Cost of Living in Bangkok
Summary of cost of living in Bangkok, Thailand:
- A family of four estimated monthly costs are 2,276.7$ (79,023.7฿) without rent (using our estimator).
- A single person estimated monthly costs are 636.1$ (22,080.6฿) without rent.
- Bangkok is 51.1% less expensive than New York (without rent, see our cost of living index).
- Rent in Bangkok is, on average, 78.7% lower than in New York.
Restaurants |  Edit |
Range |
|---|---|---|
| Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant | 3.17 $ | |
| Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course | 28.81 $ | |
| McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) | 5.76 $ | |
| Domestic Beer (1 pint draught) | 2.30 $ | |
| Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) | 4.32 $ | |
| Cappuccino (regular) | 2.28 $ | |
| Coke/Pepsi (12 oz small bottle) | 0.58 $ | |
| Water (12 oz small bottle) | 0.33 $ | |
Markets | Edit |
|
| Milk (regular), (1 gallon) | 6.47 $ | |
| Loaf of Fresh White Bread (1 lb) | 1.57 $ | |
| Rice (white), (1 lb) | 0.69 $ | |
| Eggs (regular) (12) | 1.99 $ | |
| Local Cheese (1 lb) | 8.02 $ | |
| Chicken Fillets (1 lb) | 1.54 $ | |
| Beef Round (1 lb) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) | 5.59 $ | |
| Apples (1 lb) | 1.36 $ | |
| Banana (1 lb) | 0.62 $ | |
| Oranges (1 lb) | 0.90 $ | |
| Tomato (1 lb) | 0.70 $ | |
| Potato (1 lb) | 0.74 $ | |
| Onion (1 lb) | 0.61 $ | |
| Lettuce (1 head) | 1.19 $ | |
| Water (1.5 liter bottle) | 0.47 $ | |
| Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) | 20.17 $ | |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) | 1.68 $ | |
| Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) | 2.86 $ | |
| Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) | 4.32 $ | |
Transportation | Edit |
|
| One-way Ticket (Local Transport) | 1.28 $ | |
| Monthly Pass (Regular Price) | 37.45 $ | |
| Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) | 1.01 $ | |
| Taxi 1 mile (Normal Tariff) | 1.83 $ | |
| Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) | 5.33 $ | |
| Gasoline (1 gallon) | 4.31 $ | |
| Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) | 57,620.28 $ | |
| Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) | 26,172.70 $ | |
Utilities (Monthly) | Edit |
|
| Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 915 sq ft Apartment | 78.13 $ | |
| 1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local (No Discounts or Plans) | 0.05 $ | |
| Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | 15.56 $ | |
Sports And Leisure | Edit |
|
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | 57.14 $ | |
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) | 10.40 $ | |
| Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat | 7.63 $ | |
Childcare | Edit |
|
| Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child | 561.76 $ | |
| International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child | 13,523.28 $ | |
Clothing And Shoes | Edit |
|
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) | 55.66 $ | |
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) | 40.83 $ | |
| 1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) | 98.01 $ | |
| 1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes | 99.06 $ | |
Rent Per Month | Edit |
|
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre | 649.31 $ | |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre | 306.21 $ | |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre | 1,877.48 $ | |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre | 968.53 $ | |
Buy Apartment Price | Edit |
|
| Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment in City Centre | 523.87 $ | |
| Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre | 240.89 $ | |
Salaries And Financing | Edit |
|
| Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) | 649.22 $ | |
| Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate | 5.84 |
Prices in Bangkok
This city had 2507 entries in the past 12 months by 361 different contributors.
