Cost of Living Thailand 2013

Hello Don

nice info,, was going thru it..
what interested me was the rent , is it possible to find similar rents these days?
detached house..and could you give some info on that,

much appreciated,
Thanks.

thanks this is excellent info Currently i am not in thailand , however i was several months ago and i stayed in Naklua which is just north of pattaya i paid a rental in new highrise 10000 baht a month . deposit 1 month plus electricity 8 baht/unit, water 28/unit so my electricity looks double  i rented a bike which cost 150 amonth first month and then 100us a month after this . it was honda 150 pcm or similar .great bike as when you stop it shuts off and automatically when you open up the throttle.lots of russians in Naklua I saw more signs in russian than i did thai .

Yea good info thetefldon, many keep asking this...

But it is hard to tell people how much it cost to live here, because we all have deference "Needs"...

Me and my GF live for 35.000 baht pr month.
My Visa pr year on top of that is 30.000 baht because i use ED-Visa.
22.000 for the school, 4 X 1900 for the ED-Visa.
My medicine is 3 baht pr day (I pay for 100 days = 2995 baht)

We use more when we go on trip around Thailand.....

Some numbers:
power 750-1300
Water 100-140
Internet 600
Tv True Gold 1600
Mobil 500-600 for 2 people

Food we buy on the street, eat at food center, go eat all you can for 119-139 pr person (BBQ), I have no Need for Fa-Rang food, and GF hate it, so food is cheap for us, 20-40 baht for 1 potion food at our marked/street..

We use Bus to go around 7-10 baht normal, and for long trip 18-25 baht pr person.

Insurance i only have Accident Insurance, as i cant get health Insurance....

I see this questioned answered a lot.  With a lot of people frustrated with the vague answers to their question.

It all really depends on your lifestyle.  Some expats only need 30,000 THB and some 50,000 THB, and there are others who can't fathom living on anything under 100,000 THB per month.

I personally am comfortable with around 50,000 THB in Bangkok.  When I lived in Hua Hin, I spent more money per month than I do living in Bangkok.  So, the city is also a significant factor.

Wilederic, Hua hin being more expensive, was this because of a different lifestyle than you have in BK or is BK just cheaper in you opinion? The reason I ask is I've been think of going to Hua Hin. thanks in advance

Thanks for all the contributions so far:

I did say in my OP:

"Its actually quite a difficult question to answer given that all our needs are different and that prices vary considerably from place to place."


Perhaps some of the posters(who haven't done so) would also share their budgets be it 100,000 or 20,000 Baht per month since I fancy folk researching this site like to get down to the bare bones when making informed decisions about moving here.


"Never done that" good point about visa costs: my own for annual retirement extension to my O visa are around 6000 Baht i.e 1900 at immigration + 1000 For single re-entry permit + around 2500 for a financial letter from UK embassy + a few baht for return EMS on 90 day reports. Needless to say this is doing it myself and NOT employing agent.

Rob 123

Yes such rents do exist, I actually started renting this house December 2012. However I do live in the upper Northern Thailand 11km from the nearest city and about 2km from a large village.

The trick with renting here is to avoid agents and chat with local folk in an area you like. That's how I found this little gem surrounded on three sides by rice fields, on a development of five other houses, all mod cons(unfurnished)and as I stated in the OP 3500B a month.

I love nature and photography so the site of the house is a bonus for that too.

Of course it would not suit everyone, there's no night life to speak of andyou need to follow your own interests.

Hello Don,

Thanks for sharing the valuable information,

Cheers,
Rob

thetefldon wrote:

Rob 123

Yes such rents do exist, I actually started renting this house December 2012. However I do live in the upper Northern Thailand 11km from the nearest city and about 2km from a large village.

The trick with renting here is to avoid agents and chat with local folk in an area you like. That's how I found this little gem surrounded on three sides by rice fields, on a development of five other houses, all mod cons(unfurnished)and as I stated in the OP 3500B a month.

I love nature and photography so the site of the house is a bonus for that too.

Of course it would not suit everyone, there's no night life to speak of andyou need to follow your own interests.

bta87 wrote:

Wilederic, Hua hin being more expensive, was this because of a different lifestyle than you have in BK or is BK just cheaper in you opinion? The reason I ask is I've been think of going to Hua Hin. thanks in advance

I would say BKK is cheaper overall.  You can save a lot of money in Hua Hin by having your own transportation, but be warned, drivers there are crazy.  The taxis aren't metered like in BKK and have fun trying to get a fare under 100 baht for anything that can't be covered by walking.

