain about. The cost for petrol and diesel has gone up,too,but do everybody need a car? Internet prices depends on operators. In some areas TOT is 100% more expensive than 3BB. TOT is a state owned company,Go figure. I haven't mentioned drinking but that's optional.

So living in Saraburi 90 km north of Bkk, own a house 1100 sq/ft 2 bedroom 2 baths concrete row house , cost 800,000 baht cash, so no rent or mortgage .. we do our own cooking for the most part from local stuff at the open air markets so food costs are minimal, no car use a scooter or bicycle for every thing as we live within the town limits and even a drug store only a 5 min walk away, health insurance self insure 10 years now ... insurance is a scam ... several million in the bank cash for emergencies and monthly retirement from the US so don't have to work, no temples or beaches near so no tourists or crowds or drunk falang ... nice quiet place to live inexpensively ... travel to see family not to resorts or tourist dominated areas as what is the point , if I wanted to see foreigners I would have stayed home, plenty to do bicycle every day , gym membership , hobbies , do all my own maintenance .. family lives next door adjoining wall ... 9 of them with nieces and nephews so always some thing happening ... never boring ... 69 and fit and healthy and plan to stay that way , haven't been to a bar in years ... don't smoke barely drink, exercise every day ...

@LAZARUSDAL

Hi , I'm intrigued by what you mean by '' self insure '' ? Do you mean you don't have stand alone health insurance in the event something major happens health wise ( perish the thought ) ?

The rest of your life sounds idyllic , good for you , the drunk falang thing is just so tiresome now !

Cheers

Willie

@LAZARUSDAL
Hi , I'm intrigued by what you mean by '' self insure '' ? Do you mean you don't have stand alone health insurance in the event something major happens health wise ( perish the thought ) ?

The rest of your life sounds idyllic , good for you , the drunk falang thing is just so tiresome now !

Cheers

Willie
-@williebafc

He pays everything himself instead of having a health insurance. You do know that you can drink at home if you want or having a few beer or drinks after dinner? Don't compare people living here long term with tourists.

@Leeds forever! I'm not sure I'd be sleeping comfortably at night if I was relying on my savings to bail me out should I encounter any serious ill health , especially a long hospital stay .

Yeah , I'm aware that I can drink in the house ; however , if I wanted to stay in drinking and watching Netflix of an evening I'd probably just stayed in Scotland and watched the snow falling heavily at the same time !

Cheers 🍺

The prices are mostly more expensive on imported food and electronics.   If you try to buy only locally produced food and goods you will find that Thailand is a lot cheaper than many other countries in this region.

Is it more expensive than before the pandemic ?  It depends on where you live.  In Bangkok and Chiang Mai you will find good prices for both renting apartments and food.   It depends on your lifestyle of course.

A school teacher with around 30k baht monthly salary are doing just fine if he/she can control the budget which means renting apartments under 10k and spend the rest on food /  utility bills / insurance.   

I recently checked on Dental prices specifically teeth cleaning. A rough

estimate is across the board for all the shops I checked I would say they

increased about 20% from two months ago when I last had a cleaning

done.

Not sure to say that I haven't checked around and I found a newly

opened shop that must be hungry for business as they were sub-

stantially cheaper than the rest.

Always hesitant to go to a business like this but in this case am

willingly to try as they may be adequate and just need to start a

customer base. Besides they are about a two minute walk from

my condo

@williebafc yes I have several million baht  in the bank locally for health care ... piss on insurance paid for it for 40 plus years and never used it should have self insured from the beginning and invested the monies in the market ... I would be even richer today ...

@Leeds forever!  Gotta agree with you and your mate on this one.  IMO self insurance is the way to go as a long term Expat in Thailand.

What 'self insure' means to me is that every year you place whatever amount of Baht you can into a separate Thai bank account (in your name only). Over the years it will grow and grow and after 5-10 years or so, you will have enough to cover most hospital situations.  Meanwhile until you get to the amount needed into the bank account (or take a risk and just wait), take out the cheapest possible 'hospital and accident only' policy you can get for the first few years (I will put another option for this below).

The main reasons for me doing that are as follows:

• Many Thai insurance companies (including Thai 'franchises of global mobs) have a 'per event' limit - it might be 3 million in total, but with a max of 500K per event.
• As you get older the premiums will grow and grow - once you hit 75 they escalate - a lot - there is no guarantee of annual fees.
• Make a claim and the following years premium will go up - a lot if you made a big claim.
• Many Thai insurance companies will not insure you once you get to 75 - very hard to get one when in the late 70s or 80s.
• I once did an analysis (detailed) and over 15 years (65-80) I would pay about 3.2 million baht in fees - with no guarantees or legal rights.
• The annual premiums past 75 were astronomical - at the end the coverage per event was not much more than the annual premium.
• I must admit though - that analysis was done on the mandatory insurance being imposed on O-A Retirees - but still they are all a lot when old.
• I could not analyse the 'standard' policies because they do not publish their premiums per age group etc.
• Did I say 'rights' - Expats have no legal rights - there is no 'incurance ombudsman/tribunal' even for Thais - Expats dont win in Court (hens teeth).
• My Thai wife has said that if they impose mandatory annual insurance on Expats with Marriage Visas then we will leave Thailand.
• If we ever do decide to go back 'home' for whatever reason, the money will still be in the bank and we can use it.

The other option I mentioned above it this.  Many companies who provide Class1 Car Insurance will offer the option (very cheap) to include hospital and emergency medical coverage following a car accident. As I said above, no absolute guarantee of payments, but at least you have some coverage - and a car accident is the most likely cause of an expensive hospital visit - at least for the first 10 years (I hope).

Also - IMO use an insurance broker. If you go direct you will not get a better rate (probably worse as the Thai companies discourage that), plus if/when something goes wrong the broker does a lot of work sorting things out.  Try ringing a Thai insurance company on the weekend or late at night following an accident.  Our car was in an accident at night (not with us in it) and the broker sorted everything out and organised all the repairs - including managing the police.

@Leeds forever!

The col was a good question since here in America the inflation seems to have a constant upward change in one way or another. 

I'm wanting to get there soon, but the sharp upward swing in rental and utility costs concern me if that may happen upon arrival.  One person in the Philippines just reported the rent there doubled early in this new year (don't know if that's true or not).

I plan on getting work thru the internet for teaching, but would want lower rent prices (8,000b) to get started.