Last update: May 2023
Last update: May 2023
Sources and References
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Distribution of Expenses Using Our Statistical Model:
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Nearby cities:| Cost of Living in Bang Kruai | 5.31 miles |
| Cost of Living in Pak Kret | 14.54 miles |
| Cost of Living in Bang Buathong | 17.75 miles |
| Cost of Living in Nonthaburi | 18.30 miles |
| Cost of Living in Samut Prakan | 22.83 miles |
| Cost of Living in Rangsit | 22.86 miles |
| Cost of Living in Samut Sakhon | 24.00 miles |
| Cost of Living in Khlong Luang | 29.43 miles |
| Cost of Living in Nakhon Pathom | 42.12 miles |
| Cost of Living in Ayutthaya | 47.42 miles |
This page in other languages:
 DeutschLebenshaltungskosten in Bangkok
|
 PortuguêsCusto de Vida em Banguecoque
|
 ItalianoCosto della Vita a Bangkok
|
 FrançaisCoût de la Vie à Bangkok
|
 EspañolCosto de Vida en Bangkok
|
Health Insurance, life insurance, and one round trip per year is additional from above mentioned salary.
Would this salary good enough for family of 3 where looking for decent savings per month.
Can I afford a good standard of living with this salary? Is this a competitive salary for a Senior Deveoper?
Thanks!
Rent in prime area for a more budget 1 bedroom apartment 45-60 sqm: 25k to 40k.
Rent in a less prime inner BKK area with good access to metro for a budget small studio apartment 30-40 sqm: 12k to 20k.
Utility: Living alone is about 2k-4k. Family of 3 cost about 5k-10k.
Internet: 600-800 THB.
Phone bill: 600-1,000 THB
Budget restaurant: Usually less than 250 THB per meal. Plenty of selection to choose from.
Mid range restaurant for 2: 1,200-2,000 THB per meal.
Groceries: Milk, meat, fruit and vegetables with comparable quality to Europe would cost about 2 times more in BKK. Lesser quality groceries are still quite expensive.
Transportation: Less than 60 THB one way metro ticket. But mostly goes to only prime area. Bus coverage and bus condition are very poor.
Taxi: Less than 200 THB unless you need to travel more than 15-20 km.
Car price: Generally cost roughly twice as expensive compare to the US. Parts are very expensive too.
Non electronic import goods: Hefty tax and mark up.
Electronics: A bit cheaper compare to Europe and almost as cheap as the US.
Tuition fee for a good international school: Cost about 500k to 1 million THB per year.
Salary: Pre tax mean income for the BKK locals according to Thai government is 14k THB per month. Expats on average earn much higher.
Rent 27-30k baht for 50 sqm
Eletricity bill 5-6k
Take out food around 700-1000 baht
In restaurants 1000-1200
Cleaner for 3 hrs 600-700
Grocery for a week just a basic not fancy one 4000 baht
Mostly working from home , dont have big spending on transportation its around 1000 1500 baht per months
Hard to find good tomato
Dont listen to all the cry babies below...
I made sure my flights didn't land in Thailand anymore over the years though during my travels abroad.
If you cook yourself and did not eat out at all. I think 15,000 THB is a plenty room for really great ingredients.
If it was include transportations+bills(because you said your rent only 10,000 THB I guess it is not include water and electricity), you have budget only 500THB per day for food,transportation,bills. I don’t think it was enough.
You should not pay your rent above 30% of your income. It will be shortage cashflow later and you are going into debt. I think you should looking for a cheaper apartment and using park for running instead. I heard that in soi Rangnam(near Ratchathewi) there are dorms for first jobber around 6,000-8,000 BAHT per month. and it is very close to Victory Monument BTS station. In case you might want to find others job have a nicer pay and require you to travel to work.
About your plan to do your work at co-working space, I think you should not go it will cause you too much money to stay there. I don’t know others will be like me or not but I feel I should buy food to stay there every 2 hours, if I stay there all day, sometime it cost me almost 700 THB for only 6 hours.
You should stay and do your work at your dorm and brew your coffee yourself. You get a nicer coffee, cheaper price per cup and more private place. If you want some noisy surrounding just open youtube and search coffee playlist.
Please keep in mind stay at your home to save money because 25,000 THB included all basic needs is very tight in my opinion(eat regular cook food not instant noodle everyday).
Tips: you go to supermarket looking for clearance staple products e.g. eegs. It was discount 50% if you not mind not fresh eggs(I do so). I don’t know where you going to live just check where you live nearby but now, I see Tops market in silom complex and Tops central world regular have clearance eggs. You can get 10 eggs with half price. It can keep in refrigerator for 1-2 week after the expire label. Nice source of protein for a cheap price.