Some groceries at Villa Market are actually cheaper because they're grown locally.

But, I'd generally say it overall costs more because things are brought from Bangkok and that is added on to the price and you encounter a lot of inflated prices because everything is based on the Scandinavian tourists, unless you want a strictly Thai lifestyle.

Not everyone is living here on a bare bones budget. I've gone over budgets several times and it is possible to get by on 12-15K baht a month, however, I wouldn't want to be restricted to this amount. My budget's been as high as about 150K a month, even more on occasion and as low as 12K when I first arrived. Now our budget is somewhere between 60-80K a month, although it is going to be slightly higher next month as today we purchased a piece of land in Surat. We owe 500,000 baht on the land but it generates about 30K a month so I'm not sure where that leaves us.

If you're single and older and more set in your ways, Thailand is a great place to get by on much less than elsewhere. If you're like me, with a wife and two kids in private school and money going towards retirement each month, expenses tend to be higher. Kids need clothes, to go on field trips, wives need clothes and make-up, etc., and we have people working for us to take care of our land. I remember when I first came over and had a small place, no bills, and all my money went for food and partying, life was simple. I've lived in Udon in a huge apartment for 3500 with utilities, I've lived on Sukhumvit in a large bachelor pad that ran about 45,000 a month, and now we have a 4-bedroom home for 7000 a month. Our electric is 5-6K a month and we pay directly to the electric company. So whatever type of place you want or need, Thailand has it available.

Hi  Scottmallon. You say you VerGe 30,000  month on your land. What does your land produce may I ask. As I M need to rent my land out or work it myself. It would help me a great deal if I new how to make Bout 30,000 a month or near as. All the help I can get will put me neare to my citizenship. Thanks joe from ubon Ratchathani.

Check the website www.numbeo.com for cost of living.

Enjoie.
I suggest you look into canvassing hotels in Ubon and see if there is a market to supply them with produce such as tomatoes, cucumbers,lettuce,capsicum,spring onions, herbs etc. Look into a simple hothouse set up to grow them in.

scottmallon.
I live in Laos and have same outgoings as you with kids etc etc etc.

Enjoie wrote:

Hi  Scottmallon. You say you VerGe 30,000  month on your land. What does your land produce may I ask. As I M need to rent my land out or work it myself. It would help me a great deal if I new how to make Bout 30,000 a month or near as. All the help I can get will put me neare to my citizenship. Thanks joe from ubon Ratchathani.

I'm not quite sure what you mean (VerGe?). What does my land produce?

The land primarily produces rubber. There are an assortment of vegetables and fruits but very few are sold, most are kept to eat by my wife's family. I might be going there in a few days, not sure yet. I want to get away on Songkran.

Hi Scott

Good examples of how budgets can vary.

7K rent 5/6K Electric, hope you are cutting back over the holidays or we will know who to blame for any brownouts

Like one of the othe posters I would be facinated to know how you make 30k a month in land rent, must be a lot of Rai. Is it all rubber or paddy as well? What did you get for your 500K (or whatever you paid) in Surat?

We (well the wife actually, given I can't own land)just bought 248 TW(just over half a rai) for building and that was 50OK its cleared and not farm land. Complete with Chanote. Near to Phetchabun.

thetefldon wrote:

Hi Scott

Good examples of how budgets can vary.

7K rent 5/6K Electric, hope you are cutting back over the holidays or we will know who to blame for any brownouts

Like one of the othe posters I would be facinated to know how you make 30k a month in land rent, must be a lot of Rai. Is it all rubber or paddy as well? What did you get for your 500K (or whatever you paid) in Surat?

We (well the wife actually, given I can't own land)just bought 248 TW(just over half a rai) for building and that was 50OK its cleared and not farm land. Complete with Chanote. Near to Phetchabun.

We've got two air-conditioners running almost full time now since it's so hot. Usually we can get the bill down to around 4000-4500 but like I said, it's hot. I don't like sweating while I'm sleeping and I like to be comfortable in my home so I'm not exactly opposed to using it.

Land rent? My wife received land from her family a few years ago and around three years ago we put some rubber trees on it. They are not producing yet. I don't get involved with it as I don't do anything (other than pay for some of it)!

