Cost of Living

Modest lifestyle

What constitutes a modest lifestyle must differ greatly from case to case. One person`s necessity is another`s luxury! Some people can live very happily with much less than others, but it is doubtful if any foreigner could live truly acceptably on 10,000 baht a month — not for long, anyway! If one is suitably economical, it should be possible to live fairly nicely on around 15,000  baht or less. However, for many locals, 15,000 a month would certainly count as affluent. Also bear in mind that for new arrivals, there might indeed be a large gap between the local price and the foreigner`s price, but the more one becomes acclimatised, the smaller this gap becomes. 

Having said that, let us say that a modest lifestyle would involve using a bike or the bus rather than a car or taxi, living in a townhouse or apartment in a quiet area (we do not recommend living downtown), living without a home Internet connection, using fans rather than air conditioning, mostly eating at home and spending little or nothing on alcohol.

Comfortable lifestyle

With a monthly budget of around 40,000 baht, life obviously improves quite a bit. One can choose a more spacious home, can dine out more often, and can do more with your leisure time. Such a lifestyle would be much closer to a `middle class` lifestyle in the West.

Such a lifestyle would allow for using a motorbike rather than public transport, a 2- bedroom townhouse OR a 1- bedroom condominium,  an ADSL (256kbps) connection at home, occasional use of an air conditioner, cable television (UBC), an occasional meal out, and an occasional drink at an outside bar, pub, etc.

Affluent lifestyle

When one`s monthly budget is 80,000 baht or more, then a luxurious life becomes increasingly possible. Such a figure allows one to employ a maid for cleaning, etc., use of an outside laundry service, plenty of opportunity for hobbies, sports and volunteer activity, etc. The sort of life one could enjoy at this level would be impossible on anything less than four or five times such a figure in the West — maybe more!

This category includes your own car, a 3 - 4 bedroom house, an ADSL (512kbps) home internet connection, frequent use of air conditioning , regularly eating out (occasionally at foreign restaurants), a visiting maid (three times a week), more frequent laundry service, a regular gardener (monthly), and satellite TV (UBC).

This is where it might be wise to examine the difference between renting and buying. For example, compare buying a 100 m²townhouse in a nice area for 2 million baht with renting the same house for 20,000 baht. Renting can be expensive, especially for longer term stays. Also, compared with Bangkok, for example, there are far fewer foreigners renting property here, and less demand inevitably leads to a smaller market, meaning less choice. However, 30-year leases can be arranged for some quality homes, for those disinclined to make such a relatively large investment.

Possibly you have read that a foreigner can`t buy a house or land here. Well, strictly speaking, that is true. However, an increasing number of foreigners DO own land and property (not just condos), as it is possible — albeit, slightly complicated. This is another area where local expertise is invaluable.

For more information about the real estate market here and the procedures involved, etc. please refer to our<property> page.