Do not for get your visa fee and ticket to flight back your home. Too many expense to think of. Please carefully list what you need for basic needs and calculate.
I hope my comment help you.
Best regards,
Y
Glad to hear that’s my advice was helpful. Now, I am cooking for my husband’s lunch as well. He spend cash on hand only 30 THB/day in silom area because I prepare every meals and snacks for him to take with.
Moreover, if you want to save more in Thailand you have to use Shoppee or Lazada app every double date e.g. 12.12. The brand will have a huge discount for their product and free shipping.But don’t over stock just buy for 1 month because they will have promotion every month. You do not want to sink your money with household products too much. You might have a room for changing brand as well if you love to try new things.
Best regards,
Anonymous on feb 1
The cost of living varies depending upon many things lifestyle, areas lived, single or with a family to support. Bangkok will be much higher on everything than anywhere else in Thailand that's a given.But after living and working in Bangkok 6 years I decided to leave Thailand as a single person. Yes I was making on average 85k monthly and I lived well.But I moved to Malaysia which was on average half of what it costs in Bangkok for a better quality of life.Infrastructer and the transportation system matters to me.But other than that Bangkok was just fine.
I think 60,000 is enough for cover rent, monthly expenses, utilities, travel, entertainment etc. for 4 people in family if you are the only source income and you will live paycheck by paycheck(maybe in debt later on when bills pile up).I don’t think it is enough to save money and send back home.
I live in Thailand. My husband (me as a stay at home wife without a kid) earn more than that but barely save money because we live next to silom(CBD area)(20,000 baht per month only for a studio 30s qr.meter) for living near my husband workplace(walk for only 2 blocks).We spend avg. on food per day only 600 baht(2 person cooking healthy food and including eat-out occasionally).I have to cook almost every meal (except for lunch) clean and try everything to reduce cost of living e.g. change light bulb to led and hanging clothes instead of using dryer.
If you are single. 60,000 baht is a great deal. You can hire someone to clean your room once a week or use laundry service. But for 2 people I am not sure about saving but you will have a moderate life for sure.if you are a family of 4 want to have a big place and try to spend less on rent which mean you live far from city and must have a car which is a lot of expense on transportation(you can live far but near BTS line as well this might be a good strategy).I think you must have a real plan on spending money, meal prep is a must.
Oh,I saw expats near Sukhumwit (mostly Japanese) their company pay for their tuition fee for the kids. Don’t forget to ask about that. I guess you are from India, eating vegetarian food is an option for reduce avg. spending on food.If you work near Sukhumwit you can live near Thonglor as well. A condominium with a deep entrance may help reduce the rent. Or place near the BTS line but more far from Sukhumwit 32 is more cheaper.
Thanks for your response. This is a job that is being offered by a company. I've cleared all the interview rounds, final salary discussion is due this week. If I don't get my kids here, what is the best salary that I should negotiate for, to live a decent life and save money to send back home.
Few if any tourists will return for obvious reasons.
It is literally 50% off the normal plan if you trying to switch to other provider.
Take mine mobile plan. I use prepaid. 0.5 THB/min voice.
My plan is 349 THB for 20GB(Unlimit with fup)/300Mins of Voice
My internet cable plan is ~450THB
- FTTH 500/500 Mbps (with dynamic Public IP)
- Unlimited Mobile Data (speed capped at 10Mbps)
- 24 channels of TV
If you really want to run on the budget, there is a sim call Sim Thep ("ซิมลูกเทพ") which is unlimited data prepaid sim with discounted price. There are several plans for that tho. The best one, IMO, is 200THB / a month of the unlimited data capped at 10Mbps.
With that speed, you can watch FHD YouTube/Netflix but please do not 12-months prepaid one unless you are 100% sure on your signal coverage.
So in order to prevent from being ripped off of the outrageous lady price in Bangkok, people should go to very cheap lady destinations such as Colombia, Vanezuela, India, Malaysia etc where you can get a lady for short time for as low as 5 US dollars, exactly what's happening in Colombia whereas you would need to pay at least 100 US for short time with a bad-attitude Bangkok gogo girl, not worthy at all.