As I said, she just purchased another piece for 600K, this time from her older sister who was earning between 100-150K a month from all of her land. She and her husband and another sister worked the rubber trees and they busted their asses for that money.

In the case of the new land, it's almost all rubber trees and there are some fruit and vegetables; watermelon, mango, cucumbers, and peppers. I think it's around 15 Rai or thereabouts but I'm not sure. Need to ask the wife. I may go there in about a week, I should know in a few days.

This is a shot of a small portion of the total land of my wife and her sister. Everything you see and as far as can be seen behind from where I was shooting, to the left and to the right is their land. This meadow is the sister's land and was at the time, her temporary house. We have a small hut/bungalow at the top of the hill which is behind where I was shooting from. I don't remember if I said this but it takes crossing over 11 creeks to get to the land.

Hi Scott

Looks a fantastic location. Thanks for the detailed info. Is the land at alltitude? By that I mean above 1000m. If so I guess its pretty cool too.

thetefldon wrote:

Hi Scott

Looks a fantastic location. Thanks for the detailed info. Is the land at altitude? By that I mean above 1000m. If so I guess its pretty cool too.

Now she's saying she thinks it's only 12 rai. I don't know how high it is but it's up a steep grade on a mountain so it might be 1000M's up. It's a great piece of property, especially since it makes money. The only thing missing is the beach, which I definitely want. 

I would go there today if it were possible. I like being out in the middle of nowhere with no people around. It takes an hour to drive down to the market and another hour to get into the city and to the airport.

I am an elderly (77) American living on a pension. I am  looking for a place to stay long term and call home. I have  been renting by the month and have paid in advance no more  than a $1,000 each month.

I have been living in a bungalow (Villa) next to the ocean in Amed  Bali Indonesia which is very good and I like it, but after 6 months I have  to leave on Aug 22 to Thailand because of impossible immigration rules and procedures in Indonesia.

But I maybe able to get a social six months visa:
With Bobby's help and help from his agent in Singapore I may get a six month social visa. The tour of Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia which was to look for alternatives now may become a nice tourist trip around SE Asia from August 22 to September 22. I can leave my big bag in Bali and travel light.

I get a  lower rate because I become a resident. I like bungalows or villas on the beach, a pool is nice, E-mail me at  [email protected]

I am long term resident so I pay by the month - so the first month  would be from Sept 19th and 30 days would be until Oct 18th - I  will pay in advance or put down a deposit. I am also trying  to find the bus to Sihanoukville Cambodia Sept 19th 2013  from SGN Saigon or south Vietnam since there is no airplane. 

I should state that I don't feel like climbing stairs. I am looking for a large room 30ｲ meters with a nice balcony, a Superior or  Deluxe AC Bungalow is desirable. I can hope to have a magnificent sea view, at least one  good size-bed, Air  Conditioning, hot & cold water shower,  WiFi, minibar or  fridge, a backup generator, quiet and peaceful, with a helpful and friendly staff; like all that I have now in Bali for a little under $1,000.

So what is the price for Sept 19 to Oct 18 ?

I will be in Thailand on Aug 22 with a hotel until the 27th of August, the Rambuttri Village Plaza and I am looking for a place from the 27th of August until  Sept 4, two weeks in Thailand.

I go to Vietnam Sept 4th SGN and have a hotel there until the  9th at the Signature Saigon Hotel . I am looking for a place to stay, long term. Two weeks in Vietnam.
The Island of Phu Quoc Island Hotels, Discount Hotels in Phuquoc Vietnam: Phu Quoc Resort looks nice, and cheap.

I have a small pension and want to find a nice place I can afford to live. Then on to Cambodia September 14th, Sihanoukville, Cambodia; two weeks in Cambodia
then to Singapore for the visa and finally return to Bali on September 22nd.

I left the country (USA) Jan 15 2013 for Bali,  I am 77,   recently divorced, a retired professor. I have been 30 years   in New Smyrna Beach FL with my now X-wife in a $500,000 house I paid for thus have a settlement. I have good character: a professor at leading universities with degrees from the University of Chicago (BA), Harvard (Ed M), FSU (PhD). I have been a high level federal employee   with security clearances.

Dr. Peter E. Pflaum, GlobalVillages
[moderated]

Peter

Hello. I live in Thailand. The dates you will be here are still low season(read rainy season)so hotels rates are usually lower. Looks like you will be staying in Bangkok(I googled the hotel)for the first week?