Rip-off Bangkok should not be in your lady destinations anymore unlike 10 years ago. Stretch your money for as much as 10 times by choosing cheaper lady destinations.
I'm from Malaysia and have a good command in English, Chinese and Malay, is it possible to get a job there and live moderately?
Can someone advise me or is it possible to get some connections for me to become an expat/foreigner working there?
Private motor car. Cost of using the toll highways can be quite costly. This can range from THB25-100 per trip depending on location and distance
For the train transportation, again a further distance would cost more. THB40, is definitely not the average per trip in Central Bangkok
I would like to ask about salary in Bangkok .Working in hotel or restaurant Tex....
Rent - 10-20KTHB/month for a small studio/1 bedroom near a train station, if you want a large western style apartment downtown you are looking at 30K+.
Transport - Taxis are still cheap with the starting fee 35 baht. The BTS/MRT lines are expanding and reach a lot of areas in the city now, so if you can deal with a long commute you can save money by travelling further down the lines to the cheaper areas. This all depends on where you work, generally I recommend closer to your work the better, BKK rush hours are to be avoided if possible.
Food - The good thing about BKK is you can eat for 150 Baht a day or 15000 Baht a day if you want. Thai street food & food courts get you a decent meal and are affordable. There a lot of Western food options now but you may pay a premium for it.
Entertainment - This depends on you, if you are happy to stay home and watch Netflix, cook your own food etc you can save money. Alcohol is not that cheap, especially if you like imported beer/wine.
Travel - Travel within Thailand and SEA in general is affordable with many low cost airlines, but I f you want to fly home to your own country once a year this could take a whole chunk out of your savings.
Other - Health insurance, visas, setup costs. If you are moving here for work and the company takes of all this then it will be much easier and cheaper.
Overall
50,000/Month - This is a decent salary to survive, have a bit of fun and save a bit
75,000/Month - You will be more comfortable and live a better lifestyle
100,000/month - What you should be aiming for if you want to stay here long term, save money and be able to afford flights/travel home etc.
45000 baht/month to get by.
60,000 baht/month is good.
Anything over 70,000 baht a month is great.
If you live like Thai people, It is possible to live on much less than the above amounts.
Most Thais live on less than half the money foreigners make.
Is this considered a good offer and will I be able to live a decent life style there? And how much would that be after tax?
The only reason you will get a smile from a Thai it's because they are thinking about how much money they can get from you.
Bangkok's air is full of toxic fumes.
You gave been warned.
-Purnell, Newley (2013-10-31). "Images Spark Racism Debate in Thailand". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1412495/racism-holds-back-economy-as-society-ages
The above link is for an article from the 'Bangkok Post' newspaper, written by SANITSUDA EKACHAI.
Gossiping everyday is also a part of Thai culture.
Lying and cheating is everyday life for Thais.
Yes,maybe a very small number of Thais are more civilized and don't follow others,as they know what is going on.
And yes,I understand Thai language and all the above are only facts,witnessed by me for over than 10 years of living in Thailand.
I was told about these before moving here,but I didn't believe it, as my toxic positivity didn't let me.
Now it is your call.Believe it or make your own mistake.
- Rental: 15k 32sqm condo living in city center at 4-star condo. Great value and quality for money.
- Transportation: 2k BTS train station is 5 minutes away from where I live. I occasionally take taxis if I'm too lazy and it's hot. I also take motorbike taxis.
- Food: 6k including both local and western food. I also go have Middle Eastern, Mexican and Japanese every weekend so I'm enjoying my dishes.
- Grocery: 3k 7-11 & Family Marts are very affordable and I shop at imported markets once every month.
- Bills: Electricity ~1.5k - Water ~60 & Internet ~650
- Entertainment: Limitless. Depends what you do :)
Overall. You can live by with ~30-35k per month.
40k per month is a native salary. Expat with western education maybe 70k. Foreign specialist in ANY field can expect at least 100k and an good and easy life in the bangkok metropolitan area, assuming you work for an international company.