You say you like the beach/ocean. Can I suggest for your second week you try Hua Hin or Ko Chang both are about 200 km from Bangkok and easy enough to get too.

The former is a town on the Gulf of Thailand popular with retirees while the latter is one of Thailand's largest but still pleasant islands with some beautiful beaches.

Hope that helps.

PS Can I repectfully suggest that you might want to remove some of your personal details from your original post.

check out this website for coast of living numbeo.com

Hello > Can you please concentrate on the initial topic?

Thank you

Any ideas on the cost of medical cover?

adeplume wrote:

Any ideas on the cost of medical cover?

That's a rather broad question as there are numerous factors in the insurance rates.

My two sons and I have Major Medica insurance with BUPA (80/20) and it costs us 4100 a month now — went up a bit from last year. I personally have also used William Russell, which is excellent, and that was around $250-$300 a MONTH. Then I had another plan through ThaiVisa and it ran me 14,000 baht a year, just for me. Take a look around and look over the plans very closely.

Plenty of medical insurance cover available but as Scott states they are expensive. Your age and what type of cover you want dictates the price.

As I am over 60 I was quoted $13,000 per annum for myself, my wife and 3 kids. That was the cheapest of 3 quotes.

Thanks for those answers. It's "How long is a piece of string?" really I suppose. Still that gives me an idea thanks.

Here is recent info I received in July(2013) for BUPA Thailand Personal Care Health coverage options and cost.

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjHyxBDL

thetefldon wrote:

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.

Thanks for the info.  I plan on moving back to Thailand permanently in roughly 4-5 years, maybe sooner.  I was planning on trying to live on $1000 USD a month there which currently comes out to about 31k THB a month.  My wife has land in Si Saket (Isaan), so hopefully we'll have a house built on that land.  It sounds like it's doable from your calculations.

I lived in Bangkok previously for 3 years, so I'm somewhat familiar with Thailand.  I made $7k USD a month back then and my company paid all my bills, yet I was still broke alot.  That's another story though.  I wont be living in Bangkok this time.

Again, thanks for posting.  It's good info.

Electricity will go up soon, they say in tv not long ago 5 baht pr unite in the near future, and i am sure, i be more in the years to come...

About drinking water, i can recommend 3 or 5 Stage Filter System they mount on you sink, so you have clean drinking water in you home...
Around 4.000 - 5.000 baht first time...And when it is on promotion they come and install it for free.
Cost around 1.100 baht pr year to change filters and easy to do one self, yes i know up to how much water you use, but this is what we use, 2 people...
I am very happy we have this now...
Hate it when i have to go to water machine and refiled water bottles 5-6L bottles..

daboyz wrote:

thetefldon wrote:

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.

Thanks for the info.  I plan on moving back to Thailand permanently in roughly 4-5 years, maybe sooner.  I was planning on trying to live on $1000 USD a month there which currently comes out to about 31k THB a month.  My wife has land in Si Saket (Isaan), so hopefully we'll have a house built on that land.  It sounds like it's doable from your calculations.

I lived in Bangkok previously for 3 years, so I'm somewhat familiar with Thailand.  I made $7k USD a month back then and my company paid all my bills, yet I was still broke alot.  That's another story though.  I wont be living in Bangkok this time.

Again, thanks for posting.  It's good info.

Thank you for the feedback. I reckon $1000 a month is doable, but there may not be much to spare. Like I said originally it all depends on the individual(or couple).

Good luck with your plans.

Never done that wrote:

Electricity will go up soon, they say in tv not long ago 5 baht pr unite in the near future, and i am sure, i be more in the years to come...

About drinking water, i can recommend 3 or 5 Stage Filter System they mount on you sink, so you have clean drinking water in you home...
Around 4.000 - 5.000 baht first time...And when it is on promotion they come and install it for free.
Cost around 1.100 baht pr year to change filters and easy to do one self, yes i know up to how much water you use, but this is what we use, 2 people...
I am very happy we have this now...
Hate it when i have to go to water machine and refiled water bottles 5-6L bottles..

I'm sure you are right about electricity but its still relatively cheap I think compared to the UK for example. Bill wise so far this year I have averaged 1000 Baht a month.

I personally get bottled water delivered at 10 Baht a big plastic bottle-not sure how many liters(10??)

I like the photo and that you cross 11 creeks to get to it.